Dawn Patrol

Spring is here, and signs of budding flowers and grass and trees and democracy are all around...

• Rice Describes Plans To Spread Democracy
  

  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday set out ambitious goals for the Bush administration's push for greater democracy overseas over the next four years, including pressing for competitive presidential elections this year in Egypt and women's right to vote in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

• Russia Fumbles, And Former Sphere Of Influence Deflates

  The revolt in Kyrgyzstan that toppled Russia's strongest ally in Central Asia was the result of the latest in what analysts say is an astonishing and painful series of diplomatic missteps by Moscow.

• Massive Protests in Taiwan

  About a million Taiwanese marched through the capital on Saturday, some carrying signs reading "Shame on China," to express their anger over a new Chinese law that authorizes an attack on the island if it moves toward formal independence.

Could the growing democracy movement, jump-started by events in Iraq, now be part of a feedback loop influencing events there?

• Iraq's Insurgents 'Seek Exit Strategy'
  

  Many of Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab insurgents would lay down their arms and join the political process in exchange for guarantees of their safety and that of their co-religionists, according to a prominent Sunni politician.

Meanwhile, in case you were worried about them having fun, rest assured that those upon whom the task of spreading democracy falls most heavily are not going to be doing anything that could be remotely considered 'politically incorrect':

• 'Babes And Booze' Are Banned For Battle-Weary GIs From Iraq
  

  The soldiers knew what they considered real rest and recuperation. "Beer and babes," a crew-cropped private, just arrived at the US military's new Middle East rest and recuperation resort, shouted to hoots of approval from his buddies. They would not find much of either here. America may have instigated four-day off-duty trips for its Iraq servicemen but these breaks obey all the modern-day rules of acceptable behaviour for a soldier.

Or else!

• Muddy 9 Facing Military Justice
  

  Six Sergeants and three enlisted military policewomen will be disciplined for a sex and mud-wrestling fiasco last year at a military prison in Iraq, the Army said yesterday.

Are these next stories about heroes of the past? No - they're heroes of today.

• Vietnam-Era Naval Officer To Be Buried In Arlington
  

  More than 37 years after Navy Lt. Cmdr. J. Forrest G. Trembley failed to return from a bombing mission over North Vietnam, his remains will come home to Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon announced yesterday.

• Vietnam Heroism Recognized--33 Years Late

  From one former Army helicopter pilot to another, Lt. Gen. Richard Cody presented the military's second-highest award for valor on Friday to Stephen E. Lawrence in recognition of his exceptional acts of heroism during a harrowing rescue mission in Vietnam.

The opposite of hero is media hero:

• Antiwar Sailor Is Charged By Navy
  

  The Navy announced Friday that it planned to court-martial a sailor, now a vocal member of the antiwar movement, who refused deployment to the Persian Gulf because he opposed the U.S. mission in Iraq.

Speaking of kudos for Sailors:

• Military Honors Sailors For Saving USS San Francisco
  

  Several crew members of the USS San Francisco, which ran aground in January, were awarded yesterday for their actions to save shipmates and the submarine itself.