Part of me died when I saw this cruel killing  —  EVEN by the stupefying standards of Iraq's unspeakable violence, the murder of Atwar Bahjat, one of the country's top television journalists, was an act of exceptional cruelty.  —  Nobody but her killers knew just how much she had suffered until …

House Intelligence Chairman Opposes Hayden as Next CIA Chief  —  May 7 (Bloomberg) — The chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee urged the White House not to nominate Air Force Lieutenant General Michael Hayden to head the civilian Central Intelligence Agency.

Pollster Suggests Bush Moves Might Be Too Little, Too Late  —  The recent White House shake-up was an attempt to jump-start the administration and boost President Bush's rock-bottom approval ratings, but have those efforts come too late to salvage the presidency?  A prominent GOP pollster thinks that may be the case.

In a Dentist Shortage, British (Ouch) Do It Themselves  —  George Glasper, 81, at the Dental Access Center in Rochdale.  It gives emergency care but is always swamped.  —  ROCHDALE, England, May 2 — "I snapped it out myself," said William Kelly, 43, describing his most recent dental procedure …

Hamas armed force readies for action  —  Hamas's new security force is expected to start operating in the Gaza Strip next week, sources in the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry said on Saturday.  —  Meanwhile, Hamas leaders warned over the weekend of a new intifada and said they would …

The Bush administration is radical, but not ideological  —  There have been several interesting responses to the post I wrote regarding the emerging (and largely unprincipled) effort by conservatives to disassociate their political movement from the wildly unpopular George Bush by now proclaiming …

Targeted Killings Surge in Baghdad  —  Nearly 4,000 civilian deaths, many of them Sunni Arabs slain execution-style, were recorded in the first three months of the year.  —  BAGHDAD — More Iraqi civilians were killed in Baghdad during the first three months of this year than at any time since …

Draft Hollywood  —  The nation needs more gung-ho, patriotic war movies that celebrate our fight against Islamo-fascists.  —  THERE HAS NEVER been an age without war, not ever.  Mass violence is a continual aspect of the human condition.  Peace, like good weather, is always local and temporary …

Intelligence: Goss Goes Out-But the CIA's Struggles Go On  —  May 15, 2006 issue - If there was one government agency that needed to improve after 9/11, it was the CIA.  Apparently, however, the spy agency has only weakened.  Forced out last week as CIA director, Porter Goss leaves an outfit …

Torture at home  —  Yet another tragic and infuriating Drug War story from my little home state of Rhode Island: … Wonderful.  Just wonderful.  —  Tell me how we can justify this?  How can we, as a so-called "civilized" society, possibly justify subjecting non-violent drug users and petty criminals to this kind of treatment?

Civic Duty: Go See 'United 93'  —  In most movies made to convey dread, the tension flows from uncertainty about what will happen.  In "United 93," terror comes from knowing exactly what will happen.  People who associate cinematic menace with maniacs wielding chain saws will find …

Senator Kerry tells students to 'speak out' to to make their issues the voting issues of nation  —  Senator John Kerry defended the right to dissent in a speech to Iowa college students, urging them to "speak out" to make their issues the voting issues of the nation, RAW STORY has found.