A video retrospective of the US-Saddam relationship can be viewed here.

Check out The Best War Ever here.

The harsh reality of violence in Iraq: A half million dead. More than two million displaced. No end in sight. Only the truth will get us out.

In the entrance to the C.I.A.’s headquarters the words of the Gospel of John are inscribed, “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Here's the link to today's op-ed  in the New York Times by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann. Included there are citations to the portions of their original article that were censored by the White House.

Thinkers on the go, this article may emerge as required reading for TPMers. The veil is lifted on the retreat from empiricism which increasingly characterizes the current Administration's approach to policymaking.

 Your thoughts?

John Nichols' new book, The Genius of Impeachment:  The Founders' Cure for Royalism has been hailed by authors and historians Gore Vidal, Studs Terkel and Howard Zinn for its meticulous research into the intentions of the founders and embraced by activists for its groundbreaking arguments on behalf of presidential accountability.  

After reviewing recent books on impeachment, Rolling Stone political writer Tim Dickinson, writes in the latest issue of Mother Jones, "John Nichols' nervy, acerbic, passionately argued history-cum-polemic, The Genius of Impeachment, stands apart. It concerns itself far less with the particulars of the legal case against Bush and Cheney, and instead combines a rich examination of the parliamentary roots and past use of the "heroic medicine" that is impeachment with a call for Democratic leaders to 'reclaim and reuse the most vital tool handed to us by the founders for the defense of our most basic liberties.'

Nothing less than impeachment will satisfy purists, like me, however, impeachment is not likely the primary concern of Democratic party elites. Uppermost in elite thinking is 2008. They want the White House and both houses of Congress.  Many of them probably  believe that Bush's warrant-less eavesdropping is the "new Watergate for '08" -- their ticket to winning the 2008 trifecta.

Let's recap: Senator Specter and Vice President Cheney drafted  S.2453. Had this bill become law, there would be zero opportunity to impeach Bush for warrant-less eavesdropping. S.2453 would have given Bush immunity from impeachment based on their illegal NSA surveillance program. Moreover,  S.2453 would have provided retroactive amnesty from criminal prosecution to Bush, administration officials, Telecom corporate execs, and others who participated in the illegal NSA spying. This is hardly trivial.

 As we know, S.2453 did not get passed in the final session of the Republican-controlled Congress. It is not likely to pass after Dems take control of Congress in January, leaving Bushco exposed. Bush and his politicos understand that impeachment is off the table -- but only until Dems are ready to make their move.  The real kicker is that even if Bush cooperates, (read taxes), impeachment stays off the table only until Bush is so unpopular that impeachment becomes an iron-clad political winner for Dems.

Dem staffers and grad students are probably working like elves right now to prep the case for prosecuting Bush -- and others, (aim low) -- for violating the FISA law -- maybe even after Bush leaves office.  This  could  be telegraphed before his term ends, forcing him to pardon himself or risk trial. Either way, the Republicans would be in a thoroughly untenable position during the '08 campaign. Sound like a winner?