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Monthly Archives: November 2009
Iraq and Andrew Sullivan: 'The Beltway doesn't do reality very well'
I’ve been tough on Andrew Sullivan in the past. He represents, for me at least, one of the eternal conundrums of recent U.S. history when it comes to Iraq: how could so many smart people in the media have so eagerly embraced … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Afghanistan: What the 'Red Dawn' version of Obama's speech would look like
I couldn’t find the exact and more appropriate clip online from the 1984 classic “Red Dawn” that I was hoping to use (the one where the Cuban colonel and the Russian political officer have a conversation about Afghanistan, Vietnam, and … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan
Tagged Afghanistan, Asia, Colonel, Dawn, John Milius, Red Dawn, Russia, Society and Culture
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Afghanistan: Knowing the lessons of Vietnam didn't stop Vietnam either
From Jonathan Schell’s piece in a recent issue of The Nation, “The Fifty Year War:” We are accustomed to thinking that hard experience in Vietnam taught certain lessons that then, for a while, became cautionary principles. But this record reveals … Continue reading
Posted in Afghanistan
Tagged Afghanistan, Domino Theory, Obama, Politics, United States, United States Secretary of State, Vietnam War, War in Afghanistan
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Afghanistan and Iraq and chicken hawks and why we went to war and more!
Wanted to flag Scott Horton’s interview with me at Antiwar Radio, now posted online. Scott is always the provactive host, and I probably said things that, if read back to me, I would want to caveat and back peddle from. But … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Another brief note to readers
I’ll be out of pocket for the next forty eight hours, in lands that know no Internet. So regular posting will begin again on Monday, and please don’t take offense if I haven’t responded to comments, I’ll get to them as soon as … Continue reading
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Stephen Walt questions our love for counterinsurgency, and the Battle of Algiers
Just wanted to flag this graf from Stephen Walt’s post on the suspect merits of COIN. Makes a few good points, I think. COIN is the best answer if one wants to continue the bad policies and decisions we’ve made over the past eight years. … Continue reading
Posted in World
Tagged Al Qaida, Iraq, Military strategy, Osama bin Laden, Stephen Walt, Terrorism, Terrorist Organizations, United States
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Iraq: A T-Shirt Says a Thousand Words
Here is a t-shirt I was given by the U.S. military on my recent trip to Iraq. I believe it’s in wide circulation, not just a “special edition.” More than any military or political analysis I could write, it speaks to one … Continue reading
Posted in Iraqness, World
Tagged Iraq, Iraq War, Iraq War troop surge of 2007, Politics, United States, United States armed forces, US, Warfare and Conflict
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Andy McKenna, the Illinois joker who's afraid of terrorists
I wanted to write a post criticizing U.S. representative Mark Kirk for the objections he raised to possibly housing Gitmo detainees in Thomson, Illinois. (“Ground zero for jihadists” etc.) I figured it would be pretty simple: without prior research, I … Continue reading
Afghanistan Quiz Show: Guess who wrote it, and when
Dear readers, maybe this will be too easy with all the Internets we have these days, but wanted to do a bit of an interactive thing here. I am going to quote a passage, and if you feel so inclined, … Continue reading
Great to hear about the 9-11 trial. But still, Saudi Arabia, wtf?
Quick post today, as I’m traveling–leaving glorious Baghdad enroute to my current natural habitat in Vermont. Happened to catch the news that they’re putting KSM and four others behind the 9-11 attack on trial. This seems long overdue. I’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, World
Tagged Al-Qaeda, George W. Bush, Gerald Posner, House of Saud, Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani government, Saudi Arabia, September 11 attacks
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The Hastings Report 