Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan on Way to India  —  NEW DELHI, March 1 — President Bush made a surprise five-hour visit to Afghanistan today to meet with President Hamid Karzai and to see for the first time the country created after the United States went to war against the Taliban …

At War With Ourselves  —  We're winning in Iraq.  Let's not lose at home.  —  Last week the golden dome of the Askariya shrine in Samarra was blown apart.  Sectarian riots followed, and reprisals and deaths ensued.  Thugs and criminals came out of the woodwork to foment further violence.

Alleged rape victim threatened with jail  —  A Naperville woman who on Tuesday refused a judge's order to view a videotape of her alleged rape could be jailed on a contempt of court charge if she does not change her mind Wednesday, and the judge is considering a request to drop sexual assault charges against the Burr Ridge man on trial.

Shiites Told: Leave Home Or Be Killed  —  Sunnis Force Evictions As Iraq Tensions Grow  —  BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 — Salim Rashid, 34, a Shiite laborer in an overwhelmingly Sunni Arab village 20 miles north of Baghdad, received his eviction notice Friday from a man at the door with a rocket launcher.

House Republicans could see 10 to 15 more retirements  —  House Republicans have limited most of their retirements to conservatives in solidly red districts and a handful of statewide-office seekers, but political analysts say 10 to 15 more Republicans could announce in the coming months that they are stepping down.

Gonzales Seeks to Clarify Testimony on Spying  —  Extent of Eavesdropping May Go Beyond NSA Work  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales appeared to suggest yesterday that the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance operations may extend beyond the outlines that the president acknowledged in mid-December.

WE ARE ALL BIGOTS NOW  —  Last week, I wrote "They are all profilers now"—mocking Democrats for their expedient embrace of profiling to exploit the ports fiasco.  This week, I'm sick of conservatives playing the race card to attack skeptics of the ports deal.  From my syndicated column today:

Former Conyers aides press ethics complaints  —  Two former aides to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) have alleged that he repeatedly violated House ethics rules.  —  Deanna Maher, a former deputy chief of staff in Conyers's Detroit office, and Sydney Rooks, a former legal counsel in the district office …

The End of Fukuyama  —  Why his latest pronouncements miss the mark.  —  I have a feeling that last week was a disappointing one for Francis Fukuyama, whose essay "After Neoconservatism" (adapted from his upcoming book America at the Crossroads) was awarded seven pages in the Feb. 19 New York Times Magazine.

Ex-Taliban can learn from Yale experience  —  I was more than a little puzzled to see the self-satisfied mug of Rahmatullah Hashemi '09 smiling at me from the front of the News on Monday.  The last time I saw that Cheshire grin was in Michael Moore's otherwise manipulative "Fahrenheit 9/11 …

Study: Few Americans Know 1st Amendment  —  CHICAGO - Americans apparently know more about "The Simpsons" than they do about the First Amendment.  —  Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press …

Oklahoma Bomb Squader Says Hinrichs Did Not Intend to Kill Self; Anti-Personnel Materials Found in His Apartment, Notes Describe AP Bomb Work  —  Today's edition of The Daily Oklahoman has a front-page story quoting a member of the Norman, Oklahoma bomb squad saying he believes Joel Hinrichs …

Veterans Report Mental Distress  —  About a Third Returning From Iraq Seek Help  —  More than one in three soldiers and Marines who have served in Iraq later sought help for mental health problems, according to a comprehensive snapshot by Army experts of the psyches of men and women returning …

Miss. House committee votes to ban most abortions  —  JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi House committee voted Tuesday to ban most abortions in the state - an unexpected move that left abortion opponents grappling to stake out a position on a proposal that could prompt a lengthy court battle.

The House's Catholic Democrats Detail Role Religion Plays  —  Still reeling from the attacks on Sen. John F. Kerry's brand of Roman Catholicism during the 2004 presidential race, 55 House Democrats issued a joint statement yesterday on the central role that the Catholic faith plays in their public lives.

Anti-Jihad Manifesto Misses the Point  —  Today twelve international authors, most of them (former) Muslims, such as Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, but also a couple of "French philosophers," published a manifesto in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Play About Demonstrator's Death Is Delayed  —  A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content.