'Free Iraq' Is Within Reach, Bush Declares  —  President Bush delivered a rousing defense of his Iraq policy on Wednesday, telling a group of veterans that "a free Iraq" is within reach and warning that if Americans succumb to "the allure of retreat," they will witness death and suffering of the sort not seen since the Vietnam War.

Did Clinton Lie About Targeting Bin Laden?  —  It appears that Bill Clinton may have exaggerated his record when it came to strategizing against Osama bin Laden.  Newsweek's Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball take a look at the Inspector General's report of the pre-9/11 intelligence failures at the CIA and find an interesting nugget.

Militias Seizing Control of Iraqi Electricity Grid  —  Armed groups increasingly control the antiquated switching stations that channel electricity around Iraq, the electricity minister said Wednesday.  —  That is dividing the national grid into fiefs that, he said, often refuse …

Transcript: Debate on the foreign intelligence surveillance act  —  The following is the transcript of a question and answer session with National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.  —  Question: How much has President Bush or members of his administration formed your response to the FISA debate?

Romney Struggles to Define Abortion Stance  —  Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide.

Experts tie pigeon dung, bridge collapse  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. - Pounded and strained by heavy traffic and weakened by missing bolts and cracking steel, the failed interstate bridge over the Mississippi River also faced a less obvious enemy: pigeons.  —  Inspectors began documenting the buildup …

White House Declares Office Off-Limits  —  Administrator of Missing E-Mails Not Subject to Open-Records Law, It Says  —  The Bush administration argued in court papers this week that the White House Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act as part of its effort …

AG: Cops must ask suspects for immigration status … Attorney General Anne Milgram today ordered all local police officers in New Jersey to inquire about the immigration status of suspects charged with serious crimes, and to notify federal immigration authorities if there is reason to believe the suspect is in the country illegally.

How Miss Slackistan and the Burka Beauties fell foul of the racism zealots  —  It probably seemed like a good idea at the time.  Stuck for inspiration about what to wear at their village carnival, one group made a last-minute decision to dress up in mock Muslim burkas.

A Calendar In Chaos  —  For both Democratic and Republican party officials, the 2008 nominating contest is not only about who they choose to seek the presidency, but about how, and when, that nominee is selected.  Increasingly, the how and when are creating a state of near-chaos as states jockey …

Animals rights  —  As long time readers know, I'm, well, crunchy-ish.  I make my own yogurt, I fret about global warming, and I only eat certified humane meat.  I don't care about killing farm animals, but I do think that their lives, however long they are, should be worth living on sheepish or piggy or . . . er . . . cowese terms.

David Shuster Dismantles President Bush's Viet Nam Rhetoric  —  This evening on "Hardball" MSNBC's David Shuster started off the hour with a dead on debunking of President Bush's rhetoric from his speech earlier today in which proclaimed that a U.S. pullout in Iraq would have the same consequences as our withdrawal from Viet Nam.

Rule to Expand Mountaintop Coal Mining  —  The Bush administration is set to issue a regulation on Friday that would enshrine the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal.  The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams.

Foreign Aid Groups Face Terror Screens  —  The Bush administration plans to screen thousands of people who work with charities and nonprofit organizations that receive U.S. Agency for International Development funds to ensure they are not connected with individuals or groups associated with terrorism …

Police need a hand to find stolen limbs  —  CLEAR LAKE, Iowa - Police are looking for a hand — well, actually an arm and a leg — in solving the theft of prosthetic limbs from a local business.  The prosthetic arm and leg were taken about a month ago from Tom Leisure Prosthetics in Clear Lake, police said.