Be Not Afraid … [From a prayer card I found on a base in Anbar Province, Iraq.]  —  Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle.  By the time these words are released, we will be in combat.  Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope.

Brothers to the Bitter End  —  SO the masked men of Fatah have the run of the West Bank while the masked men of Hamas have their dominion in Gaza.  Some see this as a tolerable situation, maybe even an improvement, envisioning a secularist Fatah-run state living peacefully alongside Israel and a small …

Pakistan says Rushdie knighthood may spark terrorism  —  Pakistan demanded on Monday that Britain withdraw a knighthood awarded to author Salman Rushdie, as a government minister said the honour gave a justification for suicide attacks by Muslims.  —  Angry protesters in several cities …

Senator Obama Responds to the Indian American Community  —  On Monday, June 18, Senator Barack Obama issued the following statement in response to the concerns expressed by the Indian American community regarding the Hillary Clinton opposition research memo.

Unfinished business  —  Not only is Nifong still liable to civil lawsuits from the three young men whose lives he tried to ruin, and criminal prosecution for his obstruction of justice and making false statements to a judge, there are many other people who disgraced themselves in hyping …

Exclusive: Suicide Bomb Teams Sent to U.S., Europe  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Iraqi Orphanage Nightmare  —  Exclusive: U.S. Troops Discover And Rescue Orphan Boys Left Starving, Chained To Beds  —  (CBS) It was a scene that shocked battle-hardened soldiers, captured in photographs obtained exclusively by CBS News.  —  On a daytime patrol in central Baghdad …

Getting Lost in the Great Indoors  —  Many Adults Worry Nature Is Disappearing From Children's Lives  —  Linda Pelzman appreciates the beauty of the outdoor world, sometimes pulling her children into the yard to gaze at a full moon or peer into a dense fog.

Reading Harry Reid  —  Well, you've heard by now that Senate leader Harry Reid insulted one of this country's brightest military minds, Marine Corps General Peter Pace — calling him "incompetent."  Let me take a few moments to put this in context.  —  First, Harry Reid voted for the war, like a majority of our legislators.

Embassy Staff In Baghdad Inadequate, Rice Is Told  —  Ambassador's Memo Asks for 'Best People'  —  Ryan C. Crocker, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, bluntly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a cable dated May 31 that the embassy in Baghdad — the largest and most expensive U.S. embassy …

Republican candidates begin snubbing Bush  —  A president with dismal approval ratings and a bitter intraparty rupture over immigration are obvious problems for Republican politicians.  —  In recent days, however, the combination is emerging as something less obvious: an opportunity.

McCain voices optimism on immigration plan  —  Says his support for measure has affected campaign  —  Senator John McCain had a wide-ranging interview yesterday with reporters and editors at the Globe.  (MICHELE McDONALD/GLOBE STAFF)  —  Senator John McCain of Arizona said yesterday that he was …

Illegals using fire to clear border  —  U.S. Border Patrol agents seeking to secure the nation's border in some of the country's most pristine national forests are being targeted by illegal aliens, who are using intentionally set fires to burn agents out of observation posts and patrol routes.

House pet projects stay private despite promises … (CNN) — Despite the new Democratic congressional leadership's promise of "openness and transparency" in the budget process, a CNN survey of the House found it nearly impossible to get information on lawmakers' pet projects.

The Runaway Train That Hit Scooter Libby  —  The attorney general called a meeting.  He assembled all the U.S. attorneys in the Great Hall of the Justice Department and told them, in essence, that their chief responsibility was to decide whom not to prosecute.

Few senators read Iraq NIE report  —  Only a handful of senators outside the Intelligence Committee say they read the full 92-page National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's ability to attack the U.S. before voting to go to war, according to a survey conducted by The Hill.