National Security Agency officials listened to phone conversations between U.S. troops in Iraq and their loved ones, alleges a new book called The Shadow Factory by James Bamford.  The Washington Post's Joby Warrick reports that Bamford interviewed two former NSA officials who ...

Remember when the economy was really, really bad and the Federal Reserve decided they absolutely had to give AIG an $85 billion lifeline or else there would be a financial apocalypse? Well, its three weeks later and the economy is now really, really, really bad and the Fed has decided ...

The New York Times' William Glaberson reports that one day after a federal district judge freed 17 Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay, the Justice Dept. successfully sought an "administrative stay" that will keep the Uighar Muslims detained. The Justice Dept. has been highly energetic over the last two ...

That's a question being asked as the Pentagon and State Dept. scramble to revamp their approach to Afghanistan with a few weeks left in the Bush administration. The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung reports that both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have agreed for most ...

A federal judge ruled yesterday that 17 Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, that are detained at Guantanamo Bay clearly aren’t terrorists and should be set free. But as the Wall Street Journal’s Jess Bravin reports, the Justice Dept. immediately sprang to its feet and blasted the decision as “unprecedented." ...

For a while there in August, Understanding Government was monitoring the heated dispute between U.S. military commanders and the Afghanistan government over the death toll of a U.S. air strike into Azizabad, Afghanistan. The U.S. military claimed that five civilians had died from the attack and 30 militants. But the ...

The Washington Post's Robert O'Harrow reports on one pretty interesting section in the bailout bill: the Treasury Dept. does not have to follow standard govt. contracting rules in outsourcing management of the bailout. Basically the Treasury Dept. will be looking outside the agency for financial consultants to manage the ...

How did the White House orchestrate the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys? Don't ask Harriet Miers-- at least until the next Congress, says a federal appeals court. The federal court this summer said that Miers, the former White House counsel who by all accounts was central in the unprecedented attorney ...

Of all the utterances George W. Bush made in his 2000 campaign for president none have been subsequently been disregarded quite the way "no more nation-building" has. The Bush administration might tell you 9/11 changed everything, but there is evidence people like Dick Cheney had a plan all along to ...

The New York Times' Louise Story and Ben White recount the failure of Lehman Brothers to either find a buyer or raise the necessary capital before it became bankrupt. Indicative of the incestuous nature of the financial crisis, Lehman did have some success getting money ...