Democrats Pull Troop Deadline From Iraq Bill  —  Congressional Democrats relented Tuesday on their insistence that a war spending measure set a date for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraq.  Instead, they moved toward a deal with President Bush that would impose new conditions on the Iraqi government.

Today's Must Read  —  An ideologue, yes, but an ideologue acting on orders or on her own?  —  When Monica Goodling goes before the House Judiciary Committee this morning, that will be the central question.  —  No one can read the two profiles of Goodling in The Los Angeles Times …

DEMOCRATS FIND ETHICS OVERHAUL ELUSIVE IN HOUSE  —  House Democratic leaders pushing a promised lobbying overhaul are facing resistance from balky lawmakers and fending off accusations that a prominent member is flouting new ethics rules.  —  The Democratic leaders were forced to scrap …

Survey: U.S. Muslims Assimilated, Opposed to Extremism  —  Unlike Muslim minorities in many European countries, U.S. Muslims are highly assimilated, close to parity with other Americans in income and overwhelmingly opposed to Islamic extremism, according to the first major, nationwide random survey of Muslims.

Bush: Bin Laden ordered non-Iraq attacks  —  WASHINGTON - Seeking to rally support for the war, President Bush released intelligence asserting that Osama bin Laden in 2005 ordered creation of a terrorist unit to hit targets outside Iraq, including the United States.

Senate Votes to Keep Temporary Worker Program  —  A comprehensive immigration bill survived a significant test on Tuesday as the Senate voted to keep a provision that would let hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers enter the country each year.  —  If the guest worker program …

McCain Turns Focus To His Fundraising  —  As the Senate debate over immigration raged yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had breakfast, brunch and lunch fundraisers in Houston before heading north to gather money at a supporter's home in Dallas and, later, from young professionals at a gourmet Mexican restaurant.

Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran  —  Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:  —  The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

McClatchy's D.C. Bureau Claims It's Barred From Defense Secretary Plane  —  NEW YORK Staffers at McClatchy's Washington, D.C., Bureau — one of the few major news outlets skeptical of intelligence reports during the run-up to the war in Iraq — claims it is now being punished for that coverage.

New Strategy for War Stresses Iraqi Politics  —  U.S. Aims to Oust Sectarians From Key Roles  —  Top U.S. commanders and diplomats in Iraq are completing a far-reaching campaign plan for a new U.S. strategy, laying out military and political goals and endorsing the selective removal …

Iraqis in Hunt for Missing GIs Find Body in U.S. Uniform  —  BAGHDAD — Iraqi police found the body of a man who was wearing what appeared to be a U.S. military uniform and floating in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday morning.  One Iraqi official said the body was that of an American soldier.

WOLFOWITZ AND GAL PAL SPLIT UP  —  PAUL Wolfowitz has really had a bad couple of weeks.  He not only lost his job, he lost his girlfriend, too.  —  Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Iraq war, was pushed out as president of the World Bank over a controversial pay and promotion package …

House backs limits on attorney picks  —  Washington - Congress cleared legislation Tuesday that would curb President Bush's power to appoint prosecutors indefinitely, resolving one controversy linked to the firing of federal prosecutors.  —  The 306-114 vote gave the House's blessing …