Today's News

• Better bombs (I.E.D.'s) means more dead GIs. Insurgents are refining bomb making methods... [NYT]
• Yet normalcy (damn you Warren G. Harding) begins to peek throug in Baghdad. [LAT]
• Dems are talking tough on W's Iraqi quagmire. Sure they have no idea of what to do but they sound tough. [WaPost]
• Egypt is sending an ambassador to Iraq - the first Arab country to do so. [USAT]
• Rice tells Syria to stop meddling... [WashTimes]
• ...after it knocks off another anti-Syrian pol. [NYT]
• Abbas and Sharon get together and leave bitter... [WaPost]
• ...but it's better than nothing. [CSM]
• Rice in Egypt Part III - not much new except the acknowledgement of analyst that without US pressure Egypts reformers would be going nowhere. [CSM]
• Rice also speaks up for women's rights in the MidEast. [WaPost]
• Remember Afghanistan? Some there thought that they would be in for a peacekeeping mission - Wrong! Really good piece. [WaPost]
• What could possibly unite the left wing and right wing parties in Nicaragua? A president who says that he is going to battle corruption. [Herald]
• The EUnuchs and the other eUNuchs agree along with the US that Mugabe's latest moves are reprehensible so Kofi is sending an envoy to tell Mugabe how bad he is. How much you want to bet that nothing will change? [CSM]
• In Iran "freedom" and "democracy" are "offensive". Rafsanjani tries to bulk up his moderate credentials. This story makes him look so good that it almost seems staged. [WaPost]
• Rafsanjani tried to impress students and failed. [NYT]
• This is interesting - the Iranian Interior Ministry, which counted the votes in the election, says that there was fraud. Won't change the run-off between the lunatic mayor and the retread Rafsanjani. [LAT]
• Vietnam's top trading partner? The US of course! PM Phan Van Khai is in US buying up Boeings and checking up on W. Not everyone is happy. [CSM]
• EUnuchs argue amongst themselves on who is to blame for their messy summit last week. [NYT]
• After some controversy a former Chinese diplomat/spy seeking to defect is granted temporary residence in Australia. [WashTimes]
• Pinochet had a mild stroke. (Not so) coincidentally there is a hearing today to determine if his immunity from prosecution should be stripped. [Herald]
• Worried about oil hitting $70 a barrel? Don't, we have so much on the way that we could all buy Hummers! I exaggerate but there is some potential good news. [CSM]
• UN official condemns use of rape in African wars. I thought this story was about UN troops, but it isn't. [NYT]
• The fact that something does not work in Mexico is not news, the fact that the popular AMLO is getting blamed is another thing. [LAT]
• N. Koreans go south and get really upset that there are protestors. Can you imagine W. getting upset everytime he sees a protestor. [USAT]