Trial Spotlights Cheney's Power as an Infighter  —  A picture taking shape from hours of testimony and reams of documents in the trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. shatters any notion that the White House was operating as a model of cohesion throughout President Bush's first term.

National Poll: Presidential Campaign 2008  —  This WNBC/Marist Poll reports:  —  · Hillary Clinton still outpaces her Democratic rivals nationwide as the Democrats' choice for their party's presidential nomination: Hillary Clinton outdistances her closest contender …

Court rules against Guantanamo detainees  —  Big win for administration although appeal to Supreme Court is likely  —  WASHINGTON - Guantanamo Bay detainees may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a ruling upholding a key provision in President Bush's anti-terrorism law.

Campos: The right's Ward Churchill  —  Murder is the premeditated unlawful killing of a human being.  Glenn Reynolds, the well-known University of Tennessee law professor who authors one of the Internet's most popular blogs, recently advocated the murder of Iranian scientists and clerics.

Conservatives Target GOP War Critics in Congress  —  House Republican leaders and conservative activists are targeting critics of President Bush's plan to send more combat forces into Iraq — and some GOP lawmakers are on the hit list.  —  Amid a mounting campaign in Congress …

Justices to Revisit Thorny Issue of Sentencing Guidelines in First Cases After Recess  —  The Supreme Court returns on Tuesday from a monthlong recess to face a daunting and urgent task: explaining what it meant two years ago when it ruled that the federal sentencing guidelines were to be treated as …

Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost  —  In a rare coordinated assault on an American combat outpost north of Baghdad, suicide bombers drove one or more cars laden with explosives into the compound on Monday, while other insurgents opened fire in the ensuing chaos, according to witnesses and the American military.

Moral Waivers and the Military  —  The Iraq war has plunged the Army into a vicious cycle of declining standards.  Multiple, extended tours of duty have sapped morale and blighted recruiting.  New plans for a larger overall force could reduce pressures but would also mean that recruiters would have to meet higher quotas.

Heroes And Cowards  —  Corporal Thomas Saba was buried in the Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island last Friday.  One of seven Marines killed when their helicopter was shot down in Iraq on February 7, Saba, 30, enlisted in the spring of 2002 in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Antiwar Surge  —  Iraq is unpopular, but embracing defeat may prove politically disastrous for Democrats.  —  In mid-January an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that public support for President Bush's troop surge increased to 35%, up from 26% a few weeks earlier.

Defending Nation's Latest War, Bush Recalls Its First  —  To those who criticize his handling of the war in Iraq, President Bush likes to say that history will be his judge.  On Monday, Presidents' Day, Mr. Bush wrapped himself in history's embrace, invoking another war, the American Revolution, and another George W.

Why John McCain  —  He's a leader for our times.  —  Four years ago I decided to quit while I was ahead and concluded my 24-year political career.  When I left the Senate, I also left the public policy debate and talking-head role to those actually in the arena.

Iran 'six months from mass uranium enrichment'  —  Iran could be as little as six months away from being able to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, having mastered the technology since last August, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog warned in an interview published today.

Rudy Giuliani as foreign policy guru?  —  His tough-guy swagger may be attractive, but it's the same attitude that got us stuck in Iraq.  —  THE NORMAL rule in American politics is that if you run for president and your experience comes at the state level, most people will assume that foreign policy is your weak point.

Defence shield sites threatened by Russia  —  Russia threatened to train its missiles on Poland and the Czech Republic yesterday after the two countries signaled they would host a controversial US missile defence shield despite vehement objections from the Kremlin.

North Africa Feared as Staging Ground for Terror  —  TUNIS — The plan, hatched for months in the arid mountains of North Africa, was to attack the American and British Embassies here.  It ended in a series of gun battles in January that killed a dozen militants and left two Tunisian security officers dead.