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When the bare-knuckled brawl over health care reform finally wraps up and the Obama Administration pivots to less divisive topics, education reform may be one of the few issues capable of drawing bipartisan support. The Administration's proposed overhaul of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act could resonate with Republicans, many of whom have been disappointed with the results of George W. Bush's signature education initiative. President Obama's blueprint, which was sent to Congress on Monday, sets forth an ambitious national standard - to have all students graduate high school ready for college or a career...
...Less than three months later, there was another breakthrough. On Sept. 17, Obama scrapped the Bush Administration's plan to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe, which had been seen by Russia as a blatant military threat. Even Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was impressed. He had been icy toward Obama during their July meeting - there were certainly no hugs and smiles like the ones he gave Iran's President in Tehran in 2007. But in September, Putin called Obama's decision to ax the missile shield "correct and brave," and Russia's threat to "neutralize" Bush's plan...
...civic leaders like Vargas, who is a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, say the Obama Administration and the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderón need to pay closer attention to what many believe is the real reason the narcos are turning even more vicious. And it has less to do with Calderón's military crusade than with a murderous blunder the drug cartels made shortly after midnight on Jan. 31 that may well have changed the course of the drug...
...toward answering critics of the Mérida Initiative, a bilateral pact that is supposed to deliver more than $1.5 billion in U.S. antidrug aid to Mexico, a plan some see as too wedded to tired and often failed U.S. drug-war staples like Black Hawk helicopters instead of less corrupt and more professional Mexican police. As a result, says Vargas, "Juárez could be an example of how to reverse this situation in Mexico...
...course, won't brake Mexico's ever spiraling drug violence. But like January's teen massacre, the March 13 assault on Americans may well turn out to be another big mistake by the narcos - especially if it gets both Washington and Mexico City to work together on the less militaristic but more effective long-term strategies that could eventually leave the cartels crying for once...