News Brief, Psychocandy Edition
Posted by Joshua Foust on 07 Nov 2007 at 12:44 am | Tagged as: Hugo Chavez, Notes on the war, Military Matters, Foreign affairs, Domestic Politics
Cross-posted to The Conjecturer
Defense & The War
- In the midst of petulantly crossing his arms and throwing a tantrum about the Future of Iraq Project, an anonymous FSO makes a really good point: “Sending officers into this failed, hideously violent exercise with no language training, no military liaison training, no arms or means of self-defense, no area training or expertise, no continuity of personnel, no internal support, and no post-deployment assistance of any substance is, in fact, as stupid as it appears to be. I would prefer that we have some senior officers speak out now, rather than begin our own collection of Ricardo Sanchezes who will say years from now, after many more dead and maimed, ‘I told you so.’”
- Ouch.
- It is not just the Air Force, Army, and Navy that has head shakingly ineffective contracting systems: the US Coast Guard does as well. Axe also discusses the same consequence of our misguided airpower campaign in Afghanistan that I do: massive civilian casualties, the mention of which to many pro-war types and soldiers tends only to elicit shrugs. Yet we persist in being surprised when they are decidedly apathetic about Bush’s freedom agenda.
- Despite the much-welcomed recent downturn in American casualties, 2007 is the deadliest year in Iraq so far. To relate this back to the above items, here is this (so far, unconfirmed) jaw-dropping report from Iraq, alleging that the SOF teams are using excessive force and killing innocent people in Iraq, just like NATO in Afghanistan.
Around the World
- Over at Registan.net, I get really angry with how the Instapundit is characterizing the latest revolution in Pakistan. Surprise, surprise. I also talk a bit about the latest wave of Taliban terror in what were once peaceful regions in the north and west of the country (don’t miss the far more nuanced event coverage by Péter Marton). I also took a peek at the latest fun times surrounding Russia’s new World Bank for Enriched Uranium, the role Kazkhstan’s purchase of Westinghouse might play, and what it might all mean for Iran.
- On the off chance you still listen to those jokers in the pundit-sphere who point to Kosovo as a successful model to be emulated, it is worth considering the very real dangers of upholding its bid for independence from Serbia… namely, a renewal of the war we bombed Serbia to stop.
- Casting a wary eye toward the box on the Euphrates.
Back at Home
- I’m brimming with confidence in the system: the FBI was going to snoop out falafel sales to catch Iranian terrorists? There are Iranian terrorists? In San Francisco?
- Hrm. Maybe Yahoo will stop selling out democrats to the clutches of abusive fascist regimes? Maybe.
- Woah. “How can the dishonorable convey honors?”
- I want her. I want her now. “Damn girl, you sound like you are way too nice. I think it’s definitely time for you to become a member of the smack-a ho tribe. Foreal.”
Trackback URI | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed
