"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by von There is a lot that we don't know about the raid of an activist ship by IDF Naval forces. But there are a few things that I'm starting to get my own head around. First, it was yet another deeply stupid move by Netanyahu's government. Dropping commandos one-by-one from a helicopter onto the … Read more
by Eric Martin Brian Ulrich at American Footprints: Israeli military forces have used lethal force against peaceful humanitarian activists in international waters: “Israeli naval commandos shot dead at least 16 people and wounded over 30 on Monday morning, as they attacked an unarmed humanitarian and civilian flotilla – in international waters – trying to bring … Read more
by Eric Martin Baby Eric would like to extend a heart-felt thumbs up to all of the soldiers that have given so much of themselves, by choice and otherwise, in the military service of this nation and others. He thinks you're groovy, man. And to their families, friends and loved ones, who can sometimes feel overwhelmed … Read more
by Eric Martin Rodger Payne makes a good point regarding the further erosion of the already imprecise-to-a-fault term "WMD." Bottom line: lumping chemical, biological and nuclear weapons into a single category is more misleading than it is illuminating. The lethality varies greatly, as does the countermeasures and feasibility of use, and allowing politicians and policymakers to use the term to refer to … Read more
by Eric Martin Michael Hanna is right on the money about al-Qaeda being its own worst enemy. Now if we could just get out of the way: …I wanted to take a closer look at one very small subsection of the [recently released National Security Strategy] dealing with how the United States seeks to “disrupt, dismantle, … Read more
by Eric Martin Larison takes on Peggy Noonan and the latest incoherent demagoguery: I don’t see how the president’s position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the … Read more
by Eric Martin Kevin Drum does a good job of explaining the facile comparison of the BP spill to Katrina: Katrina was an example of the type of disaster that the federal government is specifically tasked with handling. And for most of the 90s, it was very good at handling them. But when George Bush … Read more
by Eric Martin Matt's Atomic Duss Bin highlights some key takeaways from the just released National Security Strategy (quoted in full with permission from the author): One of the starkest differences between the Obama administration’s new National Security Strategy (pdf) and the Bush administration’s (pdf) is its tighter focus on Al Qaeda and affiliated extremists, and its … Read more
by Eric Martin Flyntt and Hillary Mann Leverett discuss recent revelations about an extensive use of military personnel in various friendly, and non-friendly nations in the Middle East/North Africa/Central Asia region. These would be military operations undertaken absent a public debate (or even legislative debate) about the merits of what are extremely risky and potentially costly activities. … Read more
by Eric Martin David Shorr (whose byline always inspires me to read on), on the most recent developments in the Iran nuclear program saga: [The cold-water-in-face award]…goes to Les Gelb, for pointing out how US nonproliferation priorities have little resonance with the rest of the world. According to his reading of Brazil and Turkey's recent mediation initiative, "the good old … Read more