"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
Andrew by G’Kar I hate to ask for money, but I am willing to make an exception for particularly good causes. And I think that Pretty Bird Woman House, a women’s shelter on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, qualifies. Some fine example of humanity burned down the shelter, and they need some $70,000 to buy a … Read more
by G’Kar
Does the intent of those who create a law effect the constitutionality of that law? As always, below the fold to minimize the disruption of the front page.
by G’Kar
A few thoughts on an interesting piece in the Washington Post, below the fold for those who prefer to skip on past.
by G’Kar
Inspired by some recent reading, both here and elsewhere, I wanted to address some matters military. Since this post is somewhat meandering and since I’m just a guest here, I’ll put the post below the fold so readers can skip past to the more important stuff.
by G’Kar With Obama highlighting his living overseas as a child, NRO’s Mark Steyn has once again taken the opportunity to tar the Senator with the ‘madrassah’ smear. I’d like to kill this once and for all, but that is probably too much to ask. Every kid in the Arabic-speaking goes to a madrassah. Madrassah … Read more
by G’Kar I stayed away from the entire Beauchamp affair. I was aware of it, and I had my own opinion, but since I had no way of proving anything one way or the other, I saw no real value to jumping into the fray. However, an experience I had the other day has left … Read more
by G’Kar A brief post, as I’m not somewhere with a dedicated internet connection at the moment. But I couldn’t read this comment without (after letting my blood pressure abate) making at least a brief response. I will note that, of course, I do not speak for all soldiers, or even necessarily any subset of … Read more
by G’Kar If there is a Rosetta Stone to American politics, then it is the ongoing fascination with the need for ‘tough’ politicians. Some people are worried about the ascension of Hillary Clinton because she might not be ‘tough enough’ to hold the office of President of the United States, with Tom Smith at The … Read more
by G’Kar
Let me begin with the standard disclaimers, despite which I am certain that at least one commenter will complain that I am in some way attempting to justify the Iraq War, the surge, the presidency of George Bush, tooth decay, world hunger, dogs and cats living together or worse. In fact, I think the war was a mistake, I suspect that the surge is going to be insufficient to turn the tide in Iraq, and I have precisely zero brief for George W. Bush, let alone tooth decay, or worse. [Update: I will confess to being agnostic about dogs and cats living together.] I don’t intend to support any of those things. I just want to try to explain a little about what can drive soldiers.
Several weeks ago I spent a few hours helping to offload 40 tons of flour from two flatbed trucks into storage containers. Our civil military guys brought it in to give to local villages to help them when they run short on food. Those guys spend most days on the road, delivering water and other necessities of life to the numerous tiny villages that dot the countryside in this part of Iraq. In a city east of here there’s a new textile factory that will provide jobs to 50 townspeople, built by Iraqis using American dollars. I suppose a cynic would argue that the people wouldn’t require this assistance had the U.S. not invaded, and maybe that’s true. But that damage is done, and there are a lot of Iraqis that are living better lives because the civil military guys go out and try to learn what needs to be done to help these people.
My team is only tangentially related to that kind of operation. Our brief is trying to help the Iraqi Army learn to do a better job protecting the people. While reports from Iraq sometimes seem to suggest that every member of the Iraqi Security Forces is only looking to advance their particular faction, the fact is that, like people everywhere, you get all kinds. Some of them are doubtless just infiltrators. But we also work with men who want to see their country be more than just a hotbed of factionalism. While the idea that inside every Iraqi is an American trying to get out is asinine, the idea that every Iraqi is devoted to nothing but endless killing of everyone like him is equally so. There are a lot of Iraqis here who are risking their lives to make their country a better place. If we can help even one of them do so, there’s something to be said for that.
I don’t expect that we will make any big differences in Iraq. The government doesn’t appear to be interested in doing anything but preserve its power base, and I don’t know if that will change even if the U.S. does decide to actually pull out, which seems implausible in any case. I can’t make the Iraqi government work any better. I may not even be able to do much to make the Iraqi Army work any better. But I can try to help those Iraqis who want to make their country better succeed in their own small ways, and I can take advantage of my own position to directly aid Iraqis it is in my power to help. It doesn’t sound like much. It probably isn’t much. But few of us are destined to make a big difference in life; if I can make a little difference, that has to count for something.