Iraq Vote Could Resonate In 2008  —  Resolution Against Adding Troops Is Set for a Showdown  —  When Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) saw reporters approaching him last week, he took off in a sprint, determined to say as little as possible about a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's …

Nader leaves '08 door open, slams Hillary  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader on Sunday left the door open for another possible White House bid in 2008 and criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton as "a panderer and a flatterer."

Bush Budget Projects A Surplus by 2012  —  The budget that President Bush will submit to Congress today shows the federal deficit falling in each of the next four years and would produce a $61 billion surplus in 2012, administration officials said.  But to get there, Bush is counting …

Iran: Giant achievements coming soon  —  Ahmadinejad: On February 11, Islamic Republic's nuclear rights 'will be established'  —  "Giant achievements" by Iran will be unveiled by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the coming days, the Iranian Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort  —  Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, is assembling a small band of warrior-intellectuals — including a quirky Australian anthropologist, a Princeton economist who is the son of a former U.S. attorney general and a military expert …

Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War  —  No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago.  But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below …

Insh'allah: A Nighttime Raid with the Iraqi Army  —  It was after midnight when our convoy of Jundi (Iraqi Army soldiers) and trailing Marine advisors rolled out into Fallujah's neighborhoods, their darkened Humvees barreling down pitch black streets and muddy back alleys.

Iraqis Fault Delayed U.S. Plan in Attack  —  A growing number of Iraqis blamed the United States on Sunday for creating conditions that led to the worst single suicide bombing in the war, which devastated a Shiite market in Baghdad the day before.  They argued that slowness in completing …

IRAN ODDS AND ENDS:  —  Lately, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been insisting that, despite all signs to the contrary, the Bush administration has no plans for a war with Iran:  —  Right, and if everyone claps loud enough, we might almost forget this headline from May of 2002: "Rumsfeld: No Plans to Invade Iraq."

Edwards: raise taxes for healthcare  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday said that he would raise taxes, chiefly on the wealthy, to pay for expanded healthcare coverage under a plan costing $90 billion to $120 billion a year to be unveiled on Monday.

U.S. website: Mossad killed Iranian nuclear physicist  —  A senior nuclear physicist involved in Iran's nuclear program who died under mysterious circumstances two weeks ago was killed by the Mossad, according to a report released in a U.S. website this weekend.

U.S. Set to Begin a Vast Expansion of DNA Sampling  —  The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected.

Climate of Opinion  —  The latest U.N. report shows the "warming" debate is far from settled.  —  Last week's headlines about the United Nations' latest report on global warming were typically breathless, predicting doom and human damnation like the most fervent religious evangelical.

20 face lash for dancing in Saudi Arabia  —  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to receive lashes and spend several months in prison after convicting them of attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Congress must stop an attack on Iran  —  DESPITE ANGUISH and anger over the Bush administration's decision to escalate its failing war in Iraq, Congress is unlikely to cut off funding.  Even most opponents of the war fear that they could be blamed for not supporting the troops in the field …

Danny Glover Could Learn Something From A Blogger Ethics Panel  —  The National Journal's Danny Glover has one of the most inventive excuses for avoiding actual reporting work that I've ever seen: … Got that?  Glover thinks Amanda won't answer him, so he won't even ask.  Pretty nifty.