BREAKING NEWS: New Times poll examines 3 early states  —  At the beginning of the autumn dash to the primaries, a new Times/Bloomberg Poll of 3,211 Democrats and Republicans in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina shows that Hillary Clinton maintains a strong lead in all three states (28%, 35% and 45%, respectively).

Petraeus: "I Don't Know" If My Iraq Policy Makes America Safer  —  Sen. John Warner (R-VA) questions Gen. David Petraeus:

Rudy Planning To Spend Part Of 9/11 Anniversary With Noted Basher Of 9/11 Widows  —  Rudy Giuliani may be running for President on his 9/11 performance, but that hasn't stopped him from planning to spend part of the sixth anniversary of the attacks with a high-profile pundit who's repeatedly bashed …

Official: Bush to announce troop withdrawal  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush is expected to announce plans to withdraw roughly 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer, following a recommendation by the top American commander there, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

U.S. Officials Begin Crafting Iran Bombing Plan  —  WASHINGTON — A recent decision by German officials to withhold support for any new sanctions against Iran has pushed a broad spectrum of officials in Washington to develop potential scenarios for a military attack on the Islamic regime, FOX News confirmed Tuesday.

Olbermann's Win A Surprise Even Inside MSNBC  —  Phil Griffin knew it would happen, he just didn't think it would happen this quickly.  On Friday night, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann was the top-rated cable news show in the 25-54 demo.  That means Olbermann beat his cable rival …

Sources confirm Israeli airstrike on Syria  —  (CNN) — Israeli aircraft carried out an airstrike inside Syria last week, possibly targeting weapons that were destined for Hezbollah militants, according to sources in the region and in the United States.  —  Syria reported that its aircraft fired …

Petraeus, Crocker Face Skepticism on Drawdown  —  Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker went before Congress for a second day today to deliver a progress report on the war in Iraq and explain a new military plan to withdraw the 30,000 reinforcements sent there earlier this year to improve security.

Can Gen. Petraeus and Ryan Crocker Save the Next Democratic President?  —  Despite what the pundits will say, I fear the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the Hill Monday and Tuesday is not a turning point, does not give Bush breathing room, and is largely irrelevant.

Sources: Goodell determines Pats broke rules by taping Jets' signals … NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that the New England Patriots violated league rules Sunday when they videotaped defensive signals by the New York Jets' coaches, according to league sources.

Resistance "is a normal thing, and a right for everyone"  —  Perhaps more than any other element, contextual local perspective is missing from analysis about Iraq as a whole and Fallujah in particular.  Western media, media consumers, and the political class offer strategic assessments …

9/11 at Ground Zero  —  My pictures are a little heavy on the Truthers because that's who I was interviewing and filming for HamNation.  I thought I'd be able to get more pictures later of real, normal people observing the day in a respectful way, but my dang camera went all malfunction on me.

Video: 9/11 was a "failure of human understanding," says Mass. governor; Update: "[W]e are all part of the same human story," says NY governor  —  Thanks to Radio Equalizer for this.  Here's Mitt's successor, Deval Patrick, transparently ducking the hard lessons of 9/11 by generalizing …

9/11 and the cult of death  —  Our correspondent contends that our response to September 11 has been deficient.  Radical Islam, he argues, must be recognised as a fanatical death cult, such as Nazism or Bolshevism  —  "In my humble", as one of Updike's Pennsylvanians likes to put it …

Waxman to probe Clinton files  —  In a concession to Republicans, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) has promised to ask the National Archives for documents relating to President Bill Clinton's Office of Political Affairs.  —  As a result, a Democratic push …