0230 GMT April 30, 2006

• Al-Qaeda Threat Against Palestine President Jerusalem Post reports Palestine Authority has stepped up security after the terrorist Zarqawi's group threatened to kill the president and other Fatah leaders.

• The threat shows how far Zarqawi has progressed on his journey to La-La Land. He's supposed to be fighting the American "occupation" of Iraq. Arabs will not appreciate his meddling in local affairs: his bombing in Jordan turned the Jordanian people against him and he's been discreet since then. The recent Egypt resort bombing, in which AQ may or may not be involved, have led to across-the-board condemnation by Arab states of Islamic terrorism directed against Arabs. If anyone doubted Zarqawi's motives are purely the establishment of himself in power by the use of terror, the threat to PA leaders should clear up the matter.

• Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela Establish Free Trade Bloc as the first step to providing a Latin free market alternative to the the US.

• This is all terribly sweet and touching, but you can't have a free trade block designed to exclude the country that still has by far the largest economy in the world. That's not free trade, its a club for losers.

0230 GMT April 29, 2006

• Al-Qaeda Number 2 Says US Is "Broken" In Iraq A rather peculiar message, as in fact its Al-Qaeda taking heavy losses in Iraq. It has lost Anbar, its main base; US forces are reducing; and Iraqi forces growing stronger. Moreover, AQ in Pakistan has been taking a serious beating in the matter of its leadership, and the AQ/Taliban Afghan spring offensive has been a disaster.

• These days information flows freely as compared to say even just 10 years ago. So we're not sure who Dr. Zawahiri is trying to impress. Unless he's trying to really the troops in face of losses.

• Swedish Muslim Fundamentalists Display Impeccable Timing with their demand for separate laws for Muslims. The group involved says it represents 70,000 Swedish Muslims. Other groups have disassociated themselves from the call: AP says several Islamic groups have slammed the proposals.

• The reaction from the government has come immediately: forget about it. The demand is exactly the desperately stupid thing Muslim fundamentalists specialize in pulling off: all of Europe is very much on edge about Muslim immigrants, and the demand cuts at the heart of the secular humanism Europeans live by. It will radicalize the Swedes, who so far have been going around pathetically whining: "But we welcomed them and gave them every facility and opportunity they didn't have in their own countries. How can they be so mean?"

• As far as we're concerned, the demand is wonderful, because added to the demands by French reactionary Muslims for separate laws and policing, it shows Europeans with clarity what they're going to face as a consequence of the soft decisions they have been making vis-a-vis Islamic immigration.

• Thanks to reader marcopetroni for the article, which appeared in a Swedish internet paper http://www.thelocal.se

• Hamas Will Not Easily Displace Fatah says an Israeli general who served 20 years in the Occupied Territories (reported by Jerusalem Post). He says even if lack of money was not slowing down Hamas's efforts to establish control of Gaza, Hamas has not been able to penetrate Fatah.

• We want Hamas gone, but are concerned about the increasingly probability of civil war in Palestine. This is not going to help anyone, Palestine or Israeli.

• Nepal Parliament Forges Ahead With Plan To Trim Monarch's Powers In its first meeting in 4 years, Nepal's parliament began plans to amend the constitution to reduce the King's powers.

• The new prime minister is a person your editor thought must be dead by now, his name has been associated with Nepali politics for so long. You editor was a bit taken aback to learn GB Koirala is only 84. He must have come to power as a young man.

• IAEA Cites Iran On N-Program saying that it has accelerated its uranium enrichment program. The report, presented to the UN Security Council today, was expected and presages nothing dramatic - at least not yet.

• Had China and Russia been on board, the report would have triggered a Security Council declaration that would have permitted the US and allies to take action against Iran under UN authorization.

• In Orbat.com's estimation, there is no chance either country will do other than veto resolutions against Iran. At this time, there should be no expectation of UN-authorized action against Iran.

• Samarra "Emir" Killed Coalition forces have killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Samarra.

2030 GMT April 28, 2006

• US Hints On Reducing Iraq Troop Levels To 100,000 No surprise here. Its an election year, and there has to be some withdrawal of troops. Moreover, Iraqi forces are doing fairly well and are expanding.

• US has 15 brigades and 130,000 troops in Iraq; the plan is to bring home five brigades.

• Chad Money Compromise It looks like Chad will be allowed to spend 30% of its oil revenues the way it wants rather than the current 15%. About $100-million is held up in a World Bank mandated escrow account.

• The World Bank had worked out a unique deal with Chad: it would finance an oil pipeline to Gabon and the Atlantic if Chad agreed to spend 85% of revenues to benefit the public good. Then came the insurgents - who incidentally want control of the oil - and the government's need for money went up.

• First the World Bank said no deal, 15% is it. But faced with the possibility that the country destabilizes because of internal security pressures, the Bank decided to compromise. We believe 30% is less than what the Chad government wanted, so there has been give on both sides.

• EU To Send 1500 Troops to DR Congo as a rapid reaction force to help with the coming general election. There are already 17,000 UN peacekeepers in the country.

• We are delighted the EU is getting off its rear and starting to take its international responsibilities seriously. The number of troops EU and NATO excluding US deploy overseas is still pathetic but - first Afghanistan, now Congo, that's a good start.

• Dafur The Dafur force problem remains unresolved. The 7000 African troops there are trained and equipped for less forceful peacekeeping than is required. A more robust NATO/EU force has been sanctioned in principle but Sudan has refused permission for deployment.

0230 GMT April 27, 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Vital News of the Day

• China claims to have invented golf says Times London. PRC bases its claim on an ancient painting which shows players doing something with to a ball with a stick and the presence of a hole in the ground.

• The Scots say there are just so many things one can do with a ball and stick and a painting showing someone doing something with a ball and stick is no proof of anything.

• We agree. Moreover, we are puzzled at why the PRC would want to claim the invention of golf. Shows once again how vulgar the place is.

• Chinese to punish vulgar funeral rites Used to be at Chinese funerals paper money was burned so the deceased would have money to spend in the afterlife, says Times of London. Turns out modern Chinese mourners are burning condoms, among other things, so the deceased can have - um - a fun time in the afterlife.

• PRC government is very upset, and says it will punish such vulgarity.

• That means PRC government will have to punish itself twice: once because it is unspeakably vulgar to begin with - the political system it runs is in the lowest of bad taste - and then again for having invented golf.

• We contacted Mr. Hugh Heffner of the Playboy empire. Our correspondent files this short report: "The aging playboy said, with a patrician sniff, "If you aren't getting any in this life you are unlikely to score in the afterlife either"".

• We are forced to agree.

• Airbus offers standing room space for A-380 passengers says Times London.  Airbus has this genius idea for increasing the passenger load on the A-380 from a maximum of 550 when the aircraft is configured for Sardine Class to 800: tastefully scattered around the aircraft will be little ledges for passengers to rest their butts, eliminating empty space in the aircraft.

• We shook our head in pity. Where does Airbus get its aircraft designers? You can easily put an additional 800 passengers on an Airbus 380 by spraying each passenger's butt with Super Glue and making them sit on the wings, outer fuselage, tail, and engine cowlings.

• Next, you can attach 150 tow ropes with a 1 meter interval between each to the wings. Our calculation shows the ropes can be at least 500 meters long. Passengers will hang on to the ropes by their teeth. We estimate the average passenger's shoulders are 50 centimeters wide. Passengers will be arranged, alternating, on both sides of the ropes, and thus Airbus will be able to get another 1000 people per rope multiplied by 150 ropes equals 150,000 additional people, giving the A-380 a capacity of 156,600 people.

• Even more advanced technology is on the way, which we suggest for the Airbus Nano - as we term our new concept aircraft. The aircraft can be the size of a soft drink can. Passengers will be reduced to nanoscale by a special ray machine. All six billion people in the world will be able to fly together in one aircraft and there will still be lots of room for  Nano-Golf-Courses for  Scot and Chinese travelers. Talk about your miniature golf.

Now The Boring Stuff

• Financial Analyst Questions Oil Price Wisdom Steve Pearlstein is a financial writer for the Washington Post. We've found him fair minded in his approach - no vested interest. In yesterday's WashPo, he questions conventional wisdom about oil prices.

• One: its not the greens preventing building of new refineries, its the oil companies themselves who took that decision. They did not like the low margins in the business; using the greens as the excuse, they stopped building, demand kept increasing, and now refining has handsome margins.

• Two: OPEC is limiting output by refusing to invest in new production to keep up with demand, and has been doing so - deliberately - for years. The China-India demand thing is just a convenient excuse to explain away a cartel decision to push up oil prices.

• Three: Pearlstein does not talk about the Iraq/Nigeria fear factor, which is said to have added $15/bbl and up to current prices. He does talk about hot money flowing to oil futures and says $15/bbl of today's price is due to speculation.

• Pretty devastating stuff if he has all his ducks in a row. Three years ago prices were in the $20s per barrel. So why, if just market forces are involved, should they triple?

• US Drops Israel As Iran Strike Partner Reader marcopetroni sends and article from Insight Magazine saying US, France and UK have decided they will not include Israel in any Iran attack. Neither Turkey nor an Arab country will agree to have Israeli aircraft  overfly their territories or use their bases, so the effectiveness of Israeli participation is severely limited. The political fallout of Israeli participation is, then, not worth the military benefit.

• We do not know the magazine's antecedents; regardless, excluding Israel is logical. The Israelis will, of course, be thrilled and delighted: just as with Gulf I and II, the west did their work and it cost them nothing.

0230 GMT April 26, 2006

• Jordan Finds More Hidden Hamas Weapons The other day we'd reported that Jordan asked the Hamas-led government of Palestine to pull its foreign minister's visit to Amman because Jordan had uncovered a Hamas arms cache. Hamas denied it was stockpiling arms in Jordan.

• So we assume it must be the Easter Bunny who brought in a second cache the Jordanians have just uncovered. Obviously the Amman's assertion that this cache too belongs to Hamas must be wrong, because Hamas is innocent, right?

• Unasked for advice to Hamas: Israel is a bad enemy. But Israel and Jordan together make a worse one.

• Russia: Getting Them Coming and Going Once again, got to hand it to them Rooskies. First they help Iran set up power N-reactors and block harsh measures against Teheran for its weapons program. Then they help Israel launch a spy satellite that will spy on said weapons program.

• Eros-B uses a 290-kg commercial satellite design, has 70 cm resolution and a 8-10 year life, and covers specific spots on the earth every 4 days.

• Sri Lanka Suicide Bomber Serious Wounds Sri Lanka Army Chief  Pretending to be pregnant, and armed with false ID, a female suicide bomber ostensibly headed for the base hospital at Army HQ in Colombo, blew herself up as the general left his office - which is right next to the hospital. Ten persons, mainly military officers, were killed and the army chief seriously wounded. he is reported as stable by BBC.

• Prince Harry Demands Combat Posting He has graduated Sandhurst and is a troop (platoon) commander with the Blues and Royals, a cavalry regiment which is to be sent to Iraq next year. There is some concern that given his high profile his fellow soldiers may be at extra risk, but he says he will resign if not allowed to go with his men.

• All congratulations to Prince Harry for his stand. And all congratulations to the British for worrying his demand might increase the risk his men might face - no one is worries about the risk he faces, which is the way it should be.

• Amusing note: Harry has been commissioned but his elder brother William is still at Sandhurst. So apparently till the heir to the throne (after Elizabeth II and Charles III, presumably as William V) graduates, he is junior to his younger sibling and must salute Harry.

Editorial

• Saudi Arabia and Racism Reader marcropetroni sends an article today concerning Saudi protests about the racist discrimination their students face in America.

• Lets not mince words about Saudi Arabia. This is a country that will jail you for possessing a Bible. We do not want to hear Saudi Arabia talking about discrimination because no this is one country that has no right to accuse anyone of discrimination.

• Not a Christian or just not religious so the Bible thing and the total lack of freedom to practice your religion openly doesn't bother you? Then consider this - from another story reader marcopetroni sends.

• A 16-year old Pakistani maid servant was raped by her employer. So this is a country where the strictest of religious law applies, right? So they took the man and beheaded him in the stadium in front of 20,000 people, right?

• Wrong. They jailed the girl for 6-months, where she - and other women - were kept in chains except for going to the bathroom. Then they expelled her, and her sister for good measure.  Because, you see, raping a non-Saudi girl is OK. Because, you see, if you happen to be South Asian, you are maybe two orders of magnitude less important than a donkey: you harm a Saudi peasant's donkey or camel, and brother, you will pay.

• Doubtless some who are not familiar with how Saudi treats its immigrant labor will think the above is some freak case. They would be absolutely wrong. The mistreatment of immigrant labor is so widespread that Saudi should be reported to the UN. The plight of women is even worse.

• If those mistreated should complain to their governments - Indian or Bangladeshi or Pakistani or Sri Lankan - their governments show less interest than they would in a rat's behind. But does that make it okay for the United States, leader of the free world, upholder of democracy, firm pursuer of human rights and all that to be in bed with the Saudis?

• Is this what America has come to, and what the American people have come to, that they will sell their souls for a barrel of oil?

• How about doing without Saudi oil and getting some of our self-respect back? Conservation is one way of doing without tainted oil. Exploiting American heavy oil is another.

0230 GMT April 25, 2006

• Pakistan Navy Assumes Command of CTF 150 for the first time. This is the allied naval interdiction force in the North Arabian Sea/Gulf of Oman/Red Sea/ Gulf of Aden, based in Bahrain. It focuses on looking for terrorists and pirates.

• This is quite an achievement for Pakistan because it represents a very public allied assertion of trust in Pakistan.

• Nepal King Restores Parliament reversing a 4-year old suspension and meeting a key opposition demand. Some observers are saying this is  canny move by the monarch because the 7-part opposition coalition will never agree on a joint leader and program, so he loses nothing while appearing to uphold democracy.

• Don't Weep For Me England or something like that: Times London says over in the UK they're paying $8/gallon for gasoline.

• Bin Laden's Latest Statement genuine, says US. Thus continues a farce that is apparently not going to end till Bib Laden dies. Bin Laden releases a statement; US "experts" react cautiously and say it appears genuine; then they say it is genuine. Since no statement by Osama has been declared a fake, why bother with this play acting?

• Naturally ordinary people have no way of telling. We have to trust the US agencies. Which would be fine, but disinformation is a staple in any counter-terror war, and it would be foolish to take the US on trust in the matter of Osama and Company.

• Meanwhile, Sudan has rejected Osama's call for a war against the crusaders in Western Sudan that was part of the tape, saying the government has no interest in what Osama says. Understandably, as Osama says the war he proposes is not in defense of the Khartoum government but of Islam.

• President Morales Angry US Rejects Visas For 2 Political Allies One of the visas was rejected in error, says the US; the second rejection is for a Bolivian politician associated with terrorists says the US; the person in question rejects the allegation.

• OK, we understand being denied a visa is aggravating. As an Indian passport holder your editor is quite familiar with the problem, though he can truthfully say he has never been denied a visa. That may have something to do with his asking for a visa, on average, about every 20 years, but whatever. But where does Evo Morales get off banging on the US head with a rubber duck every day, and then demanding visas for his friends? Why do his friends want to come to the font of all evil and be irretrievably corrupted, which will cause the revolution to fail? Evo should be putting these two in jail for having even asked for a US visa: clearly they are up to no good.

• Attractive Women Impair Men's Ability To Think - Duh! Pravda reports on work done by Belgian researchers. Wethinks both the Belgians and Pravda have too much time on their hands. What next - studies to show wheels work best if round?

• Letter from Brian Cloughley Reader Cloughley writes to saw, in reference to our comment on terrorist al-Suri "We marvel at the manner in which senior Al-Qaeda people seem to just wander all over Pakistan territory, without worrying overmuch about the consequences" that this time there were consequences, because he ended up dead!

• We should have been more clear that what we meant is al-Suri was so confident he was safe in the North West Frontier Province that he was moving around by car despite there being checkposts all over the troubled region. You can be stopped at a checkpost any time; this didn't disturb al-Suri. We presume its not because he's stupid, but because he has protection.

• At any rate, CNN said on March 9, 2006 he was in custody, calling him the most dangerous terrorist you haven't heard of. So either his capture was a bluff, or he is really and custody and his being killed is a bluff, or he was killed after interrogation to "encourage the others".

• We picked up a few hints that a CIA-Pakistan joint team was responsible, whether or not he was killed last Thursday, and they were acting on information received. The one place he would not have protection, or warning that a checkpost was ahead, is if a joint team was after him.

230 GMT April 24, 2006

• Saudi-Iraq Pipeline Repaired This pipeline runs to the Red Sea, and has been inoperative since 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. The pipeline gives another 1.65-million-barrels/day capacity that will not pass through Hormuz. Together with the Yanabu pipeline, approximately one-third of Gulf oil now need not go through Hormuz.

• If the US had any concept of long-range planning, they would be spending the $2-4 billion needed to add more pipelines so that any blockade of Hormuz becomes less of an issue. The higher cost would accrue because the new pipelines would need to be laid on a wartime basis.

• We've argued that the west, at least, will not suffer if Hormuz is closed because sufficient reserves exist to tide over till the Strait is reopened. But why not add this extra layer of protection?

• The 500,000 barrel/day Trans Arabian Pipeline to the Mediterranean also needs to be reactivated and expanded. It lost its commercial relevance in the 1970s with the emergence of supertankers.

• Pakistan Says Al-Qaeda Commander Killed He was the Syrian terrorist al-Suri, a close aid to Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's Number 2. al-Suri was supposed to be at the village dinner in January in Bajaur, North West Frontier Province that was targeted by a US air attack.

• His vehicle was stopped at a security checkpoint in Bajaur and the occupants were asked to get out for a body check. al-Suri came out but suddenly began shooting. He then either killed himself or died in the retaliatory fire.

• We marvel at the manner in which senior Al-Qaeda people seem to just wander all over Pakistan territory, without worrying overmuch about the consequences.

• Nepal Situation Though the King of Nepal agreed on April 21 to dissolve the government and return power to the people's elected representatives, this has not stopped massive demonstrations in Kathmandu.

• It's a case of too little, too late: partly radicalized by the heavy-handed police tactics, and partly because people are fed up with the King who is singularly unresponsive to their needs and listens to no one, the demand is for a parliament that has the right to amend the constitution. If the King conceeds this, one consequence could be a big reduction in his power. This is not acceptable to him..

0230 GMT April 23, 2006

• Iraq Prime Minister Impasse Resolved The new nominee, also a Shia, has thrown a grenade by demanding militias be dissolved and the men merged into the security forces. The two main militias are both Shia, and are opposed to each other.

• One is the Najaf-based Badr Brigade, which answers to the Najaf clerics; the other is Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, which answers to him. While both are supposed to have 10,000 members, we are told Al-Sadr's force numbers less. The difficulty becomes to determine what constitutes a member. If its anyone who carries a card and a gun, then Al-Sadr may indeed have that many men. But if its trained, organized men, then Al-Sadr does not make it.

• Mr. Maliki, the new nominee, must have his nomination approved by Parliament in 30 days, and his ministers by majority vote. He is close to the outgoing - and - ineffective PM - Mr. Jaafari, who single-handed has held up the formation of a government for 4 months after the general election.

• Russia Claims Its Bombers Flew Undetected Over US Arctic Zone The Russians news agency Novosti says the aircraft were on an exercise and involved Tu-95s and Tu-160s. The US is investigating why the aircraft were not detected visually or on radar, says a Russian general.

• If this really happened, its silly to boast about it. If it didn't happen, its silly to boast about it.

• The Great Chavez Gas Machine The US Navy is exercising off Venezuela, its all part of routine maneuvers, but obviously there is greater significance now that Mr. Chavez has put himself at loggerheads with Washington.

• The Netherlands had in particular asked the US for a show of force off Aruba, which is 25 km off the Venezuela coast, because Mr. Chavez has been threatening the Dutch as well. The US has obliged.

• Mike Thompson sends an article where Mr. Chavez has responded by saying he has directed tribals with poisoned arrows to repel a US invasion.

• Our response is Mr. Chavez has nothing to worry about: the Great Chavez Gas Machine is working full blast; there is no way US troops are going to survive the landing should they attempt an invasion. Venezuela is safe.

• Oil Would Have To Reach $110/barrel before reaching peak 1980s prices says Reuters. Just recently we said, quoting media, that prices are close to that peak but apparently not. In current dollars oil has hit $75/bbl - long way to go before $110/bbl and in any case countries like US use half the amount of energy for today's dollar of GDP as they did 30-35 years ago. The rise in current prices from lows of $25/bbl 3 years ago to today's high have cut world growth only 1%.

• Iran Not To Stop/Cut Oil Exports in N-dispute with the West, says Teheran. This wasn't a real threat to begin with as Iran is heavily dependent on oil exports and would be the first to feel the pain of reduced/terminated exports, especially with the world sitting on reserves worth 4 years of Iran output.

• Iraq Parliament Approves President Talibani 2nd Term but at least as of 1600 GMT there is no indication of what has been worked out on the Prime Ministerial impasse.

0230 GMT April 22, 2006

• Hamas-Fatah Crisis Builds The Palestine Authority President, who belongs to Fatah, Palestine's ruling party till it was recently defeated by Hamas, has rescinded the appointment by Hamas of a security czar for the PA's 60,000 police and internal security forces. Hamas says the appointment stands.

• Both sides have been heading for a showdown since Hamas displaced Fatah in the PA government.

• The issue is complicated by the circumstance the nominee is well-known for his terrorist ways. Israel has threatened to arrest him if he is appointed. Arrest or not, he'd be wise to assume he's on Israeli's "Must Kill" list.

• Mogadishu Rival Militias Prepare For New Round of Fighting Efforts to reach an agreement between Islamic and warlord militias after last month's fighting have failed and both sides are stockpiling armaments for a new round.

• US Gasoline Prices Head To $3/Gallon Again We know these stories infuriate our European readers because they routinely pay twice and more as much as the Americans, who they regard as pathologically and dysfunctionaly addicted to massive gas guzzlers. So we rush to explain that this story is not intended to elicit sympathy for the residents of the editor's adopted country. We simply want to point out that there is a lot of room in your typical America's budget to absorb higher prices - summer travel is expected to hit the usual record highs - and that Teheran should not think it has any leverage, at least over Americans, by threatening oil boycotts and the like.

• In fact, personally we'd like to see oil prices head higher because of any action Iran might take. These days its not easy to get Americans out of their lethargy and fatigue with their global involvement. But $4 gas will do it, for sure, and they'll be wanting blood.

• Conversely, we must admit that we thought this would happen when gas prices reached $3/galloon. Aside from huge grumbling - and this time around its so muted you cant call it a grumble - nothing happened. It just may be even at $4 Americans will decide they can't raise the energy (no pun intended) to bash Iran.

• Right now its the same refinery bottleneck again: US has had a big refinery shortage for years - no one wants a dirty old refinery in their backyard; 5% of reining capacity is shut down because of maintenance deferred last year due to Katrina caused shortages. Environmental regulations require a new ethanol additive to reduce summer emissions, and there is a shortage of the trucks needed to move the ethanol. Apparently the stuff cannot go by pipe because it absorbs moisture.

• Fascinating stuff, isn't it? No really, its fun to learn all these new things.

• Say It Aint So: UK To Set Up Another "Special" Unit This time is the Special Forces Support Group, HQ Cardiff, which will employ paras and marines in support of the SAS and Special Boat Squadron.

• This makes "Special" Number 4, after the new Special Reconnaissance Regiment and indicates to us the British Army has too much time on its hands.

• One reason the editor gets creeped out with the "Special" business is that someone once said, referring to the World War II German Army, that the minute you saw "Special" in a unit's name, it was safe to assume its role was exterminating civilians. Forget this special business, folks. Just focus on training regular soldiers better.

• An Aside The other day the editor heard someone say: "The number of people who claim they were in the Green Berets or the SEALS or the Air Commandoes in Vietnam far exceeds the historical total enrollment in these services. "The editor smiled a superior smile: when he makes claims about his (non-existent) Vietnam service, he claims to have been a CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Group) volunteer. No one seems to know if you were a CIDG volunteer you were a Vietnamese villager.

• Though admittedly, only one person he knows has actually been taken in by his standard line, when someone is complaining about food "When I served in the rice paddies in Vietnam we counted ourselves lucky to get a fistful of boiled rice for dinner - and we kept the water it was cooked in for breakfast."

• The sad truth is there are a lot of people in famine areas in the world who do count themselves fortunate to get that dinner and breakfast, as opposed to eating leaves and bark and grass. It shouldn't be so in the year of Our Lord 2006, but unfortunately, it is.

• Konrad Kujau, Master Forger is the man who forged the Hitler diaries and an unknown number of paintings. Now his niece is being prosecuted for forging his signature of hundreds of cheap Asian-made paintings of his forgeries. Euro 10 copies were being sold for Euro 3500 as genuine Kujau fakes. A former student of the master alerted the authorities that an inordinate number of forgeries were showing up. A museum, set up by the master forger's niece, has had to be shut down. A town official says: "We’d known Frau Kujau for over a year and had a very good impression of her, so this has been a complete surprise. I don’t know now whether the paintings in the museum are real forgeries or fake ones — it’s hard for a layman to tell.” From the Times London.

• Soviet WW II Woman Executioner War should be noble affair, but of course it's not. Read this story from Pravda about a woman Russian soldier, a machinegunner, who became an executioner for the Nazis and killed 1500 people, allegedly partisans but who also included old people and children. She apparently found herself alone and cut off on the battlefield after a German attack near Vyzma. Trying to reach Red Army lines - which were constantly shifting east under the weight of the German offensive - she was apparently captured by German security police and went to work for them. 

• She shot them in batches of 27, which was the maximum capacity of the prison at the town she worked. In the evenings she dressed up and partied with the Germans. She was not at the front when in 1943 the Soviets overran German positions in the town. She had been sent to a hospital in the rear for treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and was able to merge back into the population after the war. She thus escaped, whereas other collaborators were hanged.

• It took the KGB 23 years to track her down because the last name she used was not her own: when she first attended school she found herself unable to speak for shyness, and her teacher gave the last name of her father's first name - the usual "daughter of". That is the name she went by.

• On her arrest she admitted everything and was executed in 1978 at age 57 by firing squad - apparently the only woman to be dealt with in this manner in the history of the Soviet Union.

• Your editor is not the squeamish kind, but this story definitely put him off his feed. This kind of stuff is enough to make anyone a pacifist.

• Your editor's youngest, then about 11 went through a phase he was all gung-ho about war. Your editor gave him a paperback about the famous 1/9th Cavalry's war in Vietnam. This unit was the reconnaissance squadron for the 1st Cavalry, a division known for its embrace of high casualties. The stories are in unvarnished first person, and boil down to: wake up - kill communists - sleep - wake up - kill communists and so on till you yourself were killed. The kid became a pacifist shortly thereafter. Objective achieved.

0230 GMT April 21, 2006

• Iran/Afghanistan War Costs Exceed Vietnam War Costs We are quite gloomy to learn that in terms of today's money, the Vietnam War cost $61-billion/year average 1964-72; Iran/Afghanistan are together costing $120-billion a year. Of course, these are raw figures: during Vietnam the US had conscription, now it has an all-volunteer force, weapons cost more adjusted for inflation and so on. But Vietnam was a massive war - 550,000 US troops were directly involved, another 200,000 were in Indochina or off-shore. Combat was incessant, as was the air campaign. At a rough calculation, in today's money the US spend $1.2 trillion in 1945 , 37% of GDP, and about the same percentage was spent in 1943 and 1944.on the last year of world War II. US had 12 million people under arms.

• Finally A Break in Iraq Impasse as interim Prime Minister Jaafari says he will step down if that is what his party wants. Parliament is now expected to meet on Saturday.

• Pakistan Ambush 8 troops belonging to the paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed in an ambush in Waziristan; five others were injured in a separate incident.

• US Guantanamo POW List Reveals 20th Hijacker In Custody Presumably this settles the matter once and for all: the 20th 9/11 hijacker has been in US custody all this time in Guantanamo. His name appears on a list of prisoners released by the US. The organizer of the plot, who the CIA is said to have broken in a very short time, had given the name of the man. Security agencies have denied Moussaoui's claim he was the 20th hijacker.

• Washington Post Raises questions About Turkey Bombings saying that while there is a widespread assumption they are being carried out by a Kurd extremist group, at least one bombing has been traced to Turkish security forces.

• Shoebomber Denies Moussaoui And He Were Part of 9/11 and thus undercuts Moussaoui's claims of his own importance. Richard Reid, the Shoebomber, gave written testimony at Mossaoui's sentencing trial.

• Folks, okay, its clear Moussaoui has been glorifying his own role in 9/11. He wants to be executed he says, so lets oblige him.

0230 GMT April 20, 2006

• Germany, Pakistan Make N-Deal This is an Orbat.com original report, from our South Asia correspondent, Mandeep S. Bajwa:

It is learnt from reliable sources that Pakistan is entering into a nuclear deal with Germany. This will be on the lines of the Indo-US nuclear deal with Germany providing Pakistan with technology for nuclear power production.

Foreign MInister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri is flying out to Berlin on the 24th to meet with German leaders to finalize details.

• Got to hand it to our German allies. Germany is probably already the leakiest country for illegal export of N-technology/components. So minute the US informed world it would make an exception for India from London Club rules, Germany is going to announce its own exception, for Pakistan. And frankly, why not? Sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose etc. etc.

• Oil at $74/bbl due to ratcheting up of tension on Iran. The inflation adjusted highest price paid for oil has been $80/bbl.

• An official of the International Energy Agency says the world is holding 4 billion barrels of reserves - sufficient to meet an Iran cut off for 4 years. So its not clear to us why the price is climbing so much. Of course, as we've discussed before, if Iran manages to block Hormuz for some time the world is looking ay more than Iran's 3-million taken off the market. But as we've explained, its a big IF, and Hormuz will not stay blocked for long - we're talking weeks, not months.

• Trouble In Solomons Again Australia and New Zealand are sending 250 reinforcements to Honiara, the capital, as troops from a multination force in place since 2003 patrol the streets amidst violence. The original force arrived to stop ethnic violence.

• Apparently the current ruler has won the election for another 4-year term, people say by fraudulent means. Chinese and Taiwan businesspersons are being blamed for the election results; it is mainly their businesses are being targeted. This kind of thing is unfortunate, because inevitably small people who are the wrong ethnicity and have no power, and are just trying to survive, also get targeted

• Australia/New Zealand have responsibility for a huge swath of the SW Pacific: the nations are microstates, but both countries - working in conjunction with the UN and western allies - believe that a failed state will become a terrorist haven. This is aside from their traditional role as a force for stability.

• Ex-Italian PM Berlusconi Continues To Fight On The Beaches Etc. Even though the Italian Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Berlusconi's claims of fraud and affirmed Mr. Romano Prodi's election, the ex-PM refuses to concede.

• Now look here, old chap, a bit of advice if we may. We don't like lefties who happen to be anti-American any more than you do. At the same time, the top court has ruled. You have to accept the ruling. Why not be gracious about it? After all, how many days is Mr. Prodi going to rule before you bust up his coalition? Be patient.

• Of course make some sort of rash promise about forging conjugal privileges till you won - or something similar. Well, let that teach you to be careful what you promise. Orbat.com's editor hasn't had a date - not even a coffee date, since Mrs. R took off going on 3 years ago - you if you're looking for sympathy, look elsewhere please. The editor has his own problems, thank you.

• US Ups Pressure On Iran Following the failure to agree to sanctions by the Euro-3, US, and Russia, the US negotiator said yesterday the US was not going to let Iran go nuclear, and while consensus action was best, the US would do what it had to do to stop Iran.

• That's a very clear threat to go to it alone.

• We're wondering what the legal position is if the US imposes its own blockade on Iran. Readers will recall US did that to Cuba in 1962 on grounds that Soviet N-missiles in Cuba were a threat to US national security. Do our readers have any wisdom to share with us?

0230 GMT April 19, 2006

• Chickens Home To Roost: Jordan Refuses Hamas Minister The foreign minister of the Hamas government asked Jordan if he could visit his counterpart in Amman, without specifying why. Jordan initially agreed.

• Now Jordan has cancelled the visit, saying Hamas operatives have been caught smuggling SAMs, explosives, and heavy weapons into Jordan, and have been casing potential targets.

• Earlier, Egypt's foreign minister said he was too busy to meet the Palestine minister.

• In another development, Israel has cancelled the East Jerusalem residency permits of Hamas ministers. They will have to show they have left the movement before they will be allowed back.

• Frankly, one cannot expect Hamas to shift gears so quickly just because it is now leading a government. It's a terror movement and is unwilling to renounce the use of terror against Israel. But there is a price to be paid for failure to renounce its past, and the bills are just starting to come in.

• Egypt, Arab League, Russia Condemn Terror Attack In a surprise move, Egypt was unequivocal in blaming Hamas for yesterday's attack. Normally Egypt tries to apportion blame equally. The Arab League has also condemned the attack, which while not a surprise, is welcome. Russia has used strong language in its condemnation. The US issued a very tough denunciation against Hamas in connection with the attack.

• In related news, the father of the suicide bomber has been arrested. These things are very tough for families. If they have knowledge, what are they do, turn in their child? If they don't have knowledge, they pay a price anyway. That's the nature of counterinsurgency: you have to poison the sea the insurgents swim in. Doubtless many, many innocent people suffer. But CI is not criminal procedure: its far more serious because the threat is far more serious.

• Islamic Jihad says it is preparing 70 more suicide bombers. Jolly good and all that. We want Jihad and Hamas eliminated, and connections to Iran exposed so that a better case can be built for attacking Iran.

Editorial Good For Mr. Bush

• When asked if plans were a nuclear strike against Iran were part of planning, Mr. Bush blandly said all options were on the table but negotiation was the priority. Good. Make Teheran understand what its up against.

• Meanwhile, the Iranian PM says Iran will cut off the hands of the aggressor. Tut tut, What a violent young man. The aggressor is not aiming to cut off your hands, Mr. Bush only wants your head.

• Also meanwhile, a US negotiator at a 5 nation Moscow conference on Iran says discussions had failed. Russia is still opposing military action.

• We don't want to sound as if we are know-it-alls, but readers will appreciate that as far as the US is concerned, all these conferences do have a positive outcome. They put pressure on Russia and China, and at some point the US is going to say: "OK, lets compromise. Lets agree on sanctions". Russia and China may well agree because after saying "no, no, no" they can turn around to Iran and say: "Look, fellows, we've stopped an attack on you, you haven't come through to save our faces, so, no hard feelings, we gotta agree to sanctions."

• Similarly, all the fight-and-nukem talk from the US is designed to scare the dickens out of - guess what - America's allies. You can say you read it here first: when US tells France etc. "OK, ok, we'll freeze the strike, but you have to go with us on sanctions", the French will wipe their brows and tell themselves: "Anything to keep the Americans from firing nukes. Sanctions? We can live with sanctions."

• We were among the first to say the US messed up in Iraq. But people shouldn't assume because it messed up in Iraq it will mess up in Iran. True that Churchill was being patronizing when he said "You can trust the Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else" - after all, that aphorism applies equally if not more to the British. Nonetheless, the Americans are very fast learners.

• Having messed up on an international consensus against Saddam for Gulf II, they're making sure they get a consensus this time. They're letting everyone talk their guts out, they were quiet when the Euros spent two futile years in talks. Now the American game is: "Stop me someone before I hurt that guy!" The beautiful thing is, you cant bluff. You have to really be ready to bash the other guy. And that is where Mr. Bush's "bad" reputation becomes so useful: neither his enemies nor his friends doubt he will break out of the restraining hands of his friends and start laying about with a vengeance.

• Reader will disagree, but we think its quite clever. But Mr. Bush, Sir, we aren't going to give you a pass on Iraq. If you'd put a tenth of the thought into Iraq as you are into Iran, Iraq would be a different story.

0230 GMT April 18, 2006

• Suicide Bomber Kills 9 Israelis While the Palestine Authority president - successor to Arafat and a Fatah person - had the decency to condemn the bombing, Hamas dug its own grave by saying it supported the action. Of course, since Islamic Jihad claims the bombing, its members are going to be attacked first. The Israeli Army is reported to have started arresting suspects in Nabulus within hours of the bombing [Jerusalem Post].

• The area in which the bombing took place is home to many Palestine illegals working in Isarel. Action against them is also expected.

• That gives Israel the green light to assassinate sitting members of the Hamas dominated government.

• Times London says this is not a good option for the new Prime Minister of Israel as if it starts killing Hamas leaders there will be no one to talk to. When we read stuff like this we wonder why the Times, once reckoned one of the best newspapers in the world, still has any reputation. Hasn't Times figured out by now from the statements that appear almost every day from Israeli leaders that they don't want to deal with Hamas. What does it mean to say there will be no one left to deal with? Israel is not proposing to kill every Palestine resident. It wants only the leadership. If this leadership is killed, other leaders will come up who hopefully will be a bit more cautious in their statements.

• Tel Aviv has ruled out a ground operation in Gaza, another indication a few more Hamas leaders may be dancing with virgins soon.

• Pakistan Denies US Guarding Pakistan N-Installations For once we can agree with something a Pakistan official spokesperson says. US has made no proposal - emphasis ours - to help guard Pakistan N-Installations against unfriendly attack.

• The US has been protecting the installations from right after 9/11 from unfriendlies - namely renegade Pakistanis - the head of the Pakistan N-program Dr. AQ Khan being the leading renegade. Dear old Dr. Khan was negotiating with Osama to sell him two bombs when 9/11 took place. Of course, dear Dr. K had no N-warheads to sell, he would have cheated Osama as he cheated Libya, Iran, and probably Saudi. US was not amused and told Pakistan it would attack and destroy Pakistan's N-infrastructure unless it was secured, by the US, to the US's satisfaction.

• Our source for this highly dramatic assertion which we have made before and which we have seen in the American press - we cannot remember where is the usual unnamed source.

• If you want to read an article that has almost everything right, click here.

• Chad Backs Off Two Threats It will not expel Sudanese refugees, and it has pushed back to end April today's deadline for Exxon to pay $100-million or face an oil cut off. Chad needs the money to pay for security needs; the World Bank has frozen pipeline revenues due Chad because it says the country violated agreements to spend the money on improving the lives of its people.

• We Cant Stop Weeping - Mossauoi's Lawyer Pleads He Came From a Broken Home We're crying so much we can't even report this story and we don't want you to cry either - unless you promise to applaud, even as you are crying, when this little piece of filth is executed.

0230 GMT April 17, 2006

• Afghanistan We're unclear if this is a new spring offensive by the Taliban; if so, its going the way of other spring offensives, i.e., nowhere. 14 insurgents were killed when they attacked three police stations on the Kabul-Kandahar road.

• Afghan soldier killed 4 more separately. 15 suspected insurgents were arrested in Kandahar with help from Canadian forces; they appear to have fled there after the fighting outside the city that resulted in 41 Taliban killed.

• US forces say they killed 7 civilians when air strikes were called in to support Allied troops engaged in a close-quarter fight with 8-10 insurgents - the forces were part of the offensive launched last week by British and Afghan forces. US regrets the loss of innocent lives and an investigation is underway. As yet there is no news of insurgent casualties in this particular battle.

• Iraq Parliament Postponed It was supposed to meet today; a new date has not been set. Interim PM Jaafari's party has proposed another candidate for the position without withdrawing his name, this is seen as progress by some, but not with us, unless the party can show it can form a majority with al-Sadr's the terrorist's party.

• Iran Gives $50-million to Hamas Small beer, even with the Arab League's $55-million a month the Palestine Authority needs at least that much again to keep functioning.

• New Battle of Baghdad About To Begin? Reader Mike Thompson sends clips from various sources including Belmont Club indicating US/Iraqi forces are planning to clear Baghdad of insurgents in a new offensive.

• We've mentioned before when US/Iraq were working to clear Anbar, the Americans had predicted evicted terrorists would head for Baghdad, which is what happened. So what's to stop the terrorists from now heading off somewhere else?

• Bill Roggio has been explaining for months that Iraq now has sufficient numbers of troops it can hold cleared areas. Baghdad is protected by the five brigade 6th Division and at least one police commando brigade; clearly this is not enough. We don't know if more troops are to be assigned to Baghdad, or that the offensive is expected to weaken insurgents sufficiently that existing forces can handle the situation.

• Jonathon Pollard Story Ladies and gentlemen, orbat.com has arrived very rapidly at the stage it has lost interest in the Jerusalem Post story about the convicted American spy Pollard being released by the US in exchange for the Israeli release of a convicted Palestine leader.

• We do know a couple of Israelis who'd be willing to concede the Israeli people are simply Arabs who happen to have a different religion from most of the region. If anyone is in doubt about our proposition, they should read what's behind the story for themselves. A more convoluted situation is hard to find outside the Mideast. In the Mideast - that includes Israel - its Standard Operation Procedure. Its the way things function. Warning: you will get a severe headache sorting out the lies and double-crosses from all sides.

0230 GMT April 16, 2006

• Afghans Say 41 Rebels Killed in Kandahar Province 50-60 rebels arrived a couple of days ago in a village outside Kandahar. The locals begged them to leave, fearing allied attacks. The rebels refused, the attacks were staged. A senior Afghan official says 41 rebels and 6 police have been killed, and about 19 are prisoners.  US AH-64s supported the operation.

• The official says his men collected only 11 bodies and did not explain the discrepancy with the killed figure. Part of the answer may lie in the clever habit of the rebels of hiding bodies till they can bury them. Also, since fighting like this takes place over a wide area - several villages were involved - troops can report X insurgents killed but leave the bodies for the locals to deal with. Once the insurgent is dead there is no need to collect the body simply to return it to the locals.

• US To Release Jonathon Pollard For Palestine Leader? Pollard is a traitor to his country, the United States, and has been in jail for 21 years as part of a life sentence because he spied for Israel. For 13 years Israel denied it had anything to do with him, finally acknowledging him in 1998 and then trying several times to get him pardoned.

• Now Jerusalem Post says the US has agreed to release Pollard if the Israelis free a prominent Palestine leader jailed in Israel for terrorism.

• First, we sincerely hope this report is not true and this is just the Israelis trying to be clever. The two issues have nothing to do with each other.

• Second, it is absolutely inappropriate for Israel to go on trying to get Pollard released. Is it Tel Aviv's case that Israeli spying in America is someone less of a threat to US security than someone else's spying? Would Israel care to tell us how much of what it has stolen from the US has ended up in technology and arms sales to China?

• Pollard should have been executed even if he pled guilty. He caused enormous damage to US national security. You cannot be a citizen of the US and then owe loyalty to another country. Certainly you can be a dual national but America has to come first. That's not a complicated concept now, is it?

• Chad Capital Worries About Fresh Attacks The rebels say they withdrew from the capital for tactical reasons. This is leaving the residents worried about fresh attacks.

• Meanwhile, one rebel prisoner says he is Sudanese of Chad parents and was paid to participate in the raid. Sudan denies involvement.

• Chad Threatens Oil Cutoff Also meanwhile Chad, which has been pumping 170,000 barrels a day of oil to the Atlantic via a pipeline to Gabon, threatened to cut off the flow of oil and told Exxon-Mobil to pay $100-million or face an oil shut-down. The money is needed because the World Bank financed the pipeline on the condition Chad spend the royalties in transparent fashion. Chad has used some of its money to buy arms, which has led the world Bank to freeze payments from the oil account to Chad. Sp Chad is in need of money to meet national security needs. Oil is the sole resource this very poor country has, and of course much of the rebel activity is oriented to getting control of the oil. That's a real pity: the oil has been flowing for something over a year, and the revenues offered a promise of changing the country for the better.

• Further, Chad has threatened to expel 200,000 refugees from Dafur back to the Sudan in retaliation for what it says is Sudan's financing of the rebels. If carried out, this threat will greatly burden the international agencies struggling with Dafur.

• US Warns Sudan and Chad, the former about interfering in Chad and the latter about its threat to expel Sudan refugees.

• Pakistan Says India Trains 600 Baluch Insurgents The Pakistani president gave this detail while accusing India of helping the recently outlawed Baluch National Army. Previously, for concern about damaging ongoing negotiations on Kashmir, Pakistani officials have not made open allegations about India's presence in the Baluch insurgency.

• Well, that presence is no secret, we've written about it many times. And not to throw fuel on the fire, we're a bit disconcerted to learn India is training only 600 insurgents.

0230 GMT April 15, 2006

• Rumsfeld in "Heck No, I Won't Go" Posture Mr. Rumsfeld says he won't resign, and you can't have people resigning because a few generals of thousands - the US counts the 1-star rank as general, which is the logical thing - have a disagreement over the way a war is run.

• We completely agree with Mr. Rumsfeld. Which is why we asked him to resign because he messed up in Iraq. Gulf II was supposed to be a romp in the park. Somehow, because people like ourselves support the military - and the government and the military are not synonymous - we're all forgetting Iraq turned into the Mother of All Miscalculations. Its not as if people didn't warn Mr. Rumsfeld. The army chief on whose watch the Rumsfeld plan was hatched warned the Pentagon chief he was making a mistake and was fired as a result. All the bad stuff that would happen if the army was dissolved was predicted. So this really is a different kind of a situation from most where the country experiences setbacks in a war. Iraq post-fall-of-Baghdad is not a setback: its a self-inflicted A-1 disaster.

• Our saying that doesn't mean we're going wobbly on Iraq. The military, CIA, and even State are doing a tremendous job that has to be seen through. But someone has to take responsibility, particularly since our getting bogged down in Iraq has seriously disrupted the schedule to finish off other bad guys.

• Italian Ministry of Justice Says Prodi Win Valid after examining 2,300 disputed ballots. The Ministry said it earlier erroneously believed 43,000 ballots were in dispute. The  recount reduces Mr. Prodi's margin but still leaves him the winner.

• Chad Mystery The government says 300 rebels were captured, and showed 150 to the press. One appeared to be wounded. Of course, presumably the seriously wounded are in hospital. But one wounded of 150 on display seems a bit odd. Civilians say there are 100 civilians wounded in hospitals.

• These are government figures: 30 own troops killed and 100 wounded in the capital; 400 rebels killed (this may be a mistake by the media and may include rebels claimed killed in border fighting at the same time as the attack on the capital was repulsed) and 287 "arrested".

• In the border fighting, says the government, 150 rebels were killed; government losses include 6 killed.

• The French are being naughty again: they fired on rebel columns from the air - that's what's known. There may bother stuff that isn't. Now, France has a right to its own foreign policy and if they want to support the regime, that's their business. But the French were earlier saying they didn't want to get involved. Their explanation for getting involved is they don't want Sudan to think it can get away with toppling the current president. Fair enough, but where did this come from? So far everything we've read says the rebels are Chadians who are angry for many reasons, one being the President has stuffed the majority of important positions with members of his fellow tribe, which is in a very tiny minority in Chad. So how has Sudan gotten involved in this, besides allowing the rebels to operate from its territory - as it once allowed the current president before he made his successful coup.

• China Currency Update The yuan has now appreciated 3% against the US dollar since last July when Beijing agreed to some degree of float. This is not soothing US exporters, who say the yuan is undervalued by 40%.

• China says it will gradually allow capital convertibility; it is starting with allowing Chinese to buy $20,000 worth of foreign currency a year and companies to invest overseas. The Xinhua story we read did not give a limit, if any, to overseas investment.

• Oil at $70 again a high last seen in August 2005 at the time of Hurricane Katrina. But many oil traders say prices will come down because of record inventories.

• Gasoline is expected to reach its high ever all-US level this summer. This is not deterring US motorists, who plans to drive 1.6% more miles this summer compared to 2005.

• Honda may cut back production of its energy efficient Accord as US sales have not been as high as anticipated. The truth is, gas has to cross $3/gallon in a serious, sustained manner before Americans cut back on usage, We'd earlier estimated even $100/bbl oil will raise prices only to $3.33/gallon assuming taxes and profits are maintained at current levels. Click link under Energy Facts, top left.

• US University Releases Indian N-Test Intelligence Documents The documents pertain to the lack of information the US had before the 1974 and 1998 N-tests. We went through the documents, which appear to be mostly based of National Security Agency signals intercept, are amazed at how little information they contain.

230 GMT April 14, 2006

• Italian Recount Unlikely To Alter Outcome Even Mr. Berlusconi's allies are asking him to concede the election to opponent Romano Prodi. A recount of about 43,000 disputed ballots is underway but so far has shown no sign of altering the outcome. Mr. Berlusconi is demanding examination of 1-million spoiled and blank ballots, alleging fraud. Since Mr. Prodi won by 25,000 votes in theory this could change things, but no one is buying the fraud allegation.

• Chad Government Repels Rebel Attack It seems a rebel column just kept advancing after it met no opposition en route. It took this group 3 days to drive 1000-km from Sudan.

• Be that as it may, the government says the rebels were repulsed with losses. Government paraded 300 prisoners, says Times, but produced only 7 bodies of rebels. Seems a bit odd: one would expect more dead with so many prisoners.

• More Generals Call For Rummy's Resignation We haven't been reporting this story because this resignation is not going to happen. President Bush does not fire subordinates just because they messed up good. Anyhows, more generals have joined in the demand, saying Rummy and Company need to go because of the botched Iraq invasion and aftermath.

• Afghan-British Offensive Underway in Kunar Province BBC says 2500 troops are involved in the biggest offensive since 2001, and the first in which the Afghan Army is leading. The province, on the Pakistan border, has been a dangerous place for Allied troops because both Taliban and insurgents loyal to the renegade warlord Gulbudin Hekmatyar who is believed to be hiding in the province.

0230 GMT April 13, 2006

• Iraq Violence Drops In March 2006 Reader Mike Thompson sends an analysis using monthly figures from the Brookings Institute, which has been tracking these issues, indicating a drop in violence in Iraq last month. Of course, this doesn't square with what the media has been telling us, but as they say, "who are you gonna believe, the media, or Brookings?"

• US military decline for the 5th month; IED deaths down to lowest level in 15 months; Iraq Police deaths have been averaging around 200/month for the last seven months; both the high and low estimates of civilian deaths was at its lowest level in six months.

• Of course, one has to be careful with such figures because we don't have a consistent series from the time of the invasion, but nonetheless, things appear to be a lot calmer.

• Chad Rebels Close In Looks like Chad slipped off most people's radar. We knew Sudan based rebels were conducting raids and there had been desertions to the rebels from the military. The rebels now say they are advancing on the capital from 3 sides, and French sources say they are 100 km from the capital. Seeing as Chad is lightly populated, that's quite close.

• While France is reinforcing its garrison in the country, BBC judges it unlikely the French will intervene to save the president.

• The president took power in a 1990 coup and he was based in - guess what - Sudan.

• Red Ken Does It Again Go Ken Go! BBC says on a visit to Beijing, Mr. Livingstone, the lefty mayor of London who seems to feature extra large feet and an even larger mouth, has done it again, this time in Tianamen Square

• Saying no nation had a perfect record, he opined that Trafalgar Square had also seen some interesting moments like the 1990 poll tax riots.

• Problem being those riots resulted 400 arrests from a demo of 70,000, and 113 injured including 45 police. BBC notes that aside from no one being killed in the 1990 riot, the British police did not use tanks. CIA estimates 4-800 died in Tianamen Square.

• Then Ken had to go back to 1819 Manchester to come up with deaths at a British rally: 11 killed and 400 injured.

• OK Ken, you've earned 10 smacks from British Barbie, which is what you really wanted, right?

• "Kidnapping Jill Caroll Was  A Mistake" Jang of Pakistan quoting an unidentified wire service reports an Iraqi businessman linked to Saddam and living in Jordan, reports the businessman says he acted as a middleman in the release of Christian Science Monitor correspondent Carroll and that ransom was paid. They are honest people, he says of the insurgents, fighting for their country. I support them. They made a mistake.

• Well. They are honest men fighting for their country and they made a mistake, but you still extorted a ransom from Carroll's employer? Did it occur to you to tell them to let her go, without ransom? Goodness, how stupid of us: then you wouldn't have gotten your cut.

• So. I am an honest person fighting for my country. May I have your permission, Mr. Businessman, to arrange your kidnapping for ransom? I will keep half and give the other half to the US Treasury so that my country can continue its fight against criminals like yourself. And what exactly are your honest friends fighting for? Iraq is a democracy, it has an elected parliament, we didn't notice Saddam being written on to any ballot. Not only are you a criminal, your honest buddies are criminals too.

0230 GMT April 12, 2006

• Iran Claims N-Success saying on Sunday it enriched uranium to 3.5%, sufficient for power reactors. Last month it was running a 20 centrifuge plant, and now has run a 164 centrifuge module.

• From your editor to our readers: If Iran wants to engage in fantasies, that's its business. All to the better, we say, because we want to see Iran clobbered. But between us, you, and the wall, matters are not as simple as getting 20 centrifuges together, one month going to 164, and in a couple of days saying you've succeeded in getting to 3.5%. Being patriotic, you will NOT hear us discredit these wild claims Iran is making. If Iran says it has, its run by adults who presumably know what they are doing. If we ran things in the US, instead of wasting time twisting our knickers saying: "They haven't done it," we'd quietly tell our boys in the military, intelligence, and so on: "Lads, notch up the contingency by one step, lets make sure everyone has enough oil when Hormuz gets blocked for days, weeks, or months and so on: we aren't attacking tomorrow, we have lots of time - years at least - but politically this is a good time, the President has nothing to lose."

• Potential US Diplomatic Retaliation Against Venezuela You last heard us accuse the Government of the US of being Vimps in their feeble threats of consequences if the US ambassador to Venezuela is harassed again by Chavez supporters.

• So today we take that back. US Government says it is considering confining the Venezuelan ambassador to his Embassy Row residence - presumably they mean the residence and embassy are on the same plot of land. That is a muscular response - if carried out. USG, you are not Vimps.

• But: the incident we mentioned was the 4th harassment of the US ambassador. So USG is waiting for a fifth incident before sanctioning the Venezuelan ambassador? You, Sir, - yes you, USG, don't look at everyone else - are Wimps.

• Italy Opposition Said Victorious By 2-seat Margin in Senate and in the House, because rules give an automatic 340 seats, a majority, to the winning party even if it won by one vote, Mr. Prodi has 348 seats to the outgoing PM's 281.

• Mr. Berlusconi refuses to concede, says he will demand recounts.

• Americans, get this: 84% - lets spell that out: Eighty-four percent - of Italians voted. That's democracy, not the facade that passes for democracy in our country, where no one blinks when less than half the electorate turns out for a presidential election. Oh yes, we're heard the whining about people don't come to vote because they are disillusioned about politics and so on. You want disillusionment, go to Italy: This is the 61st government in 60 years, no one wants to bet how many days or weeks its going to last.

• Palestine Authority Money Woes Times London says Hamas came to power with  $1.2 billion in unpaid bills run up by the Fatah government, and the loss of $1.29 billion worth of aid from EU, Israel, and US. Aside from the unpaid bills Hamas needs $1.7 billion a year to run the government, it has $415 million a year from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and tax revenue

• Love Those Roosians Modern capitalism came late to Russia, but when it did, they took it up in a big way. The Russian space agency has been doing all kinds of publicity things to earn money for their cash strapped program. We've all heard of the three space travelers who paid $20-million each for a stay in space, most of us have heard about the $5-million from Pepsi for a replica soda can floated outside Mir. Now comes golf company Element 21, which will have one of its golf balls hit into space by a Russian cosmonaut, sum undisclosed, for the longest drive on record. Good for you, Comrades.

• NASA, meanwhile, is being the proverbial maiden uncle: fuss fuss fuss worry worry worry, we can't approve it until we know nothing can go wrong, maybe it'll be a slice and something will get hit, maybe the cosmonaut golfer will hit the side of the space station with his 6-iron.

• The forefathers of NASA won the west? Compared to today, NASA cut a whole heck of corners for the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo program - from nothing in 1959 to the Moon landing in 1969 because there was a national security imperative. Darnit, when President Kennedy said we're going to moon by 1970, the US didn't even have an ICBM that could be lit with the reasonable expectation it would fly. Yet, exactly just three astronauts died - on the ground. Now - less said the better.

• Vice President Cheney Was Victim In 1990s Hunting Accident reveals Washington Post, when he was shot by one of twin brothers who were hunting with him. The brothers can't decide which of them was responsible. Mr. Cheney was most huffed, they recall. Of course, that incident was nowhere near as serious as the companion Mr. Cheney shot - 200 pellets in the face.

• We hope our fans who happen to hunt won't mind us proposing a small change to hunting rules. If you are, were, or plan to be a politician or a contributor, you will not be allowed to shoot ducks and such. You will have to hunt each other. No penalties if someone gets offed or maimed. Hunts will be televised. We're sure the budget deficit can be eliminated with the potential income.

• Okay, if you don't like that proposal, here's another one. The above category of person will be allowed only to hunt ducks that have been equipped and trained to shoot back. We're sure the technical problems are minor.

• Lord Lovett Story Reader Kunal reminded us we hadn't carried the story. Click here

0230 GMT April 11, 2006

• Italian Election Too Close To Call Reuters says Romano Prodi, the center-left challenger, was ahead in the pre-election polls and perhaps in the first voting, but seems to have lost ground. Either side could win with a narrow margin.

• How Media People Make Themselves Look Like Idiots Reuters, which is a news agency, is supposed to avoid making judgmental comments. But it couldn't help itself: it says the very narrow margin either side can expect raises the possibility of instability.

• If Reuters' writers had bothered to check the stats, Italy has had almost as many governments as years have passed since the end of World War II: in 2005, Mr. Berlusconi himself having the dubious honor of forming Italy's 60th government, in 2005. So political instability is nothing new. Despite that, Italy has become one of the richer countries in Europe, from being a poor country before World War II and an even poorer one after. It is said that Northern Italy has a per capita income as high as Switzerland. The overall per capita is $22,000.

• The Italian genius is making money even when the government is not working, as it often is not.

• Shias Postpone Vote on Jaafari's Continuance They will consider the matter today. Prime Minister Jaafari still refuses to step down, on the strength of his election to the post by one parliamentary vote. No mention if he is willing to test his majority on the house floor, which is what he should be doing, and what the President of Iraq should be insisting he do.

• PA Says Palestinians Stopped Kassam Attack Against Israel says Jerusalem Post.

• The problem is, if you read the story, a family who lives in a settlement stopped the would-be rocketeers by firing on them. The PA had nothing to do with it. Now, PA carefully avoids claiming it did. Obviously the family did what they did because they didn't want to attract retaliatory fire. The Israelis will feel pleased their tough tactics are working: the PA wont do anything, but the pressure on ordinary people is forcing them to take action on their own. So we are not sure the PA should be claiming this as some kind of evidence they are cooperating.

• On Monday militants got a couple of Kassams off at Israel.

• Direct quote from Jerusalem Post: According to Army Radio, the Palestinian Authority's observer in the UN, Riad Mansour, said that "the international community cannot stand by while women, men and children are killed and wounded." We so totally agree with the PA observer. So what is the PA - and the UN - doing to prevent innocent Israelis from being killed by Kassam rockets fired from Palestine, by Palestinians, and from suicide and other terror attacks.

• France Backs Down on new jobs law. President Chirac withdrew the measure, leaving his Prime Minister Dominic Villepin twisting in the wind: the PM had loyally stuck to the government guns despite the rioting and demonstrations, now it's hard to see how he can become President in next year's election. The Interior Minister, the tough Nicolas Sakorzy, must be rejoicing: he is Mr. Villepin's main rival.

• In case our American readers need some comic relief due to a hard day: the law said employers had the right to fire new hires up to the age of 26 without cause in the first two years of their employment and French youth said that was way too harsh. The government wanted to create more jobs so that young people could have jobs - right now no employer in his right mind hires people if he can help it, as firing them is next to impossible.

• The young are basically saying we'd rather not work if it means we have to work under these horrible conditions. They can do that because the State cushions much of the pain of being unemployed.

• In the US if youngsters said "hire us for life or else", they'd be starving within a week. Moreover, the powers-that-be would simply make sure even more illegals landed up.

• American Illegals Debate We've stayed out of this one because its pointless opposing illegals. First, American business is addicted to cheap labor: the minimum wage is around $6/hour, a person working fulltime cannot support himself on that wage in much of the country. In Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, where your editor lives, around $11/hour is a living wage for a single person. Admittedly Montgomery County is expensive, but even in most other American counties the minimum is not enough.

• Second, even though illegal immigration was supposed to have been cracked down on in the last amnesty, in 1986, it exploded in the last 20 years, with an estimated 11 million illegals estimated now. Each and every one is a potential voter. Need we say more?

• But we're commenting today because of a more-than-usually-stupid National Public Radio story today in reference to the mass rallies taking place yesterday. A demonstrator was quoted as saying that just because he was an illegal, it didn't mean he didn't love America.

• Think about this a moment, readers. For sheer inanity its a hard statement to beat. What exactly does it mean? That loving America is the criteria to be allowed to stay even if you are illegal?

• Well, there are 1.3 billion people in South Asia, the editor's region-of-origin. Based on personal experience, your editor estimates one in ten South Asians love America so much they would gladly become illegals - if they had the chance. Talking order of magnitude, we can probably multiply that figure by three times to account for South Americans, Africans, and other Asians who love America very, very much. So there's probably 400-million people in that category. If they succeeded in coming over, once legalized they'd want their families to come. So make than 2-billion people.

• Now think how great that would be for the American economy - 2 billion new consumers instead of the piddling 300-million we have now! How wonderful for multiculturalism and the American tradition of immigration! And absolutely how wonderful for American business, which insists the only way it can create jobs is to pay less than a living wage! Employers could pay $1 an hour for skilled labor, or maybe even 50 cents an hour! Ah, Paradise.

• Frankly, if your editor had the money, he'd file a court case arguing that the rest of the world bar Central America is being discriminated against in the matter of illegal immigration because people have oceans to cross and are much poorer than Central Americans making it that much harder to pay people smugglers and so on. We are sure this violates some article of the US Constitution.

• Lord Lovett Story Reader Kunal reminded us we hadn't carried the story. Click here

• Hamas Says Fatah Allies Behind Israel Rocket Attacks reports the Jerusalem Post. The intent, Hamas says, is to discredit the Hamas dominated government and to provoke the Israelis into a massive invasion of Gaza.

• Jersualem Post says 5 Kassams rockets were fired at Israel yesterday, of which two fell in Palestine and one in an empty Negev field. Israeli SP artillery shelled Palestine targets, killing a policeman and wounding 15 other people.

• Ah, the Hugo We Know And Love BBC reports that President Chavez has told the US ambassador to pack up and leave before he is thrown out. He says the US ambassador provoked the incident where his car was pelted with fruit and vegetables and then chased by motorcyclists for several miles because he did notify the authorities in advance he was to attend a function where he handed out sports equipment.

• Hmmm. The reports that we read say the ambassador's police escort did not intervene when his car was being chased. So some of the authorities knew where he was going.

• As for the US State Department, it has threatened "severe consequences" if there is another incident.

• To the US government we say: You are not even full-blooded Wimps, but only Vimps. The severe consequences should have been imposed right away. You can't stand up for yourself, you deserve the disrespect Hugo is showering on you.

• Saudi To Fence Iraq Border which runs to about 950-km. Reuters reports a European diplomat as saying there is no evidence the border is not already secure, so the project may be a white elephant.

• We don't agree. The border may be secure, but the Saudis are being cautious and complicating the job of anyone who wants to infiltrate to and from Iraq. The Saudis have the money, and since the country is not a democracy, decisions such as this can be made quickly and efficiently.

• UN Says Zimbabwe Life Expectancy 34 For Women, 37 For Men These horrifying figures are partly due to AIDS/HIV says BBC, but also due to the economic meltdown under President Mugabe: the economy has contracted by 40% in the last seven years. Twenty years ago, Zimbabwe had one of the higher living standards in Africa.

• Sierra Leone and Swaziland also have life expectancies less than 40. In Swaziland's case it the out of control AIDS/HIV epidemic; in Sierra Leone that is a factor, but also the brutal civil war which has only recently ended.

• We'd like to ask the West: in your book, does only actively killing people on large scales count as genocide? Killing them in large numbers, slowly, as Mr. Mugabe is doing, doesn't count for anything?

• And we ask Mr. Kofi Annan's UN: aside from a few mild reprimands, what are you doing? Of course, we don't expect the UN to care. But the West, and the US in particularly, says it operates to a higher moral standard than most UN members. All we can say to the West and the US is: sometimes you do. That's not good enough.

• Lord Lovett Story Reader Kunal reminded us we hadn't carried the story. Click here

0230 GMT April 9, 2006

• Information Warfare In Action: The US Press Again A Willing Accomplice Seymour Hersh writes in the April 17 New Yorker that the US is stepping up plans to attack Iran despite talking of negotiations. He says US believes with an air campaign lasting several months it can so humiliate Iran's leadership the people will overthrow it. The "senior Pentagon advisor" who told Mr. Hersh this was shocked at learning of the plan. Moreover, says Mr. Hersh, US is considering use of a tactical N-weapon against the centrifuge plant at Nantez. Several officials are so upset, the senior advisor says, that they are considering resigning.

• Here, folks, you have a perfect example of US information warfare at work, using a "free" press that is a willing accomplice in these stories.

• The key to this story is the dismay of the leaker and the said willingness of senior officials to resign. This is what gives the story great "credibility" [think Austin Powers] and stops people from saying "oh, this is just another US propaganda ploy".

• Notice the American cunning - an air campaign of several months: read "don't think there is going be just a preemptive strike, we will keep hammering you and hammering you and hammering you"; hopes for an uprising against the regime - a regime nightmare; and best of all, use of a tactical N-weapon. Hey, if we are willing to start with a tac nuke, hope you Iranis understand the slightest retaliation from you and the nukes are going to rain down on you. And if a tac nuke against an enrichment plant, why not against - gulp - a regime bunker? You think you're safe? Think again.

• The whole story is carefully tailored to arouse maximum paranoia in a leadership and country well-known for paranoia as far as the US is concerned.

• Does Mr. Hersh not know he is being used? The real question is, does he care he is being used? No. When the time comes and no N-weapon is used, Mr. Hersh can claim: "by disclosing these dastardly plans, I The Great stopped US from using tac nukes."  And I The Great - your editor - stopped the sun from rising in the west today. But am I going to get thanks or attention? No, because my name is not Seymour Hersh.

• Why Are We Picking On Mr. Hersh? In the early 1990s, he wrote a long piece for the New Yorker claiming the US had stopped a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. It was based on leaked "information", and the only problem with the story is that it was false from beginning to end. The prospective N-war was an American fantasy. One purpose was to convince the Indians that Pakistan was prepared to initiate an N-war, and the US stopped them. So it was in India's interest to be more forthcoming with information on its N-program and doctrine, not that we have any ulterior motives, but next time we can explain better to the Pakistanis so they don't misinterpret things and an N-war starts by accident.

• Needless to say, the Indians didn't buy this, because they knew that far from an N-war, no war at all was being risked. They politely told the US to take its "peacemaking" elsewhere. For all your editor knows, they used the same tactic on Pakistan. There were other reasons too, including the desire to "validate" the "existence" of a Pakistan N-deterrent which did not exist - and still doesn't by the way so that India would be deterred from conventional war against Pakistan.

• After that article, Mr. Hersh's already shaky credibility with your editor was seriously strained. Why already shaky? Earlier, Mr. Hersh had allowed himself to be the publicist of a leak saying India's Prime Minister Moraji Desai had been a CIA agent. That was a CIA smear to protect its real agent: Mr. Desai was virulently anti-CIA and is perhaps the only Indian prime minister to ensure its operations in India were drastically cut back. This leak ruined Mr. Desai's life to its end. BTW, least anyone misunderstand - your editor hated Mr. Desai and his insane moralizing. Also in case anyone misunderstands: your editor is a great admirer of the CIA.

• It Must Be Revealed: here your editor pretends he is as important as any senior journalist and to prove that he " reveals" a possible conflict of interest in his talking about Mr. Hersh. Your editor wrote a letter to the New Yorker pointing out several of the contradictions and outright made-up "facts" in Mr. Hersh's. The New Yorker, needless to say, did not bother even to acknowledge receipt of the letter. Further proof, if any were needed, that the New Yorker is paid by the US Government.

• State of Vermont Asks Mr. Bush Be Impeached This, of course, is pure coincidence, but we bet there are people in Teheran reading that story and telling their bosses: "See? W is in deep trouble. He's gonna attack us to divert attention".

• The state of Vermont has called for Mr. Bush's impeachment on grounds he lied about Iraq's WMDs and ordered illegal wiretapping. Vermont is a bit to the left of Lenin and Mao. The problem with the Vermont position is that Saudi, Israeli, and Jordanian intelligence among others told the US Saddam had WMDs. The CIA said the case was doubtful. But if Vermont thinks because one agency said that the President should have listened to it, it doesn't understand the business of intelligence. An intelligence decision is a consensus trying to reconcile many conflicting analyses and reports. Its a very messy and difficult business. To say Mr. Bush personally lied is carrying things way beyond the realities.

• As for illegal wiretapping, your editor was completely outraged - its all on record in the archives. But we were told by a legal expert the case does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. Not least because the President's top legal advisor, the Attorney General, told him it was within his power. So we stopped talking about it.

• What Do We Have Against The State Of Vermont? We love it. Its our favorite state in the whole Union. To explain, a short diversion.

• Your editor was at the health club as usual - he spends two hours a day pretending to exercise but actually trying to pick up women, in the 3 years that Mrs. R told him to get lost your editor has not managed a single date. He was talking to the youngsters who man the lobby desk - there's about 8 of them who work in shifts and there are days they are the only humans he gets to talk to, for a few minutes, after all they have work to do.

• Two of the youngsters are of Indian origin. One was telling the other: "Spend hours in the summer laying about the grass? You have to be kidding. That's an American thing. I think its stupid."

• Your editor had to content himself with uttering a cryptic: "Thank God for American "things"!" Couldn't get more explicit; as an old-timer one has to watch what says to kids, even if they are in their 20s. Since this is a family publication, your editor can say only that the best years of his life were 16 to 19, and the best parts were the  summers, and the best part of the summers were two weeks in August each year he went to camp. The camp was co-ed. He spent a lot of time getting acquainted with Vermont grass. Ah, to be a teenager again and to summer in Vermont. It would be so much easier to forgive Mrs. R for running away.

• Israelis Again Retaliate Against Palestinians for firing rockets at Israeli in the past week. Six militants were killed yesterday, including 4 in an air strike. This brings the two-day total to 13 militants killed plus one child.

• The Palestine president says he will appeal to the UN and that Israeli actions undercut the opportunities for peace in the region. The Hamas dominated government Israel is trying to bring the Palestine people to their knees to force concessions.

• So we are to suppose the rocket attacks against Israeli civilians increase the chances for peace in the region? Pardon us if we doubt the Israelis are trying to win concessions: they don't want to negotiate, they want to retaliate. Besides which they will not negotiate with Hamas to begin with.

0230 GMT April 8, 2006

• Israelis Retaliate Against Palestinians for firing 40 rockets at Israeli in the past week. Israeli gunboats attacked launching sites in Gaza, and an air strike targeting a care killed a Palestine bomb maker and his 5-year old child.

• Meanwhile, the US has cut off to the Palestine Authority, including $240-million previously approved.

• EU has also cut off aid, but this may change after a review.

• Pakistan Army Claims 40 Militants Killed in operations in the Shawal Valley near Miranshah. Locals say only 8 bodies were brought back from the area.

• Locals say they cannot agree to a Pakistan Army order banning carrying of weapons in two areas of North Waziristan including Miranshah. They say they need weapons for self-protection because of feuds and say Pakistan is operating in North Waziristan at US behest. Presumably they mean this implies the Pakistan Army order is illegal under their tribal customs.

• Anti-Homosexual Group Pickets US Military Hospital in Washington area, saying God blew up the wounded soldiers because homosexuals are permitted in the military. This group has been staging demonstrations of similar nature in other areas.

• We have no problem groups espousing extreme views: America is a democracy; as long as the views are expressed peacefully and within the law, we believe everyone has a constitutional right to say what they want.

• We do have a problem with irrationality. By the same token, why not, for example, demonstrate outside Children's Hospital in Washington and say the sick and dying children and their families are being punished because they live in a country which accepts homosexuals are simply folks like heterosexuals and should not be denied the same rights as anyone else? Why pick on the military?

• Further, American soldiers are being blown up, in most cases, by people who claim their God has told them to kill infidels. So is this group saying the insurgents'  God is an agent of their God?  Seems a bit peculiar to us.

• And if someone in their group has an accident, or gets sick, should we be saying obviously their God is punishing them for not being sufficiently anti-homosexual?

• US Ambassador To Venezuela's Convoy Attacked He was at a civic function when a pro-Chavez person asked him to leave. The Ambassador continued doing his thing. When he got into his car, it was first attacked by people throwing fruit and such, then chased by people on motorcycles for several miles, who banged on the car. The Venezuela police escort did not intervene.

• Your move, Hugo: we suggest you think up something quickly, because we cannot imagine Washington is particularly amused about this incident.

• Guatemala Steps Up Anti-Gang Measures So thanks to the Reagan wars in Central America and illegal immigration, a large Central American population was created in the US. Many of these people organized very large scale gangs - the "maras" one reads about in the American press - which unleashed waves of crime on American cities like Los Angeles. The maras have in recent years arrived in the Washington metro area too.

• So US authorities have been arresting members, if they are illegals, they are deported to their home countries.

• So back in their home countries, what do they do? They organize gangs and unleash a reign of terror in countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

• The countries have been fighting back. Guatemala announces it has hired 2000 ex-soldiers who will patrol with civilian police, mainly in high-gang-activity areas of Guatemala City.

• Guatemala had 5000 homicides last year, for a population of about 12-million, about 40 per 100,000 which is comparable - gulp - to the Washington DC murder rate (45 per 100,000 in 2002) and as opposed to the US rate of about 9 per 100,000. There is a huge variation in US states: Maine has 1 per 100,000, Louisiana has 13 per 100,000.

• While checking these statistics, we came across an interesting one: In 1900, when anyone of any age could buy a gun in the US, the homicide rate was 1 per 100,000 - source is below, and it acknowledges that statistics were likely less complete than today. Also guns were relatively expensive.  We also once saw a statistic saying the white murder rate in the US was about the same as Canada and Australia. Canada's rate is in the vicinity of 2 per 100,000. 

• Visit www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html if you want more details.

0230 GMT April 7, 2006

Update 1030 GMT

• Close Zarqawi Associate Captured One of the things we unfortunately are not much good at - and the reason we keep recommending our readers visit www.billroggio.com - is keeping track of the now-never-ending stream of captures of important terrorists in Iraq. This process, combined with the Sunnis of Anbar province turning against Zarqawi, has destroyed the original Iraq insurgency. The Iraqis and Americans have been making steady progress against Al Qaeda. Of course, now we have a third threat, or if you will, a previous threat matured, that of Shia terrorism led by renegades like Al Sadr, whose attitude is either he will rule Iraq or he will pull everything down with him. [Poor chap, Al Sadr. Even your editor has fantasies of overwhelming power, but sensibly he keeps the discussion between himself and his teddy bears. The man has probably never had a teddy bear in his life, which may be why he is a deranged killer.] Iraq watchers are of the opinion the Shia insurgency will prove harder to defeat than the Sunni and the foreign insurgencies.

• At any rate, the man captured, Abu Ayman, is close to Zarqawi and is responsible for kiddnapping the Italian journalist whose Italian intelligence was killed by US troops on the way to the airport. He is just one of many Zarqawi associates who have been knocked off one after another in the last year.

• The way the Iraqis got to Abu Ayman is that they captured his deputy at the end of last year. It took near two-and-a-half months to get Abu Ayman - he was found hiding in a Baghdad canal.

• Needless to say, his capture was not announced for a month. The US says, with a straight face, it had to wait till it confirmed his identity using DNA testing. The truth is he was being worked over by the Iraqis, and we need not feel sorry because this man was not read his rights on capture and provided a lawyer. There is a bloody war on in Iran, in case anyone has not noticed.

• As a result of which "interrogation" Abu Ayman gave up many of his close associates. Who are now under "interrogation".

• Here is the cunning of the Americans and Iraqis: they announced the capture of Abu Ayman's deputy, the man who turned him in, only two days after his master's capture. So all the time Abu Ayman was being run to ground (should we be saying "run to canal"?) he had no clue his henchman was compromised.

• 3 Americans Injured In Kandahar Bombing [1030 GMT] First reports from Afghan police suggested Afghan insurgents had opened their promised suicide bombing campaign against British troops arriving in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces by injuring two soldiers leaving their base. Reuters reports US has said two of its soldiers and a civilian contractor were slightly injured: the British have not yet taken over the base.  The bomber rammed his vehicle into theirs and was killed.

• The British will be giving the highest priority to anti-drug operations. Helmand province was previously only lightly covered by the Americans, who are limited by availability of troop numbers. The British are part of the Allied/Afghan strategy of gradually expanding government control over the country. This is a first for any Afghan government, monarchical, communist, or Taliban: earlier, the government controlled major cities, the provinces did fairly much as they pleased.

• 3 Americans Injured In Kandahar Bombing [1030 GMT] First reports from Afghan police suggested Afghan insurgents had opened their promised suicide bombing campaign against British troops arriving in Kandahar and Helmand Provinces by injuring two soldiers leaving their base. Reuters reports US has said two of its soldiers and a civilian contractor were slightly injured: the British have not yet taken over the base.  The bomber rammed his vehicle into theirs and was killed.

• The British will be giving the highest priority to anti-drug operations. Helmand province was previously only lightly covered by the Americans, who are limited by availability of troop numbers. The British are part of the Allied/Afghan strategy of gradually expanding government control over the country. This is a first for any Afghan government, monarchical, communist, or Taliban: earlier, the government controlled major cities, the provinces did fairly much as they pleased.

• El Bizzaro Department A German woman physiotherapist was kidnapped along with other tourists in Colombia. She was released on payment of ransom. The German government arranged a helicopter to take her to its embassy in Bogota. Then it billed her 50% of the cost, 9,000 Sterling. She refused to pay the money.

• Now a German court has ruled that the government has the right only to ask freed hostages to pay for their flight home.

• Her case has aroused fresh interest after release of photographs showing her looking disgustingly fit, athletic, and blonde in the way only Germans seem to manage, posing smiling with a gun and a rather pathetic looking masked guerilla. Just looking at the photograph made your editor feel so ancient and decrepit that he almost decided to hand himself over to the glue factory as he is taking up space on earth for no purpose.  Unfortunately there are no details in the Times London story on the follow up to the photograph. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2121373,00.html

• This Is Sort Of Cute Department The scientists at Los Alamos have named a 20 teraflop computer they keep for stuff like simulating nuclear explosions "Q", after the famous armorer of the James Bond novels/movies.

• Klass Klowne Awarde to Representative Cynthia McKinney of the US Congress. She entered the Capitol without wearing any identification and without the special pin Congresspeople wear. A security guard tried to stop her: he didn't recognize her because she had changed her trademark hairdo to something else. She hit the guard and then grandly announced she had been a victim of racism - she happens to be African American. The pin didn't mean anything, she said, it could be easily duplicated. Capitol guards should be trained to recognized faces of all 535 members, she said. So what if she didn't pause and tell him who she was, let alone show him identification, she says? Its all his fault.

• Well, a US Grand Jury started to hear evidence on whether to indict her for assaulting a police officer. So after steadfastly refusing to apologize she has now apologized.

• She needs to go to jail the same way you and I would if we'd hit a policeperson - she used her cell phone to jab him when he tried to physically stop her. Congresspeople need to obey the law the same as those of us they are paid to represent.

• The Congressperson needs to lighten up. Women may be able to recognize another woman at 1000 paces despite any changes of hair style. Men aren't that smart when it comes to women.

• Tomorrow we will tell a story to make the point. Older readers know it well: its the story of the famous British Commando Lord Lovatt and his faithful bagpiper Bill, at Normandy. This is the one which explains why the British didn't make passage of the Mue River in timely fashion even though Lord Lovatt and Bill had captured the crossing by themselves. Older readers will recall the reason for the delay was the scandal involving the CO of a famous Yeomanry regiment, which was the spearhead of the British invasion force, a beautiful German nurse and the Staffordshire cow. The incident led to many disasters, including Caen, Arnhem, the Battle of the Bulge, the failure to end the war in 1944 and the arrival of the Russians in Berlin before the allies, the 1948 Berlin Airlift, Dien Bien Phu, Korea, Suez, the Arab-Israeli and Indo-Pakistan Wars, Vietnam, the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Ussuri Incident, Panama, Grenada, Beirut, Gulf I and II and the reason things in Iraq are such a mess and Iran is such a threat. That is just a partial list what went wrong because of that one incident.

0230 GMT April 6, 2006

• Iraq Interim Prime Minister May Be Willing To Face Parliament say several sources. If so, this is the correct way to go about things: anyone's claim to form a government can only be tested on the floor of the house. But frankly, we don't like the "may": is this man going to respect democratic procedure or not? If he is, he has to accept a vote. If he isn't, it's time for the President to order him gone.

• Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, in our opinion a balanced analyst, says everything in Iraq takes time and we should not worry there is no government four months after elections. At least everyone is busy negotiating.

• Our difficulty with that proposition is Mr. Jaafari's reliance on Sadr and and his militia. May be its okay not to have a government after 4 months; its not okay for Jaafari to protect this Shia terrorist who needs to be sitting in a nice cool jail cell just because he needs the votes of Sadr's party.

• IRA Informer's Murder: Additional Details [From London Times] The man was a high level IRA officer during the time he served as an informer for the British: chief of administration.

• Though he was living alone in an isolated place, there was no secret about his location. The press, for one, tracked him down.

• The Irish police had warned him his life was in danger but he apparently took no precautions. He admitted in 2005 to being a British agent.

• Nigerian President Prepared To Address Delta Grievances Attacks by local tribes have reduced Nigeria's oil production. The President says he will set up a committee to look into the Delta peoples' grievances. He was addressing a one day convention of Delta leaders.

• BBC says that while most leaders were pleased at the outcome, younger - and presumably more militant - groups said it was a waste of time. BBC adds that given the history of past promises there is reason to be skeptical the new promises will prove different.

• Panama Canal To Be Widened The 7-year, $7.5 billion project will add a 3rd shipping lane, this one capable of taking bigger ships which have been barred till now.

• Almost 70% of US shipping passes through the canal. The global total is 14,000 ship transits and 200-million-tons.

• Pakistan Army Kills 16 Insurgents, Captures 19 after a retaliatory offensive in the Shawal Valley, a remote and thickly forested area that leads into Afghanistan. The Valley is in North Waziristan.

• Earlier, insurgents attacked an army checkpost in the valley, near Miranshah, the scene of major fighting for the last several weeks. Three army personnel were killed. One paramilitary soldier died in the offensive, in which 5 gunships were used.

• Iran Weapons: Liar Liar Pants On Fire We need to say clearly we don't object to a bit of exaggeration when people describe their weapons. What we do object to is outright lying. Mike Thompson sent an article yesterday - which we unfortunately deleted - saying the "new" missile with "radar-evading" warheads and so on is just a Scud-C.

• Then we learn from Strategy Page Iran regularly lies about the weapons it has allegedly developed and that it is obsessed with the word "stealth".

• We didn't adequately clarify what we meant when we said the Russian torpedo Shkval has guidance problems. It is unguided, and a submarine firing the torpedo has to line up on its target at close range.

• The Iranians, of course, claim to have developed their own launch platform which is undetectable, the torpedo is undetectable - they keep calling it a missile - and we assume Iran's enemies should simply give up right now because they're dead.

• The odd thing is the head of the IIRC Navy says the physicists say the torpedo's 100-meters/second speed is theoretically impossible but Iran has made it possible. That speed equates to 360-km/hour, about 220-mph, which is approximately what Shkval is supposed to run at, so we're unclear what's theoretically impossible about it.

• Incidentally, the Russians designed it for a nuclear warhead. That's why they weren't so concerned about accuracy.

0230 GMT April 5, 2006

• Iraq Interim Prime Minister Refuses To Step Down despite losing backing from the Shia alliance, of which his part is a member, the US/UK, and Iraq's senior religious leader.

• In India, a leader claiming a majority has first to submit his claim to the President who, on checking the list of supporting members of parliament, gives her/him a chance to demonstrate a majority on the floor of the house. If s/he fails, the process begins afresh. So we don't understand how Mr. Jaafari, who has failed to form a government in almost 4 months, is still allowed to continue as Prime Minister when he hasn't even been confirmed in the job.

• Saddam To Face New Charges and this is a bit of a surprise to us. We thought he'd be quickly found guilty of the current charge, the killing of 148 people from the village of Dujail where his convoy was ambushed, be hung, and that would be the end of things.

• Instead, he is going to be accused of genocide in the so-called Anfal campaign he waged against the Kurds, killing - it is said - 180,000.

• The man is a monster; nonetheless one has to be careful about genocide totals: they frequently end up being inflated.

• Italy Election Campaign Center-right Prime Minister Berlusconi continues to trail left challenger Romano Prodi by 3-5 points ahead of Sunday's general election. Apparently even if Mr. Berlusconi loses, his party has enough seats to influence the election of the next Italian president, also to take place soon.

• Historical note: Mussolini's granddaughter is campaigning. Her slogan: "Better fascist than queer". We consider ourselves good at unraveling non-sequitors, but confess this one has us stumped.

• Iran "Superweapons" Iran has tested 3 superweapons during its naval exercises. One is a local version of the supercavitating Russian Shkval torpedo, said to be capable of 200-knot speeds. The second is a medium land-to-ship missile so advanced it cannot be jammed. The third is a one-prop hydroplane that cannot be spotted by radar and can deliver weapons against targets while on the move.

• We are sure the US Navy is shivering in its bunny slippers.

• First, this is a short-range torpedo - 7000 meters. Second, it runs in a straight line. Third, it has a guidance problem. Last, its liquid fuelled and unstable.

• We've already said: the US Navy is not going to be anywhere within range of any Iranian system until after everything the Iranians have has been clobbered from the air and by cruise missiles.

• People tend to underestimate the difficulty of finding naval task groups at sea, particularly if the task groups don't want to be found. Even if you do locate them, targeting them is difficult.

• Anti-ship missiles, even crude ones, are difficult to stop. Again, though, if the launch sites - for the land-based systems - have been neutralized, if your aircraft can't take off, and if your ships/boats are gone or cannot get 100 km from shore without being attacked from the air, then it doesn't matter how immune your missile is to countermeasures.

• As for hydroplanes puddling along at 10 meters off the wave-tops at 100 knots trying to find something to shoot at, well, lets just say there is going to be a target-acquisition problem. As for being invisible to radar, yes, if you're close enough to the surface and close enough to a ship, you could come in under radar. That's why people have airborne radar and one of the many reasons the USN likes to keep its task forces well off-shore.

• IRA Informer Murdered says Reuters, after being tortured and mutilated. Both IRA and Unionists reacted predictably. IRA denies it has anything to do with the killing, saying it is an attempt to discredit it ahead of UK-Ireland efforts to revive the long-stalled Northern Ireland political process. The Unionists say the murder casts doubt on the IRA's commitment to the peace process.

• The victim was a mole inside the IRA for two decades.

• Obviously we have nothing useful to add by way of insight, but we're wondering why either position has to be true. The man must have had enemies; the IRA cannot possibly control what every single member past or present does; maybe someone saw the opportunity for revenge and took it.

• Meeting On Kosovo's Future To Take Place April 12 in Athens, Greece.

• Good News On Immigration - Sort Of Reader Marcopetroni sends an article saying Mexico's birth rate has fallen to replacement level, 2.1 birth per woman. That is lower than the rate of American Mexicans, 2.8, because the less educated tend to migrate more.

• By 2050, says the article, Mexico may become a net importer of people. Your editor is so relieved: he's been worrying about what work, if any, his grandkids will get when they grow up. Let's see how the Mexicans like it when Americans flood the border, eh?

0230 GMT April 4, 2006

• The Grand Ayatollah Speaks The spiritual head of Shia Iraq has, through a spokesperson, asked Mr. Jaafari, ineffective Prime Minister of Iraq, to resign. This should pretty much wrap things up. Hopefully the next incumbent will be more effective.

• US has repeatedly been saying Iraq militias must disarm. We agree disarmament must be enforced. Problem: Iraq Army is not as yet strong enough to do this on its own. So US would have to reinforce Iraq, reversing the withdrawal process taking place - and getting the US electorate angrier than heck just before the mid-term 2006 elections.

• What is Mr. Chavez Up To? He is offering long-term contracts to Venezuelan oil at $50/bbl. If he succeeds, his country's tar oils get counted as viable reserves. Right now they are not considered economical reserves because of the $20/bbl cost of extraction.

• Venezuela has 1.3 trillion barrels of tar oils, so if that becomes official reserves, he gets to take over OPEC and gets a production quota bigger than anyone else's.

• Nice move. The question is, will anyone agree to long-term contracts at $50/bbl? A great many oil people consider that way above a viable long-term price.

• The further question is: why would Saudi and the other major OPEC players let Mr. Chavez get away with dominating OPEC? They could force oil prices down by increasing production over the next 10 years, and then we face the nightmare scenario of oil producers: prices collapse as they did in the last part of the 1990s, and all the money they are putting into alternate oils goes down the drain, as happened in the 1980s. Gulf oil remains the cheapest of all oil to extract: you cannot beat the Gulf states if you start a price war.

• UK Defense Minister Says Geneva Convention Needs Modification The Convention was designed in an era when states and uniformed armies waged war. Today the main threat comes from non-state actors of extreme ruthlessness who violate every rule of war but insist the rules must be applied should they be captured. In addition, they are striving to acquire WMD which adds a whole new dimension of threat - readers will immediately see that deterrence concepts have no applicability when dealing with terrorist groups.

• The British minister was speaking at the Royal United Services Institute. He spoke in generalities and did not suggest specific changes.

• Our difficulty with his thesis is that Geneva does not apply to non-uniformed groups using civilians as cover. There is no need for changes to Geneva; rather, the need is to better educate the public in western democracies that laws of warfare can apply only when all combatants acknowledge the existence of the laws.

• Thus, I cannot promise to abide by the rules in a chess game when my opponent feels no such compulsion.

0230 GMT April 3, 2006

• Straw, Rice Pressure Iraq's Jaafari The British Foreign Secretary and the US Secretary of State made a surprise visit to Baghdad. While they scrupulously avoided taking sides, saying it is for the Iraqis to choose their Prime Minister, their intent was to "persuade" Mr. Jaafari to resign. Since the December 15 election, he has been unable to run Iraq and things have gone from hopeful to bad - at least in Baghdad.

• The rest of the country is relatively peaceful - we should remember Iraq at the best of times is a violent place. Blogger Bill Roggio tells us that even in Baghdad, most of the violence is taking place in the Mansur district in the NW part of the city. Be that as it may, in matters of security perception is more important than reality. For example, Washington DC has a terrible reputation for safety; but unless you are in the drug trade, the city is actually quite safe.

• The Background On Mr. Jaafari He was elected Prime Minister with just a 1 vote majority over his nearest rival, Al Mahadi. To win, he courted the homicidal Mr. Sadr and his gang who hold seats in the Parliament. Needless to say, aside from not being able to run Iraq, Mr. Jaafari has not been able to control Mr. Sadr.

• It seems Mr. Sadr is lying somewhat low right now after the raid on the prayer hall in Sadr City. It was one thing to bravely fulminate against the Americans, and run like a chicken when they approached,  but another when Iraqis themselves are looking to kill you, eh, Mr. Sadr? You murdered hundreds in your rampage after the Samarra bombing. People want revenge - that's the essential reality of Iraq.

• Zarqawi Demoted?  Reader Mike Thompson sends an AFP story saying a son of Osama's mentor, who says he regularly receives reports from the "resistance"  says Zarqawi has been demoted because of his mistakes in Iraq. He is no longer political head of anything, he is purely a military leader.

• Among his mistakes: using Iraqi territory to attack other Muslim countries, declaring himself head of a political movement - Al Qaeda in Iraq, and claiming to speak for the Iraqi people when only they can speak for themselves.

• One supposes all this could be true: Zarqawi is being hunted by Iraqis seeking payback for his atrocities on Iraqis committed in the name of fighting the Americans and presumably his sponsors will want to put some distance between themselves and him.

• At the same time, Iraqis he has wronged are unlikely to be impressed by his "demotion". They want his head, not demotions.

• Baluchistan Violence Jang of Pakistan says 13 people, including 7 provincial police, 2 soldiers, and 4 civilians have been killed in a number of landmine explosions in the province.

• A spokesperson for the Baluchistan Liberation Army says he regrets the killing of the police, who are locals. We are so moved. It might have been nice if the BLA had also regretted the killing of 3 civilians by landmines in Kohlu. Three boys were playing when they trigged off a mine; when people rushed to aid them several more mines exploded killing 3 people.

• Charles Taylor To Ask For Dismissal of Charges say court appointed lawyers. They claim the UN-backed tribunal in Sierra Leone has no jurisdiction over the former Liberian dictator.

• From the BBC: "Mr Taylor is broke. He does not have money to plead a case," Mr Flomo told Reuters news agency. "We hope goodwilled people and other institutions will come and help so that we can plead his case...Right now there is no money." Mr. Flomo is a lawyer proceeding to Freetown to help defend Mr. Taylor. We are so moved to tears by Mr. Taylor's plight.

0230 GMT April 2, 2006

• Shia Call for Prime Minister To Step Down Mr. Jaafari, the Shia nominee for Prime Minister, is not liked by Kurds and Sunnis. They refuse to accept him in the permanent government. he refuses to go. So Iraq has been without a government for several months, and this is thought a major cause for the country's inability to handle violence. Now voices within the Shia majority alliance have called for his resignation.

• Mr. Jaafari has been colluding with the terrorist Sadr, who's party is a member of the Shia alliance, and who is responsible for most of the violence after the Samaara Mosque bombing. The US has told the Shias Jaafari is unacceptable and that it is ready to take on Sadr again - that was the point of the attack on Sadr's militia last week.

• Jaafari, of course, did not get the message, but apparently some of the Shia coalition have.

• Anyone notice how quickly the news reports about how the raid on Sadr had created a new crisis have died down? That may be because by now the media has understood that the raid was a carefully worked out signal to break the deadlock concerning formation of a new government.

• Trouble Between Turkish Government & Kurds a story we have not been following, there have been clashes in southeast Turkey between security forces and Kurds.

• This round of trouble started when security forces killed 14 Kurd rebels. At their funerals, 7 more Kurds were killed in clashes between security forces and mourners. Then a Kurd insurgent group set off a bomb in Istanbul, saying from now on it would retaliate against any killings of Kurds by killing Turks. That has escalated tension; yesterday there was rioting by Kurds in two towns.

• Journalist Jill Carroll Says Pro-Insurgent Video War Forced She issued a statement as she arrived in Germany enroute to the US saying the video in which she praises her captors was forced from her as a condition of her release. She attacked her captors for killing her translator and abducting her.

• Fair enough: in her position we'd say anything if there was a chance it would mean freedom. Come to think of it, we'd never be in her position in the first place because we're not stupid to go roaming around Baghdad congratulating ourselves on how much everyone loves us.

• Baluchistan 70% of the power demand of the province is still not being met, and will not be met for several days, because of the downing of pylons by insurgents. What struck is how little power the province consumes at the best of times: normal demand is 575-Megawatts for more than 6-million people. It is, of course, a poor province and we would not be surprised if the poorest parts of India use an equally pathetic low amount.

• Pakistan Air Force Commissions First Batch Of Women Fighter Pilots 4 to be exact, with another batch of 6 following.

• We are against women in the combat arms on ideological grounds. At the same time, we congratulate the PAF for taking this big step toward gender equality.

• Back in Iraq, women combat helicopter pilots have been getting a lot of attention from the press - and praise from their male colleagues for their skill and bravery. Sounds a bit condescending to us: they're doing their job the same as the men and we don't have to exclaim: "Oh great job!" "Wow! That was such a great shot!" and stuff like that as if the women were morons who managed to walk from one end of the field to the other without tripping on their faces.

• One scout pilot has been noted for some nice shooting of bad guys using her rifle while airborne. She wants to use the word "neutralize" as opposed to the usual male terms - we forget exactly which were in the article we read, but presumably they are stuff like wasted and zapped and blew away and so on. She says she doesn't want it to look like she's enjoying killing people, she's just doing her job.

• So if you happen to be standing next to an insurgent she shoots, as the insurgent keels over with a hole in his head, be sure to tell the insurgent: "Don't worry, good buddy, you've only been neutralized".

• This attempt to sanitize what she's doing is hypocritical. She's killing people, we congratulate her on killing people that need to die, and we congratulate her for being a good soldier. And she needs to squarely face what's she's doing.

0230 GMT April 1, 2006

• Israel Cuts Off Contact With PA Security Forces and says it will not distinguish between terrorists and security forces as the latter help the terrorists.

• Now, this is a fact, and we don't see what else the Israelis can do. But it is going to raise the temperature in the occupied territories by several degrees, because basically what Israeli is doing is declaring PA security forces a legitimate target.

• The provocation was a suicide attack that killed four Israelis traveling in a car: an elderly couple, a 20 year old woman, and a 16 year old youth. It is thought the car picked up the suicide bomber thinking he was Jewish Israeli.

• Hamas Official Killed By Car Bomb leading to fighting between Hamas and Fatah-controlled security forces which killed three other, including a civilian.

• Nice job, folks. That's the way to go. Just keep killing each other and the problem of Palestine will be resolved.

• Pakistan Sabotage Internet traffic in areas of Pakistan was affected due to rumored sabotage of fiber optic cables.

• In Baluchistan, four power pylons were destroyed by bomb explosions cutting power to several districts. A civilian was killed and three other hurt when their vehicle ran over a land mine.

• A railway bridge and rail track was damaged, also in Baluchistan, in a bomb explosion.

• Another civilian was critically injured in a land mine explosion.

• We will say this as many times as neccessary: we condemn all insurgent activity directed against civilians or that puts civilian unnecessarily at risk. Unless a landmine is under remote control, planted on a road it is going to kill/main the first people who go over it, be they civilians or military. This is not fighting for freedom, this is terrorism.

• Thank You Teheran for firing your "radar avoiding", "multiple warhead" missile. Bosh and nonsense. As you well know you have no such capability. But hey - what do we know, we're from Iowa, and you say you have the capability so we have to believe you, right?

• That makes you that much more dangerous: the Israelis and westerners gunning for have jumped right on it to show, in one more way, what a dangerous country you are.

• Keep up the good work: fire away so that the US can continue building its case to attack you.

• Tango With Hugo Ah, yes, we missed you, good buddy. President Chavez of Venezuela has opened his own investigation into 9/11 with two Americans, including a survivor, who say it was a plot by the military-industrial complex.

• Mike Thompson, who forwards the report says that Hugo has met people goofier than he is. Say it a'int so Hugo! We won't be able to take it if you're no longer Head Goof!

• Mother Of All Bombs Meets Her Daddy on June 2 when US sets off a 0.593 kiloton conventional bomb, the biggest ever, in a 36-foot deep shaft in Nevada.

• The idea is, of course, to test what the shock waves do in rock, with the research to be used in developing bunker-busters; no one is suggesting creating such an operational monster bomb.

• One critic says this test violates the Test Ban Treaty? Dude, get a life. The Treaty applies to nuclear weapons, This is a conventional bomb.

• Another is outraged because some dust will be thrown up into the air in the shape of a fireball and Las Vegas may get some dust. Zip the Lip, buddy. Last we heard, LV sits in the middle of the desert, to say nothing of all the smog your cars and produce and the pollution your relentless growth produces. People will do anything to get their name in the media. Why don't you help the homeless or something if you want publicity.

• Afghan Officials Say 16 Pakistanis Were Not Taliban Readers will recall we ran a story saying 16 Taliban had been killed crossing over to Afghanistan from Pakistan. At the time, some people were saying they were travelers on their way to Kabul at night and had been killed by a local commander as revenge for their tribe having killed his brother. We wondered if people traveled at night in Afghanistan and if the border check posts were even open at that time.

• Afghan officials have told BBC the men were in Kabul, as guests of a person with former Northern Alliance connections. The man detained the 16 in exchange for money; they were driven back to the border, and shot by the local commander who is now under arrest.

• OK, so we have nothing to say about the rightness or wrongness of the local commander: these feuds are the business of the locals who engage in them. We do have something to say about the belief in some western circles about "tribal honor", a concept that the Afghans and Pakistanis throw around a lot. We have always maintained these tribals will sell their mothers if the price is right, and here you have an example.

• The status of a guest in tribal culture is sacred; it does not matter who the guest is, even if he is your worst enemy he is supposed to be immune.