Word: sided
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High over Baghdad the plane readies for a tactical, corkscrew landing and I can see the glowing grids of the U.S. detention center on the far side of the airport below. From around 5,000 feet in the air, just past dusk, it is one of the brightest structures anywhere in sight. We land, taxi, deplane and spill out into the darkness. The highway at night is empty, wide and pitch-black. After nearly five years it is still unsecured, still dubbed the "highway of death." In some cases checkpoints are every couple of hundred yards. Wide boulevards where children...
...passes and badges of various colors and sizes. And what is clear is that the closer and higher you are to the U.S. military the easier you move, the smoother you glide through to the beast's belly: the U.S. embassy. It is the tackiest, strangest circus attraction this side of Vegas. A Starbucks-like coffee shop with baristas from Madras sells cappuccinos in the main rotunda. Heavy blast-proof doors - identical to those at U.S. embassies around the world - are fitted into the regal marble lintels Saddam built...
...first glance, the brouhaha highlights some of the glaring differences between the two teams. Australia, cricket's most successful side, says it was only following rules when it reported Singh's racist remark. The Australians were appalled when Indian crowds made monkey noises at Symonds during a recent tour of India and senior Aussie players thought they had an agreement with the Indians that such behavior would not be tolerated on the field. But Indian commentators and former players argue that the word "monkey," even if it was used, is not offensive in India, where it is often used...
Independent analysts, however, remain skeptical. Mark Heller, director of research at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, contends that the gaps on core issues - boundaries, Jerusalem, refugees, water resources, and security arrangements - had hardly been narrowed, let alone overcome. He questions whether the leadership on either side - with Olmert presiding over a shaky coalition and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas contending with the radical Islamists of Hamas who control the Gaza Strip - have the ability to "take the body politic by the scruff of the neck and shake...
...Israeli side, Prime Minister Olmert has to persuade his voters that they are not being played for suckers. "[Olmert] doesn't feel that he'll be able to respond persuasively to the question 'What's in it for us?'" Heller maintains. "The obvious answer is peace and security, but he has to convince Israelis that a deal is a real deal. He's got to have an authoritative Palestinian leadership signing on the back of the check: 'This is the end. There are no further claims.' Abbas may be inclined to go in that direction, but he doesn't speak...