Al-Maliki gives Mahdi Army blunt choice: disarm or face American onslaught  —  Canadian Press: STEVEN R. HURST AND QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA  —  BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's prime minister has told Mahdi Army militiamen they must surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces …

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.

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 …

Poll: Most Americans Opposed to Bush's Iraq Plan  —  Majority of Those Surveyed Are Skeptical That Surge Would Make Victory More Likely  —  Most Americans oppose President Bush's call to send additional U.S. military forces to Iraq and just over a third say the new plan makes victory there more likely …

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.

What Americans want  —  After Bush's "surge" speech last night, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin gave the Democrats' response, and hearing them back-to-back gave me — for the first time in many weeks- some clarity about Iraq.  This new view stemmed from the most basic of suppositions …

In the slums of Baghdad  —  My Hot Air colleague Bryan Preston and I have been in Iraq, embedded with an incredibly dedicated Army unit in Baghdad tasked with training Iraqi security forces (both Shia and Sunni) conducting counterinsurgency operations, and carrying out civil affairs work.

Liveblogging The Bush Speech  —  (8:55) OK, 5 minutes until the Bush speech.  Let's hope that he has spent a few hours getting prepared.  —  (9:00) Back in October 25, 2006 — I wrote a piece called The Way Forward in Iraq.  In it, I wrote: … It sounds like that's what we're doing.

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.

DLC TAPS HAROLD FORD AS NEXT CHAIR  —  Young, black, and good-looking, Harold Ford is the kind of comer that the Democratic Party latches onto.  But last November, after losing the closest Senate race in Tennessee history to Republican Bob Corker, the 10-year congressman suddenly found himself out of a job.

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.

The Mess at State  —  Members of the Senate intelligence committee, Republicans and Democrats alike, were alarmed last week that John Negroponte was leaving as director of national intelligence after less than two years to become deputy secretary of state.  By way of explanation …

Too Casual To Sit on Press Row?  —  Bloggers' Credentials Boosted With Seats at the Libby Trial  —  When the trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice opens next week, scores of journalists are expected to throng the federal courtroom …