This must be the hottest day of the year: 27-29 C (~80 to 84 F) at official measurement places, typically the airport, and who knows how much it is here in the middle of town..
Yeah, somebody from Arizona will probably tell me that this is what they consider a cool day. But remember that houses and ventilation in this country is made for keeping us warm. There is no A/C here. Add to that that by the sea, humidity is high. Normally we also have a gentle breeze for the same reason, but not today.
Bergen, Norway is at 60 deg north. That is about the same latitude as the southern tip of Greeland, or just south of Anchorage, Alaska. For comparison, New York City is at around 40 deg north, comparable to Rome, Italy.
I can assure you that the Gulf stream still works, folks.
Multilateral efforts fail to stop nuclear development in Iran, NK
According to a report in the New York Times, the diplomatic effort with European and Asian allies has failed to even slow the advance towards nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea. And one crucial factor was the AQKhan network.
In a tacit acknowledgment that the diplomatic initiatives with European and Asian allies have failed to curtail the programs, senior administration and intelligence officials say they are seeking ways to step up unspecified covert actions intended, in the words of one official, "to disrupt or delay as long as we can" Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
But other experts, including former Clinton administration officials, caution that while covert efforts have been tried in the past, both the Iranian and North Korean programs are increasingly self-sufficient, largely thanks to the aid they received from the network built by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the former leader of the Pakistani bomb program. "It's a much harder thing to accomplish today," said one senior American intelligence official, "than it would have been in the 90's."
Diplomacy, these experts agree, has had little or no effect in even slowing down the advance towards nuclear weapons. Most experts also seem to agree that NK has nukes, but their quality is unknown.
When it comes to Iran, efforts to halt the production are even more urgent because Israel has strongly indicated that it will not tolerate Mullahs with nukes. Its military options are limited, espcially since unlike Saddam's old nuclear programme, the production is heavily decentralised so it cannot be taken out with a single airstrike. And an Israeli attack on Iran will have very serious regional consequences, though hardly worse than Iran going nuclear in the first place.
Scott Baldauf is apparently the only western reporter in Najaf, covering the fighting from the inside. No glaring new insights, but well worth reminding everyone that war is always hard on the civilians.
If we are to believe government and coalition reports, what is going on is a total decimation of al-Sadr's Mahdi militia, with over 300 killed and 1000 captured. His desperate eagerness for a new ceasefire is telling.
Iraqi bloggers Omar and Zeyad also seem to believe this will be the end of the Mahdi militia, and good riddance. Zeyad wonders how this relates to the timing of Sistani's medical trip to Britain.
One also can't help but wonder about the timing of Sistani's departure from Najaf to London for treatment. The man is known for his subtle messages, could this be a sign for his tacit approval to finish Sadr and his militia once and for all?
The end of al-Sadr will hardly be the end of Shiite unrest, especially considering the religion's special relationship to martyrs, but it could be a good start.
If I had the choice between reading only western journalists in Iraq or only bloggers, I know where I'd go for the local angle.
