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by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning’s most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.

The Shiite-led Iraqi government is resisting U.S. efforts to organize mostly Sunni fighters into the Iraqi police and army, frustrating U.S. plans to further stabilize Iraq.

The flow of so-called soft money appears to be accelerating through a loophole in federal campaign-finance laws to be spent in the 2008 presidential race on television ads by independent groups like the one currently running ads in South Carolina that say favorable things about Sen. John McCain.

An Iraqi cab driver in Baghdad was killed by a Dyncorp private-security guard protecting a convoy in a shooting that witnesses said was unprovoked, creating an incident reminiscent of the shootings of civilians by Blackwater Worldwide employees. Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, said his government would hold elections in January but gave no date for ending emergency rule, causing him to continue to be criticized by pro-democracy elements within his country.

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Despite being unsuccessful as a businessman, Norman Hsu was able to become a highly valued Democratic Party fundraiser because of a seemingly insatiable drive for respect and his ability to network which eventually led to his downfall.

The Pentagon needs an almost $200 million upgrade of its forensic laboratories in order to learn the most from the valuable evidence it gathers from detainees, such as fingerprints, DNA and captured weapons.

A planned visitors center at the Vietnam Memorial has its critics who say it will further crowd the National Mall and detract from detract from the iconic and powerful monument itself.

A suspect in the 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was detained and interrogated by U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials who refuse to provide many more details. The suspect, Saud Memon, died earlier this year and his death may have resulted from his treatment during detention.

As the southern border with Mexico has become more secure, there are concerns that the relatively porous northern border the U.S. shares with Canada will be increasingly targeted by illegal crossers.

Even though more Americans are identifying themselves as Democrats and Republicans’ fortunes appear to be waning, leading Democrats appear loathe to identify themselves by the politically radioactive term “liberal,” preferring to call themselves progressives.