Spineless Sages  —  Top GOP Senators Only Talk Against the War  —  Anyone searching for the highest forms of invertebrate life need look no further than the floor of the U.S. Senate last week and this.  These spineless specimens go by various names — Republican moderates …

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq figure captured  —  BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Intelligence Puts Rationale For War on Shakier Ground  —  The White House faced fresh political peril yesterday in the form of a new intelligence assessment that raised sharp questions about the success of its counterterrorism strategy and judgment in making Iraq the focus of that effort.

R. Milhous Giuliani  —  With the same rootless confidence that causes people to ignore hurricane warnings, many social conservatives remain in denial about Rudy Giuliani's chances of winning the Republican nomination.  —  But with three debates and eight months as the Republican front-runner under his belt …

GOP welcomes back Vitter  —  Republican colleagues welcomed Sen. David Vitter back to Washington Tuesday after the Louisianan spent a tense week avoiding the flap over his ties to the escort service of the so-called "D.C. Madam."  —  Vitter made brief remarks to GOP conference members …

Security services 'foil plot to kill Berezovsky at the London Hilton'  —  Boris Berezovsky fled Britain three weeks ago on the advice of Scotland Yard, amid reports that he was the target of an assassination attempt by a suspected Russian hitman.  —  The exiled tycoon and fierce critic …

Here's a key...  TOWNSEND'S DODGE  —  Here's a key exchange from White House Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend's press conference yesterday about the new NIE on al Qaeda.  We know that intelligence estimates received by the White House prior to the invasion of Iraq warned …

Edwards ad touts him as a tough guy  —  CONCORD, N.H. - Elizabeth Edwards tells voters her husband, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, is a tough guy "who can stare the worst in the face and not blink" in an ad set to start airing Wednesday in New Hampshire.

Papers Detail Industry's Role in Cheney's Energy Report  —  At 10 a.m. on April 4, 2001, representatives of 13 environmental groups were brought into the Old Executive Office Building for a long-anticipated meeting.  Since late January, a task force headed by Vice President Cheney …

Christian Fantasy Genre Builds Niche Without Hogwarts, Muggles or Spells  —  Could the next Harry Potter be a devout Christian?  —  As the days tick down until Saturday, when a breathless world learns the fate of the teenage wizard, a new breed of fantasy fiction, with Potter-style stories, is emerging.

White House Had Drug Officials Appear With GOP Candidates  —  White House officials arranged for top officials at the Office of National Drug Control Policy to help as many as 18 vulnerable Republican congressmen by making appearances and sometimes announcing new federal grants …

If We Don't Call Them Names, the Terrorists Win  —  After the terrorist near misses in London and Glasgow, British officials did the expected.  They raised their nation's threat-assessment level.  They weighed the balance between civil liberties and new, tougher security measures.

Where Michael Moore is Wrong  —  Michael Moore loves government.  —  OK, he doesn't love a government headed by George W. Bush, but he believes that once the Democrats are in charge, government will do a better job providing health care.  —  In his new movie, "Sicko," …

Gore's message loses bite  —  Decrease Increase -  —  Submit comment:  —  ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore's green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills.  —  Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's most threatened fish species.

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Help Wanted: Peacemaker  —  The Iraqi Parliament is on vacation in August and our soldiers are fighting in the heat.  Something is wrong with this picture.