assigned reading

On Monday I will be working on a followup post to last week's critique of Richard Lewontin. In the meantime, here are a few links that will keep you oh so very occupied.

Last summer Norman Podhoretz wrote what is generally acknowledged as the best overview yet on the war against militant Islamism. Not without reason, Podhoretz has dubbed this World War IV; and for an encore he now presents The War Against World War IV.

With the battle over Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General still unfinished, and last week's conviction of US Army Spc. Charles Graner for his leading role in the Abu Ghraib felonies, the subject of what is and what is not torture is very much in the news. I'm with Heather Mac Donald on this one. For completeness, here is Andrew Sullivan's contrasting take, which apparently he has been working on for some weeks. Eh.

My last link dump pointed to various defenses of SecDef Donald Rumsfeld. At some point I will acquit myself better on that subject, but in the meantime: The blogosphere has for the most part moved beyond merely answering the complaints of sundry hacks to considering what force transformation actually means. Winds of Change is, as always, an astonishing resource; start here and here, and don't neglect the links therein (or the comment sections, for that matter). For a more specific focus on the Army's structural issues, see The Belmont Club's recent series: 1 2 3. And credit where credit is due: Kevin Drum played a considerable role in advancing the present discussion. He's an honest lefty blogger—indeed, the only one I have found thus far that I regret not reading more often.

The Belmont Club also noted the UN's unseemly struggle for primacy in the wake of the Asian tsunami; see in particular Swine Before Pearls and Would You Like Fries With That? And, of course, the Diplomad has been posting from Indonesia proper with firsthand reports of both the UN's impotence and its eagerness to claim credit for work done by others, particularly Australia and the United States. Damning stuff that defies excerpts: just keep scrolling.

Finally, Blackfive posts an essay by Lt. Col. Tim Ryan: Aiding and Abetting the Enemy: the Media in Iraq. Legacy media malfeasance did not end with our election, and almost certainly will not even after Iraqis have had their turn two weeks hence.