Lessons of War  —  TOMORROW MARKS the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, as appropriate a moment as any to take stock.  What matters most is finding the best policy now — doing whatever can be done to help Iraq and safeguard U.S. interests in a vital region.

Disorder in King George's Court  —  At highly charged moments, attorney General Alberto Gonzales can seem placid, passive—at times, just plain out of it.  In the summer of 2002, high-level Bush administration officials met to debate secretly a delicate issue: how aggressively could the CIA interrogate terror suspects?

7 U.S. troops die in Iraq violence  —  BAGHDAD - The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of seven more troops in Iraq, including four killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling western Baghdad — the latest American casualties in a monthlong security crackdown in the capital.

Veterans, Others Denounce Marchers  —  Counter-Demonstrators Number in Thousands  —  As war protesters marched toward Arlington Memorial Bridge en route to the Pentagon yesterday, they were flanked by long lines of military veterans and others who stood in solidarity with U.S. troops and the Bush administration's cause in Iraq.

Tenn. mine enriched Gore, scarred land  —  No major pollution violations, but threat remains  —  CARTHAGE, Tenn. - Al Gore has profited from zinc mining that has released millions of pounds of potentially toxic substances near his farmstead, but there is no evidence the mine has caused serious damage …

Venezuela to Give Currency New Name and Numbers  —  Of all the startling measures announced by President Hugo Chávez this year, from the nationalization of major utilities to threats of imprisonment for violators of price controls, none have baffled economists quite like his venture into monetary reform.

It's All Geek to Me  —  A WEEK ago Friday, moments before an opening-day showing of the movie "300" at Seattle's Cinerama, a 20-something moviegoer rushed to the front of the theater, dropped his shoulders, curled his arms into a mock-Schwarzenegger pose and bellowed out a timeless remark …

Television Takeover  —  U.S.-financed Al-Hurra is becoming a platform for terrorists.  —  Fighting to create a secular democracy in Iraq, parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi had come to rely on at least one TV network to help further freedom: U.S. taxpayer-financed Al-Hurra.  —  Now, however, he's concerned.

'Professor Torture' stands by his famous memo  —  Guantanamo Bay has just marked its fifth anniversary.  John Yoo was instrumental in setting up the prison camp that has been widely condemned.  (The normally solidly pro-American Daily Mail newspaper in England, for example, has called it …

Nowadays, a Candidate Can Seem Too Experienced  —  RUNNING a credible campaign for president has always required an elusive mixture of star power and experience.  But Barack Obama's strong challenge to Hillary Clinton and Rudolph W. Giuliani's recent surge past Senator John McCain …

Lawyer Who Wiped Out D.C. Ban Says It's About Liberties, Not Guns  —  Meet the lawyer who conceived the lawsuit that gutted the District's tough gun-control statute this month.  Meet the lawyer who recruited a group of strangers to sue the city and bankrolled their successful litigation out of his own pocket.

Pet owners worry about food recall  —  UNION, N.J. - Silviene Grzybowski became worried when her local pet store pulled the food she normally feeds her cat and posted an announcement saying it, and many other popular pet foods, had been recalled.  Her cat, Smokey, hadn't been eating for days.