Twenty-five years ago today Israeli F-15s and F-16s carried out a preventive air-strike on Iraq's fledgling Osirak nuclear reactor. By all accounts the operation was itself a success, with 14 of 16 bombs striking their target and no Israeli losses. The mission has since been touted as a) an solid example of a preventive strike against a threat that has yet to materialize b) a possible template for US action against Iran's nascent nuclear...

...Indeed. (for more on the flypaper theory, see here, here, and here.)It appears that Somali Islamic Militias have seized the capital, defeating the US-backed coalition of warlords. Curzon at Coming Anarchy has more.Yet another glowing victory in the war on terror and fundamentalism. I thought this President's comparative advantage was his ability to lead us to victory in this global war. I don't know if you are keeping score at home, but at...

I should've written this before Peter introduced himself.I want to welcome the Duck of Minerva's newest member, Dr. Peter Howard. You can read his introductory post below. Peter is the first of what may prove to be a longer list of additions to the collective. Be sure to give him a warm welcome.

The 17 men were mainly of South Asian descent and most were in their teens or early 20's. One of the men was 30 years old and the oldest was 43 years old, police officials said. None of them had any known affiliation with Al Qaeda."They represent the broad strata of our society," Mr. McDonell said. "Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed.Thus the New York Times story on the Canadian arrests of suspected terrorists reminds us...

A box of copies of Harry Potter and International Relations just arrived at my house. According to the people the publisher asked to endorse the book, it's a good read:"A landmark in muggle studies."—The Daily Prophet"Nexon and Neumann explore an underdeveloped area of Harry Potter scholarship in a collection of essays covering a wide range of political and cultural topics. In a post-9/11world, international relations is a critical area of...

Victor Davis Hanson is the gift that keeps on giving. He articulates a certain strain of neoconservativism so badly as to bring discredit upon many of his more eloquent fellow travelers.Here's one of his recent essays (via American Future). I've edited it just a bit to see if I could generate an equally poor, but diametrically opposed, argumentEurope's America's Good Intentions Have Gone SourBy V. D. HansonROME New York - The European American...

From a letter published in the Columbus Dispatch:"Marathon to uproot more trees" was a fantastic report, complete with pictures and the location of the Marathon oil pipeline.I am sure the terrorists were thrilled to see this report with the pictures – especially the sign, "Warning petroleum pipeline" – and the location of the pipeline.The media do a beautiful job of telling terrorists all about America's weaknesses. I am sure the terrorists...

I'll be guest posting at Lawyers, Guns and Money for a bit. I'll be cross-posting at least some of my writings here at the Duck.

Jesus' General has the goods on Georgetown's latest hire.The Washington Post explains what this is all about:Douglas J. Feith, the former Pentagon policy chief who was an architect of the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies, is joining the faculty of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.In an announcement yesterday, the university said Feith will teach a course on the administration's anti-terrorism strategy and also will...

I'm not sure if my colleagues here at the Duck teach critical theory in their IR theory courses. I do, at least in my master's class.My classes ended last month, but I have a homework assignment just begging for a student population. Write an "immanent critique" of the following passage from President George W. Bush. Monday May 22, this question for President Bush came from a member of the audience at the Arie Crown Theater at Lakeside Center...

Montenegro votes for independence. Probably. By a hair. Rob Farley points to Doug Muir's excellent pre-vote post. It looks like EU politics may have made the difference in a vote that mapped largely onto ethnic and religious divisions. The BBC:Serb politicians, Orthodox church leaders and Montenegrins from the mountainous inland regions bordering Serbia broadly opposed secession.However, ethnic Montenegrins and Albanians from the coastal area...

Victor Davis Hanson takes on the "too few troops" criticism of the Bush administration's war plan. He approaches the topic with the same discursive style that his readers have grown to love. After lobbing some largely irrelevant attacks on the critics' motives, VDH advances five arguments. First, the claim that we’ve deployed too few troops can apply only since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. Whatever the difficulties of the three-week war,...