Tom Regan of the Christian Science Monitor provides this July 14 round-up of the fast-escalating Israel-Lebanon crisis and international reactions. We especially love Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon's invocation (yet again) of US atrocities in Afghanistan, and Russia's in Chechnya—as if one atrocity justifies another. It does point up, however, that Washington's criticisms of Israel (lukewarm as they are—in fact, Condoleezza Rice's "sharp" words are an implicit endorsement of Israeli aggression) are thoroughly hypocritical.

We don't know when lefties started cheering on CIA agents. But it's no weirder than the White House blowing their cover. We applaud Valerie Plame for not going along with the journalist-bashing that has infected right and left alike in this bizarre affair. The administration used journalists as mouthpieces for leaks, and then hung them out to dry—using them once again, as scapegoats. And supposed progressives like Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) played along. Compared to them, (ex-)secret agent Plame is taking the high road. From Editor & Publisher, July 14:

This is the surest sign yet that the Bush boys have been humbled. In addition to the unfavorable Supreme Court decision on the Guantanamo detainees, this July 11 AP clip notes some of the political considerations behind the decision to honor the Geneva Conventions:

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Tuesday that all detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in U.S. military custody everywhere are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.

Joining the estimated 500,000 who took to the streets of Mexico City July 8 to demand a recount in the contested presidential elections is, of all places, the Financial Times. The upper-crust British daily supported the officially victorious conservative candidate Felip Calderon, but in an editorial noting populist challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's demands for a total recount, opined: "That is exactly what Mexico's electoral authorities should do." (La Jornada, July 11; FT, July 10)

Despite the recent tensions between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, both governments seem equally paranoid about Western-backed subversion within their borders. And perhaps with reason. From RFE/RL, July 12:

A Tashkent court today ordered the closure of the Urban Institute, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization.

It seems the Kyrgyz government, itself put in power by a US-sponsored revolution last year, is increasingly paranoid that Washington is brewing another one. And perhaps with reason. Note that negotiations over continued Pentagon access to Kyrgyz military bases are currently underway. Erica Marat writes for Eurasia Daily Monitor, July 13:

Dealing drugs was the least of Pinochet's crimes. But the poor family's delicate sensibilities have been offended by the accusation, it seems. From AP, July 12:

SANTIAGO, Chile - The son of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet filed a defamation suit Tuesday against the general's former intelligence chief, rejecting published accusations that Pinochet became rich off the production and sale of cocaine.

Another reason to love New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer. But, as we've said before regarding a similar case, getting Emmanuel Constant for mortgage fraud is kind of like nailing Hitler for tax-evasion. From Newsday, July 7:

A Queens man and former Haitian paramilitary leader, convicted of the 1994 massacre of slum-dwellers loyal to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has been arrested and charged with committing mortgage fraud from the Melville brokerage where he works, Suffolk officials said yesterday.