What Caught My Eye Today

Walter Reed Army Medical Center - Substandard living conditions found at the Army's flagship veterans hospital likely exist throughout the military health care system, the head of a House panel investigating Walter Reed Army Medical Center said Monday. The chairman of the panel questioned whether problems at the facility are "just another horrific consequence" of inadequate planning that went into war in Iraq; a problem created by contracting out work there to private business, or some other cause. President Bush last week had ordered a comprehensive review of conditions. What made these guys think that the military health care system was in any better shape than the system that the general public has?

Iran - The chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Monday his agency cannot be sure if Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful or a cover for a weapons program until the country cooperates with his experts. Despite four years of probing Iran's nuclear activities, the International Atomic Energy Agency remains "unable to provide the required assurance about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program." If the IAEA conducts its investigation with the same precision that the U.S. did when it was trying to find weapons of mass destuction in Iraq, we're all screwed.

Japan - Japan will not apologize again for its World War II military brothels, even if the U.S. Congress passes a resolution demanding it, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament Monday. Historians say that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea and China, served in Japanese military brothels throughout Asia during the war and in the years leading up to it. Accounts of abuse by the military have been backed up by witnesses, victims and even former Japanese soldiers. Abe said there was no evidence of coercion in the strict sense, such as kidnapping, but he acknowledged that brokers procuring women otherwise forced the victims to work as prostitutes. What exactly does he mean by "strict sense"? I'm curious as to what his definition of 'coercion' is and how forcing victims to work as prostitutes does not count as coercion.

Switzerland - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein. 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back. A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion. Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army. If this is as embarrassing an incident as the Swiss have to manage, I'd say they are doing alright, wouldn't you?

Soccer - David Beckham will be sidelined for a month after hurting a knee ligament during a Spanish League game last weekend. The 31-year-old midfielder hurt his right knee during Real Madrid's 1-1 tie with Getafe on Sunday when his momentum following a cross took him into an advertising sign behind the goal. He limped off the field and a scan Monday revealed the injured ligament. Beckham agreed in January to a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy worth about $27.5 million in base salary, His contract with Real Madrid ends June 30, and the Galaxy expect he will join the team in August. How much sweating do you think MLS officials have been doing the past couple of days?