In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor today, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he “will oppose” the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General because of his refusal to explicitly say that waterboarding is torture. Watch it:

Another member of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also said today that he would oppose Mukasey’s nomination.

UPDATE: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sent Mukasey a letter today, co-signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Warner (R-VA), indicating support for his nomination.

Bernard Kerik, former NYPD commissioner and close friend of Rudy Giuliani, is now “being sued for allegedly stiffing a law firm on a $202,384.04 tab, after its lawyers helped keep him out of jail.” The suit comes as federal prosecutors are reportedly prepared to file charges against Kerik “that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice.” Marc Mukasey, son of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, has also been tasked by Giuliani “to keep an eye on” Kerik’s criminal investigation and “distance Giuliani from all” the allegations.

On Sunday, McClatchy reported that disgraced Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi had “re-emerged as a central figure” in the U.S. strategy for Iraq. His latest job: to press Iraq’s government to “deliver better electricity, health, education and local security services to Baghdad,” as “the next phase” of the escalation.

Today, Blackanthem.com reports that Petraeus has been trumpeting his new alliance with Chalabi, introducing him to U.S. troops serving in Iraq:

Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general, Multi-National Force-Iraq, Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, director of services in Iraq, and Dr. Safi Al-Sheik, director of the Iraqi National Reconciliation Committee, met with Soldiers and leaders of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., who are operating in the Arab Jabour area.

For Petraeus to proudly introduce troops to Chalabi is particularly unfitting, considering that Chalabi has repeatedly put the lives of U.S. troops in danger in Iraq.

Before the war, Chalabi provided faulty intelligence on Iraq’s supposed weapons programs, helping launch the war. He was investigated for allegations that he passed intelligence to Iran, “wrongdoing that could have endangered American troops and American lives,” according to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Furthermore, Chalabi has alliances with militia leader Muqtada al Sadr, who has led a “series of uprisings against the U.S. military.”

In February, Chalabi became a lead figure in building Iraqi support for the Bush administration’s escalation plan. Subsequently, he “sabotaged” de-Baathification reforms. Nevertheless, Petraeus’s spokesman insists that Chalabi “has a lot of energy.”

Digg It!

On the Senate floor today, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) denounced the White House’s saber-rattling on Iran, calling the Bush administration’s warnings of a nuclear threat “rhetorical ghosts and goblins to scare the American people”:

Today is a fitting day to discuss the issue of Iran. Today is All-Hallow’s Eve — Halloween — a day when people don masks and costumes to frighten others. The White House has been busy unleashing its rhetorical ghosts and goblins to scare the American people, with claims of an imminent nuclear threat in Iran, as they did with Iraq.

Watch it:

Earlier this month, Byrd also warned his colleagues against “sleep-walking” into another war, saying, “I hope that we can stop this war of words before it becomes a war of bombs.”

UPDATE: Steve Clemons received a previously undisclosed letter Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) personally sent to President Bush, warning against the “dangerous and increasingly isolated position” the United States could find itself in should it continue to push for war with Iran.

In a “contentious” hour-long “town hall meeting” today, several hundred U.S. diplomats “vented anger and frustration Wednesday about the State Department’s decision to force foreign service officers to take jobs in Iraq, with some likening it to a ‘potential death sentence.’” The AP reports on the exchange:

“Incoming is coming in every day, rockets are hitting the Green Zone,” said Jack Crotty, a senior foreign service officer who once worked as a political adviser with NATO forces. [...]

“It’s one thing if someone believes in what’s going on over there and volunteers, but it’s another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment,” Crotty said. “I’m sorry, but basically that’s a potential death sentence and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?”

“You know that at any other (country) in the world, the embassy would be closed at this point,” Crotty said to loud and sustained applause from the about 300 diplomats who attended the meeting in a large State Department auditorium.

UPDATE: ABC News has the audio.