In new court filings, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has finally resolved one of the most disputed issues at the core of the long-running CIA leak controversy: Valerie Plame Wilson, he asserts, was a “covert” CIA officer who repeatedly traveled overseas using a “cover identity” in order to disguise her relationship with the agency.

Fitzgerald cites Wilson’s covert status as part of his argument—advanced in two strongly worded memos filed in recent days—that I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, should be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

At least eight U.S. soldiers were killed in restive Diyala province north of Baghdad on Memorial Day, two of the victims in a helicopter that went down, the military reported Tuesday.

...

The latest casualties raised the U.S. military death toll to at least 112 this month, making May the deadliest month since December 2006, when the same number were killed.

The early narrative on the Iraq funding debate is that Democrats “lost” and Bush “won.” Sorry, but I don’t buy that. People need to view this particular skirmish – and its inevitable, entirely-predictable conclusion – through a longer-term lens. If Bush “won,” it’s the most Pyrrhic victory of all time. The Democrats, by contrast, didn’t lose at all – in fact, they will only “lose” if they internalize the “Democrats Lost” narrative that seems to be dominating the perpetually near-sighted chattering classes.

At the outset, I should say that I’m not putting political considerations above war policy. The war is, however, the most important and substantive issue of the day (if not of our generation). And politics (at its highest form) is a debate over these types of substantive issues. So, I think it’s entirely appropriate to discuss the political back-and-forth and the strategies involved – not because this is a game, but because ending or continuing the war will turn on political strategies and elections.

With that in mind, let’s look at the “defeat.” First, Democrats had absolutely no chance of forcing troop withdrawal. None. The votes weren’t there because the margin of control is very slim, and because the Republicans are simply not yet frightened enough to abandon Bush. In addition, a chicken-like shutdown over war funding would, sadly, be blamed on Congress and could single-handedly revive Bush (which is why he refused to budge – he was hoping to trigger a shutdown).

Even in death, the Rev. Jerry Falwell rouses the most volatile of emotions.

A small group of protesters gathered near the funeral services to criticize the man who mobilized Christian evangelicals and made them a major force in American politics -- often by playing on social prejudices.

A group of students from Falwell's Liberty University staged a counterprotest.

And Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.

The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive.

Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis defended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in the dog-fighting controversy, WAVY-TV reported.

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it's his property, it's his dog," Portis told WAVY-TV. "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business."

Portis also told WAVY-TV that he knows "a lot of back roads that got the dog fight if you want to go see it" and that "if it's behind closed doors, it's OK."

When told that dog fighting is a felony, Portis replied, "It can't be too bad of a crime."

Northern Ireland's major Protestant and Catholic parties joined together Tuesday to form a power-sharing government, marking a "new era of politics" and an end to three decades of sectarian conflict in the British province.

Protestant Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley, 80, was sworn in as the Northern Ireland assembly's first minister and key player Martin McGuinness, 56, of Sinn Fein will take on the role of deputy first minister.

The two men bridged the sectarian divide and took oaths of office in front of a quiet assembly room with members forgoing applause out of respect for a recently deceased assembly member and colleague from Paisley's DUP, George Dawson.

The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that state’s governor.

Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies is gone. She said not having immediate access to things like tents, trucks and semitrailers will really handicap the rebuilding effort.

The Greensburg administrator estimated that 95 percent of the town of 1500 was destroyed by Friday's tornado.

The Kansas National Guard has about 40 percent of the equipment it is allotted because much of it has been sent to Iraq.

A local radio station hoped to get lots of attention from its latest billboard campaign, but never expected the onslaught of angry complaints that came barreling in.

It was a morning show ad gone bad.

When 96.9 The Eagle, first thought a billboard featuring a woman's breasts covered by faces of the hosts was a good idea.

Community members did not agree and now the station says it had no choice but to take the billboards down.