What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - Face to face with Iraq's leaders, Barack Obama gained fresh support for the idea of pulling all U.S. combat forces out of the war zone by 2010. But the Iraqis stopped short of actual timetables or endorsement of Obama's pledge to withdraw American troops within 16 months if he wins the presidency. Math has never been my strong suit, but I'm going to give this a try anyway. Sixteen months from January 2009 would put us solidly into 2010, if I counted my fingers and toes correctly. And if I read this report correctly, Iraq seems to support a 2010 timeframe. So with that in mind, what exactly is the problem with the timetable that Obama presented? Obama also got a military briefing from the top U.S. commander in the region, General David Petraeus, and he met with a few of the nearly 150,000 U.S. troops now well into the war's sixth year. In Washington, the White House expressed displeasure with recent public comments by Iraqi leaders on the withdrawal question and suggested they might have the U.S. election on their minds. These days, who doesn't?

Al Qaeda - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Congress should explicitly declare war against al Qaeda to make clear the United States can detain suspected members as long as the conflict lasts. We've been at this for nearly 7 years. Why all of the sudden does it matter what Congress thinks about this mess? Mukasey urged Congress to make the declaration in a package of legislative proposals to establish a legal process for terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo, in response to a Supreme Court ruling last month that detainees had a constitutional right to challenge their detention. Oh, that's it. So like if Congress says it is okay, we can do anything we want to foreigners that we deem a threat to the United States. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal. The proposed legislation would also prohibit courts from ordering a detainee to be released within the United States, protect secrets in court hearings, ensure that soldiers are not taken from the battlefield to testify and prevent challenges from delaying detainee trials. Basically, he's asked Congress to sanction an American version of the Gestapo. Democrats in control of Congress and civil rights groups reacted coolly, saying Mukasey's proposals would avert legal oversight and stack the deck in favor of the administration. Well, at least he's taking the time to ask. The last Attorney General probably wouldn't have even known that he was suppose to do that in the first place.

Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have signed a deal outlining a framework for talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis. Well this is new. I didn't see this coming at all. Observers said Mugabe seemed to be in conciliatory - and sometimes good-humoured - mood as he made the unprecedented move of appearing with his arch-rival in front of the media. Tsvangirai said that in signing the deal he and Mugabe were committing themselves to the "first tentative step towards searching for a solution". Quick, somebody check and see if the sky is falling. Mugabe praised South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, who helped broker the deal, but insisted that it would be Zimbabweans who resolved the crisis, without the influence of Europe or the US. Yeah sure, with his track record, why shouldn't the outside world let Mugabe do things his way. But enough of that. I'm thinking that this guy Mbeki just got himself some new bling to put on the old mantle. I hear that Nobel Peace Prize is quick shiny when the light hits it just so.

Bhutan - I reported on this story a few months ago. The tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan has formally adopted a new constitution that transforms it from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy, a move initiated by its royal family. You certainly don't see that happen everyday. The king, who remains the head of state, will continue to have extensive powers but Parliament has the power to impeach him by a two-thirds majority. The process of limiting the powers of the king and taking the remote, mountainous nation toward parliamentary democracy was started by the father of the current monarch, who abdicated in favor of his son in December 2006. I wonder if Junior had this in mind when he took the throne. He could have just as easily told his father to shove it and stopped all this well before getting to this stage.

Nepal - My, but it was a busy day for tiny Asian countries that no one has ever heard of. Nepal's governing assembly elected the country's first president, rejecting a candidate backed by former Maoist rebels and creating political uncertainty for the new republic. The assembly was elected in April following the dissolution of the monarchy and is supposed to rewrite the constitution and govern the nation. The presidency is a largely ceremonial post but the decision by the country's three top opposition parties to back a non-Maoist candidate for the job threatened to undermine coalition negotiations. I don't get it. If the presidency is mostly ceremonial, who cares which party wins the post? Seems to me that the real power lies with the assembly and the prime minister. Maoists gave up their armed revolt in April 2006 to join the peace process after 10 years of insurgency that left more than 13,000 people killed. They joined parliament and the government later and contested the April 10, 2008, election for the assembly. They won the most seats in the assembly but were not able to secure a majority. The last king, who went by just one name, Gyanendra, was forced to give up authoritarian rule in April 2006 after weeks of pro-democracy protests and his powers were stripped soon afterward. He has been made to leave the royal palace and now is living as a commoner in a summer home just outside the capital Katmandu. I can see how that might be construed as rough for the former monarch. As for the rest of the population, I'm not exactly sure how many commoners have summer homes. If I had to speculate, I would say most commoners would consider themselves fortunate just having a roof over their heads to keep the rain off.

Japan - Okay, I'm assuming most of you have heard of this Asian country. I have to give props to the missus for turning me on to this news item. Nearly 34,000 Japanese killed themselves last year, according to the Japanese national police. That's the second-highest toll ever in a country where the suicide rate is ninth highest in the world and more than double that of the USA, the World Health Organization says. It appears that Lithuania occupies the top spot (at least as of 2004) Japan has long been known as a "nation of suicide." Now there's a bumper stick slogan if I've ever heard one. Authorities are alarmed now that suicide has reached epidemic levels. Reasons:

• For the unemployed, suicide can be "a rational decision." When a man commits suicide in Japan, his beneficiaries can still collect his life insurance. And insurers pay off Japanese home mortgages when a family's breadwinner dies — even if the death is a suicide.
  Who said there wasn't an upside to death?
• The Internet has allowed young, depressed Japanese to get suicide tips and find others with whom they can enter into death pacts.
  I'm not sure that's the sort of social networking site I would want to hook up with.
  Police have asked Internet service providers to ban websites that promote suicide — but with only mixed success.
  Now this is a headscratcher. Are these for profit web sites, or what? And if so, where are they making their money? I'm thinking that advertisers wouldn't be banging at the door to get in on this. Not with the limited lifespan of the target audience.

Golf - Padraig Harrington won the British Openby four strokes at Royal Birkdale on, a year after beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at Carnoustie. Harrington joined a select group of back-to-back winners of golf’s oldest major, and became the first European in more than a century to win the Open in consecutive years. Harrington spoiled 53-year-old Greg Norman’s bid to become the oldest major winner—15 years after his last triumph, the British Open at Royal St. George’s. Don't feel too bad for Mr. Norman. By finishing in the top 4, he got himself an invitation to play at next year's Masters.

And here's a little postscript on Michelle Wie. So what's a girl to do after she's been disqualified from a tournament one stroke of the lead for failing to sign her scorecard? I'm glad you asked. Fresh off a disqualification on the LPGA Tour, Michelle Wie has decided to tee it up against the men, again. Wie will play next week in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, the first time she’ll play on the PGA Tour this year, tournament organizers said. It will be her eighth time playing on the PGA Tour, and she has yet to make a cut. I just don't get this broad.