Search results for

This year, two so-called "outsider" candidates have proved to appeal to voters -- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Howard Dean. As part of the Public Radio Collaboration Whose Democracy Is It?, NPR's Mara Liasson reports on the fascination the public has for those candidates who run for office as "outsiders" -- either apart from the two-party system, or as one who opposes the Washington "insiders."

A Defense Intelligence Agency assessment suggests pre-war intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs from defectors and Iraqis in exile may have been useless, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, two members of the House Intelligence Committee send a letter to CIA Director George Tenet charging failures of intelligence on Iraq. Hear NPR's Mike Shuster.

President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder publicly put aside their differences over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, announcing plans to cooperate in stabilization and reconstruction efforts there. Germany is not expected to contribute troops but could help train Iraqi security forces. Hear NPR's Vicky O'Hara.

House Democrats release an analysis suggesting that at best, the cost of military operations in Iraq will add $179 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Meanwhile, Republicans vow to approve President Bush's $87 billion funding request for Iraq. Both parties call on the White House to be more upfront about expected Iraq-related costs. Hear NPR's Andrea Seabrook.

The White House fields an avalanche of questions about when President Bush first learned that administration officials had allegedly exposed a CIA operative married to a vocal critic of Bush's Iraq policy. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans dismiss Democratic calls for a special counsel to investigate the leak, now the subject of a Justice Department probe. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

Turkey's parliament authorizes the deployment of up to 10,000 Turkish peacekeepers to neighboring Iraq to work alongside U.S. forces. The vote came as a surprise in light of strong public opposition in Turkey to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Iraq's governing council says it opposes the presence of any foreign troops from neighboring countries on Iraqi soil. Hear NPR's Ivan Watson.

Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is claiming leadership of Iraq's majority sect and demanding the withdrawal of American forces. His supporters have clashed with U.S. troops and rival factions in the Shiite strongholds of southern Iraq. Sadr, son of a revered Shiite leader, presents a growing challenge to U.S. authorities in Baghdad. Hear NPR's Deborah Amos.

The remains of more than 400 slaves and freed blacks who died in the days before the Revolutionary War are reinterred in New York. They were uncovered more than a decade ago, during excavation of a construction site for a federal building in lower Manhattan. NPR's Alison Keyes reports.

Senate Republicans push for speedy approval of President Bush's $87 billion funding request for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate Appropriations Committee puts a bill to approve the money on a fast track. But Democrats and some Republicans are uneasy about approving $20 billion earmarked for reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Hear NPR's David Welna.

Tensions rise in the slum area of Baghdad known as Sadr City. A radical young Shiite cleric there, Muqtadah al-Sadr, has refused to recognize the authority of the U.S. appointed governing council and has proclaimed a rival administration. Hear NPR's John Ydstie and NPR's Guy Raz.