Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War  —  No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago.  But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below …

Iraqis Fault Delayed U.S. Plan in Attack  —  A growing number of Iraqis blamed the United States on Sunday for creating conditions that led to the worst single suicide bombing in the war, which devastated a Shiite market in Baghdad the day before.  They argued that slowness in completing …

SURGING ON  —  Omar, writing from Baghdad, January 28th: … Accurate or not, that may explain a certain sense of urgency among factions in Baghdad this weekend: … Omar's brother Mohammed today: … As for U.S. forces, one Brigade Combat Team (BCT) involved in "the surge" has been in place since late January:

U.S. Set to Begin a Vast Expansion of DNA Sampling  —  The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected.

Bitter Fish in Crude Oil Sea  —  Heh.  Michelle Malkin is fixin' to destroy Amanda Marcotte, 'cause Amanda uses naughty words.  —  Michelle Malkin wrote this book:  —  So Amanda wins.  —  And it ain't even close.  —  UPDATE: Auguste takes care of the other nonsense.

Nader leaves '08 door open, slams Hillary  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader on Sunday left the door open for another possible White House bid in 2008 and criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton as "a panderer and a flatterer."

UC Irvine: MSU Calls for Israel to Be Wiped Out  —  On Thursday we featured a video recording from Daniel Pipes' talk at the University of California Irvine, showing the Muslim Students Union staging a coordinated disruption, walking out and loudly chanting "Anti-Israel!":

Iranian nuclear scientist 'assassinated by Mossad'  —  A PRIZE-WINNING Iranian nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, according to Radio Farda, which is funded by the US State Department and broadcasts to Iran.  —  An intelligence source suggested that Ardeshire Hassanpour …

Dick Armey takes aim at GOP, war in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - When he was the GOP leader in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Dick Armey was never known to be a shrinking violet.  But now that he's out of politics, Armey is indisputably even more plainspoken as the leader …

Edwards: raise taxes for healthcare  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday said that he would raise taxes, chiefly on the wealthy, to pay for expanded healthcare coverage under a plan costing $90 billion to $120 billion a year to be unveiled on Monday.

Mavericks Both, but Different Iraq Paths  —  WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The first time Senator John McCain ran for president, few allies were more loyal than Senator Chuck Hagel, a fellow Vietnam veteran and co-chairman of his campaign, whose independent streak ran nearly as thick as Mr. McCain's.

When life without parole is worse than death  —  Analysis finds more than 100 murderers who might one day go free would face certainty of dying in prison  —  When a state commission recommended last month that New Jersey abolish the death penalty in favor of life imprisonment without parole …

McCain Flip-Flops In 47 Seconds: Claims Success Is Not Realistic In 'A Few Months,' Then Says It Is  —  On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it is unrealistic to expect the escalation strategy to change the situation in Iraq in "a few months":