Say what you want about Bob Woodward (and I’ve said a lot of it), the guy gets people to talk. While Ford talked to me about sports, Woodward talked with him about strategy and what he thought of our nation’s national security helmsmen.

I need to learn Arabic. One of my good friends, Raghida Dergham, who is the New York-based senior diplomatic correspondent for Al Hayat, sent a link to me today that has some things to say about this blog. It’s from the Arab news service and web portal, Elaph.

A number of TWN readers have emailed me asking me to comment on President Ford’s passing. So much is out there now about him — in a strange blizzard of confessionals about how liked and admired he was (for the most part) — despite being mostly ignored for decades.

I received an email the other day from John Edwards and his campaign — not yet over the line on running for president — but asking me (and lots of other Americans) if I am going to “get ready” to change things. He’s gearing up and plans to announce tomorrow.

Wow. I just got the December 27th roster of awarded defense contracts. Perhaps they thought that between Christmas and New Year’s, not that many folks would pay attention. But seriously, we spend a lot of money killing people securing the world.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee incoming Chairman and just declared presidential candidate Joseph Biden is avoiding John Kerry’s political problem and not planning to say “I voted for it before I voted against it” by opposing the President’s plan to surge troop levels in Iraq on the front end.

Iraq’s government institutions — particularly its courts — have not hardened in the short time they have been functioning during the slap-shod democracy that the U.S. has helped prop up.

Oakley and Annie send their best — this blogger too.

I lost two friends recently, one was older and frequently ill and the other was as healthy as (I think) I am. I want to mention them here and salute them because I learned a lot from both. We all lose folks — part of life.

While I never believed that the sanctions measure being prepared by the UN Security Council against Iran would have had much effect on Iran, “losing” too many of these initiatives in which the U.S.