Archive for the 'Foreign affairs' Category
Top Al Qaeda Operative Nabbed In Iraq, and Other Good News
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Bill Roggio has the scoop at Long War Journal:
The Iraqi Army claimed to have captured the minister of defense of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s political front organization. Ahmed Turki Abbas was captured after being wounded in a skirmish near Mahmudiyah and “claimed the rank of defense minister,” Qassim al Moussawi, Iraq’s military […]
You Say You Want a Revolution
Keith_Indy on Dec 27 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, MichaelW's Page
These are the events that can kick off revolutions, civil wars, and even God forbid world wars…
Let’s hope and pray this will be a more bloodless revolution.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318510,00.html
Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a homicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally.
The former prime minister died in Rawalpindi […]
MichaelW on Dec 21 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Economics, Environment, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page
According to the press release (my emphasis):
Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called “consensus” on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made […]
Keith_Indy on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
When members of your own party are positive about changes they are seeing first hand in Iraq, maybe it’s time to give up on giving up.
“I feel we’ve made progress, and the other part is I feel we can see an end game in sight,” Donnelly, D-Ind., told reporters on a conference call Tuesday from […]
MichaelW on Dec 18 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
Apparently Hugo Chavez takes the resurrection of historical idols quite seriously. And much too literally [HT: Dave In Texas]:
President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela should open the coffin of independence hero Simon Bolivar to examine the bones, saying there are sufficient doubts about his death in 1830 to warrant a full investigation.
Although history […]
MichaelW on Dec 17 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
It seems that Hugo Chavez is not the only one having trouble instituting his Bolivarian dream state. Evo Morales is facing troubles in Bolivia as well:
Since the election of avowed socialist Evo Morales to the presidency of Bolivia, some have not been particularly happy with the direction he is trying to take the country. […]
MichaelW on Dec 16 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Humor, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, regulation
Thaddeus Tremayne sees potential legal troubles for St. Nick in the UK:
A frosty reception awaits Santa Claus in Britain this year. It seems that the much-loved benefactor of children everywhere is, in fact, suspected of being guilty of a number of illegal practices.
The jolly fatman’s employment practices are demanding particular scrutiny:
The Equality Commission has also […]
Keith_Indy on Dec 13 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Military Matters
This is interesting:
The “Key Judgments” released by the intelligence community last week begin with a dramatic assertion: “We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.” This sentence was widely interpreted as a challenge to the Bush administration policy of mobilizing international pressure against alleged Iranian nuclear programs. It […]
Keith_Indy on Dec 12 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Military Matters
While this is welcome news, it can hardly be called justice. A just society would have stopped this guy in his tracks, long before 10,000 people were killed during the seige of Sarajevo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071212/wl_nm/warcrimes_bosnia_dc_4;_ylt=Atb4Bpre3V1KJ4H.g7llWfkE1vAI
The U.N. war crimes tribunal sentenced former Bosnian Serb general Dragomir Milosevic to 33 years imprisonment on Wednesday for the shelling of […]
Joshua Foust on Dec 10 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
So I mentioned before I might not continue doing these into the New Year. I am approaching one solid, eventful year of trying to summarize the important, and possibly ignored, stories of the day. I’m not quite burned out, but my time has become very precious to me (my preciousssss), and it’s just a bit […]
MichaelW on Dec 10 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
In the wake of the Venezuelan electorate issuing Hugo Chavez a defeat (his first) at the ballot box last week, there was much speculation from blogospheric skeptics about the actual tally of the votes, and about whether or not Chavez manipulated the results. In a report by Jorge Castañeda for Newsweek comes […]
News Brief, You Don’t Have to Be Afraid Edition
Joshua Foust on Dec 06 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Cross-posted at The Conjecturer.
Did you know the calm in Iraq is actually very fragile, which is what happens when you buy off competing factions in a civil war? I can’t imagine why—after all, the bands of roving, independent Sunni volunteer militias have contributed to something… except maybe if you read Jules Crittenden, who seems to […]
Germany Warned About Minimum Wage Laws
MichaelW on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Economics, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, regulation
Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, called them a “brake on employment”:
The warning came after several competitors to Deutsche Post, the former state monopoly, announced redundancies and the cancellation of investments in response to Berlin’s decision to impose a minimum wage in the postal sector last week.
Minimum wages are shaping up as […]
News Brief, In Prose Edition
Joshua Foust on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs
It’s a different format I’m playing with, but still done first over at The Conjecturer.
David Axe keeps bringing the crazy in Mogadishu. He tells a neato story: While regular Somalia is a dirty basket case, Somaliland—the quasi-independent territory further north—is actually doing quite well, with its own quasi-institutions and working economy and no famine. That […]
Hugo Chavez: Genius!
Lance on Dec 05 2007 | Filed under: Economics, Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, Humor, Lance's Page
From E. Frank Stephenson:
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thinks it’s curtains for America as a world power. “By the crash of the dollar,” he says, “America’s empire will crash.”Tyler Cowen’s suggestion that currencies are not markers of economic success notwithstanding, I hope Chavez’s theory that declining currencies signal the end of regimes […]
Joshua Foust on Dec 04 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Always yours, at The Conjecturer.
Defense & The War
Dan the Missing Conjecturer and I were emailing each other today (he’s fine, thanks, just very busy). He mentioned something fascinating—Secretary Gates seems to be rather assertively professionalizing the DoD’s analytical corps (for lack of a better term), breaking it somewhat of the politicization we’ve seen under Bush/Cheney. […]
MichaelW on Nov 29 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Hugo Chavez, MichaelW's Page
I’d say this is good news except that I have zero confidence that the referendum will result in anything other than what Chavez wants (i.e. dictatorial control):
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lost his lead eight days before a referendum on ending his term limit, an independent pollster said on Saturday, in a swing in voter […]
News Brief, The Great Intoxication Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 29 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Meticulously yours, over at The Conjecturer.
Defense & The War
Northrop Grumman is far ahead of the usual timetable for the Killer Drone it’s building for the Navy.
NATO can’t be bothered to keep enough helicopters on hand to, you know, be effective.
Around the World
Fighting drugs and building peace.
North Korea still choking on its lack of food.
Oh, […]
Feminism vs Multiculturalism - UPDATED
Keith_Indy on Nov 28 2007 | Filed under: Culture, Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Society
The radicals over at N.O.W. continue to be in a pickle over their support or at least their inaction over a case where one set of values conflicts with another set of values. How can you defend womens rights, and not condemn the treatment some cultures or some people, give towards women.
Why […]
News Brief, Schadenfreudeny Truthiness Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 28 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Cross-posted to The Conjecturer.
Defense & The War
Leave it to Jules Crittenden—who thought Japan’s war crimes in World War II justifies our own crimes now—to think Bush’s comparison of Iraq to Korea is a good thing. Because Bush does what he says! Except when he promises not to torture people or to actually rebuild Afghanistan like […]
News Brief, Beginning to See the Light Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 27 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Verbatim on The Conjecturer.
Defense & The War
The Marines want exoskeletons. I guess they love Aliens and need to destroy the queen? The SEALs are out for their own as well.
It would be nice to stop lying about the problem of refugees and IDPs in the kaleidoscope of Iraq, wouldn’t it?
And how long will we be […]
News Brief, I’m Off for Thanksgiving Break Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 21 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Cross-posted verbatim to The Conjecturer
Defense & The War
Thin solace, I know, but my piece on Ann Marlowe’s critique of the Human Terrain System (updated, too), got a link in the Small Wars Journal.
Also, Bill Roggio followed up with some good analysis on what’s going on in Pakistan; his thoughts align largely with my own.
Support the […]
News Brief, Comfortable Headphones Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 21 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Economics, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
From Russia The Conjecturer, with love.
Defense & The War
SimIraq? Could make for an interesting variant of the latest Sim City game, which looks interesting enough to pirate.
Triple Canopy for sale? Oh noes! Meanwhile, a federal grand jury has convened to investigate the Blackwater Massacre. They’re being charged under MEJA. That’s good! But the realities of […]
Looking at the other side II
Lance on Nov 20 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters
Fox News has a report on Ameriya and Abu Abed, that shows a somewhat different view than the Guardian once again. One suspicious aspect of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad’s Nov. 10, Gaurdian piece “Meet Abu Abed: the US’s new ally against al-Qaida“is the description of Abu Abed in it:
The great iron gate opened and Hajji Abu Abed […]
Fred on the war
Lance on Nov 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Notes on the war
In the first Pajamas Media War on Terror Conversation, Presidential candidate Fred Thompson discusses the current situations in Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The senator/actor also explains why he thinks the recent Hollywood anti-war films are box office failures. Joining Thompson are PJM CEO Roger L. Simon and Bob Owens of Confederate Yankee. (Produced by […]
News Brief, Henry and Hanzy Edition
Joshua Foust on Nov 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
Cross-posted to The Conjecturer
Defense and the War
Steven Biddle, one of the strategists behind the surge and an advisor to General Petraeus, thinks Iraq might not be a disaster if we keep 100,000 troops there for the next 30 years. Also worth noting, as Lynch does, that the lack of consideration for Maliki or the national […]
MSM on Iraq
Lance on Nov 19 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
More and more coverage in Iraq is beginning to reflect the positive changes that have occurred over the last few months.
The New York Times and The Washington Post report sharp declines in attacks today (though the Post relegated it to page A14 ), the Los Angeles Times looks at signs of local reconciliation “war-weary Sunnis […]
Lance on Nov 16 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Joshua recently linked to this story. Via Confederate Yankee we get another persons view of the situation in Ameriyah:
Sphere: Related Content
MichaelW on Nov 16 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
The war funding bill passed by the House was shot down by the Senate, but Sen. Reid promised to win the Democrats’ war against the White House through attrition (my emphasis):
Nearly a year after anti-war voters put them in power, congressional Democrats remain unable to pass legislation ordering troops home from Iraq.
Frustrated by Republican roadblocks, […]
Lance on Nov 15 2007 | Filed under: Developmental economics, Domestic Politics, Economics, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page
In a little-noticed mid-summer announcement, the Asian Development Bank presented official survey results indicating China’s economy is smaller and poorer than established estimates say. The announcement cited the first authoritative measure of China’s size using purchasing power parity methods. The results tell us that when the World Bank announces its expected PPP data revisions later […]
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