Talks with radicals called key to ending violence  —  U.S. must negotiate with insurgents and militias, experts say  —  As President Bush prepares this week to announce a new plan for the war in Iraq, doubts are growing in Baghdad and among some international analysts over whether U.S. attempts …

Democrats Revise Agenda To Deal With War in Iraq  —  With Bush to Announce New Plan, Domestic Policy No Longer Primary Focus  —  Democratic leaders who had hoped to emphasize their domestic agenda in the opening weeks of Congress have concluded that Iraq will share top billing …

Gas Smelled Over Large Area Of Manhattan  —  NEW YORK — People over a large part of New York City are smelling a gas, but no cause has been identified.  —  Numerous people have called 911 concerned about the odor.  Con Edison, the Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.

Slimmer Time in the Age of the Internet  —  Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time, took his wife and kids out to dinner Friday night.  —  As historic moments go, not a big deal, but it does reflect a seismic change.  Time magazine, which has been coming out every Monday for over 36 years, hit the streets on Friday instead.

The Smart Surge: Diplomacy  —  The odds are that this week President Bush will announce a "surge" of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops into Iraq.  Will this deliver a "win"?  Probably not.  But it will distract us from facing the deep-seated regional issues that must be resolved.

Pajamas Media and "major embarrassment" — connect the dots  —  (1) Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute (and a Contributing Editor of National Review), on his Pajamas Media blog last Thursday: "BREAKING NEWS -Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, is dead."

Tax Cuts Offer Most for Very Rich, Study Says  —  Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the country as a result of President Bush's tax cuts, according to a new Congressional study.  —  The study, by the nonpartisan …

Exclusive: Bush Picks a Replacement for Harriet Miers  —  In a signal that he could be open to working more closely with congressional Democrats rather than stonewalling, President Bush plans to name the widely respected Republican lawyer Fred F. Fielding as White House counsel this week, party sources tell TIME.

Troop surge in Iraq would have McCain in tow  —  As a key backer of a buildup, his 2008 chances may ride on its success or failure.  —  WASHINGTON — As a onetime prisoner of war during Vietnam and decorated Navy officer, Sen. John McCain has based much of his political persona …

ATTENTION: War supporters - your country needs you  —  (updated below - updated again)  —  One of the two principal architects of the "surge" strategy about to be adopted by the President is Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute.  He recently appeared at an AEI event …

Free-Market Justice  —  SIXTEEN years as a state trial judge have left me with a deep respect for the professionalism and competence of the public defenders who handle felony cases for indigent criminal defendants in my courtroom.  In fact, I've told friends, only half-jokingly …

VIDEO FLASHBACK: Bush Says Sending More Troops To Iraq Would 'Undermine Our Strategy'  —  On Wednesday night, President Bush is expected to announce plans to escalate the war in Iraq by sending more U.S. troops.  On June 28, 2005 — just 18 months ago — Bush said that sending more troops to Iraq would …

A Candidate's Not-So-Candid Camera?  —  John Edwards is ridiculing his political consultants.  —  "You know, they gave me a really great memo," he says, waving the document, which advises him to highlight the importance of public education when addressing teachers.

In Trying Times, Papers Retreat From Washington  —  David Lightman, a Washington-based reporter for The Hartford Courant, knows how to grind it out, sometimes writing two or three articles a day.  He is hustling even more than usual these days, now that his newspaper has cut its Washington bureau to one person from five.

Poll: Critique of Wal-Mart is a Political Loser  —  Democratic presidential candidates who attack Wal-Mart due to concerns about the ill effects of globalization, the firm's business practices and its pay for workers are hurting their own election prospects.