Webb's Dirty Tricksters: Salon  —  Sadly, the Webb campaign is continuing their attempt to make this Virginia Senate race about lies and rumor-mongering, rather than about issues.  In Salon today, an anti-tobacco and environmental activist claims Senator Allen "used "N-word" in college".

'Iraq Is Not in Chaos'  —  Last Wednesday, Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth interviewed Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in New York.  Excerpts:  —  Q. What happened in your meeting with President Bush?  —  A. We told him our progress in trade, the economy, training the army …

Revisiting GOP attacks on President Clinton  —  The Internet makes it much more difficult than ever before to fabricate history because virtually everything is recorded and so easily discovered.  Those developments, however, did not deter Jonah Goldberg from writing this demonstrably false historical claim …

The Rise of Jihadistan  —  Five years after the Afghan invasion, the Taliban are fighting back hard, carving out a sanctuary where they—and Al Qaeda's leaders—can operate freely.  —  You don't have to drive very far from Kabul these days to find the Taliban.

Iraq Report Rattles Races  —  Twist Hits Lieberman Before Speech On War  —  A conclusion by American intelligence agencies that the U.S. invasion of Iraq spawned a new generation of Islamic radicalism threw Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman a curve on the eve of a major campaign speech he intends to deliver today on the war.

Chris Wallace, Caught Off Balance?  —  Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said that he was stunned when Bill Clinton accused him of a "conservative hit job" after he challenged the former president on his record in fighting terrorism.  —  "I thought it was a fair, balanced and not especially …

Army Warns Rumsfeld It's Billions Short  —  An extraordinary action by the chief of staff sends a message: The Pentagon must increase the budget or reduce commitments in Iraq and elsewhere.  —  WASHINGTON — The Army's top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders …

U.S. Army extends Iraq duty for 4,000  —  WASHINGTON - In a new sign of mounting strain from the war in Iraq, the Army has extended the combat tours of about 4,000 soldiers who would otherwise be returning home, defense officials said Monday.  —  The 1st Brigade of 1st Armored Division …

Specter-Levin Amendment  —  There is still a chance—maybe not a very good chance, but a real chance—to change one of the worst aspects of the detainee bill.  Carl Levin and Arlen Specter* are apparently planning to co-sponsor an amendment to remove the section that strips the courts …

McCain Names Practices Detainee Bill Would Bar  —  Senator Says 3 Interrogation Methods Are Among the 'Extreme Measures' the Plan Would Outlaw  —  A Republican senator who played a leading role in drafting new rules for U.S. interrogations of terrorism suspects said yesterday that he believes …

POLITICS: How Wrong Was Josh Marshall?  —  Plenty Wrong.  —  Now that it has been revealed that the main source for Bob Novak's column "outing" Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA employee was Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's right-hand man at the State Department and (like Novak) no fan of the Iraq War …

GOP aide busted for fake blog posts on liberal sites  —  Liberal bloggers have uncovered a staff member to Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH) using government computers to make fake posts on liberal blogs in New Hampshire, today's ROLL CALL reports.  —  Heard on The Hill columnist Mary Ann Akers …

Millions of Seniors Facing Medicare 'Doughnut Hole'  —  Millions of older Americans are confronting a temporary break in their Medicare drug coverage this month that will require them to pay the full cost of their prescriptions or face the painful prospect of going without.

Senate Panel Debates Detainee Bill  —  Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee sought to slow down the effort by President Bush and Congressional leaders to speed the passage of legislation on the treatment of terror suspects.  —  Senator Arlen Specter …

Fear and Loathing in The Land of the Pure  —  I am a refugee claimant in Canada.  This essay goes in great detail about why I am asking for asylum in the West.  —  Thank you to those who contributed the numerous sources.  I hope that, at the very least, the Immigration and Refugee Board …

U.N. Force Is Treading Lightly on Lebanese Soil  —  Italian soldiers in Lebanon say that for now, they cannot even set up a checkpoint.  Instead, they alert the Lebanese Army of any suspicious cars.  —  One month after a United Nations Security Council resolution ended a 34-day war between Israel …

Fortress Switzerland  —  The people of Switzerland seem to have taken an object lesson from the Swedes and the British, and have decided to step back from the brink of the immigration cliff.  According to AFP, Swiss voters have strongly approved a tightening of asylum laws: