From "the paper of treason," the New York Times:

The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein

December 29, 2006

The important question was never really about whether Saddam Hussein was guilty of crimes against humanity. The public record is bulging with the lengthy litany of his vile and unforgivable atrocities: genocidal assaults against the Kurds; aggressive wars against Iran and Kuwait; use of internationally banned weapons like nerve gas; systematic torture of countless thousands of political prisoners.

What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions.

It could have, but it didn’t. After a flawed, politicized and divisive trial, Mr. Hussein was handed his sentence: death by hanging. This week, in a cursory 15-minute proceeding, an appeals court upheld that sentence and ordered that it be carried out posthaste. Most Iraqis are now so preoccupied with shielding their families from looming civil war that they seem to have little emotion left to spend on Mr. Hussein or, more important, on their own fading dreams of a new and better Iraq.

What might have been a watershed now seems another lost opportunity. After nearly four years of war and thousands of American and Iraqi deaths, it is ever harder to be sure whether anything fundamental has changed for the better in Iraq.

This week began with a story of British and Iraqi soldiers storming a police station that hid a secret dungeon in Basra. More than 100 men, many of them viciously tortured, were rescued from almost certain execution. It might have been a story from the final days of Baathist rule in March 2003, when British and American troops entered Basra believing they were liberating the subjugated Shiite south. But it was December 2006, and the wretched men being liberated were prisoners of the new Iraqi Shiite authorities.

Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either.

The Times is just concerned that there won’t be enough time to whip up the "Arab street" and get some more of our troops killed.

Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either

Gosh what insight.

But maybe the Iraqis intend to execute Saddam because it is the right thing to do?

Of course concepts such as the rule of law and simple justice are foreign to the New York Times.

Excellent news from a bereaved NBC News:

Saddam to be hanged by Sunday

Ex-dictator’s execution expected to be carried out by start of Eid holiday

Dec 28, 2006

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, sentenced to death for his role in 148 killings in 1982, will have his sentence carried out by Sunday, NBC News reported Thursday. According to a U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, Saddam will be hanged before the start of the Eid religious holiday, which begins at sundown Saturday.

The hanging could take place as early as Friday, NBC’s Richard Engel reported.

The U.S. military received a formal request from the Iraqi government to transfer Saddam to Iraqi authorities, NBC reported on Thursday, which is one of the final steps required before his execution. His sentence, handed down last month, ordered that he be hanged within 30 days.

Earlier Thursday, Saddam’s chief lawyer implored world leaders to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying the former dictator should enjoy protection from his enemies as a “prisoner of war.”

“According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary,” Saddam’s lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said in Amman, Jordan.

“I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities,” he told The Associated Press.

Saddam met with two of his half-brothers on Thursday and passed on personal messages to his family, a lawyer said.

Badie Aref, one of Saddam’s lawyers, said the rare meeting with maternal half-brothers Sabawi and Watban Ibrahim Hassanal-Tikriti, who are in U.S. custody, was at the request of the ousted Iraqi leader and took place inside his heavily guarded prison cell in Baghdad.

Aref said Saddam was in very high spirits and had sensed “something was happening relating to the sentence” when prison guards took away a small radio he had been given several months ago.

“He met Sabawi and Watban and gave them letters to his family in anticipation…. He is clearly unaware of the details of what is happening around him and prepared to give his life as a martyr to his country,” Aref told Reuters by telephone.

Aref said prison sources who told him of the family meeting said Saddam was aware of an appeals court decision to uphold his death sentence for crimes against humanity during his 24-year rule.

“He was in very high spirits and clearly readying himself,” Aref said during a visit to Dubai.

“He told them that he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr and not just languish in prison in oblivion.”…

We could learn a few things from Iraq’s court system.

From the Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald:

Sheehan, other protesters arrested near Bush ranch

Thursday, December 28, 2006

By Erin Quinn

Tribune-Herald staff writer

CRAWFORD — War protester Cindy Sheehan and several fellow peace activists were arrested this morning outside President Bush’s ranch where Bush is meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others on Iraq war policy.

Sheehan, arrested just after 11, said she and others were conducting a “peace surge” to address concerns that Bush may increase U.S. troop numbers in Iraq. The Bush administration is under mounting pressure to change its tactics in an increasingly unpopular conflict. Among the suggestions Bush is considering is a temporary surge in U.S. troops.

Just before she was arrested, Sheehan was sitting in the middle of the road near Bush’s 1,600-acre ranch. This morning’s protesters said they fully expected to be arrested for demonstrating near the ranch.

Protesters have been arrested before for violating a county ordinance that forbids camping out along the side of the road or blocking traffic, which Sheehan and some of her followers appeared to be doing this morning. One protester was lying in the middle of the road, apparently to symbolize the dead of the Iraq war.

Bush has been on a working vacation at his ranch since Tuesday. He and the first lady are due to return to Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Day.

Between two and three dozen protesters were outside the ranch this morning, many of them armed with signs and banners decrying the war and chanting “Arrest Bloody George.”

The woman will do anything to keep herself in the news.

But remember, Cindy Sheehan is on probation after her recent conviction for her disruptions at the United Nations:

Cindy Sheehan convicted of trespassing

12/12/2006

… Sheehan and three other women were acquitted on Monday of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration but were convicted of trespassing for leading a protest across the street from the United Nations. They had faced up to a year in jail if convicted of all counts.

A judge sentenced them to conditional discharge, which means they will not face any punishment as long as they do not get arrested in the next six months. The judge also ordered them to pay $95 in court surcharges…

So this arrest should guarantee Mother Sheehan some jail time in New York.

Or are America-haters always given a different set of rules?

The ghoulish Bob Woodward couldn’t even wait for Mr. Ford to be interred before cashing in on his death with yet another piece of disinformation.

From the DNC’s house organ, the Washington Post:

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gives former President Gerald Ford the latest information on the situation in South Vietnam, during a meeting at the White House, April 29, 1975.

Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

By Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 28, 2006; Page A01

Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don’t think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford’s own administration.

In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president’s justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney — Ford’s White House chief of staff — and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford’s chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I’ve never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

In a conversation that veered between the current realities of a war in the Middle East and the old complexities of the war in Vietnam whose bitter end he presided over as president, Ford took issue with the notion of the United States entering a conflict in service of the idea of spreading democracy.

"Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush’s assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what’s in our national interest." He added: "And I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

The Ford interview — and a subsequent lengthy conversation in 2005 — took place for a future book project, though he said his comments could be published at any time after his death. In the sessions, Ford fondly recalled his close working relationship with key Bush advisers Cheney and Rumsfeld while expressing concern about the policies they pursued in more recent years.

"He was an excellent chief of staff. First class," Ford said. "But I think Cheney has become much more pugnacious" as vice president. He said he agreed with former secretary of state Colin L. Powell’s assertion that Cheney developed a "fever" about the threat of terrorism and Iraq. "I think that’s probably true."

Describing his own preferred policy toward Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Ford said he would not have gone to war, based on the publicly available information at the time, and would have worked harder to find an alternative. "I don’t think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly," he said, "I don’t think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer." …

Note that despite the headlines and the spin given this piece, Ford is merely saying that the invasion of Iraq should not have been based solely upon the threat of Saddam having or developing weapons of mass destruction.

This is a position that Gerald Ford had iterated several times before in interviews, such as this one from a reporter for the New York Daily News from just seven months ago:

Last lunch with a legend

Speaks candidly about the WMDs and war in Iraq

BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK

Daily News Washington Bureau Chief Thomas M. DeFrank interviewed Gerald Ford more than three dozen times during the late President’s retirement years. He saw Ford in November at his California home and spent more than two hours with him May 11 [2007] for this, his final interview.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Cal. … Ford was a few weeks shy of his 93rd birthday as we chatted for about 45 minutes. He’d been visited by President Bush three weeks earlier and said he’d told Bush he supported the war in Iraq but that the 43rd President had erred by staking the invasion on weapons of mass destruction.

"Saddam Hussein was an evil person and there was justification to get rid of him," he observed, "but we shouldn’t have put the basis on weapons of mass destruction. That was a bad mistake. Where does [Bush] get his advice?" …

But Woodward wouldn’t be Woodward and the Post wouldn’t be the Post if they didn’t try to twist this non-story into a way to attack President Bush — and for a war they also had previously championed.

Moreover, as I am reminded by a brilliant reader:

President Bush didn’t base the Iraq invasion on WMDs. That was the liberals’ reason.

Bush and his administrative spokespeople concentrated on Saddam’s gassing of the Kurds, the rape rooms, Uday and Qusay, his funding of terrorists, his sheltering of terrorists, etc. — to the point that liberals were complaining that Bush was giving too many reasons for the war.

It’s maddening that our motives for going to war have been switched with liberals’ motives only since we haven’t found WMDs. That was their reason.

Absolutely.

And lest we forget, it was Bill Clinton and his cronies who pounded Saddam for his weapons of mass destruction, starting in 1998 when he needed a distraction from Monica.

From his fans at the Associated Press:

Edwards shoots for White House again

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS – Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards said Thursday that he is a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, promising "a grass roots, ground-up campaign where we ask people to take action."

Clad in blue jeans, an open-necked shirt and with his sleeves rolled up, Edwards chose the backyard of a victim of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans’ devastated 9th Ward for his unorthodox announcement.

"We want people in this campaign to actually take action now, not later, not after the next election," the former North Carolina senator said, sounding as much like a recruiter as a presidential campaigner.

"Instead of staying home and complaining, we’re asking Americans to help," Edwards said. "Most of the good that has been done in New Orleans has been done by faith-based groups, charitable groups and volunteers."

Edwards — who is calling for cuts in poverty, global warming and troops in Iraq — chose the site to highlight his signature concern of the economic disparity that divides America.

"I’m here to announce I’m a candidate for president of the United States," Edwards told NBC’s "Today Show" earlier Thursday, one of three back-to-back interviews by the candidate on morning news shows. "I’ve reached my own conclusion this is the best way to serve my country."

Edwards, 53, said the difference between his message to voters in 2004 and his 2008 presidential bid is that, "I’ve learned since the last campaign that it’s great to identify a problem … but the way you change things is by taking action."

And Iraq is one of the biggest issues facing the country.

"It would be a huge mistake to put a surge of troops into Iraq," Edwards said on ABC’s "Good Morning America. "It sends exactly the wrong signal. We can maximize our chances for success by making clear we are going to leave Iraq and not stay there forever."

And the next president must restore America’s leadership in the world, he said.

"It’s absolutely crucial that America re-establish its moral authority and leadership role in the world," Edward said on CBS "Early Show."

Edwards’s campaign got a little ahead of itself Wednesday and announced his intentions online a day early. His Web site briefly featured the logo "John Edwards ’08" and its slogan, "Tomorrow begins today" — literally, in this case — before aides quickly removed them…

Ever notice how our watchdog media never mention that Mr. Edwards was defeated when he ran again for the Senate From North Carolina?

When the people who know him best won’t vote for him, why should the rest of the country?

From terrorist enabling Reuters:

Transitional Federal Government soldiers on their truck in Bur Haqaba, 37 miles south of Baidoa, Somalia Thursday, Dec 28, 2006.

Mogadishu falls to Somali govt troops

By Guled Mohamed

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Triumphant Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months.

The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing sharia rule.

Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid.

"People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops," said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center.

Parts of Mogadishu shook with the sound of gunfire and there were outbreaks of looting after leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) fled its base early in the morning. Some fighters ditched their uniforms to avoid reprisals.

"We have been defeated. I have removed my uniform. Most of my comrades have also changed into civilian clothes," one former SICC fighter told Reuters. "Most of our leaders have fled."

The fall of Mogadishu came about 10 days after the Islamists sought to march on the government base of Baidoa. That prompted Ethiopia to come openly into the war, proving the decisive factor in saving the government and pushing back the Islamists.

The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu after chasing U.S.-backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure.

"Mogadishu is now in chaos," Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Al Jazeera television.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi vowed to pursue the Islamist leaders. "We will not let Mogadishu burn," he added.

More than a week of mortar and rocket duels between the Islamists and the Ethiopian-backed government spiraled into open war 10 days ago. With Eritrea accused of backing the Islamists, many had feared the conflict would engulf the Horn.

Ethiopia, like the United States, says the Islamists are supported by Al Qaeda. It says it has taken foreign prisoners and killed radicals from abroad, including some with British passports.

The SICC has depicted the conflict with Christian-led Ethiopia, which has one of Africa’s most effective armies, as a holy war against "crusaders," tapping into decades of rivalry between the two neighbors.

Government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said government forces had secured the main routes into Mogadishu. "We are taking control of the city and I will confirm when we have established complete control," he said.

He said the Islamists had fled to the southern port city of Kismayu and the administration controlled 95 percent of the Horn of Africa country.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi flew to a town near the capital on Thursday afternoon.

The government declared a state of emergency "to control security and stability."

SICC leader Ahmed said his side’s hasty withdrawal was a tactical move. Many had predicted the Islamists would wage a guerrilla war if dealt a resounding blow in the first round of war.

Islamist defense lines were routed by a joint force of Ethiopian armor and government fighters.

Ahmed said the Islamists were united and determined to push out Ethiopian forces, but retreated to avoid more bloodshed.

By fleeing, the Islamists appeared to have averted the risk of becoming embroiled in the fierce street fighting that forced the U.S. military from Mogadishu more than a decade ago in a humiliating episode captured in the film "Black Hawk Down."

Dinari said President Abdullahi Yusuf remained in the government’s south-central base Baidoa. But Prime Minister Gedi landed at Afgoye in an Ethiopian military helicopter, some 30 km (19 miles) west of Mogadishu, where he was met by cheering crowds and clan leaders from the city.

"Our forces are controlling the situation," he said.

The return of the government to the capital would be a massive step in achieving greater legitimacy in the 14th attempt to restore central rule since the 1991 ouster of a dictator.

This is good news, of course. But when did Somalia get a government?

Note that Reuters even prefers the dictatorship of Muslim terrorists to the rule of anyone who might support the US:

The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu after chasing U.S.-backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure.

Could this Reuters reporter, Mr. Mohamed, be prejudiced?

From the Associated Press:

Former President Gerald R. Ford talks with his Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld (L) and Rumsfeld’s assistant Richard Cheney (R) in the Oval Office of the White House in this April 28, 1975 photo.

Bush recalls Ford’s integrity, instincts

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush on Wednesday remembered former President Gerald Ford as a "man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts" and helped restore faith in the presidency after the Watergate scandal.

"On Aug. 9, 1974, he stepped into the presidency without ever having sought the office," Bush said. "He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil. For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most."

The president, who personally expressed his condolences in a phone call late Tuesday night with former first lady Betty Ford, called the former president a "man of integrity" who devoted the best years of his life to the nation. Bush said Ford commanded the Oval Office for 2 1/2 years with commonsense and kindness.

Ford "reflected the best in America’s character," Bush said.

Ford helped restore Americans’ confidence in the White House after President Richard Nixon’s downfall in 1974 through the "honorable conduct" of his administration, Bush said.

Bush, who is spending the week at his Texas ranch, made his statement before sunrise inside a hangar at a helipad outlined in blue-green landing lights. Dawn was breaking over the ranch after he finished expressing his sadness over Ford’s death.

"Our 38th president will always have a special place in our nation’s history," he said.

Later, Bush issued a proclamation directing that American flags be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all federal buildings, grounds and Naval vessels for 30 days from the day of Ford’s death.

He ordered that suitable honors be rendered by the U.S. armed forces under the direction of the secretary of defense. Bush said he would later proclaim a national day of mourning when Americans can pay homage to the memory of the former president.

Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, served in the Ford administration as a diplomat and
CIA director. The president borrowed from the troupe of Ford advisers in making up his own presidential team more than a quarter century later.

Vice President Dick Cheney served as Ford’s chief of staff, while just departed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld served Ford in the same job.

Cheney called Ford a "dear friend and mentor" and hailed his former boss’ role in bringing the nation out of what the vice president called the "greatest constitutional crisis since the Civil War."

"In that troubled era, America needed strength, wisdom, and good judgment, and those qualities came to us in the person of Gerald R. Ford," Cheney said in a statement. "When he left office, he had restored public trust in the presidency, and the nation once again looked to the future with confidence and faith."

Democrats and Republicans alike recalled Ford’s willingness to work across party lines.

"President Ford was one of the kindest, most sincere elected officials whom I have known and with whom I have worked," said longtime Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. "Although he and I were from different political parties, we often were able to find common ground and work together for our country."

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who served with Ford in the House, praised the former president for his commitment to his wife Betty and family.

"Jerry was warm gentle, friendly, pleasant courteous individual. He never used bad language, he loved his family, his kids and above all else he loved Betty," Dingell said.

Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole from Kansas, Ford’s running mate in 1976, said Ford could be described in three words: "A good man." "He was a friend to everyone who met him," Dole said. "He had no enemies."

White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten notified Bush about Ford’s death shortly before 11 p.m. EST after getting the news from Ford’s chief of staff. Deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said Bush, who is scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 1, will attend the funeral.

As Ford himself said, he was "not a Lincoln," but he was a good man all the same.

Of course our one party media love this opportunity to once again wallow in the media manufactured scandal of "Watergate."

From the "reporters" at the BBC:

Muslim pilgrims gather for Hajj

Wednesday, 27 December 2006

Millions of Muslims are gathering in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage which begins on Thursday amid enhanced security.

The authorities have implemented new safety and security measures which they say will prevent stampedes that have killed hundreds of people previously.

In January 2006, almost 400 people were killed and some 300 injured in a stampede during one of the rituals.

Between two and three million pilgrims are expected to take part this year.

The Hajj is one of the five basic duties of Islam to be carried out at least once in lifetime and an obligation for all Muslims who are able to undertake the pilgrimage.

But strict quotas are imposed in most countries to keep numbers to a relatively manageable level.

The Hajj gets under way when all the pilgrims leave Mecca in a massive convoy to make their way to nearby Mina. It is due to end on Monday.

Since the stampede in the last Hajj earlier this year, a major rebuilding project has been undertaken and 50,000 security personnel have been mobilised.

In January, at least 345 pilgrims died in a crush during the stone-throwing ritual of the pilgrimage.

The stampede took place at the foot of the bridge of Jamaraat, where pilgrims hurl stones at three pillars representing the spot where the devil is said to have appeared to Abraham, and which creates a dangerous bottleneck,

The ritual has seen many lethal stampedes, but the number of dead in January was the highest in 16 years.

After a crush in 2004, barriers and stewards were added to improve safety.

The article also has a link to another informative piece:

Deadly history of the Hajj

The deadly stampede of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia on Thursday is the latest in a series of similar accidents at the Hajj in recent years.

Here are some of the worst disasters:

2004: 251 pilgrims are trampled to death in a 27-minute stampede during the stoning ritual in Mina. Saudi officials said many of the victims had not been authorised to participate in the ceremony, after new procedures were introduced following previous stampedes.

2003: 14 people are crushed to death when pilgrims returning from the stoning ritual run into pilgrims coming the other way.

2001: 35 pilgrims are killed when a huge crowd surges towards one of the three giant pillars representing the devil.

1998: 118 pilgrims are trampled to death after panic erupts when several people fall off an overpass during the stoning.

1997: At least 340 pilgrims are killed and 1,500 injured when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through a tent city in Mina.

1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual.

1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites.

1987: 402 people, including 275 Iranians (according to Saudi figures), die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims.

Note that the oft-reported improvements made in 2004 did not prevent the deaths of 345 pilgrims in 2006. Where is the outrage?

These articles also play-down the centuries-old conflicts between the Shiite pilgrims of Iran and those from Sunni Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

These differences, rather than the anti-US demonstrations, are what led to the 1987 riots. But the BBC doesn’t want us to know that.

Indeed there is a good article on the background of the fights over Mecca between the Iranians and Saudis here.

From the DNC’s Al Jazeera:

[AP caption:] Transitional Federal Government soldiers sit on a truck in Burhakaba, Somalia, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006. Islamic fighters were in a tactical retreat Tuesday, a senior Islamic leader said, as government and Ethiopian troops advanced on three fronts in a decisive turnaround in the battle for control of Somalia.

African Union orders Ethiopia out

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2006

The African Union has demanded that all foreign players, including Ethiopia, immediately withdraw their forces from Somalia.

The call followed witness reports that Somali transitional government forces had seized a strategic southern town in the closest battle yet to the Mogadishu stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Alpha Omar Konare, the African Union (AU) chairman, said in a statement: "We appeal for urgent support for the transitional government and the withdrawal of all troops and foreign elements."

Konare said that an AU mission would visit Somalia soon.

The AU appeal comes after the UN Security Council on Tuesday failed to agree on a statement calling for ending the war and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Somalia.

Several council members objected to the Qatari-circulated statement’s naming of Ethiopian forces in particular.

Meanwhile, Francois Lonseny Fall, the UN secretary-general’s special representative to Somalia, said the fighting had forced the UN to evacuate and halt assistance to two million people.

The UN World Food Programme has suspended air operations in Somalia and pulled out its air-support staff, officials said on Wednesday.

"The government has taken over Jowhar. I can see government troops on top of armoured vehicles chasing Islamists troops … heading towards Mogadishu," Mahamud Ismail, a resident, said on Wednesday from the town 90km north of the Somali capital.

Residents came out of their houses and cheered pro-government troops, backed by Ethiopian tanks, in pursuit of Islamic Courts fighters as sporadic fire echoed in the air, witnesses said.

A former local commander who ruled Jowhar before it was captured by the Islamic Courts in June led the Somali government troops as they drove into the city, residents said.

"Ethiopian troops and Mohammed Dheere have entered the city," said Abshir Ali Gabre. Others said he was wearing a T-shirt that said "I love Jowhar" as he shook hands with residents.

Fighting could still be heard at a military camp south of the city.

The capture of Jowhar came hours after Ethiopia, defending the Somali interim government, said it was halfway to crushing the militia, heightening fears its next step would be to use air strikes and ground troops to seize the capital.

Troops headed for Jowhar after driving Islamic Courts fighters from Bandiradley, Adadow and Galinsor.

On Tuesday, fighters of Islamic Courts retreated from the main frontline after a week of artillery and mortar fighting.

The Arab League is expected to hold a meeting on Wednesday with the African Union to discuss the situation in Somalia.

The Islamic Courts fighters appeared to be heeding a call by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a senior leader, that forces gather in the capital to prepare for a long war against Ethiopia.

"Most of our troops should converge in and around our bases in Mogadishu and should prepare for a very long war against our enemies," he said late on Tuesday.

The Ethiopian prime minister said that more than 1,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

"We got reports of more than 3,000 wounded in a Mogadishu hospital. Those who died are well over 1,000," Meles Zenawi said, two days after Ethiopia admitted military intervention in the country.

Both sides have reported killing hundreds of their opponents in the recent fighting, but the claims could not be independently confirmed.

The Red Cross said that more than 800 casualties had been admitted to hospital since the fighting began and thousands of people had fled their homes.

The Islamic Courts admitted that they had been forced to withdraw from many frontline positions, but have vowed to dig in for a long war with Ethiopia, which has denied intentions of taking the capital.

"Liberating towns is not our agenda. Our troops have not entered any town," Meles said.

"Our forces and that of the [transitional federal government] have broken the back of the international terrorist forces around Baidoa and they are in full retreat now."

Heading for Mogadishu Abdelkarin Farah, Somalia’s ambassador to Ethiopia, said in Addis Ababa on Tuesday that the transitional government’s forces were 100km from the capital.

Islamic Courts fighters withdrew more than 80km to the southeast from Daynuney, a town just south of Baidoa and advancing government and Ethiopian troops captured Bur Haqaba, one of the Islamic Courts’ main bases, after it was abandoned early on Tuesday.

"We woke up from our sleep this morning and the town was empty of troops, not a single Islamic fighter," Ibrahim Mohamed Aden, a resident of Bur Haqaba, said.

Ethiopia should really jump to obey the African Union’s dictats. After all, they have done so much for Dafur.

Of course the UN is also calling for a ceasefire.

Where were they when the "Islamic Courts" were rampaging?

From the "reporters" at the "BBC":

Spanish surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido answers questions during a press conference at Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon Hospital, on Tuesday. Sabrido, who is helping treat Fidel Castro, said that the Cuban leader does not have cancer and is recovering slowly from a serious operation.

Castro’s ailment ‘is not cancer’

Wednesday, 27 December 2006

A leading Spanish surgeon who flew to Havana last week to examine Cuban leader Fidel Castro says he does not have cancer or need further surgery.

On returning to Spain, Jose Luis Garcia Sobredo said Mr Castro was recovering well and was in good spirits.

Dr Garcia went to Havana in response to a humanitarian request from the Cuban government, a Spanish official said.

The president, who is 80, is recuperating from surgery he underwent in July to stop intestinal bleeding.

Dr Garcia is an expert on intestinal ailments, particularly cancer.

Of Mr Castro, he said: "His physical activity is excellent, his intellectual activity intact, I’d say fantastic, he’s recovering from his previous operation.

"He asks every day to return to work, but doctors advise him not to, to take it easy."

Mr Castro has placed his younger brother, Raul, in charge of the government.

State secret

Although Mr Castro’s health is a state secret, Cuban officials have said that he is not suffering from cancer or any terminal illness, and that he is recuperating.

Since Mr Castro temporarily stood down from power almost five months ago, there has been no shortage of speculation as to what he might be suffering from.

Unnamed US officials have told US media that it is cancer, possibly in its terminal stages.

But earlier this month, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez strenuously denied that his long-time friend and ally was suffering from the disease.

Cuban government officials, including the country’s foreign minister, gave the same message to a visiting group from the US Congress last week.

Besides the wonderful health care, the other benefit of living in a workers’ paradise is never being lied to by your government.

From a joyous Reuters:

Castro cancer free, could govern again: doctor

Tue Dec 26, 2006

By Andrew Hay

MADRID (Reuters) – A Spanish surgeon who has just examined Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday he is making a good recovery from intestinal surgery, does not have cancer, and could return to governing his country.

Castro’s disappearance from the public eye after emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding in July sparked frenzied speculation about his health, but surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido said the communist leader was in good condition.

"His physical activity is excellent, his intellectual activity intact, I’d say fantastic, he’s recovering from his previous operation," Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon public hospital, told a news conference after returning from Cuba.

"He asks every day to return to work, but doctors advise him not to, to take it easy," said Garcia Sabrido.

Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba last week to examine the 80-year-old leader, said he did not need further surgery but required physical therapy, a strict diet and rest.

"He does not have cancer, he has a problem with his digestive system," Garcia Sabrido told Reuters after the news conference. "President Castro has no malign inflammation, it’s a benign process in which he has had a series of complications."

In Havana, Cuban officials declined to comment on the doctor’s statements, saying Castro’s condition was a state secret. But his prognosis was in line what they have been saying for months.

The Cuban population, used to being told little about the inner workings of the government, was unaware of Garcia Sabrido’s visit to Cuba.

Castro supporters, worried by his disappearance and uncertain of their country’s future, expressed relief at the doctor’s comments.

"We hope that he will speak to the nation when he is well. We are anxious to know how he is," said a woman waiting at a bus stop. "I don’t think there will be changes, Cuba will continue along the path he has shown us."

Other Cubans were not so relieved. "Does that mean he will take hold of the reins of power again?" asked a housewife in central Havana who did not want to be named…

Garcia Sabrido said Castro could govern Cuba again.

"Yes, if his recovery is complete, yes," said the digestive system specialist who knows the Castro family and is a regular visitor to Cuba for medical conferences and to give treatment.

Garcia Sabrido said it was the first time he had treated Castro, and he did not plan to return to Cuba in the near future as the leader had an excellent medical team…

You have to wonder if Reuters would be so elated at the prospect of Hitler or Stalin having a second crack at power.

Or are some murderous dictators better than others?

From his fans at the DNC’s Associated Press:

Biden vows to fight any Iraq troop boost

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

Sen. Joseph Biden, the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he will fight President Bush if the administration decides to send more U.S. troops to Iraq.

Biden, who has his eye on the Democratic presidential nomination, also warned that if congressional Republicans do not join him in speaking out against Bush that they — not Democrats — will suffer in the 2008 elections.

"I just think it’s the absolute wrong strategy," Biden said Tuesday of an increase in troops…

In a conference call with reporters, Biden said the purpose of the hearings would be to generate a bipartisan consensus among lawmakers on Iraq and pressure the president to abandon any talk of surging U.S. forces into Baghdad.

"Even with the surge of troops, in a city of 6 million people you’re talking about a ratio that would still be roughly above one to 100," Biden said. "It’s bound to draw down support that we need in other parts of Iraq, including Anbar province."

Biden, taking advantage of the quiet holiday week to generate media attention by holding a telephone press conference and appearing on CBS’ "The Early Show," said he thinks Republicans will have more to lose in 2008 than Democrats if the violence in Iraq continues and U.S. troops remain committed in such large numbers. There are currently an estimated 140,000 troops in Iraq.

"I think we’ll only have to accept responsibility for the war if we remain silent," said Biden, who has spoken candidly of his desire to run for president and has made repeated visits in the past year to early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Biden said he delivered this message in a recent meeting at the White House, where he told Bush: "Mr. President this is your war."

Once again, thanks to November 7th, this idiot can no longer be laughed off for the fool that he is.

Now he’s going to be the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Hard Choices for America’s Future: Strategic Opportunities for a New Century

But we can’t seem to talk about what comes next without talking about Iraq. It’s obvious we must end the reign of Saddam Hussein. It would be unrealistic, if not downright foolish, to believe we can claim victory in the war on terrorism if Saddam is still in power.

– Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. in Remarks On Saddam Hussein At The Center For Strategic And International Studies Forum, Washington, D.C., February 4, 2002

And of course Mr. Biden voted for the War in Iraq.

That makes it your war too, Senator.