mush and bush

NYT: incorporating returning refugees and displaced back into Baghdad
"American commanders caution that if the return is not carefully managed, there is a risk of undermining the recent security gains." US military blames Iraqi gov't.
WP: from same briefing where NYT picked up the refugee return story, WP highlights instead "mixed bag" quality of life for Iraqis.
WP: processing of Iraqi refugees for resettlement to the US improves (but there was really nowhere to go but up)

LAT: radicalization in Tunisia
"This year, police killed more than 20 militants in a series of gun battles in a suburb of the capital and in mountains near the Algerian border. The extremists, including Tunisians and a Mauritanian, were part of a group that trained in Algeria and was allegedly planning attacks on the U.S. and other Western embassies in Tunis."

Slate: creating the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea - the US blurs the line

WP: United Russia - Putin's party - "campaigns" for parliamentary elections
"Employees and students at state enterprises and institutions, including hospitals and universities, have come under pressure from their bosses and deans to vote for United Russia on Sunday or face retribution, according to activists."

NYT: support for Chávez's reforms appears tenuous, even in strongholds
''Chávez is delirious if he thinks we’re going to follow him like sheep,' said Ivonne Torrealba, 29, a hairdresser in the gritty Coche district, who has supported Mr. Chávez in every election since his first campaign for president in 1998."

WP: best name possible for satirical column in Pakistan (and good summary of media censoring)
plus, a new holiday tune: "'On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me twelve bombers' bombings, eleven laathi charges, ten Swat beheadings, nine majors gloating, eight foreign sanctions, seven lawyers tortured, six house arrests, no BBC, four militants, three rallies, two Taliban and a state of emergency.' A laathi charge is a police tactic involving batons."