There have been pockets of violence, but we don't see that as a precursor to civil war.
-- U.S. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, following an emergency meeting of Iraqi leaders to discuss the violence that erupting when a venerated Shiite shrine was bombed by unknown assailants Wednesday.
It seems to us a real affront that a government that calls itself a friend and regional partner only wants our money and our products, but treats our people as if they were a plague.
-- Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Stein, on the proposed barrier along the Mexican border that was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in December and will be debated in the Senate in March.
The fear-mongering is that a bunch of Middle Easterners are going to come over and work on the docks, and nothing is farther than the truth.
-- Robert Bonner, former commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, on the uproar over an Arab company's bid to take over management of six major U.S. ports.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
