McCain Strolls Through Baghdad Market, Accompanied By 100 Soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache Gunships  —  Sen. John McCain strolled briefly through an open-air market in Baghdad today in an effort to prove that Americans are "not getting the full picture" of what's going on in Iraq.

Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush  —  Even as their confrontation with President Bush over Iraq escalates, emboldened congressional Democrats are challenging the White House on a range of issues — such as unionization of airport security workers and the loosening of presidential secrecy orders …

Clinton Shatters Record for Fundraising  —  Edwards Also Passes 1st-Quarter Benchmark  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) raised $26 million in the first quarter of the year, almost three times as much as any politician has previously raised at this point in a presidential election …

New Generation of Qaeda Chiefs Is Seen on Rise  —  As Al Qaeda rebuilds in Pakistan's tribal areas, a new generation of leaders has emerged under Osama bin Laden to cement control over the network's operations, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.

Tainted Wheat Gluten Sold as "Food Grade"  —  Del Monte Foods has confirmed that the melamine-tainted wheat gluten used in several of its recalled pet food products was supplied as a "food grade" additive, raising the likelihood that contaminated wheat gluten might have entered the human food supply.

Crime Intensifies Debate Over Taping of Suspects  —  The account, buried in a mountain of documents assembled for a Congressional investigation, describes a decidedly local yet brutal crime: a Navajo man charged with beating his girlfriend nearly to death and then hanging her by a rope outside …

The Once and Future Republic of Vermont  —  The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State.  —  Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again.  We think the time to make that happen is now.  Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big …

Balking at the First Pitch  —  Bush's Skipping of Opening Day May Perpetuate a Ritual's Slow Decline  —  This is a baseball story, so let's get right to the stats.  —  Today is Washington's 65th Opening Day since 1910, when William H. Taft gave us a tradition: the ceremonial first pitch by the president.

First They Came for the Jews  —  A prosecution under the Espionage Act threatens the First Amendment.  —  Early in June 2004, an employee of the American Israel Pubic Affairs Committee, AIPAC—better known by its media tag, "the powerful Israeli lobby"—received an urgent phone call.

More Craven Than Karl  —  On his lonely way back home.  Kris Kristofferson  —  In his front page political self-immolation in the New York Times, Bush pollster Matthew Dowd has managed to set a standard for duplicity unmatched thus far by even Karl Rove.  For all of Rove's many and manifest failings …

Teachers drop the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims  —  Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Governmentbacked study has revealed.  —  It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

Tsunami Hits Solomons; 8 Reported Dead  —  HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) - A powerful undersea earthquake Monday in the South Pacific sent a tsunami several yards high crashing into the Solomon Islands, devastating at least one village, officials and residents said.

A Chat with General David Petraeus  —  The following is an OPFOR exclusive.  Our friend Richard S. Lowry, currently working on a historical account of the surge, sat down for an extensive phone interview with General Petraeus last Thursday.  Richard transcribed the conversation into the post below …

Some Bumps at Start of War Tribunals at Guantánamo  —  As the first of the war crimes cases under a new law began here a few days ago, a military law specialist said it was a test run "to show that this plane will fly."  —  It was a bumpy ride.  —  The military commissions …