Word out of Iraq is that it is, surprise surprise, getting worse. It is being reported that American troops are taking Iraqi police/armed forces off the streets because the Iraqi people don't trust them; believing they are in collusion with Shiite militia in attacking Sunni civilians in a form of ethnic cleansing.
The people don't trust the police and believe their is an ethnic cleansing taking place: how much has changed since Saddam was deposed? I know, I know, stay the course, the people will buy into democracy and liberty eventually.
Also in connection to this, Keith Olbermann mentioned yesterday on his show 'Countdown', that Congress has set aside $20m for a celebration when/if there is final victory in Iraq/Afghanistan, while halving funding for research for brain trauma injuries (from $14m to $7m), the leading cause of mortality for American soldiers in Iraq due to IED's.
The Sudanese government continues to reject receiving UN armed peacekeepers. They continue to maintain that the problem isn't as bad as it's being reported. Also, they say they would prefer if China (who is a trade partner) and other Arab and African countries took a bigger role in resolving the conflict, though they say they would welcome UN assistance in training and development of African Union troops, but they do not want US and UK troops coming in, making Sudan the next front in the war on terror.
Brazil's election last Sunday failed to turn up a winner, as no candidate gained a majority, so Alckmin and Lula will have a run off at the end of the month. Lula, the incumbent, is increasingly being accused of scandal and corruption and Alckmin is gaining support, and the 8-10% of voters who voted for the neither of them will have to vote for one or the other. Current polls show Lula ahead by about 8 points, but he dropped his campaign manager and that angered some, and with the stench of scandal hanging around it could become closer in the coming weeks. As this is the largest nation in Latin America, it could be regionally significant if they stick with the "leftist" president, as opposed to returning to the more "conservative" candidate.
George H.W. Bush and Pervez Musharraf say the pledges to reconstruct Pakistan after the massive earthqauke are not coming through, with Bush fearing the growing number of humanitarian causes around the world is creating 'donor fatigue', after the Banda Aceh tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake, and various other recent campaigns.
The conspiracy theorist in me thinks the Republicans leaked this Foley story last weekend. Last week the big story was just how bad things are going in Iraq, through both the NIE and Bob Woodward's new book; this was an easy shifting of 'the story' as they know we can't resist a juicy Washington sex scandal (even if, as in this case, there was no sex involved). This gives them the opportunity to demonize the "liberal media", blame the Democrats for leaking the story and politicizing the event with no consideration for the children, and most importantly, it kills all momentum that was building in criticism of the handling of Iraq.
(Bear in mind, this is the same conspiracy theorist in me that is not sold on the official story of 9/11...seriously, what happened to Tower 7?)
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