Myths of Iraq  —  During a recent visit to Baghdad, I saw an enormous failure.  On the part of our media.  The reality in the streets, day after day, bore little resemblance to the sensational claims of civil war and disaster in the headlines.  —  No one with first-hand experience of Iraq …

Democrats Beat Quick Retreat on Call to Censure President  —  WASHINGTON, March 13 — Senate Democrats on Monday blocked an immediate vote on a call by one of their own to censure President Bush for his eavesdropping program.  —  They acted after Republicans said they were eager to pass judgment …

Recruiting "top drawer blacks" for the GOP  —  Adele Fergusen  —  Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal  —  Dear Mrs. Fergusen,  —  I think you answered your own question about why black people aren't flocking to the Republican Party.  If, as you point out, slavery was a godsend to them …

Retorting From The White House  —  David Gregory Is 6-5, but He Can Be A Little Short.  Just Ask Scott McClellan.  —  If David Gregory seems like a bit of a showman in the White House pressroom, it's worth noting that, as the son of a Broadway producer, he grew up meeting the likes of Richard Burton, Rex Harrison and Henry Fonda.

Web Magazine Raises Doubts Over a Symbol of Abu Ghraib  —  The online magazine Salon is challenging the identity of a man profiled by The New York Times in a front-page article on Saturday who says he is the iconic hooded figure in a published photograph who was abused by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004.

On Religion and Politics  —  Since I'm now getting angry emails about things I've never even said let's clear a few things up.  —  I'm not hostile to religion.  I don't much care about religion.  I'm not much interested in it.  This isn't strange.  Most people aren't much interested in religion other than their own, if that.

Mike Wallace Retiring From '60 Minutes'  —  When asked in an interview last April if he would ever consider retiring from "60 Minutes," Mike Wallace said that he planned to do so only "when my toes turn up."  —  "Well," Mr. Wallace said, amending that statement in an interview today, "they're just beginning to curl a trifle."

Jail siege ends as PFLP chief Sa'adat, 5 others surrender  —  A tense, gunfire-punctuated nine-hour IDF siege of a Jericho prison complex ended after dark on Tuesday with the abrupt surrender of Ahmed Sa'adat and five other militants.  —  Sa'adat, leader of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine …

It'll be snakes next...  Okay, yes.  We're getting off this thread of discourse momentarily, and I certainly have Cobb Award nominations to post as well as a whole lot of other things, and this and that and whatever.  —  But let me just warm up this cup of tea here, because I quit drinking as you know, and WHOOOAH!

US postwar Iraq strategy a mess, Blair was told  —  Senior British diplomatic and military staff gave Tony Blair explicit warnings three years ago that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq, according to leaked memos.  —  John Sawers, Mr Blair's envoy in Baghdad …

Study Links Ambien Use to Unconscious Food Forays  —  The sleeping pill Ambien seems to unlock a primitive desire to eat in some patients, according to emerging medical case studies that describe how the drug's users sometimes sleepwalk into their kitchens, claw through their refrigerators …

WHEN HAWKS RUN  —  March 14, 2006 — CAN the War on Terror be won?  America's inability to secure a victory in Iraq against the insurgency suggests to many people of good will and good sense that it really can't be.  They believe the enemies of the United States are motivated by a force …

Informant: Zawahiri Attended Lodi Mosque  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An FBI informant testified Monday that a top Al Qaeda official lived in California's Central Valley in the years before the 2001 terrorist attacks, but the statements were attacked immediately as unreliable.

Tehran elite turning on extremist presidency  —  TEHRAN — Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

YOUR INNER WARRIOR: SUITING UP FOR BATTLE  —  Lust stalks you like a beast, attacking at every opportunity, attempting to poison your life with its self-centered cravings.  It's a teen guy's No. 1 battle.  Guys who are victorious have learned to face present and future temptations head-on.

Federal aid programs expand at record rate  —  A sweeping expansion of social programs since 2000 has sparked a record increase in the number of Americans receiving federal government benefits such as college aid, food stamps and health care.  —  A USA TODAY analysis of 25 major government programs found …

New Panel to Investigate Iraq War Policy  —  WASHINGTON - Ten prominent Americans, including former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, are forming a bipartisan group to assess the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and political and economic developments in the troubled country.