This and That

The first one is about Benazir Bhutto's recently published book about democracy and Islam.

"The book attempts to show that there is a direct relationship between Islamic extremism and Western supported dictators. It ameliorates the fear that Muslims (specifically Pakistanis) who take to the ballot will vote for extremists. It concludes by setting forth various institutional ideas that deserve Western economic assistance — such as an Association of Democratic Countries — which would bolster the emergence of peaceful and secular Muslim democracies."

I've been advocating that last point for some time now as a replacement for that bloated and corrupted elephant in the room we call the United Nations and I've long suspected the veracity second point about extremism.

Second is more student protests in Iran. YEAH!!

Third, Tracking Iraq-- What the Media Did Not Tell You This Month
Some great graphs, one of which cites the New England Journal of Medicine study on Iraqi casualties, which bears repeating again:

NOTE ON OTHER CIVILIAN FATALITY ESTIMATE1:

In its January 31, 2008 issue, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study carried out by the Iraq Family Health Survey Study Group in which they estimated the number of violent civilian deaths in Iraq from March 2003 through June 2006. Based on a survey of 1,086 household clusters throughout Iraq, they estimated that there were 151,000 such deaths during this period. Though monthly totals were not made available, the estimated number of deaths per day were broken into various time periods as follows: March 2003-April 2004, 128; May 2004-May 2005, 115; June 2005-June 2006, 126.

And fourth, Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics, it's a good thing the future belongs to the young and they also know how to use all this technology.

As an old codger, it's nice to know that the world is unfolding as it should. My kids and grandkids may not have such a scary world as I lived in during my youth. When and if the world is dominated by democracies, and especially when the Islamic world has its rebirth, as it appears to be undergoing right now, we will indeed be in a much better place.

And last, but not least Arbour stepping down as UN Human Rights chief. Good!!