Around the World on A Saturday: From Iraq to Zimbabwe to North Korea

IRAQ: BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT

You might think that, two days after the deadliest bombing in Iraq in six months, the media might want to consider the impact. However, a day after noting the death of 57 Iraqis and the wounding of many more in Kirkuk, everyone has blissfully walked away.



They have done so even though the choice of the restaurant, where Kurdish and Arab leaders were meeting over ethnic tensions in the city, might indicate that someone is quite intent on derailing the political process. Juan Cole even speculates that Iraqi President Jalal Talebani may have been the Number One target.

ZIMBABWE: THE NEW YORK TIMES WAKES UP

Continuing our coverage of Better Late than Never, the editorial staff of the Times have finally noticed the situation, although they don't advocate US involvement: "[The African states] must renounce their recognition of Mr. Mugabe as president and press him and his cronies to cede power."

More substantially, The Washington Post notices an even deadlier situation across the continent, courtesy of a UN report, "Rwanda and Congo have been backing rival rebel and militia groups locked in a violent conflict in eastern Congo that has displaced more than 250,000 civilians since August."

NORTH KOREA: THE FINAL BUSH FAILURE?

Almost eight years after throwing out the negotiating process to halt North Korean development of nuclear weaponry and more than three years after realising that the big stick wasn't going to deter Pyongyang, the Bush Administration suffered a last humiliation when North Korea effectively walked out of talks.

PAKISTAN PLAYS FOR TIME

Richard Oppel and Salman Masood in The New York Times have figured out Pakistan's strategy in dealing with the aftermath of Mumbai. Their article depicts the  "house arrest" of the leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Muhammed Saeed.

With such measures, Islamabad hopes to stave off calls for extradition of Saeed and other LeT leaders, a step which would likely bring the downfall of the Zardari Government.

Zimbabwe Update: The Ripples Reach America

Almost a week after Enduring America noted that the Zimbabwe story was absent from the US media, in contrast to coverage indicating Sudan as a priority for the Obama Administration, reporters for the New York Times and Washington Post have noticed the crisis in the country.



The Times story is more dramatic with the headline "Cholera is Raging, Despite Denial by Debate" and a personalised story of the five youngest children dying in a family. The Post story is less subjective in framing, "Mugabe Calls Cholera Crisis Over as Deaths Rise to 783", as it --- unlike the Times --- notes:

Kenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu have called on African nations to use force to depose Mugabe. This week, President Bush, echoing calls from France and Britain, said it was "time for Robert Mugabe to go.

Beyond that reference, however, neither story offers any indication of a change in US policy towards intervention.

Assessing the US Economy: David Brooks is...Chauncey Gardener

Perhaps we were being too harsh on David Brooks of The New York Times ("the drying husks of the fall") yesterday. Gareth Sellers refers us to Being There, the 1979 novel and film in which a gardener played by Peter Sellers becomes President on the basis of his "economic wisdom":

Growth has its season… as long as the roots are not severed, all is well, and all will be well in the garden.

How David Brooks will save the US economy:

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5u0JJYpZtHY&feature=related[/youtube]

Pointless Economic Comment of the Day

[UPDATE: David Brooks...Is Chauncey Gardener]

For all those who may have lost a job or had the bank foreclose on the house, David Brooks of The New York Times has consoling words for you:

Social change has a natural rhythm. The season of prosperity gives way to the season of economic scarcity, and out of the winter of recession, new growth has room to emerge. A stimulus package may be necessary, but unless designed with care, its main effect will be to prop up the drying husks of the fall.