NBC: Saddam to be hanged by Sunday  —  Ex-dictator's execution expected to be carried out by start of Eid holiday  —  Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, sentenced to death for his role in 148 killings in 1982, will have his sentence carried out by Sunday, NBC News reported Thursday.

Many soldiers say troop surge a bad idea  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Many of the American soldiers trying to quell sectarian killings in Baghdad don't appear to be looking for reinforcements.  They say the temporary surge in troop levels some people are calling for is a bad idea.

Last lunch with a legend  —  Speaks candidly about the WMDs and war in Iraq  —  DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF … RANCHO MIRAGE, Cal. - Jerry Ford was a politician of rare amiability, but this day he was hopping mad.  —  "They won't let me go in the pool and swim," …

N.C. Bar Files Charges Against Duke D.A.  —  RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The North Carolina bar filed ethics charges Thursday against the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case, accusing him of saying misleading or inflammatory things to the news media about the athletes under suspicion.

The Announcement  —  Yesterday, John Edwards spent the day shoveling, flattening, and recreating Orelia Tyler's yard.  Today, outside that same yard, at 8:03 in the morning, he announced for president.  The speech was more casual than most in the announcement genre, at least in my experience.

More Right-Wing Blog Fun with Iraq War E-mails  —  If wishes were e-mails, the Iraq war would be won.  And John Kerry would be friendless.  —  Yesterday we learned via the National Review Online that, at least according to year-old spam, ground troops think the United States is winning the war in Iraq.

CNN On Demand markets sniper video  —  Go to The Return of the Conservatives blog for the story of how TimeWarner Cable's CNN on Demand is marketing the Iraqi sniper video of terrorists targeting American troops.  Notice the category of the video?  "Family."  —  But, you know, don't question their patriotism.

Declassified State Department Document: Arafat Responsible for Storming of Embassy and Murder of Americans in 1973  —  The State Department has finally admitted (document has just been declassified) that Arafat was behind the 1973 murder of two Americans in Sudan by the Black September terrorist group.

Israel Confirms Arms Shipment Sent to Aid Abbas  —  After coordination with Israel and the United States, Egypt has sent a shipment of weapons and ammunition into the Gaza Strip to forces loyal to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, Israeli officials said today.

Escalating Silence  —  I don't know when Scott Stanzel started working as a White House spokesman, but his rejoinder to Joe Biden's anti-escalation views doesn't make much sense: "I would hope that Senator Biden would wait to hear what the president has to say before announcing what he's opposed to."

Paging Capt. Hussein  —  Media: After Reuters was burned by an anti-Semitic photographer, you would think the "objective" press would be more careful.  How to explain, then, the mystery of Associated Press source Jamil Hussein?  —  The AP claims Hussein is a captain in the Iraqi police force and works in the Baghdad region.

Bush, advisers crafting new Iraq policy  —  CRAWFORD, Texas - Already weeks in the making, President Bush burnished his new war plan on Thursday at a meeting at his Texas ranch with his top military and diplomatic advisers.  —  Back in Washington, critics of the war are urging the Democratic Congress …

Analysis: Arabian Medicis  —  When King Abd al-Aziz — also known as Ibn Saud — died in 1953, he left 44 sons and uncounted daughters by 17 wives.  He used to break up the monotony of daylong cabinet meetings with intimate interludes selected from a catalogue that contained pictures of over 600 concubines.