Why did we invade Iraq? Um, let’s see. The WMDs right? Uh, not so much. Oh, then it was to bring peace and stability and democracy and love and understanding and warm fuzzy kissybear hugs to the people of Iraq? Nope. Guess not. Oh, thaaaat’s right. It was so all the other countries in the Middle East would see Iraq … Read More
The Sippy Cup Saga
I don’t know if you caught the story last week, but there was an incident at the Reagan National Airport. A mother by the name of Monica Emmerson claims she was threatened with arrest for trying to carry her child’s sippy cup with four ounces of water through a security checkpoint (the allowed limit is three ounces). She claims that … Read More
But Who’s Counting?
WaPo: BAGHDAD, June 15 — The full contingent of new U.S. forces being sent to Iraq — what military leaders call a "surge" of troops to improve security and stability in the capital — was completed by Friday, with 28,500 additional troops now posted in the country, a U.S. military spokesman said. Uh, make that 28,495 additional troops: BAGHDAD, June … Read More
Surge Report Card
Washington Post: “Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar, where American forces are concentrated, only to rise in most other provinces, according to a Pentagon report released yesterday.” *** … Read More
Criminal or Combatant?: Orin Kerr On The Al-Marri Case
UPDATE: Screenshots of the al-Marri opinion added. Orin Kerr has some thoughtful objections to the recent Fourth Circuit case (Al-Marri v. Wright) holding that the U.S. government cannot hold a lawful visitor to this country in "indefinite military detention" simply by declaring him an "enemy combatant". According to the Fourth Circuit, the government can do many things — including transferring … Read More
The Gay Bomb
I thought this was a hoax, but apparently it is true: The proposal came from the Air Force’s Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, which requested $7.5 million to develop a so-called "gay-bomb." Using the Freedom of Information Act, Edward Hammond, director of the U.S. office of the Sunshine Project, obtained a copy which was "part of a military effort to … Read More
Court Believes In That Thing Called The Constitution
Good decision: President George W. Bush cannot order the military to seize and indefinitely detain a Qatari national and suspected al Qaeda operative, the only person being held in the United States as an "enemy combatant," an appeals court ruled on Monday. In a major setback for Bush’s policies in the war on terrorism adopted after the September 11 attacks, … Read More
Homophobia Kills
I wonder what is more important — getting the terrorists or discriminating against gays? For some on the right, the answer apparently is the latter. At least, that’s the national policy. An excellant op-ed in the New York Times makes this point: IMAGINE for a moment an American soldier deep in the Iraqi desert. His unit is about to head … Read More
Malkin = Fearmongerer
Excitable rightwing blogger and occasional-Bill-O’Reilly-substitute-on-Fox Michelle Malkin castigates NY Mayor Bloomberg and New Yorkers in general for being "ostriches" about the whole foiled JFK bombing plot. What set Malkin off? This quote from Bloomberg: "There are lots of threats to you in the world. There’s the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can’t sit there and worry … Read More
Ignoring The Evidence
Bob Geiger: Which makes the report issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee before the Memorial Day holiday even more interesting because Prewar Intelligence Assessments About Postwar Iraq (PDF) shows not only that Shinseki was right about troop levels, but also — as if more evidence is needed — that the Bush administration ignored critical pre-war intelligence in their rush to … Read More
Breaking News: Iraq War Not Just A “Civil” Internal One Anymore
Turkey invaded? Oh, great. UPDATE: Avarosis gives the 30-second background and analysis about the possible implications: In a nutshell, Turkey is worried, has been worried, about the Kurds in northern Iraq. (You’ll recall that Iraq is mainly made up of three groups, Kurds, Sunnis and Shias.) Turkey has a good number of Kurds in eastern Turkey – 20% of Turkey’s … Read More
“The Check Is In The Mail” And Other Excuses
Six months ago yesterday, we were told (for the umpteenth time) that things in Iraq were just about to get better: BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 5, 2006 (AP) The U.S. military expects all of Iraq to be under the control of Iraqi forces by mid-2007, the top American military spokesman in the country said Tuesday. "We would expect to see the … Read More
How Thin Is Our Army?
So thin that we’re putting amputees back on the front line. (That’s okay apparently, as long as they’re not gay).
“Verschärfte Vernehmung”
Earlier this month, the Republican contenders for President were asked a debate question by moderator Brit Hume: Imagine, Hume told the candidates, that hundreds of Americans have been killed in three major suicide bombings and "a fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured … and taken to Guantanamo…. U.S. intelligence believes that another, larger attack is planned…. … Read More
Two Years Ago
On May 30, 2005, Vice President Cheney declared that the insurgency in Iraq was in its “last throes” and predicted “the level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline.” Uh, not so much, Dick: Increased military activity throughout Iraq has pushed U.S. troop deaths to their highest level for any two-month period … Read More