Tag Archives: military

Obama Snubs MOH recipients

In a sense, this is surprising to me. I thought Obama had more political sense to him then this. It might have been his handlers fault. That’s being generous though. http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/obama-snubs-medal-of-honor-recipients/ In this case, the American Legion, the Military Order … Continue reading

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Implications of the Pletka Purge

Roland picks up an interesting piece by Jacob Heilbrunn for the National Interest, describing an ongoing purge of neoconservative intellectuals from the American Enterprise Institute, allegedly instigated by Vice President Danielle Pletka. So far Michael Ledeen and Reuel Marc Gerecht … Continue reading

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Method Music

Bassist Steve Benton of the aptly named metal band Drowning Pool, is pleased to learn his music is used as a torture device by military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

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The Philippines as Red State

Filipino writer Benjamin Pimentel is surprised to discover that his countrymen were among the very few foreign populations to prefer John McCain to Barack Obama in a Gallup international survey. A happy place for Republicans in a lonely world apparently, as … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtains

Alan Reynolds at Cato asks “How’s Obama Going to Raise $4.3 Trillion?” Altogether, Mr. Obama is promising at least $4.3 trillion of increased spending and reduced tax revenue from 2009 to 2018 — roughly an extra $430 billion a year … Continue reading

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Obama and the Fate of Criticism

“Tattered Hope” by Nathan Rupert Jason at postpolitical and I often get into testy email arguments about Barack Obama’s alleged “arrogance.” He is quite Greek in the sense that he thinks hubris is the fatal flaw at the heart of … Continue reading

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A Western Vibe Ticket

Todd Zywicki, of the Volokh Conspiracy, takes a look at libertarianism in the McCain/Palin ticket and notes a distinct western vibe to the first all-western ticket in our history. He had an interesting observation that I think captures a lot … Continue reading

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Black Signs at the Exhibition

The IMF has come through for Georgia in an enormous way, approving a $750 million credit line for the beleaguered republic. Beyond the much needed aid, it’s a powerful political reminder for Russia of the gargantuan economic advantage the West … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lee's Page, Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sarah Palin – Kuwait Gallery

Here at ASHC we get an enormous amount of traffic from people looking for Sarah Palin photographs. My friend Jason over on postpolitical says he’s experiencing the same phenomenon on his blog, and we took to calling it the hunt … Continue reading

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The Vandalism of Russian Occupation

Ceasefire be damned,* the Russian army reportedly destroyed the Metekhi-Grakali railway bridge. The bridge was used by Georgian refugees fleeing the mayhem in the Russian occupied zones given that the highway is controlled by the Russian army, which has naturally … Continue reading

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Going to Tbilisi?

Russian units are on the move again in Georgian territory, apparently in violation of the truce agreement. One Russian soldier in a large convoy shouted an ominous flirtation to a press photographer outside Gori, hopefully in jest or lust: “Come … Continue reading

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Recent History – Republic of Georgia

I’m doing this for my own benefit, as I’ve not followed the goings on in the Republic of Georgia, except to note when it’s in the news, not our Georgia. April 18, 2008 Georgia sought the backing of NATO and … Continue reading

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Georgia vs Finland

Zbigniew Brzezinski strikes a note from our discussion on tonights podcast and compares the invasion of Georgia with Stalin’s assault on Finland. If Georgia can hold up the military end of that analogy it would be quite impressive. I am … Continue reading

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The Trouble with American Alliances

Always demanding when they need you, useless and even obstructionist when you actually need them. Our friend Geoff Morrell can serve as something of a personification of that characteristic in fact: Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the Georgians had requested … Continue reading

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US Begins to Align with Georgia

Slowly the gears turn, but Washington and Tbilisi’s positions inch further into concord by the minute. The infamous “unnamed senior US official,” behind all important news events of the last century has spoken: A senior U.S. official says Russia has … Continue reading

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Thunder in the Place of the Winds

photo: Isuru Senevi | site And so ends Mauritania’s brief experiment with constitutional democracy. The AFP has a source in the new ruling junta who says there will be new elections in two months. We shall see.

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Bob Barr Now Pro-Wicca?

Those of us who remember the political scene of the 1990s remember Bob Barr as a hero of rightwing social conservatives. That was before his peculiar (some say opportunistic) transformation into libertarian civil rights crusader. Anyway, I’d missed this a … Continue reading

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The Tidal Empires of War

(photo: Charles Roffey – Charles & Fred) Someone once said that in Damascus you truly can get a little bit pregnant. It’s a good aphorism, because if you asked the foreign minister of almost any state in the Middle East … Continue reading

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What’s A Legal Arms Deal Anyway?

There are times when I’m kind of ashamed to work in the military-industrial complex: Former congressman Curt Weldon is helping broker deals between Russian and Ukranian weapons suppliers and the Iraqi and Libyan governments as part of his new job … Continue reading

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Because Aren’t All Insurgencies the Same?

Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal is a frustrating columnist. In April he made the head scratching argument that Khost province in Afghanistan, which has, along with the rest of RC-East, experienced a 36% jump in insurgent attacks over … Continue reading

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Of “Battle Fatigue” and National Caveats

Posted first to Registan.net, your one-stop shop for all things Central Asia, this is a tangent to a really excellent theme I’ve been tracking the past few weeks—the flow of press releases masquerading as journalism from Afghanistan to our largest … Continue reading

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Failed Wars = Great Strategies!

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, … Continue reading

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Why the Taliban Cease Fire Won’t Matter

Published first at Registan.net, this is the culmination of some research I’ve been doing into the nature and history of Pashtun tribal militancy. It draws from a mixture of out-of-print ethnocgraphic and geographic surveys, as well as contemporary news accounts, … Continue reading

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Chicks Are Cool, ‘Long As They Know Their Place

Only in America’s Army: KHOST, Afghanistan — Pfc. Monica Brown cracked open the door of her Humvee outside a remote village in eastern Afghanistan to the pop of bullets shot by Taliban fighters. But instead of taking cover, the 18-year-old … Continue reading

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Airspace Violations

Cross-posted to Registan.net, which is “All Central Asia, All the Time.” Last year, Georgia was abuzz with accusations against Russia for its military jets supposedly violating its airspace and possibly even attacking radio stations. Now, Georgian officials are hopping mad … Continue reading

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But He Knows the Military!

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 … Continue reading

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Those Magnificent Men

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 … Continue reading

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A Boy and His Hero

You don’t have to be Colombian for this beautiful advertisement to touch your heart.

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The Green Party and National Security: An Interview with Alan Augustson

A few weeks back I posted a facile little rebuke aimed at the national security implications of Green Party presidential candidate Alan Augustson‘s political platform. Alan responded to this in such a way that I realized I had little idea … Continue reading

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A Doves Eyes Opened

(Listening notes: Dedicated to cussed Irish beekeepers everywhere: The Pogues, The Specials, The Fall, U2, and The Chieftains) Over at Captains Quarters I noticed this: Every time war footage from Lebanon flickers across the flat screen television in my apartment … Continue reading

Posted in Foreign affairs, Lance's Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments