An Unlikely Offensive  —  THE IRAQ Study Group's recommendations for shifting U.S. military tactics in the war are specific, focused and aimed at incremental improvement over the next few months; they are also close to what the Pentagon and Iraqi government already were hoping to achieve.

Chile's Gen Pinochet dies at 91  —  Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died, the Santiago hospital treating him after an earlier heart attack has announced.  —  The hospital said the condition of the 91-year-old general had suddenly worsened, AP news agency said.

17 people slain in Baghdad clashes  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen attacked two Shiite homes in western Baghdad, killing 10 people, police said Sunday, while seven others died in clashes elsewhere in the capital.  —  No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred at about 11 p.m. Saturday …

WHAT WOULD JIMMY DO?  PART 2  —  This morning Newsweek publicist Natalia Labenskyj emailed us the political stories in Newsweek's new issue.  One of the items in Labeskyj's email is Eleanor Clift's softball interview with Jimmy Carter, which I happened to read.  Here is one question and answer that caught my attention:

GOP Laments Mixed Results As Control of Congress Ends  —  Demoralized Republicans adjourned the 109th Congress at 5 a.m. yesterday with a near-empty Capitol, closing the door on a dozen years of nearly unbroken GOP control by spending more time in the final days lamenting their failures …

Sen. Smith on Iraq: "...that is dereliction, that is immoral"  —  Republican Gordon Smith ripped Bush over Iraq on the floor of the Senate Thursday: … On THIS WEEK, Smith dug a bit deeper to clarify his remarks:  —  Video-WMP Video-QT … Transcript via ABC below the fold:

a Krakow saturday  —  Can a Pole get a fresh perspective on her homeland by staying away for a while?  You think you can, but it's a myth.  You get off the train, you see X, Y and that's it.  Say no more, you, dear country, are as good (or as quirky) as I remember you.

New Radiation Traces Linked to Associate of Ex-Spy  —  German authorities said today that they had found traces of the radioactive substance polonium in a car and two homes in Hamburg used by a Russian business associate of the murdered ex-K.G.B. agent Alexander V. Litvinenko a few days before the men met in London.

Arab states study shared nuclear program  —  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The oil-rich Arab states on the Persian Gulf said Sunday that they will consider starting a joint nuclear program for peaceful purposes.  —  The announcement comes as the U.S. and its allies allege Iran is developing atomic weapons …