by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.
Israel and Palestinian leaders agreed to hold peace talks in the coming year in an attempt to reach a comprehensive settlement next year but large challenges lay ahead as it was expected that extremists on both sides would try to derail any progress.
While it didn't attend the meeting, Iran's growing importance in the Middle East, and the Islamic radicals it supports, was a major concern for Israel and the Arab state participants in Annapolis.
The Federal Reserve Board's vice chairman said monetary policy needed to remain "nimble" to deal with setbacks in financial markets in recent weeks, leaving the clear impression that more interest-rate cuts were possible.
The president of the Red Cross, Mark Everson, was forced to resign after admitting to an affair with a subordinate, ending what had been a successful six months for the former Bush Administration Internal Revenue Commissioner in fundraising and other efforts to turn around the organization.
Compromise of the sort that the soon-to-be-retired Sen. Trent Lott was capable of appears to be less possible in the Senate as it evolves into a much more divided body like the House.
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Comments
Meanwhile, in news the DNC Swamp and the Tribune won't report, the "religion of peace" is at it again in France, where "youths" (i.e., young Muslim toughs) are attacking the police and burning cars:
"PARIS - "It felt like they were out to kill us. We knew there were weapons in the suburbs, but never turned against us like that," one of the police officers shot during youth riots near Paris told AFP Wednesday.
Sent to the suburb of Villiers le Bel to quell an outbreak of violence that followed the death of two teens in a crash with police, Francois, who asked not to be fully identified, found himself under siege.
"We were attacked from all sides" by youths armed with hunting rifles."
"The kids were shooting at us at close range, loading and reloading their weapons. I've never seen anything like it. It was like in a movie. They were picking us off from 10 or 15 metres away."
"I was hit in the hand with what I thought was a slingshot. I didn't realise right away that it was buckshot, until I saw the hole in my trousers. I tried to protect my younger colleagues, then I fell to the ground."
Police unions say the scale and intensity of the violence unleashed since Sunday is worse than the 2005 riots, also sparked by the deaths of two youths.
A line was crossed, they say, when suburb gangs turned guns on the police, 120 of whom were injured, several by gunwound. The hunting rifles used by the gangs are dangerous anywhere within a 300-metre (yard) range."
(from Gabrielle Cusmano at townhall.com)
Posted by: Bruce | November 28, 2007 2:01 PM
Bruce,
I owuld believe that Baghdad is now safer than Paris. Our troop surge is working in IRaq.
Posted by: Terry | November 28, 2007 8:31 PM