Sharon's Still Kicking

I'm too Fridayed to write anything original...so here it is straight from the horse's mouth:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met today with the chief rival within his own Likud Party, the former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and offered him the job of foreign minister, Israel radio reports said. There was no immediate word on whether Mr. Netanyahu would accept the offer, which some Israeli politicians said on Thursday would be a smart move by Mr. Sharon. If the prime minister finds himself forced to hold a general election following the resignation from his government on Wednesday of the left-leaning Labor Party, Mr. Netanyahu would have a chance to unseat Mr. Sharon in a Likud primary. Accepting the foreign ministry post, however, could box Mr. Netanyahu in politically, although turning it down could make him look petty and self-interested. For similar reasons, when he was prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu picked a prominent rightist rival to serve as his foreign minister — Ariel Sharon.

And an excellent editorial in the nytimes advocates U.S. troops leaving Saudi Arabia. I never thought of that in these terms, embaressingly enough, and the journalist makes some great points, the paramount of which is that we and the Saudis would both be better off without bases there.