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I think Ann Coulter should emigrate to the UK.

(There can't be many in the US who haven't heard of her, but in case you haven't or you're not there, she gets one of the biggest on the entire site. )

But why should she come to Britain when she consistently hits top ratings and the best seller lists in the US?

Because she'd have more fun.

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I've spent a lot of time over the past few days talking to people about talking to the Pope.

On World Update and on the 'other programme' - Reporting Religion - the consensus from Muslims and Catholics is "we have to start talking!"

But there have been plenty of talks. Just try searching the Internet with the words 'interfaith conference' - you'll see what I mean.

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There's no doubting the impact of Internet access on global awareness - just look at some of the blog entries on the Lords Resistance Army and its ceasefire.

This woman in Tennessee shares her about the plight of the abducted children. Jenna in Nebraska of the children in horror.

Col Dan Smith (USA retired) attends a seminar and uses what he learned to explain why in Africa might apply to Iraq.

That and thousands more reflective, imaginative blog posts surely mean a better informed electorate in the world's most powerful nation.

The concern must be that the knowledge traffic is one-way.

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Classical counterinsurgency, or CI, requires protecting the civilian population and going after insurgents with effective military power.

Part of protecting civilians is helping them develop a police force and army they can trust. That's an important dimension of what is often called 'hearts and minds' - foreign powers backing a corrupt regime whose police are on the take and whose army is just as likely to run away as control guerillas get nowhere.

In Iraq, according to Mowafak al Rubaie, the Iraqi National Security Adviser, Iraqi government forces are now trusted and that's helping with another dimension to counterinsurgency that has begun to be much more important in recent conflicts.

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While I was away (in a valley on the border of England and Wales with absolutely NO mobile phone coverage, fancy that!) I was reading a book I picked up in a remainder sale that has proved to be well worth the couple of pounds I paid for it.

It's called 'Secret Soldiers' by Peter Harclerode. He's a former soldier, now military historian, and so there is a lot of detail about exactly which kind of Heckler & Koch handgun various countries' special forces are using.

But Peter also applies his eye for detail to the chronology of extremist violence in the run up to September 11th 2001.

He catalogues all the reported links between the different groups and their militant attacks.

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