As the examination of the documents captured when the Hussein government fell continues, more interesting tidbits are turning up. This ABC report examines a few of them, including some documents that point to contacts between Iraqi agents and Osama bin Laden in 1995. Potentially troublesome for the Bush Administration is the document that says the Russian Ambassador gave the Iraqis the coalition war plan just before the invasion in March, 2003. While the President has said he looked into "Putin's soul", he may have missed his dark heart. There is also a document that details some cooperation between Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraqi agents in planning for terrorist operations. Certainly, the release of these documents was long overdue.

Nina Shea writes about the Rahman case in Afghanistan. She is yet another person who warned, prior to its adoption, that the Afghan constitution's adoption of Sharia law would be problematic. If Rahman is executed, not only will that be a blow to religious freedom in Afghanistan, I think it will mark a devastating blow to the President's support here in the States. If Evangelical Christians begin to withdraw their support for the President and his foreign policy, especially the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then he will not have many supporters left.

Jay Bryant thinks the Rahman case may help the cause of defeating the Medieval barbarity of radical Islam.

What the case allows the West, and the moderates, to do is to give a name to the enemy, and the name is shari'a. Many Muslim nations have civil societies that are not run on the basis of shari'a, and historically, many others have been absolute models of tolerance - the Ummayad dynasty in Spain, for example, and the Abassids who founded the city of Baghdad. Both, in their day, were centers of learning that drew, and welcomed, scholars from Christendom as well as Islamia. And both, by the way, were overthrown by more radical Islamic movements - not by Christians.

The question thus becomes, which way is the current trend trending? In many ways, it seems the moderate Islamic states are on the defensive against the radicals. The Rahman case, by publicizing the most odious side of shari'a, will ultimately help move the trend in the right direction. Either the man will be martyred, or the authorities will have to back down. And if they back down, it will be clear that they, and the forces of radicalism and repression, have suffered a defeat.

Bryant thinks that Sharia will inevitably pass away. I wish I could be so optimistic.

This op-ed piece in the New York Times today examines the results of a poll that asked Americans about their foreign policy views and attitudes. Apparently, we are not necessarily becoming more isolationist, or more xenophobic. That is good news for the President.

Charles Krauthammer thinks Iraq is suffering through a civil war, but that it has always been so since the start of the insurgency.

David Ignatius thinks the President needs to find another way to get his message about Iraq across to the American people, because they aren't listening to the current message anymore. I think he is right.