Latvian Government - Falls apart

Marketwatch is reporting that the economic crisis has struck a blow to another former Soviet nation, this time Latvia.

Latvia's coalition government collapsed Friday, plunging the Baltic country into political turbulence at a time when its economy is mired in a severe crisis and investors are increasingly concerned about the situation in Eastern Europe

Obama still allowing War on Terror in Pakistan

In a positive sign, President Obama is still allowing the War on Terror to keep dropping terrorists in Pakistan with missiles from drones. Since we're winning in Iraq, stands to reason he'll do the same exact thing Bush would have done and finish winning the peace there too.

Funny how liberals run by attacking strong defense, and then once they talk to their advisors they end up doing the exact same thing.

Keep Gitmo Open - Video

Israel alone with Obama Administration?

Will Israel be the last nation willing to confront terror in the mid east? Atlas Shrugs recounts some of the hour long exchange between former UN Ambassador John Bolton and the Jerusalem Post this week.

Operation Cast Lead was timed to end immediately before US President Barack Obama's inauguration. Since then, rockets have continued to be fired on Israel from Gaza, with limited retaliation, and preparations for a possible second round. Had Israel not pulled out, would that have put an automatic strain on Jerusalem-Washington relations?

I do think the Obama administration will be less friendly to Israel than the Bush administration. And I understand why the leadership in Israel might have wanted the operation finished by January 20. There may have been other reasons to stop, as well, although with the renewed launching of rockets, those reasons are less apparent.

Military operations like Cast Lead should be carried through to their own logical conclusions, and I think Israel has to calibrate its military actions based on its own self-interest. Trying to judge what it should do based on American politics is a perilous venture.

President gives credit for free elections in Iraq to UN

Yesterday wasn't the best day for Obama foreign relations.

First, he recognized the Islamic Courts Movement in Ethiopia, a group that the Bush administration helped remove last year.

Then, with free and fair elections in Iraq, a direct result of the Bush doctrine ... he recognizes the United Nations, but not our military. This isn't feeling good so far.

Security for the country's first ballot since 2005 was extremely tight, with Iraqi police and military deployed in force, and Mr Obama praised the technical assistance by the United Nations and other organisations to Iraq's electoral commission, which he said "performed professionally under difficult circumstances."