See who else is in trouble in the Arab region here. The full article takes a good look at the problems and challenges with the possible overthrow of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak for the US. One of the main points is that revolutions aren't often predictable and that sometimes what comes after is worse, no matter how bad the existing regime/dictator was, with the Iranian Revolution in 1979 being a key example.

Shocking news today from the US as a congresswoman was shot in plain sight in an Arizona supermarket while 6 others were killed. She was shot in the head while she was holding a public meet at the supermarket. This is really crazy stuff, shocking and sad. That it happened in Arizona is striking, given the tense and controversial recent politics in that state concerning immigration laws. It also reminded me of the shooting of a politician in Taiwan last November.

A leak of over 90,000 internal documents seemingly confirms what many assume in the past few years- that the Afghanistan war is getting worse, not better. Among the negative events revealed in the papers - a secret U.S. task force dedicated to hunting down top Taliban commanders, attacks by Western allies that have killed hundreds of civilians and concrete signs of Pakistan "fueling" the Taliban insurgency, the latter being something that doesn't come as a surprise given the suspicions and strong criticism issued by the U.S. over the years. Read here for how the leak took place, a major event in itself.

The Atlantic's Robert D. Kaplan's latest piece is on the top American general in Afghanistan and why he thinks the country is still salvageable. Stanley McChrystal, a special forces commander who previously served in Iraq with an impressive record, seems to really believe in the possibility of victory, that accomplishing key objectives, such as holding on to areas "where the water and the roads are," and staying for the long-term, will help bring peace and defeat the Taliban. Kaplan, a renowned world affairs expert who has written many books on foreign nations including on Afghanistan and the famous essay The Coming Anarchy, writes some surprising things about Afghanistan, such as its coherent sense of nationalism and the desire of its people for modernity and stability. Not surprisingly, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is described as weak and incompetent, allowing corruption to thrive due to his dependence on and empowerment of warlords. The article also shows the attempts by the U.S. military to boost the competency of the Afghan military through fostering U.S.-Afghan teamwork and letting the Afghans undertake operations for themselves (a novel concept, I'm sure).

Paul Krugman sees a bleak immediate future for the U.S. economy-wise in this piece. As he said, blips happen even in the worst economic times, because when economic activity dropped as deeply as it did last year, then a little jump or improvement is not surprising. The question is how sustainable it can be, and my feeling is it's not. It's funny when everytime there is some slight rise, or a decline that is not as deep as expected in the U.S., such as with unemployment figures or holiday shopping, there are industry pundits and media reports that highlight optimism, as if they expect things will return to normal very soon.

As the world struggles to overcome this ongoing economic crisis, China continues to get a lot of attention, or I might say hype, especially over its possible ability to help lead the world economy out of this crisis. It is no exaggeration to say that some have already anointed China as the next superpower, ready to pass the U.S. and take up a leading position in the world equivalent to its historical and cultural standing. Yet as always, it's good to be cautious about China, as these articles from Time magazine show. One asks if China can really "save the world?" while the other reminds people that nothing can be taken for granted about the future.

The UK's foreign secretary openly called China an "indispensable superpower" and says China will definitely join the U.S. as one of the two biggest powers in the world, in an interview with The Guardian. It's a bit remarkable for someone of his status to be so frank about China and illustrates the regard and power that China possesses now. The article includes some very interesting comments by David Miliband, especially that Europe may become a third power, thus implying that Europe cannot surpass China on the world stage, and that Europe has not been strategic enough in dealing with China.

On the "torture" allegations of the U.S.
Good point and illustrates the rampant hypocrisy of the dressing up of American interrogation techniques.
Of course, I think that it's hard to believe that any intelligence agency or military never uses torture in conducting interrogations on prisoners.