Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq  —  The White House ignored an urgent warning in September 2003 from a top Iraq adviser who said that thousands of additional American troops were desperately needed to quell the insurgency there, according to a new book by Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter and author.

Senate passes bill on terror detainee trials  —  Bush backs legislation, had gone to Congress to lobby for it  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation …

Oberstar Fails The Pork Test  —  The House has considered a new Coast Guard appropriation (HR 5681), but they did so under a suspension of the rules.  This parliamentary manuever allows Representatives to undermine the new rule just created that forces them to identify their earmarks in the Congressional Record.

Ugly Words  —  Past and present in the Virginia Senate race  —  DID REPUBLICAN Sen. George Allen use racial slurs years ago?  Did his Democratic challenger, James Webb?  Does it matter, in a race between two candidates with long public records and substantial differences on Iraq, health care, the economy and other critical issues?

Malkin Derangement Syndrome  —  I have blogged before about the obsessed UNC professor Eric Muller.  —  He and his friends at Wonkette have sunk to a new low (Guess insulting me with ping-pong ball jokes wasn't enough).  As a response to my column this week on Charlotte Church …

UNIFIL confronts Israeli troops  —  U.N. peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon intervened for the first time Thursday with Israeli forces who arrested journalists in violation of Resolution 1701.  —  Israel has not completed its total withdrawal behind the Blue Line dividing the two countries …

Beltway Democrats are seriously flawed, but the election is still critically important  —  (updated below)  —  Now that the torture and detention bill will become law, it is necessary to focus on the political implications of what happened yesterday and, more broadly, what has been done …

Wildlife Waste Is Major Water Polluter, Studies Say  —  Does a bear leave its waste in the woods?  —  Of course.  So do geese, deer, muskrats, raccoons and other wild animals.  And now, such states as Virginia and Maryland have determined that this plays a significant role in water pollution.

Students Start Petition To Remove UNH Professor For 9/11 Views  —  Professor Says Government May Have Had Knowledge Of Attacks  —  DURHAM, N.H. — A small group of students has started a petition to remove a University of New Hampshire professor who believes that Bush administration officials planned …

Squirrels Go On Attack At South Bay Park  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — An aggressive squirrel pounced on a 4-year-old boy in an attack last week in Cuesta Park in Mountain View, Calif.  —  The attack happened as the boy's mother unwrapped a muffin during a picnic.  —  SLIDESHOW: Squirrel Attacks Child

washingtonpost.com > Live Discussions  —  washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion  —  Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics?  Start each day with The Post Politics Hour.  Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House …

Iraq Contractor's Work Is Further Criticized  —  13 of 14 Projects Found Wanting by Audit  —  The contractor that botched construction of a $75 million police academy in Baghdad so badly that human waste dripped from the ceilings has produced shoddy work on 13 out of 14 projects reviewed …

The White House Warden  —  Congress may give the president the power to lock up almost anyone he thinks is a terror threat.  —  BURIED IN THE complex Senate compromise on detainee treatment is a real shocker, reaching far beyond the legal struggles about foreign terrorist suspects in the Guantanamo Bay fortress.

Media Anarchy Has Its Downside  —  We got freedom but lost standards.  —  We are talking past each other, the left and right in America.  I suppose we always did, but I'm noticing it more.  We have different intellectual styles (rather too emotive, arguably too linear), start with different assumptions, and recognize different data.