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UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- North Korea's U.N. mission claimed Wednesday that its successful nuclear bomb test showed that it could now "wipe out" the United States, as the U.N. Security Council grappled with a response to the underground blast.

Before leaving for vacation on Saturday, President Obama spoke briefly about the genocidal Islamist terrorists who are taking over large swaths of Iraq. When one reporter asked the president if he regretted not leaving any U.S. troops in Iraq, Obama replied that that wasn't even an option: Q Mr. President, do you have any second thoughts about pulling all ground troops out of Iraq? And does it give you pause as the U.S. -- is it doing the same thing in Afghanistan? THE PRESIDENT: What I just find interesting is the degree to which this issue keeps on coming up,...

The commitments, directly requested by the administration, vary widely. The University of California system will undertake new efforts “that enhance the flow of community college students” to its institutions, the White House said. Private companies, nonprofit groups and other entities also announced they’ll participate by providing grants, research materials and other assistance to increase college access and boost students’ chances of success.

If anything is obvious about the Orator in Chief, it is how highly he thinks of himself. The H for his middle name doesn’t stand for Humility. . . So, as the president recoups from straining his arm to pat himself on the back, how is his self-praise going over? The headline in the UK’s Mail Online: SEALs slam Obama for using them as ‘ammunition’ in bid to take credit for bin Laden killing during election campaign . . .

3/27/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- In the world of sports, there have been some incredible streaks. Cal Ripken Jr. played in 2,632 consecutive major league baseball games. Lance Armstrong was victorious in seven Tour de France races. Football great Johnny Unitas threw at least one touchdown pass in 47 straight games. But none of these streaks compare to the impact that one unit is having on the war on terrorism. The 99th Aircraft Maintenance Unit is working on a streak of more than 155 consecutive launches without a maintenance-related cancel to meet the air tasking order for the U-2...

Al Qaeda's Big Boast By DANIEL BENJAMIN and STEVEN SIMON IF Osama bin Laden's aim in releasing an audiotape was to gauge his enemies' reaction, he must have been gratified to find that America's leaders and opinion-makers understand him little better than they did on 9/11. The proof is in how his offer of a "long-term truce" was treated. The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, declared: "We do not negotiate with terrorists." Vice President Dick Cheney saw Mr. bin Laden's offer as "some kind of ploy." SNIP Yet, while Osama bin Laden has seldom used the word "truce," the vision...

Editor: I didn’t write this piece but I salute the man who did. He has said exactly what so many veterans have been thinking for so long. When I returned from Nam, my roommate in the 82d Airborne was SSGT Charles B. Morris, awarded the Medal of Honor while serving with the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam. I know firsthand it’s true that warriors like Charley are tormented in their dreams and cry out in their sleep as they re-fight their battles; yes that I know from bunking with him. But one thing I never heard him do was boast. Not...

<p>Those were Paul Bremer's first words yesterday, announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein — and great good outstanding words they were.</p> <p>The world now knows the essentials: Operation Red Dawn; Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2; a dilapidated orange and white taxi; 600 U.S. troops driving Saddam literally to ground — capturing him at the bottom of an eight-foot hole as he tried to cover himself with dirt. And not a shot was fired, not even by cowering Saddam the Invincible — this dark-lord "Sauron" who swore he would go down with guns blazing if he ever went down at all.</p>

One of the proudest boasts (albeit one that is a little tatty round the edges in the aftermath of Diana-wake) of the Brits is our stiff upper lip, that legendary sense of calm in the midst of crisis. Writing in today’s Sunday Telegraph, David Thomas takes a look at this phenomenon. His less than flattering conclusion: “Maybe we are not so phlegmatic, after all. Maybe we are exhausted by the weight of our own history. Maybe, like our cheese-eating fellow-Europeans, we have become unwilling or unable to meet threats head-on, and defeat them. And that is where the advantage swings...