Raw Story has a scoop on an article to appear in tomorrow's New York Times:

"Just months ago there was cause for optimism about the spread of democracy in the Arab world, with elections held in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian areas," the New York Times plans to report in Monday editions, RAW STORY has learned. "But the momentum is fast ebbing, with delays in reform efforts, legal maneuvers and official changes of heart throughout the Middle East."

"The unexpected rise of Islamists, the newfound power of Shiites in Iraq with the implication of growing Iranian influence, and the sense among some rulers that they can wait out the end of the Bush administration -- which has begun facing domestic and Republican criticism for its focus on forcing democracy -- have all put the brakes on democratization, analysts and officials say."

In an interview with the Observer, Labor MP Ayn Clwyd, who is Tony Blair's personal envoy on human rights, levels some harsh criticism at the U.S. for its prison policies in Iraq, which she says has resulted in missing and abused Iraqi prisoners.

Iraqis arrested by coalition forces have disappeared into a 'black hole' with no records of where they are being held, Tony Blair's personal envoy on human rights has warned. Ann Clwyd said if the scandal of the missing prisoners had been taken more seriously from the start by the US, it could have helped prevent the abuse of detainees in their jails.

Clwyd rarely speaks publicly on the issue. She highlighted two cases in the interview, and told of her attempts to get responses from Stephen Hadley, Paul Bremer and Paul Wolfowitz:

by Last Night in Little Rock

In an astonding performance, Rep. J. D. Hayworth, R-AZ, declared on Meet the Press that "Immigration Reform" is the most significant issue facing America today. (Streaming video of "Meet the Press" is posted at Noon ET on MSNBC.com).

In a sound bite laden appearance, Rep. Hayworth, representing a border state, and a Republican up for re-election, apparently feels that the wasteful and distasteful War in Iraq, our fostering civil war in Iraq, and the President's treason by security leak, can all be swept under the rug until after the election.

The Timesonline names the forgers of the documents claiming Saddam was trying to acquire uranium from Niger.

TWO employees of the Niger embassy in Rome were responsible for the forgery of a notorious set of documents used to help justify the Iraq war, an official investigation has allegedly found. According to Nato sources, the investigation has evidence that Niger's consul and its ambassador's personal assistant faked a contract to show Saddam Hussein had bought uranium ore from the impoverished west African country.

....According to the sources, an official investigation believes Adam Maiga Zakariaou, the consul, and Laura Montini, the ambassador's assistant, known as La Signora, forged the papers for money. They allegedly concocted their scheme as reports reached western intelligence agencies, including MI6, that Saddam Hussein had been trying to buy uranium ore, known as yellowcake, from Niger. The agencies had no evidence he had succeeded. The pair are alleged to have copied a real contract to look like an agreement with Iraq under which Niger would supply Saddam with 500 tons of yellowcake.

Josh Marshall is dubious.

Here is Jill Carroll's statement. Those who accused her of being a "Taliban Jane" should be ashamed.

As Crooks and Liars says, "Welcome home Jill and take the time you need to recover."

Reporter Jill Caroll is kidnapped, held for months and then released. This is the kind of trash the being spewed at her (via Think Progress.) Watch this clip from the Don Imus show.

MCCORD: Put on 20 pounds while in captivity, yeah.
MCGUIRK: And why do we suspect?
IMUS: Well, why do you suspect?
MCGUIRK: She's carrying Zarqawi's baby. No doubt about it.
IMUS: Man, you are a such a, you're a...
MCGUIRK: Did you hear her comments yesterday? She's wearing the terrorist headgear. And everything points to that.
...
MCGUIRK: She's Taliban Janie, this girl. Taliban Jill or whatever.
IMUS: That's a little strong don't you think.
MCGUIRK: I don't think so. Well except for the fact that she seems overly sympathetic. There's something wrong. Something stinks.

Simply disgusting.

by TChris

When Helen Thomas recently asked President Bush why he really wanted to go to war, the president took issue with her premise, denying that he wanted a war. A British memo makes clear (yet again) that Bush wanted nothing but war.

During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second [UN] resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.

Washington Post Photo

Bump and Update: Sgt. Michael Smith got a six month sentence today for abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib and using his dog to engage in lewd acts. Is anyone else outraged?

Bump and Update (3/21 7:09 pm): What should Sgt. Smith's sentence be? There was a lot of emotional testimony from his father and sister-in-law as the sentencing hearing got underway today. Prosecutors said they will wrap up tomorrow. Their witness was "not available."

Prosecutors had planned to call a civilian expert to testify that terrorist groups are recruiting and inciting violence with the help of the infamous snapshots of U.S. troops mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib. But the witness was not available.

Sgt. Smith testified at the sentencing, but it doesn't sound like a real acceptance of responsibility to me. He said if he had it to do over again, he'd get his instructions in writing, to cover his as*:

by TChris

President Bush is confident that progress is being made in Iraq, although -- as the headline of this story suggests -- "explaining where is difficult."

No kidding:

About 100 masked gunmen stormed a jail near the Iranian border at dawn Tuesday - cutting phone wires, firing rocket-propelled grenades and killing 20 security men - in an operation that freed 18 fellow insurgents who had been captured in police raids just two days earlier.

Bump and Update: This is big news today. See Time Magazine :

Because the incident is officially under investigation, members of the Marine unit that was in Haditha on Nov. 19 are not allowed to speak with reporters. But the military's own reconstruction of events and the accounts of town residents interviewed by Time--including six whose family members were killed that day--paint a picture of a devastatingly violent response by a group of U.S. troops who had lost one of their own to a deadly insurgent attack and believed they were under fire. Time obtained a videotape that purports to show the aftermath of the Marines' assault and provides graphic documentation of its human toll. What happened in Haditha is a reminder of the horrors faced by civilians caught in the middle of war--and what war can do to the people who fight it.

*****
Original Post 3/16/06

On November 19, 2005, one marine and 15 Iraqis were killed after an explosive device detonated in Haditha, about 140 miles north of Baghdad. Today, defense officials said the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service which has jurisdiction over Marine malfeasance has launched an investigation into the deaths.

Knights Ridder is reporting that Iraqi police and eyewitness reports say U.S. soldiers killed 11 Iraqi civilians during a raid, after herding them into a room. Among those allegedly killed were a 75 year old woman and a six month old infant. The raid was the result of information that an al-Qaeda member was at the house.

The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house, the document said.

Neighbors confirmed there was an al-Qaeda member visiting at the house that was raided. The house belonged to a school teacher and family member of the al-Qaeda member. The teacher was among those killed, while the al Qaeda member survived and was arrested.

On March 18, 2003, 100,000 gathered in New York to oppose the invasion of Iraq. Yesterday, only a few thousand gathered at Times Square to protest the third anniversary of the war. Only a few hundred turned out in Boston. London police expected a turnout of 100,000 but only 15,000 showed up.

What happened? The latest Newsweek poll shows a whopping 65% of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling Iraq. One in four Americans think he should be impeached.

Are we beaten down, anesthetized, convinced it is hopeless to protest our Government, one which increasingly has more in common with an autocracy or an oligarchy than a democracy?

We have a President who believes he can trump the Constitution and Congress at will and we aren't doing anything about it. Democrats in Congress won't even stand up for Sen. Russ Feingold's censure motion. Congressional elections are six months away and while Newsweek says 50% of Americans think the Democrats would do a better job, we're not hearing much fire and brimstone. What gives?

Here's a gloomy portrait of Iraq on this third anniversary of war.