Murtha, a War Critic, Assails Rove Over Speech  —  WASHINGTON, June 18 — Representative John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam War veteran pushing for a quick withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, on Sunday mocked Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, for championing the war while …

A.C.L.U. Warned on Plan to Limit Members' Speech  —  A lawyer in the New York state attorney general's office informally warned the American Civil Liberties Union that his office had concerns about proposed standards that would limit the group's board members from speaking publicly about policies …

Murtha Bashes Rove, Says Republicans "Have No Plan" For Iraq (VIDEO)  —  Rep. John "Cut and Run" Murtha (D - PA) was on Meet the Press this morning to call for an immediate pull-out in Iraq, bash Karl Rove, and look like a hypocrite.  —  Moderator Tim Russert quoted Murtha from his 2004 book …

Mideast Analysis, Fast and Furious  —  WHEN an Iraqi insurgent group releases a new videotape or claims responsibility for an attack, Western reporters in Baghdad rarely hear about it firsthand.  Nor do they usually get the news from their in-house Iraqi translators.

Group Claims It Kidnapped U.S. Soldiers  —  An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a Web statement Monday that it had kidnapped two U.S. soldiers reported missing south of Baghdad.  There was no immediate confirmation that the statement was credible …

Anti-Americanism's Deep Roots  —  The Current Wave of Hostility Will Ebb.  But This Is About More Than the Iraq War.  —  I recently took part in a panel discussion in London about civil conflict and "failed states" around the world, centered on the interesting work of the British economist Paul Collier.

Doubts About Duke  —  The prosecutor insists his rape case is strong.  One big problem: the facts thus far.  —  June 29, 2006 issue - The order had come, signed by a judge, requiring that the Duke lacrosse team give DNA samples.  The prosecutor was trying to identify the three players …

In 'The Devil Wears Prada,' It's Not Couture, It's Business (With Accessories)  —  IN one scene in the new movie "The Devil Wears Prada," the heroine, Andy Sachs, who serves as slave and coat rack for her boss, Miranda Priestly, receives a visit from her concerned Midwestern father.

Trying to Get Even  —  Democrats keep betting on failure in Iraq.  —  During last week's congressional debate over the war in Iraq, critics of the Bush administration's policy made three arguments: that President Bush more or less lied when claiming Saddam Hussein was a threat to the U.S. …

Iraq and Congress  —  The Murtha withdrawal policy is a counsel of defeat.  —  American and Iraqi forces are on the offensive once again, deploying around the terrorist stronghold of Ramadi and beginning a drive to bring order to Baghdad.  This is welcome news, not least because it underscores …

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES  —  Coverage of Rove's Role in Plame Leak Investigation; Interview With Jim Lehrer  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: Rove's reprieve.  After years of media speculation …

Freedom of speech and thought R.I.P.  —  The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper, The Examiner  —  WASHINGTON - Robert Smith, Roman Catholic and now-former Metro board member, believes homosexuality is a form of "deviancy."  Jim Graham, District of Columbia Council member, believes Smith's beliefs are "ancient and archaic."

A noxious form of argument  —  Noam Chomsky has allowed bile and rhetoric to replace intellectual rigour in his latest diatribe against the present United States administration, says Peter Beaumont  —  Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy  —  I will admit one thing from the start.

Mexico Worries About Its Own Southern Border  —  TAPACHULA, Mexico, June 11 — Quiet as it is kept in political circles, Mexico, so much the focus of the United States' immigration debate, has its own set of immigration problems.  And as elected officials from President Vicente Fox …

Lauder Pays $135 Million, a Record, for a Klimt Portrait  —  A dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.