Mahdi Army will continue ceasefire

Moqtada Al-Sadr has extended the six month ceasefire that his militia has been observing. This has greatly helped curb the violence in Iraq and another six months of relative peace would be great for all those involved in Iraq. I dont see how the Sunnis and Shiites will get along after U.S. troops leave, especially since the Americans have been arming Sunni militias. I just hope the Kurds will get through this whole thing ok. In fact, the only thing the Kurds really have to worry about now are the Turks. The Kurds now have an effective military( The Peshmerga) and I think they could defend themselves from a Turkish invasion pretty easily. Anyway, hopefully the Mahdi amry will help re-build Iraq into the once prosperous country that it was.

Independent Kosovo

Kosovo officially declared thier independence on February 17th. Many western nations were quick to recognize the world's newest state, despite Serbia and Russia's opposition. Other nations have yet to recognize Kosovo becuase they fear that this will fuel ethnic nationalism within thier own borders. I can just imagine that oppressed minorities in those obscure countries will start some kind of international revolution. The thought of the Chechens, Ossetians, Abkhaz, Kurds, Basques, Crimean Tatars, Palestinians, Tibetans, Ughyurs, Kabyles, and Tamils actually gaining thier independence is pretty amazing especially with all of the crap they have been through. Anyway I hope that Kosovo 's Independence will bring much needed closure to the whole Yugoslavia debacle.