The Thursday Edition

Tonight:

Not with a bang but a whimper. The United States officially ends its mission in Iraq -- but a Marine who served four tours there thinks it might be too soon.

Left in limbo. As "The Baghdad Blogger", Salam Pax gave the world an Iraqi view of the war -- and tonight, he'll tell us how he sees the end of the war.

Getting real about real estate. As the federal government ponders allowing private property on reserves, we'll visit a First Nation that already does just that.

Like his namesake, George Whitman contained multitudes. And so did his bookstore. We'll pay tribute to the founder of Shakespeare and Company, which housed both great books and great writers.

Mud is thicker than water. Thousands of migratory birds are killed or injured in Utah, when they mistake patches of solid ground for inviting bodies of water.

And...Christmas is coming, the goose is getting drowned. Talkback fingers some perps in the mysterious case of geese who are being pulled down into the murk of a London river.

As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio that gives you a goose down discomforter.

It seems hard to believe that such a long and deadly war could end so quietly.

Today, at a ceremony in Baghdad, the U.S. military declared an end to its mission in Iraq. Officials there lowered the American flag and packed it away in a box. Two of the seats at the ceremony remained empty: they were reserved for Iraq's Prime Minister and President, who were both nowhere to be seen.

After forty-five minutes, it was all over.

According to some estimates, more than one hundred thousand Iraqis died in the conflict. Thousands more were injured. And more than forty-five hundred U.S. soldiers lost their lives.

Seth Moulton served four tours in Iraq as a Marine -- first as a captain, and later as a Special Assistant to General David Petraeus. He now works in private industry in Dallas, Texas. That's where we reached him.

Seth Moulton is a former platoon commander, who served four tours in Iraq. We reached him in Dallas, Texas.

Today -- nine years after the American-led war in Iraq began -- U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told troops they would leave with great and lasting pride. Some -- including many Iraqis -- feel differently.

Salam Pax has seen it all -- both the optimism and the despair. That is the pseudonym used by the man who was known as the "Baghdad Blogger".

From the first days of the war, his blog rose above all of the foreign media reports, to tell the story from the inside.

His real name is Salam Abdulmunem. When the war began, he was a twenty-nine-year-old architect living with his family in Baghdad. He fled Iraq in 2007, but later returned. We reached him in Baghdad.

Today, Mohamed Mahjoub pleaded for his freedom.

The Egyptian refugee has been detained in Canada for eleven years -- seven in prison, and now four under house arrest. He's never been charged with a crime. He's never even seen the evidence against him. That's because Mr Mahjoub is being held under a security certificate. It allows the government to detain Mr Mahjoub indefinitely, on the basis of secret evidence suggesting he could pose a threat to national security.

Now, though, Mr Mahjoub's lawyers think he has some reason to hope. Leaked CSIS documents have revealed that most of that secret evidence comes from sources linked to torture.

Mr. Mahjoub and his lawyers took their argument to the Federal Court in Toronto today. Outside the courthouse, Mr. Mahjoub spoke to reporters about how his detention has changed his life, for the record.

The controversy started in Victoria County, Nova Scotia. Now, it's spread as far as Scotland, and enraged experts with decades of experience in the field.

I'm talking about the proposed changes in the bagpiping curriculum at the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts.

To say that some former instructors and students at the college are upset about the change is an understatement. One former student said that the founder of the college, Reverend A.W.R. MacKenzie, might not just be rolling in his grave, but "doing handsprings back in the graveyard". It's that bad.

Scott Long is the Pipe Major of the Dartmouth and District Pipe Band. He's also toured with Ashley MacIsaac. We reached him in Dartmouth.

The land and homes of the people of Attawapiskat are owned by the federal government. That means they cannot sell their houses. They cannot sell their land. And they can't mortgage any of it for any purpose.

That's how reserves work across the country. But that may be about to change: the federal government is considering private property ownership on reserves.

Some First Nations leaders have been fighting for this change for years. Others say it is not the solution to problems such as poverty and dependence.

In British Columbia, the Nisga'a Nation is no longer governed by the Indian Act. Its members have negotiated a land claim and self-government agreement. They've also decided to parcel out land for private ownership.

Mitchell Stevens is the president of the Nisga'a Lisims Government. We reached him in New Aiyansh, B.C.

Last night, we presented a chilling whodunit involving someone, or something, that's killing geese by pulling them down into the depths of the London river. And we asked you for your theories on what's going down.

Paul Neil from Calgary sent us this email:

"I once worked in a northern Ontario fishing camp, and witnessed a small duck get taken off the water by a medium-sized Northern Pike. At the same camp, while cleaning a guest's catch, one of the employees found a baby loon inside a pike. I know the pike in the U.K. are larger than their Canadian cousins, so it seems likely your Goose-Snatching Monster is a large Pike....a very large Pike. They can grow bigger than ninety pounds."

And then we took at gander at our Facebook wall, where several of you submitted your thoughts.

Terry Parker wrote:

"I once saw a full-grown Canada Goose get taken down in the small Minnesota lake/pond I live on. The goose went straight down underwater. It was the resident Snapping Turtle that took the goose. I saw it.

"The turtle was full-grown, with probably an eighteen-inch or larger shell. This goose going down was different from in your story, because there was blood in the water, and the goose's family, who were swimming with him or her, freaked out and cried and honked and got themselves over to shore. Very sad. But the goose quickly and fully disappeared -- other than the blood swirl in the water. So, I vote for a similar animal that perhaps has a larger mouth to grab the goose and get it down to a lower depth quickly. Shark suggestion is interesting."

Yikes. We got slightly less gruesome suggestions from JP Bonhomme who suggested that it was, quote, "A big honking poisson, probably a Wels Catfish or something similar." And Ron Challengers -- possibly not his real name -- suggested, and again I quote: "Goats!! Underwater goats with snorkels."

Ah yes, the dreaded underwater goat of yore.

And Talkback floated a few more possibilities:

He was the book lover's book lover.

George Whitman, the founder of the legendary bookstore Shakespeare and Company, on the Left Bank of Paris, has died. He was ninety-eight.

Mr. Whitman said that he went into the book business because it was the business of life. And from the moment he opened Shakespeare And Company back in 1951, it became a magnet for great writers: in the early days, the likes of Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin and Anaïs Nin made a point of stopping by.

Mr. Whitman also opened up his beloved bookstore to struggling writers who needed a place to stay, as long as they promised to make the bed, and read a book a day. He estimated that he took in forty thousand or so guests -- some for a day, others for years.

Sylvia Whitman is George Whitman's daughter. We reached her at Shakespeare and Company, in Paris. And we also reached a man who knows a lot about Mr. Whitman's legacy: poet, and founder of the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, Lawrence Ferlinghetti. He was a friend of George's for more than sixty years. Mr. Ferlinghetti is in San Francisco.

The days are getting shorter, and we're in the middle of holiday season. And you know what that means: thousands flocked to a Wal-Mart in Utah.

Unfortunately, it's not what it sounds like. Thousands of birds -- eared grebes, to be precise -- weren't supposed to be at a Wal-Mart at all. They took a hard landing in the parking lot in Cedar City, and on a few roads in the area, earlier this week. As many as fifteen hundred died as a result of the crash landing. Many more were injured.

Lynn Chamberlain is a regional manager for Wildlife Resources, and he helped rescue the thousands of eared grebes that survived. We reached him in Toquerville, Utah.

And now, Quote/Unquote.In the middle of an NHL crisis about head injuries, it could be seen as a relief for something other than a consussion to make headlines. In this case, a bit of name-calling.

One thing's for sure: Chicago Blackhawks centre David Bolland started it. He verbally attacked the NHL's most famous twins, Vancouver Canucks Daniel and Henrik Sedin, calling them "sisters". And their coach, Alain Vigneault, stuck up for the brothers.

When a Chicago radio host asked Mr. Bolland whether he really considered the twins "sisters", and whether they would be welcome on the Blackhawks if they were traded, Mr. Bolland said, quote:

"Well, they'll never become Hawks. I don't think we'd let them on our team. We'd be sure not to let them on our team. And yeah, they probably would still be sisters. I think they sleep in bunk beds. The older one has the bottom one, and the younger one got the top."

Unquote.

In return, Mr. Vigneault -- or "Coach V" as his players call him -- shot back, and I quote:

"When you have comments like Bolland, I mean, obviously an individual whose IQ is probably the size of a bird seed, and he's got a face that only a mother could look at, probably for the twins, they don't really care."

Unquote.

For their part the twins say they don't care. And everyone has agreed to get along. We won't know if they mean it until the next meeting of the Canucks and Blackhawks, on January thirty-first.

They were supposed to be building heaven on Earth. Somewhere along the way though, they entered hell.

That hell was called Jonestown -- the psychotic vision of the charismatic cult leader, Jim Jones.

On November 18, 1978, Jim Jones led his congregation -- The People's Temple -- to mass suicide in the jungle of Guyana. Nine-hundred-and-eighteen people died that day -- the vast majority of them after they drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Among them were three-hundred-and-four children.

Teri Buford O'Shea escaped Jonestown three weeks before the massacre. For years she stayed silent. But now, she has released a book of poetry and photographs about her time with The People's Temple. It's called Jonestown Lullaby.

We reached Teri Buford O'Shea at her home in Massachussetts.

The town of Shoreham in West Sussex, England is divided about its brand-new sheep.

The sheep recently appeared in the middle of the town's grass-covered roundabout. But when motorists started to complain, the West Sussex County Council was quick to put the sheep in pens. Which might seem odd, because the sheep are fake.

Sheena Campbell of the Shoreham Herald has been investigating. We reached her at work.

We're learning that you, our valued listeners, can be pretty bird-brained. In a good way: you've got birds on the brain.

A couple of nights ago, we told you about James Cowen's quest to name Canada's national bird. Mr. Cowen -- the Director of the Canadian Raptor Conservancy -- clearly favoured the Red Tailed Hawk for the title. But we thought you might have some different ideas.

As we heard yesterday, you do. And you continue to.

Here are just a few of the suggestions from our email inbox. Lloyd Hamilton from Thunder Bay, Ontario wrote:

"I believe the crow should be the national bird. They are extremely intelligent. They can use tools. They stick around for the winter and tough out the cold weather just like the rest of us.

"They mate for life, take great care of their young and are very social animals. I know most people would not agree with me, but there you have it my vote for Canada's national bird."

Jenny Hughes from Upper Kingsclear, New Brunswick wrote:

"I think the white-throated sparrow should be Canada's national bird. Its unique solo melody is hauntingly beautiful, giving voice to the amazing land we call home."

On our Facebook page, Jeff Hubbell wrote,

"The Whisky Jack, definitely. Even the name is a corruption of an Ojibwe word, Wisakedjack. He's the Trickster."

And Lorraine Allen wrote,

"I can't really vote, being in the USA, but I would totally go with the loon. My introduction to the loon was up in the Quetico-Superior back in 1963. It was love at first 'haunt' and that has never changed. Raptors are all over, but the beautiful, red-eyed, mysterious loon is completely the north country!"

But wait, there's more.

Karen Dick is a history teacher at Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario. And she's been discussing this whole scandalous lack-of-national-bird situation with her students in Room 216. Her student Brayden King sent this email:

"The loon should not be Canada's national bird for many reasons. The loon has very few connections to Canada. It is Ontario's provincial bird, yes, but it is also the official state bird of Minnesota.

"It may be on our dollar coin. However, Mercer, Wisconsin promotes itself to be the 'loon capital of the world'. With so many other places, including Ontario, claiming the loon, would it be fair to take that away from them?"

And then Brayden's classmates called Talkback: