A Bad Bargain  —  Here is a way to measure how seriously President Bush was willing to compromise on the military tribunals bill: Less than an hour after an agreement was announced yesterday with three leading Republican senators, the White House was already laying a path to wiggle out of its one real concession.

Israel: Foreign reporters' vehicles may be used terrorists  —  Government Press Office director warns Shin Bet that armored vehicles used by foreign news agencies may serve hostile groups to carry out attacks against Israel  —  Armored vehicles that were given to foreign news agencies operating …

Three of the Most Significant Problems with the "Compromise"  —  Here's the Agreement Upon Common Article 3.  And here's the Agreements on Classified Information, Self Incrimination and Coercion, and Hearsay, in military commission trials.  Here's the bill as introduced.

Idiot press  —  I just got a call from an MSNBC booker.  She wanted to know if I wanted to go on the air to talk about Hugo Chavez.  Apparently, he went off on some rant at the UN.  —  I said, "Why would I?  Who cares about Hugo Chavez?"  —  The booker said, "well, it's all over talk radio and the blogs."

Citgo No Go?  —  Up until yesterday, I was unaware that Citgo is wholly owned by Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA.  After Hugo Chavez' lunatic rantings about Bush being Satan and smelling sulphur at the UN podium at Turtle Bay this week, some CQ readers might find that fact ... interesting.

Columbia Withdraws an Invitation to Ahmadinejad  —  Overruling a prominent dean, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, yesterday withdrew an invitation to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  —  The dean of Columbia's school of international and public affairs …

Strained, Army Looks to Guard for More Relief  —  Strains on the Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become so severe that Army officials say they may be forced to make greater use of the National Guard to provide enough troops for overseas deployments.

Palestinian PM won't recognize Israel  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday he will not head a government that recognizes Israel, striking a potential blow to President Mahmoud Abbas' attempts to create a national unity government.

Nasrallah says no army can disarm Hizbollah  —  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday rejected international calls to disarm his Lebanese guerrillas and told a huge "victory" rally they still had more than 20,000 rockets after a month of war with Israel.

Courtney chides Simmons over sub base politics  —  _ Sub base politics is hitting some very rough waters in Eastern Connecticut.  Democratic challenger Joe Courtney is calling Republican Rep. Rob Simmons a hypocrite for saying he did nothing to help save the base after praising him in a personal phone call.

Schweitzer, Tester say Burns fails to deliver for Montana  —  Gov. Brian Schweitzer and state Sen. Jon Tester teamed up to challenge Sen. Conrad Burns and his record of "delivering for Montana" at a press conference Thursday on the Rimrocks.  —  The Democratic pair offered a new slogan for Republican Burns …

German Woman to rescue American Navy SEAL  —  About six weeks ago, Matt from Blackfive.net called about a Navy SEAL named Justin who had been diagnosed with leukemia.  Justin's life likely could be saved with a bone marrow transplant, and with a giant database of willing donors, Justin's chances might have looked promising.

Tony Snow Joins FRC Action Values Voter Summit  —  Contact: JP Duffy or Bethanie Swendsen, 866-372-6397, both of the Family Research Council  —  WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ — Today, FRC Action announced that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will join the line-up of speakers …

Confronted by the Islamist threat on all sides, Europe pathetically caves in  —  LATE LAST YEAR, at the invitation of Nato, and in the company of a small band of globetrotting pundits, I travelled to Afghanistan to witness first-hand the allied operation to reconstruct the benighted country.

Bush Leads New Offensive Featuring Economy and Linking Democrats to High Taxes  —  President Bush began a blistering new political offensive on Thursday, asserting that if Democrats won control of Congress from Republicans it would mean higher taxes, less money in the pockets of working families and damage to the economy.