July 16: The Other News

NY Times quotation of the day: I hesitate to say anything nice about him, for fear that it would be used against him. And that’s a terrible commentary on the state of politics and the political climate today. (Sen John McCain about Sen. Joseph Lieberman)
W Post: The world's tolerant democracies face a resilient and merciless enemy in fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. What should US do? Focus on Afghanistan and Iraq. It may well be that North Korea is behaving provocatively and Iran is stirring up its terrorist proxies in part because they feel confident that the United States, bogged down in Iraq, cannot respond. The tempting answer, heard frequently in Washington, is to pull out of Iraq: presto, no more bog. But that is a mirage. Americans and Iraqis alike want U.S. troops out as soon as possible, but a withdrawal that leaves Iraq in chaos and at the mercy of terrorists would not strengthen America's position in the world. On the contrary, it would embolden America's foes, dishearten its friends and provide sanctuary to groups that could, in time, make last week's events seem tractable. The better course in Iraq is to intensify the daunting effort to succeed.
Sankt Petersburg: President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach a much-anticipated trade agreement Saturday after marathon talks by aides collapsed hours before the two leaders got together here for a session that also exposed differences on Iran's nuclear program.
W Post Analysis: How Common Ground of 9/11 Gave Way to Partisan Split in America.

And today the US National Public Radio aired a broadcast about Elie Wiesel. Here is a quote from his Nobel Lecture, in 1986: Job rediscovered his faith within his rebellion.