To avoid failure of its mission in Iraq, the George W. Bush administration has been driven to seek the help of two major enemies -- the Sunni insurgents and the government of Iran -- but both initiatives have failed to make progress because officials were not given any real negotiating authority -Gareth Porter/IPS

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who plans to run for president in 2007, has called for a freeze on EU enlargement if there is no breakthrough on the 25-nation bloc’s constitution.Sarkozy, the leader of the Union of Popular Movement (UMP), told reporters in Paris on Thursday that there could be no further EU enlargement if the bloc failed to reform its institutions -ISN CH

Tomorrow the House of Lords will return to the worrying Bill that authorises identity cards. Many people suppose that identity cards are an anti-terrorist measure; the security services know that they are not effective in that role.In the history of Britain there have been many periods when liberty was threatened. The immediate threat is a government with a lust for control, with little respect for liberty or for the House of Commons, but enjoying the opportunity of using new technologies for social control -William Rees-Mogg/London Times UK

Who is investigating whether such companies should be performing such controversial tasks as conducting domestic surveillance on peace groups for the Defense Department? Who is investigating whether MZM and its successor Athena Innovative Solutions should be evaluating which foreign companies supply weapons to the Pentagon -- when MZM may have gotten the initial contract through dubious means? -Laura Rozen/American Prospect

Today's children are growing up in a world where their federal government has become a ubiquitous snoop, where freedoms are only granted piece-meal, and where most of their life's activity is controlled and regulated by the great Nanny State.Americans need to face it: freedom, as envisioned by America's Founding Fathers, is dead! -Pastor Chuck Baldwin/NewsWithViews

A new Zogby poll indicates a majority of Americans want Congress to consider impeaching President Bush if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval.-WorldNetDaily