As the terror threat gets elevated to orange, we're wise to remember that the arrest of Saddam has not made us any safer. As Eric Alterman points out, writing for Center for American Progress:

In the meantime, the true perpetrators of 9/11 remain alive and well. We have more than 10 times as many troops in Iraq as in border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan where bin Laden is believed to be operating. And here at home, we are hardly better prepared than we were last time. Our nuclear and chemical plants remain all but unprotected; so too our ports and infrastructure. Our first responders are untrained and our cities starved for resources to defend themselves.

Mark Glaser for Online Journalism Review takes a look back at online news reporting and weblogs in 2003 and a look at what's ahead for 2004.

The trial of Saddam Hussein will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Will the U.S. get stuck paying for it? Very possibly, if its tried before the new Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal and the death penalty is on the table:

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan closed the door last week to U.N. support for any tribunal that included the death penalty as a punishment. "This tribunal will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, if it's done professionally," says Scheffer. "It's extremely important that [the Iraqis] recognize that imposing the death penalty will shut the door to any U.N. or European effort to support the court."

Without funding from the international community, the United States could find itself in the awkward role of underwriting an Iraqi tribunal, thus creating the unwanted appearance of U.S. control.

Some more problems with an Iraqi tribunal:

According to the LA Times, the Justice Department is using a flawed terrorist yardstick to inflate the number of terrorist arrests.

DOJ cites 280 cases as proof that it is winning the terror war.

The growing list has been regularly highlighted by Ashcroft and other Justice Department officials in speeches and congressional testimony, and even by President Bush. In an address to federal law enforcement officials on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush referred to the "more than 260 suspected terrorists" that the government has hauled to court.

In October, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Christopher Wray, the Justice Department's criminal division chief, cited the growing number of charges resulting from terrorism probes — which then stood at 284 defendants — as evidence that the department has "enjoyed key successes" in the anti-terrorism war. Last month, in a speech before a Justice Department liaison group for federal attorneys, Ashcroft cited terrorism-related criminal charges against 286 people, declaring "we have been successful."

Partly using documents it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the LA Times conducted its own review of the cases.

Wesley Clark says Howard Dean offered him the VP slot on his ticket if Dean got the nomination. Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, denies it.

Speaking in a taped interview on ABC's "This Week," Clark said Dean had asked him to be his running mate should Dean win the Democratic nomination in a conversation before Clark entered the race.

After the interview was broadcast, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi said on the same program that such a conversation never happened. And after that, Clark's communications director disputed Trippi's response. "Joe Trippi may want to check in with his candidate before talking," Matt Bennett said in a statement from Clark headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Howard Dean did in fact offer Wes Clark a place on the ticket in a one-on-one meeting that Trippi did not attend."

What does Dean say?

Update: The LA Times reports Clark's campaign is advancing after early missteps.

Update 12/22: Dean denies it:

"No, I did not," Dean told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I think Wes is a good guy. I think he'd be a good running mate, but I think it would be highly foolish of me to offer anybody the running mate spot."

We have no idea if this is true or not, but it sounds plausible. A British paper is reporting that Saddam was held by the Kurds, drugged and left for US troops to capture.

Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said.

Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose daughter had been raped by Saddam's son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported the Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer.

The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted Iraqi president's capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, "exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as incomplete".

Update: DEBKAfile says Saddam Hussein was not in hiding, he was a prisoner. The Sydney Morning Herald has more on the Kurds' claim.

Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have teamed up to sponsor a terrible bill--one that panders to irrational fear but resonates politically. It is the "Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act."

The legislation seeks $450 million to aid law enforcement and prosecutors. It is rife with new categories of crimes, added punishments for having a gun or being a gang member and myriad "think twice" measures — hoping gang members will reconsider before committing a crime.

Anyone who knows gangs knows that lawmakers cannot conceive of a law that would lead a hard-core gang member to "think twice." We already have enough gang- and gun-related sentencing "enhancements" to send a 17-year-old who has never been in trouble with the law to prison for 35 years to life. And that's without his ever touching a gun or ever being an actual member of a gang. We need to overhaul these enhancements, not add to them.

Gangs are not all that mysterious. Reformers know what works with them and what doesn't. "Gang experts, intervention practitioners, social scientists, researchers and enlightened law enforcement officials all agree." What works is prevention, intervention and enforcement.

Al Gore's son was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana following a traffic stop in Maryland. His two companions were also arrested.

Albert A. Gore III, 21, was arrested Friday night after he was stopped for driving a vehicle without its headlights on....A Montgomery County, Md., police officer stopped the car, a dark-colored Cadillac, in Bethesda, a Washington suburb, around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

The officer noticed the car's windows and sunroof were open, despite cold temperatures Friday night. There was also a smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle, according to a news release from the police department.

A search of the vehicle turned up a partial marijuana cigarette, a cigarette box containing suspected marijuana, and a soft drink can that also smelled of marijuana.

We wonder if his name wasn't Al Gore III, whether he wouldn't have just been issued a summons. What a waste of law enforcement resources.

On Monday, a Brooklyn jury will deliberate on life or death for a convicted crack dealer and killer-- and on John Ashcroft:

There is no seat for John Ashcroft in the Brooklyn courtroom where Emile Dixon, a convicted killer and crack dealer, is fighting for his life. But as the jurors heard arguments last week about whether to impose capital punishment, Mr. Ashcroft, the United States attorney general, was mentioned so often that he might as well have pulled up a chair.

"This death penalty prosecution was ordered by John Ashcroft," Richard W. Levitt, one of Mr. Dixon's lawyers, said in his summation on Friday. "You don't have to listen to John Ashcroft."

Jack Smith, one of the federal prosecutors pressing for execution, mentioned Mr. Ashcroft, too. He told jurors that he had to answer Mr. Levitt. "He's hoping one of you doesn't like John Ashcroft," Mr. Smith said, adding, "Politics have no place here. None."

Here's hoping one juror doesn't like John Ashcroft. For more on how Ashcroft has been pandering the death penalty--even over the objections of his prosecutors--go here and here and here and here.

An ABC News poll shows that most people support a life over death sentence for John Lee Malvo, who was a juvenile at the time of the sniper attacks.

Given a choice, 52 percent say they'd prefer a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for Malvo, while 37 percent prefer the death penalty. (Support for execution is higher, 56 percent, when no other option is offered).

The results reflect broader concerns about executing juveniles. With no alternative offered, a quarter of Americans support the death penalty for juvenile killers in general, a quarter say it depends on the circumstances and half oppose it. But given an alternative, 62 percent prefer mandatory life; just 21 percent favor capital punishment.

The Judge presiding over the cases of the Miami anti-free trade protesters issued some harsh comments this week, among them, that he saw police committing felonies with his own eyes:

A judge presiding over the cases of free trade protesters said in court that he saw ''no less than 20 felonies committed by police officers'' during the November demonstrations, adding to a chorus of complaints about police conduct.

Judge Richard Margolius, 60, made the remarks in open court last week, saying he was taken aback by what he witnessed while attending the protests. ''Pretty disgraceful what I saw with my own eyes. And I have always supported the police during my entire career,'' he said, according to a court transcript. ``This was a real eye-opener. A disgrace for the community.''

The Judge said he may remove himself from new cases regarding the arrests--and that:

''I probably would have been arrested myself if it had not been for a police officer who recognized me,'' said the judge, who wears his hair in a graying ponytail.

Move On is sponsoring a political advertisng contest called Bush in 30 Seconds. It is seeking home-grown amateur anti-Bush commericials. The winning ad will be televised during the week of the President's State of the Union Address next month.

The top 15 finalists will be sent out to our panel of celebrity judges which includes Michael Moore, Donna Brazile, Jack Black, Janeane Garofalo, Margaret Cho and Gus Van Sant.

Go here to register to vote. The first round of voting is now open.