Gunmen try to take U.S. Embassy in Syria  —  DAMASCUS, Syria - Islamic militants attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Tuesday using automatic rifles, hand grenades and at least one van rigged with explosives, the government said.  Four people were killed in the brazen attack, including three of the assailants.

President's Address to the Nation  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good evening.  Five years ago, this date — September the 11th — was seared into America's memory.  Nineteen men attacked us with a barbarity unequaled in our history.  They murdered people of all colors, creeds, and nationalities — and made war upon the entire free world.

9/11/06  —  The feelings of sadness and loss with which we look back on Sept. 11, 2001, have shifted focus over the last five years.  The attacks themselves have begun to acquire the aura of inevitability that comes with being part of history.  We can argue about what one president …

Reinforce Baghdad  —  We are at a crucial moment in Iraq.  Supporters of the war, like us, have in the past differed over tactics.  But at this urgent pass, there can be no doubt that we need to stop the downward slide in Iraq by securing Baghdad.  —  There is no mystery …

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Bush: Who has left this hole in the ground?  We have not forgotten, Mr. President.  You have.  May this country forgive you  —  Keith Olbermann blasts President Bush in his latest "Special Comment" section on Countdown tonight.  He leaves no stone unturned...

9/11: FIVE YEARS LATER BUSH CONTINUES TO WIELD POWER  —  The story of U.S. law since Sept. 11, 2001, is a story about power — who wields it, who contests it and who has the last word.  —  There are subplots — debates about secrecy, the treatment of noncitizens and the shifting balance between liberty and security.

Pakistan gives in to conservatives on rape law  —  ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's ruling party has given in to the demands of religious conservatives opposed to the amendment of Islamic laws that would have taken rape out of the sphere of religious law.  —  A bill to amend the Islamic laws …

Poll: More Americans blame Bush for 9/11  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The percentage of Americans who blame the Bush administration for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington has risen from almost a third to almost half over the past four years, a CNN poll released Monday found.

SOME REFLECTIONS ON WHAT, IF ANYTHING, "ARE WE SAFER?"  MIGHT MEAN  —  With the fifth anniversary of 9/11, a central question repeatedly asked is whether that country has become safer from international terrorism or not.  I have never quite understood precisely what this question means, but let me explore six possibilities.

9/11: FIVE YEARS ON  —  OSAMA'S ERROR  —  IT was to be "The Mother of All Raids" (ghazvat al-gha zavat) that would bring down "The House of the Spider" as promised by the sheik in his mountain hideout.  —  The "raid" would terrify the "infidel" and hasten his demise just as the armies …

White House Gains Concessions in Senate Measure on Tribunals  —  The Bush administration has won concessions from key Senate Republicans in proposed legislation on standards for detainee treatment and the rules for military trials of terrorism suspects, although some disagreements persist between …

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Reported Captured  —  The commander of Hezb-i-Islami and al-Qaeda ally detained during a raid in eastern Afghanistan  —  On the day of the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attack, Coalition forces score a high value target in Afghanistan.  Gulbuddin Hekmatyar …

In Prime-Time Address, Bush Says Safety of U.S. Hinges on Iraq  —  President Bush Monday at the Fort Pitt firehouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  The door is from a truck that responded to the attacks.  —  President Bush used the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Monday …