Quoted: As some of the leading presidential candidates trooped before the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City this week, there was one thing largely missing at the lectern -- veterans of foreign wars.

that's really interesting that the 2008 election will be the first since WWII that neither party will have veterans running for office. While the immergence of civilian candidates in my opinion is positive and more reflective of the today's American population, part of me can't help but wonder if maybe someone with front-line, military leadership, would be better suited as the Commander in Chief during this time of war. I don't mean the kind of military experience of current President Bush, more along the lines of McCain, Truman, Eisenhower, etc.

Quoted: Few stories have touched CNN.com users like that of 5-year-old Youssif, an Iraqi boy who had gone out to play on a January day when he was suddenly grabbed by masked men, doused in gas and set on fire.

Quoted: Forget the "benchmarks" that Baghdad's politicians are showing little inclination to meet; the best hope in recent memory for national reconciliation in Iraq came Wednesday in the form of a shootout — not your conventional sectarian or insurgent affair, but a series of penalty kicks that settled an Asian cup soccer semi-final in Iraq's favor. Iraq's upset victory over highly rated South Korea has earned it a showdown on Sunday against — boy, do the gods of soccer ever have a wicked sense of humor — Saudi Arabia. The news drew tens of thousands of Iraqis of all stripes out onto the street in a joyous celebration, which was tempered by two suicide bombings that killed more than 50 fans.

Bittersweet victory. Let's hope the greatest sport in the world, soccer, can save Iraq, b/c the Bush Administration certainly cannot. Amazing what sports commoradory can do for the morality of a nation. People apparently "risked life and limb to watch the game together with old soccer pals from opposite sects" ... All is not lost.

Quoted: By Tabassum Zakaria, PARMA, Ohio (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will emphasize on Tuesday that his strategy in Iraq is aimed at eventually bringing U.S. troops home, as he seeks to stem growing Republican defections from his war policy...

yes, i'd like to know what is going on--why can't we have a report by September? Why does Tony Snow keep saying that we haven't had enough time since the surge to give a valid update...the American public didn't say anything about September, it was the Bush administration. Yesterday, i heard that thus far in the past 5 yrs, there's an estimated 650,000 Iraqi civilian casualties, compared to the 500,000 over 8 yrs in Vietnam.

Quoted: There are dozens of clubs just like this one the outskirts of Damascus -- a red light district built on the slender shoulders of little Iraqi girls in belly dancing costumes. The girls are nearly all Iraqi refugees forced into what U.N. relief agencies call “survival sex.” The reason why is cold math. There are 1.4 million Iraqi refugees in Syria. Syrian laws do not allow Iraqi refugees to work in Syria, which struggles to provide enough jobs for its own citizens. But Iraqi children can often slip under the law, especially if they work on the black market. They work to support their families. Many were traumatized even before they left Iraq, and had relatives murdered or kidnapped. Now they are forced into prostitution -- victims of war, victimized again every night.

this is illegal and utterly wrong in so many ways...how can this take place?? some of them are only 6 yrs old! outraged, frustrated...don't even begin to express my concerns.

Quoted: Three rebel leaders are found guilty of war crimes in Sierra Leone - the first verdicts for the UN-backed tribunal.

Personally, i think they should've been given life in prison, and not just "lengthy prison terms". However, it is a good first step for the people of this war-torn, devastated region, to finally see some signs of justice.

Quoted: An opportunistic president and a dyed-in-the-wool rebel appear to have ended Sri Lanka's best-ever hope for peace

stranger than fiction indeed...

Quoted: U.S. ties with Russia are ominously bad. Longtime diplomat Zbigniew Brzenski warns Washington to tread wisely in the days ahead

dude i've been saying this ever since US and Russia clashed on US Missile defense system in Eastern Europe...