(image: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images via NYT)

During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, an incident occured in which hundreds or thousands of Taliban POWs were killed by a warlord supported by the US.

Bush administration officials repeatedly thwarted efforts to investigate the mass killing, according to American officials and human rights groups. — Read the rest

A new law passed in haste by Congress over the weekend and signed into law by President Bush on Sunday expands the government's ability to spy on the phone calls and e-mails of US citizens — no warrants required:

Congressional aides and others familiar with the details of the law said that its impact went far beyond the small fixes that administration officials had said were needed to gather information about foreign terrorists.

Snip from NYT item by James Risen:

The Senate Judiciary Committee issued a series of subpoenas to the White House, Vice President Cheney's office, and the Justice Department today related to the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, setting the stage for a major legal showdown between Congress and the Bush Administration.

Snip from NYT story by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen:

Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.

Snip from an ABC News report:

A senior federal law enforcement official tells ABC News the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in an effort to root out confidential sources.

"It's time for you to get some new cell phones, quick," the source told us in an in-person conversation.