archives :: the war
colours
The Great Union Flag--the Cross of St. George, the Cross of St. Andrew, and the Cross of St. Patrick--for England, Scotland, and Ireland. [read more]
mission
One year ago: Tonight: The progress in the past year has been significant, and we have a clear path forward. To complete the mission, we will continue to hunt down the terrorists and insurgents. To complete the mission, we will... [read more]
Pythonesque
From a 12 June Time—sorry, TIME—magazine press release: TIME has obtained the first documented look inside the highly classified realm of military interrogations since the Gitmo Camp at Guantanamo Bay opened. The document is a secret 84-page interrogation log that... [read more]
the empire strikes back
Newsweek is offering another mea culpa. As most of you know, we have unequivocally retracted our story. In the light of the Pentagon's denials and our source's changing position on the allegation, the only responsible course was to say that... [read more]
shameless
Newsweek is admitting to starting an international political firestorm, which got actual people killed, caused civil disturbances, endangered the lives of American troops and significantly set back US efforts in the war on terror because they ran a story from... [read more]
the unlamented end of pan-Arabism
Last week Tony Badran of Across the Bay posted a most enlightening essay: The Irrelevance of Political Arabism. He defines that movement as follows. [W]hat exactly is political Arabism? There are two essential elements: 1- Pan-Arab unity, and 2- the... [read more]
two years
Two years is about 730 days. In those days what have I seen. My eyes have seen more than I had ever hoped, more blood, more death and more pain, then I ever imagined or hoped I would have seen.... [read more]
a Hezbollah primer
Reader Tom Bombadil sent along this essay on the self-proclaimed Party of God and its influence in and around Lebanon. As I've been meaning to write more on the subject, Master Bombadil's essay will serve as a useful introduction. Party... [read more]
hell freezes
And the British left catches chill. As Syria pulls out of Lebanon, and the winds of change blow through the Middle East, this is the difficult question that opponents of the Iraq war are having to face. More: Orrin Judd's... [read more]
intrigue
My thesis from last night—to wit, that Giuliana Sgrena's increasingly fantastic accounts of her encounter with US troops are aimed not so much at the United States as they are at Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi—remains speculative. It is what I... [read more]
red and black (redux)
[Earlier posts on this subject are here and here.] Last fall, 60s radical turned neocon David Horowitz published Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. One of the better reviews of the book was by Joshua Kurlantzick, in the... [read more]
dominoes
But hell's bells, what in Allah's name is going on? —Reihan of The American Scene My sentiments exactly. In fact, the last time I remember this kind of energy was the summer and fall of 1989. Though the analogy is... [read more]
road to Damascus
(Image via Iraq the Model) Yesterday's WaPo column by David Ignatius has already made the rounds, but the choice parts are worth repeating. Over by the Martyr's Monument, Lebanese students have built a little tent city and are vowing... [read more]
words matter
The name “War on Terror” has always been a dodge, for a nation fights against an enemy, not a tactic. I have in the past called our present struggle the War against militant Islamic fundamentalism: a name that, no matter... [read more]
one week on
Today Orrin Judd points up two very interesting stories from Iraq. The first is in the NYT: Suddenly, It's 'America Who?' Through 22 months of occupation and war here, the word “America” was usually the first word to pass through... [read more]
unforgettable
My good friend Peter Gornell sent along a link to this large gallery of images from the Iraq elections. Be forewarned: the first few are unpleasant viewing. But some of the rest are unforgettable. Like this one. More: The price... [read more]
election day
Voting in Iraq has been underway for a couple of hours now. From the snapshots being offered by our 24-hour networks, it is of course impossible to know how things are really progressing. There has been some violence, but casualties... [read more]
three days
On 9 April 2003, the statue of Saddam fell in Firdos Square, Baghdad. That afternoon I went to mock antiwar protesters in the main square here in Bloomington. Twenty-one months and more have passed since. The news has often been... [read more]
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... [read more]
in defense of Rummy
Andrew Sullivan managed to wrench himself away from his bimonthly vacation long enough to stage an attempted fisking of Hanson. The link is here: but not like there’s much need to follow it. Just imagine a battle of wits between Maureen Dowd and William F. Buckley, Jr., with Sully in the role of elderly schoolgirl. [read more]
bag 'em
I won't go quite as far as does Shackleford; certainly I do not regard the incident as "murder". Nonetheless, Sites' eagerness to get his scoop has already spawned repercussions, and the progaganda mills of the Arab world are just getting started. [read more]
finally
Some days, I despise CNN more than on others. Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, 75, the leader who passionately sought a homeland for his people but was seen by many Israelis as a ruthless terrorist and a roadblock to peace,... [read more]
an antidote (bump)
It isn't the politics these troops espouse that is at issue; it's the pastry-addled rat bastard and enemy collaborator who is undermining their morale with the most insidious work of utter mendacity since the heyday of Leni Riefenstahl. [read more]
snapshots
I. [Andrew] Thomson, who spent two years pulling bodies out of mass graves in Rwanda and the Bosnian town of Srebrenica — corpses of people who had sought safety with the U.N. — concludes: “If blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers show up... [read more]
contrasts
Earlier this week Orrin Judd noted something curious on the official Kedwards campaign site: BREAKING NEWS!: CONDI ANNOUNCES 24TH IRAQ RATIONALE. Following this breathless headline are two dozen quotes from Bush Administration officials—from the President on down—as to why Gulf... [read more]
the grimmest of visions
Gerard Van der Leun argues that the justifiable disgust over CBS mainstreaming of bogus military draft fears is hiding the long view: Yes, Virginia, There WILL Be a Draft. The beauty of the “There's Gonna Be A Draft” lie is... [read more]
Kerry and Allawi, redux
This might have all markings of an interblog feedback loop, but bear with me. Earlier today Zach Wendling of Hoosier Review linked to my post from yesterday, which quoted both Iraqi PM Allawi's speech before the Joint Session and Sen.... [read more]
"Thank you, America"
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi today addressed a Joint Session of Congress. It's my honor to come to Congress and to thank this nation and its people for making our cause your cause, our struggle your struggle. Before I... [read more]
must see tv
On Friday Claudia Rosett published the latest in her series of groundbreaking stories on the Oil-for-Food debacle, aka UNSCAM. (I missed it then, because the Fox News site, aka Worst Designed News Site in All of Creation, wasn't playing nice... [read more]
vengeance and mercy
Ralph Peters: It isn't politically correct to say this, of course. We're supposed to pretend that Islam is a “religion of peace.” All right, then: It's time for Muslims to stand up for the once-noble, nearly lost traditions of their... [read more]
lamentation
A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more. [read more]
when cowards attack
Here is the latest example of the tactics of the Islamofascists: A siege at a school in south Russia has continued into the night, with armed attackers holding at least 200 people hostage, many of them children. Several people... [read more]
Jimmy Carter's revenge, II
A few days ago I quoted two articles suggesting that John Kerry's foreign policy is inspired more by Jimmy Carter than by Bill Clinton. It's getting worse (links via lgf). Q: One of the findings of the 9/11 Commission concerns... [read more]
Jimmy Carter's revenge
Last fall I stated that a Democratic victory would mean defeat in the broader war. That may not be true. But what is certain is that a Kerry victory will give our enemies good reason to believe that the United States can be alternately attacked and then lulled back into slumber. [read more]
a woman, a gun, a revolution
An Iraqi recruit receives help determining which eye is her dominant, during AK-47 weapons training at the Jordanian Royal Military Academy, Jordan. This earthquake in the very heart of the Middle East brought to you courtesy the United States... [read more]
don't tread on me
The image above comes courtesy Gerard Van der Leun, who notes that there may be more to this month's naval “exercises” than meets the eye. As a seafaring friend of mine once remarked, an aircraft carrier is not really... [read more]
red and black
A few days ago, I wrote this cheery passage: The Left—both domestic and international—is already making common cause with Islamists. It is only a matter of time before some in those camps decide to cement that alignment with more than... [read more]
state of the war, in four movements
I. Lacrimosa “We know that Islam is the religion of peace and mercy.” The Philippines will withdraw its forces from Iraq “as soon as possible,” Philippine deputy foreign minister Rafael Seguis said on Monday in a statement he read out... [read more]
real real gone
A week or so back, I noted an article in Britain's Financial Times which stated that Iraq had, after all, attempted to purchase uranium from Niger during the late 1990s. The sources in that article were unnamed “European intelligence officers,”... [read more]
context
Michele of A Small Victory provides a roundup of reactions from Iraqi bloggers regarding their nation's new independence. So does Joe Katzman of Winds of Change. And Tim Blair points up a moving story from Ali at Iraq the Model.... [read more]
another one bites the dust
The mainstreaming of the Bush lied! meme began about eleven months back, with the controversy over Iraq's procurement, or nonprocurement, of uranium oxide from Niger. The starring role in l’affaire du yellowcake was former ambassador and forever preening narcissist Joseph... [read more]
independence day
Staying up most of the night coding has consequences. Like sleeping through history in the making, for instance. From the Voice of America: The transfer of sovereignty in Iraq became official during a small ceremony in Baghdad Monday. The... [read more]
someone didn't get the memo
Or—perhaps—being poster child for the Left means not having to revise one's talking points, days after even The New York Times was obliged to retreat. No, not Michael Moore: Al Gore. A little over a year ago, when we launched... [read more]
Vlad the Cunning
This is already old news in certain corners of the blogworld, but is notable nonetheless. From The Moscow Times: Giving an unexpected boost to U.S. President George W. Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein's regime had posed a threat to the... [read more]
just a small clarification II
Today New York Times op-ed columnist William Safire takes on the media—including his own paper—over last week's reporting of the 9/11 Commission's interim report. With something resembling a wet noodle, that is. “Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie” went the Times... [read more]
just a small clarification
The New York Times, 17 June: The bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks further called into question on Wednesday one of President Bush's rationales for the war with Iraq, and again put him on the defensive over an... [read more]
whitewashing
Earlier this week I railed against the postmodernist creed of social constructivism, which among other feats allows a traditional historical account to be replaced by another, ostensibly more enlightened and progressive than the first. This practice is not seen as... [read more]
Michael Moore, collaborator
What tangled webs some cretins weave. United Arab Emirates based Front Row Entertainment is planning to release Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 in the Middle East beginning on July 14 according to managing director Gianluca Chacra. The film will first be... [read more]
o me of little faith
About ten days ago I lamented that the rope-a-dope strategy—which has served this President so well—had been effectively nullified for the present political season. Perhaps that remains true on the domestic front; but in the world of diplomacy it appears... [read more]
enough already, II
At first, I intended this post to be primarily about Wretchard's latest offering at The Belmont Club. But then I went searching for a news link to serve as an introduction. And found this, from Sunday's WaPo (registration required). President... [read more]
enough already
Let's begin by stipulating a few things. The actions of those few soldiers (and possibly civilians) at Abu Ghraib were moronic, sadistic, and wrong. All implicated should, and will, be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Even if the total number... [read more]
malice, part III; or the banality of evil
The news of late has me in a funk, though if one knows where to look it is far from all bad. But the narrative filtered through our mainline press is nothing if not consistent: the deceivers and fools of... [read more]
something is afoot
The pseudonymous Wretchard of the Belmont Club has been without doubt the single best source for analysis of the continuing Marine operations in Fallujah. Today, he dispels some of the confusion regarding the “pullout” of US forces from the front... [read more]
Iran watch
Last month I wrote about the difficulty in finding news about Iran's domestic affairs—a subject of some importance, as the activities of the Iranian intelligence services, and the regime's not-so-secret support for all manner of Islamist terror groups, both have... [read more]
on many fronts
But time waits for no man, and right now there is oh so much happening, both in Iraq and in the broader war. The links below should keep you busy for a while. [read more]
semper fi
This has been blogged all over, but justifiably so: Andrew Sullivan posts a letter from a US Marine near Fallujah. Things have been busy here. You know I can't say much about it. However, I do know two things.... [read more]
don't panic
Yesterday was a grim one for US forces in Iraq, with a total of eighteen dead. And—if your news sources are the usual suspects—chances are the message you've garnered is that the country is in total meltdown. If so, then... [read more]
globalization and jihad
I grabbed this picture from Drudge. The man behind the mask is presumably one of al-Sadr's “Mahdi Army” thugs. No deeper metaphor, really: I just found it odd. “Just Do It”?... [read more]
Fallujah
This, perhaps, is the first time in history that one side in a major conflict has refused to publicly acknowledge the identity of its enemy. [read more]
primary sources
It has also been a month for statesmen, who are distinguished from mere politicians by an ability to see beyond the moment and to grasp what is at stake in this war. [read more]
a summary dismissal
The big political story of the week is, of course, former counterterrorism expert Dick Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 committee. I'm not going to expend much effort writing on this; within two weeks he will sink like a stone from... [read more]
hoist the black flag
Evidence of Islamist involvement has grown steadily. Yesterday's El Pais reported that an Arabic document found on the internet suggested that al-Qa'eda was planning an attack before the elections. Spain was identified as “a weak link” in the US-led coalition... [read more]
socialists take Spain
But the immediate impact is this: terrorists have brought down a government in spectacular fashion. Our allies are in greater danger now than before. [read more]
Madrid, 12 March 2004
Remember when we were this united? It seems that mass murder is the only thing that can bring about such accord. Human nature sucks that way. MADRID (Reuters) - Chanting “Cowards” and “Killers,” millions of protestors packed rainswept streets across... [read more]
breaking: al Qaeda claims responsibility
DUBAI (Reuters) - A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the train bombings in Spain on Thursday, calling them strikes against “crusaders,” a London-based Arabic newspaper said. “We have succeeded in infiltrating... [read more]
axis of evil, con.
The agreement on the Iraqi interim constitution was overshadowed yesterday by a horrific series of bombings targeting Shia on the holiest day of their calendar. There were contradictory death tolls from Tuesday's near simultaneous bombings at Baghdad's Kadhimiya shrine and... [read more]
malice redux
Two months ago I wrote a rather heated commentary on the mainstream media, politics, and the war. Taken as a whole, I stand by that post. And now it's high time for a sequel. [read more]
drive-by rant
The Third Reich is the perennial poster child for murderous regimes, but the twentieth century gave us so many others: the USSR of Lenin and Stalin, China during the Cultural Revolution, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. And horrifying human rights abuses continue, from Saudi Arabia to Zimbabwe to Cuba to...well, China (still). [read more]
NGOs gone wild
So 300,000 dead do not count, because they weren't killed in a short enough period of time. So bloodshed doesn't really matter, unless the US is doing the killing—in which case there can be no justification. [read more]
David Kay, WMD, and the media
Since the chief Coalition WMD hunter David Kay resigned last week, there's been a flurry of activity in the press, mostly casting aspersions on the Administration (and implicitly advancing the "Bush lied!" thesis). [read more]
a really delayed SotU comment
The State of the Union is last week's news. Literally. But to review, here's the best part: Some critics have said our duties in Iraq must be internationalized. This particular criticism is hard to explain to our partners in Britain,... [read more]
ICC follies
Remember the fuss over the Bush Administration's refusal to make the US a signatory to the International Criminal Court? The best argument against the ICC—well, besides the clear constitutional issues—is that it would be used (especially) to hamstring US foreign policy. [read more]
journalistic quagmire
So we should conclude that Iraq is worse than Vietnam, right? More than four times worse? Well, not quite: a few paragraphs down the author deigns to provide a little context. [read more]
orange alert
So: What, exactly, has been going on the past two days with the Air France cancellations? Steven Den Beste tries to sort it out. OK, let me get this straight. Seven men on an American terrorist watch list were all... [read more]
the plot thickens
So why did Libya's Gaddafi decide that WMD were no longer worth the hassle? And is his change of heart genuine? It's too early to know the answer to the second question—but there's a lot of reporting on the first.... [read more]
Libya comes clean
At least that's the report: Libya's leader Colonel Gaddafi has said his country sought to develop weapons of mass destruction capabilities but will dismantle this programme completely, Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced. … Colonel Gaddafi had told him the... [read more]
Iraqi reaction
Forget domestic politics. Forget the news media, filtered or not. Let's look at what some Iraqis are writing about the capture of their erstwhile leader. Zeyad at Healing Iraq: The Beast in Chains. Just as we expected, he was dragged... [read more]
that wasn't actually a dare
John Kerry isn't the only one spinning like a top today; Howard Dean echoes the non sequitur that the capture of Saddam underlines the need for greater UN involvement. But enough of politicians; this is a golden opportunity to follow... [read more]
spin this
Initial comments on the news of the day year: “I supported this effort in Iraq without regard for the political consequences because it was the right thing to do. I still feel that way now and today is a major... [read more]
malice
It is almost no longer newsworthy when a Democratic candidate or spokesmouth makes the most audacious—and in some cases libelous—claims against the administration. Last week (on NPR, natch) Howard Dean reported the "theory" that the Saudi government may have given President Bush fair warning of the 9/11 attacks... [read more]
Hayes revisited
Slate—of all places—has two pieces today relevant to the Stephen Hayes article on possible Iraq-al Qaeda links that I referenced here. First is a Jack Shafer analysis of the press coverage (or rather the relative lack thereof): Many a reporter... [read more]
the smoking gun?
This may be the biggest news story in a while. Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist... [read more]
engaging defeatism
[Introducing our “permanent guest blogger,” Doug Heinz] Today Steven Den Beste publishes a letter from a long time reader that tells of a professor pushing the “Bush Lied” meme to a class of young American soldiers in Germany. The reader... [read more]
