Bush Blames Al Qaeda for Wave of Iraq Violence  —  President Bush today said Al Qaeda was to blame for the rising wave of sectarian violence in Iraq, which he refused to label a civil war.  Mr. Bush said he would press Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, during meetings in Jordan later …

'Civil' Disobedience Spreads — 'NYT' Adjusts Language on Iraq  —  NEW YORK In the wake of the highly-publicized NBC and MSNBC decision to start referring to the conflict in Iraq as a "civil war," other media outlets, which have long used phrases such as "sectarian violence," are re-considering their language in this regard.

Iran tells Talabani that US-led forces must leave Iraq  —  Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that US-led forces had to leave Iraq if security was to be restored in the violence-riven country.  —  "The first step to solve the security issue in Iraq …

Hastings not likely to lead House Intelligence Committee  —  WASHINGTON — Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., will not be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a Democratic aide confirmed Tuesday as Hastings left a private meeting with Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Back to the Future  —  The sin of George W. Bush, to hear his critics tell it, is that he unleashed the forces of freedom in Arab-Islamic lands only to beget a terrible storm.  In Iraq and in Lebanon, the furies of sectarianism are on the loose; and in that greater Middle East stretching …

Pilot of crashed U.S. fighter jet missing in Iraq … BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The U.S. military said Tuesday it has not found the pilot of an Air Force fighter jet a day after it crashed in Iraq.  —  The pilot, who officials have not named, has been classified as "duty status and whereabouts unknown …

Congressman calls Miami a `Third World country'  —  WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo, the leader of the anti-illegal immigration faction in the U.S. House, spent a recent weekend at The Breakers in Palm Beach.  —  Ninety miles to the south, he found a symbol to bolster his belief …

How the imams terrorized an airliner  —  Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Women talk three times as much as men, says study  —  It is something one half of the population has long suspected - and the other half always vocally denied.  Women really do talk more than men.  —  In fact, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman chalking …

Like I Care  —  The first person I knew who had a Web site of his own was a fellow Washington journalist.  This was when many journalists were still just getting into e-mail, but the URL for this Web site quickly circulated around town and around the world.  Why?  Well, we were all impressed by the technological savvy.

Video: Carter blames Israel for failure of roadmap, denies he's anti-Israel  —  As usual when the sage of Plains turns up on TV, it's an embarrassment of outraged riches.  Here you'll find him bestowing the Carter seal of approval to James Baker and the "peace at any price" gang …

Yes, Democrats do need the South!  —  You have to hand it to Tom Schaller.  The moment the midterm election results were more or less in, he crunched some numbers and stared at the exit polls, and took to the cyber-pages of Salon to trumpet the results as a confirmation of his idée fixe.

America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on  —  Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.

Is 'Cronkite Moment' Just a Media Myth?  —  Amid all of the media excitement of NBC's choice to grandly pronounce the ongoing violence in Iraq a "civil war," some (like MSNBC's Keith Olbermann) are gleefully touting NBC's editorializing as a "Walter Cronkite moment," referring …