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TAKE THIS POLL Is there civil war in Iraq? (Dec. 7, 2004) Yes. No. Don't know.

Middle East - AP U.S.: 42 Insurgents Killed in Fallujah 30 minutes ago Middle East - AP By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Backed by a barrage from warplanes and artillery, American troops fought their way into the western outskirts of Fallujah on Monday, seizing a hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates River in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold. The U.S. military reported its first casualties of the offensive — two Marines killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates. A military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were...

Despite Kerry's angel-faced sanctimony, this was a piece of premeditated gay-baiting (John Edwards used the same gambit in his debate with Cheney) whose transparent purpose was to keep some of the GOP's evangelical voters from turning out on Nov. 2. This was a miscalculation. Since the debate, the Christian right has been rallying to the side of Mary Cheney. Well-known political preachers like Jerry Falwell and James Dobson have gone out of their way to defend her right to privacy. Conservative radio talk shows and Web sites have been flooded with denunciations of Kerry and support for Mary. This reaction...

The Missouri-based Islamic America Relief Agency, raided this week by federal, state and local law enforcement, is being tied to terror groups internationally, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. Thirteen police agencies, including Columbia, Mo., police, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, joined in the raid. While the IARA maintains it was founded in 1985 to provide health-care services and emergency relief to refugees and orphaned children, the Treasury Department said the group has been tied to some 40 terror organizations worldwide, including al-Qaida and the Taliban. U.S. law enforcement officials...