Secret Court to Govern Wiretapping Plan  —  The Justice Department announced today that the National Security Agency's controversial warrantless surveillance program has been placed under the authority of a secret surveillance court, marking an abrupt change in approach by the Bush administration after more than a year of heated debate.

FISA and the President — together again  —  (updated below - updated again - and again)  —  Everything I know about the FISA story is contained in this AP article, which I just read, and in this letter from Attorney General Gonzales to Senators Leahy and Specter.

White House Says Judiciary Will Monitor Spy Program  —  The Bush administration, in what appears to be a concession to its critics, said today it will allow an independent court to monitor its warrantless electronic-eavesdropping program.  —  Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the leaders …

Climbdown On Warrantless Surveillance (Updated And Bumped)  —  The Bush administration has apparently concluded that fighting to retain the warrantless surveillance program with a Democratic Congress would eventually be unsuccessful, and today announced that the presidential authorization for the program would not be renewed.

Maliki Stresses Urgency In Arming Iraqi Forces  —  Need for U.S. Troops Could Drop 'Dramatically'  —  The Iraqi government's need for American troops would "dramatically go down" in three to six months if the United States accelerated the process of equipping and arming Iraq's security forces …