Top general may propose pullbacks  —  Petraeus is expected to tell Congress that Iraqis can assume duties in some areas, freeing U.S. troops for other uses.  —  WASHINGTON —  Intent on demonstrating progress in Iraq, the top U.S. general there is expected by Bush administration officials …

A prelude to war: What's really behind Bush's Iran move  —  Last night's carefully managed leak from the White House that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is being designated as a global terrorist group is a story that — while in a sense you could see it coming for months — seemed to also catch a lot of the major news media off guard.

HMMMM EVEN LESS RIGHT.  —  From the previous post, reader Hoefer remembers and tracks down something veddy intahrezting … Here are the two pics and it sure looks like the same lady, and the same idiotic claim.  Heh. … Anyone know the photog or official agency and caption for this one?

U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites  —  The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.  —  The decision, made three months ago …

MORE RUDY....Hell, James Joyner is a conservative, so I'd expect him to be at least a little more sympathetic toward Rudy Giuliani's recent foreign policy manifesto than me.  But no. The former Giuliani fan, after watching America's Mayor in action for a few months, has changed his opinion slightly:

Balance of Terror  —  BAGHDAD - The American soldier sitting next to me flipped open his Zippo lighter and gloomily lit a cigarette.  "Do you know why this base isn't attacked by insurgents?" he said.  —  I assumed it was because his area of operations, in the Graya'at neighborhood …

Chávez to Propose Removing His Term Limits  —  President Hugo Chávez will unveil a project to change the Constitution on Wednesday that is expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely, a move that would enhance his authority to accelerate a socialist-inspired transformation of Venezuelan society.

Obama Says He Can Unite U.S. 'More Effectively' Than Clinton  —  Drawing a sharp contrast with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama said in an interview that he has the capacity she may lack to unify the country and move it out of what he called "ideological gridlock."

Exclusive: U.S. Studying Two Dozen 'Clusters' of Possible Homegrown Terrorists  —  Brian Ross, Richard Esposito & Maddy Sauer Report:  —  U.S. law enforcement officials say they have identified more than two dozen "clusters" of young Muslim men in the northeast United States who are on a path …

The GOP - The Party To Kill For...  It appears Susan Collins doesn't want to risk having a career ending blooper, like George "Macacca" Allen.  One of her supporters posted this yesterday on the Maine Web Report: … Yes, civil discourse and clean campaign tactics are clearly the hallmark of the Collins' team, aren't they?

Democrats Need a Karl Rove  —  What follows here is an op-ed I wrote for The Hill newspaper today that makes the case for Democrats to adopt a conviction politics of principle, courage and tenacity.

Online Islamist Forum Hosted in Texas Posts Guide for Kidnapping Americans  —  The popular Islamist-jihadist forum www.alhesbah.org, hosted by RealWebHost in Texas, U.S., recently posted an anonymously written document from 2003 titled "The Excellent Summary of the Rules of the Art of Kidnapping Americans."

New airport agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions  —  WASHINGTON — Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you than you notice.  —  Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions.

Political impasse key to Iraq security  —  BAGHDAD — Despite U.S. claims that violence is down in the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officers are offering a bleak picture of Iraq's future, saying they've yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims despite the drop in violence.