Recently, we learned that the tides of Hookergate rise much higher than we'd realized.

That is, the Vice (as in "criminal") President patronizes prostitutes.

This would be one big yawn; after all, prostitution should be decriminalized anyway, so who cares what this half-dead man does or did with his pallid little pecker?

EXCEPT that this is the dick of Dick Cheney, Evil Puppet-Master of the Fascist Perma-War Universe, Chickenhawk Slaughterer of the Innocents.   more »

Just how he heals the domestic political wounds caused by Iraq while helping to protect that country from even more bloodshed is one of the great challenges facing Brown.

"The muscular moralism of Tony Blair will be quietly shunted into the sidings," said Toby Dodge, consulting senior fellow for the Middle East at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"Brown has been deeply involved in foreign policy but he is no crusader. But when he sees a failing government he prefers to work with it to improve it - not to rush in and overthrow it."

From his position somewhere behind Blair's shoulder, Brown has watched this series of foreign crises effectively destroy Blair's reputation for competence and integrity.

Above all, the combination of Iraq and the perception of Blair as the Bush 'poodle' has been lethal.   more »

In a newspaper interview, Mr Carter said of the Bush years: "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." And speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mr Carter criticised Mr Blair, who leaves office next month, for his close relations with Mr Bush, particularly concerning the Iraq war.

"Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient," Mr Carter said when asked how he would characterise the British prime minister's relationship with Mr Bush.

"I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world."   more »

The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official.

The revelation of this extraordinary plot, which would probably have provoked an uprising by outraged Shia if it had succeeded, has left a legacy of bitter distrust in the mind of Mr Sadr for which the US and its allies in Iraq may still be paying.

"I believe that particular incident made Muqtada lose any confidence or trust in the [US-led] coalition and made him really wild," the Iraqi National Security Adviser Dr Mowaffaq Rubai'e told The Independent in an interview.

It is not known who gave the orders for the attempt on Mr Sadr but it is one of a series of ill-considered and politically explosive US actions in Iraq since the invasion.   more »

>As the native sons and daughters of Palestine, the Palestinian citizens in Israel are always amused by the arguments:

"If you do not like your inferior status - you can leave; if you define yourself as a Palestinian and sympathise with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination - you can join your brothers and sisters in Palestine."

Of course those making these arguments do not note the irony underpinning their thinking:

First, immigrants - including recent immigrants like cabinet minister Avigdor Lieberman - or descendents of immigrants are asking the indigenous population to leave their own homeland.   more »