"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by Eric Martin This, from an e-mail correspondence with the Wall Street Journal's Anand Gopal re-printed with his permission, sums up why it is both repugnant yet necessary to attempt to negotiate with certain Taliban factions as part of the effort to establish a durable settlement to the many-sided conflict: …Mullah Omar…[is] not that far removed … Read more
by Eric Martin I tend to come down on the John Cole side of the Cole/Sullivan debate about whether Obama should fire Janet Napolitano prior to the results are in from the fact finding effort. Regardless, other than some unfortunate phrasing taken out of context and blown wildly out of proportion, it remains unclear whether she did … Read more
by Eric Martin After reading this piece from Michael Ledeen and this one from Bruce McQuain, I was meaning to write this Matt Duss post, which Matt has so generously done himself saving me the effort: In response to the Iranian regime’s violence, the Green Movement protests have grown bolder. The regime now seems stuck … Read more
by Eric Martin The overwhelming consensus amongst counterterrorism scholars, experts and practitioners is that intelligence and law enforcement are the most effective tools available in terms of implementing effective counterterrorism policy, and, thus, these options should be relied on primarily. Not only does the military approach and attendant "war" rhetoric play to the advantage of transnational, stateless terror groups like al-Qaeda, but so … Read more
by von If you don't like American Football, skip this post. I'll return to insulting your refined political senses — and disagreeing with Eric's well-intentioned foreign policy gaffes — in a future post. Brett Favre. Brett effing Favre. I used to hate that guy. I still kinda hate that guy. Some of it came from being … Read more
by Eric Martin Matt Duss on Lieberman’s most recent bout of warmongering with respect to Yemen. One wonders whether these are the types of dots that Pete Hoekstra demanded connecting: It’s also very much worth noting that the ranks of Yemen’s Islamic extremist insurgency have been fed by fighters returning from Iraq, bringing with them … Read more
by Eric Martin Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen, who I linked to last week, had fascinating interview with Glenn Greenwald (via Yglesias). Some excerpts below. First, the Bush administration, in what is a familiar refrain, putting domestic politicis ahead of policy: Yeah, I think the track record of US-Yemeni relations here is extremely important. So if … Read more
by Eric Martin Um, even I could find a suitable workaround for this one: “Among other things, during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps,” said a statement posted on Air Canada’s Web site, citing … Read more
by Eric Martin I am certain, dear reader, that you will find the following bolded excerpts to be as alarming as I did: Abdulmutallab was released from a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sunday after being treated for burns, according to Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, Michigan. The … Read more
by Eric Martin Here's a nice father son moment to warm yer darn cockles…(which are in need of warmin'). And here, the little guy has had enough of Dad's kisses. As for Dad, he finds the cheeks to be simply irresistible.