Eric Martin

by Eric Martin Coming on the heels of the Senate's passage of a bill authorizing President Obama to impose a new round of sanctions against Iran (a truly counterproductive policy), Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett diagnose a drift in Obama's Iran policy that, sadly, rings true: Obama has moved, during just one year in office, from relatively … Read more

by Eric Martin Dexter Filkins' story about the recent flipping of one large and powerful tribe in Afghanistan is generating a lot of buzz – with some touting the conversion as the first stage in a recreation of the Sons of Iraq program which established alliances with Sunni elements against al-Qaeda in Iraq.  However, there … Read more

by Eric Martin Bernard Finel argues against knee-jerk resort to the use of military force in places like Yemen – or rather, argues that the full implications of such involvement should be subject to a more rigorous strategic analysis before the bullets fly.  Finel points out that military involvement creates reinforcing loops of circular reasoning that … Read more

by Eric Martin In the aftermath of the recent earthquake that devastated the already beleaguered people of Haiti, the impoverished condition of that nation – which greatly exacerbated the lethality of the quake - has received sudden heightened scrutiny.  Unsurprisingly, various factions have simply plugged Haiti's current condition into their preferred framework to reach their desired explanation.  In some cases, the … Read more

by Eric Martin Giving in to popular demand, I hereby decree this post to be used for State of the Union haranguing and other related commentary. The million dollar question: which Republican lawmaker coarsely interrupts the proceedings this time?  My money's on Steve King.

by Eric Martin A microcosm of how warped the incentives, practices and ethics are on Wall Street and in the country's major financial institutions: [Today the] New York Times [has a] story on ailing banks that are nevertheless doling out huge bonus packages. This is a throwback to 2008, when failing banks like Merrill Lynch … Read more

by Eric Martin The only surpsing part of this story is that the protagonist actually admitted that he lied: Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what he was talking about. Kiriakou, a 15-year veteran of … Read more

by Eric Martin Daniel Larison neatly summarizes the overriding goals of U.S. foreign policy – or at least, the permissible range of motion afforded the pursuit of those goals – over the past half century or so.  Simply put, policymakers want their cake, and the ability to eat it too.  Or, put differently, an interventionist … Read more

by Eric Martin Ah, to recall the pernicious confluence of incompetence and mendacity that was the Bush administration: When the Pentagon's internal think tank decided in 2004 it needed a better understanding of Al Qaeda, it turned to an unlikely source: the terrorism analyst Laurie Mylroie, who was known as the chief purveyor of the discredited idea … Read more

by Eric Martin Attention Greater Obsidian Wings Community: I've never asked you for anything on a personal level - no donations, no gifts, not wish lists.  Nada.  Today, I'm looking to cash in my entire pile of chits. One of our own, the recently out-of-sight Gary Farber, has hit a particularly rough patch and is need of some … Read more

by Eric Martin Mark Kleiman on some of the implications of the Citizens United decision (via K-Drum, star of stage and screen): One aspect of the ruling that hasn’t gathered much attention: as far as I can tell, the analysis doesn’t distinguish between domestic and foreign corporations….So the ruling allows Hugo Chavez to spend as … Read more

by Eric Martin This could be promising (though I'm not starry-eyed, as optimism doesn't exactly have a stellar track record with respect to this conflict): Hamas has accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, Aziz Dwaik, Hamas's most senior representative in the … Read more

by Eric Martin In a move that, although impolitic, should come as no surprise given Pakistan's interests in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani military sources gave Defense Secretary Gates the public brush off. Gates is in Pakistan seeking cooperation from Pakistan in going after the Afghan Taliban, and Pakistani military officials went public with Gates in-country with the news that they have no plans … Read more

by Eric Martin Adam Serwer's recounting of Scott Horton's must-read article on the suspicious case of the Gitmo "suicides" touches on some subjects worth exploring further: According to Horton, who secures the on-the-record observations of Guantanamo prison guard Joe Hickman, the three men may have been killed at a Gitmo black site referred to by … Read more

by Eric Martin A couple of weeks back, I noted, with humor, the frantic tone of a New York Times article from 1995 that revealed the shocking news that Iran was closer to a nuclear weapon than previously thought - five years away to be exact.  Fifteen years later, and Iran has no such weapon.  In fact, according to the most … Read more

by Eric Martin The little guy just celebrated his first 100 days on the planet and so, in keeping with his Korean heritage, we had a party.  The milestone is called baek-il, and its origins are somewhat macabre: due to high mortality rates that predominated in the past, reaching 100 days was seen as an accomplishment worth celebrating.  As for … Read more

by Eric Martin While the "war on terror" frame is counterproductive, since the Obama administration seems to be conceding to its inevitability, this excerpt from Phil Bobbitt, via Charli Carpenter (the newest Lawyer with Guns and Money), suggests a way to corral the concept to saner ground: It is often asked, "How can we win a war … Read more

by Eric Martin If, as a nation state, you find yourself casting about for a trustworthy United Nations ally to back your position on human rights, and your current raft of policies are of such a quality that China becomes the logical go-to partner, rather than pursue such a partnership with China on matters of human rights, perhaps you should reassess the policies … Read more

by Eric Martin Fareed Zakaria is making much sense: In responding to the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein voiced the feelings of many when she said that to prevent such situations, "I'd rather overreact than underreact." This appears to be the consensus view in Washington, but it is quite wrong. … Read more

by Eric Martin An open thread for the weekend, with a couple of links to pieces that I haven't blogged about, but which are worth a read.  First, Rory Stewart offers a pretty sound defense of Obama's approach in Afghanistan.  I don't agree with it all, but it's well written and thought out. Second, Tom Bissell penned … Read more

by Eric Martin The following passage from David Broder's latest column is receiving all the scorn it deserves.  Actually, check that, it deserves much more.  It is beyond self-parody in its false-equivalency reductionism – one of the premiere efforts from a columnist whose self-appointed mission seems to be to reduce any and all political distinctions to … Read more

by Eric Martin I admit to indulging in occasionally grandiose swings between the poles of optimism and pessimism regarding the future of the United States.  At times, I am convinced that our sclerotic, dysfunctional political system isn't up to the task of addressing major problems like environmental degradation, that our focus and resource allocation is too skewed by narrow … Read more

by Eric Martin Hooman Majd contends that the Green Movement in Iran is less about paradigm shifting revolution, and more about the gradual establishment of civil rights.  And that might not be such a bad thing in the end: What is evident is that if we consider Iran's pro-democracy "green movement" not as a revolution but … Read more

by Eric Martin Adam Serwer makes an excellent point in response to Jay Nordlinger's high praise for the underpants bomber's father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, who had the strength of character to report his son's activities to U.S. authorities despite the possible legal repercussions for his son.  Nordlinger says that Alhaji Umaru Mutallab should be father of the year.  I … Read more

by Eric Martin Jarring, headline generating news: Iran is closer to building a nuclear weapon than previously predicted!!! Iran is much closer to producing nuclear weapons than previously thought, and could be less than five years away from having an atomic bomb, several senior American and Israeli officials say. "The date by which Iran will have … Read more

by Eric Martin Pretty big 2009 for yours truly.  Got married, welcomed a son to this world (just barely in that order, admittedly) and the Yanks ended what was an interminable World Series drought.*  Oh, and Obama was inaugurated, ending the tenure of one whose name is on a short list of the worst presidents in United States history. … Read more

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 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.