I’ve never told anyone this before; John Kerry saved my life in Vietnam. I haven’t mentioned it till now because doing so requires an admission of wrongdoing on my part – an admission, which, to his credit, John Kerry (whom I’ve always known as “Skipper”) has shielded me from making. The time has come though, to pay back old debts, to demonstrate my gratitude to | Read More »
Ah, the New York Times. Once the paper of record, now the paper that has broken all records for idiocy and irrelevance brings us the ruminations of a dozen “Americans who don’t labor in politics or the media” on “what they’d do if they were president.” Searching for, “ ideas that might challenge or inspire, ” Jesse Kornbluth assembled a group of 12 illuminati and asked them what they | Read More »
Just as it used to be fashionable to talk about the “Revolution in Military Affairs,” defense experts and analysts are now talking about “Counter Insurgency” as the new way of waging war. At the NATO Operational Planning Course in Oberammergau, Germany, and at the Joint Combined Warfare School in Norfolk, Virginia, students learn not about operational planning for warfare, but about planning to cope with | Read More »
Congressional leaders from both parties expressed relief today after a last-minute meeting with the President to discuss Libya. A source who wished to remain anonymous said that the President had laid out his objectives for the North African country in a clear, concise manner and had answered legislators’ questions. Lawmakers were particularly heartened to find that they agreed with his explanation of why the operation did not | Read More »
Because we don’t begin them: Lately there has been a significant shift in US defense doctrine. Just as it used to be fashionable to talk about the “Revolution in Military Affairs,” defense experts and analysts are now talking about how “Counter Insurgency” is the new way of waging war. Large force engagements, we are expected to believe, are relics of a bygone era. Now, instead of | Read More »
The New York Times no doubt expected to take some flak for its publication Monday of an Op-ed piece by terrorist Mahmoud Abbas, but one doubts whether this was what they had in mind. On Tuesday, spokesmen for despotic ruler of Zimbabwe and platinum-earning rap artist Robert (Kronic) Mugabe issued a statement decrying the publication in light of the fact that the Old Gray Lady | Read More »
Some things never change. After holding them in prison for only two years, including time served awaiting trial, the Yemeni government is releasing Saddam Hussein al-Rimi and Rami Hermel Hans. Al-Rimi and Hans, who is originally from Germany, were convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks on behalf of al-Qaeda, one of which was a bombing that resulted in the deaths of eight Spanish tourists in 2007. | Read More »
Pakistan’s so-called leader Pervez Musharraf is vexed. He’s upset – not that his nation remains an example for third-world nations of how not to conduct their affairs, and not because his country is a cesspool of corruption and inefficiency. He’s embarassed - not because he can’t account for the millions of dollars in foreign aid his nation has received, and not because his intelligence agencies can’t seem | Read More »
I’ve had my suspicions for a while now, but this settles it. The President referred to “carnival barkers” in his most recent speech. Hardly common parlance for a presidential speech; it probably induced a double-take on the part of the presidential teleprompter. But if you read this blog, as I now know President Obama does, you know that just four short posts ago, I referred to | Read More »
The Optimisic Conservative is reporting that the White House is threatening, in the event of a government shutdown, to interrupt pay for active duty military members. This would mean that the 15 April paycheck would contain payment only for duty up to 8 April. There are dozens of readily apparent reasons why this is a bad idea, and almost all of them have to do with | Read More »
Yesterday I interviewed a high-ranking source in the administration who wishes to remain anonymous. To protect his identity, I will refer to him by the clever code name, Carnival Worker. Carnival Worker and I met in one of those out-of-the-way bistros a block or two from Embassy Row, where he believed the wait staff would be less likely to recognize him from his frequent TV | Read More »
From the excellent Jane Novak at Armies of Liberation comes this answer to Ambassador Feierstein’s question, “What do the Yemeni protestors want?” It’s not that difficult, really. They are asking for the dissolution of the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, for the implementation of a transition plan, which has been drafted and published, and for the establishment of a constitutional convention in order to build a | Read More »
Today’s Wall Street Journal contained one of the saddest stories I’ve read in a long time. It details the horrendous state of the education system here in Portugal, where just 28% of people between 25 and 64 years of age completed high school. Author Charles Forelle ties the state of education to Portugal’s weak economy, as well as to the negligence of her former dictator, | Read More »
But really, that’s not much of an accomplishment. On the 15th of February, I wrote this response to a Wall Street Journal article that had, in my opinion, failed to reflect the dangers inherent in the Muslim Brotherhood’s surge to the forefront of Egyptian politics. Today, the benighted New York Times informs us that Gee, the Muslim Brotherhood is taking over the Egyptian revolution – and | Read More »
According to thisAP article, James M. Woosley, Deputy Director of Intelligence at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a liar and a thief, but that’s the good news. Woolsey, according to documents, emails, testimony, and other evidence, signed off on falsified travel vouchers for Ahmed Adil Abdallat, a supervisory ICE intelligence analyst, and then took a cut of the ill-gotten money for himself. According | Read More »
CNN is reporting that Somali pirates have killed the four Americans aboard the yacht “Quest.” When news outlets began reporting that one of the couples aboard was sailing around the world to distribute Bibles, I was very concerned that their lives were in greater jeopardy than those of most hostages of Somali pirates. You may recall that I mentioned in a recent post that pirates | Read More »
It’s good to know that in a changing world, there are still some things that remain constant. We may not be able to rely on the value of the dollar and our republic may be sliding into chaos, but as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, Jimmy Carter will have a new book to flog, and he’ll have no idea what he’s talking about. At | Read More »
Today’s Wall Street Journal features an article about the Muslim Brotherhood that tries so hard to be evenhanded that it ignores facts central to the question of what the Muslim Brotherhood represents. Author Charles Levinson paints of a picture of a Brotherhood that is deeply divided between secularlists and Islamists, but he makes the fatal mistake of knowing too little about his topic to be | Read More »
BBC News published this report on the failure of EU’s catch-and-release tactics to stem the rising tide of Somali piracy. The position of NAVFOR, the EU naval task force assigned to – well, I don’t really know what they’re assigned to do, since it doesn’t seem to be stopping piracy – their position, regardless of their mission, seems to be that it’s better to do nothing than take | Read More »
The Muslim Brotherhood was formed in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al Bana. Its goal was to establish an Islamic state in Egypt. By that, it was intended that Shariah law would govern every aspect of human interaction in that state, from matters of personal hygiene to banking regulations. At a time when colonialism was still the distinguishing characteristic in the land, the Muslim Brotherhood | Read More »
Back in 2000, I spent a month in Tunisia, brushing up on my Arabic. Since that country has been so much in the news lately, I thought I’d post these notes from my visit. Mohamed, my Arabic instructor, was 61 and a devout Muslim. When I met him he was eagerly anticipating his next marriage – to a 28 year old woman. Understandably, | Read More »
The sign, superimposed over a Yemeni flag, says “Thursday, 3 February, The Day of Anger.” What have Yemenis to be angry about? For starters, a president who has remained in power for over thirty years, and who has presided over a precipitous decline in just about every standard by which a nation can be judged. Education, utilities, wages, employment – all place Yemen firmly on | Read More »
President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today that, in conjunction with the 32nd Anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Incineration of the Infidels (MoDII) will reveal new weapons developed exclusively by Iranian researchers and built entirely by Iranian technicians. “The unlawful sanctions levelled against the peace-loving Iranian people cannot prevent them from designing and fielding weapons that will leave the entire | Read More »
For immediate release – UN Human Rights Council, subcommittee on irony production, Phoebe Hasselblad, Chairperson Pro Tem ******************* While irony generation is nothing new at the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council is pleased to announce that this year we are already on track to not only meet our ambitious annual goals, but to outstrip all previous records. We are breaking irony trends in | Read More »
“To avoid destruction the United States need only measure up to its own best traditions and prove itself worthy of preservation as a great nation.” Thus wrote George Kennan, under the pseudonym “X” in the July, 1947 edition of Foreign Affairs. The article was entitled “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” What’s most amazing about this is not the idea that a writer in a Foreign | Read More »
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}