The World
When You Care Enough to Write
It seems that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, is something of a letter writer. In May, he sent a rambling, 18-page missive to President Bush that pretty much left people scratching their heads. Last week, he sent a shorter one to the American public–"Noble Americans"–that appealed for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, for American disavowal of the "Zionist regime" (that being Israel), and for better relations between two similarly "God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking nations."
Continuing, Ahmadinejad took note of the midterm elections, in which the American people "showed their discontent" with the Bush administration. He acknowledged that in Iraq "people are happy" to be rid of Saddam Hussein, but he asked whether it would not now be "more beneficial to bring the U.S. officers and soldiers home and to spend the astronomical U.S. military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people. As you know very well, many victims of Katrina continue to suffer, and countless Americans continue to live in poverty and homelessness."
Further concerned for Americans' welfare, Ahmadinejad is troubled that "under the pretext of the 'war on terror,' civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed." No mention, oddly, of Iran's political repression. Nor any mention of how Tehran is fueling turmoil throughout the region by, for example, supplying explosives that are killing troops and civilians in Iraq.
The Party Just Isn't the Same in Cuba
Fidel Castro sent his regrets as Cuba kicked off belated celebrations of his 80th birthday. His absence from the opening event at the Karl Marx Theater refocused attention on what is believed to be his failing health–suspected terminal cancer–since the July announcement of surgery for intestinal bleeding. The island nation also marked the 50th anniversary on December 2 of the landing in Cuba of a yacht that carried a young Castro and his armed band to launch their guerrilla war.
Call Us When the Fighting Is Over
At a summit of the mighty NATO alliance held in Riga, Latvia, President Bush and leaders from 25 allied nations failed to come up with all the additional troops sought for the fight against resurgent Taliban forces in Afghanistan. For battlefield emergencies, they agreed to ease some of the national restrictions limiting action by individual units, but France, Germany, Spain, and Italy will continue to station their forces far away from the turbulent southern and eastern areas where reinforcements are needed to join troops from the United States, the Netherlands, Britain, and Canada in battling the Taliban. With 32,800 troops in Afghanistan, NATO officials said the force remains 10 percent short of envisioned full strength.
A Case Fit for Sherlock Holmes
The plot thickens, maybe. A dissident former Russian prime minister, Yegor Gaidar, 50, was recovering in a Moscow hospital last week after becoming violently ill during a visit to Ireland. Aides said that his doctors suspect that he was poisoned (though he reportedly suffers from various health problems, including diabetes). Gaidar was rushed to a local hospital (and later transferred back to Russia) after losing consciousness and vomiting blood the day after another Kremlin critic, exiled Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, died in London from an unexplained exposure to radioactive polonium-210. On his deathbed, the former KGB operative accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for having him fatally poisoned, which Putin denied. Putin reportedly called Gaidar in the hospital to express concern and wish him a speedy recovery.
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