Canada is considering withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, according to an interim report by the Canadian Senate committee on national security and defence. The report demands more money for the operation and a bigger commitment from other NATO countries within a year. If these demands are not met, Ottawa should reconsider its mission, the head of the Senate committee Colin Kenny said when releasing the report. He asked: "Are Canadians willing to commit themselves to decades of involvement in Afghanistan, which could cost hundreds of Canadian lives and billions of dollars with no guarantee of ending up with anything like the kind of society that makes sense to us?" Canada presently has 2,500 troops in the Afghan province of Kandahar, where they have sustained 42 fatalities. (DPA, Feb. 14)

From AFP, Feb. 14 (links added):

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced plans to maintain some 27,000 US troops in Afghanistan -- the most since it went to war there more than five years ago -- to try to crush a resurgence of the Taliban.

From AP, via the Carlsbad Current Argus, Feb. 15:

Salt Lake City - Officials fear a backlash against the Bosnian community, while family friends suggested a Bosnian teen's experiences as a refugee may have fueled his deadly rampage through a mall Monday.

Don't say we didn't warn you. From the The Missoulan, Feb. 8:

WHITEFISH - British Columbia's top mining minister stepped down this week amid outrage at his anti-American sentiments, and Montanans who have been negotiating with the province over controversial coal projects were not sorry to see him go.

It barely rates a headline these days, but things are sure looking good in the long aftermath of another US military adventure, eh? From the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Feb. 12:

Hundreds gathered on Sunday, February 11, in the centre of Pristina to mourn the victims of the previous day’s demonstration against the UN peace plan that turned violent and ended in fatalities. Two people died and more than 80 were injured in clashes with the police.

We've noted before in the US anti-war movement's factional jockeying, how the sectarian-controlled International ANSWER has used Palestine as a "wedge issue" against the more legitimate United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) coalition—which really has been timid around the question. Now, at long last, UFPJ is seriously addressing Palestine. The Forward may not be happy about this, but we are. Daniel Treiman writes, Feb. 2:

From the Calgary Sun, Feb. 18:

OTTAWA -- A Liberal MP has accused the Conservatives of trying to keep the public in the dark about the state of three terrorist suspects on a hunger strike in a prison derisively known as Guantanamo North.

Five members of a Palestinian family jailed by immigration authorities in Texas since November were released on Feb. 3, a day after the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) accepted to reopen their asylum case. Salaheddin Ibrahim, his wife Hanan Ibrahim, who is five months pregnant, and four of their five children had been detained since a Nov. 2 raid on their home by ICE agents. Hanan Ibrahim was jailed at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, together with the couple's 15-year-old son Hamzeh and daughters Rodaina (14), Maryam (8) and Faten (5). Salaheddin Ibrahim is held at a separate facility in Haskell, Texas and had not been released as of Feb. 4. Three-year-old Zahra Ibrahim, a US-born citizen, has been cared for by her uncle, Ahmad Ibrahim, since her parents' arrest. The family's plight stirred media and public attention, and at least three protests were held outside the Hutto facility during their detention there. (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 31, Feb. 4; WFAA-TV, Feb. 1)