'The Mark of Rove'  —  These are the days of Republican doubt, with President Bush fighting an unpopular war, Congress in opposition hands, and a 2008 presidential field trailing Democrats in nearly every poll.  But don't tell that to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political alter ego …

Skip Iowa Next Time  —  To revise the old Woody Allen line: Eighty percent of success is not showing up.  While Mitt Romney may have nominally "won" the Iowa Straw Poll over the weekend, the real victors were the ones who stayed away from Ames: Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson …

Gaza Update  —  It was less than two months ago, after the violent takeover of Gaza, that Hamas spokesmen took to the op-ed pages of American newspapers to proclaim that despite all the suicide bombings and summary executions, Hamas intends to create a good-government, pragmatic Islamic state in Gaza.

Major attacks decline in Iraq  —  The number of truck bombs and other large al-Qaeda-style attacks in Iraq have declined nearly 50% since the United States started increasing troop levels in Iraq about six months ago, according to the U.S. military command in Iraq.

Shocking Article On The State Of Islamic Science At Salon  —  I won't turn this into another long rant where I bore you all.  I'll just invite you to read it in full.  The subject of the interview obviously knows what he's talking about, and his opinions are important.

More Easily Debunked Beauchamp Fiction: It Never Ends (Update: Joke?)  —  Had it not been hidden behind the subscriber firewall, I would have found this example of The New Republic's unwillingness to fact check Scott Beauchamp long ago.  —  It is already widely know that in Beauchamp's second dispatch …

Boot Interview  —  Last week we sat down for an interview with Max Boot, a regular contributor to this blog and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  Mr. Boot talks about "How Not to Get Out of Iraq" (his article in the September issue of COMMENTARY), General Petraeus's September report, the war in Iraq, and more.

ACLU Letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Requesting A Meeting on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act  —  Dear Mr. Attorney General:  —  Today, my staff was briefed by the Justice Department regarding guidelines to institute the new foreign to domestic wiretapping authority Congress granted …

Will Hastert say farewell on Friday?  —  The congressional retirement season has started, and it appears former Speaker Dennis Hastert may soon announce his own plans to ride off into the sunset.  —  The Illinois Republican sent supporters a letter over the weekend asking them to join …

FOOLISH MYTHS ABOUT AL-QAIDA IN MESOPOTAMIA.  —  Over the past few months, I have been debating Roman Catholics who differ from their Eastern Orthodox brethren on the nature of the Trinity, Protestants who are willing to quarrel bitterly with one another about election and predestination …