Not So Willing & Other News

As I am sure everyone has heard Italy is dropping out of the coalition of the willing. No surprise since election time in Italy is about a year away. Condi Rice thinks that a belligerent China will convince the EU not to lift the arms embargo. I think she gives the EUnuchs too much credit. A big story that didn't get enough play was the sensible shift in admin. policy towards Hezbollah. There is no reason not to welcome the group into the political process if it disarms and renounces violence. Are we asking for too much? By the way they don't have any legitimate beef with Israel other than it is a land full of infidels. The territory they claim to be fighting for is Syrian so if they are really fighting for land they are nothing but shills for Assad.

Upon further review Egyptian activists are underwhelmed by Hosni Mubarak's recent move toward "open" elections. One activist called it the new elections "another coronation of Mubarak." The fear is that Egypt will follow the Tunisian model where the elections are allegedly open but the president still garners 95% of the vote come election time. In the article government officials or those funded by it try to discourage American pressure, note that Islamic parties won't be permitted and celebrate the fact that the reforms guarantee that a military man will not succeed Hosni. Let's knock these down one at a time...American pressure does work if it didn't we would not be having this discussion. The only opposition with broad support is the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood so of course they are trying to keep them out and I am pretty sure that Junior didn't serve in the military so the "shift" to civilian rule is not all that surprising.

Meanwhile the Bushies continue to make a nuisance of themselves pushing for more religious freedom in Eritrea, Vietnam and (drum roll please) Saudi Arabia. Apparently an agreement is in the works after the US threatened to slap sanctions. Iran is the latest country to have anti-government protests.

The most surprising news of the day was an op-ed in the Washington Post siding with W. on the pull-out of the Optional Protocol from the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The problem they reckon is the International Court was in a Warren kind of mood and made up a new right out of thin air. This in turn "created a major problem for the justice system in this country. " Mexico had sued the US over 50 death row inmates in Texas who never had asked for consular assistance before their trials. The ICC now says that even though they did not ask it should have been offered.