U.S. Appears to Be Waiting to Act on Israeli Airstrikes  —  WASHINGTON, July 18 — The outlines of an American-Israeli consensus began to emerge on Tuesday in which Israel would continue to bombard Lebanon for about another week to degrade the capabilities of the Hezbollah militia, officials of the two countries said.

Cagle tops Reed for GOP nomination  —  In the end, Ralph Reed couldn't do for himself what he had helped Republicans do all the way up to the White House: Get elected.  —  Despite the backing of top conservatives including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller …

Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy  —  At a moment when his conservative coalition is already under strain over domestic policy, President Bush is facing a new and swiftly building backlash on the right over his handling of foreign affairs.  —  Conservative intellectuals …

Iraqi Death Toll Rises Above 100 Per Day, U.N. Says  —  Residents gathered at the site of Tuesday's suicide bombing.  The importance of Kufa to Shiites underlined the intensely sectarian nature of the attack.  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 18 — An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed …

Jordanian who killed 2 U.S. soldiers dies  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Jordanian who killed two U.S. soldiers last month was fatally wounded in a clash with security forces, a senior Iraqi official said Tuesday.  Diyar Ismail Mahmoud, known as Abu al-Afghani, was identified as the killer of the two soldiers …

Bush blocked eavesdropping program probe  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Four in 10 Republicans Would Not Find McCain an "Acceptable" Nominee  —  Clinton, Edwards, Gore most acceptable possible Democratic nominees  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A recent Gallup Panel poll asked Republicans and Democrats whether they would find each of several possible contenders …

IAF foils rocket transports from Syria  —  While army continues to strike Hizbullah, limit its weapons resources, outside groups trying to rearm group.  IAF manages to bomb trucks transporting missiles from Syria.  IDF Maj.-Gen. Eisenkot: These rockets belong to Syrian army  —  Hanan Greenberg

In Which I Condemn Glenn Greenwald for Failing to Condemn Some Stuff  —  I have a screenshot of that Sadly, No! online store with the T-shirts advocating the murder of conservatives — the one Glenn Greenwald failed to condemn.  But before we get to the screenshot, let's recap, for humor purposes.

Press Briefing by Tony Snow  —  Q The mike is on, Tony.  (Laughter.)  —  Q Not unless you've never used it, Tony.  —  MR. SNOW: Aw, shucks, Lester.  Welcome back to those of you on the road.  Good to see a lot of you here.  And for all the others, it's good to be back.

Iraqi civilian toll 6,000 for May, June  —  UNITED NATIONS - Nearly 6,000 civilians were slain across Iraq in May and June, a spike in deaths that coincided with rising sectarian attacks across the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.  —  The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission …