Saddam delivered? A report in the UK's Sunday Express, citing "an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer," posits that Saddam Hussein was ratted out by members of the al-Jabour tribe, handed over to the Kurds, who drugged him and alerted the US military as to his whereabouts. The unnamed source says, "Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time." The story would explain why some, like Saddam's daughter who appeared on CNN, say Hussein appeared sedated and didn't fight back when apprehended by US troops. Of all the news outlets covering this story, not one is an American mainstream news operation.

Judge: 20 felonies by police at FTAA summit. A Miami judge, hearing a case against two protesters at the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit last month, admitted that he personally witnessed "no less than 20 felonies committed by police officers" while attending the protests. ''Pretty disgraceful what I saw with my own eyes. And I have always supported the police during my entire career,'' he said. "This was a real eye-opener. A disgrace for the community." Two hundred thirty-one protesters were arrested during the November 20-21 event in Miami; of those at least 27 misdemeanor charges have been dropped. How many police officers were charged? None. As the judge, Richard Margolius, said, "'None? Pretty sad commentary. At least from what I saw.''

Bad math: Iraq GI injuries near 11,000. The Bush Administration has been under-counting the number of injured and maimed GIs in Iraq, according to UPI. As of December 17, the Pentagon website listed only 2,273 soldiers as wounded--omitting 8,581 medical evacuations because the Pentagon doesn't technically consider non-combat injuries "casualties." We haven't seen this kind of toll since Vietnam, says Aseneth Blackwell, a Vietnam war widow and former president of Gold Star Wives of America (a support group for spouses of killed military personnel). "It is staggering," she says. "To see these guys walking around up there with an arm missing, a leg missing, that is when it hits you in the face."

Joke of the day: Bush, speaking at a $2,000/plate fundraiser in Whippany New Jersey: "I came to this office to solve problems and not pass them on to future presidents and future generations."