Turkish officials: Troops enter Iraq  —  ANKARA, Turkey - Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, Turkish security officials said.  One official said the troops had returned to their bases by the end of the day …

Mitt Romney Won  —  According to a Frank Luntz focus group, he reported on Fox and Friends this morning.  His watchers said things like: "His answers, he is answering the questions right off the bat.  He is not giving any bull." and "He is answering the questions the best he can honestly."

Democrats Hope to Expand Rights at Guantánamo  —  A day after two military judges ruled against the Bush administration's system for trying terrorism detainees, Democrats seized on the rulings on Tuesday as evidence that Congress should restore the right of those held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to challenge their detentions.

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Can He Unleash the Force?  —  Like all young superheroes, Barack Obama has to learn to harness his powers.

GOP candidates shy away from Bush  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. - President Bush won't be on the ballot in November 2008, but the Republicans who want to be clearly believe their best chance comes by distancing themselves from their party leader.  —  The 10 candidates yielded Bush no quarter during …

Giuliani will skip August straw poll  —  New Yorker plans "non-traditional" caucus run  —  Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani plans to skip the Ames straw poll in August, but compete to win the leadoff Iowa caucuses, a gamble by the former New York Mayor on a "non-traditional" caucus campaign and a first for Iowa.

Murdoch, Ailes, Weymouth Pump Bloomberg At Breindel Awards  —  "I'm sworn to secrecy," Rupert Murdoch told The Observer as he was leaving the New-York Historical Society's auditorium last night.  But: "We're making progress," the News Corp. chief added.  —  Mr. Murdoch hosted …

Support for Senate Immigration Bill Falls, 49% Prefer No Bill At All  —  Public support for the Senate immigration reform bill has slipped a bit over the past week.  A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Monday and Tuesday night found that just 23% of voters now support the bill while 50% are opposed.

What is Rudy Giuliani talking about???  —  This is what I am denied, or spared, by being trapped in Chinese factories or hospitals and getting only intermittent glimpses of real-time Campaign 2008 rhetoric:  —  Rudy Giuliani's answer to the first substantive question of the debate.

In Saudi Arabia, a view from behind the veil  —  As a woman in the male-dominated kingdom, Times reporter Megan Stack quietly fumed beneath her abaya.  Even beyond its borders, her experience taints her perception of the sexes.  —  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The hem of my heavy Islamic cloak trailed over floors that glistened like ice.

PC brigade ban pin-ups on RAF jets - in case they offend women and Muslims  —  In killer heels and little else, they have a definite deadly charm.  —  But the risque images of women that have decorated warplanes since the First World War have been scrubbed out.

Journalists, You're in the Army Now  —  The days of the independent, neutral war correspondent, objectively reporting from a war's front lines, are quickly coming to an end.  In the future, a war correspondent will either effectively be a soldier for one faction of a conflict, or he will literally not survive in the war zone.

Huckabee on Evolution  —  Roll the tape:  —  Of this, and Jamie Kirchick's suggestion that Huckabee believes in "fairy tales," Matt writes: … I like Huckabee, and to a certain extent I liked his answer, but I don't think this will quite fly.  I understand that atheists and agnostics …

VIDEO: Scarborough spins "pole" controversy  —  MSNBC HOST DEFENDS COMMENTS BY LYING, REFUSING TO APOLOGIZE, TAKING CHEAP SHOTS AT BLOGGERS  —  By now, TPS readers are well aware that Joe Scarborough had an Imus moment on his MSNBC show this week when he wondered out loud whether Fred …

The Democrats' Leap of Faith  —  You know it's a different kind of candidate forum when Hillary Clinton allows that she sometimes prays (no doubt, she says, to some divine eye-rolling) "Oh, Lord, why can't you help me lose weight?" and describes how "prayer warriors" sustained her through …

The Truth About Syria  —  This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Barry Rubin about his new book The Truth About Syria .  The timing of the book's publication, as well as this interview, could hardly be better.  —  MJT: Your new book is called The Truth About Syria .