Buildup in Iraq Needed Into '08, U.S. General Says  —  The day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq has recommended that the heightened American troop levels there be maintained through February 2008, military officials said Wednesday.  —  The White House has never said exactly …

Members Were Aware of Lapses at Walter Reed  —  Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them.  —  But C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., former chairman …

A Verdict on the Wilson Affair  —  Denis Collins, a Washington journalist on the Scooter Libby jury, described sentiments in the jury room reflecting those in the Senate Democratic cloakroom: "It was said a number of times. . . . Where's Rove?  Where are these other guys?"

Lawmaker's Intervention in Law Enforcement Crosses Line  —  The emerging scandal surrounding the dismissals of eight former U.S. attorneys should signify to American voters the depth, breadth, and permeation of corruption in the Bush administration.  —  When a U.S. senator (to wit …

Porn free  —  Left-wing blogs gleefully outed my gay porn past after I criticized antiwar zealots.  But the truth has set me free.  —  Was I totally clueless?  When I stepped forward in late 2005 to talk about anti-military attitudes at New York's Columbia University, I knew my past might be put under the microscope.

Obama paid late parking tickets  —  Racked up penalties while at Harvard  —  Barack Obama received 17 parking tickets in Cambridge.  —  Barack Obama is no longer a scofflaw, at least in Cambridge and Somerville.  —  Two weeks before the US senator from Illinois launched his presidential campaign …

Gitmo's Guerrilla Lawyers  —  How an unscrupulous legal and PR campaign changed the way the world looks at Guantanamo.  —  He was the first American to die in what some have called "the real war."  Johnny "Mike" Spann, the 32-year-old CIA paramilitary commando, was interrogating prisoners …

Three Good Options for The Right  —  The axiom is as old as human striving: The perfect is the enemy of the good.  In politics this means that insisting on perfection in a candidate interferes with selecting a satisfactory one.  —  Which is why the mood of many of the 6,300 people …

FLASH: Here We Go Again — Pulitzer Finalists Leaked!  —  NEW YORK It didn't take long for the Pulitzer Prize finalist lists to begin leaking out.  Within hours of the 14 Pulitzer juries packing up to go home on Wednesday after three days of judging at Columbia University, the names of this year's alleged finalists began to spread.

SENATE DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE JOINT RESOLUTION TO TRANSITION THE MISSION IN IRAQ  —  Washington, DC — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today joined Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer, Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray …

Anti-terrorism bill to relax foreigners entry into US  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate's anti-terrorism bill would relax visa requirements for foreign travelers coming to the United States, a move that some worry will leave the country more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

Memos Tell Officials How to Discuss Climate  —  Internal memorandums circulated in the Alaskan division of the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service appear to require government biologists or other employees traveling in countries around the Arctic not to discuss climate change, polar bears or sea ice if they are not designated to do so.

Fox Makes Friends And Foes  —  WASHINGTON — Joe Lieberman was beaming.  "Sam Fox represents what America is all about," he said, "and that's why he will be, when confirmed, an extraordinary ambassador."  —  The scene was last week's Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

RudyTube 1993: Rudy and Donna  —  Hard watching now, here's Rudy Giuliani's then-wife Donna Hanover and their kids, starring in David Garth's famous 1993 commercial about the "gentle," family Rudy, the soft side of a tough prosecutor.  —  Now, 13 years later, Donna's son …

Jailed Man Is A Videographer And a Blogger but Is He a Journalist?  —  He is being cast by some journalists as a young champion of the First Amendment, jailed for taking a lonely stand against heavy-handed federal prosecutors.  —  Josh Wolf, a 24-year-old blogger, has spent …

After Libby Trial, New Era for Government and Press  —  The investigation and trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., who was Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, will have many legacies and lessons — for government officials, for supporters and critics of special prosecutors and for historians of the events leading to the war in Iraq.