There's some good news and bad news in a global study by American intelligence agencies. On the plus side, the influence and capabilities of that ol' bugaboo al Qaeda may be on the wane. But, according to the New York Times, there's a grimmer side to tomorrow's "morning in America":

"The new report describes a world riven by increased conflict over scarce food and water supplies and threatened by so-called rogue states and terrorists, widening gaps between rich and poor and an uneven impact of global warming. It said the chance of the use of nuclear weapons, while remaining 'very low,' would rise in the next two decades as nuclear technology spreads." 

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Just what impact Bush's dramatic Iraq policy reversal - agreeing to a fixed deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq - will have on Barack Obama's own Iraq strategy is still up in the air, but some suspicious characters are suspiciously elated.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari signed in Bagdad yesterday a tentative agreement to pull out U.S. troops by the end of 2011; the pact still requires approval by the Iraqi parliament. The Obama transition team has not indicated a response hot or cold, saying only it wants Congress to closely review the pact before giving its imprimatur.

Behind the scenes is a bigger question: Will the agreement provide an opening for the upcoming Obama Administration to put the brakes on its own pledge to disengage forces in 16 months?

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