Notes on 9-12: The headquarters of the command overseeing U.S. forces in
the Mideast is at least temporarily moving much of its staff from
its current home in Florida to a base in the Persian Gulf state
of Qatar. The NYT and WP both point out that the base in question
has recently been expanded and is now probably ready to serve as
a big war HQ. FYI: One of the reasons the papers may know that is
because some folks have recently published commercial satellite
photos showing construction at the base. [See: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/al-udeid-imagery2.htm]

Ethnic groups in northern Iraq are
"already squabbling" about who should control one oil-rich area
if and when Saddam falls. Various pundit-types have been warning
recently that should Saddam get the boot, the U.S. will have a
tough-time keeping Iraq in one piece.

(From "Today's Papers" digest).

As if the Balkanization of the Balkans wasn't bad enough, and the disintegration of the Afghan tribes into squabbles, now we'll be back to the days of Lawrence of Arabia, with feuding tribal segments making life in Iraq look like a war zone...well, er...

A