OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; A General Misunderstanding  —  AS the No. 2 general at United States Central Command from the Sept. 11 attacks through the Iraq war, I was the daily "answer man" to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.  I briefed him twice a day; few people had as much interaction with him as I did during those two years.

Bombs That Would Backfire  —  WHITE HOUSE spokesmen have played down press reports that the Pentagon has accelerated planning to bomb Iran.  We would like to believe that the administration is not intent on starting another war, because a conflict with Iran could be even more damaging …

'Speak softly, don't argue and slow down'  —  Loud and brash, in gawdy garb and baseball caps, more than three million of them flock to our shores every year.  Shuffling between tourist sites or preparing to negotiate a business deal, they bemoan the failings of the world outside the United States.

PORTRAIT OF A MOONBAT  —  Via the Washington Post, a compelling image of online leftoid Maryscott O'Connor:  —  Maryscott wasn't pleased with the Post's photographic choice, and—according to Maryscott—neither was WashPost journalist David Finkel: … Hmm.

Policy on Iran nukes seems to be off-target  —  Happy Easter.  Happy Passover.  But, if you're like the president of Iran and believe in the coming of the "Twelfth Imam," your happy holiday may be just around the corner, too.  President Ahmadinejad, who is said to consider himself …

Joe Klein: Nukes should be on the table  —  Joe Klein: "Nukes should be on the table"  —  Joe Klein started off today on "THIS WEEK," sounding fairly reasonable in the discussion about Iran and then veered off into neocon, kool-aid drinking lunacy.  George Stephanopoulos was even caught off guard by Klein's statements.

Time to Fight the Real War  —  Robert Tracinski is the editor of The Intellectual Activist and TIADaily.com.  —  Four and a half years after September 11—which was supposed to awaken us to the threat of devastating attacks by state-sponsored terrorists—America is finally beginning to confront …

Keeping Al-Qaeda in His Grip  —  Al-Zawahiri Presses Ideology, Deepens Rifts Among Islamic Radicals  —  CAIRO — In January 2003, one of the two most wanted men in the world couldn't contain his frustration.  From a hiding place probably somewhere in South Asia, he tapped out two lengthy e-mails …

The GOP's Betrayal On Speech  —  If in November Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives, April 5 should be remembered as the day they demonstrated that they earned defeat.  Traducing the Constitution and disgracing conservatism, they used their power for their only remaining purpose — to cling to power.

Iran suicide bombers 'ready to hit Britain'  —  IRAN has formed battalions of suicide bombers to strike at British and American targets if the nation's nuclear sites are attacked.  According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action.

US denies Pollard-Barghouti release deal  —  The United States has denied a reported proposal to release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard from jail in exchange for the release of imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti's sentence, held in Israeli prison.  —  According to Army Radio …

How to Lose Your Job at a Saudi Newspaper  —  I was unceremoniously fired this month by my Saudi newspaper, a leading English-language daily called Arab News.  —  It didn't matter that I had been the senior columnist on the op-ed page for nine years or that my work was quoted widely …

FEMA deemed these homes habitable  —  Labeling Katrina homes as livable makes owners ineligible for more aid, but officials here call structures unfit  —  A New Orleans house flattened but for a concrete staircase on a crumbling facade was among many storm-ravaged structures …