On March 26, a Border Patrol shot and killed a man who allegedly threatened him with a rock in Calexico, California, on the border with Mexico. The agent fired an M-4 assault rifle at the man, who was apparently trying to evade arrest and run back to Mexico. The man was pronounced dead from one bullet wound at El Centro Regional Medical Center. Pablo Arnaud Carreno, Mexico's consul in Calexico, said the victim appeared to be a Mexican man who had entered the US without permission. His name was not released. The Mexican government has asked US authorities for a thorough investigation. "It seems unjust to shoot someone who is unarmed," Arnaud Carreno said on March 27.

From Military Families Speak Out, March 29:

Military Families Speak Out responds to Senate vote to continue Iraq war
Today, Military Families Speak Out, the largest organization of military families speaking out against a war in the history of the United States, issued the following statement in response to the vote in the U.S. Senate to provide continued funding for the Iraq war:

The construction of a Georgia's second "NATO standard" military base less than 20 miles from Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, is being protested by separatist leaders. Ossetian leaders charge that construction of the base near Gori is a sign that Tbilisi is preparing to use force in to reestablish its authority over the territory. Georgian officials deny any belligerent intentions. Georgia's first "NATO standard" base was completed last year in the western town of Senaki—close to Georgia's other separatist enclave, Abkhazia.

Iran's embassy in London has stated that the British sailors captured last week were 0.5 km inside Iranian waters when they were taken by the Revolutionary Guard. British officials insist that their sailors were 1.7 miles within Iraqi waters. The ongoing dispute was further muddled as an initial set of coordinates released by Iranian officials were in fact within Iraqi waters, thus supporting the British case.

A one thousand year-old Armenian church on the island of Akdamar in Lake Van has been renovated and now reopened by Turkish authorities. Though Armenia and Turkey do not maintain regular diplomatic relations, a delegation of Armenian architects and government officials attended the opening ceremony. The renovation of the church is part of an effort to warm ties between the countries still divided over the massacres of Armenians during the final stages of the Ottoman Empire. (BBC, March 29)

In a move calculated to win more support in the Arab world, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia described the American occupation in Iraq as "illegal" and urged the leaders gathered at the ongoing Arab League summit to unite in order to protect their region from foreign influence. Saudi Arabia has long been a staunch ally of the United States, but recent rhetoric and the visit of Iranian diplomats to Riyadh suggest that the Kingdom may be forging a new direction for its foreign policy.

Yemeni forces shot down a foreign drone flying over the south of the Arab country, government officials said March 28, and local media reported that the aircraft was Iranian. "Yes, a drone was brought down," a government official told Reuters. He said the drone was downed the previous day but declined to give more details. The Akhbar al-Yawm daily, with close links to the government, reported on its front page: "Security sources confirmed that the drone that was brought down in Hadramout belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Terrifying reports are mounting of imminent US aggression against Iran, and we have been hearing for months ominous rumblings that Israel will actually strike first. Our March issue featured an interview with Bina Darabzand, a leader of Iran's embattled left opposition which rejects both the Ahmadinejad regime and US aggression. Our March Exit Poll was: "Will the US or Israel bomb Iran first? (Or is it all going to blow over?)" To our disappointment, we received only one response: