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QALAT, Afghanistan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan guerrilla war can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Taliban and their supporters into the Afghan government. The Tennessee Republican said he had learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated by military means. "You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government," Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. "And if that's accomplished we'll be...

President Bush and Sen. John McCain have reached an agreement on legislation covering tribunals for enemy combatant suspects, NBC News reported Thursday. Details on the deal were not immediately available. The compromise comes amid a stalemate that has divided the House and Senate on the treatment of detainees. The two sides remained at odds this week over how to adhere to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and — simultaneously — give the CIA wide leeway to conduct interrogations.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a White House hopeful in 2008, said Monday that the party has plenty of work to do to regain the backing of GOP voters frustrated by deficit spending, the Iraq war and illegal immigration. Five months before the midterm elections, McCain spoke about the outlook for the Republican Party amid concern within the Bush administration and the GOP leadership about losing majority control of Congress. "Spending is out of control and a significant part of our Republican base is angry because we have allowed this to happen," he said....

Representative Cynthia A. McKinney and her legal advisers blamed racial bias Friday for her run-in with a Capitol police officer as the incident ballooned into a political furor. At a news conference at Howard University, Ms. McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, said her physical altercation with the unidentified officer, who was screening visitors to a House office building on Wednesday, was the officer's fault. "Let me be clear," Ms. McKinney said, surrounded by supporters at the historically black university. "This whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female black congresswoman. I deeply regret this incident...

While campaigning to get to where he is now, Jon Corzine boldly promised to increase property tax rebate checks for all eligible New Jerseyans. We've been told the Governor is mulling raising the sales tax from 6% to 7% as well expanding the sales tax include items not currently subject to the levy. Corzine is also said to be considering imposing an income tax surcharge and hiking the cigarette tax a whopping 60-cents a pack. Is the Governor poised to renege on his campaign trail property tax pledge? It is possible. Asked if still intends to fully restore the rebates,...

The White House is rejecting a Republican senator's call for a staff shakeup. Press Secretary Scott McClellan says President Bush has a "smart" and "experienced" team that is "fully capable." Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman said yesterday the administration has developed a "tin ear" in dealings with Congress. And he says Bush needs to "look at" the team now serving him. Coleman cited the White House handling of Hurricane Katrina, the failed Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination and the plans for an Arab company to manage terminals at six U-S ports. Many top staffers have served Bush since he took office...