Top Two Air Force Officials Ousted

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ousted the Air Force's civilian and military chiefs yesterday, an unprecedented move that came after a classified Pentagon investigation found "a chain of failures" in the Air Force's safeguarding of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Bush Talks to Graduates About Redemption

GREENVILLE, S.C., May 31 -- Delivering the final commencement address of his tenure, President Bush told supporters and protesters at Furman University here Saturday that he was far from "a model citizen" when he left college but that "it is never too late to recover and get back on track."

Mullen Urges Pakistan to Act on Al-Qaeda

The top U.S. military officer warned yesterday that al-Qaeda leaders operating in Pakistan's tribal areas are planning new terrorist attacks against the United States, making it imperative that Pakistan's new government take action to eliminate their sanctuary there.

Lawyers Fear for Marri's Sanity

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is obsessed with the noise variations in an industrial fan, the buzzing of fluorescent lights overhead and the preparation of his dinners. He has stuffed his air vents with food to prevent what he believes are noxious fumes from streaming into his cell, and he worries at times that his lawyers are part of a government conspiracy against him.

Syria to Meet With Weapons Inspectors About Site Bombed by Israel

Nine months after Israel bombed an alleged Syrian nuclear site, the government of President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to hold talks in Damascus with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency about the remote desert compound, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced yesterday, ending a long deadlock over access to the location.

DHS to Reopen Inquiry Into Suspect's Expulsion to Syria

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general's office has reopened its investigation of the government's treatment of Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian who, after being falsely named as a terrorist, was seized in September 2002 and sent to Syria, where he was tortured.

Bush Inflated Threat From Iraq's Banned Weapons, Report Says

President Bush and top administration officials repeatedly exaggerated what they knew about Iraq's weapons and its ties to terrorist groups as the White House pressed its case for war against Iraq, the Senate intelligence committee said yesterday in a long-awaited report.