Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings  —  The Iraq Study Group's prescriptions hinge on a fragile Iraqi government's ability to achieve national reconciliation and security at a time when the country is fractured along sectarian lines, its security forces are ineffective and competing visions threaten …

Our Pearl Harbor  —  On Dec. 7, 1941 — 65 years ago this week — pilots from a Japanese carrier force bombed Pearl Harbor.  They killed 2,403 Americans, most of them service personnel, while destroying much of the American fleet and air forces stationed in Hawaii.

What Rumsfeld's Critics Don't Get  —  Many Iraq war supporters greeted the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with a sigh of relief, if not a quiet cheer.  —  Neoconservatives like the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol and war historian Frederick Kagan began clamoring …

Mixed reaction to Cheney's daughter's pregnancy … WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney, is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" …

What we should and should not do: An Authoritative Voice...  After watching the Iraq Survey Group press conference today I am a firm believer that all politicians are idiots.  Okay well not all of them but they all have a problem understanding reality.  If any politician is reading …

'I'll flee the country as soon as the US leaves'  —  The Iraqi sergeant has dodged bullets from the al-Mahdi Army and traded fire with Sunni insurgents.  —  Yet in his years with the Iraqi Army he has learnt one simple lesson: once the US military pulls back in Iraq, he should leave the country if he wants to survive.

Postcampaign Lobbying Thrives  —  Democrats Are Fêted  —  Ahead of Push  —  For Stricter Ethics Rules  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats may be promising a clampdown on lobbyist freebies once they take control of Congress.  But ahead of that push, party leaders are collecting lobbyists' checks …

SPECIAL TO PJM: Iran Supreme Leader Hospitalized.  Condition Grave.  —  Three days ago, Iran's dictator, Supreme Leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei, was rushed to the vast medical facility traditionally known as "Vanak" hospital (it now has an Arabic name that means "the 12th Imam Hospital") …

Report: Hamas ministers met with US, EU officials  —  Palestinian source says ministers of Hamas-led government met with senior political officials in Europe, who showed their understanding for organization's stance.  In US, Hamas representatives meet with senior members of Democratic Party

Trusts Busted  —  The seamy underside of asbestos litigation.  —  Harry Kananian died in the year 2000 of mesothelioma—a cancer almost always caused by asbestos.  But the legacy that may survive him is the role he is posthumously playing in exposing evidence of asbestos litigation fraud.