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 …

Pryce set to retire, GOP sources say  —  Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) will announce Thursday that she will not run for reelection in 2008, according to sources close to the congresswoman's office.  —  Pryce's office announced it will hold a press conference in her Columbus office on Thursday at 11 a.m. concerning her plans for 2008.

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 …

Rudy's shift on immigration  —  A day after Rudy Giuliani promised in South Carolina that "we can end illegal immigration," an aide to one of his rivals sends along a video of the former mayor taking a much more pragmatic line on the issue.  —  "We're never ever going to be able …

FDL Demands Apology - Calls on Collins to Fire Dutson  —  Firedoglake has issued the following press release today:  —  Collins Campaign In Sexist Attack on Leading Blog  —  Firedoglake Calls for Apology and Firing of Collins Campaign Blogger  —  Washington, DC August 15, 2007 …

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 …

General calls Iraq massacre 'trademark al Qaeda'  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Truck bombings that killed and wounded hundreds in northern Iraq were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday.

A newsroom reprimand at The Times  —  Seattle Times Executive Editor Dave Boardman wrote today in one of his morning notes to staff that there had been "an awkward moment at yesterday's news meeting."  That's the meeting where editors and other staff from throughout the newsroom talk about the stories planned for the next day's paper.

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.

Gibson: "The war on Gibson is real" and "it's pursued every day" … On the August 14 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson said he and the show's executive producer, known on the air as "Angry Rich," are "being attacked on a liberal website," referring to Media Matters for America.

Our newest war  —  [Our newest Patton.]  — by Dave  —  According to Newt Gingrich, we're now not just at war in Iraq, and at war against terrorists, but now we're also at war with illegal immigrants: … Gingrich is obviously trying, as have so many nativists before him, to blame immigrants for bringing crime to our shores.

Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes  —  Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.