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British Pakistanis, not Moroccans?

This makes more sense, given that the Al Qaeda statement specifically mentioned Afghanistan and that there are many more Pakistanis than Moroccans in England:

Two British broadcasting networks reported that the bomber responsible for the bus attack -- one of four deadly bombings targeting London's transportation system -- was apparently among 13 people who were killed in that explosion. Sky News and the British Broadcasting Corp. reported that police identified the bomber and that this information led to the raids in Leeds.

The BBC later quoted police sources as saying that all four suspected bombers were British citizens of Pakistani origin. There was no immediate official confirmation from authorities, but police cautioned people against retaliating against any ethnic group.

At least 52 people were killed in the four bombings, three of which were carried out on subway trains. More than 700 people were injured in the blasts, and 56 were still in hospitals Tuesday, news agencies reported.

Why is Rice blowing off ASEAN?

Thanks, praktike, for linking to the Washington Post article on Secretary Rice's skipping the ASEAN summit.

For more than two decades, every secretary of state has attended important meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Rice's choice [not to attend] -- which she officially confirmed Monday -- has been interpreted in the region as a major diplomatic snub. Her deputy, Robert B. Zoellick, will go instead, she said.

It leads me to ask, at a time when the US should once again start multi-tasking its foreign policy and again focus on Asia, why is the Secretary of State alienating Southeast Asia? Not only is the region a magnet for jihadist terrorism in the form of Jemaah Islamiya, its security and economic issues are central to the United States' geopolitical influence.

As word leaked out in recent weeks that Rice would not attend, many commentators interpreted the move as a sign that the United States was ceding the region to China, which is rapidly building trade and diplomatic links with ASEAN's members. Later this month, for instance, China and Indonesia will sign a strategic partnership between their defense industries

. As China's Southeast Asian diplomacy has grown more effective -- even Australia is being wooed -- what are our priorities?