BAGHDAD (Reuters) – It is a truism in warfare that has rarely seemed more relevant: there is only so much you can achieve from the air.

If Western forces want to get rid of Muammar Gaddafi, they need a force on the ground that can stand up to his security forces. So far, the rebels seem hardly suited to the task.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – When he sees reports from Libya of a euphoric youth rebellion crushed in a brutal armed crackdown by an Arab ruler, Ahmed al-Saidi is overcome with an ominous sense of deja vu.

A survivor of the failed 1991 uprising against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Saidi knows what it feels like to believe the international community will help you overthrow a dictator, only to find your town abandoned to merciless revenge.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s opposition parties may grumble about the terms of an EU/IMF bailout, but when they come to power in a matter of months as widely expected they will have little room to escape the measure.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen and his ruling Fianna Fail party are headed for defeat in an election early next year that is all but certain to put the opposition Fine Gael and Labour parties in control of the country.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s opposition parties may grumble about the terms of an EU/IMF bailout, but when they come to power in a matter of months as widely expected they will have little room to escape the measure.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen and his ruling Fianna Fail party are headed for defeat in an election early next year that is all but certain to put the opposition Fine Gael and Labour parties in control of the country.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – European ministers are set to sign off an 85 billion euro ($113 billion) emergency loan package for Ireland on Sunday that they hope will calm markets and prevent contagion to other parts of the euro currency bloc.

The Belgian presidency of the European Union said finance ministers from its 27 member states would meet in Brussels on Sunday to discuss Ireland, which is poised to become the second euro zone country after Greece to be bailed out.

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland is poised to become the second euro zone country after Greece to seal a bailout but few expect the rescue to end a deep crisis that has haunted Europe’s currency bloc for much of the past year.

Tens of thousands of Irish are expected to march in Dublin on Saturday in a union-organized protest against the government’s decision to seek aid from the EU and IMF to help it deal with its crumbling banks and gaping budget deficit.

DUBLIN/LISBON (Reuters) – Ireland hammered out the final details of an EU/IMF rescue on Friday as financial market pressure mounted on Portugal and Spain despite vehement denials from euro zone governments that they too might require bailouts.

The euro currency dipped as low as $1.32 for the first time in over two months and shares on both sides of the Atlantic fell amid fears the currency bloc’s debt crisis could deepen further and the 85 billion euro ($113 billion) package for Ireland might not be the last.

DUBLIN/LISBON, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Ireland hammered out the
final details of an EU/IMF rescue on Friday as financial market
pressure mounted on Portugal and Spain despite vehement denials
from euro zone governments that they too might require bailouts.

The euro currency dipped as low as $1.32 for the first time
in over two months and shares on both sides of the Atlantic fell
amid fears the currency bloc’s debt crisis could deepen further
and the 85 billion euro ($113 billion) package for Ireland might
not be the last.

DUBLIN, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Country A is drowning. A
catastrophic recession has thrown a tenth of its workforce out
of jobs in just two years. Firms are shutting, banks are barely
solvent and the IMF has been called in to bail out the
government from crushing debt. The standard of living is
eroding, taxes are being hiked, state spending is being slashed,
and the deeply unpopular government is being forced into an
election it is certain to lose.

Country B has a huge and growing trade surplus. It is
attracting a flood of international investment from global
firms, building thriving hi-tech export industries. Exports grew
this year by 6 percent and now amount to more than $50,000 per
person. Taxes are low and staying low, and the English-speaking
population is highly skilled.

DUBLIN, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Country A is drowning. A
catastrophic recession has thrown a tenth of its workforce out
of jobs in just two years. Firms are shutting, banks are barely
solvent and the IMF has been called in to bail out the
government from crushing debt. The standard of living is
eroding, taxes are being hiked, state spending is being slashed,
and the deeply unpopular government is being forced into an
election it is certain to lose.

Country B has a huge and growing trade surplus. It is
attracting a flood of international investment from global
firms, building thriving hi-tech export industries. Exports grew
this year by 6 percent and now amount to more than $50,000 per
person. Taxes are low and staying low, and the English-speaking
population is highly skilled.