Pentagon 'three-day blitz' plan for Iran  —  THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.  —  Alexis Debat, director of terrorism …

What maketh a neo-con?  [Jamie]  —  There's been a lot of discussion on the blog about the use—and abuse—of the label "neo-con." Which has got me thinking—what is it that causes people to label others this way?  And why is it that people who would never consider themselves neo-conservatives are labeled as such?

Welcome, Stranger.  Here's a Speeding Ticket.  —  DRIVING through a tiny Vermont town a few weeks ago on my way to drop off my daughter at camp, I saw flashing yellow lights appear in my rearview mirror.  —  My car had picked up speed coming down a hill, and a police officer pulled me over.

Dems should be like Bush  —  The line from the left is that we neo-cons so screwed things up that the world has turned against the United States; restoring American prestige overseas will require multiple terms by Jimmy Carter acolytes Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards — so hated is George Walker Bush.

Report Reveals Corruption in Iraqi Government  —  · State Department investigators in Iraq have concluded that the government of Nouri al-Maliki is not capable of even rudimentary enforcement of anti-corruption laws.  The investigators also say that corrupt civil servants with connections …

7 Questions as the Race for the White House Accelerates  —  Not a juggernaut, but it is the best campaign on the block right now.  That's a view widely shared among Democratic strategists and emphatically asserted by some veteran Republicans sizing up the race.

Mishkin urges swift action to any fall in house prices  —  Central bankers should ease monetary policy quickly and aggressively in response to a big fall in house prices, Federal Reserve governor Frederic Mishkin said on Saturday.  —  Presenting a paper on the final day of the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium …

Bush Is Said to Approve More Aid to Iraqi Sunnis Battling Extremist Groups  —  President Bush, marshaling his arguments to maintain current troop levels in Iraq, has approved the acceleration of a new program to intensify economic assistance directly to Sunni Arab regions where former insurgents …

Obama Wants Divestment Issue For His Own  —  With Jewish campaign money more critical than ever and Jewish votes potentially important in a handful of key states, most of the 2008 presidential candidates are trying to carve out pro-Israel positions they can call their own.

Ben Stein's Delusional Defense Of Senator Larry Craig  —  Former Nixon advisor, actor, TV game show host and comedian, Ben Stein appeared with FOXNews' Neil Cavuto and makes what is probably the most misguided, fact-free and delusional defense of Larry Craig we've found since the scandal broke earlier this week.

Mexico trucks to roll on U.S. highways  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration can proceed with a plan to open the U.S. border to long haul Mexican trucks as early as next week after an appeals court rejected a bid by labor, consumer and environmental interests to block the initiative.

Afghan Police Are Set Back as Taliban Adapt  —  Over the past six weeks, the Taliban have driven government forces out of roughly half of a strategic area in southern Afghanistan that American and NATO officials declared a success story last fall in their campaign to clear out insurgents …

Safety Agency Faces Scrutiny Amid Changes  —  In March 2005, the Consumer Product Safety Commission called together the nation's top safety experts to confront an alarming statistic: 44,000 children riding all terrain vehicles were injured the previous year, nearly 150 of them fatally.

Geraldo Rivera unhinged  —  The Boston Globe has a fawning Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous-ish profile of Fox News Channel's Geraldo Rivera.  In between musing about his favorite pair of soft Uggs ("I've worn these in Tora Bora and Somalia," he says, admiring the suede slip-ons with the sheepskin lining.

In Book, Bush Peeks Ahead to His Legacy  —  When President Bush is asked what he plans to do when he leaves office, he often replies curtly: "I don't have that much time to think beyond my presidency" or "I'm going to sprint to the finish."  —  But in an interview with a book author …