Myths of Iraq  —  During a recent visit to Baghdad, I saw an enormous failure.  On the part of our media.  The reality in the streets, day after day, bore little resemblance to the sensational claims of civil war and disaster in the headlines.  —  No one with first-hand experience of Iraq …

Israelis storm Palestinian prison  —  Israeli troops have raided a prison in Jericho in the West Bank, demolishing buildings and killing at least one Palestinian guard.  —  They are trying to seize a jailed militant leader blamed for killing an Israeli minister in 2001.

Bush's Approval Ratings Slip In the Latest Harris Poll  —  President Bush's job-approval ratings continue to slip, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, while job-approval ratings for most of his key cabinet members also remain low.  —  Mr. Bush's current job-approval ratings stand at 36% in March …

Bush delegates most issues, focuses only on Iraq, '06 campaign  —  President Bush has decided to stay out of the lion's share of decisions made by his administration.  —  Sources close to the administration said that over the last year, Mr. Bush has chosen to focus on two issues …

Democrats Beat Quick Retreat on Call to Censure President  —  WASHINGTON, March 13 — Senate Democrats on Monday blocked an immediate vote on a call by one of their own to censure President Bush for his eavesdropping program.  —  They acted after Republicans said they were eager to pass judgment …

Chef Gets Huffy, Leaves South Park  —  Isaac Hayes has left South Park and his role of Chef, one of the original characters in the series.  Hayes says that he disapproves of the religious mockery that has long been part of the show, but the show's creators have declared shenanigans on Hayes:

Study Links Ambien Use to Unconscious Food Forays  —  The sleeping pill Ambien seems to unlock a primitive desire to eat in some patients, according to emerging medical case studies that describe how the drug's users sometimes sleepwalk into their kitchens, claw through their refrigerators …

Straw Poll Strategy  —  John McCain is changing his tactics for 2008.  Inside a maverick's campaign.  —  March 13, 2006 - In a sense, Sen. John McCain's campaign for the presidency in 2008 began with a personal, private phone call he made last week-to President George W. Bush.

For Bush's Ex-Aide, Quick Fall After Long Climb  —  WASHINGTON, March 13 — Claude A. Allen often said his religious upbringing took him from a two-room apartment in a poor neighborhood of Washington to a post at the White House.  —  "Probably the vast majority of the kids who grew …

We were right to invade Iraq  —  The failures of occupation may be legion, but at least we confronted Saddam at a time of our choosing  —  With the advantage of three years of hindsight, politicians' failed predictions about Iraq make dispiriting reading.  "Any war will cause a refugee crisis …

Tehran elite turning on extremist presidency  —  TEHRAN — Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Sisterhood of Hamas  —  The preschool's iron gate clangs behind us, shutting out the dust and concrete-block ugliness of Jabaliya, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world (population 120,000).  In here, around the paved schoolyard, everything is clean, freshly painted and orderly.

Recruiting "top drawer blacks" for the GOP  —  Adele Fergusen  —  Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal  —  Dear Mrs. Fergusen,  —  I think you answered your own question about why black people aren't flocking to the Republican Party.  If, as you point out, slavery was a godsend to them …

Mike Wallace Retiring From '60 Minutes'  —  When asked in an interview last April if he would ever consider retiring from "60 Minutes," Mike Wallace said that he planned to do so only "when my toes turn up."  —  "Well," Mr. Wallace said, amending that statement in an interview today, "they're just beginning to curl a trifle."

Federal aid programs expand at record rate  —  A sweeping expansion of social programs since 2000 has sparked a record increase in the number of Americans receiving federal government benefits such as college aid, food stamps and health care.  —  A USA TODAY analysis of 25 major government programs found …

News Release: U.S. International Transactions  —  Available for this release: Full Release: PDF (85 kb), Tables: XLS (55 kb), Quarterly Highlights (42 kb), Annual Highlights (53 kb)  —  In order to view the PDF files on this page, the free Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed.  —  Note:

Chinese Bloggers Stage Hoax Aimed at Censorship Debate  —  Some well-known bloggers in China used an unlikely tool last week to make a point that Western news media and politicians misunderstand Chinese censorship.  They shut themselves down.  —  Notices posted on the Chinese-language blogs Massage Milk …

Informant: Zawahiri Attended Lodi Mosque  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An FBI informant testified Monday that a top Al Qaeda official lived in California's Central Valley in the years before the 2001 terrorist attacks, but the statements were attacked immediately as unreliable.

Sudden Jihad Syndrome  —  "Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers."  I wrote those words days after 9/11 and have been criticized for them ever since.