Quickhits

In the category of "things we knew, but proof is a big deal,"

(BBC) "Many EU nations were aware that the CIA used their territory for the transfer or detention of terror suspects, a draft European parliament report says."

(ABCNews/Blotter) "The Taliban and al Qaeda have become so emboldened by recent events in Pakistan that senior al Qaeda operatives have been spotted "walking and talking openly" in the market of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, according to analysts at the British Joint Intelligence Committee."

(AFP) Afghanistan is undermanned and under equipped. "NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has hit out at alliance countries for failing to provide reinforcements in insurgency-hit Afghanistan...... "It is not acceptable that our mission in the south still lacks 20 percent of its requirements."

(WSJ) The White House issued a correction correction of the transcript of today’s press conference in Tallinn, Estonia.

THE PRESIDENT: “I will assure him that we will continue to pursue al Qaeda to make sure that they *do not* establish a safe haven in Iraq.”