Stepping Into Iraq  —  Saudi Arabia Will Protect Sunnis if the U.S. Leaves  —  In February 2003, a month before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, warned President Bush that he would be "solving one problem and creating five more" if he removed Saddam Hussein by force.

In Following His Own Script, Webb May Test Senate's Limits  —  At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush.  Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken …

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 …

Romney plans campaign base in North End  —  Governor Mitt Romney, erasing any doubt that he intends to make a White House bid in 2008, is laying plans to run his presidential campaign from a three-story waterfront building at the edge of Boston's North End, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the proposed deal.

Gingrich: Free Speech Should Be Curtailed To Fight Terrorism  —  A former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, is causing a stir by proposing that free speech may have to be curtailed in order to fight terrorism.  —  "We need to get ahead of the curve rather than wait until we actually literally lose a city …

Losing the Enlightenment  —  A civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists.  —  Our current crisis is not yet a catastrophe, but a real loss of confidence of the spirit.  The hard-won effort of the Western Enlightenment of some 2,500 years that …

A Second American Civil War?  —  Is America in danger of civil war?  Not immediately, perhaps, but famed science fiction writer Orson Scott Card thinks that we're in enough danger that he's authored a cautionary tale entitled Empire that's set in more-or-less present times.

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.

Witnesses detail Iraq burning deaths  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - 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 "We are the Mahdi Army, shield of the Shiites."

Report: Syrian network planned to kill Lebanese officials  —  Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reports Lebanese security forces exposed network of 200 members which trained in refugee camps in Lebanon, planned to assassinate 36 senior Lebanese officials  —  The Lebanese security forces exposed a network …

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.

Clark wants to avoid late campaign start  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wesley Clark said Tuesday he wants to avoid waiting too late to make a decision on whether to run for president — a mistake he made in his failed 2004 bid.  "I think it was clear that I got in too late last time," …

Globalization Makes an Easy Scapegoat  —  WASHINGTON — We may be about to shoot ourselves in the foot — or maybe the chest — on trade.  In the name of "fair trade,'' we may punish our own exporters.  In 2005, worldwide exports exceeded $10 trillion.  Since 1980, they've more than tripled while the overall global economy doubled.