I really, really hope that today's developments prove my skepticism about the efficacy of Israel's coercive pressure on Lebanon wrong.BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah politicians, while expressing reservations, have joined their critics in the government in agreeing to a...
Secretary Rice:“What I won't do is go to some place and try to get a cease-fire that I know isn't going to last.”“A cease-fire would be a false promise if it simply returns us to the status quo,...
I have been revisiting US policy in Iraq of late-- to the extent that you can revisit an ongoing issue. Mostly, this comes in the form of reading Cobra II, Squandered Victory, the Foreign Affairs...
They see us killing each other... over and over since time began. -- Akira Kurosawa's Ran.Malak Khaled interviews Lebanese refugees:Their grand daughter, Marwa, looks at us with sad eyes.“Why are...
What Greg said. The pearls of wisdom just keep on coming this morning.Lack of intellect+misplaced faith in easy to understand analogies=advocacy of diasterous foreign policy.Filed as: Appeasement
Why do people pay this man for his commentary?Dan’s favorite commentator is back again, this time with an op/ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hanson essentially lays out what he sees as the talking points the Bush administration should be using in an effort to deflate criticism of the handling of the War on Terror. What follows is a long, snarky discussion of Hanson's latest drivel.VDH’s first problem lies with questions regarding how to deal with the prisoners at GITMO:“Take the uniformless and stateless terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay. To be sure, there are alternatives to the...
[UPDATED]I've been critical of the strategic wisdom of the IDF attacks in Lebanon, but some new developments suggest that it might work after all. Haagi at American Footprints:The Lebanese government appears to be throwing in its lot against Hezbollah, appealing for international help to change the dynamic in the south of the country:Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called Saturday for an immediate cease-fire with Israel, and asked for help in deploying the country's army in the south, from where Hezbollah has for days pounded northern Israel with Katyusha rockets."We call for an...
Courtesy of Coming Anarchy's Curzon. Someday we'll get around to implementing a nice design for the Duck.
My daughter's sick and I'm pretty tired - from writing and reading - so here's what's catching my eye...In the "Crisis in the Middle East" department, things seem to be getting worse with the death of eight Israeli civilians in Haifa. The IDF is also resuming strikes in Gaza. Mubarak claims he persuaded the Israelis not to launch a ground offensive against Beirut. Mossad's chief leaves for the US this week to discuss the Iranian nuclear program. That will certainly prompt some major speculation on the part of serious and conspiracy-minded analysts. Speaking of Mossad's chief, Steve Clemons,...
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hizbollah's chief pledged open war on Israel on Friday after it bombed his home, saying "look at it burn" when an Israeli warship that had earlier rocketed Lebanon was attacked and set ablaze."You wanted open war. We are going to (wage) open war," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a telephone message broadcast live on Hizbollah television after his house was hit as Israel ramped up the assault it launched after Hizbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight.This is what war looks like.I heard a news reporter yesterday describe how camera crews had decided...
For an administration that likes to keep things secret they sure do pick some funny things to make public--like our military's operational weakness. This was accomplished in large part by partaking in a strategically questionable operation that begins with the letters I-R-A and ends in Q. This has long been a complaint of mine. Yours truly in January of '06:"...the Iraq War not only decreased the capability of the US to launch any kind of substantial invasion/occupation of Iran but it also demonstrated (and continues to demonstrate) this fact in the most public way. It is virtually...
Given how the US reacted to the traumatic 9/11 attacks -- wars against Afghanistan and Iraq that are still ongoing and adoption of a dangerous public doctrine of "preemptive" action that openly embraces preventive war -- security scholars ought to be thinking seriously about India's possible reaction to this week's Mumbai commuter train bombings. Indeed, this should be a central concern to security strategists as well. Why? Though the Indian government has not accused Pakistan of direct involvement in this week's commuter train bombings, officials like Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh...