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 …

Tapes of Libby testimony to be released  —  WASHINGTON - Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday.

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.

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.

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.

New Fox Show: Obama Is Not The First 'Clean' African-American Since Oprah 'Does Douche'  —  Fox News is prepping a new late-night talk show called "Red Eye" hosted by Greg Gutfeld, the former editor of UK Maxim (and Huffington Post blogger) who previously led a web-based chat show for FoxNews.com.

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 …

US urged to accelerate Iraq plan  —  Iraq's Sunni vice-president has urged Washington to speed up the deployment of extra US troops to stop what he called "round the clock" killing.  —  Tariq Hashimi told the BBC that previous security drives had failed because they had too few combat troops.

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.

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 …

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."

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.