Announcement  —  I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for what's right.  Unfortunately, Bill Donohue and his calvacade of right wing shills don't respect that a mere woman like me could be hired for my skills …

Top American General Disputes US Military Claim on Iran  —  The top American military officer, General Peter Pace, declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad, who told reporters on Sunday that the Iranian government is providing high-powered roadside bombs to insurgents in Iraq.

Tentative Deal in N. Korea Nuclear Talks  —  BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. envoy to talks on North Korea's nuclear program said Tuesday that negotiators reached a tentative agreement on initial steps for the communist nation's disarmament.  —  Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill …

Pincus Reveals Fleischer As Leak Source  —  Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus testified in court this morning that then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, not I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was the first person to tell him that a prominent critic of the Iraq war was married to undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.

For Clinton and Obama, Different Tests on Iraq  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was challenged on Iraq from corner to corner of New Hampshire this weekend, while Senator Barack Obama drew cheers in Iowa for his opposition to the war.  —  Besides giving voters a chance to probe the views …

First Attack by Al Qaeda in Japan?  —  Alexis Debat and Maddy Sauer Report:  —  There was a scare today at a U.S. military base outside Tokyo when two small explosions occurred shortly after 11 p.m. there.  While no one was injured, investigators are looking at the possibility that it was an attempted terrorist attack.

Four Syllables, Starts With M, Ends With Uh-Oh  —  William M. Arkin, a military analyst who writes a blog for The Washington Post's Web site, says he knew that his criticism of American troops would be "highly inflammatory."  —  He got that part right.  —  Arkin, invoking an NBC report …

Libby Live: Novak One  —  NOTES: (1) This is not a transcript — It's the blogger's approximation, and no one really knows what that is yet!  But I do know you shouldn't quote anything not in quotation marks.  (2) I'll timestamp the updates and will update about every 15 minutes, servers willing.

Prison Rape  —  I've written about this before.  Here's a first-person account: … The crime this man committed for us to throw him into a jail where we know he'll be brutally assaulted, raped, and possibly contract a terminal immune system disease?  Drinking and driving.

Veterans face consecutive budget cuts  —  WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system.  —  Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012.

Ségolène Royal unveils far-left economic campaign platform  —  VILLEPINTE, France: Ségolène Royal, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, unveiled a long- awaited platform on Sunday, veering sharply to the left on economic policy while also stressing discipline and "traditional values."

Breaking: Menendez Will Co-Sponsor Bill Banning Torture, Restoring Habeas Corpus  —  I rarely use "breaking" in titles but I think this deserves it.  After all the uproar over Senator Menendez's vote a few months ago for the unconstitutional Military Commissions Act which eliminated habeas corpus …

Video: Obama says lives of troops killed in Iraq were "wasted"  —  Now we know for sure he's not the messiah.  The messiah doesn't make mistakes.  —  Of course he thinks their lives were wasted.  Everyone on the anti-war side does; that's one of the reasons they want to end the war.

Iraq war debate shifts to the House  —  GOP lawmakers will be in a tough position as Democrats push a resolution that dissents from Bush's strategy.  —  WASHINGTON — As the House this week launches its first major debate over the Iraq war since the November elections …

Michael Gordon, the administration's best friend at the Times  —  In the lead-up to the Iraq War, Michael Gordon of The New York Times wrote one of the most discredited, journalistically irresponsible, and damaging articles of the last decade — a September 8, 2002, front-page article …

Iran in Iraq: The PowerPoint Presentation  —  We've just added yesterday's briefing on Iranian EFPs in Iraq to our Document Collection.  This is a 16-page brief presented to reporters, and not the transcript of the press conference itself, since the anonymous military briefers in Baghdad …