The Iraqi Ceasefire: Winners and Losers

After initiating a week of deadly fighting, Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki looks weaker than when it began. The winners appear to include Iran. What happened to what President Bush called "a defining moment?" Is the US being drawn into local conflicts only Iraqis themselves can resolve? Also, the Bush Administration loses another cabinet member, proposed financial regulatory reform and as the Obama-Clinton campaign continues, party leaders are meeting in the modern equivalent of smoke-filled rooms: e-mails and phone calls. You already know what they're talking about.

Banner image: Iraqi Madhi army militiamen dance as they stand near a burning Iraqi army vehicle after attacking it on March 30 in Basra, 370 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters off the streets and to stop fighting government troops. Iraqi authorities have responded by lifting a three-day curfew across Baghdad. Photo: Khaldoon Zubeir /Getty Images