A STATEMENT ON SCOTT THOMAS BEAUCHAMP:  —  We've talked to military personnel directly involved in the events that Scott Thomas Beauchamp described, and they corroborated his account as detailed in our statement.  When we called Army spokesman Major Steven F. Lamb and asked …

TIMESSELECT CONTENT FREED  —  The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post has learned.  —  After much internal debate, Times executives - including publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. - made the decision to end …

Clinton's Foreign Policy Balancing Act  —  In Her Stances, Senator Has One Eye on Primary, One on General Election  —  While preparing to give a major critique of the war in Iraq last month, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton read a draft of the speech and added a few lines of her own.

Our Chance to Capture the Center  —  With President Bush and the Republican Party on the rocks, many Democrats think the 2008 election will be, to borrow a favorite GOP phrase, a cakewalk.  Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats …

Greenwald: New FISA Law Means Admin 'Can Listen To Every Single International Call That You Make'  —  The White House has engaged in an all-out spin operation to downplay its new warrantless wiretapping powers.  Yesterday, White House spokesperson Dana Perino falsely alleged that the new law returns …

Propaganda Redux  —  Take it from this old KGB hand: The left is abetting America's enemies with its intemperate attacks on President Bush.  —  During last week's two-day summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked President Bush for leading the global war on terror.

It's a Female Dog, or Worse.  Or Endearing.  And Illegal?  —  The New York City Council, which drew national headlines when it passed a symbolic citywide ban earlier this year on the use of the so-called n-word, has turned its linguistic (and legislative) lance toward a different slur: bitch.

Rudy Giuliani: Only I can beat Hillary Clinton  —  Lambasting Democrats for having "embraced defeat" in Iraq, Rudy Giuliani is declaring himself the only Republican who will keep America on the offensive against Islamism and stop Hillary Clinton capturing the White House in 2008.

An Iraqi Interpreter's Story  —  "Please, sir, can you help me?  I must work with Americans, because my psychology is demolished by Saddam Hussein.  Not just me.  All Iraqis.  Psychological demolition."  - Iraqi woman to New Yorker reporter George Packer.  —  "The Hammer," Titan Company Badge # S-10296

How Credit Got So Easy And Why It's Tightening  —  An extraordinary credit boom that created many first-time homeowners and financed a wave of corporate takeovers seems to be waning.  Home buyers with poor credit are having trouble borrowing.  Institutional investors from Milwaukee to Düsseldorf to Sydney are reporting losses.

As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates  —  Violence Rises in Shiite City Once Called a Success Story  —  As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources …

Misreporting Obama?  —  When Obama's big terrorism speech last week made headlines for its threat of military action in Pakistan, and won plaudits for its meatiness and detail, I wondered whether the main impression America would get from it would be that he's a fresh voice on foreign policy; or that he wants to invade Pakistan.

Steady Fed sees risks to growth but keeps focus on inflation  —  WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to sit tight on interest rates and keep its focus on inflation, but at the same time acknowledged there were downside risks from the recent turmoil in financial markets.

Camp Kirsanow  —  I haven't seen this getting much attention.  It should.  On July 19, a man named Peter Kirsanow said that if Arabs staged another terrorist attack on American soil, the doors might swing open to new American concentration camps.  —  And who is Peter Kirsanow?  A shrieking talk radio maniac?

Tougher Rules Change Game for Lobbyists  —  H. Stewart Van Scoyoc, founder of one of the biggest lobbying firms in Washington, spent an anxious morning with his lawyer last week assessing the far-reaching ethics and lobbying rules Congress had passed the day before.