HOW SECURITY GUARDS BECAME KILLERS - DAHR JAMAIL AND ALI AL-FADHILY (ASIA TIMES, NOVEMBER 10): One of the first decisions that the US occupation authorities and the Iraqi leaders working with them made was that each ministry could establish its own protection force independent of the control of the ministries of Interior and Defense.
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HK10Ak01.html

A STAGGERING NEW BILL FOR IRAQ? - JESSICA HOLZER AND MATTHEW SWIBEL (FORBES, NOVEMBER 9): The U.S. armed services have requested a $160 billion supplemental appropriation to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the remainder of fiscal year 2007 -- a staggering amount.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/08/iraq-appr...aily_newsletter

INCOMPLETE JUSTICE IN IRAQ - EDITORIAL (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 8): If Iraqi authorities allow Saddam to be executed before his major crimes can be documented and judged in open court, they will be undermining the primary purpose of a tribunal that they wanted, understandably, to conduct in Iraq -- where the despot's Iraqi victims were disappeared, tortured, raped, and killed.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...in_iraq?mode=PF

BUSH'S NOVEMBER SURPRISE - ROBERT SCHEER (TRUTHDIG, NOVEMBER 8/COMMON DREAMS): A fair international tribunal judging Hussein's many crimes would have provided a venue for exposing the tyrants international backers, led by the United States and its allies.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-25.htm

A DUBIOUS VERDICT - RICHARD FALK (INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 7/COMMON DREAMS): The outcome of this first trial against Saddam's Baathist regime should have been internationalized, or at the very least, waited until normalcy had been restored in Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1107-21.htm

WHY HUSSEIN ULTIMATELY WINS, AND DIES A MARTYR: IN AN INTERNATIONAL COURT, HIS TRIAL WOULD HAVE HAD CREDIBILITY. THE TRIAL IN IRAQ DID NOT - GWYNNE DYER (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, NOVEMBER 7/COMMON DREAMS)
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1107-24.htm

SADDAM VERDICT A PYRRHIC VICTORY FOR BUSH - RICHARD GWYN (TORONTO STAR, NOVEMBER 7/COMMON DREAMS): Saddam will die a martyr. And martyrs are always remembered.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1107-25.htm

NO CONFIDENCE IN BUSH - SCOT LEHIGH (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 8): As for the decision to invade Iraq in the first place, Americans have decided it was a mistake.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...in_bush?mode=PF

POST MORTEM: WHY REPUBLICANS GOT SHELLACKED IN THE MIDTERMS - FRED BARNES (WEEKLY STANDARD, NOVEMBER 8): Republicans lost the House and probably the Senate because of Iraq, corruption, and a record of taking up big issues and then doing nothing on them. Of these, the war was by far the biggest factor.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...12/923kemje.asp

AND NOW, IRAQ - DAVID CORN (NATION, NOVEMBER 9): The bitterly fought Congressional election was merely the prelude to the real showdown in Washington: the battle over the Iraq War.
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=corn

THE TABLE TURNS: AMERICAN VOTERS SAY, "BUSH SUCKS!" COUNTERPUNCH - SUSAN BLOCK (COUNTERPUNCH, NOVEMBER 8): The election was a referendum on the flabbergastingly evil reign of George II, the craven Bushites and the putrid, crony-riddled, page-diddling, mostly Republican War Machine.
http://www.counterpunch.org/block11082006.html

THE NATION'S NEW WARRIOR - EDITORIAL (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 9): Most Americans want changes in the government's approach to the Iraq war. Americans want to prevail in Iraq.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...newsopinion-hed

IRAQ WINS THE ELECTION, WHAT NOW? - TOM HAYDEN (COMMON DREAMS, NOVEMBER 8): American voters insisted on changing course, and let Iraq become the critical factor in overthrowing a rigged Republican majority.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-32.htm

ONLY A MINOR EARTHQUAKE - CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 10): The election was not so much the war itself as the perceived administration policy of "stay the course," which implied endless intervention with no victory in sight.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0901775_pf.html

ON MIDTERMS, MANDATES, AND MURTHA - ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (HUFFINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 8): The GOP lost for three reasons: Iraq, Iraq, and Iraq. Period. End of discussion.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huff...an_b_33647.html

THE IRAQ WAR ELECTION - JOHN NICHOLS (NATION, NOVEMBER 8/COMMON DREAMS): The anti-war message won.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-24.htm

MEETING AT THE MIDDLE - E. J. DIONNE JR. (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 9): Tuesday's vote can make clear to the Iraqi government that there is a limit to American patience. The Shiite majority in Iraq must take more steps to reconcile with the Sunni minority.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6110802080.html

WINDS OF RAGE, WINDS OF CHANGE - JOAN VENNOCHI (BOSTON GLOBE, NOVEMBER 9): The real message of the election is something less than a call for immediate withdrawal. But voters clearly want to begin the process of extricating this country from Iraq.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial..._change?mode=PF

SANTORUM GONE! POMBO GONE! BURNS GONE! RUMSFELD GONE!: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS: NEOCONS AND NEOLIBS TAKE A BIG HIT, AS VOTERS SAY NO TO BUSH, WAR AND FREE TRADE - ALEXANDER COCKBURN AND JEFFREY ST. CLAIR (COUNTERPUNCH, NOVEMBER 8): The voters want the US out of Iraq.
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11082006.html

IT'S OVER FOR BUSH - EDITORIAL (NATION, NOVEMBER 9): Americans want out of this disastrous war -- now, as soon as possible.
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=editors

NOW THE DECIDER MUST LISTEN - EUGENE ROBINSON (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 10): "I haven't seen any indication that Bush is ready to ask himself the questions that millions of Americans posed on Tuesday: What are we accomplishing in Iraq?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0901769_pf.html

A BUSH RETREAT? - REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 9): One reason the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki has had such a hard time dismantling Shiite militias is because Shiites fear that it's only a matter of time before the U.S. abandons them again and they will have to confront the Sunni Baathist insurgency on their own. If President Bush wants to reassure Shiites on this score and about Mr. Gates, he should announce that the recent efforts to appease the Sunni terrorist political fronts in Iraq have failed.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1163...1728718013.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

SHIFT COMING IN US POLICY ON IRAQ: 'STAY THE COURSE' AND 'CUT AND RUN' AREN'T OPTIONS. SPEAKING TO 'AXIS OF EVIL' NEIGHBORS MAY BE - HOWARD LAFRANCHI (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 8): The recommendations of what is simply being called the Baker commission are likely to have a greater impact on US policy than the election results.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1108/p01s01-uspo.html

STAGE SET FOR IRAQ POLICY SHIFT: BOTH PARTIES MAY SEEK COVER IN RECOMMENDATIONS OF STUDY GROUP - GLENN KESSLER AND THOMAS E. RICKS (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 9): The Baker-Hamilton study group's most likely recommendation will be to curtail the goal of democratizing Iraq and instead emphasize stability.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0802517_pf.html

GATES CRASHER - REUEL MARC GERECHT (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 10): The Baker-Hamilton Iraq Survey Group has not discovered any way for the U.S. to exit Iraq -- except under catastrophic conditions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1163125719...in_commentaries
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

'W.' MUST NOW STAND FOR 'WAR' - JOHN PODHORETZ (NEW YORK POST, NOVEMBER 9): Some early press leaks suggest the recommendations of the Baker Iraq Survey Group is to have a big international conference, make some deal with Iran and Syria, call it a landmark in world history and get out. Whatever that is, it wouldn't be victory but a face-saving exit.
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print....n_podhoretz.htm

TIME TO TALK TO THE BAD GUYS - ANATOL LIEVEN (INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 9): The only way in which America can now extricate itself from Iraq with some honor, while limiting the conflict there, is to appeal to Iraq's neighbors for help.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/09/opinion/edlieven.php

THE IRAQ MANDATE - ROBERT DREYFUSS (TOMPAINE.COM, NOVEMBER 8): Iraq's insurgency isn't going away until the last American soldier leaves Iraq.
http://www.tompaine.com/print/the_iraq_mandate.php

U.S. MUST GET OUT OF IRAQ -- NOW: IRAQ TAUGHT HIM THAT THE WEST HAS OVERESTIMATED THE INFLUENCE OF THE COALITION AND UNDERESTIMATED IRAQIS - RORY STEWART (TORONTO STAR, NOVEMBER 8): Withdrawal is coming. The sooner it happens, the better for Iraqis and for the United States.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-22.htm

WILL AMERICA SAVE THE WORLD? - YUVAL STENITZ (JERUSALEM POST, NONVEMBER 8): With a nuclear world war no longer a far-fetched possibility, how would history judge America's current leadership if those who managed to get the US bogged down in Iraq to save the world from virtual chemical weapons wind up failing to save the world from a real nuclear threat in next-door Iran?
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter

ORWELLIAN CENSORSHIP - NIR T. BOMS AND ELLIOT CHODOFF (WASHINGTON TIMES, NOVEMBER 10): Adhering to a new governmental decree, Iran's Internet service providers (ISPs) have started reducing the speed of Internet access to homes and cafes.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.p...09-082809-8942r

NONVIOLENCE CAN WORK WONDERS -- EVEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A GATHERING IN JORDAN GIVES PEACEMAKERS IN THE REGION NEW CAUSE FOR HOPE - HELENA COBBAN (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 9): Many Middle Easterners can now see that violence -- whether direct physical violence or the violence of oppressive systems -- simply does not "work."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1109/p09s02-coop.htm

ASK THE AFGHANS - REVIEW & OUTLOOK (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 10): Is Afghanistan a success? The Afghans think so -- according to the first comprehensive survey of public opinion in that country.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1163...5482119125.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

CHINA: SCAPEGOAT OR SPUTNIK - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 10): China is inevitably going to move back to the center of U.S. politics, because it crystallizes the economic challenges faced by U.S. workers in the 21st century.
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/opini...agewanted=print

HERE COMES KOSOVO: A DECISION TO MAKE THE SERB PROVINCE INDEPENDENT IS NEAR. WILL SERBIA AND RUSSIA OBSTRUCT IT? - EDITORIAL (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 10)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6110901821.html

LATIN AMERICA'S TWO LEFT FEET - MONITOR'S VIEW (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOVEMBER 8): The US needs to have more faith that Latin Americans still prefer democracy and open markets, despite slow progress to reduce poverty and wealth disparities.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1108/p08s02-comv.html

BUSH IS STILL 'THE DECIDER': TUESDAY'S ELECTION RESULTS AREN'T LIKELY TO CHANGE HIS MIND ON FOREIGN POLICY - CHARLES A. KUPCHAN AND PETER L. TRUBOWITZ (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 9): Expectations of an about-face on foreign policy are illusory.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

CAN JIM BAKER SAVE THE AMERICAN ESTABLISHMENT? - LEON HADAR (ANTIWAR.COMM): The reality is, as the developments leading to the war in Iraq have demonstrated, the major decisions in U.S. foreign policy are made by a relatively small elite of policymakers, led by the White House and shaped by powerful bureaucrats, lawmakers, lobbies, and pundits.
http://www.antiwar.com/hadar/?articleid=9983

REJOICE - EDITORS (NEW REPUBLIC, NOVEMBER 9): Another casualty of the election, we hope, should be the pathological insularity of the administration's foreign policy-making.
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=200611...editorial112006

TEAM 41 IS A THREAT TO BUSH LEGACY - DANIEL HENNINGER (WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 10): With the return of established foreign-policy wisdom, the "neocons" associated with Mr. Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney and their "failed" ideas will be swept out to sea.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1163...9068419421.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

QUOTATIONS OF THE DAY

"AS WE KNOW, THERE ARE KNOWN KNOWNS; THERE ARE THINGS WE KNOW WE KNOW. WE ALSO KNOW THERE ARE KNOWN UNKNOWNS; THAT IS TO SAY WE KNOW THERE ARE SOME THINGS WE DO NOT KNOW. BUT THERE ARE ALSO UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS -- THE ONES WE DON'T KNOW WE DON'T KNOW."

--Outgoing secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; cited in Linton Weeks, "Rumsfeld, A Newsmaker Who's Certainly Hard to Follow" (Washington Post, November 9)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...0802469_pf.html
This quotation to music at http://stuffedpenguin.com/rumsfeld/documen...lip160k_000.mp3
via Tompaine.com, November 9

"GIVE PRESIDENT BUSH CREDIT FOR BEING HONEST ABOUT HIS DISHONESTY."

--James Carney, "A Long Overdue Departure for Rumsfeld" (Times, November 8)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0...1556714,00.html

"WE HAVE BEEN SNIPPING AT THE ARTS COUNCIL FOR YEARS, AND NO ONE FROM THEIR OFFICE HAS EVER INVITED US TO DEBATE ANYTHING. EXCEPT, PERHAPS, THE DIRECTOR OF LITERATURE, GARY MCKEONE, WHO TAKES IT UPON HIMSELF TO RESPOND POLITELY TO OUR REMARKS ABOUT POETRY OR MAGAZINE FUNDING ... .

War on Iran

Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East

By Dr. Elias Akleh

The powder keg is ready and all it needs is a match to ignite it. This could come in the form of an “arranged” terrorist act in Lebanon – e.g. another political assassination or toppling of government- to be blamed against Syria and Iran. American warnings of such an act are already in the media.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15564.htm

US SEEKS TO SWAY ARAB STREET WITH MEDIA OFFICE IN DUBAI - MAHA AKEEL, (ARAB NEWS, NOVEMBER 9): In a roundtable discussion with journalists in Jeddah yesterday, the director of the U.S. media office in Dubai, Michael Pelletier, talked about his job and the objectives of the office, which opened two months ago to facilitate communication with Arab journalists.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&...ategory=Kingdom
VIA
http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/

OLD WORLD ORDER [REVIEW OF 'ETHICAL REALISM: A VISION FOR AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD' BY ANATOL LIEVEN AND JOHN HULSMAN] - JAMES TRAUB (NEW YORK TIMES, NOVEMBER 12): Lieven and Hulsman, inter alia, recommend a form of public diplomacy that has more to do with listening to the concerns of the Muslim world than with marketing the American way of life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/re...agewanted=print

DEALING WITH THE REAL THREAT OF TERRORISM - BRIGITTE L. NACOS (REFLECTIVEPUNDIT, NOVEMBER 10): An effective counterterrorist policy must find ways to stop or at least reduce the avalanche of terrorist propaganda and replace it with counterterrorist public diplomacy.
http://www.reflectivepundit.com/reflective...th_th.html#more

MORE U.S. ELECTIONS POSTMORTEM: THE VIEW FROM BRITAIN - EDWARD M. GOMEZ (WORLD VIEWS, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, NOVEMBER 9)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/det...&entry_id=10776

CHALLENGE TO NEO-CONSERVATISM - YU WANLI (PEOPLE'S DAILY, BEIJING, NOVEMBER 11): The results of various public opinion polls show that the Iraq war was the most important issue in the election.
http://english.people.com.cn/200611/11/eng...111_320528.html

SAUDI STUDENTS - (WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 11): 10,936 Saudis are enrolled at 733 U.S. educational institutions across the country. An additional 3,000 students are to arrive next semester, bringing the total to about 14,000. SOURCES: Institute of International Education, U.S. State Department, Saudi cultural attache Mazyed Ibrahim Almazyed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1001623_pf.html

MUHAJIR TAPE - MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, NOVEMBER 10): Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch has already released an audiotape by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir claiming victory in the US elections and mocking Rumsfeld, while urging the US "to stay in Iraq so his group would have more opportunities to kill American troops."
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...hajir_tape.html

HEALTHCARE; CALLS FOR EXECUTION: DECREPIT HEALTHCARE ADDS TO TOLL IN IRAQ; A ONCE ENVIABLE SYSTEM LACKS DOCTORS, MEDICINE AND KEY EQUIPMENT. DESPITE U.S. FUNDING, NO CURE SEEMS IMMINENT - LOUISE ROUG (LOS ANGELES TIMES, NOVEMBER 11)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines