203 articles
Yesterday I posted on the subject of alleged cooperation between the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. In that post I made reference to skeptical remarks by two well respected experts, Paul Kerr and Jeffrey Lewis, that both seemed to step back from in subsequent posts. I also spoke with…
By way of Red State, this clip from NBC News shows that U.S. troops "are increasingly frustrated by American [read Congressional] criticism of the war." Says 21-year-old SPC Tyler Johnson, "People are dying here, you know what I'm saying, you may support...oh, we support the troops but you're not…
A little good news from the war on terror. The AP reports that a relative of Osama bin Laden was killed in Madagascar yesterday in what family members are calling a burglary. The victim, Jamal Khalifa, was wanted in the Philippines "for alleged terror financing," was named by the U.S. government as…
There have been rumors for several days now that an attack in Karbala that resulted in the deaths of five American soldiers earlier this month was carried out directly by Iranian special forces. The American soldiers were meeting with local officials, and security was fairly tight. The attackers,…
From ABC News: Iranian-Made IEDs Are on the Rise, by Richard Esposito and Maddy Sauer. From Fox News: Officials: White House Holding Back Report Detailing Iran's Meddling in Iraq, by Molly Henneberg and Nick Simeone. From CNN: Iran involvement suspected in Karbala compound attack. From the Tampa…
Earlier today, James Baker endorsed President Bush's plan to surge troops into Baghdad, as did Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the bipartisan Iraq Study Group with Baker. Baker told the Senate Foreign Relation Committee that "the president's plan ought to be given a chance . . . Just give it a…
Reader Bill Walsh sends along this story about the F-22's impressive training record last year. Among the highlights: During a 6-week stay in Alaska, the 27th FS engaged in its first-ever, full-length exercise with the F-22, Northern Edge. In the first exercise week, while flying in joint teams…
Bob Herbert wrote a really touching column yesterday about how the antiwar protesters that demonstrated on the Mall this weekend really do love America (Subscription). Said Herbert, "You can say what you want about the people opposed to this wretched war in Iraq, try to stereotype them any way you…
THE 400th ANNIVERSARY of Act One, Scene One of American history will be celebrated on April 29, 2007.
Last week, the Telegraph's Con Coughlin reported that Iranian scientists had been sent to North Korea last fall to observe that country's nuclear test. Furthermore, Coughlin said the North Koreans were actively assisting the Iranians in their own preparations for a nuclear test. The report was met…
By way of Blackfive, some very interesting comments by General James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps. On the media coverage of Iraq: "We believe that our people are subject to some misinformation -- not intentional perhaps, but nevertheless if you talk to any troop that's been to Iraq or…
From the Jerusalem Post (HT the Corner): What a nuclear Iran would do, by Barry Rubin. From BBC: Gaffes tarnish Royal's campaign, by Clive Myrie. From the Washington Times: How the 'axis' seeks the killer missile, by Bill Gertz. From the Fourth Rail: Iraqi Army battles Shia cult, Sunni insurgents…
THERE ARE two ways to make policy. One is on the hoof, and in search of headlines, as the president did in last week's State of the Union message. Just as oil prices started to ease, he gave a gift to Hugo Chávez and the Saudis by announcing plans to double the size of the Strategic Petroleum…
Rep. Gene Taylor, chairman of the House Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee, is talking about making the Navy's next-generation Cruiser, CG(X), a nuclear-powered ship. Late last year, Taylor made clear his intention to increase the size of the fleet, and to make sure that as many vessels…
Two truly silly statements from the Democratic leadership. First, Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi (HT Real Clear Politics): "I believe redeployment of our troops is a step toward stability in the region.'' Next up, Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: "I would propose that [a] conference be carried…
Defense Update has more news on the Pentagon's plans to deploy 4,100 additional mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraq within the year. Over the next two months, the Navy, which is managing the project, will test commercially available vehicles from nine different companies before…
Jane Fonda spoke to antiwar protesters on the National Mall yesterday. She also wore a button that read "Vietnam Veterans Against the War." I'm sure there are many Vietnam veterans who are opposed to the war in Iraq, but wouldn't it be more appropriate if Fonda wore a button that read "NVA Veterans…
There's no denying it, the F-22 is the most advanced fighter in the world. Stealthy, maneuverable, and lethal, it is without rival. Still, there may yet be a few kinks to work out. First, Defense Tech reports that the F-22, unlike many older fighters, was built without the ability to send data.…
That's the question Johns Hopkins history professor David A. Bell asked in yesterday's Los Angeles Times. Because so few were killed that day, at least relative to the number of Russians killed in the Second World War, Bell thinks we might have overreacted. Certainly, if we look at nothing but our…
From the New York Times: 250 Are Killed in Major Iraq Battle, by Damien Cave. From the Washington Post: Baghdad is Key, by Stephen J. Hadley. From the New York Times: Iranian Reveals Plan to Expand Role in Iraq, by James Glanz. From Time: Kim Jong Il's Nuclear Ambitions, by Nicholas Eberstadt. From…
Jerusalem
Can anything good come out of the United Nations? Actually, yes. Little noted in December, the General Assembly adopted a "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities." If ratified by most member nations, the convention could strengthen protections for many people with disabilities.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has returned from her visit to Iraq with a bold (if not entirely new) recommendation: Congress should vote to cap the number of U.S. forces the president can deploy to Iraq. (She notes that her demand has precedent in the experience of Lebanon in the early 1980s: Was…
Adam Smith never met Vladimir Putin or Hugo Chávez, but, as with so many other things, he anticipated their appearance on the scene. No one can accuse the Great Scot of protectionist proclivities, but he did warn that there are times when free trade takes second place to national defense. He…
If there is one lesson to be drawn from American military engagements since 9/11, it is that the hard part is winning the peace. Nowhere is this truer today than in Somalia. With the army-vs.-army phase of the conflict in that country seemingly complete, Somalia's transitional federal government…
Alpha Dog
White Guilt
The Duke University "lacrosse rape case" is all but over. On Friday, January 12, the prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, petitioned the North Carolina attorney general's office to be recused from the case, and the office complied, appointing a pair of special prosecutors to…
Baghdad
Twenty years before he joined Bill Clinton and Yitzhak Rabin in Washington for that famous handshake--and proceeded to become Clinton's most frequent foreign guest at the White House--Yasser Arafat planned and directed the murder of an American ambassador and his deputy chief of mission. From the…
Defeated politicians usually slip quietly into obscurity. But Republicans Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, and Bob Ehrlich, the ex-governor of Maryland, won't be among them. Nor have they become lobbyists or signed up for a work-free perch at some Washington institution. And they…
A Loss for Public Broadcasting
Seventy. Odd thing to happen to a five-year-old boy who, only the other day, sang "Any Bonds Today," whose mother's friends said he would be a heartbreaker for sure (he wasn't), who was popular but otherwise undistinguished in high school, who went on to the University of Chicago but long ago…
The Echo Maker
TEENAGE WASTELAND
There ought to be a school, maybe a chain of schools, offering classes for practically-challenged adults. Courses would include basic car maintenance, financial planning, how to throw a dinner party, that kind of thing. The first class I'd take is elementary plumbing.
Plato and the
"We need a man, and then a plan." So Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery is reported to have said when recommending General Sir Gerald Templer to be British high commissioner at the height of the Malayan insurgency. When, in January 1952, Templer was summoned to meet the prime minister, the…
The Knowledge Deficit
Meet the Press featured an interview with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. As a southern governor, Huckabee deserves special attention. Though not terribly well known at this point, Huckabee scored a prime spot: leading off Meet the Press and getting a half hour of face time with the public.
A bizarre story from the Baltimore Sun brings word of an impending crisis at the National Security Agency. Senator John D. Rockefeller is calling it "a national catastrophe," in as little as two years the electrical demands of the NSA may outstrip supply. Rockefeller, who heads the Senate…
It's been a busy week in India, where Vladimir Putin was greeted with much the same treatment as President Bush got during his visit in March of last year. Putin's visit was preceded by the announcement of increased military cooperation between the two countries, specifically a joint project to…
From WEEKLY STANDARD contributing editor Gerard Baker in today's Times: All politicians, sadly, lie. We can often forgive the lies as the necessary price paid to win popularity for a noble cause. But the Clinton candidacy is a Grand Deceit, an entirely artificial construct built around a person…
Did President Bush provoke China's ASAT test with the "tough talk" of his administration's new national space policy? Theresa Hitchens thinks so. So does Russian General Leonid Ivashov. Now Michael Krepon has added his voice to the chorus, saying "if further evidence were needed that the Bush…
From Middle East Quarterly: My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book, by Kenneth W. Stein. From the New York Sun: Turnaround in Baghdad, by Nibras Kazimi. From City Journal:Yes, Rudy Giuliani Is a Conservative, by Steven Malanga. From Newsweek: Interview with Lin Chong-Pin, former Taiwan vice defense…
LATE LAST YEAR, dozens of faculty members at Southern Methodist University publicly opposed plans by President Bush to locate his presidential library on SMU's campus in Dallas.
The former secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Subhi Al-Tufeili, gave an interview to the Kuwaiti daily Al Siyassa in December of last year. MEMRI posted the translation nearly a week ago, but it hasn't gotten as much attention as it deserves. The most relevant excerpts follow, but it's worth…
In the coverage of last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah, two themes came to dominate the narrative. First, every major news outlet estimated Lebanese casualties at around 1,200, "mostly civilians." Just search Google News for "Lebanon" and "mostly civilians" and you'll see the oft…
Michael Oren's op-ed in yesterday's New York Times comes in for some tough criticism at the Commentary blog, where Hillel Halkin chides the usually hawkish Oren for his willingness to "give up the unchanging for the contingent and the certain for the unpredictable." Rumors of talks between Syria…
On Tuesday, Commandant Gen. James Conway, ranking officer of the Marine Corps, told the House Armed Services Committee that surging U.S. Marines into Al Anbar beyond six or seven months would diminish the Corps's ability to respond to other potential hot spots. We feel like we would be able to…
MEMRI has translated an interview given by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to Al Manar TV, Hezbollah's official media outlet. Strangely, Nasrallah offers some praise for his sworn enemy, "the Zionist entity": I have said on several occasions that our enemy possesses some aspects that I…
As Iranian proxy Hezbollah works to destabilize Lebanon's pro-Western government through violence and intimidation, another Shiite group is emulating that strategy in Yemen. According to the World Tribune, the radical Shiite Believing Youth has, with Iranian support, been waging an off-and-on…
From Prospect magazine: Identity and Migration, by Francis Fukuyama. From City Journal: Facing the Islamist Menace, by Christopher Hitchens. From FT.com (via FP Passport): Israelis, America and Iran, by Gideon Rachman. From the Baltimore Sun: America must answer the Chinese challenge, by Greg…
London
FOR ARLEN SPECTER, limits on the right of Guantanamo prisoners to petition for the writ of habeas corpus in federal courts have long been a sore point. When Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Pennsylvania's senior senator grilled him on two interrelated…
ABC News anchor Chris Cuomo was in an up-armored Humvee on the streets of Baghdad this morning when the convoy he was traveling in was hit with small arms fire and two IEDs. Cuomo escaped unharmed, and the soldiers he was with had only "minor injuries." According to Cuomo, each IED was concealed…
Did the Islamic Republic really send experts to observe the North Korean nuke test last fall? Writing in the Telegraph, Con Coughlin mentions unconfirmed reports to that effect, and, citing an unnamed "European defence official," claims that the North Koreans invited Iranian scientists "to study…
The editors over at Foreign Policy have a very amusing post on the copy at China's People's Daily over the past week. It's all very reassuring. Concerned about China's rise? Here are some recent headlines for you: * China's development an opportunity, not threat * Chinese economy does not pose any…
The junior senator from New York will have a busy schedule over the next 2 years, what with all the campaign stops, TV appearances, and her work in the Senate. Which is why her decision to pursue as many committee assignments as possible seems a bit strange. Elizabeth Benjamin, blogging at Albany's…
According to the AP, "the Defense Department [yesterday] exempted the Navy from complying with the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the next two years so sailors may practice tracking submarines with sonar." Cara Horowitz, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that there was no…
From MSNBC, U.S. stages 2nd airstrike in Somalia. From the AP, Army Increase Will Cost $70B. From the New York Times, Clash Pits Hezbollah Against Rule in Lebanon. From Commentary, Backroom Dealing on the Golan. From Defense Tech, Navy's Deadly New Darts. From the Los Angeles Times, Daily body…
Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najar signed a memorandum of understanding with Leonid Maltsev, his Belorussian counterpart, yesterday. According to UPI, "the agreement formalizes the development of relations between Iran and Belarus, emphasizing expanding and solidifying defense ties…
On January 17, Sen. Hillary Clinton declared her support for the "beginning of a phased redeployment out of Baghdad and eventually out of Iraq completely." Her statement is the latest from prominent Democrats who oppose President Bush's intention to deploy additional U.S. troops in Iraq to secure…
The Los Angeles Times reports today on the "scant evidence" of an Iran-Iraq arms link. And what evidence does the Times offer to back up this claim? During a recent sweep through a stronghold of Sunni insurgents here, a single Iranian machine gun turned up among dozens of arms caches U.S. troops…
During this morning's Armed Services confirmation hearing, Sen. McCain asked Lt. Gen. Petraeus is if he can implement his new plan in Iraq without more troops? Petraeus answered: "No sir." McCain also asked if it would be helpful to the general for the Senate to pass an anti-surge resolution.…
From the BBC, Crackdown 'nets 600 Sadr forces'. From the Baltimore Sun, Scarcity of safe vehicles deemed worse. From Bloomberg.com, Petraeus, U.S. Commander in Iraq, Will Test Doctrine He Wrote. From the Fourth Rail, Suicide Strike on Pakistani Army in North Waziristan. From Fox News, Lawmakers…
Bernard Cole, a professor at the National War College, spoke to Taiwanese reporters at the Brookings Institution on Thursday about the proposed sale of 3 diesel electric submarines, 12 refurbished PC-3 Orion aircraft, and $4.3 billion worth of PAC III Patriot missiles. The president authorized the…
"DEMOCRATS CAN GET THINGS through the Congress, but we've got to get the president to sign them. It seems to be in our mutual interest to start working together." No, this Democrat was not referring to the president's plan for a troop surge in Iraq. This was Barney Frank talking, the very liberal…
The V-22 Osprey underwent its first flight test in 1989. Nearly two decades later, the Marine Corps has announced plans to deploy a squadron of 12 V-22s to Iraq sometime after June of this year. The V-22 has had a troubled history. Its development has been a top priority for the Marine Corps since…
Military and Aerospace Electronics reports that the Air Force is working to outfit the B-2 stealth bomber with a "30,000-pound bunker-busting 'super bomb.'" The bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), is designed to destroy deeply buried and reinforced bunkers of the type North Korea…
In the past, President Bush has expressed his concern about releasing the body count of enemy fighters killed or captured in Iraq. Late last year, the president sat down with a number of conservative journalists and talked about the absence of daily body counts in the Iraq war. "We have made a…
This weekend, Reuters reported that U.S. forensic tests had confirmed that a decomposing body found on the Philippine Island of Jolo was that of Khaddafy Janjalani, the military leader of Abu Sayyaf. That group had claimed responsibility for the worst terror attack in Philippine history, an attack…
Today's New York Sun editorial: "Since Washington's hostile and hawkish policies have always been against the Iranian nation, this defeat is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation." -The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, November 10, 2006. Not since Dean Acheson helped…
There's an excellent article in Salon today on the IED problem in Iraq. With the aid of a source at the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Task Force, Robert Bryce does an excellent job of capturing the scope of the problem--from the history of the devices, to the Pentagon's inept attempts at finding a…
While the prospects for pro-growth legislation--tax reform, personal retirement accounts, pro-trade deals, and legal reform--may have ended with the election of the new Democratic Congress, there is an array of actions that President Bush could take to help the economy, without having to go through…
"I remember when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum's Circus, which contained an exhibition of freaks and monstrosities, but the exhibit on the program which I most desired to see was the one described as 'The Boneless Wonder.' My parents judged that the spectacle would be too…
There's a simple reason the Washington establishment, Democrats, and the press hate President Bush's new strategy in Iraq: He spurned their advice. He ordered a troop increase, not the first phase of a withdrawal. He didn't echo Democrats like Senator Joe Biden and suggest the war in Iraq is lost.…
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, 1941-2007
Who Really Cares
One might be tempted to think of Roberta Morgan Wohlstetter as simply the wife of the late nuclear strategist Albert Wohlstetter. However, it would be just as accurate to think of Albert as Roberta's husband--she did, after all, get him a job in 1951 at a relatively new defense think tank where she…
The Democratic freshmen in the House are said to be a moderate bunch--by some lights even conservative. It is probably safer to call them economic populists, with a few border hawks, pro-lifers, and gun owners sprinkled here and there. Beyond basic partisanship and amorphous cries for "ethics"…
"You know, I find myself, as I often do, in the somewhat lonely middle." --Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the January 27, 2007, New Yorker New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton remains the most hawkish prospective candidate in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Among the…
Chinese Lessons
What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?
Pan's Labyrinth
Collected Stories
WARRIORS' MANTLE
Whatever the wisdom of executing Saddam Hussein, it was a foregone conclusion that the man who had tyrannized Iraq for nearly three decades would eventually meet the fate he did. Once Coalition soldiers found Saddam cowering in that spider hole in December 2003, there was little thought that a new…
With the holidays behind us, it is time for a paean to change in America. Those who saw a threat to social harmony in the decision to allow Wal-Mart greeters to say "Merry Christmas" after a more secular "Happy Holidays" last year, or in the various skirmishes over crèches vs. menorahs on public…
"I have spelled out good reasons for Americans to be impatient with our war in Iraq, good reasons for us to ask more of our Iraqi allies, good reasons to change our own plans. We must fight this war the best and smartest way we can. But realism is a two-way street. So now let me tell you why I am…
"It is scandalous that eight years have passed since we have known about stem cell research and the potential to conquer all known maladies, and federal funds have not been available for the research," Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter told a press conference last week. Specter's comment marks a…
The tone of girlish shock that permeated the news coverage of the Hewlett-Packard "spying scandal" was something to behold. Reporters surprised to learn about pretext phone calls? I don't think so. I know about these things. In a much earlier life I was a reporter. I also worked for one of the most…
The Price of Admission
IT WAS KIND of a slow news week for the Sunday morning talk shows. The biggest news was also the least surprising announcement of all time: Hillary Clinton is running for president in 2008. The biggest impact of this announcement so far is that it forced a number of Democratic senators (some of…
From the Weekly Standard's Scrapbook: Count us underwhelmed by the logic of the ballyhooed Joe Biden/Carl Levin/Chuck Hagel resolution attacking Bush's Iraq policy. It all sounds eerily familiar: "accelerate training of Iraqi troops"; keep a small U.S. footprint; the problem isn't military, instead…
On Thursday, Barry McCaffrey told the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that the president's plan to surge troops into Iraq was "a fool's errand." He went on, "Our allies are leaving us. Make no mistake about that. Most will be gone by this summer." Well it turns out it was McCaffrey who was…
I MET HRANT Dink, a journalist who was assassinated earlier today in Istanbul, in 2005. A Turkish businessman organized a lunch to introduce me to a few journalists and civil society activists who had attended a recent conference on the Armenian Genocide. The successful staging of the conference,…
Reaction to the Chinese ASAT test has been pretty wide ranging over the past couple of days. At the one end, a bunch of folks blame Bush for failing to propose a new international treaty on space weapons. According to Theresa Hitchens, that, and the president's new national space policy, have…
The incoming commander for Iraq, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, is scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, January 23. He's expected to make the case for the "surge" and presumably explain why he needs the additional brigades to implement the new strategy. This will…
Stars & Stripes reports that the military will send 4,060 mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraq over the next year. The vehicles rely on increased armor and a v-shaped undercarriage to deflect the force of explosives concealed or buried in the road below. Only a few hundred of the…
According to U.S. News, sometime late last year the military launched a new special operations task force with the goal of disrupting the Iranian networks that are funding, equipping, and training Iraq's Shiite militias. From a tactical perspective, the most devastating consequence of Iranian…
In what is perhaps the wackiest analysis of the recent war in Somalia, the New Republic's John B. Judis stops just shy of calling Bush a terrorist for his complicity in the Ethiopian invasion: What exactly are we doing in the Horn of Africa, where we have encouraged the Christian government of…
Earlier this week, the Secretary of the Navy ordered a work stoppage on LCS-3, one of two littoral combat ships currently under production. The first of these ships, the Freedom, has already been built, and work will continue on a second, which is being built by General Dynamics using a different…
Aviation Week & Space Technology reports that "U. S. intelligence agencies believe China performed a successful anti-satellite (asat) weapons test at more than 500 mi. altitude Jan. 11 destroying an aging Chinese weather satellite target with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic…
ON DECEMBER 20, Russia's main legislative body, the State Duma, reaffirmed its faith in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Commonwealth is the oldest multilateral institution linking all the former Soviet republics except the Baltic states. In their statement, Duma members declared:…
Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter made it official yesterday; the Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier will bear the name of the late President Gerald R. Ford, making each subsequent carrier of that design part of the Ford class. The new carrier, on which construction has already begun,…
Back from Iraq, Sen. Clinton said on the morning talk show circuit that she opposes efforts to cut off troop funding (for now at least) and opposes Lt. Gen. Petraeus' request for more brigades in Iraq. Hillary now says that she supports capping the number of troops in Iraq to around 135,000. But…
It was announced yesterday that the Marine Corps had ordered 15 additional Cougar Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal Rapid Response Vehicles (JERRV) from Force Protection Inc. in a contract worth $9.4 million. In November of 2006, the Marine Corps ordered 200 Cougars to augment a total force of 300…
CRITICS OF THE PLAN PROPOSED by the American Enterprise Institute's Iraq Planning Group (IPG) have been pointing to supposed discrepancies in the numbers of troops required to secure Baghdad in my writings, the IPG, and the Bush administration's statements.
Over at National Review Online, Rich Lowry takes on a phony charge peddled by the NYT's Rich and others. He writes: Is kagan playing fast and loose with his numbers? Frank Rich made this (sub. req'd) charge yesterday. It's amplified here. The charge is that Kagan first said it would take 80,000…
The Lexington Institutes's Loren Thompson has a piece in UPI today which paints a pretty bleak picture of the Air Force and its ability to counter conventional threats. The decay is most pronounced in the U.S. Air Force, the service that would have to take the lead in coping with urgent threats…
By way of Blackfive, a medic in the 1st Cavalry Division gives his thoughts on Sadr and the surge: The insurgents who battle the Coalition Forces are from outside the country. And the biggest problem down here isn't the insurgents. Its the politicians. The local politicians. Even though the country…
The Illinois senator had this to say on Face the Nation on Sunday. One of the things that I strongly disagree with ... is this notion that we have future catastrophe to look forward to if we start phasing down troops. We are in the catastrophe ... right now. Well, a short time ago, the Weekly…
An interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor on the rising costs of the war on terror. The bad news: "to pay for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has used its credit card, counting on the Chinese and other foreign buyers of its debt to pay the bills." The good news: The…
On January 18, the United States will deliver the first of eight P3-C Orion aircraft to Pakistan in a deal valued at close to $1.2 billion. The P3-C is a long-range, maritime surveillance aircraft designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, and will augment, and ultimately replace,…
According to USA Today, the U.S. military is reporting a dramatic and unexpected increase in the number of police recruits in Anbar province, the center of Sunni insurgent activity in Iraq. In the past two weeks, more than 1,000 applicants have sought police jobs in Ramadi, the provincial capital.…
Back in the summer of 2005, Spain's socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero won parliamentary approval for proposed talks with ETA, the separatist group that had been waging a campaign of terror against Madrid for nearly 40 years. ETA seeks the full independence of the Basque region,…
Peter Pae of the Los Angeles Times has an excellent piece on the production process for the Joint Strike Fighter, aka the F-35. Pae reports that Northrop Grumman plans to produce one complete JSF fuselage every day, with plans to produce as many as 5,000 aircraft if there is strong enough demand…
As if the Horn of Africa didn't already have enough problems, now Eritrea, which had relatively friendly relations with the United States when it first gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991, is looking ever more like a state sponsor of terrorism. No state has been officially labeled with that…
Triumph Forsaken
Now all the forecasts are in. Readers know what myriad experts think of the outlook for most of the world's economies, the securities traded on the world's exchanges, trends in the commodities markets, and the course of the once-mighty dollar. It would, therefore, contribute little to the sum total…
Tuesday, January 2, 2007, 12:30 P.M.
After holding Mogadishu for six months, Somalia's Islamists have been swept from power, ousted in a blitzkrieg attack by the Ethiopian military. The nature of the emerging political order in Somalia remains profoundly uncertain, with the retreating Islamists threatening to wage an Iraq-style…
To understand a nation's character, it seems to help to be a foreigner: Who has understood the American character better than the French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville? Seymour Martin Lipset, who died on December 31, was not a foreigner or even, quite, an immigrant: He was born a year after his…
The Real Gerald Ford
The City
The Revenge of Gaia
The President, the Pope,
RADIOS FOR FREEDOM
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED from this week's festivities that the Democrats now control both houses of Congress. Bush administration officials certainly have. Their minds have been concentrated by the prospect of congressional Democrats holding hearings on just about everything--but especially on Iraq,…
The Good Shepherd
What would be the consequences of an American withdrawal from Iraq? Trying to wrap one's mind around the ramifications of a failed Iraq--of an enormous, quite possibly genocidal, Sunni-Shiite clash exploding around American convoys fleeing south--is daunting. In part, this is why few have spent…
When I was a college twerp, surrounded by my college-twerp friends, we sat around like Gambino-family capos, deciding how to carve up the kingdom. They resolved to put their marketing majors to work in the captain-of-industry perches that were their birthrights, taking what was theirs as assistant…
The resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December left only one cabinet member who's held her position since the beginning of the Bush administration--Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. Her longevity is due in part to her fierce loyalty to the president, which has raised the ire of some in…
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard (Doubleday, 432 pp., $26). The Theodore Roosevelt history remembers is the effervescent, tough-talking warrior who never walked away from a struggle, regardless of circumstances. While this is an accurate portrayal of TR,…
You can't govern from Capitol Hill. Newt Gingrich, as Republican House speaker, tried after the landslide of 1994 and failed. Yet Democrats, with their "100 hours" agenda in the House and 10 legislative "priorities" in the Senate, act as if they can run Washington. House speaker Nancy Pelosi and…
"Rejoice not when thy enemy falleth"--that is the Bible's advice (Proverbs 24:17), and the classical rabbinic tradition cites this verse in urging us never to celebrate the death of an enemy no matter how evil. But Americans have plenty to celebrate in the trial and punishment of Saddam Hussein by…
Fox News Sunday scored the big interview of the weekend: Chris Wallace spent a half hour with Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney used his time to remind the American people of exactly what's at stake in Iraq, and that this is not solely a sectarian civil war we are now involved in: "Remember what…
Former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jack Keane worries that Lt. Gen. Petraeus may be assuming command in Iraq without adequate forces. From today's Sunday Telegraph: THE MILITARY mastermind of President George W. Bush's new troop "surge'' strategy for Iraq has hit out at signs that the Pentagon is…
250px-Chengdu_J-10_photo_1.jpg The J-10 fighter The Chinese military has been working for more than 20 years to develop the J-10 fighter, a multi-role single-engine and single-seat tactical fighter, with a combat radius of 1,000 km. The program has seen numerous setbacks, including the crash of a…
Bill Gertz reported yesterday on high-level discussions between U.S. and Chinese military officials over an incident that occurred in the western Pacific on October 27, 2006. Gertz was the first to report the incident in which a Chinese Song class submarine surfaced not more than 5 miles from the…
The incoming commander of U.S. forces in Iraq is considered the Army's top expert on counterinsurgency. He recently authored the Army's field manual on conducting counterinsurgency operations. He served in Iraq as commander of the 101st. Lt. Gen. Petraeus also believes that he needs more forces if…
TAN DUN is to music what Yao Ming is to basketball. He is China's towering ambassador to the world, demonstrating the prowess of the Middle Kingdom on a playing field once considered the exclusive preserve of the West. Here in America, Tan is best known as the Oscar-winning composer of the score…
The second season of HBO's sword-and-sandal series Rome picks up right where the first season left off: drenched in blood, Julius Caesar lays dead on the floor of the Senate. With the death of the tyrant, the Republic teeters on the edge of chaos. Marc Antony and Octavian, the newly adopted heir of…
This morning President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to the family of Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq. The citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a…
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The BBC reports that twelve antiwar activists are demonstrating in Cuba against the indefinite detention of terrorists at Gitmo. Anti-war activists are demonstrating near to the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to demand its closure. The 12 activists include an ex-detainee and relatives of…
This is from page 73 of the Iraq Study Group report: We could, however, support a short-term redeployment or surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed up the training and equipping mission, if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective. Well,…
INS Hanit.jpg INS Hanit, From the Jerusalem Post One of the most worrisome developments of last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah was the death of four Israeli sailors aboard the INS Hanit, one of the Israel's three Sa'ar 5 class missile ships which are the most advanced in the Israeli…
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. Joe Biden believes Congress should "demonstrate to the president [that] he's on his own" on the troop surge. Well, it's good to see that our allies aren't listening to the Delaware senator: From the Associated Press: President Bush's decision to boost American…
IF PRESIDENT BUSH is persuaded by the Iraq Study Group to speak directly with Iran, he will be under strong pressure to cut a deal that makes Iran a significant partner in salvaging, at least temporarily, the mess in Iraq. For its quid pro quo in aiding America to come up with a face saving exit…
Senator Lieberman on the president's Iraq speech tonight: I applaud the President for rejecting the fatalism of failure and pursuing a new course to achieve success in Iraq. There is no more difficult decision that a President can make than to send our nation's bravest soldiers and patriots into…
Via Hotline blog:: Success or failure in Iraq is not a matter of partisan politics but a matter of national security. All Americans should be hoping, praying and offering constructive advice for the success of our troops in Iraq and for those Iraqis seeking to create a stable and decent government.…
In 1999, Democrats, liberal pundits and some Republicans slammed Tom Delay's comment that Kosovo was "Clinton's War." They were right to do so. At the same time, Sen. Joe Biden co-sponsored a resolution authorizing the commander in chief to use "all necessary force and other means necessary" to…
fazul.jpg Fazul Abdullah Mohammed The Associated Press is now reporting that a U.S. airstrike on suspected al Qaeda militants early Monday morning was, in fact, a success, resulting in the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. From the AP: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998…
The governor released the following statement today: I agree with the President: Our strategy in Iraq must change. Our military mission, for the first time, must include securing the civilian population from violence and terror. It is impossible to defeat the insurgency without first providing…
LESS THAN A MONTH AGO, the situation in Somalia seemed dire. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a radical group that is affiliated with al Qaeda, was on the brink of destroying the U.N.-recognized transitional federal government (TFG). Seventeen terrorist training camps were operational and terrorists…
Writing at Pajamas Media, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has broken a major story revealing the extensive cooperation between American military personnel and the Ethiopian armed forces during that country's recent invasion of ICU-controlled areas of Somalia. According to Gartenstein-Ross, "U.S. ground…
Today's New York Times reports that Democratic leaders are exploring "ways to block financing for a military expansion without being accused of abandoning American forces already in Iraq." But Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are going to have to seek such a funding cut off over the likely…
Mounir el Motassadeq was a member of the Hamburg sleeper cell that "planned and carried out" the September 11 attacks. A "close friend of 9/11 hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi and Ziad Samir Jarrah," reports the McClatchy News, el Motassadeq "had signed wills, taken over power of attorney…
IT HAS NOT BEEN an especially good decade for the Japanese left. The old Socialist party has splintered. The main opposition party, founded in 1998, has absorbed former members of the right-wing Liberal party. (Its leader is now ex-Liberal boss Ichiro Ozawa, a prominent conservative.) The consensus…
Here's the text of the letter Senators Lieberman and Lindsey Graham sent to the White House today: January 8, 2007 President George W. Bush The White House 1600Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, For the sake of our own national security we must have a successful outcome to…
CBS News reports that a "U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia.... The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in…
From today's editorial: ...If the stakes in Iraq are as great as Mr. Bush says--and we believe they are--then he should commit whatever forces are needed to achieve success. The public's support for the Iraq campaign is waning, in major part because the casualties and expense have been producing no…
NANCY PELOSI WAS the featured guest on Face the Nation; all 30 minutes of the show were dedicated to the new speaker of the House. As might be expected, there were some real gems from the California Democrat. She said that President Bush will no longer have a blank check in Iraq, but offered…
Democrats and others have been pushing the line that military commanders really don't want a troop surge in Iraq. Consider today's Washington Post editorial: [The president] will face a formidable task in convincing Congress and the public that such a "surge" makes sense. It's well known that many…
Over at The Corner, Stanley Kurtz makes a good point regarding the Washington Post's coverage of the Iraq "surge" debate. There is something awfully odd about today's big Washington Post story on the proposed troop surge. The headline reads, "Critics Say ‘Surge' Is More of The Same," and the…
The Republican senator will soon make it official. ABC News reports that Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback will declare his presidential candidacy on January 20. The Weekly Standard's Terry Eastland profiled Brownback a few months back and recently reported on the senator's ground game Iowa.
From the current Weekly Standard editorial: The task in these [upcoming congressional] hearings, then, is not just to explain and defend the president's plan, but to make the point that it is better than any plausible alternative, especially withdrawal. Committee members should not be allowed to…
William Kristol offers his thoughts in the latest issue of Time: There has been some sniping at the Keane-Kagan plan. But what is striking is that so few of the critics actually go to the trouble of analyzing it--or proposing a substitute. Instead, Keane and Kagan are treated with annoyance and…
Former DNC Chair, Clinton ally, and Global Crossing sweepstakes winner Terry McAuliffe dumps on Kerry in his new book, "What a Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators and Other Wild Animals." According to the AP, he calls Kerry's '04 campaign "one of…
Jerusalem
With Moscow wielding its energy club on its neighbors, Ukraine, Georgia and now Belarus, there's been a growing awakening in Europe to the perils of being too dependent on the Kremlin for energy supplies. The latest is Germany. Radio Free Europe reports that Economy Minister Michael Glos welcomed…
Nearly eight years ago, NATO (without Security Council approval) began its bombing campaign to expel Serb forces from Kosovo. scan.gif The UN has been trying to figure out what to do with Kosovo ever since it took over administering the province in 1999. That process may soon be coming to an end -…
The folks over at Foreign Policy have posted an interesting debate between Matt Continetti of Weekly Standard and the American Prospect's Matthew Yglesias on the merits of this piece, "Why Hawks Win" in FP's latest issue. Here's the link.
RELATIVELY SPEAKING, Saddam got off easy. The execution of the former Iraqi dictator was carried out with little fanfare. He was defiant to the end, saying, "Iraq without me is nothing," though he did look frightened. He refused a hood, which was then wrapped around his neck like a scarf. There…
TUNE IN around 4 o'clock Eastern and the news is feeding from the London anchor desk. The ticker is crawling: DR Congo Loser to Challenge Results . . . Netherlands Moves to Ban Burqa. Co-anchors Nick Clarke and Barbara Serra, in an urbane British accent that osmoses credibility, lead into the…
With North Korea's nuclear program advancing, Japan is set to ramp up its missile defense capabilities. According to Reuters, Japan may be getting set to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into plugging missile- defense gaps demonstrated by North Korea's July 4-5 test- firings…. Also being…
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is a smart politician. He wants to rapidly drawdown U.S. troops in Iraq and escalate our involvement in Darfur. Both positions are extremely popular with Democratic primary voters. On ABC's This Week, he explained what he'd do to end the atrocities in…
From the AP: [President] Silva made the economy and crime the cornerstones of his inauguration speeches Monday. He vowed to increase economic growth that has lagged behind the rest of South America, without sacrificing the social programs that are largely responsible for his high popularity. But…
AL QAEDA AND its allies now have their own 24-hour television station. Based at a secret studio in Syria, its signal is broadcast to the entire Arab world from a satellite owned by the Egyptian government. This development highlights al Qaeda's increasingly sophisticated propaganda efforts.
Sony has filed a "patent for a motorized skateboard that riders steer by shifting their weight," Techweb.com reports.
From a joint press release: Press reports indicate that the leaders of the uniformed services are recommending that the Bush Administration increase the endstrength of the Army and Marines. Given the strain that our military is currently operating under, it is imperative that we act quickly to meet…
Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute explains why our immigration system needs a complete overhaul -- not just a fence.
In yesterday's Jerusalem Post, columnist Caroline Glick writes on the role of Yasir Arafat in the murder of top American diplomats in Sudan in 1973. ON MARCH 1, 1973, eight Fatah terrorists, operating under the Black September banner stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan during a…
THE CALENDAR IS AN ARTIFACT, a 12-month period unrelated to the fundamental movements in the U.S. and world economies. For that reason, and because so many others feel confident enough to offer detailed and precise forecasts of what is in store for us in 2007, I am inclined to leave such chores to…
From ABC's This Week yesterday: STEPHANOPOULOS: [Do] you actually fear this idea that there's going to be a splitting of the difference. That the president will send 10,000 or 20,000 troops temporarily to Baghdad rather than the 20,000 to 30,000 or 40,000 that General Jack Keane and others have…
Kiev
When George W. Bush addresses the nation with his Iraq proposals in early January, a great many people will be disappointed. They will be so because the president is unlikely to change the position he has held all along: that in Iraq victory, or something that looks to the world like victory, is…
Saudi Arabia's monarchy faces increasing problems, all of which lead back to a school system that indoctrinates the country's subjects in Wahhabism, the ultrafundamentalist and violent interpretation of Islam that is the country's official religion.
Johnson on the English Language
In the beginning, there was the MUD. The first Multi User Dungeon, Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw's "MUD1," came online at the University of Essex in 1979. A text-based computer adventure game, much like the board game Dungeons & Dragons, the MUD allowed players at remote terminals to interact and…
In 1926, the Michelin guide to restaurants began using star ratings to separate exceptional eateries from the mediocre. That system is still in use today. One star merits a drop-in, provided it is on your way. Two stars, according to the guide, denotes "excellent cooking and worth a detour." And…
Sam Brownback lives closer to Iowa than any of the other Republicans likely to run for president in 2008. Brownback, the senior senator from Kansas, resides in Topeka, which is but a few hours by car from Iowa. And he plans to travel there quite a lot over the next 12 months--through January 21,…
Among the Righteous
Amsterdam
Dreamgirls
MERCIFUL MERCENARIES
President Bush has it backwards. No, not on Iraq, where he understands the foolishness of calls for retreat and the urgent need to deploy more troops, secure Baghdad, and achieve victory. Bush's wrong headedness is on a matter of domestic policy.
Self-Improvement, U.S. News-style
There Goes My Everything
The Punishment of Virtue
The polarization that has characterized American politics since the presidency of Ronald Reagan has extended its reach to foreign affairs. Never have the differences between the two parties on issues of war and peace been so distinct. At no time since World War II has the divergence of partisan…