Al-Qaeda Leader Arrested in Iraq  —  Iraqi armed forces have arrested the No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's national security leader said Sunday.  —  The leader, Hamed Jumaa Faris Juri al-Saaydi, was captured within the past few days near Baqubah, along with 20 other senior members …

Why abduct us?  We cede our values for free  —  Did you see that video of the two Fox journalists announcing they'd converted to Islam?  The larger problem, it seems to me, is that much of the rest of the Western media have also converted to Islam, and there seems to be no way to get them to convert back to journalism.

2 U.S. Reports Seek to Counter Conspiracy Theories About 9/11  —  Faced with an angry minority of people who believe the Sept. 11 attacks were part of a shadowy and sprawling plot run by Americans, separate reports were published this week by the State Department and a federal science agency insisting …

The Plamegate Hall of Shame  —  Instead of Cheney or Rove or Libby, the real culprits are favorites of the Washington elite and the mainstream press.  —  The rogues' gallery of those who acted badly in the CIA "leak" case turns out to be different from what the media led us to expect.

G.O.P. Hopeful Says Rumsfeld Should Resign  —  State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., the Republican nominee for United States Senate in New Jersey, says he is so frustrated with the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq that he is pushing for something that few Republicans have supported …

Friends of Hillary hint she may pull out of presidential race  —  FRIENDS of Hillary Clinton have been whispering the unthinkable.  Despite her status as the runaway frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, some of her closest advisers say she might opt out of the White House race …

The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America  —  PS: This is a short version posting.  The longer version will be posted later.  —  The video tape issued by al Qaeda's "as-sahhab" production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker …

I Am a Reality-Based Center-Left Technocrat...  Eric Rauchway writes: … I am, as I said above, a reality-based center-left technocrat.  I am pragmatically interested in government policies that work: that are good for America and for the world.  My natural home is in the bipartisan center …

Transcript for Sept. 3  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Only 65 days until the midterm elections.  The Democrats must gain six seats to take control of the U.S. Senate.  This fall we will once again present debates between the candidates in some of the hottest Senate races across the country …

Israel plans for war with Iran and Syria  —  Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv, and Sarah Baxter, New York  —  THREATENED by a potentially nuclear-armed Tehran, Israel is preparing for a possible war with both Iran and Syria, according to Israeli political and military sources.

No Middle Ground  —  My friends Jenny and Greg were still digesting the news that Jenny was pregnant with triplets when, only moments later, their fertility doctor sat them down.  After recounting the many things that might go wrong in a triple pregnancy, he said, "You really should consider reducing."

Bush: Iraq has not fallen into civil war  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush on Saturday kept up his pre-election offensive on Iraq despite a new Pentagon report describing a deteriorating security situation there.  —  Initial results from a new U.S.-Iraqi campaign to improve the security situation …

Hardball Tactics in an Era of Threats  —  To the government, they were a terrorist risk in the Washington area.  To local Muslims, they were unfairly singled out for prosecution and severe sentences in a post-9/11 world.  —  The crowd was so big it spilled out of the Alexandria courtroom …

'Deluded': Extraordinary attack on Blair by Cabinet  —  'Self-indulgent' PM urged to 'end the pantomime' as senior ministers meet to hasten his departure  —  Tony Blair will be served notice to quit Downing Street at a meeting of the Cabinet next week when senior ministers plan to confront …

Why Poverty Doesn't Rate  —  The Census Bureau last week released its latest estimate of the U.S. poverty rate — the country's most important official statistic on domestic want and deprivation.  The figure was sobering, signaling short-run stagnation and deterioration over the past generation.

Hezbollah wants to swap soldiers for child killer  —  'Most hated man in Israel' at centre of deal to bring prisoners back home  —  IN his Israeli jail cell Samir Qantar, who is serving four life sentences for murder and terrorism, dreams about an exchange of prisoners that might allow him to go home to Lebanon.

Endurance Meets Doubt in Iraq  —  SOON after Specialist Michael Potocki was shot and killed in June, the soldiers in his platoon agreed on their goal for the months ahead: to survive and make it home alive.  —  Survival may be the only thing the troops here agree on.