How Bush's AG Pick Irritates the Right  —  If the administration was trying to avoid a fight with the left over the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales' replacement as Attorney General, they may have succeeded with the nomination of former New York district judge, Michael Mukasey.

The Iraq Blackwater Test  —  Depending on whether the Blackwater security firm stays in Iraq will inform us whether Prime Minister Maliki has any power or is just a U.S. puppet.  My money is on the puppet.  Over the weekend Blackwater contractors escorting a State Department/US Embassy Baghdad convoy got into a shoot out.

Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?  —  TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded.  The deadly incident occurred when a convoy of U.S. personnel protected …

U.S. probing security firm's battle in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.