What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - Commanders in Iraq have decided to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces in volatile Diyala province, marking a turning point in the U.S. military mission. The number of Army ground combat brigades in Iraq will fall from 20 to 19. This reflects President Bush's bid to begin reducing the American military force and shifting its role away from fighting the insurgency toward more support functions like training and advising Iraqi security forces. The shift in Diyala could be a model for follow-on reductions next year, with a redrawing of the U.S. lines of responsibility so that a departing brigade has its battle space consumed by a remaining brigade. At the same time, Iraqi security forces would assume greater responsibility. It is not yet clear how the rest of the five-brigade reduction will be carried out; the cuts are to be completed by July 2008, under a plan recommended by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and announced by Bush in September. Okay, so get this. The part of the story that I did not include is that while the number of U.S. brigades is dropping, the number of troops on the ground will remain the same, because a replacement brigade scheduled to arrive in December is substantially larger than the one it is replacing. You have to hand it to those number crunchers in Washington. Somehow, they manage to tweak the numbers so that everyone gets what they want. Didn't Enron do the same thing a few years back?

Caspian Sea Summit - Vladimir Putin issued a veiled warning against any attack on Iran as he began the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Tehran in six decades — a mission reflecting Russian-Iranian efforts to curb U.S. influence. He also suggested Moscow and Tehran should have a veto on Western plans for new pipelines to carry oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea, using routes that would bypass Russian soil and break the Kremlin's monopoly on energy deliveries from the region. In Iran's confrontation with the West, Russia has tread a fine line, warning against heavy pressure on Iran and protecting it — for now — from a third round of U.N. sanctions, while urging Tehran to heed the Security Council's demand that it halt uranium enrichment. Putin's careful stance on completing the Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran suggested the Kremlin is seeking to preserve solid ties with Tehran without angering the West. The main issue before the summit was the Caspian Sea itself. Divvying up territory in and around the inland sea — believed to contain the world's third-largest reserves of oil and natural gas — has been a divisive issue among the five nations, and the leaders showed no signs of progress toward resolving the dispute. Putin argued that all pipeline projects in the region should require the approval by all five Caspian nations to take effect, a view that would give each capital a veto. But the idea was barely mentioned in comments by the leaders of the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which are striving to balance their relations with Russia, the West and Asia. All this noise aside, I think the intriguing thing here is how Putin is rather shrewdly extending the sphere of influence of Mother Russia. Maybe it's just paranoia on my part, but would any of us be that comfortable with access to on of the world's largest oil and natural gas reserve under the control of Russia and Iran...and maybe the three other 'token' countries?

Iran - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he prays every night the United States doesn't go to war with Iran, and he blamed Russia and China for standing in the way of a diplomatic solution. With sharp words, he accused both Russia and China of causing gridlock in the U.N. Security Council and hindering the world body's ability to sanction Iran or address pressing matters in Darfur, Burma and other trouble spots. In my mind, these latest ramblings explain three things rather succinctly. First, I'm not sure praying constitutes much of a foreign policy. Second, blaming other countries for our inability to negotiate with Iran because our President does want to, doesn't exactly sound like a roadmap to improving the situation. And lastly, those first two observations are just a sampling of the reasons why McCain is so far back in the race for the GOP Presidential nomination.

Social Security - The nation's "first" baby boomer, a retired teacher from New Jersey, applied for Social Security benefits Monday, signaling the start of an expected avalanche of applications from the post World War II generation. Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue called it "America's silver tsunami." Kathleen Casey-Kirschling was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946, gaining her recognition as the first baby boomer — a generation of nearly 80 million born from 1946 to 1964. An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades, Astrue said. The Social Security trust fund, if left alone, is projected to go broke in 2041. But Astrue said he is optimistic that Congress will address the issue, perhaps after the 2008 presidential election. Let me see if I've got this straight. This dude, Astrue, calls this the beginning of a 'silver tsunami', acknowledges that the Social Security Fund will dry up in 2041, and is optimistic that Congress will address the issue. This is the very best guy we could find to run the Social Security Administration? We are so screwed.

Britney Spears - This is almost like watching a video loop of a train wreck over and over and over again. Britney Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station last night to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license. The charges stem from an Aug. 6 wreck during which paparazzi filmed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car. She has been spending considerable time dealing with legal issues lately. On Oct. 1, a court commissioner ordered her to temporarily relinquish custody of her two young sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline, citing concerns over Spears' drug and alcohol use. She was in court last week to appeal the order and was granted one overnight stay a week with her boys, but the visits must be monitored. Is there some sort of contest between her and Lindsay Lohan to see who can rack up the longer rap sheet? I used to feel sorry for the broad, but how many times is she going to go into self-destruct mode before enough is enough?