Many believe sending in more US troops will only fuel the violence, with several comparing the situation to the escalation of the Vietnam War.

Other papers describe the president's latest plan as "too little, too late".

EDITORIAL IN EGYPT'S AL-JUMHURIYAH

"President Bush chose to continue on the bloody path he has taken since the invasion of Iraq and decided to add more forces in search of a victory. Precedents show that this will not happen on Iraqi soil, just as it did not happen in Vietnam."

NAZIH AL-QASUS IN JORDAN'S AL-DUSTUR

"Even if US President Bush announced 100 strategies regarding Iraq and even if he sent 100,000 soldiers in addition to the 150,000 soldiers already there, this would change nothing, because the Iraqi people will not accept the occupation and will not accept humiliation, regardless of the size of the sacrifice."

SAHAR BA'ASIRI IN LEBANON'S AL-NAHAR

"Let's admit that nobody expected any rational change in Bush's Iraq strategy. Because of his prejudgments and determination, he has gone so far in committing mistakes that any change was going to look like a retreat and an admission of defeat."

DERYA SAZAK IN TURKEY'S MILLIYET

"The US administration is going through a process similar to what happened in Vietnam. As hard as it tries to get out of Iraq, it is getting stuck in the quagmire. Just as in Vietnam, pulling out of Iraq may take a couple of electoral cycles."

SHMUEL ROSNER IN ISRAEL'S HA'ARETZ

"They all hate the Bush plan. All except Bush, and even he does, if one can judge by the look on his face during the speech. In the speech there was no hint of the famous Bush Texan arrogance. His plan was born out of political and operational distress, under pressure and with a lack of alternatives."

EDITORIAL IN NETHERLANDS' RSC HANDELSBLAD

1. Raise expired meter citation to $15.00 from $12.50 for citation consistency.
2. Raise all restricted parking citations (Blocking alley, Fire Hydrant, etc.) to $75.00 from $30.00.
3. Raise construction overtime permits to $10.00 per space, per day from $3.00.
4. Raise service car permits to $150.00 per year from $75.00 per year.
5. Change the 9-hour quarterly permit to a monthly permit at a cost of $75.00.
6. Change the Residential Parking Program to a maximum of four vehicles at an annual cost of $10.00 per vehicle from a maximum of four vehicles, first vehicle free second vehicle $10.00 annually.
7. All other costs (meter rates, leased lots, permits etc.) would stay at the current rate.

Well, this is just one of a handful of reasons, but reading this made my blood boil

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/12/house.medicare.ap/index.html

However, the bill's prospects dim after Friday's vote. President Bush has said he would veto the bill if it makes it to his desk. He said that competition is already reducing prices for seniors and creating an environment that encourages the development of new drugs.

Midnight Haiku #4

Dark, dark: no waves splash,
no barking dogs, no wind. Just
the sound of no sound

No blue: just white-grey,
Like dirty ice, the bay sneaks
Out from under fog.

"Sweet! Sweet!" sings a bird--
Old Ez in Virginia
Heard one cry "Tulip!"

The stone Buddha sits
Still as the Eiger: silent...
The waves crash and splash

Lights across the bay
White jewels scattered, shattered
In a deep black box

Purple, vermilion:
Each part of the bay glitters
And none is just blue

"Chirp? Churp?" "Oot?" "Cheep!" "Oot!"
Birds unseen, bickering --"Sweep?" --
Above, on the roof.

I see just one tree
The bay is invisible
Fog, fog, endless fog

Some waves cry "Terror!"
Hitting the beach like boulders:
Dark night: darker thoughts.

Botticelli sky:
No fog, no Chinese touches--
A Rennaisance day

All is cloaked in fog
The world seems empty, until --
Far off, a gull shrieks.

------------------------------------------

Introduction

Robert Anton Wilson is the coauthor, with Robert Shea, of the underground classic The Illuminatus! Trilogy , which won the 1986 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award. His other writings include Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy, called "the most scientific of all science fiction novels," by New Scientist, and several nonfiction works of Futurist psychology and guerilla ontology, such as Prometheus Rising and The New Inquisition. Wilson, who sees himself as a Futurist, author, and stand-up comic, regularly gives seminars at Eslan and other New Age centers. Wilson has made both a comedy record (Secrets of Power) and a punk rock record (The Chocolate Biscuit Conspiracy), and his play Wilhelm Reich in Hell was performed at the Edmund Burke Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. His novel Illuminatus! was adapted as a 10-hour science fiction rock epic and performed under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Great Britain's National Theatre, where Wilson appeared briefly on stage in a special cameo role. Robert Anton Wilson is also a former editor at Playboy magazine.

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. 

The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.