In the current issue of Rolling Stone, journalist Nir Rosen explains how the war in Afghanistan unraveled and just how big a boondoggle the U.S. has on its hands. Click above for video of Rosen discussing the warzone — where he was held hostage while working there as a journalist. Click below for Rosen’s full piece plus a gallery of photos of the region with commentary care of Rosen.

• How We Lost the War We Won: A Journey Into Taliban Controlled Afghanistan

• Embedded With the Taliban: Photos and Commentary By Nir Rosen

A few weeks ago, Rolling Stone featured a story by Guy Lawson that attempted to pull back the curtain on the FBI’s anti-terror task forces and whether or not they were simply in the business of creating fear. Rolling Stone received a great deal of feedback on the story, including a lengthy response from FBI Assistant Director John J. Miller. To read Miller’s letter, as well as Lawson’s response and other reactions from readers, click here.

msnbc.com

ROCHESTER, N.H. – A man claiming to have a bomb walked in to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign offices Friday and took hostages, police and witnesses said.

UPDATE: Crisis over. Phew.

Slate on the government’s secretly disappearing secret evidence:

I know, I know. You think that what happens at Gitmo stays at Gitmo. Maybe. But the only thing more terrifying than convictions based on secret evidence is the possibility that when it comes time to fight those convictions, the secret evidence might just disappear.

(Hat tip: Daily Dish)

Because we hate downloading .pdfs as much as you do, here’s the latest National Intelligence Estimate in full text.

Key Judgments

We judge the US Homeland will face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years. The main threat comes from Islamic terrorist groups and cells, especially al-Qa’ida, driven by their undiminished intent to attack the Homeland and a continued effort by these terrorist groups to adapt and improve their capabilities.

We assess that greatly increased worldwide counterterrorism efforts over the past five years have constrained the ability of al-Qa’ida to attack the US Homeland again and have led terrorist groups to perceive the Homeland as a harder target to strike than on 9/11.

These measures have helped disrupt known plots against the United States since 9/11.

• We are concerned, however, that this level of international cooperation may wane… (more…)

If you’re a Dem or an Independent, there was a lot to like on stage last night in New Hampshire.

Hillary was impressive. Forceful. Distinguished. Presidential. She did an artful job deflecting tough questions without seeming evasive. And her blanket refusal to answer hypothetical questions worked wonders. At one point the crowd even started to applaud when she rebuffed Wolf Blitzer. She looked like the frontrunner and she sounded like she _believed_ when she would say “when I am president.”

Obama was also on the top of his game last night. He was far more relaxed than in his overly coached kickoff performance. He’s one smart dude — and clearly has policy chops that compensate for his lack of Washington experience. His efforts at playing peacemaker on stage added a magnanimity to his performance that none of the other candidates could match. It does seem that he is learning the ways of Washington, however. The mother of a veteran teed up a question about why her son shouldn’t have the right to get healthcare in any hospital of his choosing. Obama prattled on into a Kerryesque stemwinder on the ins and outs of the VA system and economies of scale and blah blah blah. Bill Richardson then swooped in with a home run swing, saying that all veterans should get a “Hero’s Health Card” granting them the best care at any facility of their choosing.

Joe Biden showed up tonight. His passion on the issue of Darfur and his defense of his war appropriations vote really set him apart. He came off as the smartest, toughest white guy in the room. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a big bounce in New Hampshire polls.

Bill Richardson. Another resume candidate who shined. Richardson was less nervous, although he still seemed antsy up on stage. But the governor managed to propose some of the most progressive policies — out of Iraq, full stop; an Apollo energy program to reduce greenhouse emissions drastically — in language that seemed smart and aggressive. He’s a tough-minded problem solver; and he carries an aura of decisiveness that sets him apart from the Senator’s club.

John Edwards. He threw some punches tonight and seemed a bit over-eager to start inflicting damage. He didn’t hurt himself, but his blows were merely glancing. And they provided Obama his chance to flaunt his diplomatic skills, and gave Hillary several chances to pull back and turn the whole evening into a commercial for the Democratic platform — look, we disagree on a few specifics, and we’ve had our differences in the past, but Democrats are all for healthcare. Democrats are all for ending the war. Listen to the Republicans tomorrow night and you’ll hear a defense of more-of-the-same. It’s a good thing Edwards’ path to the White House isn’t paved through the Granite State, because I don’t think he won too many new fans tonight.

Dodd, Gravel, Kucinich: Dodd is a good man with great experience, but he just doesn’t have a presidential presence. Kucinich clearly bettered Gravel as the anti-war candidate, a reflection both of a better night from Dennis and a decent into irrelevance by Gravel.

Cost of war: $500,000,000,000

U.S. reconstruction funds disbursed: $17 billion

Completed Iraq reconstruction projects that are again in need of reconstruction, according to a recent audit: 7 of 8

Average hours that electricity is available in Baghdad: 5.8

Percentage of Iraq’s 34,000 doctors who’ve been murdered or have fled the country: 41

Fraction of 20,000 people killed in global terrorism last year represented by Iraqi deaths: 2/3

Number of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes: 2.6 million

Number of refugees who have fled the country: 1.8 million

Number of U.S. visas issued to Iraqis: 466

Number of daily insurgent and militia attacks: 185

Reason Condi Rice says we can’t impose benchmarks of accountability on the Iraqis or any other “so-called consequences”: it “doesn’t allow us the flexibility and creativity that we need to move this forward.”

U.S. soldiers killed in April: 104

Killed by IED: 59

Number of U.S. troops killed in war: 3,352

Number younger than 22: 974

Number wounded: 25,000

Number committed to surge: 29,000

Months since John McCain said, “We’re either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next several months”: 5.5

(hat tip: Iraq Index)

Let’s look at the facts.

Under the reign of Alberto Gonzales, we’ve seen an authorization of torture and the approval of 4th-Amendment defying wiretapping.

We’ve heard a claim that habeus corpus rights don’t exist, in spite of their black-and-white guarantee in the Constitution. And we’ve heard an assertion that executive rights that have no basis in the print of that document can in fact be found, implied, nebulously, in between the lines written by the founding fathers.

And the Democrats are going after him for firing eight political appointees … for political reasons?!? An abuse of discretion amid wanton abuses of power.

Listen, I’m as disturbed as the next guy that the administration has perverted the role of U.S. Attorney offices, making them just another Rovian fiefdom. But should this scandal — an esoteric wonkfest, at best — really have emerged as the Democrats’ top investigative priority?

I think it’s telling to look at the stakes in this battle. Who were the victims, aside from the fired attorneys? The most controversial firings are those of USAs who either were too agressive in investigating Republican scandals (see: Duke Cunningham) or not responsive to Bush administration desires to see Democrats prosecuted (see: New Mexico.)

That is to say that this is not only a scandal about the politicization of political apointees, but over those appointees’ work vis a vis politicians.

Fundamentally, this has gotten Democratic politicians’ attention — because it affects Democratic politicians.

Through their obsessive focus on this minor scandal, Democrats appear to be a party most committed to protecting their own — instead of emerging as a principled party concerned about protecting the 4th Amendment, Habeus Corpus, or humane-treatment rights of all Americans.

And that’s a goddamn shame.