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Violence in Iraq continues, but Maliki vows to shut down all the militias. That sounds like a new, promising theme for him.Maliki has started another push to wipe out Sunni militias. The article seems to be intentionally unclear about taking out Shiite militias, though it does mention al Sadr and his Mahdi army.

Military commanders said operations against the al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in its Sadr City stronghold would be left largely to a joint force made up of U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi Special Operations Command division under Brig. Gen. Fadhil Birwari, a Kurd. Soldiers in the division are a mixture of Kurds and Arabs from both the Sunni and Shiite sects.

The prime minister has repeatedly rejected U.S. demands to move against the Mahdi Army.

Account of alleged massacre in Haditha.

Republicans and Democrats skeptical of Bush's plan to send more troops. It looks like Bush is going to push another half measure instead of sending enough troops to do the job. Nobody has addressed the "broken army" issue. Where are we getting more troops from?

Tributes to Saddam grow. I understand the execution was botched, but nobody should forget his crimes.

Iranian TV claims Iraqis thwarted US plans to help Saddam escape. Give me a break.

Michael Young examines the effect of Saddam's execution on the families and communities of Saddam's victims.

Victor Davis Hanson explains how to win in Iraq.

U.S. imposes sanctions on companies dealing arms with Iran. About damn time.

Iran reformists blame Ahmadenijad for sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program.

Ralph Peters says Adm. Fallon is taking over Centcom to deal with Iran and future strategies.

Poisoned ex-Russian spy had more enemies than just the Kremlin.

William Murchison points out that it was big government that started all the social issues currently plaguing us.

Edwin Feulner says to combat global warming, we should grow our economy, not repeat the mistakes of the 70s as Gore advocates.

How groups take advantage of our tolerance to advance intolerance.

Annual top 10 wacky warning awards are out. This is a symptom of our safety society.

Censorship and shock art.

It's a balmy January in NYC.