Spring is in the Air...

As the US prepares to withdraw its troops, we also stopped paying monthly bribes to the tribal clans that made up the Sunni Awakening, and the Iraqi government tried to arrest several leaders. So they have gone back to fighting against us, as reported by the Australian: "IRAQ is threatened by a new wave of sectarian violence as members of the "Sons of Iraq" - the Sunni Awakening militias that were paid by the US to fight al-Qa'ida - begin to rejoin the insurgency.

If the spike in violence continues, it could affect US President Barack Obama's pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. All US troops are due to leave the country by 2012.

The increase in attacks by such groups, combined with a spate of bombings blamed on al-Qa'ida, has had a chilling effect on the streets of Iraq. More than 370 Iraqi civilians and military - and 80 Iranian pilgrims - were killed last month, making April the bloodiest month since last September." And this is the strategy that is also supposed to work in Afghanistan, way to go...


This week also begins a round of negotiations centered around Israel and the Middle East, with many heads of state moving around like whack-a-moles... The Jerusalem Post reports: "President Shimon Peres flew out to the US in the early hours of Sunday morning for a four-day diplomatic visit. The president's meeting with Obama - the first formal talks between the new US leader and an Israeli official - is expected to focus on the global effort to thwart Iran's nuclear program, the peace process with the Palestinians and the issue of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. His office said he would grant a number of interviews to television, radio, and print magazines, including Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, National Public Radio, Wolf Blitzer on CNN and Joe Scarborough's Morning Joe program on MSNBC."

"Opposition leader Tzipi Livni also headed Sunday to the US, where she is set to meet Clinton and National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones. She and Peres will also both address the AIPAC conference."

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to meet his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. According to reports, Ahmadinejad will also meet the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Khaled Mashaal and Ramadan Shalah. The meetings will reportedly focus on formulating a strategy vis-à-vis US President Barack Obama's foreign policy moves.

Later in the week, the Iranian president is scheduled to travel to South America for a series of talks, including a meeting with the leader of Brazil."

"In related news, two senior US officials are expected to return to Syria this week as the Obama administration continues its outreach efforts to the Assad regime." So, nobody will talk directly at anyone, they will just leave notes to be picked up later. Doesn't world diplomacy remind you of first grade?

From al Jazeera: "Drugs are a multi-billion dollar business in Afghanistan, accounting for a staggering half of the country's economic output. That is an export value of $3.4 billion in 2008 alone.

The nation produces more than 90 per cent of the world's illicit opium and most of it comes from Helmand Province in the south, which is the Taliban heartland." 90% of the world's opium finds its way from Afghanistan to major refining places like the United Emirate States, where it's turned into heroin and then distributed throughout the world... As reported yesterday, the Bush administration made an agreement to export nuclear technology to the Emirate States, one of the most corrupt places in the world, where it can easily go to the highest bidder, including Iran. The agreement had to be ratified through Congress, which it did, and is sitting on President Obama's desk waiting to be signed... All of that tough talk about axis of evil and the Bush administration is giving this stuff away...

So, if it seems that heroin is cheaper and more plentiful this summer on the street where you live, remember that only you can help support your local Taliban... And if Iran announces that they have completed uranuim enrichment and can now go online, then thank both Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama for a job well done. Why were we fighting wars and torturing people again?

The National Council for a New America had their first town meeting at a pizza parlor in Arlington, Virginia. Here's the report from the Washington Times: "Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it's time for the Republican Party to give up its "nostalgia" for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the winning strategy deployed by Democrats in the 2008 election.

"You can't beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don't like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that," Mr. Bush said.