An Unnecessary War  —  I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.  —  After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn …

Obama Digs In for His BlackBerry  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has yet to relent, but he conceded that he might be losing the battle to keep his independent lifeline to the outside world.  —  “I'm still clinging to my BlackBerry,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday.  “They're going to pry it out of my hands.”

Obama Promises Bid to Overhaul Retiree Spending  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be “a central part” of his administration's efforts to contain federal spending, signaling for the first time that he would wade …

Obama, Dems face hard sell on stimulus  —  Faced with record deficits and a skeptical public, Democrats are doubling up efforts to sell their economic recovery plan, with President-elect Barack Obama taking the lead in a speech Thursday designed to lay out the case for government action.

Daschle to Face Tough Questions on Competition in Health Insurance  —  WASHINGTON — When Tom Daschle shows up for a confirmation hearing on Thursday, senators are likely to grant him all the courtesies due a former Senate majority leader.  —  But that does not mean Mr. Daschle should expect only softball questions.

NBC's Matthews Won't Run for Senate  —  Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program “Hardball,” told his staff on Wednesday night that he would not run for the Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania.  —  For much of the last year, Mr. Matthews had been considering entering the Senate race …

President Bush Tried to Rein In Fan and Fred  —  Democrats and the media have the housing story wrong.  —  Mythmaking is in full swing as the Bush administration prepares to leave town.  Among the more prominent is the assertion that the housing meltdown resulted from unbridled capitalism under a president opposed to all regulation.

Bond will not seek another term  —  Sen. Kit Bond, a senior Republican from Missouri who sits on several powerful Senate committees, announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection in 2010, giving Democrats a shot to pick up a seat in a state that has emerged as a major battleground.

Obama Is Reported Set to Revise Counterterrorism Efforts  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to scrap the way President Bush oversaw domestic security in the White House and name a former Central Intelligence Agency official to coordinate counterterrorism, people close to the transition said Wednesday.

Army Sends ‘Dear John Doe’ Letters to Families of Fallen Troops  —  The Army mistakenly sent letters addressed “Dear John Doe” to 7,000 family members of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, unleashing calls from troubled relatives and prompting a formal apology yesterday from the Army's top general.

Clinton-era tips for landing an Obama job  —  The post-campaign vacation is done, the holidays are over and now it's time for every Obama campaign staffer to find an answer to the most frequently heard question at the holiday dinner table: “What are you going to do in the administration?”

“It Goes with the Turf”  —  Cheney still doesn't take it personally.  —  Vice President Dick Cheney believes he hasn't “fundamentally changed” since he came to Washington 40 years ago.  Only his job has changed.  As vice president, he doesn't talk freely to the press about what he's doing.

Obama Builds Powerful Team of White House Advisers  —  Influential Advisers May Compete With Cabinet  —  President-elect Barack Obama is assembling a new and influential cadre of counselors just steps from the Oval Office whose power to direct domestic policy will rival, if not exceed, the authority of his Cabinet.

U.S. Plans Border ‘Surge’ Against Any Drug Wars  —  The soaring level of violence in Mexico resulting from the drug wars there has led the United States to develop plans for a “surge” of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement should the bloodshed spread across the border …

Red Cross Reports Grisly Find in Gaza  —  Israel Accused of Blocking Aid to Wounded  —  The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had found at least 15 bodies and several children — emaciated but alive — in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza Strip and accused …