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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

NBC label of civil war at odds with White House  —  Pronouncement to increase public dismay over troop presence, analysts say … Today show  —  WASHINGTON - NBC News Monday branded the Iraq conflict a civil war - a decision that put it at odds with the White House and that analysts …

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.

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 …

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.

Pelosi defends al Qaeda, chastises Bush (Update: Video added)  —  Pelosi is mad Bush is blaming violence in Iraq on al Qaeda: … If it's not al Qaeda's fault that they are killing soldiers and innocent civilians, then who should be blamed?  Bush?  U.S. Soldiers?  America?

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 …

Court Clears Way for Prosecutor to Review Records in Times Case  —  The United States Supreme Court refused yesterday to stop a federal prosecutor from reviewing the telephone records of two reporters for The New York Times.  The records, the newspaper said, include information about many of the reporters' confidential sources.

Cheerleading for the Terrorists  —  The media, in all of its glory, wholeheartedly participating in the celebration of a new weapon designed to kill Jews:  —  More details will follow shortly, as soon as I have the time.  I hope to track down the news articles attached to this event …

Democrats win control of Pa. House after 12 years in minority  —  WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Democrats won control of the state House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years Tuesday as Chester County officials settled a pair of hotly contested House races three weeks after the election.

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 …

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.