From Military.com, Feb. 1:

President Bush and his new military chiefs have been saying for nearly a month that they would "surge" an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, in a last, grand push to quell the violence in Baghdad and in Anbar Province. But a new study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the real troop increase could be as high as 48,000 -- more than double the number the President initially said.

The House passes a non-binding resolution against the "surge"; the Senate fails to. Opponents invoke the need to "support the troops." Is anybody listening to the troops and their families? From Military Families Speak Out, Feb. 5:

Military Families Urge Congress to Vote Down Bush Request for Billions to Contine Iraq War
Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) members today called on Congress to support our troops and honor the fallen by voting against President Bush's request for a supplemental appropriation that would allow the U.S. military occupation of Iraq to continue. Military Families Speak Out, an organization of over 3,200 military families opposed to the war in Iraq, is the largest organization of military families opposing a war in the history of the United States.

Nepalese PM Girija Prasad Koirala has vowed to amend the country's constitution to meet the key demands of Madheshi protesters from the country’s southern plains, BBC News reported on Feb. 8. He pledged to introduce a federal system of governance and more representation of the southern plains in the parliament.

We noted earlier this week signs of an emerging ethnic insurgency in Iran's eastern province of Baluchistan. Now news reports make reference not only to bombs, but "insurgents." We didn't expect to vindicated so quickly. From AP, Feb. 16:

TEHRAN — A bomb exploded in southeastern Iran late Friday, near the site where an explosion this week killed 11 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and clashes broke out afterward between Iranian police and insurgents, Iranian news agencies reported.

We're glad the hijacking was thwarted, but we don't quite get the politics behind this incident. The hijacker was supposedly seeking asylum from Mauritania (which remains a pretty oppressive place despite the democratic transition supposedly underway there), but Mauritania said the hijacker was a Moroccan from the Western Sahara. From 1975 to 1980, Mauritania occupied the southern half of Western Sahara; since then, Morocco has occupied the entire country. Are we ever going to find out who this guy really is and what he wanted? From AP, Feb. 16:

From the Japanese American Nichi Bei Times, Feb. 16:

On Feb. 7, the court martial of Ehren Watada, the Sansei army lieutenant from Hawai'i who refused deployment to Iraq to participate in what he considers an illegal war of aggression, ended in a mistrial. Watada, 28, may find himself back in court, however, for a retrial next month.

We've noted before that the laws against Holocaust denial are counter-productive, as they muddy the moral waters, showing "democracy" as the "real" totalitarianism. They serve as effective propaganda precisely for those they seek to silence. Unfortunately, here we go again. From AP, Feb. 15:

We hope. From Reuters, Feb. 16:

BOGOTA - A scandal over suspected Colombian government links to illegal right-wing militias could hamper President Alvaro Uribe's bid to clinch a free-trade deal with the United States.