Buildup in Iraq Needed Into '08, U.S. General Says  —  The day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there be maintained through February 2008, military officials said Wednesday.  —  The White House has never said exactly …

A Verdict on the Wilson Affair  —  Denis Collins, a Washington journalist on the Scooter Libby jury, described sentiments in the jury room reflecting those in the Senate Democratic cloakroom: "It was said a number of times. . . . Where's Rove?  Where are these other guys?"

Members Were Aware of Lapses at Walter Reed  —  Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them.  —  But C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., former chairman …

Porn free  —  Left-wing blogs gleefully outed my gay porn past after I criticized antiwar zealots.  But the truth has set me free.  —  Was I totally clueless?  When I stepped forward in late 2005 to talk about anti-military attitudes at New York's Columbia University, I knew my past might be put under the microscope.

Three Good Options for The Right  —  The axiom is as old as human striving: The perfect is the enemy of the good.  In politics this means that insisting on perfection in a candidate interferes with selecting a satisfactory one.  —  Which is why the mood of many of the 6,300 people …

FLASH: Here We Go Again — Pulitzer Finalists Leaked!  —  NEW YORK It didn't take long for the Pulitzer Prize finalist lists to begin leaking out.  Within hours of the 14 Pulitzer juries packing up to go home on Wednesday after three days of judging at Columbia University, the names of this year's alleged finalists began to spread.

Gitmo's Guerrilla Lawyers  —  How an unscrupulous legal and PR campaign changed the way the world looks at Guantanamo.  —  He was the first American to die in what some have called "the real war."  Johnny "Mike" Spann, the 32-year-old CIA paramilitary commando, was interrogating prisoners …

Obama paid late parking tickets  —  Racked up penalties while at Harvard  —  Barack Obama received 17 parking tickets in Cambridge.  —  Barack Obama is no longer a scofflaw, at least in Cambridge and Somerville.  —  Two weeks before the US senator from Illinois launched his presidential campaign …

RudyTube 1993: Rudy and Donna  —  Hard watching now, here's Rudy Giuliani's then-wife Donna Hanover and their kids, starring in David Garth's famous 1993 commercial about the "gentle," family Rudy, the soft side of a tough prosecutor.  —  Now, 13 years later, Donna's son …

Anti-terrorism bill to relax foreigners entry into US  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate's anti-terrorism bill would relax visa requirements for foreign travelers coming to the United States, a move that some worry will leave the country more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

'Common Ground' Caucus  —  Four Leaders Seek Ideas — and Civility  —  It was not nostalgia or a desire for companionship that brought four former Senate leaders together in a meeting room on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning, but rather a sense of alarm at the breakdown in civility …

Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence  —  A former Iranian deputy defense minister who once commanded the Revolutionary Guard has left his country and is cooperating with Western intelligence agencies, providing information on Hezbollah and Iran's ties to the organization, according to a senior U.S. official.

Nearly 70 percent pessimistic on war outcome  —  NBC/WSJ poll: Clinton leads Obama by 8 points; Giuliani leads McCain by 21  —  WASHINGTON - Almost two months after President Bush announced he was sending more than 21,000 additional troops into Iraq, saying, "We can, and we will, prevail …

Lawmaker's Intervention in Law Enforcement Crosses Line  —  The emerging scandal surrounding the dismissals of eight former U.S. attorneys should signify to American voters the depth, breadth, and permeation of corruption in the Bush administration.  —  When a U.S. senator (to wit …