Norway Top, Iran Near Bottom on Gender

The constitutional monarchy of Norway and home of the Nobel Prize stewards leads the world with the smallest gender gap. Iran is a dark ages basement dweller at 116 out of 130 on gender equality for the 18th largest sized country on Earth. The world's number one super power democracy is solidly behind Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and New Zealand coming in at #27. Sadly, that's an improvement over last year. Persian and Iranian civilization has been around in some form since before 4000 BC. The USA only gave suffrage to women in 1920 with a constitutional amendment passing by one vote. Since the 21st millennium began, Norway had a firm grip on the top spot in human development with an enlightened universal Scandinavian welfare model. Just to get to the top spot Norway had to move up just two places on their Nordic neighbors.

The UK came 13th and slipped from 11th place last year while France was among those countries whose ranking rose sharply, from 51st to 15th place helped by gains in economic participation and political empowerment.

Syria, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia all fell in the ranking and showed a drop in overall scores. Progress in closing the gap is not only "possible" but can be achieved in a relatively short space of time said the forum.

The index surveyed economic participation, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival.

Women in senior leadership roles in government, business and other organization needs to happen in more nations but the bugaboo of diversifying escapes rational discussion and implementation year after year. Looks bleak in the United Kingdom as the pay gap widens as the UK falls two places to number 13 on the World Economic Forum's Flobal Gender gap index, especially for women with the top job in a business. Canada took a greased toboggan down Mount Robson sliding to an ungainly stop 13 spots down from their prior perch. Turkey considered by those in Bush's state department as the most moderate Muslim nation sparkles in infamy at 123 out of 130 as the formerly secular nation grows ever more rigidly conservative in it politics. Don't hold your breath for the Bush guys to mention that out loud either as Turkey's air space is a vital American interest.

Women in the US still have trouble reaching equal status and equal pay. In Missouri, three female anchors are suing their former television station for tossing them off the air while their balder, fatter and squinting male counterparts got to stay on the tube. Gender bias shows up in a multitude of areas while significant accomplishments receive noteworthy attention. The United States military broke the so-called brass ceiling pinning a fourth star on General Ann E. Dunwoody's dress uniform. The 55 year old is the top commander of the Army Matériel Command unit which supplies all soldiers with weapons and gear. She is a master jumper and which led to her creds as the 82nd Airborne's first female battalion commander at Fort Bragg.

"It was clear to me that my Army experience was just going to be a two-year detour en route to my fitness profession," she added. "So when asked, `Ann, did you ever think you were going to be a general officer, to say nothing about a four-star?' I say, `Not in my wildest dreams.'

"There is no one more surprised than I — except, of course, my husband. You know what they say, `Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man.'"

Too bad that is has such the ring of truth - still in the USA and everywhere else...

In a story of intolerance from a temperate religion comes the story of Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She fought against the cultural norms on three continents suffering horrible deprivations along the way. While I may not agree with all of her political views, her courage and intellect are diamonds of the first water and her story is the beginning of her legend. She titled the book strongly, Infidel. A Great Read!

Green Zone Under Attack - Again

Photo— Tina Susman in Baghdad

KAPOW! Boom! Incoming!!! Those are just a few of the new sounds and shelling coming from Baghdad's supposedly ultra secure Green Zone. The puppet president of Iraq called a truce, ceasefire or invoked the mercy rule to get the violence to stop in Sadr City after he decided to borrow Bush swagger and invade when his newly minted US trained troops went up against Iraq's best armed militia. It was a full on rout for al-Sadr's team. Splurge to surge on protecting the Main Area set aside for American forces, contractors, aid workers, a journalist or two and enough worker bee diplomats to fill the biggest and most grandiose embassy ever built with US tax dollars is an embarrassing failure today after all the mortar fire.


General Petraeus's Surge command was supposed to make his nominal dotted-line boss, W, look good before his long awaited happy talk report was presented before a weak willed Congress. The timing of these attacks in Sadr City and the Green Zone is meant to cast aspersions on the president and his chief Iraq military commander. A more triumphal charm offensive was aimed at Congress with an RPG - Report Progress is Great as directed by the White House that vets his words and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's. Instead, more than thirty people suffered injuries and three American troops lay dead when the smoke cleared Sunday in Baghdad's Green Zone safer sanctuary.

The attacks also came as Iraq’s national security council intensified pressure on the Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the political group led by Moktada Al-Sadr, the powerful anti-American Shiite cleric, to disarm. In a statement, the council declared that all political parties must immediately dissolve their militias and surrender their weapons if they wished to participate in elections. (Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images Sadr City)

The timing of the statement was seen as message meant in particular for Mr. Sadr, who represents the biggest political threat to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and his associates, and who derives much of his support from Sadr City, the sprawling area of Baghdad that has been encircled by American and Iraqi troops for more than a week.

After the Iraqi soldiers came under attack, American forces, equipped with Abrams tanks, and troop-carrying Strykers and Bradley fighting vehicles rumbled to the scene. An American helicopter fired at least two Hellfire missiles at militia fighters armed with rocket propelled grenades, and blasted one of their vehicles. Later at least one militia-fired rocket hit the Jamilla market, a heavily frequented part of Sadr City, where clashes left at least 20 people dead, Iraqi officials said.

At large whoosh from a nearby rocket disrupted a briefing held by Iraqi and American commanders for a small group of reporters at the lone American Army and Iraqi combat outpost in Sadr City, prompting correspondents and soldiers to duck for their lives. The news conference, given by Gen. Abud Qanbar Hashim, the Iraqi commander for Baghdad, and Maj. Gen. Jeffrey W.Hammond, who leads the American division charged with securing the capital, began as bursts of gunfire rattled nearby streets.

Hidebound leathery Americans still trying to justify that the military is winning a war that shifted a couple of years ago to the political and diplomatic fronts are out of step or shouting Remember the Maine! A spate of unending violence in Mesopotamia screamed for desperate measures. Enter Mr. Bush's last seven-11 Camo Gucci Gulp Surge with his magical thinking heir apparent with a forty ounce of Bush koolaid elixir, John McCain. See John McCain crowing that the Surge is working even though when he was heavily guarded while traipsing around Baghdad, he could not go back to the same market he went to last year when he falsely claimed things were getting better as violence wet out of control. McCain claims the Maliki official Iraq forces did pretty well - oh goodness, that's some might powerful bush league stuff he drinks.

The Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president, Senator John McCain said Sunday Iraq's military performed "pretty well" during its recent assault in the southern Iraqi city of Basra despite mixed results of the battle.

He said such an assault would have been unthinkable just nine months ago.

Check your television again because its a shame if that's how folk's get the latest news on what current tragedy has befallen Iraq during the American invasion, occupation, forced purple finger democracy, re-invasion, reoccupation, assisted executions, political meddling, Surge 1 moving into super-sized Surge-Stay-the-Course. American TV media (MIA) mostly abandoned Iraq because its too expensive to cover full time, to say nothing of the realities of danger. With the lack of representatives for the American populace reporting everyday, many decided the Surge - patent pending - was doing just fine. Not.

There is no progress on the requirements to get some political laws passed on sharing oil revenue. Lately, Iran is showing more clout in Iraq with helping to broker the Shi'a stand down and al-Sadr deciding when to agree fighting against a fellow Shiite. Bush's guy, President Maliki, is being out negotiated too. But hey, Condi's State Department re-approved the Iraq contract for Blackwater services, even after incurring the wrath of Congress and the public's after they allegedly shot first, maimed and killed innocents in Baghdad, then claimed they were fired upon while protecting an American.



Released tomorrow is Patrick Cockburn's latest book which is incredibly timely. Entitled, Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shi'a Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq, offers a perspective that shows insight into the most powerful Shi'a in Iraq with ties Iran.

Putin Returns Russia to Cold War Arms Race

Casting a peaceful revamped hammer and sickle nation as stuck watching in horror as the evil US empire beefs up on European based missile defense shields against a benevolent Mother Russia is something only a daring former head KGB spy like Putin would pull off with a straight face. His hemispheric example of closing Soviet missile bases in former client states, Vietnam and Cuba, showed Russia heeding concerns. But now, the US is playing war games in his backyard and he says get off his lawn. Time's Man of the Year, Vlad, gets a three-fer out of his reluctant warrior speech in front of the full State Council. He charts the forced march Russia is on for Dmitry Medvedev, his handpicked presidential puppet, as he elevates/retires to Prime Minister with a focus on "Special" Projects to match or trounce US arms efforts.

"It's not our fault. We didn't start it . . . funneling multibillions of dollars into developing weapons systems," Putin declared in what may be his final major address before he leaves the Kremlin after presidential elections March 2, to become prime minister.


"Russia has and always will have a response to these new challenges," Putin declared. "Over the next few years, Russia will start production of new types of arms, with the same or even superior specifications compared to those available to other nations."

Putin outright accuses the US and NATO of making Russia enter the arms race because of their perceived hegemony in the trillion dollar armament market. But the real salt in Putin's wound are US bases and missile stations in what were formerly USSR territorial possessions; Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria. His attack dog speech is also for Russian public consumption as the whiff of going on a war footing is based on his need to protect the perceived encroachment of Russia's borders.

Pooty-Poot, as a diplomacy challenged Bush nicknamed Putin, is on a drive to regain superpower status while putting the world on notice. Russia's oligarchy is changing hands with more Putin allies taking control of the economic levers. Putin ruthlessly quashed Russian internal dissent in a blazing fireball of democratic destruction by pre-emptively striking to stop cold a political rival from gaining access to the March ballot. OSCE, international election monitors walked away in protest. More members of the press have been murdered in Moscow and a former spy famously poisoned in London to keep them permanently silent.

The Kremlin is spinning Putin's pungent war machine rhetoric into something much more vanilla for world audiences. Putin's peevishness stems from stinging critiques delivered from the West on his backing out of the 1990 Conventional Forces of Europe Treaty which had caps on aircraft and other military hardware. Trust, but verify, as Reagan put it, has a new spin. The west also has deep concerns on the status of nuclear materials as new alliances shift with Russian partners - like Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadimejad.





For centuries, classic Literature captures much of the genius and life sorrows Russians endured. Most recently, a thoughtful and intriguing work was finished before the gunning down of one Russia's best journalists in the foyer of her apartment. Ana Politkovskaya penned most of her final thoughts in books including the excellent, A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption and Death In Putin's Russia.

Iran & Temper Tantrums

Oh great, Iran got another sanction timeout again from the temperamental US Commander in Chief announced by Secretary spokesmodels, Condoleeza Rice and Henry Paulson. The US has no diplomatic babysitting ties with the toddler with nuclear ambitions. Kyl-Lieberman was the US Congress' effort at diplomacy that is particularly laughable. 70% of the US senators, including an obviously mesmerized by the shiny war machinery presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton, voted on a non-binding "sense of the senate" resolution to make a section of Iran's military, the Revolutionary Guard, a terrorist group. Usually, it helps to show you mean it if you are going to be that tepidly forceful to go with stern stuff stamped Official. It was so bad for Hillary in getting hoodwinked again by the Bush warmongering, she snail mailed explanations to the politically savvy voters in Iowa. They don't get the rationale behind that vote. Count on the national press to say she's ahead - only Iowa isn't sold on her embrace of the American sabre-rattling. (photo Xinhua/Reuters)

The message to Iowa voters, contained in an envelope promising an "important letter from Hillary inside", indicates she feels vulnerable on the Iran issue, particularly because of her 2002 vote to authorise the Iraq invasion.

She was the only Democratic candidate who voted for a resolution last month that called on Mr Bush to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.

"Only then did I and a lot of other Democrats vote for the resolution in order to pressure Iran by clearing the way for sanctions and pushing the President to get them to the negotiating table." (emphasis mine/ AP Photo)

Iran is a problem. But they have more clout now because since 2001, America junked the diplomacy business and drove up the revenues, profits and "prominence" of defense contracting businesses and oil companies. Oil companies are having their best decades ever. Bush spoke to his sanctions and the price of oil is skyrocketing to a $100 bucks a barrel. Iran is hedging the bets topu out at $120 per barrel. Europe is weighing its next move with Iran.

The sanctions, which will be imposed against Iran's Defense Ministry, its Revolutionary Guard Corps and more than 20 Iranian companies, banks and individuals, are the most extensive since Washington and Tehran severed their diplomatic relations in 1980.

Observers believe that the new sanctions will surely cause further inconvenience in Iran's import-export businesses and affect its investment environment in the long run, but under the current circumstances, the unilateral measures have little impact in isolating Iran from outside world and changing its policy.

Since the United States and Iran have no direct business contacts, the sanctions will have no practical significance.

Although Washington also warns against foreign banks and companies doing business with Iran, the Islamic Republic still has extensive economic ties with many countries, including Russia and elsewhere in Europe.

Iran has a history with US meddling in its internal affairs sine 1925 when Kermit Roosevelt (yes one of those Roosevelts) took part in an overthrow of the royal line. In 1953, the US with the CIA's Kermit Roosevelt again playing a significant role orchestrated the overthrow of a popular individual - who earned Time's Man of the Year honors to place their Shah in place. In 1979, the hostage crisis emanated partially from earlier US meddling. This important history is recapped in an excellent book and primer on the Iran crisis by Mark Bowden in Guests of the Ayatollah - The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam.

Better Chance of Peace on Mars

On Earth, Peace is MIA and the trail is growing as cold as the Tibetan Himalayas. A number of nations are grumbling and pointing fingers at the USA because of its perceived meddling. China is beside itself with outrage that His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, received America's highest civilian honor, the Congressional medal of Honor over their strenuous objections in the rotunda of the US capital today. Pretty sure China's Ambassador to the US skipped the great eats and abundant drinks at the Dalai Lama's sweet after party and huffily pulled out of a meeting with Iran. Its beside the point the Dalai Lama has lived in exile since 1959. (AP photo)

The 1915 Ottoman Turks are on the verge of being declared the cause of the Armenian genocide by the 2007 US Congress. Timing is everything. Turkey is wildly exercised at even the mere idea of being called to account for the deaths of over 1.5 million Armenians. First, in a diplomatic harrumph, the Turkish envoy left Washington at the behest of his government. Today, in a mix of self-preservation and political savvy, the Turkish parliament granted hunting rights for their army to invade the northern Kurdish areas to get PKK rebels in American-occupied Iraq. Under control of the Kurds, Iraq's oil rich northern border provides a base for separatists who want part of Turkey as their own state, to use guerrilla tactics and snipers against Turkey's military positioned on the border. The weather is worsening and leaves a short window for incursions for either side. (AP Photo)

Led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress is appreciating that Turkey's leaders in Ankara are our only Muslim angry NATO ally and may choose to delay the non-binding blame measure. President Bush gave a butt-numbing press conference today exhorting the Congress to do what he says: No on the genocide bill, fund his Iraq war for 100 times more than it takes to cover poor children, and his contention that Iran could start World War III. The Bush trademarked Global War on Terror used to be the neoconservative's World War III. (AP Photo Kadir Konuksever)

Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, went to Iran to forge ties and a possible arms deal with their controversial president, partly in reaction to president Bush speaking to putting missiles back on European soil as part of a defense shield.

Mr. Putin told a summit of five Caspian Sea nations, "We should not even think of using force in this region" – a veiled warning to the US not to strike Iran. But the Russian leader also sought a delicate balance on the nuclear issue, after a week of rebuffing top American officials over Washington's missile defense plans for Europe, and despite French and German leaders' hopes for a tougher line against Iran.

"From Iran's vantage point, this could not have come at a better time to drastically improve the geostrategic climate in Iran's favor, when Iran is under escalating pressure from the US and some allies," says Kaveh Afrasiabi, an Iran expert at Bentley College near Boston. "This summit works as an antidote to these pressures."

That was just yesterday in Our World. The topic of peace is a prolific one in books. Leo Tolstoy's epic Russian novel War and Peace remains one of the all time great contributions to literature. This translation is by Richard Peavere and Larrissa Volokhunsky.

US Spouts Peace, Sells Most Arms in the World

American cognitive dissonance suffers a massacre by peaceful ironies packing M-16s. The superpower nation that conceived of a United Nations, is selling arms throughout the developing world while sitting on the UN Security Council trash talking nations that use force to maintain their rule. Diplomacy via ammunition, guns and a half price sale on last year's plastiques - how American sold. A big recipient of the American arms trade is Pakistan, a nation originally supporting the Taliban, providing a potential serene vacation spot for Osama bin Laden, and home to a nuclear arsenal under the command of a president who took office at the end of a gun, in a military coup. India is aghast that Pakistan is one of the world's recent largest purchasers of the latest weapons goodies.

But anxieties over Iran's nuclear program may have put Moscow off significant new conventional arms deals with Iran in 2006, deals that could be viewed as overly provocative while the UN Security Council debates new sanctions on Iran.

The study also point out that the US has signed sales agreements with nations whose records on democracy and human rights are questionable.

The announcement of big new arms agreements with Pakistan last year renewed debate over whether the Bush Administration was elevating its counterterrorism priorities above its pledge to spread democracy around the world.

Pakistan was a major recipient of American arms in 2006.

US arms dealers have increased their take by more than $3.4 billion dollars since 2005. That has certainly spurred Britain, France and Russia to escalate their sales incentives to garner a bigger share. Russia signed da bomb of an arm deal with Iran, but feels a tad puckish about shooting the Iranians an official email saying their goods are in transit. Maybe its just me, but the permanent 5 nations with the only veto rights on the UN Security Council are also the top providers of the worlds guns and expect smaller nations to trot off to battle to do the world's peacekeeping with weapons sold by them. Amazing.

American weapons sales accounted for 42% of the global market, a total of nearly $17bn in sales, up $3.4bn from the previous year. The boom in US sales appears to have been partly fuelled by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have made neighbouring countries nervous. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the biggest buyers.

Russia is the world's second biggest dealer with sales of $8.7bn in 2006, nearly 22% of the market. Britain is third on list, with $3.1bn in sales. Those sales figures are almost certain to be boosted this year with Saudi Arabia's confirmation of a purchase of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters, worth £4.3bn, part of a sales and maintenance package worth up to £20bn.

However the controversy around a previous Saudi order for Tornado aircraft, which is still the subject of a US justice department investigation into alleged bribery, may ultimately diminish the clout of the arms lobby.

Saudi Arabia has close ties with ISI, the Pakistani intelligence service. india just signed a nuclear agreement with the US. Russia has a president who is seriously considering a new title of premier. The international arms race and trade are inextricable tied to national security and citizen safety, but not if arms deals are in jeopardy.


President Pervez Musharraf famously refused to answer a question while at a White House press conference because his book was coming out the next day and his publisher would not be amused. It is with appreciable irony, he entitled his book, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir.

Israel's Secret Raid in Syria

George Bush refused to make any comment by saying "no comment" when asked by a reporter at Friday's press conference about Israel's September 6th commando and bombing raid in northern Syria. In light of his silence, Bush gave tacit American approval to Israel to conduct the raid on Syria who has a known partnership with Shi'a Iran, which George Bush keeps loudly accusing of being the main problem in Iraq while the remaining minority Sunnis are backed by Saudi Arabia. No comment is judicious inside this Middle Eastern tangled web that Bush has spun. Seems the Syrians had nuclear material and Israel went in and relieved them of it with full American approval. The origins of the nuclear material are stated to be from North Korea which the Cheney/Bush administration trumpeted their nuclear nonproliferation deal with the US earlier this year. Just last week Syrian officials were sighted in North Korea meeting with officials to get their stories straight before this all became public.

Evidence that North Korean personnel were at the site is said to have been shared with President George W Bush over the summer. A senior American source said the administration sought proof of nuclear-related activities before giving the attack its blessing.

This whole Axis of Evil triumvirate is about to become radio active redux. Six years later, North Korea has known nuclear capacity and is ruled by a miniature neurotic despot in love with Whitney Houston, Iran is in defiance of American led international UN sanctions while harshly emphasizing their nuclear work is for electricity and Iraq is a day-glo George Bush Gamma ray grade mess that no one is able to contain. Enter Israel who clearly states no nuclear weapons in the Middle East - except theirs. Israel's Air Force (IAF) back up their government's statements. We live in Interesting Times.

North Korea is known to be a source of missile technology that is shared within Syria. That Syria was prepared to store the nuclear materials leaves a multitude of questions about exactly how sophisticated is Syria with arming missiles with a nuclear war head. Syria has not been shy about lobbing bombs over its border into Israel, nor shooting at Israel's planes when they were in Syrian airspace.

The Syrian official expressed satisfaction that the “friendly and cooperative ties” between the two countries are growing stronger under President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria and Kim Jong Il of North Korea, KCNA said.

Guess who has said nothing so far and they have a vote at any proceedings undertaken by the United Nations Security Council and their own nuclear arsenal? China.




Israeli commandos have been the stuff of legend and lore for a variety of their known exploits. One of the most famous wrote a book covering much of Israel's military past. Secret Soldier: The True Life Story of Israel's Greatest Commando is told by Muki Betser with Robert Rosenberg.

Storytime: Iraq Happy Talk & Iran Horrors

George Bush is going to tell the world a story. Smallish pieces of it might well be true according to Giupetto Cheney. It will feature real estate demons of al Qaeda devaluing Bush's trillion dollar Iraq foreclosure property and the evil nouveau nuclear stepneighbors amassing illegal weapons in the uranium bunker dungeon for nefarious purposes. International fairies with heavy British accents pre-emptively have commanding generals blasting gaping holes in Bush's presidential "truthiness", pointing to rank incompetence and daring to show the troll errors of American neocon wisdom.

Against this dire backdrop, the evil furry trolls from Siberia planted a titanium flag claiming the Arctic sea as theirs, put fighter pilots in the sky - accidentally fragging Georgia with a bomb as they tested their prowess under a shirtless, strangely hunky leader Putin. Canada, the nicest ever quiet neighbors to the north, threw a temper tantrum any toddler would give great thumb suck approval on at Resolute Bay with their new harpy leader, Harper, showcasing Maple Leaf ferocity in taking on Russia's absurd assertions. Canada owns the North Pole. Norway not to be frozen out says, no way, because they are sprouting new islands for the coming land grab. Future battles will be fought sumo astronaut style on the moon with Red Riding Wolf betting the crater on The Global Warming Super Polluters as a War & Peace novel defies gravity and decks Porky Pig.

With the American economy held at knife point by lenders who built a Great Wall and a 5,000 year old culture, a seven year old president is reduced to weepy moans and pleas to the patient China parent holding all the ca$h because the kid stupidly spent it on a fake WMD house of cards. Of course, China's recent war games with Russia mean nothing to the plot. It was a million dollar one night stand, except they invited Iraq's evil stepneighbor to party on like it was 1999. Ah, but then American flying monkeys captured some of the evil stepneighbors, and um, realized more mistakes were made releasing their merry Iran men back into Sherwood Desert. War plans against the stepneighbors have hit fever pitch with storyboards saying exactly what to blowup in the Pentadragon's animation fantasy.

Meanwhile, presidential fake story time was booked for September, a very Magical September with excellent ratings numbers for Americans hypnotized by the stage music, bad boys, bad boys - whatcha gonna do when they come for you -bad boyz, bad boyz... Bush anointed a general to comeback to spread happy talk manure about how the magic beans were sprouting after a surge in troops and a splurge in dollars. Thank goodness the fertilizer being used is environmentally friendly. Except, these other people kept under the toll bridge felt a copyright infringement by Bush lying about their actual reality documentary version of Magical September. Thier real tales are of the good elves being disappeared as the Halloween stage set explodes in a shock of body parts around other areas as the president pleads for more time to make Texas Chainsaw Massacre MMVIII really bloody as remaining friendly fairies pull out of Basra. The Iraqi dwarf government makes a Grumpy appeal for calm on behalf Happy who was on vacation as a member of either the parliament or the American Congress, after Sneezy achooed all over Dopey's government.

Congressional delegations traipsed to Iraq to get a first hand "view" of Iraq from neato military pre-made powerpoint presentations, surrounded by picturesque armored personnel carriers and fortunate brave soldiers carrying 75 pounds of protective gear in 130 degree heat to guide the lambs of peace on a tour of a small neighborhood with intermittent electricity nor regular running water inside a little area in the Green Zone prison. As the Congressional professional Bush water carriers got on their special Hercules C-130 and exit stage right, it is shot at by accidental insurgent tourist terrorists, a salute open to interpretation. Congressional members said it proved the surge was working. The koolaid in the Green Zone is magnificent:

Sen Shelby, Sen Martinez and Mr Cramer said the recent increase in US troop levels had helped stabilise parts of the country.

These blind oracles of obfuscation missed the fatal outbreak of cholera in other areas. This comes amidst whispers of a wishin' and a hopin' for a new leader to rise amidst the rubble of a once proud country. We want that for Iraq too.

The End...

New Silk Road has Mighty River of Oil

What is old becomes new again just by changing the players, not the game. World domination in trade was the province of a superpower like the USA. America cemented its standing by helping to found a little organization called NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization, complete wih a standing Army - always under the command of an American. Europe got their collection of smaller countries together to up their trading, political and potentially military clout to form something called the EU - European union. There are Asian versions that meet; APEC, ASEAN with Climate Change dominating the agenda.

Long suspicious and resentful of NATO, Russia and China - former bitter enemies, are creating a strategic alliance that is fraught with peril and possibility. SCO is the Shanghai Co-operation Organization. To get into that exclusive nation club next to presidents Putin and Jintao, requires one or more of the following: massive energy provider, hungry energy consumer with spare megabucks/rubles/yuan with nothing to do but sit there collecting compound interest or a teeny tiny poor country bordering the biggies for a pipeline or ahem, an oil road - the new Silk Road is a mighty flowing river of oil.

To celebrate an engagement and show a bit of the Central Asia
dowry, China and Russia just started the biggest joint military war game, together. Two, million "man" armies practicing together with the USA only able to watch from a pay per view spy satellite. Top it off with a terribly unpopular incompetent US president and an ineffective US Secretary of State - a supposed Russian expert with a PhD, and America is feeling a bit jilted. Iran, Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan are bringing flowers and candy to gain entrance into the SCO. Two or more of that group have nuclear bombs or technology and three of that group are still dating America for the foreign policy goodies. Besides it takes an awful lot of oil to make armies that big work effectively.

Pretty sure the American media will catch on sometime during the SCO's energetic honeymoon phase as the balance of power rocks American professional navel gazing. Russia is reverting back to a Cold War stance by resuming their own patrolling of the global skies. Its been sixteen years since Russia last did it and you can bet your last penny, pound or paisa, they "pimped their rides" with amazing new technology.

Russia and China invited Iran's bombastic president to dinner for a quickie tête - à - tête at an Anti-US summit. The message to America is way past subliminal.

The ancient Silk Road is famous for opening trade to new partners in Europe. Tourists traveled to Afghanistan and China to partake of the scenic beauty and the dangerous trek. Venetian Marco Polo (1254 - 1324 CE) is credited with founding it.

History has a way of repeating itself. Books illuminate past mistakes while providing illumination for those so inclined. An elegant, illustrated version of The Silk Road by Frances Woods is a keeper. Two thousand years of history in this review. Russian and Chinese history, especially since Stalin and Mao are excellent maps for current events under the new leaders.