From the New York Times Magazine At night, Samie took me up to the roof of the house, where there was a view down onto the city. We could not see the protest square, but we could hear grenades and heavy guns being fired down into it from a military base on a hill. “They [...]
war
A regional war
Thomas Ricks points out that this isn’t a war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now Yemen, it’s starting to feel like a war against an entire region. Why doesn’t anyone ever tell me these things? I knew the United States conducted drone strikes a few years ago, including one that killed an American citizen on [...]
What if the United States had captured Osama Bin Laden?
We can learn a bit from how they interrogated Saddam Hussein During the interrogation of Saddam, Piro conducted only 20 formal interviews; most of their daily interactions were casual. They talked politics, history, sports, arts, the Middle East, women, and family. "For me, it was important just to get to know him," Piro says. "I [...]
Another American War / Another Arab State
Thomas Ricks discusses six things to consider when thinking about an American no-fly zone over Libya. Here are some of the issues that need to be examined. Anyone who advocates a no-fly zone should be required to answer them. I wish everyone talking about imposing a no-fly zone on Libya would take a deep breath. [...]
The Cost of the War In Afghanistan
Bob Hebert of the New York Times writes about the hidden cost of the Afghanistan war. It’s a quaint notion, but true: with wars come responsibilities. The meat grinder of war takes its toll in so many ways, and we should be paying close attention to all aspects of it. Instead, we send our service [...]
The effects of Global Thermonuclear War
As written by Wm Robert Johnson 12:00 midnight CDT 5/6 August 1988: The nuclear exchange is generally over. In the U.S. 5,800 warheads detonated totaling 3,900 mt. Soviet and NATO weapons successfully used in Europe numbered 3,300 (1,200 mt) (excluding tactical weapons). About 6,100 warheads (most of them American, but some Chinese, British, and French) [...]
‘Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read …’
Letters home from a 19 years old soldier from Afghanistan, including the one he wrote after he was killed in action on June 2, 2009. The family gave the letters to the Independent to publish. In the spring of this year, the 2nd Battalion, The Rifles deployed to Afghanistan. Halfway through the battalion’s tour, it [...]
Gaza
During the Israeli attack on Hamas, I was sent a variety of links, Facebook groups, e-mails, and people to write so I could show my solidarity with the people of Gaza. For some very complicated reasons, I decided to ignore all of them, even though they came from close friends. The main reason is that [...]
The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich
Well I just finished today William Shirer’s The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich. A couple of thoughts. If Churchill and England would have capitulated, England would have been devastated in a Poland like genocide. That goes against what I have read over the years that Hitler never wanted to go to war [...]
The War As We Saw It
A New York Times op-ed by some soon to be returning troops of 82nd Airborne. Here is just part of it but the entire op-ed is worth reading. Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in ways that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality [...]
Contextless Links
Michael Geist is crunching the numbers over the US government’s copyright complaints against Canada. A loyal GOP supporter. Stations of the Cross uploaded to Thinker Labs Scott is bitter other church planters are cashing out and he hasn’t found any buyers yet :-) Speaking of cashing out, here are things to think about before you write [...]
Contextless Links
Wendy is writing about sex in the snow and no she isn’t referring to the book Winner of the 2007 World Press Photo contest of a badly wounded Iraq war vet returning home to marry his sweetheart:: Their story is here. More photos of the couple here. via CEO of Cineplex compares those who camcorder [...]
jordoncooper.com now selling contextless link space
Interesting story about how political parties are buying headlines on Bourque News Watch (like the Drudge Report but with no real original reporting). I have read him for years and I am shocked that it took this long for people to realize this but whatever. The man links to news releases of sites that are [...]
