See here for the backstory. Ex-White House snake oil salesman spokesman Ari Fleischer, fresh off his immunity-from-prosecution deal in the Valerie Plame investigation*, is on Hardball to hype the Save The War ad campaign being rolled out in 20 states by Freedom’s Watch. (“For people who believe in peace through strength, the cavalry is coming.”) The Hardball guest-host cues up one of the ads featuring a double amputee Iraq vet who asserts, more or less, that if we pull out now he will have lost his legs in vain. When it’s over the host asks Fleischer for the vet’s name. […]

If President Bush is serious about getting tough on U.S. employers who hire illegal aliens, he can start with his own administration, which employs thousands of unauthorized workers, says the top Republican on the House immigration subcommittee. A 2006 audit showed federal, state and local governments are among the biggest employers of the half-million persons in the U.S. illegally using “non-work” Social Security numbers — numbers issued legally, but with specific instructions that the holders are not authorized to work in the U.S. The Social Security Administration used to, but no longer does, issue non-work numbers to legal aliens who […]

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has called on President Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas. Republican Sen. John Warner is urging President Bush to begin a troop withdrawal from Iraq in September. Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action. He has recommended that Bush announce the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal in mid-September, after a report is released from the top U.S. officials in Iraq, and that those troops should be back in the U.S. […]

Ad Wars Heat Up Ahead of ‘Surge’ Report Gen. David Petraeus is scheduled to begin testifying on Capitol Hill about the troop surge strategy on Sept. 11, exactly six years since the attacks in New York and Washington. Several anti- and pro-war- groups are spending money this month to mold public opinion ahead of Petraeus’ comments, and the broader debate on the future of the war. The latest pro-war campaign rolls out today. Freedom’s Watch is a non-profit group “dedicated to educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America’s interests at home and abroad, foster economic prosperity, and […]

BY PETER BAKER/WASHINGTON POST STAFF WRITER Not that they’re worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn’t want any. A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential advance staffers extensive instructions in the art of “deterring potential protestors” from President Bush’s public appearances around the country. Among other things, any event must be open only to those with tickets tightly controlled by organizers. Those entering must be screened in case they are hiding secret signs. Any anti-Bush demonstrators who […]

The Politics of God* *Quite possibly the most important magazine article you will read in the next 50 years BY MARK LILLA/NEW YORK TIMES Published: August 19, 2007 I. “The Will of God Will Prevail” The twilight of the idols has been postponed. For more than two centuries, from the American and French Revolutions to the collapse of Soviet Communism, world politics revolved around eminently political problems. War and revolution, class and social justice, race and national identity — these were the questions that divided us. Today, we have progressed to the point where our problems again resemble those of […]

The Associated Press Wednesday, August 22, 2007; 5:08 AM BAGHDAD — A helicopter went down in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing all 14 U.S. soldiers aboard, the military said, the deadliest crash since January 2005. The military said initial indications showed the aircraft experienced a mechanical problem and was not brought down by hostile fire, but the cause of the crash was still under investigation. A U.S. military helicopter blasts dust as it lands near the site of a suicide truck bombing in the village of Qahtaniya, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. More […]

WASHINGTON – Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Bucks County Democrat, today endorsed the presidential bid of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. “I believe that Barack Obama is the best chance to change the direction of our country,” Murphy said in a telephone interview. “I’m inspired by his call to action to change how business is done in Washington.” “He is our most inspiring candidate,” said Murphy. As the only Iraq War veteran serving in Congress, Murphy might help to identify Obama as the favorite of voters opposing the war. The freshman senator has attempted to contrast his position against the war with […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People using CIA and FBI computers have edited entries in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia on topics including the Iraq war and the Guantanamo prison, according to a new tracing program. The program, WikiScanner, was developed by Virgil Griffith of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico and posted this month on a Web site that was quickly overwhelmed with searches. The program allows users to track the source of computers used to make changes to the popular Internet encyclopedia where anyone can submit and edit entries. Griffith said he developed WikiScanner “to create minor public relations disasters for […]