International:
Gunbattle Rages in Streets of Baghdad
A raging, daylong battle erupted in central Baghdad on Tuesday and four Iraqi soldiers were killed, 16 U.S. soldiers were wounded and a U.S. helicopter was hit but not downed by ground fire at the close of the second month of the massive security crackdown on the capital.

In Muqdadiyah, a woman with a suicide vest strapped beneath her black Muslim robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits, killing at least 16 men waiting to learn if they had been hired.

The security crackdown, which began on Feb. 14 and will see nearly 170,000 American forces in Iraq by the end of May, has curbed some sectarian attacks and assassinations in the capital, but violence continues to flare periodically in Baghdad and has risen markedly in nearby cities and towns.

Russia threatening new cold war over missile defense
Russia is preparing its own military response to the US's controversial plans to build a new missile defense system in eastern Europe, according to Kremlin officials, in a move likely to increase fears of a cold war-style arms race.

The Kremlin is considering active counter-measures in response to Washington's decision to base interceptor missiles and radar installations in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move Russia says will change "the world's strategic stability". More here

Talian Deadlier Than Ever With Tactics From Iraq
In an interview with ABC News Monday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai claimed that "neither has the U.S. failed, nor the Taliban coming back. Al Qaeda is defeated." Yet despite Karzai's claims, the Taliban is still very active in Afghanistan. Another report by ABC News that same day asserted that "coalition forces in Afghanistan are fighting a deadlier Taliban than ever, as jihadis returning from Iraq use techniques like suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to challenge NATO forces." Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism czar under both Presidents Bush and Clinton, told ABC News that "the cross-pollination from Iraq is making it much more difficult for NATO soldiers in Afghanistan." For example, an Easter Sunday IED attack that killed six Canadian NATO soldiers is reported to be "the worst toll on foreign troops in a single combat incident" since 2005. Though Karzai dismissed reports that the Taliban and al Qaeda are planning a "spring offensive" of suicide bombings as "a sign of desperation," experts told ABC that enough Taliban members are back from Iraq to have "significantly increased the number of attacks on NATO forces in recent months."

Bush rips 'political' war-funding bill
President Bush yesterday accused Democrats of playing politics with an emergency war funding bill and called congressional leaders to the White House next week to discuss the impasse, but Democrats immediately snubbed the invitation.

National:
Fight over fired prosecutors heats up
Democrats subpoenaed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for more documents Tuesday, escalating their fight with the Bush administration over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

The subpoena, issued a week before Gonzales was scheduled to testify before Congress about the dismissals, seeks hundreds of documents either withheld or heavily blacked out by his department. The subpoena sets a Monday deadline for Gonzales to produce the documents.
"We have been patient in allowing the department to work through its concerns regarding the sensitive nature of some of these materials,"

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers , D-Mich., wrote Gonzales in a letter accompanying the subpoena. "Unfortunately, the department has not indicated any meaningful willingness to find a way to meet our legitimate needs." Read more here

White House Cites ‘Experience From September 11th’ To Justify Staying In Iraq
In today’s White House press briefing, spokeswoman Dana Perino tried to justify President Bush’s escalation in Iraq by stating, “The terrorists that are seeking a safe haven in Iraq, if we were to leave, would find one, just like they had one in Afghanistan.” When reporter Helen Thomas asked how she knows that statement is true, Perino replied, “Well, based on experience from September 11th, that’s how we know it.” Thomas then quickly said, “September 11th had nothing to do with Iraq.” Watch it

State Dept. Blows Off Waxman Niger Iquiry
Yesterday, House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote another letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice requesting her testimony regarding President Bush's claims that Iraq attempted to procure uranium from Niger. Waxman writes that his previous letters to Rice produced "an insufficient response from the State Department's Legislative Affairs office." In yesterday's State Department press briefing, spokesman Sean McCormack claimed the letter "answered in full" all of Waxman's inquiries. "I don't really see the need. I think the letter that we replied to answered in full all of his inquiries," said McCormack. "I'm very curious as to in what regard it's insufficient." But Waxman lays out plainly why the State Department's response has been "insufficient." Specifically, he states that the State Department has not been forthcoming about Rice's knowledge about the false Niger uranium claim that made its way into Bush's 2003 State of the Union address. (Read the full letter here.) "Rather than address any of these questions, Mr. Bergner forwarded copies of two old State Department letters that have no bearing whatsoever on your knowledge of, your role in, or your statements about the Niger claim," writes Waxman. Rice's days of blowing off Waxman's letters are over. If the State Department can't find time to read and adequately respond to his inquiries, Waxman said he will request her testimony on April 18.

In Other News...
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) yesterday said that he would have "taken his tour of an Iraqi market last week even if he hadn't been accompanied by heavily armed U.S. soldiers." He added that the only reason he walked through Baghdad's Shorja market with 100 soldiers, three Blackhawks, and two Apache gunships was because "General Petraeus asked" him to do so.

"Millions of dollars of North Korean funds, frozen for two years amid allegations of money laundering, are to be released," the Bush administration said. "The chief US nuclear envoy said the release of the funds cleared the way for the North -- which in October said it had successfully tested a nuclear weapon -- to begin shutting down the reactor later this week."

From The Right: David Limbaugh: The Pelosi Democrats' Moral Confusion In our outrage over Nancy Pelosi's unconstitutional and, according to some legal experts, criminal attempt to steal the reins of American foreign policy from President Bush, let's not tacitly give her a pass for her egregiously wrongheaded assertion that "the road to Damascus is a road to peace.

From The Left: Mimi Kennedy: Easter in Crawford, Texas: Hell Freezes Over You can't park close to the checkpoint anymore. We walked the rest of the way, Pink Police in the lead, hiding eggs for activists - especially the two children with us, Ella and Julian - to find and put in two baskets that the children and Cindy would attempt to deliver to George Bush.

Quote Of The Day: "The president is really sorry he couldn't be here tonight. ... His book club is meeting." --Dick Cheney, at the 2007 Gridiron dinner

(Sources: AP, FOXNews, Guardian,TownHall, ThePolitco, WashngtoTimes, DrudgeReort, Cener For American Progress, USHouseOfRepresentatives, ABCNes, TorontoSun, AZCentral, PoiticalHumor)