Another Country Heard From

Meanwhile, as world opinion and the American Left divides like a cancerous cell over events in the mideast, Somalia and Ethiopia square off:

"NAIROBI (Reuters) - Neglected by the world for years, Somalia appears on the verge of a war that could escalate into a major regional conflict and play into the hands of hardline Islamists.

Six weeks after taking Mogadishu and other southern towns, the Islamists are engaged in an increasingly bellicose standoff with a fragile, Ethiopian-backed interim government based in the provincial town of Baidoa.

"The risk of full-scale war increases by the day," said John Prendergast, of the International Crisis Group, citing the government's "foolish" boycott of peace talks in Sudan and what he called provocative Islamist militia movements..."

Not even on the radar, either at the State Department, or at the U.S. embassy in Ethiopia. Even so:

"An armed confrontation between the Islamic Courts Council and Ethiopia would be likely to generate a wave of ultra-nationalism in Somalia that would redound to the advantage of the Courts and might ignite a regional war," said Michael Weinstein, of the U.S.-based Power and Interest think-tank."

Could offer a diversion from Lebanon. One thing you can almost bet the farm on: we'll be sure to blame it on Iran.