The World
The Hangman's Noose for Saddam
The outcome was never much in doubt from the moment a shaggy Saddam Hussein was rousted from his spider hole in Iraq just over three years ago. His on-and-off trial for one of many atrocities–the killing of 148 Shiite men and boys in the northern town of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt there–was something of a tragicomedy, with an often-truculent Saddam acting as if he were dictator still. But if there was any thought that such justice would deflate the Sunni insurgency or placate the once oppressed Shiite masses, those hopes have been drowned out by the daily drumbeat of death and destruction wracking Iraq. With his death sentence upheld by an appeals court, Saddam–whose 1980s war with Iran cost some 1 million lives–could only look ahead to a hangman's noose.
A Reversal of Fortunes in Africa
'We are now in charge." A couple of weeks ago, few would have expected to hear that from a leader of Somalia's weak transitional government. The Somali administration controlled almost no territory and was nearly surrounded in the provincial town of Baidoa, as fighters from the Union of Islamic Courts closed in, ready to turn Somalia into a Taliban-style emirate. But after four days of fighting, the feared Islamist movement melted away under controlled fire of tanks and helicopter gunships from neighboring Ethiopia. By Thursday, Mogadishu belonged to the government.
Still, the capital city was in chaos, with looters and militiamen in the streets, and the Islamists pledged to turn Mogadishu into an African Baghdad. Courts official Omar Idris told the BBC: "I think this is very, very early to say that the Islamic Courts forces were defeated."
The stakes are high for Somalis, who have endured 16 years of anarchy and murder since the fall of dictator Siad Barre. Many threw in their lot with the courts movement last year to rid Mogadishu and other cities of lawlessness that has turned Somalia into a "feral nation," as described recently by one analyst. U.S. intelligence sees the courts movement as an al Qaeda affiliate and this summer gave millions in cash and arms to some of Somalia's worst warlords in an effort to stop the Islamists. But the warlords were routed, leaving the weak transitional government–which counted on Ethiopian troops for security–to hold off the surging Islamists.
When the courts movement started threatening Christian-led Ethiopia with jihad, East Africa's biggest army moved in with armor and air power. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi now says his troops will leave Somalia within weeks. Their long-term presence would become a rallying point for jihadists. The internationally recognized Somali government is pinning its hopes on getting a substantial United Nations-approved peacekeeping force, but there are many hurdles to that. Guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings could force the Ethiopians to remain where they are, defending a government that can't yet defend itself.
Learning the Steps of the Tehran Tango
Your move. Iran's parliament made its response to sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council. Lawmakers directed the government to "accelerate Iran's nuclear activities" and to "revise its cooperation" with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The measure, approved by top religious authorities, seems to leave the government relatively free to act as it wishes–which is hardly new.
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