This just in from Kyle O'Dowd, Legislative Director for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL):

On March 27, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to child abduction legislation that would significantly impair judicial discretion to depart downward under the Sentencing Guidelines. The amendment, described below, was filed the evening before the floor vote on the unrelated bill. While this is not the first legislative attempt to limit downward departures, it is by far the most sweeping. And the bills provisions have never been considered by the House or Senate Judiciary Committees. A procedural maneuver will allow the bill to go to conference with the Senate immediately.

Offered by Rep. Feeney (R-FL) with the full support of Chairman Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the legislation would, among other things:

(1) Prohibit downward departures based on factors that are not specifically enumerated in the Sentencing Guidelines;
(2) prohibit certain types of departures, such as those based on youth, aberrant behavior, family responsibilities, military service, and a combination of factors;
(3) strictly regulate "fast track" departures in illegal reentry cases and limit such departures to 4 levels;
(4) prohibit departures based on diminished capacity in cases involving obscenity and sex offenses;
(5) require de novo appellate review of departure decisions, effectively repealing Koon v. United States;
(6) require a government motion before a judge can award the additional one-level reduction for extraordinary acceptance of responsibility; and
(7) require that the Attorney General report downward departures not based on substantial assistance to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, including the identity of the judge, the facts of the case, and other information.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL) and other organizations sent the following letter in opposition. Plans are being made to move the opposition to the Senate. We will update as soon as there is more news on this.

The other organizations opposing the measure are:

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
National Legal Aid and Defender Association
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
American Civil Liberties Union

NBC fired journalist Peter Arnett on Monday, "saying it was wrong for him to give an interview with state-run Iraqi TV in which he said the American-led coalition's initial plan for the war had failed because of Iraq's resistance."

On Sunday, NBC defended Arnett. Arnett has apologized for his comments, referring to his Iraqi TV interview as a "misjudgment." He is making plans to leave Iraq.

We appreciated Arnett's reporting and will miss it.

What's the real reason we are invading Iraq? According to the Administration, it is to disarm and remove Saddam, establish "regime change," eliminate his weapons of mass destruction and prevent him from blackmailing his neighbors and aiding terrorist groups. According to others, invading Iraq is just the beginning, and the real plan is to reshape the entire region, and then the world.

Robert Dreyfuss has an excellent article, Just the Beginning, in the new issue of American Prospect in which he says the war on Iraq may be just the opening salvo. Dreyfuss quotes several military, national security and other experts who say the war cannot be confined to Iraq. It will spread all over the Middle East. Already, Dreyfuss says, Bush and the neoconservatives in his Administration have formed plans to reshape the entire region, and possibly the world.

But the Bush administration's hawks, especially the neoconservatives who provide the driving force for war, see the conflict with Iraq as much more than that. It is a signal event, designed to create cataclysmic shock waves throughout the region and around the world, ushering in a new era of American imperial power. It is also likely to bring the United States into conflict with several states in the Middle East. Those who think that U.S. armed forces can complete a tidy war in Iraq, without the battle spreading beyond Iraq's borders, are likely to be mistaken. ....In the Middle East, impending "regime change" in Iraq is just the first step in a wholesale reordering of the entire region, according to neoconservatives -- who've begun almost gleefully referring to themselves as a "cabal." Like dominoes, the regimes in the region -- first Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, then Lebanon and the PLO, and finally Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia -- are slated to capitulate, collapse or face U.S. military action. To those states, says cabal ringleader Richard Perle, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an influential Pentagon advisory committee, "We could deliver a short message, a two-word message: 'You're next.'" In the aftermath, several of those states, including Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, may end up as dismantled, unstable shards in the form of mini-states that resemble Yugoslavia's piecemeal wreckage. And despite the Wilsonian rhetoric from the president and his advisers about bringing democracy to the Middle East, at bottom it's clear that their version of democracy might have to be imposed by force of arms.

After the Middle East, the U.S. plans to move on to the Philippines, Korea and even Latin America.

Three thousand U.S. soldiers are slated to arrive in the Philippines, opening yet another new front in the war on terrorism, and North Korea is finally in the administration's sights. On the horizon could be Latin America, where the Bush administration endorsed a failed regime change in Venezuela last year, and where new left-leaning challenges are emerging in Brazil, Ecuador and elsewhere.

The experts see the plan as folly and madness. The U.S. is the "bully in the playpen." We have to agree.

TalkLeft is moving to a new server to accomodate our increased traffic. We were down Sunday and hope to be operational today, although there could be a glitch or two from the move. Thanks for your patience. CrimeLynx is moving to the new server as well.

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The New York Times reports that the anti-war effort is now emphasizing civility over confrontation. At Win Without War, they are encouraging those with anti-war views to send an email of support to the troops.

Operation Dear Abby offers a way to send messages of support to men and women deployed in the Gulf region. Servicemembers may reply to your message, offering an opportunity for genuine dialogue. It is recommended that you remain positive in your correspondences with the troops. While no one should feel discouraged from expressing their views, it is important to have in mind the welfare of the soldiers you correspond with. Let them know how much you support their safe return."

Veterans for Common Sense has additional ways those who oppose the war can support the troops, from sending or funding care packages to adopting a platoon or a penpal.

A new poll shows that only 34% of Americans think the war is going well.

Popular belief that the United States is coasting to victory in Iraq has fallen sharply, a new U.S. opinion poll showed on Friday, as Washington struggled in the image battle at home and abroad.

The Gallup survey for CNN and USA Today said public support for the war remained steady at around 70 percent...However, the number of Americans who thought the conflict was going "very well" shot down after news reports from the front lines of U.S. military setbacks and cautions from President Bush against any talk of a quick victory.

Gallup said just 34 percent of Americans surveyed on Monday and Tuesday thought the war was going very well.

That was down from 44 percent on Sunday, the day Iraqi television broadcast graphic images of killed and captured American soldiers, and from 62 percent on Saturday."

In a new CBS poll, 55 percent of those responding believed the United States had underestimated the Iraqi army. In an ABC News/Washington Post survey, 57 percent of now expected fighting to last months rather than weeks.

It's clear to us that the Bush Administration was not forthright about the details of the war before it started. Realistic estimates of the war's cost, its length, expected strength of Iraqi resistance and the number of expected casualties all should have been shared with the American people.

Last night we viewed a network report that the Administration had told the American people what to expect--as proof, they played a two sentence clip from a Bush speech last October!

We expect support for this war to erode further as more U.S. and British troops are killed or taken prisoner, particlularly thosed killed by trickery--as were the four marines killed last night by a suicide bomber posing as a taxi driver. What a needless waste of life.

The best way to support our troops is to bring them home now.

Update: Iraq's Vice President says suicide bombings will now be "routine military policy."

The people of this town in Iowa have far too much time on their hands. Maybe they could volunteer some of it a constructive way, rather than coming up with hare-brained ideas like passing a law to make lying a crime. [link via Arthur Silber at Light of Reason]:

MOUNT STERLING, Iowa - Lying could be perceived as more than just a character flaw in this southeast Iowa town. It could become a crime.

Four City Council members have proposed an ordinance against fibbing.

Acting Mayor Jo Hamlet said he's tired of the exaggerating that comes with stories in the town of 40 residents famous for its hunting and fishing.

"We wanted to slow down on this lying," Hamlet said this week. "Plus, I'm bored. ... It's been a long winter."

Hamlet said the ordinance has a chance of passing.

"We're going to beat it around," he said. "You never know with the City Council around here what's going to happen."

INDICT has been collecting information about Iraqi war crimes since 1996. To date the organization has targeted twelve members of the Iraqi regime for prosecution. INDICT has released for the first time some of the evidence it has gathered implicating senior members of the Iraqi regime in horrific abuses of human rights. Here is an online summary (in pdf) of first hand accounts of the brutality. The full statements are downloadable.

Who is INDICT?

Belgium is legalizing pot smoking. The country's politicians voted to allow adults to possess up to five grams of marijuana with two restrictions: They can't smoke it in front of children or teenagers, and they can't disturb the peace.

U.S. Marines have found signs of U.S. POWs at a hospital that they have taken over in An Nasiriyah. They also found bloodied female U.S. uniforms and what they suspect was a torture room.

An Nasiriyah is the town where five soldiers were taken prisoner in a battle in which two soldiers died and eight were reported missing.

MSNBC's Kerry Sanders is traveling with the unit that took over the hospital. He reported

Sanders was shown where the uniforms were found — inside the bathroom of a larger room that had been padlocked. It was the same room where 3,000 nuclear, biological and chemical suits were found when the Marines moved in.

The uniforms, which had had their American flag patches and names ripped off, were found inside a bag. In another room, Marines found a large battery next to a bed — leading them to suspect it was used as a torture device, Sanders reported.

One female U.S. soldier is listed as a prisoner of war and two as missing in action. They were part of an Army maintenance convoy attacked by Iraqis after making a wrong turn in An Nasiriyah on Sunday. The known female POW is Spc. Shoshawna Johnson, 30, of Fort Bliss, Texas. The female soldiers listed as missing are: Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, of Palestine, W.Va.; and Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, of Tuba City, Ariz.

Update: More on the hospital and Jessica's rescue.

[comments now closed.]

Reuters News is reporting that the U.S. has ordered a 4 to 6 day pause in the push to Northern Iraq due both to supply shortages and strong Iraqi resistance.

Use of gas-guzzling armored vehicles has been restricted to save fuel and food is also in short supply. In one frontline infantry unit, for instance, soldiers have had their rations cut to one meal packet a day from three.

The airstrikes reportedly will continue during this period.

Update (Sat.3/29 8:00 am): BBC reports central command denies there will be a pause in "operations in Iraq." Reuters update says "Senior commanders at their Gulf headquarters in Qatar said, however, that there would be no pause in the overall air and ground campaign to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."

Four U.S. Marines have been killed in a suicide bombing by an Iraqi taxi driver near Nageef.

Sean-Paul is back with the up to the minute chronology of events at the The Agonist.

An explosion rocked Kuwait City a few hours ago--it may have been a missle shot from Iraq gone awry. It is not known if there are injuries or fatalities yet.

Here's the latest:

• A missile struck a shopping mall in Kuwait City early Saturday, Kuwaiti authorities said
• Explosions rocked Baghdad early Saturday, Information Ministry may have been hit
• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warns Syria that the U.S. considers military shipments to Iraq a "hostile act"
• Rumsfeld also warned that armed Iranian "proxies" operating in Iraq will be treated as combatants

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz admitted Friday that military officials may have underestimated "the number of execution squads" and the scope of deceptive tactics such as fake surrenders that Iraqi fighters have employed against coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.

A Turkish plane flying from Istanbul to Ankara has been hijacked to Greece. BBC reports that three Turkish parliament members may be on board.

Two Iraqi attacks on U.S. interests overseas have been thwarted.

Earlier today, an explosion hit a Baghdad market killing 50 civilians. Arab tv reports it may have been a U.S. missile.

Visit the Agonist for more.