Andrew Reiff

National

Summary- Bush orders gradual troop cuts in Iraq

Today President Bush said that he would cut the level of U.S. Forces in Iraq from its present number of 168,00 to 132,000, with over 5,000 being home before Christmas, and four brigades home by July. The Democrats, surprisingly, are outraged and demand larger cuts with deadlines attached. Many feel that it is time for Iraq itself to begin taking over the duties of protecting the country, but Iraq has consistently fallen short on its promises.

Opinion-

This is an excellent example of checks and balances and separation of powers in action. Congress has been pressuring the President to cut back troop levels, and when he finally complies they think it is not enough. Another thing- first we surge, and now we are cutting back... what kind of message does this send to the insurgents? If they hang on for a little while longer then anarchy may rule...

International

Summary- Dubai tower now world's tallest free-standing structure

The Burj-Dubai tower has now passed the CN Tower in Toronto as the World's Tallest Structure, at 555 meters, or 1,831 feet, and it is not even done yet. Samsung is building the tower, which is one of several mega-building-projects in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates.

Opinion

I don't know how Dubai has enough money to pay for all of these building projects, except through oil profits and extremely low wages paid to workers. Dubai has the reputation of being an extraordinarily developed country, but it has extreme class differences, with the rich getting much richer through inflaming oil prices and the poor getting poorer because of low wages and lack of governmental aid programs. Roger Federer trains there, by the way, and he is one of the rich. Dubai has one of the epitomes of human waste of energy in a building. The temperature in the builing is below freezing, and Dubai is in the desert. Wasteful...