Israel strikes come within 10 miles of Beirut  —  Prime minister says assaults over captured prisoners will be 'very painful'  —  Among the sites targeted by Israeli warplanes was the Qassmieh Bridge in southern Lebanon.  At least two civilians have died in the attacks.  —  FREE VIDEO

Disgusting: DCCC Uses Dead Soldiers to Raise Money  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a new fundraising pitch going out.  It uses September 11th and our troops to raise money.  But, instead of using those images to show Democrats would be tougher on terrorists …

Justice Department Lawyer To Congress: 'The President Is Always Right'  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department's office of legal counsel.  When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on whether the President's interpretation …

July Homicide Total Rises to 14 in District  —  'Crime Emergency' Declared By Ramsey Following Surge in Crime  —  D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey reacted yesterday to a recent surge in homicides by declaring a "crime emergency," a move that gives him the freedom to quickly adjust officers' schedules and restrict their days off.

Novak: Rove was a source in outing Plame  —  WASHINGTON - Columnist Robert Novak said publicly for the first time Tuesday that White House political adviser Karl Rove was a source for his story outing the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.  —  In a column, Novak also says his recollection …

Gorbachev: 'Americans Have a Severe Disease'  —  15 Years After Being Deposed From Power, Former Leader Discusses Russia, U.S.  —  July 12, 2006 — Mikhail Gorbachev is generally regarded as the man who broke down the "iron curtain" that separated the communist world from the West and thawed …

Is the Daily Kos About to Implode?  —  It appears that the post-Yearly Kos month from hell is continuing for Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the proprietor of the Internet's premier liberal blog Daily Kos.  After receiving some extremely negative press from major publications such as the New York Times …

'La Raza' schools: Your tax dollars at work  —  "La Raza" is Spanish for "The Race."  —  It's bad enough the White House lent its prestige to The Race's annual conference.  But did you know the Bush administration has forked over millions of federal tax dollars directly to The Race?

Airwaves Again Safe for "South Park" Scientology Spoof  —  Comedy Central is finally respecting Cartman's authoritay.  —  One week after South Park's controversial "Trapped in the Closet" episode garnered an Emmy nomination, and nearly four months after it was abruptly pulled from rotation on the cable net …

Online Venture Seeks To Elevate the Debate  —  Civility Is In, Rancor Out on Web Site Begun by Democratic, GOP Strategists  —  A group of political strategists who have spent years firing heavy artillery at each other came together at the Hay-Adams Hotel yesterday, put aside their weapons …

General Sees Need for More U.S. Forces in Baghdad  —  By PAUL von ZIELBAUER and DAVID S. CLOUD  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 12 — Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, said today that "terrorists and death squads" were responsible for the surge in sectarian killings …

Confluence of Hurdles Hampers Panel's Iraq Probe  —  A Senate panel investigation into the use of intelligence leading up the the Iraq war remains in limbo after almost three years of politically charged clashes over the content and conclusions of the inquiry.

Wall Street Rift: Journal Reporters Reject Gigot Line  —  The Wall Street Journal news staff can live with occasional opposition from the paper's editorial page.  What it can't live with is the editorial page's support.  —  "People feel like we're walking around with knives in our backs," one news staffer said.

Nations sending Iran to Security Council  —  PARIS - World powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran back to the United Nations Security Council for possible punishment, saying the clerical regime has given no sign it means to negotiate seriously over its disputed nuclear program.

The extinction of mass culture  —  The advent of 300 channels and the Internet has fragmented audiences - and the explosion of choice has left us poorer  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — Quick: Name the biggest star in prime-time television.  —  Now: Name a star created by the Internet.

On the road: Will Bush get less Crawford this August?  —  This could be getting serious.  —  The White House is concerned enough about President Bush's job rating and its possible effect on Republican chances in the November elections that word of reduction in vacation time at Crawford next month is being put about.

Dawn Over Tokyo  —  Sixty-one years after the end of World War II, Japan is on the verge of becoming a mature, responsible democracy.  —  Once Japan's troops raped and murdered their way across China, enslaved women as prostitutes for their soldiers, and starved, beat and worked Allied POWs to death.