As the EU deploys the first of 3,700 troops to Chad this week on a peacekeeping mission to protect refugees and aid workers on the border with Darfur, rebels from eastern Chad are driving toward the capital, N'Djamena. Two years ago rebels tried to overthrow President Deby, but were defeated in battles in N'Djamena.

This time around, stakes are even higher. Recently the rebels collided with a government force but did not engage them in combat. Reports indicate the rebels have taken several towns, despite bombing campaigns by the government. When full combat erupts, it will be difficult for European forces to remain neutral:

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR withdrew most staff from the eastern town of Guereda on Thursday after five aid vehicles in the area were hijacked at gunpoint in just 72 hours.

"We can not continue to perform our activities in favour of refugees," the UNHCR said in a statement.

Chadian rebels have threatened to attack the European force if it interferes with their campaign against Deby, although European commanders have pledged not to take sides.

With tensions escalating between Chad and Sudan, as well as within each country, even minor disturbances threaten to turn into disasters. The rebels may well suffer another defeat or fade back into the countryside of Chad or Sudan. But if they begin to defeat government forces, or clash directly with European troops, the EU may find itself in a nasty predicament, forced to choose between scaling back its presence or actively fighting the rebels.

Chad has its share of problems, and its government certainly bears responsibility for some of them. But regional destabilization clearly emanates from Sudan. The longer the international community allows problems there to fester, the greater the consequences it risks, and the greater the danger of regional, even international, war becomes.

UPDATE: The rebels are getting closer, the EU mission is delayed, and France is bolstering their troop numbers.

Rebels in Chad say they have clashed with government troops as they advance towards the capital, N'Djamena.

"We expect to be able to eat our lunch in N'Djamena," rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah told the BBC.

The UN says it is pulling non-essential expatriate staff out of the city and France is flying in 150 extra troops to protect French nationals there.

A European Union force about to deploy in Chad has delayed its first two troop flights because of the clashes.

Today, George Bush's administration claimed it has largely succeeded in supplying affordable high-speed Internet access to all Americans. Another mission accomplished moment? Yep. The real picture isn't nearly so rosy.

First, the U.S. still ranks 15th for broadband connectivity, behind countries like France, Australia, the UK, and Canada, with only 22% of homes connected. Bush's numbers [pdf] are far higher (50% for cities, 38% for rural areas) because he feels a 200kbs/sec connection is "broadband." Those citizens connecting to the Internet using a service barely faster than dial-up probably disagree.

Second, competition among service providers is woefully low. Most Americans have only one or possibly two choices for broadband access. This means we pay an average of $150 more for the same connection than the French. Our connections are slower too, with our average speed only barely above average for connected countries.

Lastly, America's broadband providers seem intent to stymie progress, innovation, and net traffic in any way they can. As opposed to well connected and net-neutral countries like Japan, America allows ISPs to throttle certain kinds of traffic, charge or cut off users for using "excess" bandwidth, and close off their infrastructure to competing service providers.

It all adds up to a slow, expensive, and frustrating experience for American users.

In a country with no net neutrality, where I pay $60/month for sometimes slow and throttled Internet service, where friends in rural areas can't even get online at all, we're supposed to agree with the President and declare that our connectivity goals have been accomplished? Please.

America has long been a hotbed of Internet innovation, but lately traffic and business dollars are moving overseas. American citizens have used the Internet to diversify their media consumption, create new communities, and organize a myriad of political campaigns, yet many Americans still lack the connections to participate fully in the new online democracy. The Internet revolution - which started here - can be fully expressed here as well, but only when Internet connectivity is treated as a necessary service (like water or electricity) and not a luxury.

Until then, the mission is decidedly not accomplished.

In the fight over who's a better conservative, antagonism is heating up between McCain and Romney, the Republican Party's leading presidential candidates.

"I didn't come here to umpire a ballgame between these two," an irritated Huckabee said at one point, motioning to McCain and Romney. "I came here to get a chance to swing at a few myself." Hoping to take a few swings, Huckabee has kept himself in the race that increasingly appears to be a two-man race.

The "Pink Gang" is bringing a new type of vigilante order to India's Uttar Pradesh.

In Kenya, a second legislator from the opposition party was killed Thursday in what government officials are calling a "crime of passion" stemming from a love triangle. Opposition leaders consider the killing an assassination. Though the UN are over-seeing political negotiations, panic, violence and chaos erupted across Kenya in response to news of the killing.

Following damage to two undersea cables, Internet access, international phone and other services were disrupted in the Middle East and India. Emergency crews are working to repair the damage, which may have been caused by an anchor in the port at Alexandria, Egypt.

As America's War in Iraq continues without a clear end in sight, questions of military mental health and the experience of returning from war require careful consideration. After receiving some hostile criticism for its method of reporting on crimes committed by soldiers returned from Iraq, the New York Times today reported upon a study that suggests post-traumatic stress disorder and depression might be the more pervasive the causes of the post-war symptoms than physical head trauma. Active-duty mental health concerns are also an issue with soldier suicides at record levels. Even after the final troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, American will continue to deal with the effects of war on the thousands of youth sent to war–definitely a cost worth considering.

With Waziristan sliding further into chaos, the CIA seems to be taking matters into its own hands. Thirteen militants were killed during a missile strike that is "believed to have been carried out by a pilotless U.S. Predator aircraft flown across the nearby border with Afghanistan". Though the United States has been working with Pakistan's military leadership in the "war on terror", Pakistan has repeatedly said "it will not tolerate violations of its territorial sovereignty". Such covert operations threaten to upset the delicate balance of power in the US-Pakistani alliance.

With some heavy issues in the headlines today, share your thoughts in the comments section below.

With our race and politics issue premiering tomorrow, we want to know if you think race will play a role in this primary. But first, last week's results:

Last week we asked you what you thought the best thing our government could do to stave off recession was. 47% of you felt cutting of foreign spending while at the same time decreasing domestic spending was the way to go. 24% of you thought cutting spending across the board was a better option. Interestingly, nobody thought cutting taxes would do the job.

A lot of ink has been spilled on Barack Obama's race. First he disproved the Bradley effect by winning in white Iowa, then we might have been hurt by it in white New Hampshire. Oprah and Ted Kennedy have endorsed him, while Jesse Jackson has complained that he's too white. It's a muddled picture. With that in mind, do you think Barack Obama's race will play a sizable role in affecting voter's choices, both in the primary and possibly in the general election? Voting begins in the sidebar on the left.

(I was going to work this into a bigger piece on JRE and Iraq, but, well, events got ahead of me, so I’ll just report on this point that seems to have, like so many substantive points in this race, gone underreported.)

Appearing on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show last week, George Packer, New Yorker writer and author of The Assassins’ Gate, got to comparing the (then) three major Democrats left in the race. He had these two things to say (transcribed from the audio):

If a Democratic primary voter is concerned with getting out of Iraq as quickly as possible, then there is only one clear choice, and that is John Edwards.

. . . .

If you want to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible and you are trying to choose between Obama and Clinton—there is no way to choose.

It's no secret that Texas Senator John Cornyn has a big war chest. He announced Friday that he has $7.5 million cash on hand for his race against Rick Noriega. Noriega has about half a million on hand.

But this race won't only be about money. It's also about votes and grassroots support. As I mentioned the other day, I support Noriega because I think if a progressive can win in Texas, progressives can win anywhere. I want to take back the Senate:

We've seen what Republicans do to our country. They wreck the economy. They start belligerent wars. They steadily erode the gains the middle class has made over the last 50 years. They take away our civil liberties and push America farther towards a police state, preferring to keep the citizens living in fear. By electing Rick Noriega and taking back John Cornyn's seat, we'll be moving one step closer to shutting the door once and for all on the Bush doctrine, which has been so disastrous for America.

That's not why Texans should support Noriega. They should support him because he's been a tireless public servant who has and will work for his constituents. He's proving it with his current South Texas tour:

Colorado's The Summit Daily News provides us with Democratic Congressman and Senate candidate Mark Udall's reactions to President Bush's State of the Union. They offer a glimpse into his stances on important issues, and also demonstrate the ways in which he's attempting to confront problems in the here and now.

On the economy
Rep. Mark Udall: “We need to strengthen our economy but this will require more than a short-term economic stimulus; it will require greater focus on economic fundamentals, including restoring fiscal discipline, increasing research and development, expanding American jobs, ending a costly war in Iraq, and getting this country on a path to energy security.”

On the war
Rep. Mark Udall: “In Iraq, while the ‘surge’ of troops has brought some real improvements, our armed forces are so strained that it cannot be sustained much longer. A ‘diplomatic surge’ is needed, along with a responsible redeployment strategy like that called for by the Iraq Study Group. We also must reinforce security efforts in Afghanistan. Regarding Iran, I’ve introduced legislation (H.R. 3119) to bar military action without prior Congressional approval, and I am glad the president emphasized the importance of concerted international action and diplomacy.”

On immigration
Rep. Mark Udall: “I agree with the president that both entitlement programs and immigration need urgent attention, and I am cosponsoring bipartisan legislation on each. One bill (H.R. 3654) would establish a bipartisan commission to develop legislation on entitlements. The other (H.R. 4088, the ‘SAVE’ Act) would strengthen border security and, I hope, lay the foundation for the comprehensive reform that we need.”

On congressional spending
Rep. Mark Udall: “As for earmarks, I agree with President Bush that there should be more transparency and accountability in Congressional spending. That is why I have introduced legislation (H.R, 595, the ‘SLICE’ Act) to give the President a constitutionally-sound version of a line-item veto that would enable him to require Congress to take a separate vote on specific spending items, and why I am cosponsoring Rep. Jeff Flake’s bill (H.R. 631, the ‘Earmark Transparency and Accountability Act’) that would require earmarks to be in the texts of bills — not just committee reports — so that they would be open to amendments on the floor.”

On energy
Rep. Mark Udall: “I was glad to hear the President again express support for reducing our dependence on oil and for moving to a new generation of clean energy technology. I will be renewing my efforts to pass a national renewable energy standard and to increase support for renewable energy and greater energy efficiency, and I hope to have the Administration’s support in that effort.”

McCain wins Florida by a narrow margin.

A new report about Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon is expected to criticize Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.

The New York Times wonders whether the arrest of Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia signals a looming "Olympic crackdown."

In Kenya, the administration and the opposition meet to negotiate a settlement based on Kofi Annan's suggestions.

Iran expects to have nuclear-generated electricity within a year.

BLOGS

Voting irregularities in South Florida? And it happens to Rush Limbaugh? Incredible.

Stirling Newberry blasts the State of the Union.

Feldman on Rudy's failed use of 9/11 as a campaign device.

While the 22nd Amendment and bitter policy mistakes ensure that our sitting leader cannot run for a third presidential term, Bush seems to be running damage control. They may distance themselves from him, but few Republican candidates, if any, are immune to the economic failures of this administration. The ability of the Republican Party to get its footing in this volatile time will depend on how Bush 43 handles this downturn, and whether he does so with their core elements of conservatism.

So you can bet that Bush and congressional Republicans will fight like hell. And Democrats need to be cautious, because a number of his ideas, laid out in Monday's State of the Union, and in a preceding agenda¹ are troublesome, dangerous initiatives.

As a liberal and someone involved in the field of education, I've always been bothered by the No Child Left Behind Act. Fundamentally, it targets underperforming schools and “solves” the problem by taking away the one resource that's key to any sort of turnaround: funding.

But it goes further. The standards of underperformance that the program spells out seem to be ignorant of the education industry, and don't address the real issues that public education struggles with, namely resources and recruitment.

A bank robbery that devolved into a hostage standoff in Venezuela has been resolved with no casualties. Kids, there's a lesson in this: don't get high and convince yourself that robbing a bank is a good idea.

Latinos in Florida love Hill. No doubt her tougher stance on Cuba has something to do with it. McCain's adept at wooing the Cuban exile crowd too.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe thanks President Bush for his specific mention of the pending trade agreement between our two nations during the State of the Union address. Of the agreement, Bush said "if we fail to pass this agreement, we will embolden the purveyors of false populism in our hemisphere. So we must come together, pass this agreement, and show our neighbors in the region that democracy leads to a better life." Note the direct and unsubstantiated link made between a free trade agreement and the realization of democracy's ideals.

Folks, we've got to protect the Amazon.

Massachusetts Congressman William Delahunt looks into the role corporations have played in Colombia's internal conflict, including contributions made to paramilitary groups. It seems that Chiquita's private port (yes they have a private port) may have been used to bring thousands of weapons into the country, all of which presumably ended up in paramilitary hands.

Oxygen for the Cuban blogosphere (Spanish).

Plaza Niemeyer was inaugurated in Cuba yesterday. The Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer provided a gift:

Lastly, the Seminal is proud to welcome Melissa Sanchez as a contributor. She posted at our site earlier this week, and we look forward to any and all future contributions. She's currently living in Nicaragua, thanks to a grant from the Inter American Press Association.