A Tool We Need to Stop the Next Airliner Plot  —  Imagine that our troops in Afghanistan raided an al-Qaeda safe house and captured a computer containing the cellphone numbers of operatives in Europe.  Wouldn't it be important to know whether one of those cellphone numbers was used to book a transatlantic flight?

Bush Cites Progress in Gulf Coast Visit  —  On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush returned to the devastated Gulf Coast today promising to continue federal assistance, and eagerly pointing out signs of progress.  —  "It's amazing, isn't?" he told a gathering under a sweltering sun.

Karr Won't Be Charged In Death of JonBenet  —  Prosecutor Says DNA Samples Did Not Match  —  Prosecutors dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the decade-old killing of JonBenet Ramsey on Monday, abruptly ending a 12-day whirlwind that reached halfway around the globe …

Plame and the 'Bush Lied' Meme  —  A new book by Michael Isikoff, an investigative reporter for Newsweek, and David Corn, who writes for the far left wing magazine The Nation, casts many powerful people in Washington in an unflattering light — but not the people who Mr. Isikoff and Mr. Corn wish to besmirch.

Pronouncing Blame on the Israel Lobby  —  It was quite a boner.  —  University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer was in town yesterday to elaborate on his view that American Jewish groups are responsible for the war in Iraq, the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure and many other bad things.

Iraqi Troops Battle Shiite Militiamen In Southern City  —  With American combat aircraft providing cover, U.S.-backed Iraqi troops battled radical Shiite militiamen Monday in the southern city of Diwaniyah in one of the first major clashes between the two forces.

Iran's leader calls for TV debate with Bush  —  Adjust font size:  —  TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on U.S. President George W. Bush to participate in a "direct television debate with us," so Iran can voice its point of view on how to end world predicaments.

Slowly Sidling To Iraq's Exit  —  Many GOP Candidates Part Company With Bush  —  By Election Day, how many Republican candidates will have come out against the Iraq war or distanced themselves from the administration's policies?  —  August 2006 will be remembered as a watershed in the politics of Iraq.

Democrats See Victory in U.S. House Races, Senate Within Reach  —  Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Charles Rangel and Chairman — again — John Dingell.  Those titles will soon sound familiar.  —  Barring an unexpected and big event, Democrats will win control …

Democrats Now Favored to Take Over DeLay's Old Seat  —  The Texas Republican Party establishment has rallied around a single candidate, Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, in their unusual write-in campaign to salvage the 22nd Congressional District seat vacated in June by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader.

Trash the 'Compact'  —  An attempt to circumvent the Electoral College is really an urban power grab.  —  For more than 200 years America has chosen its presidents as the Constitution provides: through the Electoral College.  Traditionally, each state has cast its electoral votes …

Clinton Makes Up for Lost Time in Battling AIDS  —  Bill Clinton spoke with a girl at a treatment center in Lesotho in July.  The Africa trip was his fifth since 2001.  More Photos >  —  RWINKWAVU, Rwanda — Bill Clinton worked the crowd of AIDS survivors, clasping the outstretched hands …

A GOP Terror Bump  —  There seems to have been a change in the political winds.  They've been blowing pretty strongly against George W. Bush and the Republicans this spring and early this summer.  Now, their velocity looks to be tapering off or perhaps shifting direction.