Iraq War

The killer who stalked a decorated Iraq war veteran and stabbed him to death in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, was sentenced Tuesday to life without parole. Sean Burton, 42, of Newark, Del., was found guilty in March in the murder of James Stropas, 32, of Norristown. In June, Stropas, who was dating Burton's estranged wife, had just bought breakfast and was returning to her Springfield Township home when he was attacked and stabbed more than 70 times. In the days leading up to the murder, Burton attached a GPS device to Stropas' car to follow him. In his van were a shovel, hatchet, duct tape, plastic ties, gasoline, and black plastic gloves.

Sunday This time it's personal Jeff Key based his drama The Eyes of Babylon on the journal he wrote and kept protected in a cargo pocket of his uniform while serving as a Marine in the invasion of Iraq. The one-man show details his experiences in the war before he was wounded and shipped home, his conflicting feelings about the war, his eventual decision to come out as a gay man, and his subsequent discharge from the military. The show goes on at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Bristol Riverside Theatre , 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, and continues with performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. next Sunday.

There was never a question of who killed James Stropas, a decorated Army sergeant and Iraq war veteran. Sean Burton did it. He stabbed Stropas more than 70 times in the parking lot of a Delaware County shopping center with an 8-inch butcher knife. The question was: Did the jury believe it was self-defense or premeditated murder? The answer: Murder, first degree. Burton, 42, of Newark, Del., showed no emotion as the jury of nine women and three men returned with their decision after deliberating for 31/2 hours.

"I N OUR WORLD, narratives and theories get strung out over a period of time until it's like they're chiseled in stone as truth - notwithstanding the fact they are totally based in midair without any roots or substance. " - Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking last night at the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia. Rumsfeld wasn't talking about the controversial run-up to the Iraq War - when cases for weapons of mass destruction there and terror ties to al Qaeda vanished into that very same ether.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy guarantees it. Come election night, he will be celebrating. When the polls close Nov. 2, the two-term Democratic congressman from Bucks County plans to head to his house in Bristol Township. There, a cake will await, a single candle will be lit, and "Happy Birthday" will be sung to little Jack Murphy, who turns 1 that day. After that, Jack's father allows, all bets are off in the race for the Eighth Congressional District seat. "It's going to go into the wee hours of the night," Murphy says of his rematch with Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, whom he ousted in 2006.

Pennsylvania's one million military veterans were the focus of the Senate race Thursday, as Republican Pat Toomey touted an endorsement from a former secretary of the Navy, and a veterans' group began a door-to-door drive for his Democratic opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak. Reagan-era Navy Secretary John F. Lehman's nod to Toomey was an answer of sorts to Sestak's biggest selling point in the campaign: a 31-year Navy career, during which Sestak reached the rank of vice admiral, which he often contrasts with Toomey's former career on Wall Street.

Trials define character. Those three words posted on a sign outside a little church in South Jersey no doubt have evoked some powerful thoughts among motorists who happened to glance in that direction. Many were likely reminded of personal tragedies, but in a week that included the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it was just as easy to recall that day, and how the character of this nation was reflected in its response. There have been few prouder moments for Americans than in those frantic hours after the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington were hit by airplanes hijacked by terrorists.

Jones speaks for no faith Pastor Terry Jones and his disgraceful Burn a Quran Day do not speak for Christianity or any faith rooted in Abraham, Moses, Muhammad, or Jesus ("Minister says he's still ready to burn Quran," Thursday). The irony is prophetic - a pistol- packin' preacher whose house of worship is called Dove World Outreach? A dove (speaking for Christians, anyway) is a sign of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. There's nothing holy about a pastor with a .40-caliber pistol firing hate and vengeful hostility.

It was hardly surprising that President Obama shied away from the previous administration's premature 2003 characterization of a "mission accomplished" in proclaiming an official end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq. Aides had cautioned this would be no "victory lap," and as Obama observed in last week's Oval Office address, "Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not. " With 50,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq, additional casualties and costs are inevitable, though in declining numbers.

Rep. Patrick J. Murphy, a Democrat fighting for his political life in a time of voter discontent, talked jobs, jobs, and jobs as he knocked on doors on a recent evening on Nectar Lane in Falls Township. At the Brosovich home, he talked about the grants he won to help transform the old U.S. Steel works into a manufacturing complex for wind turbines and solar panels. At the Kubis house on Nickel Hill Lane, Murphy leaned over the fence as he talked, barbecue smoke making him hungry.