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.

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".

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.

Unit Makes Do as Army Strives to Plug Gaps  —  FORT STEWART, Ga. — The pressures that the conflict in Iraq is putting on the Army are apparent amid the towering pine trees of southeast Georgia, where the Third Infantry Division is preparing for the likelihood that it will go back to Iraq for a third tour.

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 …

'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 …

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 …

Retired Officers to Criticize Rumsfeld  —  Retired military officers to criticize Rumsfeld at Democratic panel's hearing on Iraq war  —  (AP) Retired military officers on Monday are expected to bluntly accuse Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq …

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.

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 …

In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power  —  Some of the courtrooms are not even courtrooms: tiny offices or basement rooms without a judge's bench or jury box.  Sometimes the public is not admitted, witnesses are not sworn to tell the truth, and there is no word-for-word record of the proceedings.

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 …

American Jews Into Israeli-Americans  —  I was unsure whether I should write about this, since it's kind of delicate, but the conclusion of Mark Kleiman's Rosh Hashanah post has inspired me: … A bit flip, to be sure, but something I fundamentally agree with.

Who wanted to "cut and run" from Somalia?  —  My post this morning on Salon concerns the accusation voiced this weekend by Chris Wallace in his Fox News interview with President Clinton (a favorite accusation of neoconservatives) that Clinton "emboldened" Al Qaeda when he withdrew American troops …

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 …

Pope Benedict Demands Reciprocity  —  Pope Benedict XVI met with envoys from several Muslim nations today, greeting them warmly and emphasizing the need for dialogue between the faiths.  He did not offer another apology for his remarks at Regensburg two weeks ago, but he did remind the envoys …

Congress Is Winding Down, but Much Is Left Undone  —  A Congress derided as do-nothing has a week to do something, and the prospects are cloudy.  —  Procrastination, power struggles and partisanship have left Congress with substantial work to finish before breaking for the elections.

A Modified MSNBC?  —  There has been speculation for months about MSNBC's future as a 24-hour cable news channel—or, maybe more to the point, its lack thereof.  But one indication may have come last July, when the 10-year-old network launched a newsmagazine, MSNBC Investigates.

Montana Senate: Burns Still Trailing  —  Burns (R) 43% Tester (D) 50%  —  Embattled Republican Senator Conrad Burns now trails Democrat Jon Tester 43% to 50% (see crosstabs).  Tester enjoyed the same seven-point advantage in early July, right after clinching the Democratic nomination.