The Coalition of the Dissolving: On the eve of the war, President Bush proudly proclaimed a 50 country coalition. The pro-war global security.org now reports that the coalition is comprised of 30 nations. Hmm... Our stalwart coalition parter, Great Britain, is pulling back 5,000 troops. Of those remaining, several are reducing troop sizes, (Uzbekistan, Britain), or threatening to pull out (Turkey). Costa Rica: Nominally Gone Turkey: Threatening to Leave Norway: Pulling Out Kazakhstan: Pulling Out Nicaragua: Pulled Out Spain: Pulled Out Dominican Republic: Pulled Out Honduras: Pulled Out Phillipines: Pulled Out New Zealand: Pulled Out What does it all mean? We're left holding the bag, and it ain't full of candy. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm">globalsecurity.org The Blog Minister of Disinformation Sorry to bring you down. If you're ready for some good news* about Iraq, read Chrenkoff--Australia's answer to Baghdad Bob. Victory is just around the corner! Yay, America! Chrenkoff.blogspot.com * Good news is a very subjective term. If you think planning good work is the equivalent of doing good work, Chrenkoff's your man! The Search Engine Swami "Environmentalists for Bush": Four hits (two of which were sarcastic). "Environmentalists for Kerry": Two hundred and twenty five hits. Forget The Guy With The Fez...Keep An Eye on That Sombrero From the incomparable muckraking journalist Greg Palast: ...Some months ago, a little birdie faxed to me what appeared to be confidential pages from a contract between John Ashcroft's Justice Department and a company called ChoicePoint, Inc., of Atlanta. The deal is part of the War on Terror. Justice offered up to $67 million, of our taxpayer money, to ChoicePoint in a no-bid deal, for computer profiles with private information on every citizen of half a dozen nations. The choice of which nation's citizens to spy on caught my eye. While the September 11th highjackers came from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and the Arab Emirates, ChoicePoint's menu offered records on Venezuelans, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, Mexicans and Argentines. How odd. Had the CIA uncovered a Latin plot to sneak suicide tango dancers across the border with exploding enchiladas? Greg Palast's Blog