Top U.S. Commander in Mideast to Retire Early  —  WASHINGTON — Adm. William J. Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon said Tuesday afternoon.

SPITZER HAS USED HOOKERS FOR 6 YEARS: SOURCES  —  Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been soliciting high-priced hookers for at least six years and possibly for more than a decade, sources tell The Post.  —  The revelation yesterday that the crusading governor was in fact “Client 9” …

Sinbad Unloads on Hillary Clinton  —  Finally, the Barack Obama campaign has found a big gun to help shoot down Hillary Rodham Clinton's self-proclaimed foreign policy experience.  And he may be the wackiest gun of all: Sinbad, the actor, who has come out from under a rock to defend Obama in the war over foreign policy credentials.

Aide: Spitzer May Defy Calls To Step Down  —  Governor Huddles With Lawyers at Home  —  ALBANY — A top aide to Governor Spitzer said today Mr. Spitzer has not made up his mind about whether to step down from office despite mounting calls for his resignation amid allegations that he arranged …

Obama adviser says Clinton must ‘repudiate’ backer's comments  —  (CNN) — A senior adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign called on Hillary Clinton to “repudiate” a comment by one of her top fundraisers that Barack Obama would not be a major presidential contender if he were not black.

The Red Phone in Black and White  —  ON first watching Hillary Clinton's recent “It's 3 a.m.” advertisement, I was left with an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right — something that went beyond my disappointment that she had decided to go negative.  Repeated watching of the ad on YouTube increased my unease.

Obama Memo: “No Support For Claim That Clinton Has Passed ‘Commander-In-Chief Test’”  —  Signaling a sustained and more aggressive counterattack against Hillary's “commander-in-chief test” assault, the Obama campaign has a new memo out from foreign policy adviser Greg Craig that goes …

Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida  —  WASHINGTON — An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.

Pelosi: No ticket  —  Nancy Pelosi tells Boston TV that a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton ticket is “impossible.”  —  “I think that the Clinton administration (sic) has fairly ruled that out by proclaiming that Senator McCain would be a better Commander in Chief than Obama.

Reality and the Iraq war  —  Is the progress today the first glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel?  Maybe, maybe not.  But the Democrats shouldn't act as though it's an oncoming train.  —  Most Democrats — in fact, most Americans — believe that the Iraq war has been a huge mistake for this country.

President Bush Attends National Religious Broadcasters 2008 Convention  —  Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.  Please be seated.  Thank you for the warm welcome.  Nothing better than being introduced by a fellow Texan.