President Discusses War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom  —  Fact Sheet: Strategy for Victory: Clear, Hold, and Build  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.  Please be seated.  Sanjiv, thanks for the introduction.  He called me on the phone and said, listen …

My Ideal War  —  How the international community should have responded to Bush's September 2002 U.N. speech.  —  Up until now, I have resisted all urges to assume the mantle of generalship and to describe how I personally would have waged a campaign to liberate Iraq.

The New New Gore  —  Five years ago, Al Gore was the much-mocked pol who blew a gimme with his stiff demeanor and know-it-all style.  Today?  C'mon, admit it: You like him again.  —  The most important speech of Al Gore's post-non-presidency was neither well-covered nor particularly dramatic.

Did Marines Commit Crime in Iraq Civilian Deaths?  —  Prompted by Video and Magazine, Military Investigates Incident in Which 15 Iraqis Died, Including Children  —  WASHINGTON, March 19, 2006 — A bloody videotape shot by a local Iraqi journalism student has prompted the Pentagon to launch …

SMALL GOVERNMENT CONSERVATIVES....Atrios is right.  Andrew Sullivan is just being incoherent here in his defense of his own conservatism: … Bush's tax cuts haven't touched Social Security or Medicare taxes (and both programs run surpluses anyway).  They've been solely cuts in personal …

FBI Agent Slams Bosses at Moussaoui Trial  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui in August 2001 testified Monday he spent almost four weeks trying to warn U.S. officials about the radical Islamic student pilot but "criminal negligence" by superiors in Washington thwarted a chance to stop the 9/11 attacks.

A 'Third Term' for Bush  —  Condi Rice, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove need new jobs.  —  It's time for President Bush to think about a third term.  No, he doesn't need to overturn the Constitution.  He can start the equivalent of his third term now, by filling his presidential staff and cabinet …

A Place Called Saudi Arabia  —  I find it a little hard to believe Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer's "The Israel Lobby" was written while sober.  In their first sentence, the authors assert that, "For the past several decades, and especially since the Six-Day War in 1967 …

Bush warns Iran on Israel  —  US President George W. Bush said he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would "use military might" if necessary to defend Israel.  —  "The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel.

How to spot a baby conservative  —  Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints?  Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.  —  At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids …

Afghan Faces Death Penalty for Converting to Christianity  —  Judge Says He Could Escape Punishment If He's Ruled Insane  —  By GRETCHEN PETERS and LARA SETRAKIAN, with reporting by BILAL SARWARY  —  KABUL, Afghanistan, March 20, 2006 — Despite the overthrow of the fundamentalist Taliban government …

The third anniversary...sacrifice, fear and hope.  —  It has been three years since 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' began and for three years we debated whether the decision was right or wrong and until this moment we have different feelings and opinions about where this operation brought us and where its aftermaths are going to lead us.

Peace just a breath away, says Sharon Stone  —  A peaceful co-existence between the peoples of the Middle East is but a breath away, Hollywood star Sharon Stone said after a highly publicized visit to Israel.  —  "It feels to me that we have an opportunity ... to choose understanding in a new way …

Old Forecasts Come Back to Haunt Bush  —  Erosion in Confidence Will Be Hard To Reverse, Say Pollsters, Strategists  —  Three years of upbeat White House assessments about Iraq that turned out to be premature, incomplete or plain wrong are complicating President Bush's efforts to restore public faith …

Soldiers and civilians  —  I understand that Operation Swarmer was hyped, but the air war is real — something the hundreds of Iraqi families who fled Samarra on the first reports understand all too well.  —  Last week, Knight-Ridder reported a fifty percent increase in U.S. airstrikes in Iraq over the past five months.

Best job market in 5 years for grads: report  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. college graduates are facing the best job market since 2001, with business, computer, engineering, education and health care grads in highest demand, a report by an employment consulting firm showed on Monday.