.. or at least how the Associated Press see’s them.

1. War in Iraq

What started in 2003 as a supposedly straightforward drive to topple Saddam Hussein deteriorated during 2006 into a dismayingly complex and savage struggle, with Iraqis by the thousands killed in sectarian reprisal attacks and the U.S. military death toll nearing 3,000. President Bush dropped talk of “staying the course” but balked at embracing many of the key suggestions of a bipartisan study group. Iraqi authorities struggled to assert control and avoid fracture.

2. U.S. election

Unhappiness with events in Iraq was one of the driving forces behind the Democrats’ surge in the Nov. 7 election. They took over the House with a large majority, gained a narrow edge in the Senate and advanced in statehouses nationwide. Nancy Pelosi, right, assailed by Republicans as a “San Francisco liberal” during the campaign, will become the first female speaker of the U.S. House.

3. Nuclear standoffs

The United States and its allies were frustrated in their efforts to rein in nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran. North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Il, above, tested a nuclear bomb in October. Iran - despite a threat of sanctions - pushed ahead with plans to bring its first nuclear power plant on line.

4. Illegal immigration

Congress tried to confront the influx of illegal immigrants from Latin America, but the effort collapsed amid deep divisions over whether to stress a crackdown or include provisions to help some illegal immigrants work toward citizenship. The get-tough approach triggered huge protests by immigrants-rights supporters.

5. Scandals in Congress

Several Republican congressmen were brought down by scandals, including Mark Foley, who resigned over sexually explicit messages sent to male pages, and Randy Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, left, resigned after being indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas. Ohio’s Bob Ney pleaded guilty in connection with the probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

6. Saddam convicted, executed

Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, was convicted in the slaying of 148 Shiite Muslims, including children, after an assassination attempt against him in 1982. He was ordered to die by hanging, and the sentence was carried out Friday in Iraq.

7. (tie) Mideast fighting

Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia fought a monthlong war in the summer; more than 900 people were killed. Lebanon’s Western-backed government emerged more embattled than ever, while Hezbollah claimed increased popular support.

7. (tie) Rumsfeld resigns

A day after the midterm elections gave Democrats control of Congress, President Bush announced Donald Rumsfeld’s departure. Rumsfeld was seen as underestimating Iraq’s challenges, while alienating military brass and members of Congress.

9. Airliner terror plot

British authorities said they narrowly thwarted a terrorist plot to bomb several jets over the Atlantic Ocean. The disclosure led to tough new restrictions on the contents of carry-on luggage.

10. Disaster in Darfur

Violence worsened in Sudan’s Darfur region, where fighting between rebels and government forces has killed more than 200,000. The United Nations approved a 20,000-strong peacekeeping force, but Sudan blocked its deployment.

I have no qualms with the content of the list, though I would probably alter the order a bit. I am surprised that Darfur even made the list, the MSM has been mostly quiet on that front. I note the tie for 7th pace and have to wonder if the Middle East fighting would have been so prevalent on the list had the AP decided to stick with reporting only the facts.

Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

H/T to Discerning Texan

For those of you who have any glimmer of hope that the UN remains an effective organization, the following article from the Jerusalem Post may be of interest:

Predicting that it is “just a matter of time” before Hizbullah attacks Israel, a high-ranking officer from the Northern Command revealed to The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that the Lebanese guerrilla group had nearly returned to full strength and was almost at the level it was before this summer’s Lebanon war.

Syria, the officer said, had used the past four months since the end of the war to transfer - sometimes on a daily basis - truckloads of advanced rockets and weaponry to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The weapon transfers, he said, were not even executed covertly, but were conducted “out in the open” for the entire world to see.

For those of you who have forgotten, the last Israel / Lebanon conflict was stopped when Israel agreed to abide by a UN resolution. That resolution (UN Security Council Resolution 1701) included the introduction of UN forces into the region where where support to, among other things, ensure the disarmament of Hizbullah, the blocking of arms transports into the country, and support the Lebanon army in keeping the peace.

We see how well that has worked. So far all UN forces have accomplished since August was to harass Israeli checkpoints and reconnaissance flights. The UN should be ashamed for the state of affairs, and further blood is on the hands of the inept and cowardly French lead forces that making a mockery of job they where sent there to accomplish.

Lebanon has not recovered from the last attack on Israel, yet the radicals among them will not hesitate to start again. When they do, Israel will be within its rights to hammer them again. We can only hope a UN general or two gets caught in the cross fire.

Normally I would introduce this piece with a sarcastic comment about the joys of socialized medicing, but I think I will skip it this time. In stead, I have to ask, when will the world push back on the Muslim idiocy plaguing our world? Religious freedoms have limits, and those limits kick in when such freedom impacts the health and safety of others. (Note: Our sensibilities do not fit into either then health nor safety category, regardless of what the ACLU wants you to believe).

From The Conservative Voice:

British hospital Muslim workers are refusing to wash their hands with required anti-bacterial disinfectant gels. The Muslims are protesting the practice on religious grounds, as the gels contain alcohol.

Anti-bacterial gels are used in hospitals to guard against “superbugs”, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL). British healthcare workers said they were shocked to discover the practice of Muslim healthcare workers refusing to disinfect their hands before entering patient rooms.

NHS care assistant Theresa Poupa of London Chest Hospital said: “I could not believe it. The signs are large enough and clear enough but they [Muslim workers] just took no notice and walked straight onto the ward! I was there almost every day for three weeks and I saw it repeated dozens and dozens of times. When I raised the matter with the nursing staff they just shrugged and said that Muslims were refusing to use the gel because it contained alcohol.”

It sounds like passive resistance meets modern day terrorism to me. By encouraging the spread of infection, disease, and superbugs these Muslim workers can make maximum use of there position as health care workers. I hope the UK medical establishment comes down hard on this, very hard.

I am traveling to the UK next month - note to self: don’t get sick.

It is official. Despite his refusal to recognize the court, that court has hanged him. Saddam is dead.

From Washington Post:

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was hanged in the predawn hours of Saturday for crimes against humanity in the mass murder of Shiite men and boys in the 1980s, sent to the gallows by a government backed by the United States and led by Shiite Muslims who had been oppressed during his rule, Iraqi and American officials said.

In the early morning, Hussein, 69, was escorted from his U.S. military prison cell at Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport, and handed over to Iraqi officials. He was executed on the day Sunni Muslims, of which he was one, were to begin celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Good. Justice was done, and it is important that it was done though a fair and proper process by the fledgling government who hopes to some day rule Iraq.

President Bush had the following to say:

In Crawford, Tex., President Bush said in a statement that Hussein received “the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime.” He added, “Fair trials were unimaginable under Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule. It is a testament to the Iraqi people’s resolve to move forward after decades of oppression that, despite his terrible crimes against his own people, Saddam Hussein received a fair trial. This would not have been possible without the Iraqi people’s determination to create a society governed by the rule of law.”

Also Reporting:
Hot Air
Michelle Malkin
Captains Quarters
7.62 MM Justice
Go Pundit Go

I picked the following up from the Associated Press:

Saddam Hussein will be executed no later than Saturday, said an Iraqi judge authorized to attend his hanging, while the former dictator’s lawyers said he had been transferred from U.S. custody.

The physical hand-over of Saddam to Iraqi authorities was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged, although the lawyers’ statement did not specifically say Saddam was in Iraqi hands.

“A few minutes ago we received correspondence from the Americans saying that President Saddam Hussein is no longer under the control of U.S. forces,” according to the statement faxed to The Associated Press.

Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld Saddam’s death sentence, said he was ready to attend the execution.
“All the measures have been done,” Haddad said. “There is no reason for delays.”

In Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has signed Saddam’s death sentence, a government official said. The official, who refused to be identified by name because he was not authorized to release the information, said that Iraqi authorities were not yet in control of Saddam.

It looks like the time is up for Saddam, and he is about to face a death more civilized than those he ordered carried out through Iraq during his tenure as “president”.

There is some talk in the blogosphere that Saddam may already be dead. Either way I am sure there will be videos of the execution in plenty - though I will not be posting any of them.

Also reporting:
Go Pundit Go
Crooks & Liars
Hot Air
Blue Star Chronicles
Michelle Malkin
Outside the Beltway

A picture is worth a thousand words. Take the following picture of Kerry while in Iraq eating breakfast with the troops. Note the conspicuously empty seats around him.

The following is the note which came with the Photo from the soldier who took the photo:

This is a true story…..Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one came, he worked out alone in the gym w/o any soldiers even going up to say hi or ask for an autograph (I was one of those who was in the gym at the same time), and he found himself eating breakfast with only a couple of folks who are obviously not troops.

What is amazing is Bill O’Reilly came to visit with us and the troops at the CSH the same day and the line for autographs extended through the palace and people waited for two hours to shake his hand. You decide who is more respected and loved by us servicemen and women!

I hope he gets a warmer reception if he opts to visit Iran.

H/T to Little Green Footballs.

Also reporting:
Go Pundit Go
7.62mm Justice
Texas Rainmaker
Euphoric Reality

H/T to Cox and Forkum

[sarcasm] This is quite a shocker. Finding multiple Iranian nationals involved in the plotting and execution of terrorist attacks in Iraq is nothing we would have ever expected. [/sarcasm]

From The Conservative Voice:

Several Iranian nationals were detained in recent coalition raids conducted in Iraq’s capital city, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today.

Two Iranians were among eight other suspects detained during a coalition raid at a Baghdad site Dec. 21, Army Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters.

[…]

In another operation, three Iranian nationals and one Iraqi were detained during a vehicle search by coalition forces that took place in the early evening in Baghdad Dec. 20, Caldwell said.

How many more of these do we need to see before we discard the stupid calls to get Iraq and Syria involved in “the solution”?

Shocking!

Already said to be wielding her new power as the incoming House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi is considering not allowing Republican certified winner of Florida’s 13th District Congressman Vern Buchanan to take his seat in the US House of Representatives. Although the votes are said to have been counted three times, the race continues to be contested by Democrat candidate Christine Jennings who is now suing the manufacturer of the voting machines.

They good ol’ non-partisan line of any incoming congress has fallen a bit early this year. Even before they have officially taken control. Typical Democratic response, especially in the face of 3 re-counts: sue the manufacturer of the voting machines.

What a peace of work our new Speaker is.