Report: U.S. Troops Raid Iranian Consulate in Iraq  —  U.S. troops raided an Iranian consulate in northern Iraq late Wednesday night and detained several people, Iran's main news agency reported today, prompting protests from Tehran just hours after President Bush pledged to crack down on the Islamic Republic's role in Iraqi violence.

Bush Sends GIs to his Private Fantasyland  —  To listen to Bush's speech on Wednesday, you would imagine that al-Qaeda has occupied large swathes of Iraq with the help of Syria and Iran and is brandishing missiles at the US mainland.  That the president of the United States can come …

Poll: 70 percent oppose more troops in Iraq  —  Only 35 percent of respondents believe going to war was the right call  —  WASHINGTON - Americans overwhelmingly oppose sending more U.S. forces to Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll that serves as a strong repudiation of President Bush's plan to send another 21,500 troops.

Top GOP senator 'will filibuster any Democratic attempt to decrease funding for Bush's new Iraq plan  —  A top GOP senator said that he "will filibuster" any Democratic attempt to decrease funding for President Bush's new Iraq plan, the Associated Press reports.

At least Bush wants to win  —  Bush sticks to his goal of winning in Iraq.  The Democrats are just stuck.  —  AMERICANS ARE torn between two irreconcilable positions on the Iraq war.  Some want the war to be a success — variously defined — and some want the war to be over.

J-DAMN  —  And so a major Associated Press claim in "Jamilgate" takes an apparently fatal hit.  —  According to Bill Costlow of CPATT (Civilian Police Assistance Training Team) in Baghdad, and as forwarded by Lt. Michael Dean of Multinational Corps-Iraq/Joint Operations Command Public Affairs …

FAQ - The Surge!!  —  1) How in the hell are an additional 20,000 troops going to make such a big difference when we already have about 140,000 troops in Iraq?  It makes no sense!  Cut and run!!  —  First, calm down.  We're going to walk through this analytically, not sprint through it hysterically.

US Marines build sand walls in latest Iraq tactic  —  Adapting ideas tracing back from ancient history to modern Israel, US Marines have sealed off flashpoint towns with sand walls in a new counter-insurgency tactic to quell the wilds of western Iraq.  —  Driving across the desert to Haditha …

"I Was Right"?  —  A reader writes of this post: … I'll ignore the condescension, but the reader is right about one thing.  We will never know for sure if a strategy with far more troops back in 2003 and 2004 would have worked.  In retrospect, I think we had a window of six months …

Breaking: Dean Chooses Denver  —  The labor pains were hard, but the DNC finally has its 2008 convention city locked down: Denver.  —  A Democrat who was briefed said that chairman Howard Dean made the final decision yesterday, weeks later than planned.  DNC comm. dir.  Karen Finney declined to confirm the choice.

THE REASON FOR MY PANIC.  —  My crisis is that I've had a primary source of income for the last three or so years of ~$600/month.  That was enough for my rent ($475, though it may go up any time), and obviously a bit more, though not enough to to cover my medications, or quite all of my expenses …

Responsibility For Security In An Najaf Province Transferred To Iraqis  —  Third Iraqi Province Handed Over This Year  —  The goal of U.S. security strategy in Iraq is to develop the Iraqis' capacity to secure their country while carrying out a campaign to defeat the terrorists and neutralize the insurgency.

Use the power of the purse  —  Keeping our brave troops in Iraq indefinitely is having a devastating impact on our national security and military readiness.  —  That's why I have consistently advocated that we set a timetable to redeploy our troops from Iraq.