NEW YORK (The Osgood File) -- Violence in Iraq Amid the US Withdrawal there
In yesterday's car bombings near two government buildings in the heart of Baghdad, the death toll stands now at 155, more than 500 injured --- the deadliest such incident in Iraq in two years.
"This is a terrible incident, obviously done to perhaps provoke some degree of anger between rival groups in Iraq. It was done against some government buildings in the center of Baghdad at a very busy time of a day to create the maximum number of civilian casualties and inflict the maximum terror on the population..." CBS News Military Consultant Jeff McCausland said.
Will yesterday's car bombings in Baghdad affect the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq? No one seems to think so.
"It's extremists trying to ignite sectarian violence is what's going on. They`ve still got a ways to go, but it's not going to require any delay in withdrawal of U.S. troops." Senator John McCain said on CBS News "Face The Nation."
Nor is it likely to affect President Obama's decisions about Afghanistan, says CBS News Analyst John Dickerson.
"There are so many other things on Afghanistan that this is much further down the list, and this is what Administration officials say. So, this probably won't have much of an effect on Afghanistan. However, if the President does decide to add more troops, it does make the environment in which he would have to make that case to the American people a little more difficult. These kinds of bombings remind people of just the carnage that's associated with more troops overseas," Dickerson said.
Yesterday's bombings in Baghdad are a test, though, says Jeff McCausland.
"This is a test again of the Iraqi Security Forces' ability to provide security for the population, as they have taken over that responsibility from the United States. And sadly, we may see more of these attacks in the runup to the elections in January --- which is a very, very important milestone for Iraq moving ahead," McCausland said.
Trying to get economists to agree on anything is like herding cats. That's why a new survey out today is so remarkable --- and so encouraging.
Signs of Life ahead for the Economy, at last?
Trying to get economists to agree on anything is like herding cats. That's why a new survey out today is so remarkable --- and so encouraging.
"This is a survey of 78 corporate economists. And they reported the best results in their own firms in five to six quarters. And for the first time, we had 78 economists unanimous that real gross domestic product will be positive in 2010," Kenneth Simonson, chief economist at the General Contractors of America said.
Kenneth Simonson is a corporate economist himself, for the General Contractors of America, a trade association for the construction industry. The survey sure looks good to him.
"It provides clear new evidence that the U.S. economy is recovering..." Simonson said.
This survey of business economists is not just a forecast --- it's also a report.
"The one thing that really did surprise me is 38 percent of respondents reported an increase in sales, because of the fiscal stimulus that was enacted last February. I think that was a higher percentage than I might have expected. From my own industry in construction, we know that highway money has gone out pretty quickly, but most other kinds of stimulus are still in the pipeline."
And in the critical area of employment...
"Job losses seem to be slowly abating. There are still more firms cutting payrolls than raising employment count. But, the number of firms adding jobs doubled from six percent --- all-time low --- in July, to 12 percent, " Simonson said.
The bottom line is: Thumbs Up...
"The best news here is there seems to be universal agreement the economy, as measured by inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, will be positive in 2010 --- and as far as their own companies are concerned, they definitely saw better results in the third quarter of this year than they had in five or six quarters before," Simonson said.
Bringing a Former Bosnian Serb Leader to Trial.
Today at The Hague, on opening day of the trial of Radovan Karadzic...
"He stands accused of genocide, crimes, against humanity, and war crimes," Daniel Serwer, U.S. Institute of Peace said.
Karadzic boycotted the trial, didn't show up or send a lawyer to defend him --- and UN judges abruptly adjourned the hearing, saying the trial will begin tomorrow, with or without the defendant.
"He's going to try every delaying tactic he can pull off and deny the legitimacy of the court and anything else he can do to postpone the ultimate finding," Jack Hitt said.
What is it that Radovan Karadzic is accused of?
Daniel Serwer is with the United States Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan organization funded by Congress.
"The indictment reads like an almanac of the Bosnian War --- starting with the ethnic cleansing towards the beginning of the war, stretching through the siege of Sarajevo, the taking of U.N. forces as hostages, and eventually to the massacre at Srebrenica towards the end of the war," Serwer said.
At Srebrenica, eight-thousand Muslim men and boys were put to death.
"During some of the worst fighting back in the 90s, he permitted thousands of people to be just executed in waves of execution," Hitt said.
Jack Hitt has written about Karadzic for The New York Times Magazine.
"We're still digging up those bodies. We don't know the exact number of how many people he had murdered. We do know he is the person who gave the soldiers the authority to sort of execute at will," Hitt said.
Serbians on the streets of Belgrade reacted to today's developments at The Hague.
Two Serbians in Belgrade
"(Man #1:) Radovan Karadzic is actually, I must say, a hero for Serbian people. (Man #2:) I think he certainly should go to the trial. Because if he's innocent, he'll prove it. And if he's not, he'll get what he deserves." (:12)
"It's very important for the future that people who are responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide --- that they be held accountable in this legal sort of way," Daniel Serwer said.
Keeping Warm this Winter with a Fully "Green" House.
No matter how cold it gets this winter, Simon Hare and his wife will not turn up the thermostat in their cozy 750 square foot, two-story cottage in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. That's because they don't have a thermostat, and that's because they have no furnace --- no heater of any kind --- to turn up.
This is not an oversight. It's that way on purpose.
"Well, we want to set an example. We're not trying to tell people what to do. But we want to show them what we've done and what it's done for us --- or will do, once we've passed the winter --- which is save a lot of energy --- create a healthy, very fun place to live in that doesn't need a heating system --- and it does all kinds of other things for us," Simon Hare said.
It should bring the Hare family closer together, body heat being 98.6. Little Lulu, their daughter, is only 16 months old.
The Hares have yet to spend a winter in their heaterless house.
But they'll be fine, Simon says --- it's very well insulated.
"Very good insulation --- insulation that's not compromised by thermal bridges, which is basically any piece of building material that touches the inside air and the outside air will conduct heat from inside to outside."
As for the windows?
"You have good windows designed to face the sun in the winter, to allow enough heat in --- but not lose too much heat," Hare said.
In fact, in the daytime, the windows will act as heaters, he says.
"...A great amount of sunlight low in the sky on the south side. You don't get that in the summertime --- the sun is typically heating up your roof. But in the winter, it's typically heating up the wall. If you have windows on the wall, you get free heat --- and lots of it."
Simon Hare owns a small design and building company called PlaceTailor --- and it's the first place he's tailored in this way.
By his calculations, it should stay at around 63 degrees...
"It's really not technology-oriented, this way of building. It's just designing with climate in mind, making the most of the climate that you're living in," Hare said.
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