TIMES GIVES LEFTIES A HEFTY DISCOUNT FOR 'BETRAY US' AD  —  The New York Times dramatically slashed its normal rates for a full-page advertisement for MoveOn.org's ad questioning the integrity of Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.  —  Headlined "Cooking the Books …

Democrats Push Toward Middle On Iraq Policy  —  Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to shift course and pursue modest bipartisan measures to alter U.S. military strategy in Iraq, hoping to use incremental changes instead of aggressive legislation to break the grip Republicans have held over the direction of war policy.

Compromise on Oil Law in Iraq Seems to Be Collapsing  —  A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq's rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed.  The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress …

Spy Master Admits Error  —  Intel czar Mike McConnell told Congress a new law helped bring down a terror plot.  The facts say otherwise.  —  In a new embarrassment for the Bush administration top spymaster, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is withdrawing an assertion …

Researcher: Bin Laden's beard is real, video is not  —  On the Friday before the sixth anniversary of 9/11, Osama bin Laden appeared in a new video, his first since prior to the U.S. presidential elections in 2004.  In analyzing the video, Neal Krawetz of Hactor Factor, an expert on digital image forensics …

President Petraeus?  Iraqi official recalls the day US general revealed ambition  —  The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, expressed long-term interest in running for the US presidency when he was stationed in Baghdad, according to a senior Iraqi official who knew him at that time.

Hsu Sent Suicide Note Before Disappearance  —  Before Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu skipped a court hearing and temporarily vanished last week, he typed out a suicide note and sent copies to several acquaintances and charitable organizations, according to people who received it.

A Bundle of Nerves  —  HSU ARE THEY?  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton previously supported campaign-finance reform proposals that would have required immediate and full transparency of donor names involved in bundling of political donations.  But now Clinton has ordered that none of the 200 …

Consultant Probed in Bogus Interview  —  Former ABC Consultant Says He Was 'Scammed' in Piece on Obama  —  A former consultant to ABC's investigative unit admitted yesterday that he put his name on a purported interview with Barack Obama that he never conducted.

Camouflaged Man Armed With A Loaded AK-47 Arrested In Dearborn Park  —  A 26-year-old Dearborn resident, Houssein Zorkot, was arraigned in 19th District Court Tuesday on several felony charges, including carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent.  —  Zorkot, a third-year medical student …

A New Strain of Anti-Semitism is Spreading  —  Who recently said: "These Jews started 19 Crusades.  The 19th was World War (1).  Why?  Only to build Israel."  —  Some holdover Nazi?  —  Hardly.  It was former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan of Turkey, a NATO ally.