I wandered over to Azzaman this evening to see what the news out of Iraq may be, their page listed a story that lead to a blank page, weird says I.

- given the title of the article was U.S. troops raid kindergarten and tear children’s toys to pieces I had to see which stuffed toy might have been a terrorist suspect (I was betting on Barney - I never did trust that purple thing) and decided to check Google News to see who else was carrying it… guess what?

The Independent Online in South Africa had it, Press TV in Iran had it, and Uruknet in Italy had it - but that’s it.

In Internet news time 22 hours is an absolute eternity, yet here this one was, 22 hours old, 2 hours short of a full day even, and it still hadn’t made it across the ocean.

I’m sure that heads are already rolling at the cable networks…. or maybe not.

For your reading pleasure, here’s the story that’s apparently not quite yet western news.

A US force has stormed a kindergarten in a Shi’a-dominated district in Baghdad, smashed toys, doors and windows and arrested three of its guards, the Iraqi government said on Tuesday.

US troops raided Kanari kindergarten in the Jamila area of Sadr City in Baghdad where they smashed children’s toys, doors, windows and roofs, according to a statement by the media centre of the Iraqi cabinet.

“No evidence was found during the raid on the kindergarten that proves the school’s involvement in terrorist acts or that it is used for storing weapons,” the statement said.

The reason for the operation was not immediately known.

I wonder how long it will take that school to get back on its’ feet? It will be an interesting piece of spin, and I can hardly wait to hear it…..