HUMAN SHIELD FLEES: A large part of the human shield has left Iraq because, erm, they didn't think it was safe...

 
QUICK! REMEMBER THE WAR ON TERROR?: It's been a long time since we saw the War On Terror logo on Fox News - after all, who wants to be reminded of a loser? - but the apparent arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed brought it back. (We say apparent, because based on the usual experience of America's Most Wanted arrests overseas, it's probably going to turn out they've arrested Omar Sharif in a bungle over identity). Time hopefully suggests that he's going to sing, or at least provide background music: "Mohammed faces a conga line of interrogators: U.S. military officials, the cia, the fbi. And even if Mohammed never talks, anything found on discs, on his cell phone or in his pockets that indicates names or locations of other al-Qaeda operatives could help in finding the lower-level terrorists who look to him for command and control." Yes, it's almost certain he's going to be so clumsy he'll have stored OBL's address on his mobile phone, won't he? Lets hope they've got the right guy, and let's hope he actually is as significant as they'd like us to believe. Handy that the arrest was announced on the same day as the biggest setback for the Bush war plans, though.

 
TURKEY'S NOT VOTING FOR US' MASS: When NATO members expressed concerns about putting the organiastion on a war footing in Turkey, Donald Rumsfeld said it was ""Shameful, for me it's truly shameful. Turkey is an ally. An ally that is risking everything ... How can you refuse it help?" We've yet to see Rumsfeld's opinion on yesterday's vote in Turkey, when the elected representatives of the country decided that, actually, they'd really rather not risk everything, after all. Still, the good news for Washington is that not having to prop up the woobly Turkish economy through a messy Iraqi conflict will help keep the cost of the war down. A little.

 
THE UPSIDES OF WAR: While conflict might affect UAE fish exports to Kuwait, a possible upturn in demand for frozen fish might be experienced.