The Road Home  —  It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.  —  Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States …

Pakistan arrests 'Taleban aides'  —  Several key aides to the leader of Afghanistan's Taleban rebels, Mullah Omar, are reported to have been arrested in Pakistan.  —  An Afghan intelligence source told the BBC four senior associates of Mullah Omar were being held after operations by Pakistani security forces.

'I tried to avoid this war.'  —  Former Secretary of State Colin Powell revealed that he spent 2.5 hours "vainly trying to persuade President George W. Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today's conflict cannot be resolved by U.S. forces.  'I tried to avoid this war,' Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.

Live Earth fails to pack large-scale punch  —  It did what it said on the poster - but no more.  The British leg of Live Earth started at 1.30 pm sharp with a thunderous five-minute drum fanfare by a 20-odd troupe of flailing percussionists, battering a miscellany of ethnic skinned instruments.

Car bombs are linked with Iraq's Al-Qaeda  —  AT least one of the suspects being quizzed over the alleged plot to set off car bombs in Britain was in recent contact with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, senior security officials said yesterday.  —  Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command SO15 is understood …

Thompson energizes young Republicans  —  HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Not yet a 2008 candidate, Fred Thompson energized young Republicans with a speech Saturday that was heavy on rhetoric and short on policy pronouncements.  He branded Democrats as "the party of despair."

Not in their name?  —  Muslims were as much outraged by last weekend's failed car bomb attacks as the rest of the country.  Does that mean they will now help the authorities to root out Islamist terrorists?  Alasdair Palmer investigates  —  The statement from Muhammed Abdul Bari …

A lesson in Iraqi illusion  —  TO IMAGINE what Baghdad will look like after the surge, there is no need to project far into the future.  Instead, just turn to the recent past.  Between September 2006 and March 2007, British forces conducted Operation Sinbad in Basra, Iraq's second largest city.

Fight against terror could take 15 years  —  Britain faces a 15-year battle to end the threat posed by Islamist terrorists, the Government's new security supremo has admitted.  —  Admiral Sir Alan West, the former First Sea Lord, said the overall danger facing the country …

Why Bush and Cheney can't let Scooter sing  —  Well, President George Bush is certainly nothing if not predictable.  —  The talking heads on TV had barely caught their breaths after reports on Scooter Libby's conviction on charges he lied about his role in the Plamegate affair …

Administration Shaving Yardstick for Iraq Gains  —  Goals Unmet; Smaller Strides to Be Promoted  —  The Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals or timelines President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in U.S. policy …

White House plans to block testimony from another Rove aide; Harriet Miers talks to Raw  —  Enjoy this story?  Get headlines instantly with RSS.  The White House appeared set for an expanded showdown with congressional investigators in the probe of the firing of eight US Attorneys over the weekend.