My question is, if the UN heads into Iraq, will President Deserter-boy use it as an excuse to cut and run? After all, the UN needs funding and the CheneyBurton Corporation, with a little well-placed graft can, I am sure, keep their fat no-bid contracts, especially if they sub parts out French, German and Russian companies. I hope I'm not being too cynical here...

"Regarding the possible participation of international forces in Iraq under U.S. command, we don't see anything wrong with this," Putin told a news conference on the Italian island of Maddalena, near Sardinia.

"It is possible, but it would require a decision from the U.N. Security Council," he said.

Russia, along with two other heavyweight Security Council members Germany and France, opposed the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam on April 9. The three countries now favour a larger role for the United Nations in Iraq.

Since Bush declared major combat over on May 1, U.S. troops have faced persistent and often deadly attacks and the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad has been plagued by sabotage to the country's protentially lucrative oil industry.

"This is the greatest crime ever against the Muslims in this holiest place," said Sheikh Ali Jabbar, a cleric at the Imam Ali mosque, as women dressed in black slapped their heads in grief.

The mosque contains the tomb of Ali, son-in-law and cousin of Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam.

Thousands of shoes lay around the mosque, left behind by worshippers and scattered in all directions by the bomb.

Ten years from now, what's this going to look like? Will there be another Wall in the Capitol Mall? Is Iraqi Oil or the lust for it going to be the seminal event that changes the way America is perceived in this century and perhaps beyond, especially as the arguments for invasion grow weaker by the day? Damn, it was a bad year for my crystal ball to break.