Yet more links

* "Was Bush right after all?" asks the Independent's Rupert Cornwell, noting the wave of triumphalism that has transfixed Washington.

* With details slowly emerging about Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, Robert Fisk finds "growing signs that the Syrian retreat is reopening the sectarian divisions of the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war."

* Danny Schechter ties Giuliana Srgena's shooting to the Eason Jordan brouhaha, raising important questions in the process.

* On the eve of the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security in Madrid, B Raman observes, with a touch of irony, that the "counter-terrorism techniques followed by the US, with its heavy reliance on the air force and heavy armor, which have been killing more civilians than terrorists, have become the real root cause of terrorism, relegating Palestine and other issues to the background."

* Juan Cole: "You want to end terrorism? End unjust military occupations."

* The "Ramadi Madness" video uncovered by last week's ACLU torture FOIA request has surfaced. Excerpts of the video are available via the Palm Beach Post. The same documents that highlighted the video's existence also indicate that four American soldiers allegedly raped two Iraqi women. A cursory investigation, which did not seek out testimony from the alleged victims, was shut down because of lack of evidence.

* From Cursor: "Doug Ireland recounts the New York Times' 'really bad day,' when its report on 'extraordinary rendition' by the CIA neglected to mention the Bush Administration's aggressive use of the state-secrets privilege -- and 'served as an uncritical transmission belt' when the Pentagon used cost-cutting as a rationale. And 60 Minutes asks: 'CIA Flying Suspects To Torture?'"

* "War crimes are being committed by US troops and spooks on an extraordinary scale all round the world," writes an appalled Brian Cloughley, "but the biggest war crime is taking place in Washington: it is the twisting of the minds of the American people."

* The Guardian reports on Jeffrey Sachs' new book, The End of Poverty, which outlines a plan to rid the world of "extreme poverty" by 2025. There is an excerpt from the book in this week's Time magazine. Sachs' prescriptions coincide with the UN's recently announced Millenium Development Goals, which, not coincidentally, he played a central role in crafting.

* A new study by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights documents an increase in bias incidents against Muslims in Europe since 9/11. I wonder if this study will receive as much attention as the controversial EUMC report on anti-Semitism.

* Bush has nominated John Bolton to be the next ambassador to the United Nations, a move that Fred Kaplan says sends an unambiguous message to the international body: drop dead!

* Hey, look who's making a comeback: Newt Gingrich.