U.S. Set to Join Iran and Syria in Talks on Iraq  —  American officials said Tuesday that they had agreed to hold the highest-level contact with the Iranian authorities in more than two years as part of an international meeting on Iraq.  —  The discussions, scheduled for the next two months …

An Editor's Confession: I'm the Source of 'Slow Bleed'  —  With a mixture of pride and remorse, I have a confession: I am the author of the Democratic Party's "slow-bleed strategy" for ending the war in Iraq.  —  I had nothing to do with the details of the plan that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) floated two weeks ago.

For Want of a Dentist  —  George's Boy Dies After Bacteria From Tooth Spread to Brain  —  Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.  —  A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.  —  If his mother had been insured.  —  If his family had not lost its Medicaid.

Prince says McDonald's should be banned  —  The Prince of Wales hit out at McDonald's yesterday, suggesting that banning the US chain was the "key" to children eating more healthily.  —  His controversial comment provoked an immediate reaction from the fast-food company, which called the words …

Iraq Bill Vexes Democrats  —  Leaders Struggle to Craft Measure That Can Unite Party  —  House Democratic leaders offered a full-throated defense last night of their plans to link Iraq war spending with rigorous standards for resting, training and equipping combat troops …

Walter Reed patients told to keep quiet  —  Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media.

U.S. Sanctions With Teeth  —  Everybody knows that economic sanctions don't work.  Just look at the decades of fruitless pressure on Cuba.  But guess what?  In the recent cases of North Korea and Iran, a new variety of U.S. Treasury sanctions is having a potent effect, suggesting that the conventional wisdom may be wrong.

New Light Shed on CIA's 'Black Site' Prisons  —  On his last day in CIA custody, Marwan Jabour, an accused al-Qaeda paymaster, was stripped naked, seated in a chair and videotaped by agency officers.  Afterward, he was shackled and blindfolded, headphones were put over his ears, and he was given an injection that made him groggy.

Some push for Huckabee to run for Senate, not president  —  Though his long-shot presidential campaign is still in its early stages, some wish former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee would drop his national aspirations and return home to wage what they see as a vital campaign against Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in 2008 instead.

Lies of the vigilantes  —  The Srebrenica ruling punctures the false claims that underpin the doctrine of intervention  —  Slobodan Milosevic was posthumously exonerated on Monday when the international court of justice ruled that Serbia was not responsible for the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica.

Va.'s Two Warners May Be Headed for Rematch  —  Ex-Governor Mark Is Being Urged to Seek U.S. Senate Seat Held by John  —  Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner is being courted by national Democrats to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by John W. Warner (R-Va.) and is seriously considering …

Immigrants boost pay, not prison populations, new studies show  —  Immigrants are less likely to go to prison than U.S.-born residents of the same ethnic group and they boost pay for natives, research says.  —  Two new studies by California researchers counter negative perceptions …

The Question, Part III  —  Note from the jury: … Second note from jury: … After the second note came back, the Libby team was clustered around some piece of paper (I assume the note) chuckling.  They showed it to Fitz, and nobody seemed to alarmed one way or the other.  —  emptywheel here.

Frameshop: Giuliani the Transvestite  —  Of all the words used to describe the campaign of Rudy Giuliani, transvestite may be the most accurate.  The video from 2000—which shows Donald Trump thrusting his face into Rudy's deftly sported novelty breasts—may be the first thing that comes to mind.

Pardons reemerge as issue in Clinton run  —  WASHINGTON — Six years ago, the launch of Hillary Clinton's career in the US Senate was marred by allegations that her brothers had received payments from people pardoned by President Bill Clinton in the waning months of his presidency.

Bill would mandate nicer term for illegals  —  TALLAHASSEE — A state legislator whose district is home to thousands of Caribbean immigrants wants to ban the term "illegal alien" from the state's official documents.  —  "I personally find the word 'alien' offensive when applied to individuals …