Rice meets with Lebanon PM in Beirut  —  WASHINGTON - In a surprise visit to Beirut, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the beleaguered prime minister of Lebanon on Monday for his courage in struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.

Surveillance We Can Live With  —  President Bush's electronic surveillance program has been a festering sore on our body politic since it was publicly disclosed last December.  Civil libertarians, myself included, have insisted that the program must be subject to judicial review to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment.

Four children and the cost of war  —  TYRE, Lebanon (CNN) — The last time I sat down to write something, it was about the cost of war.  As I looked ahead to the coming days, the last words I wrote were: Who will die?  —  Today, I found out.  —  Standing in front of this 8-year-old boy lying …

Blasted by a missile on the road to safety  —  Family ordered to flee were targeted because they were driving minivan  —  The ambulanceman gave Ali the job of keeping his mother alive.  The 12-year-old did what he could.  "Mama, mama, don't go to sleep," he sobbed, gently patting her face beneath her chin.

Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Program  —  Plant Underway Could Generate Plutonium for 40 to 50 Bombs a Year, Analysts Say  —  Pakistan has begun building what independent analysts say is a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium, a move that, if verified, would signal a major expansion …

'Chickenhawk'  —  ``IT'S TOUCHING that you're so concerned about the military in Iraq," a reader in Wyoming e-mails in response to one of my columns on the war.  ``But I have a suspicion you're a phony.  So tell me, what's your combat record?  Ever serve?"

Democrats pledge to fight Bolton nod  —  Senate Democrats have promised a "bruising fight" over the administration's nomination of John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.  —  Mr. Bolton's nomination was sent out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year without …

U.S. Cuts in Africa Aid Said to Hurt War on Terror  —  WASHINGTON, July 22 — The Bush administration and Congress have slashed millions of dollars of military aid to African nations in recent years, moves that Pentagon officials and senior military commanders say have undermined American efforts …

Sectarian break-up of Iraq is now inevitable, admit officials  —  The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, meets Tony Blair in London today as violence in Iraq reaches a new crescendo and senior Iraqi officials say the break up of the country is inevitable.

Legal Group Faults Bush for Ignoring Parts of Bills  —  WASHINGTON, July 23 — The American Bar Association said Sunday that President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law by claiming the power to disregard selected provisions of bills that he signed.

Kos, Hezbollah, and Israel  —  WHEN THE BOMBS began to fall in the Middle East, the Daily Kos had a problem.  And the Daily Kos's problem could soon be the Democratic party's problem.  —  On the one hand, one of the most solid blocks of support for the Democratic party is America's Jewish community.

'It Looked Weird and Felt Wrong'  —  From its first days in Iraq in April 2003, the Army's 4th Infantry Division made an impression on soldiers from other units — the wrong one.  —  "We slowly drove past 4th Infantry guys looking mean and ugly," recalled Sgt. Kayla Williams …