Following a testy exchange during Wednesday's briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

Officials described the operation, dubbed Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase and the biggest Marine offensive since the one in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

The Obama administration once again passed on characterizing the Iranian elections as illegitimate, on the same day that Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi called for continued protests in the country and for the government to release political prisoners.

Sen. Bob Casey, who calls himself pro-life Democrat, is now a proponent of "common ground," a phrase that President Obama also uses. on Wednesday, Casey said the issue of abortion should not bog down passage of a health-care reform bill.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) received $50 million from the United States government this year, despite accusations from the Population Research Institute that the world body facilitates forced abortions and sterilizations in China.