Bush Adviser's Memo Cites Doubts About Iraqi Leader  —  A classified memorandum by President Bush's national security adviser expressed serious doubts about whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had the capacity to control the sectarian violence in Iraq and recommended that the United States …

Pelosi Passes on Hastings, Harman for House Intel Chair  —  House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has decided against naming either Reps. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, or Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), the panel's No. 2 Democrat …

Son also rises in testy Webb-Bush exchange  —  President Bush has pledged to work with the new Democratic majorities in Congress, but he has already gotten off on the wrong foot with Jim Webb, whose surprise victory over Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) tipped the Senate to the Democrats.

Judge strikes down Bush on terror groups  —  LOS ANGELES - A federal judge struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutionally vague, according to a ruling released Tuesday.

Accept defeat by Taliban, Pakistan tells Nato  —  Senior Pakistani officials are urging Nato countries to accept the Taliban and work towards a new coalition government in Kabul that might exclude the Afghan president Hamid Karzai.  —  Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri …

Witnesses detail immolation attack on six Sunnis in Baghdad last week  —  BAGHDAD — The attack on the small Mustafa Sunni mosque began as worshippers were finishing Friday midday prayers.  About 50 unarmed men, many in black uniforms and some wearing ski masks, walked through the district chanting …

SWAT Overkill: The Danger of a Paramilitary Police Force  —  In a guest editorial, law professor and instupundit.com blogger Glenn Reynolds argues that overagressive tactics and surplus military gear have turned some police units into a dangerous menace.  —  SOLDIERS AND POLICE are supposed to be different.

President Bush Discusses NATO Alliance During Visit to Latvia  —  PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all.  Labdien!  (Applause.)  Madam President, thank you for your kind words.  Thank you for your leadership, and thank you for your friendship.  Mr. Speaker; Mr. Prime Minister …

EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Considers Moving Troops From al-Anbar Province to Baghdad  —  Major Strategic Shift Considered to Secure Iraqi Capital  —  ABC News has learned that Pentagon officials are considering a major strategic shift in Iraq, to move U.S. forces out of the dangerous Sunni-dominated …

As Iraq Deteriorates, Iraqis Get More Blame  —  From troops on the ground to members of Congress, Americans increasingly blame the continuing violence and destruction in Iraq on the people most affected by it: the Iraqis.  —  Even Democrats who have criticized the Bush administration's conduct …

JUDGE ORDERS TREASURY DEPARTMENT TO MAKE PAPER MONEY RECOGNIZABLE TO BLIND PEOPLE  —  WASHINGTON — American paper money represents an unfair impediment to the blind, and the Treasury Department must come up with new U.S. currency to help the visually impaired use cash, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Houston man admits trying to help Taliban  —  A second man, in U.S. illegally, faces similar conspiracy and weapons charges  —  One of two Houston men accused of training to fight with the Taliban pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court.  —  Kobie Diallo Williams, 33 …

Sharia law is spreading as authority wanes  —  Islamic sharia law is gaining an increasing foothold in parts of Britain, a report claims.  —  Sharia, derived from several sources including the Koran, is applied to varying degrees in predominantly Muslim countries but it has no binding status in Britain.