Word: nones
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...been clear for months that Nouri al-Maliki's National Unity government is, as a senior U.S. official said, "none of the above." Senator Carl Levin called for it to be replaced after his and Senator John Warner's mid-August Iraq jaunt. And Ambassador Ryan Crocker told me, "The fall of the Maliki government, when it happens, might be a good thing." But replace it with what? The consensus in the U.S. intelligence community is that there's going to be lots of bloodshed, including fighting among the Shi'ites, before a credible Iraqi government emerges. It also seems...
...possible the political brouhaha may force an early election, although that's something none of the key political parties want at this stage. More likely, the dispute will leave India stuck with a lame-duck government, hamstrung by its erstwhile left-wing partners. That would have a chilling effect on India's vital economic liberalization plans - labor reform, the privatization of state-run enterprises and the loosening of restrictions on foreign direct investment - all of which the leftist parties have opposed in the past. If the nuclear deal fails, India will have lost more than just entry into the nuclear...
...Some analysts have begun to talk about the "Musharraf option" - a Pakistan-style military dictatorship under a strongman willing to pursue U.S. interests. Sunni politicians have openly said they would prefer this to a Prime Minister from the Shi'ite Islamist parties. But none of Iraq's military commanders has looked a likely candidate, and the U.S. is unlikely to back a coup...
...wildest of wild cards is Moqtada al-Sadr. The firebrand Shi'ite cleric has no interest in holding office himself - he regards himself as being above politics - but he is the country's most powerful player, and will likely have a major say in who gets Maliki's job. None of the 30 members of parliament from Sadr's bloc seems to be of prime ministerial caliber, but then, neither did Maliki...
...Tambo de Mora prison in Ica's Chincha province escaped when the earthquake tumbled the penitentiary walls. The National Police announced that officers had only arrested 29 of the escaped convicts by mid-day Thursday. A second prison in Ica was also seriously compromised by the earthquake, but none of the prisoners managed to escape...