The Political Conundrum!

A car bomb, most likely a truck, exploded today in Syria on the highway leading to the Airport killing more than 17 and wounding many others. In the hours following the blast a media blitz came out of Damascus and Tehran accusing mainly (and automatically) Israel, but also hinting at "forces inside Lebanon in collaboration with regional powers -that would be the Saudis- aiming at harming Syrian national security." Commentators backing the Syrian version, including on al Jazeera, hinted at Sunni militants as suspects as well. Interestingly a Syrian group in exile said it was an accident and the truck was prepared for an operation in the region, most likely in Iraq. But experts in Syrian intelligence support to Terror operations said it is less likely that a truck destined to Iraq -or even Lebanon- would be prepared as far as Damascus. It would be too far and too risky.

In a chat with Thomas Smith from the World Defense Review this morning, I advanced another theory: Most likely, it was produced by the Syrian intelligence services, or at least one of these agencies, for strategic reasons: One is to send a message to the West that Syria is also targeted by Terrorists. Two, it could be in preparation for actions to take place against anti-Syrian Sunni sectors inside Lebanon. Here is the short interview as published by World Defense Review today.

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have contributed constructive proposals that have improved this plan. I appreciate the efforts of House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders to bring a spirit of bipartisan cooperation to these discussions. Our Nation's economic well-being is an issue that transcends partisanship. Republicans and Democrats must continue to address it together. And I am confident that we will pass a bill to protect the financial security of every American very soon."

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have contributed constructive proposals that have improved this plan. I appreciate the efforts of House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders to bring a spirit of bipartisan cooperation to these discussions. Our Nation's economic well-being is an issue that transcends partisanship. Republicans and Democrats must continue to address it together. And I am confident that we will pass a bill to protect the financial security of every American very soon."

A U.S. Marine has filed a lawsuit against Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., claiming Murtha slandered him in his comments about the Haditha incident in Iraq. Eight Marines were charged in the case, but seven have been cleared. Prosecutors are trying to reinstate charges against one.

An atheist soldier says in a federal lawsuit that his superiors required him to be present for Christian prayers, and that the military allows fundamentalist Christians to proselytize.

Retired Staff Sgt. Winslow F. Borzotra suffered two severe concussions during a tour in Iraq, one of them during the 2004 battle to clear Fallujah of weapons caches, bomb factories and a concentration of veteran enemy fighters.

Congress is poised to send President Bush a $612 billion defense spending plan for '09, with billions more certain to follow by spring as expenses for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House cleared the plan after a week of conferences with Senate leaders.

The Iraqi government is considering a multimillion- dollar purchase of Lockheed Martin F-16s as it moves toward strengthening its military and rebuilding its anemic air force to prepare for an eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Iraq's foreign minister says "there is a new world now" because of the global financial crisis and he hopes it won't lead to an immediate withdrawal of the 146,000 American troops in his country.