Increased Strife Is Foreseen in Iraq if U.S. Troops Leave  —  There is one matter on which American military commanders, many Iraqis and some of the Bush administration's staunchest Congressional critics agree: if the United States withdrew its forces from Baghdad's streets this fall, the murder and mayhem would increase.

U.S. Rebuffs Germany on Greenhouse Gas Cuts  —  The United States has rejected Germany's proposal for deep long-term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, setting the stage for a battle that will pit President Bush against his European allies at next month's meeting of the world's richest countries.

Pat Lang & Lawrence Wilkerson Share Nightmare Encounters with Feith, Wolfowitz, and Tenet  —  (Lawrence Wilkerson and his regular Thursday students.  These are not the ones in the audience referred to below.)  —  Jeff Stein of Congressional Quarterly has a great recap of what former Pentagon …

Immigration judges lack apt backgrounds  —  A growing number of the jurists have little or no experience in that area of law.  Some have strong Republican resumes.  —  WASHINGTON — Over the last two years, U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has appointed more than two dozen individuals as federal immigration judges.

Bush was twice warned of Iraq challenges  —  Prewar reports alerted the president to the difficulty of establishing democracy, among other assessments that proved accurate.  —  WASHINGTON — Two months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies twice warned the Bush administration …

SUIT SHEDS LIGHT ON CLINTONS' TIES TO A BENEFACTOR  —  When former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton took a family vacation in January 2002 to Acapulco, Mexico, one of their longtime supporters, Vinod Gupta, provided his company's private jet to fly them there.

Border policeman, security guard hurt in e.  J'lem shooting  —  Two Palestinian gunmen opened fired at an Israeli security patrol near a section of the separation barrier on the edge of Jerusalem on Saturday night, wounding two security guards - one seriously - police and rescue officials said.

Everything a Reporter Should Be  —  When William Peters died this week, the world lost a good man, I lost a valued friend and journalists everywhere a role model for what a reporter should be.  —  His obituary tells much about his award-winning TV documentaries, books and magazine articles …

US unit created to pressure Iran, Syria disbanded  —  Occurs amid effort at talks  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has dismantled a special committee that was established last year to coordinate aggressive actions against Iran and Syria, State Department officials said this week.

UPDATE: WaPo Also Taken In By Fake Memo, It Seems Larry Johnson Claims: Theater-Wide Supply Problems Mean Our Troops In Iraq Will Go Hungry  —  Larry Johnson, famous "intelligence agent," has the Super-Duper Scoop: … He ads this update: … Ah.  His basic point wasn't that it was …

Tehran's interest-rate cuts 'economic suicide for banks'  —  TEHRAN: Iran's moderate press and economists Thursday slammed a decision by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to slash interest rates, describing the move as "incomprehensible" and risking "economic suicide."