Insult to Injury in Iraq  —  It's been coming for a long time: the idea that fixing Iraq is the Iraqis' problem, not ours — that we've done all we can and now it's up to them.  —  Such arguments have been latent in the Bush administration's Iraq strategy and explicit in Democratic critiques of that strategy for some time.

Poll: Senate within Dems' grasp, but pitfalls remain  —  Control of the chamber could hinge on the outcomes in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.  —  Washington — Democrats are within range of capturing a Senate majority, but face potentially decisive resistance from rural voters …

Limbaugh Says Actor Fox Exaggerates Effects of Disease in Ads  —  Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh attacked actor Michael J. Fox for inserting his halting voice into the U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri, suggesting Fox was "acting" in a commercial where he's shown shaking …

The Note: Pending: Six Days of November Surprises  —  It Isn't a "Surprise" If You Expect It  —  By MARK HALPERIN, DAVID CHALIAN, TEDDY DAVIS, TAHMAN BRADLEY, and EMILY O'DONNELL with KARUNA SESHASAI, MONA RAPHAEL, and MICHELLE DUBERT  —  How the (liberal) Old Media plans to cover the last two weeks of the election:

The GOP Leans on A Proven Strategy  —  Beset by discouraging polls and division within ideological ranks, the White House is accelerating efforts to woo back disaffected conservatives and energize the Republican base in a reprise of a strategy that succeeded in the last two campaign cycles.

Bush Finding Welcome Mats as G.O.P. Looks for an Edge  —  President Bush cannot show up just anywhere in the waning days of this midterm campaign.  But there is a certain class of Republicans who are somewhere between eager and willing to have him at their sides.

Congressman From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry  —  Federal authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

U.S. MILITARY: NO SIGNS OF SOLDIER MISSING IN IRAQ  —  Oct. 24: 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team soldiers stop traffic in the Karradah district looking for a missing translator.  —  Oct. 24: 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team soldiers stop traffic in the Karradah district looking for a missing translator.

Correction: Joe and 'Stay the Course'  —  Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has used the phrase "stay the course" several times in discussing the war in Iraq in recent years, echoing a key phrase of the White House, contrary to an article published today in The Times.

Idle Contractors Add Millions to Iraq Rebuilding  —  A prison built in Nasiriya, Iraq, by the Parsons group.  Overhead costs eat up large shares of such contracts.  —  Overhead costs have consumed more than half the budget of some reconstruction projects in Iraq, according …

One of FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorists' confirmed dead  —  (CNN) — An al Qaeda operative wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings was killed in April in Pakistan, American officials have confirmed.  —  Pakistani officials had said that Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah was killed …

COVERING IRAQ: THE MODERN WAY OF WAR CORRESPONDENCE (EXTENDED VERSION)  —  Would you trust a Hurricane Katrina report datelined "direct from Detroit"?  Or coverage of the World Trade Center attack from Chicago?  Why then should we believe a Time Magazine investigation of the Haditha killings …

Can the '20th hijacker' of Sept. 11 stand trial?  —  Aggressive interrogation at Guantanamo may prevent his prosecution  —  Bill Dedman  —  Mohammed al-Qahtani, detainee No. 063, was forced to wear a bra.  He had a thong placed on his head.  He was massaged by a female interrogator who straddled him like a lap dancer.

Veiled Insult  —  Quite a long time ago, having briefly joined the herd of 20-something backpackers that eternally roams Southeast Asia, I found myself in Bali.  Like all of the other 20-somethings, I carefully read the Lonely Planet backpacker's guide to Indonesia and learned, among other things …