By CAREN BOHAN
Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday the United States wants to finish its mission in Iraq and “return with honor,” despite the war’s growing unpopularity at home and doubts among U.S. allies.
Cheney, whose visit to Tokyo comes just weeks after Japan’s defense minister said starting the Iraq war was a mistake, also insisted Americans would not back a “policy of retreat.”
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Democrats may be in charge of the Senate these days, yet Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is no powerless bystander.
The Kentucky Republican made that clear when, despite grumbling from within his own ranks, he engineered the two-week standoff over Iraq and allowed the House to move first to challenge President Bush’s troop buildup.
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Two months after his brain hemorrhage, South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson has left a Washington hospital and entered a private rehabilitation facility, his office said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman refused to say whether the senator remained in Washington or was moved to a facility in South Dakota, citing family concerns about media scrutiny. “They just want him to focus on getting better and not worried about outside cameras snapping away,” said spokeswoman Julianne Fisher.
By DAVID STRINGER
Britain will withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq in coming months if local forces can secure the southern part of the country, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.
Tony Blair (Reuters) |
By CHARLOTTE RAAB
Presidential hopefuls from President George W. Bush’s Republican Party have an uphill battle ahead of the 2008 elections, stung by their support for the unpopular Iraq war and outshone by Democratic star power.
Three declared or presumed candidates lead the polls for the more conservative of the two main US political parties, all of them apparently highly qualified: Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney.
By MATT APUZZO
Five weeks and 19 witnesses into the CIA leak trial, jurors are set to begin deciding the fate of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
Jurors heard a full day of closing arguments in Libby’s perjury and obstruction trial Tuesday and are scheduled to begin deliberating Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he planned to instruct the jury about legal issues Wednesday morning before sending them off to deliberate.
By HAL BROWN
This week we learned that Anna Nicole Smith and George W. Bush had a common aspiration: to be remembered as an iconic American.
Anna Nicole wanted to be the next Marilyn Monroe.
George W. Bush wants to be remembered as equal to George Washington.
Marilyn and the father of our country were American originals.
Marilyn easily conveyed a blend innocent sexuality, vulnerability and humor that only a few movies stars like Sandra Bullock have been able to do.
By JEAN TORKELSON
Ted Haggard’s “dark side” apparently spread farther than anybody thought.
“Numerous individuals” — some of them later described as young male staffers — have outlined what church leaders call a pattern of improper and even “sordid” behavior by the founder and former chief pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Haggard’s former flock learned of the findings Sunday during two morning services, when the overseers of the church read a letter to filled auditoriums.
By STEPHANIE HOOPS
Postnuptial agreements — after-the-wedding contracts between couples — are becoming more popular, according to a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which found that 49 percent of its members saw a rise in postnuptial agreements in the past five years.
Some couples are using them as Cupid’s antidote for keeping financially unstable marriages together, said lawyer Gregory Herring, who has had wealthy clients choose postnuptial agreements over divorce.