The Phony Debate  —  THE SENATE Democratic leadership spent the past week trying to prove that Congress is deeply divided over Iraq, with Democrats pressing and Republicans resisting a change of course.  In fact that's far from the truth.  A large majority of senators from both parties favor …

Bush bars CIA from using torture, but details remain cloudy  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush signed an executive order Friday barring the CIA from using torture, acts of violence and degrading treatment in the interrogation and detention of terrorism suspects, but human rights experts questioned its scope.

Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo  —  A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department …

Fight Over Documents May Favor Bush, Experts Say  —  Contempt Charge Precedents Cited in Firings Case  —  The Bush administration's vow this week to block contempt charges from Congress could prove to be a successful strategy for protecting White House documents about the multiple firings of U.S. attorneys …

Senate Debates Iraq Withdrawal; Report Shows Al-Qaida Regrouping  —  As the Senate debated different proposals for redeploying troops from Iraq, the National Intelligence Estimate revealed that al-Qaida is regrouping despite the war on terrorism.  Political analysts Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss the week's events.

They Don't Really Support the Troops  —  The latest from the New Republic and the Nation.  —  Cindy Sheehan, mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq, emerged on the American political scene two years ago.  Distraught and unstable, she was shamelessly exploited by opponents of George W. Bush …

The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue  —  U.S. Needs to Devise a Different 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, Study Advises  —  In the advertising world, brand identity is everything.  Volvo means safety.  Colgate means clean.  IPod means cool.

Bald eagles  —  Our political cartoonist casts his eye towards the presidential campaign  —  A GROWING number of Republicans are hoping that Fred Thompson, a former senator and television actor, will throw his hat into the presidential ring.  Should he do so, he'd be wise to keep his head …

The Pentagon Insults Hillary Clinton  —  BIG MISTAKE.  —  The extraordinary exchange of letters between Sen. Hillary Clinton and the undersecretary of defense for policy may turn out to be a signal event in the congressional debate over the Iraq war—and possibly in the 2008 presidential election.

Doctors remove polyps from Bush's colon  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Saturday reclaimed his presidential power from Vice President Dick Cheney after undergoing a routine colonoscopy, a White House spokesman said.  —  Five polyps were found in the examination, spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Binman's St George bandana 'is racist'  —  A black dustman has been banned from wearing a St George's Cross bandana because council officials say it could be regarded as racist.  —  Matthew Carter, 35, who was born in Barbados, used the headgear to keep his dreadlocks out of the way while he was on his rounds in Burnley, Lancs.

Federal minimum wage rising this week  —  WASHINGTON - Fast-food waitress Fawn Townsend of Raleigh, N.C., knows exactly what she is going to do if her salary goes up with Tuesday's increase in the federal minimum wage: start saving for a car so she can find a second job to make ends meet.