As the Senate Foreign Relations Committee prepares to vote on the nomination of Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, further details are emerging from within the U.S. Intelligence Community on unofficial and back channel intelligence operations directed over the past four years from neo-conservative cells in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the National Security Agency (NSA) -Wayne Madsen/Online Journal

The chosen instrument that both Russia and the PA hope to employ to neutralize American power is the Quartet, where a united front of Russia, the EU, and the UN can be depended upon to offset the position of the U.S.After Putin met Abbas in Ramallah, he called for strengthening the role of the Quartet.Both Putin and Abbas, each of whom were trained and/or employed by the Soviet KGB for significant periods in their lives, are both past masters at the KGB tactics of disinformation and "peace offensives." -Michael Widlanski/ICA

The day after President Vicente Fox's administration dropped controversial proceedings against Mexico City's mayor, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) called for an investigation on Thursday to determine why the case was closed.The party's ruling council might file contempt of court charges against newly-appointed Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca for not presenting charges against capital Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador -El Universal MX

President Bush told Lithuanian TV that Belarus is the ``last remaining dictatorship in Europe'' and that the United States will work with countries in the region to ensure that the next elections there are free.The former Soviet republic is run by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko

President Bush on Thursday renewed economic sanctions on Syria implemented a year ago, saying its government still supports terrorism and is undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq.In a letter to the House speaker and Senate majority leader, Bush said Syria poses a "continuing, unusual, and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States." He said the sanctions respond to that threat

While Mr. Bush and politicians across the board regurgitate empty boasts of how much they support our veterans, their words are hollow because they aren't backed up by anything.H.R. 602 – the 'Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act' – is still sitting in Congress when it should have been passed within a week after introduction.Please, don't tell me those critters out there in Washington, D.C., can't act that fast -Devvy Kidd/WorldNetDaily

Señor Obrador is cultivating an image as the Mexican version of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.That is the last thing his country needs — or any of Mexico’s neighbours.But the crude attempt to disqualify him may now ensure his election. America would be alarmed, the economy impoverished and Mexicans inevitably worse off -London Times UK

Numerous breakdowns in management and oversight occurred when the Interior Department, on behalf of military forces in Iraq, hired private sector interrogators to work in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to a Government Accountability Office report released last week(internal link to report GAO-05-201) -GovExec

Britain's Tony Blair survived widespread opposition to the Iraq war to win a third straight term in power on Friday but saw his majority in parliament drastically reduced.With most results in, Blair was heading for a majority in parliament of between 60 and 80 seats, sharply down from the 161 last time, an outcome which may hasten his fall, analysts said

President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed concern about North Korea on Thursday and vowed support for six-party negotiations aimed at stopping North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the White House said.

This year Russia will buy more arms than it sells for the first time in a decade in a bid to modernize its armed forces. The Defense Ministry will spend $6.8 billion on arms in 2005, compared with the $5.1 billion it earned from arms exports last year, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said in interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily. Russia is rearming its troops "to fight terrorism," Ivanov said.-MosNews

China is expected to deploy three new strategic missiles over the next decade as part of an aggressive military build-up seen threatening US forces in the region, a US intelligence official said on Tuesday.