Military Expands Domestic Surveillance  —  The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

In hindsight, Sunni jihadis not sure killing Shiites was such a good idea; Update: Mahdi Army lowers its profile  —  They were hugely outnumbered, but they made a deal with the devil and now the bill's come due. … That conversation happened in October; Abu Omar has long since disappeared …

Video: Barney Frank throws a fit ... on the House floor  —  The Republican arguing with power-hungry Barney Frank is Patrick McHenry.  McHenry rose to offer an amendment that would exempt American Samoa from the stem-cell bill — a clear dig at the fact that Samoa, which is home to StarKist factories …

Official Attacks Top Law Firms Over Detainees  —  The senior Pentagon official in charge of military detainees suspected of terrorism said in an interview this week that he was dismayed that lawyers at many of the nation's top firms were representing prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba …

Boxer: I spoke "truth to power" by suggesting that childless hawks are moral monsters  —  It's not her logic that bugs me since it's just Chickenhawk 101, i.e., those who support the war but stand to suffer no personal loss from it must necessarily be indifferent to the human toll and therefore lack moral authority for their position.

Bush Lashes Out at Opponents on Iraq Plan  —  President Bush fought back at lawmakers opposing his new plan for Iraq today, charging that simply being against the strategy without suggesting alternatives was "irresponsible."  He challenged them to come up with a better plan.

Rod Dreher: "Hadn't the hippies tried to tell my generation this"?  —  (updated below)  —  Rod Dreher is as conservative as it gets — a contributor to National Review and the Corner, a current columnist for The Dallas Morning News, a self-described "practicing Christian and political conservative."

ERITREA SIDES WITH AL-QAEDA IN SOMALIA  —  A Pajamas Media Exclusive by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.  —  Eritrea has deployed some two thousand troops to fight alongside Somalia's al-Qaeda linked Islamic Courts Union, Pajamas Media has learned.  —  Thus, Ethiopia and the United States …

Rice says U.S. won't pull plug on Iraq  —  JERUSALEM - Americans' skepticism about Iraq will not change until they see progress, but the U.S. will not "pull the plug" on the war, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.  —  Rice, at the start of a Mideast trip, would not detail any backup strategy …

Democrats may push to shutter war prisons  —  Party leaders say they'll cut funding  —  WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders yesterday outlined plans to try to force the Bush administration to close the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba …

West Is Going in Democrats' Direction  —  Choice of Denver as Convention Site Reflects Political Shift in Mountain States  —  When the major political parties gathered for their national conventions in 2004, Colorado had a Republican governor, a Republican-controlled legislature …

Obama, Clinton making 2008 moves  —  NEW YORK - Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), a pair of front-runners in waiting, have shown fresh signs in recent days of joining the 2008 race, hiring senior aides while they court potential supporters in Iowa, New Hampshire and other key states.