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.

In Ga., Reed out and McKinney in runoff  —  ATLANTA - Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney couldn't avoid a runoff in her first election following a scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer, and now faces a second contest against her main challenger, Hank Johnson.

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 …

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 …

GOP Unveils School Voucher Plan  —  $100 Million Proposal Targets Low-Income Students  —  The Bush administration and Republican legislators yesterday proposed a $100 million national plan to offer low-income students private-school vouchers to escape low-performing public schools.

Blogosphere Day 3: Ned Lamont For US Senate  —  Two years ago, on July 19th, the blogosphere sprang into action for Ginny Schrader.  In one short day, a long-shot race became seriously competitive.  It remains so to this day.  From the $50K the blogosphere raised that day …

In Iraq, Civil War All but Declared  —  Officials see the latest killings — 130 lives in two days — as a slide into a full-scale conflict.  —  BAGHDAD — Retaliatory massacres by gunmen and bombers linked to rival Muslim sects have left more than 130 people dead across Iraq over the last two days …

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 …

Turkey Signals It's Prepared to Enter Iraq  —  Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there - a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.

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

IDF after Hizbullah money  —  Military sources say warplanes attack structures in which Hizbullah stores its money; among targets hit were four el-Mal (Money house) buildings in Bint Jbeil, Nabatiyeh, Baalbek and Tyre area  —  A senior Northern Command officer told Ynet Wednesday …

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 …

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.

Two children killed in Katyusha rocket strike on Nazareth  —  A Hezbollah rocket attack on the northern town of Nazareth killed two Israeli children on Wednesday afternoon, bringing to 16 the death toll from rocket strikes since the crisis in Lebanon began a week ago.

Latest targets of air blitz: milk and medicine  —  BEIRUT: Israel switched gears in its military campaign against Lebanon Monday and Tuesday, launching a series of debilitating air strikes against privately owned factories throughout the country and dealing a devastating blow …

HEZBOLLAH IS HERE  —  ***scroll for updates***  —  My syndicated column today begins: … Read the rest at JWR for the details.  —  Internet photographer/videographer Zombie drives the point home further with a vivid photo/video exposé of Hezbollah sympathizers in San Francisco on July 13 …