What We've Gained In 3 Years in Iraq  —  Some have described the situation in Iraq as a tightening noose, noting that "time is not on our side"and that "morale is down."  Others have described a "very dangerous" turn of events and are "extremely concerned."  —  Who are they that have expressed these concerns?

Change the Subject  —  POLITICS IS PRETTY SIMPLE.  If the debate in an upcoming election puts your party at a disadvantage, it makes sense to try to change the debate.  At the moment, the 2006 midterm election is framed as a referendum on the Bush administration and congressional Republicans …

Iraq in civil war, says former PM  —  Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC.  —  He said Iraq had not got to the point of no return, but if it fell apart sectarianism would spread abroad.

Congressman Doolittle, wife profited from Cunningham-linked contractor  —  Commissions taken on campaign cash  —  A week before former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham was sentenced to prison, he stressed to the court that a number of other lawmakers also helped arrange federal funding for the defense contractors who bribed him.

Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity  —  An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country's strict Islamic legal system.  The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan's new constitution and democratic government.

Wanted: A Few Good Sperm  —  One day last October, Karyn, a 39-year-old executive, pulled her online dating profile off JDate and Match.com, two sites she had been using, along with an endless series of leads, tips and blind dates arranged by friends and colleagues, to search for a man she wanted to marry and raise a family with.

The Letter of the Law  —  The White House says spying on terror suspects without court approval is ok.  What about physical searches?  —  In the dark days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a small group of lawyers from the White House and the Justice Department began meeting …

Veterans' Voices On Iraq  —  Voices of 100 Veterans: The War in Their Words  —  The heat, which is like living under a french-fry lamp, like standing in front of the world's biggest hair dryer, like sitting in a sealed car on the hottest summer day in Washington with the heater blasting and someone throwing sand in your face.

But Will They Love Him Tomorrow?  —  MOST politicians spend their careers working to overcome flaws.  Then there are politicians like Barack Obama.  —  So charismatic that his greatest challenge has been trying to play down expectations during his first Senate term, Mr. Obama's enviable plight …

Clear and Present Dangers  —  Four decades ago, Kevin Phillips, a young political strategist for the Republican Party, began work on what became a remarkable book.  In writing "The Emerging Republican Majority" (published in 1969), he asked a very big question about American politics …

In pictures: Global anti-war protests  —  Thousands of demonstrators gathered in cities around the world to protest against the war in Iraq, on the third anniversary of the US-led invasion.  —  Across time zones and cultures, their anti-war sentiments and their opposition to the US-led action in Iraq was the same.

Your mission, should you wish to accept it...  ...is to find the historical proof, via Google / Lexis Nexus searches (or what have you), that this newly-minted meme—that the President is using arguments that "no one" of importance has actually ever made ("Bush Using Straw-Man Arguments in Speeches …