"The Head of the Snake"  —  SULEIMANIYA, IRAQ - Suleimaniya is the most liberal city in Iraqi Kurdistan, partly because of its long-standing and deep ties to nearby Iran, one of the most culturally liberal countries in the Middle East.  The Iraqi Kurds I met who have been to Iran wanted me to know …

U.S. Cites Exception in Torture Ban  —  McCain Law May Not Apply to Cuba Prison  —  Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

Oscars for Osama  —  Nothing tells you more about Hollywood than what it chooses to honor.  Nominated for best foreign-language film is "Paradise Now," a sympathetic portrayal of two suicide bombers.  Nominated for best picture is "Munich," a sympathetic portrayal of yesterday's fashion in barbarism: homicide terrorism.

Katrina Video Refuels Debate Over Response  —  White House Issues Defense Of Bush's Handling of Storm  —  Three days after Hurricane Katrina wiped out most of New Orleans, President Bush appeared on television and said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Rapidly  —  The Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year in a trend that scientists link to global warming, according to a new paper that provides the first evidence that the sheet's total mass is shrinking significantly.

Carter Seeks Vote in U.N. Against U.S.  —  President Carter personally called Secretary of State Rice to try to convince her to reverse her U.N. ambassador's position on changes to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the former president recalled yesterday in a talk in which he also criticized …

Has Washington Gone Insane?  —  The Plame kerfuffle and the decline of rational problem-solving.  —  With President Bush away for a week in Asia, the rest of Washington has had to find something to do with its time other than run amuck over the latest piddling folly.

Bush Likely to Face Opposition on Atomic Deal With India  —  WASHINGTON, March 2 — In concluding its nuclear deal with India, the Bush administration faces significant opposition in Congress and tough questions from its allies on whether the arrangement could set a precedent encouraging …

Clinton Challenger Pulled From Reagan-Era Hat  —  It was supposed to be a marquee Republican campaign of the 2006 elections — a fusillade-style effort to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, which, even if it did not succeed, would excite donors nationally, raise millions for the party …

Oscar nominee: People hate Israelis for a reason  —  Hany Abu-Assad, Israeli-born director of Oscar-nominated film 'Paradise Now,' which has stirred controversy for its depiction of two young Palestinian suicide bombers, says in interview with Yedioth Ahronoth terror derives from another terror …

Ethics Office For Hill Rejected  —  Bipartisan Defeat For Independent Lobbying Overseer  —  A Senate committee yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to establish an independent office to oversee the enforcement of congressional ethics and lobbying laws, signaling a reluctance in Congress …

Gonzales Denies More Extensive Domestic Spying  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told a key House Democrat yesterday that the administration is not conducting any warrantless domestic surveillance programs beyond the one that President Bush has acknowledged, the Democrat said in an interview.

Gallup: 2 Out of 3 Americans Want U.S. Pull Out from Iraq  —  NEW YORK While newspaper editorials remain virtually silent on the subject, the American public seems to have made up its mind.  A new Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll out tonight shows that 2 out of 3 adult Americans now want U.S. troops to start to come home from Iraq.

ZOGBY TROOP POLL: THE RANDOM PROBABILITY SAMPLE  —  On the Zogby poll of U.S. troops in Iraq, I need to make one point that was implicit in my comments on Wednesday a bit more explicit.  While much is shrouded in secrecy, one aspect of the methodology is clear from the information that John Zogby …