Within hours of the news breaking of the ambush of French soldiers on Monday, text messages arrived on reporters' mobile phones in Kabul. From Zahibullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, they boasted of the defeat of the "invader forces". Nato spokesmen in the city took much longer to issue a statement.

One problem, they said, was the difficulty in identifying exactly who had attacked the French troops. Most reports, including the statements by Mujahed, described the attackers as Taliban.

As gas climbs to $5 a gallon, the pain is evident everywhere. Buses are packed. GM is closing factories. The airlines are laying off pilots and flight attendants. Independent truckers are going bankrupt. Real wages slide down and inflation shinnies skyward.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the negotiations had been "tough, but friendly", adding that the deal would make both Poland and the US more secure. 

Ms Rice said the signing of the document was an extraordinary occasion, adding that the agreement would help Nato, Poland and the US respond to "the threats of the 21st Century". 

Anyone who still doubts that the evangelical Christian world is going through a political revolution was not watching Pastor Rick Warren's presidential forum this weekend. The era of reducing Christianity to a narrow set of ideological commitments is over. 

from Crikey ….. 

Iguanagate II: the return of Della Bosca 

Alex Mitchell writes: 

Chinese fans are watching the Olympics on TV, puffing on cigarettes in a smoke-filled bar. Suddenly, when the Chinese team scores, they crush out their cigarettes and jump up to cheer. 

'Love China,' says a message on the screen. 'Increase patriotism even more. Love a smoke-free Olympics.' 

America is a country badly in need of therapy.  

We don't know who we are anymore; everything is topsy-turvy. It's like we're suffering a national identity crisis and need a turn on the couch.  

from Crikey ….. 

Andrews left naked by innocent Haneef 'secret dossier' 

America’s back in the cold war and W’s back on vacation. 

Talk about your fearful symmetry. 

“And also I salute somebody, in President Musharraf, who has led a transition of his country to a democratic state. Pakistan has not always been democratic, something the President freely acknowledged. And I do not think enough credit has been given to Pakistan under President Musharraf's leadership for the transition over recent years…" 

John Winston Rattus 

Britain's Prince Charles has again voiced his opposition to the spread of genetically modified (GM) crops. 

The heir to the British throne was responding to plans to allow 50 British farms to plant GM crops. 

The truth is that the campaigns of both Barack Obama and John McCain are being inundated with cash from more or less exactly the same gorgons of the corporate scene.  

The risk of a new era of east-west confrontation triggered by Russia's invasion of Georgia heightened yesterday when Moscow reserved the right to launch a nuclear attack on Poland because it agreed to host US rockets as part of the Pentagon's missile shield.