From the Washington Times….

An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.

The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.

He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication between the leadership of al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and al Qaeda’s leadership in the tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. The communication suggested that an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official.

From Abu Muqawama….

Unlike in 2006, when the post-war talk all centered around Hizballah’s performance and the IDF’s poor showing, the talk this time around is about the ethics of Israel’s assault and the way in which the operation was conducted. The good news from Israel’s perspective is that even the most hardened Hamas supporter would have a very tough time declaring victory. It appears as if even the best units from Hamas were rolled up with little difficulty, and though I am not in favor of using body counts to gauge operational excellence, it has to be said that Israel inflicted a lot of pain on Hamas with very few casualties of their own.

I don’t know if this is really over yet. I wonder if Israel’s unilateral ceasefire had something to do with an upcoming change in administration in America. They may have felt like they had a deadline to meet. Now if Hamas starts firing again, they can tell Obama they would have liked to have stopped but Hamas would not let them.

From the El Paso Times…..

Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse,” according to a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats.

The command’s “Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)” report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico. “In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico.

In many ways, Mexico has it worse than Pakistan. Lots of low level types die every day in Pakistan. But most of the elites are never touched because they play a double game. When Pakistan is forced to admit that someone of high level is working with the “bad guys” they put them under house arrest and let them do what they please. In return, the militants rarely kill anyone important in Pakistan.

In contrast, a lot of high level people in Mexico have either been killed (because they did not work with the bad guys) or had to face real jail time (because the government found out that they were working for the bad guys). Both of these things are largely unheard of in Pakistan. This is largely because Mexico is trying to destroy the destabilizing elements with in the country where as Pakistan is trying to get along with its destabilizing elements.

The disgusting thing is that the US is giving far more money to Pakistan (who is not really trying) then it is to Mexico (who are making an honest effort). At least there is a chance that Mexico can be saved. No such chance exists for Pakistan.

And least you think that we can deal with any collapse of Mexico by the simple expedient of sealing our border, remember this: A lot of our oil comes from Mexico, and it will not easily be replaced.