News and Analysis (11/8/06)

President says “fresh perspective” is needed at the Pentagon:

• Rumsfeld to Step Down as Defense Secretary: Bush Taps Former CIA Director Robert Gates as Successor (Washington Post)

Immanuel Wallerstein says nothing will change despite the election; the silver lining being that “one can think of times when the rude shock of the kind that a defeat in Iraq would inflict could have the salutary effect of reviving the best in the American tradition”:

• After Nov. 7, U.S. Still Faces The Rude Shock Of Defeat (San Francisco Chronicle)

Meanwhile, far away from American troops in Iraq, a real step towards democratic reform:

• Kyrgyzstan Adopts New Constitution (Reuters)

Eight children and five women among the dead:

• Israeli Forces Fire on Gaza Town, Killing 20 (Washington Post)

Pirates threatened with amputation:

• Somali Islamists Storm Hijacked Ship (Reuters)

Bombing seen as retaliation for attack on school:

• Suicide Bomber Kills 42 Soldiers In Pakistan (Reuters)

Ahmadinijad calls for privatization with a social-justice twist: turn over state industry to the poor:

• The New Triple Threat in Iran: Compassionate Justice? (The American Muslim)

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