A Bad Bargain  —  Here is a way to measure how seriously President Bush was willing to compromise on the military tribunals bill: Less than an hour after an agreement was announced yesterday with three leading Republican senators, the White House was already laying a path to wiggle out of its one real concession.

Israel: Foreign reporters' vehicles may be used terrorists  —  Government Press Office director warns Shin Bet that armored vehicles used by foreign news agencies may serve hostile groups to carry out attacks against Israel  —  Armored vehicles that were given to foreign news agencies operating …

Columbia Withdraws an Invitation to Ahmadinejad  —  Overruling a prominent dean, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, yesterday withdrew an invitation to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  —  The dean of Columbia's school of international and public affairs …

Three of the Most Significant Problems with the "Compromise"  —  Here's the Agreement Upon Common Article 3.  And here's the Agreements on Classified Information, Self Incrimination and Coercion, and Hearsay, in military commission trials.  —  These are probably the most significant problems with the …

Chavez clearly listened to Dems and Air America  —  So, Hugo Chavez is is still at it. … Hmmmmm....sounds awfully familiar, that tripe.  Bush is "an alcoholic?"  That sounds like Martin Sheen (a "good Catholic" with enough 12-step exposure to know better than to take another man's inventory) …

Strained, Army Looks to Guard for More Relief  —  Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.

Will Democrats squander best chance for a decade?  —  The war in Iraq remains their greatest dilemma and President Bush is regaining lost ground  —  AFTER months of near-euphoria among Democrats and a growing certainty among pollsters that the party will win control of the House of Representatives …

• Fitzgerald given way out of Libby leak case  —  Judge says he can dismiss case if classified secrets will be revealed  —  WASHINGTON - The judge in the CIA leak case ruled Thursday that if Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald feels that admitting certain classified documents …

Palestinian PM won't recognize Israel  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday he will not head a government that recognizes Israel, striking a potential blow to President Mahmoud Abbas' attempts to create a national unity government.

U.N. expert: Iraq torture may be worse  —  GENEVA - Torture in Iraq may be worse now than it was under Saddam Hussein, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners, the U.N. anti-torture chief said Thursday.

Confronted by the Islamist threat on all sides, Europe pathetically caves in  —  LATE LAST YEAR, at the invitation of Nato, and in the company of a small band of globetrotting pundits, I travelled to Afghanistan to witness first-hand the allied operation to reconstruct the benighted country.

New Political Internet TV Station To Be Launched  —  18 DOUGHTY STREET TALK TV - POLITICS FOR ADULTS - GROUNDBREAKING NEW CURRENT AFFAIRS TV CHANNEL TO BE LAUNCHED ON THE INTERNET  —  10th October will see the launch of Britain's first political Internet TV Channel.

Citgo No Go?  —  Up until yesterday, I was unaware that Citgo is wholly owned by Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA.  After Hugo Chavez' lunatic rantings about Bush being Satan and smelling sulphur at the UN podium at Turtle Bay this week, some CQ readers might find that fact ... interesting.

German Woman to rescue American Navy SEAL  —  About six weeks ago, Matt from Blackfive.net called about a Navy SEAL named Justin who had been diagnosed with leukemia.  Justin's life likely could be saved with a bone marrow transplant, and with a giant database of willing donors, Justin's chances might have looked promising.

Tolerance: A Two-Way Street  —  Religious fanatics, regardless of what name they give their jealous god, invariably have one thing in common: no sense of humor.  Particularly about themselves.  It's hard to imagine Torquemada taking a joke well.  —  Today's Islamists seem to have not even a sense of irony.

WAL-MART: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY....Ezra Klein comments on Wal-Mart's plan to start selling a wide array of generic prescription drugs for as little as $4 for a 30-day supply: … This is actually worth unpacking a bit, because no one ought to be surprised by Ezra's reaction.

Innovator Devises Way Around Electoral College  —  In his early 20's, John R. Koza and fellow graduate students invented a brutally complicated board game based on the Electoral College that became a brief cult hit and recently fetched $100 for an antique version on eBay.