Annapolis Peace Conference

One of the things that worried me about the Annapolis Conference was the fact that basic facts were being overlooked. I support making peace with the Palestinians, but Hamas was ignored and it was assumed that Abbas, who is weak, would be able to assert himself over them. I believe Abbas was trying to get a lot of concessions from Israel on core issues such as Jerusalem, the settlements, and the return of Palestinian refugees (who Israel will never allow to return and should not, and I'm not sure they should be compensated either--let the Arab nations who have treated them as garbage for the past 60 years take responsibility for the results of the war they started themselves) without ensuring that he would be able to ensure peace or cessation of violence in return. It was a good start but we have to start talking about the real issues and looking at reality.

Democracy Under Arrest

Pervez Musharraf, the dictatorial leader of Pakistan, had agreed to work with former leader Benazir Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan from her self-imposed exile recently, to make Pakistan's political system more democratic. Musharraf, in his effort to maintain his powers, declared a state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and put Bhutto under house arrest with barbed wire and guards. Meanwhile she is trying to work with other opposition leaders to try to replace Musharraf.
Meanwhile, the U.S., which considers Musharraf an ally against al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, must contend with the fact that he has not been very effective at fighting terror and is suppressing his own people.

Schoolyard Politics

Obama and Edwards accuse Hillary of sidestepping important questions and of flip=flopping on certain issues, but Hillary claims the criticism is just because she's in the lead.