I'm not sure if I should sigh a breath of relief over this article just yet, but this could be an indication that thousands upon thousands of would-be draftees won't be forcefully uprooted from their lives and thrust into a hellhole on the brink of civil war.

Since you have to have an account at ‘The New York Times’ to read this… I’ll just cut & paste a few important lines for you… the “highlights” if you will.

“When Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other senior American officials arrive at a summit meeting in Morocco next week that is intended to promote democracy across the Arab world, they have no plans to introduce any political initiatives to encourage democratic change.

President Bush started speaking in 2002 about the need to bring democracy to the Arab nations. Since then, however, the popular view of the United States in the region has grown so dark, even hateful, that American officials are approaching the meeting with caution and with a package of financial and social initiatives that have only a scant relationship to the original goal of political change.”

So, to sum up what will be remembered as the Bush-Cheney years: No WMDs. No connection between Saddam and Al Qaida [even though 42% of American's still believe there was a connection... impressive]. And now, no Arab Democracy Project… it’s almost enough to leave you speechless.

Anyways, time to go watch VH1’s Big in ’04.