Iraq official: U.S. could be out by 2011  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A deadline should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Iraq, and the pullout could be done by 2011, an Iraqi government spokesman said Tuesday.  —  Ali al-Dabbagh said any timetable would depend on …

McCain jokes about killing Iranians with cigarettes  —  PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be “a way of killing 'em.”

July Leader Lost in 6 of Last 9 Competitive U.S. Elections  —  Convention period could prove crucial in determining the winner  —  PRINCETON, NJ — In 9 of the past 15 U.S. presidential elections, the candidate who was leading in Gallup polling roughly four months before the election ultimately won the popular vote for president.

Atheist soldier sues Army for ‘unconstitutional’ discrimination  —  KANSAS CITY, Kansas (CNN) — Army Spc. Jeremy Hall was raised Baptist.  —  Like many Christians, he said grace before dinner and read the Bible before bed.  Four years ago when he was deployed to Iraq, he packed his Bible so he would feel closer to God.

ANOTHER AP BEAUT ...  Here's the lede from the AP's latest McCain fluffer, this time from Nedra Pickler ...  Well, easy for McCain too, since he doesn't either.  —  Pickler doesn't mention that McCain doesn't even say how he'll do it; he just says he'll do it.  No numbers — No nothing.

Outside groups pose McCain dilemma  —  Democrats say a group supporting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) bought television ad time in Virginia that had been released by his campaign the same day, suggesting a possible connection between two groups that legally must remain separate.

3 Police and 3 Gunmen Die in Attack on U.S. Post in Turkey  —  PARIS — Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Turkish security guards outside the United States Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday and at least three officers were killed, the governor of Istanbul said.

Lawmakers Re-energized on Energy  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said anxiety over fuel oil costs is at crisis proportions in her state.  Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said oil drilling advocates weighed in from the sidelines as she marched in a Fourth of July parade.

One nation, not just speaking English  —  After a substantial speech decrying the current state of bankruptcy law in the United States, Barack Obama took a few questions from the audience in Powder Springs, Georgia on Tuesday morning.  One young woman asked whether there was anything …

Networks may limit convention coverage  —  Major television networks are considering curtailing coverage of the Democratic National Convention after Monday's announcement that Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination in a Denver stadium.  —  According to several broadcast executives …

RNC Highlights Obama's Flip-Flops— Obama Denies Charges  —  He was against the surge— He said it wouldn't work— He said more troops would not make a difference.  —  Barack Obama was wrong.  —  The surge did work- We are winning in Iraq.  —  Today, thanks to the United States of America, another country is free!

How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You “Sound Black?”  —  Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when they talk to those who do not.  —  His main finding: blacks who “sound black” …

Multiculturalism Run Amok  —  More European sharia nonsense.  —  THE INCOHERENT DEBATE over sharia, or Islamic law, continues in Britain.  The main culprit: multicultural confusion among non-Muslim leaders.  In February, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams argued that the introduction …

Ex-Rep. Condit loses a Chandra Levy defamation case  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge has thrown out former California Congressman Gary Condit's defamation lawsuit against author Dominick Dunne, extending the one-time lawmaker's costly courtroom losing streak over rumors of his relationship to murdered intern Chandra Levy.

Obama Donors Aren't Rushing to Aid Clinton  —  A prominent donor to Senator Barack Obama recently sent an e-mail plea to other supporters, asking them — for the sake of Democratic unity — to write checks to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to help retire her $23 million in campaign debt.

Refined Refinements  —  Barack Obama today tried to address directly the question of his shifts to the right in recent weeks.  As he often does when answering criticism, he tried to move the question to a level of abstraction well beyond that of the actual substance at issue, and so, he insists:

M. Murphy to ink with NBC  —  Bringing full closure to the speculation that he will join John McCain's campaign, GOP strategist Mike Murphy will be announced tomorrow as a political analyst for NBC News, according to a source familiar with the arrangement.  —  Murphy acknowledged the move but declined to comment.