Month: December 2009

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.

by Eric Martin May all of your holidays be filled with mirth, mischief and merriment.  And may my two month old muster the stamina to make it through our rather crowded Christmas Eve dinner without me needing to rush him out of the dining room in a fatherly panic. Allow me, also, to take this moment at … Read more

by Eric Martin Matt Duss makes some excellent points (complete with useful links) regarding the growing religious opposition in Iran.  The main takeaway: Islamist mullahs of high standing are attacking the Ahmadinejad/Khamenei regime on Islamic grounds, and the varying attitudes that Islamists take toward democratic principles should inform our understanding of the different strains of Islamism.  Part of … Read more

by Eric Martin Money Mark Leon Goldberg finds a repugnant example of sexism.  Take a look at this list of finalists for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. (The numbers represent the number of votes they received.)    Serena Williams 66 Zenyatta 18 Kim Clijsters 16 Lindsey Vonn 15 Diana Taurasi 14 Maya Moore … Read more

by Eric Martin Jonathan Chait has a fine piece in TNR about the Republican Party's inability to respond to crises and other issues where the necessary response does not come from one of the GOP's predetermined groupings of acceptable policies. I discussed this phenomenon here.  Chait adds his perspective: Several years ago, I wrote in these pages that … Read more

by Eric Martin On Friday, President Obama authorized the use of military strikes in Yemen targeting al-Qaeda operatives active in that nation.  My reactions on this action are mixed (more below).  Gregory Johnsen at Waq al-Waq provides a nice summation, and the blog he co-authors is an invaluable resource on all things Yemen (at least for … Read more

by Eric Martin Daniel Larison delivers heaps of wisdom while dispelling a fog of pro-war propaganda in response to some of the recent, if familiar, war drum beating from neoconservative circles with respect to Iran.  In particular, Larison is reacting to Danielle Pletka's claim that a nuclear armed Iran couldn't be contained because Ahmadinejad is "crazy," and even though he's … Read more

by Eric Martin Shadi Hamid says that I misunderstood his post on retrospective justifications for the Iraq war (and that Spencer Ackerman made the same mistake).  This is good to know because, as I wrote, I enjoy Shadi's work immensely (and this time I say it without the intention of softening an impending attack). His post seemed strangely un-Shadi Hamidlike, so … Read more

by Eric Martin Freaky prescience from Robert Mackey.  He noted in his prior post on the preferability of bombers to drones: Actually, there is a lot that drones cannot do. They cannot fly uninhibited into hostile territory like a manned bomber. Simply put, the nature of modern air warfare (jamming, counter jamming and so on) … Read more

by Benjamin Orbach The camera zooms in on Hadassah Lieberman’s hands as they sort through the day’s mail. She comes across a bill from FirstCare and tears it open. $243 for ear wax removal for the Senator formerly known as Joe Lieberman’s recent blockage! No co-pay, no more. That $243 will be coming out of … Read more

–by Sebastian Every now and then something happens that makes you see things a little bit differently.  Not a major change, not a paradigm shift, but a change nonetheless. I play World of Warcraft, which for those who don't know is a massively multi-player online game (MMO).  It is a fascinating game for many reasons:  … Read more

by Eric Martin What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? –Mahatma Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War" Tony Blair's recent statements unrepentantly reiterating his conviction that invading Iraq was the right … Read more

by Eric Martin It is understandable, if often regrettable, that politicians are reluctant to admit mistakes while in office.  Such admissions can and would be used against the politician in question in subsequent campaigns, and could lower overall approval numbers and, thus, weaken that politician for the remainder of his or her term.  So admitting mistakes can have serious detrimental effects … Read more

by Eric Martin Since I've not held back when criticizing those of Obama's Afghanistan policies that I disagree with, it's only fair that I offer praise where due.  From Steve Coll: Of all the messages in President Obama’s Afghanistan speech last week (a speech with so many messages that it sounded like a chorale, and not a particularly … Read more

by Eric Martin The New York Times provides further corroboration of Jeremy Scahill's piece on the use of mercenaries in connection with high level and sensitive military/intelligence operations in Afghanistan/Pakistan.  Iraq too: Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being … Read more

by Eric Martin Some of the more curious disconnects between rhetoric and reality in recent memory surrounded the myriad justifications for the Iraq war which included the ubiquitous and self-satisfying "democracy promotion" and "liberation" narratives.  The problem was that the self-styled do-gooders urging on the expenditure of large quantities of blood and treasure in the ostensibly moral cause of liberating Muslims were frequently the same folks that harbored deep-seated anti-Muslim … Read more

by Eric Martin Stephen Walt makes at least a few good points on the costs of the Afghanistan escalation/occupation.  First, it will end up costing more than advertised in real dollars when all is said and done.  Wars always do.  Second, there are serious opportunity costs that rarely enter the equation.  Health care reform and … Read more

by Eric Martin Some day I imagine he will repay me for this.  I'm prepared to make that tradeoff.

by von   Let's take a break from politics. I work in an old building.  It's something of a landmark in the city where I reside:  one of the first skyscrapers to go up.  (I use the term "skyscraper" according to its turn-of-the-century definition, not its modern one.)  For a long time it was a bank … Read more

by Eric Martin In the aftermath of Obama's big speech on Afghanistan, Judah Grunstein observed that the prospective plan as enunciated had something for everyone – as well as the potential to disappoint all listeners.  That was my immediate take as well – not that it was a unique or particularly insightful observation.  This push/pull was probably not … Read more

by Eric Martin Following up on the recent analysis of the stimulus - which highlighted the stimulative effects of infrastructure projects – this Louis Uchitelle article makes another important point: For the first time in memory, the nation has no outsize public works project under way. The Big Dig, with its three and a half miles of underground highways channeling … Read more