"What we see is a Congress who tends to think that the job of public health and environmental protection is not particularly important, that the job in some ways is done and that we don't have to worry about further reducing pollution, " says EPA Administrator Carol Browner.

CNN: Environmental Legislation Going Nowhere Fast

"The main thing about a good conservation job is that it should pretty much look like you've not done anything by the time you've finished, " he said.

BBC: Rebecca Fountain in Bath

That is why the governments who are about to send soldiers to Macedonia ought to have done a better job of explaining to their citizens how violence in this corner of south-eastern Europe has the potential to engulf the entire region.

ECONOMIST: NATO and Macedonia