Saturday, December 22 in the news....
- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates held out hope Friday that US forces in Iraq could continue a steady decline next year if security keeps improving, but said patience must be had, explaining how it took 55 years to get down to 30,000 troops in Korea.
- A suicide attacker detonated a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails amid hundreds of worshippers Friday at the residential compound of a former top security official for President Pervez Musharraf, killing at least 50 people, authorities said. With 3 days to go, Pakistan is not looking very Christmassy.
