Get this one. They've made a compromise at the United Nations, right? Got the Yanks, Brits, Frogs and Toads, the Russians, and the Iraqis on board, all agreed about what's going to happen, a "multinational" force under US command more or less like what's going on now. Meanwhile, Spain just pulled out all its troops, so they can't exactly get back on board.

Well, Foreign Minister Miguel �ngel Moratinos says that the Spanish withdrawal from Iraq was the "detonator" that caused the UN agreement. "We placed on the table the necessity of going toward a new model of political transition that will return the Iraqis' sovereignty to them, and this is thanks to the diplomacy of the Spanish Administration." Moratinos believes that the Americans' tipping point, which led them to try for another UN resolution, "has its origins in Zapatero's decision." Rajoy is shooting back, calling Zap a liar since he had said that there would be no UN resolution before June 30, his deadline for pulling out the Spanish troops. Says Rajoy, how the hell did Zap get Spain in such a position that it now has no influence over what France and Germany get together and decide with the States and the UK.

File this one under "killing your parents and then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you're an orphan":

The United Nations decided over the weekend to suspend its construction project in the Jenin refugee camp after Palestinian gunmen threatened crews rebuilding houses destroyed during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. [ all two square blocks - ed. ] Five men armed with M-16 rifles raided the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) offices in the camp on Friday to protest that the new houses were two small. The gunmen threatened to harm the UN staff if their demands for larger houses were not met.

. . . One of the attackers complained that the 180 square meter apartment he had been given was too small for him and his wife. "Soon we will have children and this apartment would be too small," he told the UN staff.

It's possible that the reporter got the figures wrong and the proposed house was really 180 sq. ft., which would indeed be very small. Definitely worth threatening the aid workers with guns.

This is a perfect example of dysfunctional family members passing along abuse. Arafat abuses the Palestinian people, who say "We can't leave him, he's our leader even though he treats us like shit." Then the Palestinian people abuse the UN, which says "We have to keep trying to satisfy their demands, even though they treat us (and everyone else) like shit." Or perhaps the UN is like naive inexperienced social workers with boundary problems. One wonders just what it would take to get them to set limits.

UPDATE: Some context from Imshin.