MichaelW on May 13 2008 | Filed under: Humor, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
Both via Major John at Miserable Donuts, a milblog. First, a joke as told by an Iraqi Army captain:
President Jalal Talibani summoned the leaders of the Iraqi parliament to his office for a meeting. In the middle of the meeting his wife calls him and says, “Jalal, there is a thief in our house!” [...]
Joshua Foust on May 08 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
One thing I’ll never understand about the military is how it looks to failed wars to prove the truthiness of its current strategy. What baffles me more is how earnest scholars, like Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations, manage to revel in such silliness. Surely he knows what a failure is? To whit: [...]
Joshua Foust on May 03 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
This is the latest post in a running commentary on a new meme to emerge from the PR folks in Afghanistan: the security benefits of building roads. The argument, advanced by a few American reporters and one David Kilcullen, is that building paved roads reduces the IED threat and contributes to the security necessary for [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 27 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Josh's Page, Notes on the war
I honestly don’t have the time to reformat everything for several cross-posts, so this is a summary of posts at my other blog, Registan.net, where I’ve been discussing some interesting topics related to counterinsurgency and reconstruction in Afghanistan, as well as media and culture issues.
First up is a critical review of a new essay by [...]
MichaelW on Apr 24 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Media, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
This is a positive development:
Iraq’s largest Sunni bloc has agreed to return to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s cabinet after a nine-month boycott, several Sunni leaders said on Thursday, citing a recently passed amnesty law and the Maliki government’s crackdown on Shiite militias as reasons for the move.
The Sunni leaders said they were still working [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 24 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
Whatever could this guy be going on about?
“Saddam had his big castles; they symbolized his power and were places to be feared, and now we have the castle of the power that toppled him,” says Abdul Jabbar Ahmed, a vice dean for political sciences at Baghdad University. “If I am the ambassador of the USA [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 23 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Notes on the war
Security improvements bringing people back to their homes in South Baghdad…
With security improving, local economies flourishing and community reconstruction underway, Iraqis who once fled their South Baghdad homes in fear are now returning to the villages they deserted.
This is a good sign, said Maj. Mark Bailey, the officer in charge of the Multi-National Division – [...]
MichaelW on Apr 21 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I was pleasantly surprised, and mildly irritated, to see that Condi Rice basically called Muqtada al-Sadr a coward while she was in Baghdad recently (via: Instapundit):
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 17 2008 | Filed under: Election 2008, Notes on the war
Cross-posted to Registan.net.
The Air Force Times reports on a rather surprising gaffe from the foreign policy Commander-in-Chief-to-be:
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona may not have been paying the closest of attention last week during hearings on the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, McCain was asked [...]
MichaelW on Apr 17 2008 | Filed under: Blogs, Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war, Philosophy
There seems to be some confusion on the part of some as to exactly what sort of place ASHC is:
I was rather surprised to read this dubious and scornful appraisal of Michael Yon’s Wallstreet Journal editorial at A Second Hand Conjecture, a heretofore conservative site.
The post Mick Stockinger is referring to was created by Joshua [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 16 2008 | Filed under: Notes on the war
Back in December of 2006, the blogger Fabius Maximus compiled a rather handy anthology of our great foreign policy lights in the darkness, boldly predicting we’d know for sure whether or not the Iraq project would succeed in 2003. And 2004. And 2005. And 2006. And 2007. It was a depressing confirmation of the permanence [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 16 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Technically, Doug Feith is right: no one ever said it would be a cakewalk. Of course, that still doesn’t mean he’s not a big, fat liar desperate to rewrite history with someone else as the villain.
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fasecondhandconjecture.com%2Findex.php%2F2008%2F04%2F16%2Fsquirming-like-a-stuck-pig%2F’;
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Joshua Foust on Apr 15 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Stephen Hayes, when even Doug Feith (who is renown for his honesty) won’t stand up for your articles on the Iraq-Al Qaeda connection, it might be time to admit you were wrong.
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fasecondhandconjecture.com%2Findex.php%2F2008%2F04%2F15%2Fback-stabbing-amongst-the-warmongers%2F’;
addthis_title = ‘Back-Stabbing+Amongst+the+Warmongers’;
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Joshua Foust on Apr 15 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Moqtada sl-Sadr’s Army. This implies something very significant: much like how Hezbollah and HAMAS maintain enormous humanitarian operations that undercut the central government and keep their support base strong, al-Sadr has a reputation among the millions of Iraqis misplaced by our war that will not be easy to overcome. It’s too early to compare JAM [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 12 2008 | Filed under: Notes on the war
Michael Yon wants more troops, more surging, more progress in Iraq toward inevitable victory. Of course, what that “victory” is, if it is even remotely like what we thought it would be in 2003, if it is in fact achievable against all reason, is left unsaid. As is the impact his desires would have upon [...]
Lance on Apr 11 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I was sent this via e-mail from my Uncle Pat, also known as Colonel Alfred H. Paddock. Uncle Pat is a story in and of himself, but I’ll tell you a little more about him after the e-mail. Let it suffice to say for now that Pat is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 10 2008 | Filed under: Notes on the war
First:
Here’s the sorry reality: Such occurrences in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the “arc” of territory that the Bush administration has, in a mere few years, helped set aflame are the norm. Our “mistakes,” that is, are legion and, in the process of making them, our planes, drones, and helicopters have killed villagers by the [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 08 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters, Notes on the war
3. Recent Senate testimony by General William Odom and journalist Nir Rosen presented a portrait of Iraq that is at odds with the more rosy picture painted by the Bush Administration. General Odom has said “the decline in violence reflects a dispersion of power to dozens of local strong men who distrust the government and [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 07 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
Lost in the hoopla over the intra-Shia fighting in Iraq is a rather fundamental question: is it even a good idea? Is it something we should be poking our fingers into? Augustus Norton, a professor of International Relations at Boston University, is not so sure:
I remember sitting in Beirut with an old friend about the [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 07 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
This will be good news if it happens…
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/07/sadrs-political-universe-continues-to-shrink/
Iraq’s major Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties have closed ranks to force anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to disband his Mahdi Army militia or leave politics, lawmakers and officials involved in the effort said Sunday.
Such a bold move risks a violent backlash by al-Sadr’s Shiite [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 05 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Woops.
The Badr Organization is the military arm of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI previously known as SCIRI). Now ISCI is closely aligned with Maliki government and is arguably the most significant player in the current central government. In fact significant elements of the Badr Organization have been incorporated into the Iraqi [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 05 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Abu Muqawama looks at the unconditionally rosy pictures of Iraq painted by Fred and Kim Kagan and sees nothing but disaster for the future civil-military relations:
Why is this dangerous? Because when the next president — Obama or McCain — comes to office and is suddenly confronted with the messy reality of Iraq, he might have [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 02 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Notes on the war
Well I’m sure you’ve all seen the declassified “torture memos” written by Deputy AAG John Yoo (part 1, part 2, both PDF). They laid the legal foundation for the use of expanded interrogation techniques, the horrid euphemism used by the Bush administration to justify what we once considered wretched torture performed only by our worst [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 01 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Let’s see, the Mahdi Army is in retreat, and the ISF is continuing operations, and sending reinforcements.
Isn’t it OBVIOUS that Maliki is loosing.
Update -
This puts things into perspective…
Mission accomplished has been duly declared, although the JAM in Basra remains apparently intact and raids are still ongoing to seize some of the weapons whose surrender was [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 31 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Iran was integral in persuading Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt attacks by his militia on Iraqi security forces, an Iraqi lawmaker said Monday.
Afghanistan hyper-expert Barnett Rubin says: “en Iran Revolutionary Guards helped the U.S. destroy al-Qaida’s bases in Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban, and form an interim government under UN supervision, the Bush administration responded [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 28 2008 | Filed under: Notes on the war
… why are we backing an Iran-friendly movement in Basra against Iraqi nationalists? Lest I be accused of a selective reading, this is the sort of question being posed by a huge range of people, from the usual suspects (like Spencer Ackerman), to Anthony Cordesman, to Bartle Bull, to Noah Shachtman, to Abu Muqawama.
But of [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 27 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Firearms, Notes on the war
A 22-year old kid and his 25-year old ex-masseuse brother run a company called AEY, Inc. They won a rather sizable contract to supply the Afghan National Army with ammunition for their fight against the Taliban. Along the way they developed a relationship with shady international arms dealers, 40-year old Albanian surplus bullets, and a [...]
MichaelW on Mar 25 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
Al Qaeda’s efforts in Iraq have been less than successful over the past year, due in large part to the Anbar Awakening and the related Councils of Concerned Citizens/Sons of Iraq movements, and the support offered those movements by Petraeus’ COIN methods manifested by the “surge.” Essentially, as Tigerhawk predicted a while back (and [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 24 2008 | Filed under: Economics, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
Posted first on Registan.net, this is the latest in a series I’ve been writing there for the past two years on the many problems with our counternarcotics operations in Afghanistan, and how bad policy has fueled the insurgency to record strength.
Over at Abu Muqawama, Kip has posited a very interesting hypothesis:
Already in the 2007 annual [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 24 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
U.S. deaths in Iraq reach the 4,000 mark as rockets and mortar rain down on the Green Zone and the Sons of Iraq grow restless.
On the flip side of things, Totten tells us of the liberation of another pile of rubble. What do they mean? Is victory just around the bend?
addthis_url [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 22 2008 | Filed under: Notes on the war
Five years past the invasion of Iraq, every body has been posting their own recollections—with a surprisingly small number of mea culpas. Over at Cynic’s Party, “Blogenfreude” summarized the roundup on Slate quite ably:
“How Did I Get Iraq Wrong? I believed the groupthink and contributed to it,” by Jacob Weisberg.
“How Did I Get Iraq Wrong? [...]
MichaelW on Mar 18 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
The inestimable Oliver Kamm provides a glimpse at the value our British friends find in a potential John McCain presidency:
Two points about McCain stand out. He’s not a conservative and he’s been right all along about Iraq. These are the reasons I favoured him from the outset for the Republican nomination. Indeed McCain has been [...]
MichaelW on Mar 11 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Media, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Apparently rumors have been swirling around for awhile that Fallon was on his way out. Well, today he resigned and the speculation is that it was over a recent interview he did in Esquire, written by Thomas P.M. Barnett (regarding which Josh noted Fallon’s strange reaction last week). However, you can rest assured [...]
Joshua Foust on Feb 23 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Notes on the war
Surely the meta-narrative in Iraq has shifted: the stories are brighter, the prognoses are more positive. Lead by bloggers like the Michaels Yon and Totten, the story of Iraq’s successes are now as plentiful as stories as its failure once were. Or at least more so.
Nir Rosen—who is as objectively Pro-Saddam as Tom Coburn—offers a [...]
Keith_Indy on Feb 15 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Notes on the war
Even more evidence that there is sustainable progress in Iraq. And this is from the same person the left held up as proof last year, that no progress was evident.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/02/15/surge-skeptic-cordesman-major-progress-in-every-area-in-iraq/
If the US provides sustained support to the Iraqi government — in security, governance, and development — there is now a very real chance [...]
Keith_Indy on Feb 13 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Keith's Page, Notes on the war
Say it aint so!!! Da New Yawk Times Says So!!!
I wonder where they are on those benchmarks our Congress settled on? I also wonder how this places them in effectiveness vs our Democratically controlled Congress.
Using old-fashioned politicking behind the scenes, Iraq’s parliamentary leaders on Wednesday pushed through three divisive laws that had been [...]
ChrisB on Feb 12 2008 | Filed under: Chris' Page, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
In the interest of sparking another weekend long 30 reply post, I present this Washington Post article by freelance writer Ann Marlowe who was embedded with the US forces twice in 2007.
To spoil the surprise,
The first is that Hamid Karzai is a good president who looks after American interests. The second is that the situation [...]
Lee on Feb 10 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters, Notes on the war
A Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) member in Arab Jabour, Iraq (photo: DoD)
In extraordinary documents confiscated in November by the United States, we get an enemy’s eye view of the Awakening in Iraq, and further confirmation about how debilitating the effects were for Al Qaeda. An AQ commander, Abu-Tariq, relates that his own unit declined from [...]
MichaelW on Feb 08 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Probably a wise decision when up against Marines, although, as is usual with politicians, this decision is driven mainly by government largess (or the lack thereof):
As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance [...]
MichaelW on Feb 07 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Is the Iraq War hurting John McCain’s candidacy? By “hurting” I’m referring to his struggle to be the true conservative candidate who unites the party. Despite his clear lead in the primary race, McCain has not been able to capture the Christian right (who predominantly go for Huckabee), nor has he been able [...]
Lance on Feb 05 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Notes on the war
If you haven’t had a chance to read Yon’s latest report from Iraq, I will reiterate that you need to do so. Fred Kagan and Anthony Cordesmann make an appearance, but the real interest is the dynamics in the population which are often missed or distorted in most coverage.
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MichaelW on Feb 03 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
In a post at QandO, Billy Hollis explains why John McCain will not be getting his vote. Essentially, McCain-Feingold and Johnny’s continued contempt for the Bill of Rights leaves Billy cold:
This [McCain-Feingold] is THE main reason I cannot vote for the man. Heck, I almost shied away from Fred merely because he voted for [...]
MichaelW on Jan 30 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Attorney General Michael Mukasey sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the interrogation technique known as waterboarding. Mukasey remarked that it is not an authorized interrogation technique, and that it “is not, and may not be, used in the current [CIA interrogation] program.” As in his confirmation hearings, however, Mukasey declined [...]
Keith_Indy on Jan 29 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I would have to think Saddams bluff against the world would be up there at #1.
A possible number 2 would be Rumsfeld, in 2004, siding with decision not to publicaly release information that supported going to war.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12652
One member of UNSCOM told this author that in April 2003, shortly after Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, an [...]
ChrisB on Jan 29 2008 | Filed under: Chris' Page, Notes on the war
I’m not sure that’s “news” to those who have been paying attention the last few years, but now we have another source reported by CNN on Sunday. What makes this source newsworthy and interesting is that it’s FBI agent George Piro, who interviewed Saddam almost daily after his capture. He was on 60 minutes last [...]
Lance on Jan 28 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Notes on the war
Fausta has the details, and Captain Ed has more. A wave of attacks was planned, and as Captain Ed points out, none are involved in Iraq.
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Lance on Jan 21 2008 | Filed under: Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
By all accounts Scott Beauchamp has tried to redeem himself in the eyes of his unit. However, when this story came to a head and the military investigated him, he seems to have been held in rather low regard. Bob Owens has started to put up the documents he has received from the military in [...]
Keith_Indy on Jan 17 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Notes on the war
Well, maybe not good news, but the forecasts portend good news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7193174.stm
Iraq faces a period of economic growth and political progress, according to assessments by the International Monetary Fund and the UN.
The IMF sees 7% growth in 2008 and a similar rise next year, and says oil revenues from buoyant exports should be up by 200,000 [...]
Keith_Indy on Jan 08 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Notes on the war
But, I’ve never claimed that, and AFAIK, nobody I’ve read is claiming that. The argument that we are claiming things are rosy is a strawman, pure and simple.
What is being claimed is that security is improving. There are other improvements, but I’m only going to deal with security here. One measure of [...]
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Over at QandO, McQ offers his take on a thoughtful article by Andrew Tilghman entitled “The Army’s Other Crisis: Why the Best and Brightest Young Officers are Leaving.”
Here are the nut graphs from McQ:
So we should certainly be concerned about the loss of CPTs. And while the fixes are obvious, given the mission, they aren’t [...]
Risk and Return Multinational Force-Iraq