A Whole New War

Although the Supreme Court decision plainly states that the provision of the Geneva Conventions known as Common Article Three applies to detainees, Cloud and Stolberg write: "The measure says explicitly that the Geneva Conventions 'are not a source of judicially enforceable individual rights.' "

As For Surveillance

Ben Winograd writes in the Wall Street Journal: "Despite high-profile legal losses and complaints about failures to consult with lawmakers, the Bush administration is sticking to its core post-9/11 legal argument: that the Constitution and a congressional resolution passed after the terror attacks grant the president almost unlimited power to protect the country.

"Responding to congressional inquiries, administration lawyers have defended a warrantless surveillance program viewed by some as in doubt after a recent Supreme Court decision barring special military commissions to try enemy combatants. In letters to Congress, administration lawyers wrote that the high court's decision -- which rejected arguments similar to those used to defend the National Security Agency program -- didn't affect its legal analysis."

Here's one such letter , written by Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella. It was first Web-published and described on July 11 by David Baron , a Harvard Law School professor and blogger.

In fact, a prestigious group of legal scholars and former government officials responded on July 14, writing: "In our view, not only does Hamdan 'affect' the analysis, it significantly weakens the Administration's legal footing."

Tom Brune writes in Newsday: "A legislative proposal to test the constitutionality of President George W. Bush's controversial warrantless wiretapping program would turn over that significant judicial decision to a secret court packed with Republican appointees, federal records show."

State Secrets

Mike Robinson writes for the Associated Press: "Citing national security, a federal judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at blocking AT&T Inc. from giving telephone records to the government for use in the war on terror.

" 'The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities,' U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said. . . .

"Kennelly's ruling was in sharp contrast to last week's decision from U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker of San Francisco, who said reports of the program were so widespread there was no danger of spilling secrets."

Here, incidentally, is Walker's order , in which he wrote: "The compromise between liberty and security remains a difficult one. But dismissing this case at the outset would sacrifice liberty for no apparent enhancement of security."

Tony Snow Watch

Julie Hirschfeld Davis writes about White House spokesman Tony Snow in the Baltimore Sun: "[H]e spends his days working to strike a difficult balance: Trumpeting the president's message and making him look good, while convincing reporters he's looking out for them. . . .

"But it hasn't always been a smooth transition for the 51-year-old, who had some stumbles early on and gets mixed reviews for his performance in a still-secretive White House. . . .