What a telling medley of articles in the New York Times June 19. First this, from the front page:

Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back
BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

Despite the supposed ceasefire, fighting again broke out between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian occupation troops in several attacks around Mogadishu June 18, leaving 11 dead. Nine were civilians; two were Somali police. (Africa News, June 19) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, about to leave for the signing of the peace deal in Jedda, blasted Arab governments in statements to AlJazeera—singling out the network's home, Qatar: "I want to tell the government of Qatar that the day will come when the Arab people hold accountable all those who helped destabilize Somalia.... The Qatari Government can rectify its policies towards us, and [t]his includes the hostile rhetoric used in its media outlets, starting with Al-Jazeera." (Translated from Arabic broadcast by Shabelle Media Network, June 19)

Wired reports June 19 reports from Marlborough, MA, where the US Air Force held a confab to promote its new Cyber Command, which is to go operational in 105 days. While the command's mission is still "very much in question," it will certainly provide further opportunity for corporate-Pentagon collaboration. Wired writes that on the symposium's exhibition floor, companies like IBM bragged about "partnering for dominance" with the military in cyberspace.

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) reports nine were injured June 13 when a unit of the National Police Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) attacked more than 300 indigenous protesters participating in a land occupation at Hacienda la Emperatriz, near the indigenous reserve of Huellas Caloto, Cauca department. The ONIC statement said the nine protesters were receiving medical attention at a clinic in Toez village, but the attack had not broken the occupation, and urgently called for intervention from human rights monitors.

The flag of Eritrea was set on fire June 16 in Garoowe, capital of the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, in what local authorities called a protest "to condemn the Eritrean attack on Djibouti." The autonomous government's ministers were among those who oversaw the ritual flag-burning amid chants of "Down with Eritrea, Victory to Djibouti!"

We aren't sure that the optimism in his closing assessment of Obama's AIPAC speech is warranted. But this June 13 piece by Bernard Avishai in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz says much about the dilemmas the candidate faces. The piece is ostensibly about how Obama is perceived by the ruling elites within Israel, but much of it also applies to "the Lobby," the "neocons," and Israel's stateside amen chorus generally:

As the UN Security Council, Arab League and African Union urge Eritrea to halt military action against neighboring Djibouti, French officers stationed in the Horn of Africa mini-state say that France is providing Djibouti with military support—and preparing to send more troops and war material. Speaking to the official Agence Djiboutienne d'Information (ADI), a French officer identified as Col. Ducret said French forces are "providing assistance in logistics, medical [and] intelligence service to the Djiboutian army."

Police in Quito arrested three Colombians and one Ecuadoran in an alleged plot to assassinate President Rafael Correa. Two were arrested on the capital's Independence Plaza, where Carondelet presidential palace is located. The suspects were detained by agents of the elite Anti-Kidnapping Unit (UNASE), and had numerous photos of the palace and maps of the square. Ecuadorean Security Minister Gustavo Larrea told Caracol Radio the suspects were carrying weapons, but failed to say what kind. Spanish press agency EFE said one of the Colombians confessed to be from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary network. Prosecutor General Washington Pezantes said the men were being investigated for their links to armed groups. But Correa himself raised the possibility they are "simply scam-artists" (estafadores).