World Blog : Baghdad combat hospital busy again: "A sophisticated trap They had been working in one of the Baghdad neighborhoods considered a hotbed of insurgents. At 3:30 a.m. they took up positions in a house to observe the area. Toward daybreak they heard somebody break in the house. When they went to check if the person was carrying a weapon, they saw a man with a gun run out. It turned out to be a sophisticated trap. Just as the men went out to pursue the armed man, one of the soldiers stepped on a hidden bomb that had been placed right where the insurgents knew the troops would go. He was the one with the extensive injuries. Many others were knocked unconscious from the blow."
Broken Spring? : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.
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