Experienced News Writer

1. The CIA's covert service head who some believe to have presided over the destruction of tapes which may depict the use of torture against al-Qaeda operatives is requesting immunity ahead of an expected appearance before Congress next week in which he'll be providing testimony on exactly what went down and why. Attorneys for the White House, meanwhile, are still urging a federal court to hold off its own investigation into the incident, claiming that it would interfere with ongoing investigations by Congress and the Justice Department. At any rate, they've been successful in their efforts to convince Judge Edward Kennedy that a judicial inquiry is unnecessary; Kennedy announced yesterday that he agrees, citing the inability of lawyers for a group of detainees to come up with evidence that a specific law pertaining to Guantanamo captives was broken in light of revelations that the detainees in question were actually being held in secret prisons elsewhere at the time of the alleged abuse.

2. Allegations by the National Security Archive that the Bush Administration is hiding millions of e-mails that it had previously claimed were accidentally deleted has prompted a federal judge to order the White House to make a formal response to the charges within five business days of last Tuesday. White House spokesman Tony Fratto has thus far declined to comment.

The Pentagon's claim that four Iranian warships engaged in "careless, reckless and potentially hostile" maneuvers towards three U.S. Navy ships over the weekend is increasing tension between the two nations and may additionally provoke a poorly-informed comment or two from rustic anti-wonk and GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, among others. The incident is already riling up some of the more hawkish of pundits, who are citing alleged radio threats from Iranian Revolutionary Guards that "you will explode in a couple of minutes" as further evidence that the organization is indeed a terrorist organization that's actively involved in anti-U.S. operations.

The increased perception that the U.S. may become engaged in hostilities with Iran could boost the political fortunes of John McCain, whose campaign has emphasized his foreign policy credentials. It could also damage the prospects of Huckabee, who may very well be unable to find Iran on a map.

Some Democratic-leaning commentators are accusing the Bush administration and its allies of having largely manufactured the incident in order to ramp up support for military operations against Iran.