Since General David Petraeus and his team took the Sunni insurgents out of the equation of war in Iraq by paying them off, what happened in Baghdad over the weekend¹ has been waiting to happen. I don’t think anyone ever seriously believed the Iraqi government would try to bring 90,000 former fighters back into the [...]
Archive for March, 2009
Iraq: The Jerry-Rigged Peace
Posted in Iraq on March 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Afghanistan: What You Should Read Instead of Obama’s Paper
Posted in Afghanistan on March 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I suppose we should be thankful there’s finally sentient life in the White House. Still, in all honesty, Obama’s “White Paper of the Interagency Policy Group’s Report on U.S. Policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan” — aka “The Af-Pak Policy” — doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. In fact, the six-page paper is remarkable only in [...]
Message from Management
Posted in Misc on March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My period of infrequent posting will soon be followed by 10 days of no posting, as I’ll be heading for the North to ski with the family.
In the mean time, those new to the blog may want to look around and enjoy my year’s worth of stupidity. Just type ‘Afghanistan’ or ‘Iraq’ in the search [...]
About That Torture Thing…
Posted in Human rights on March 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
The allegations of ill-treatment of the detainees indicate that, in many cases, the ill-treatment to which they were subjected while held in the CIA program, either singly or in combination, constituted torture. In addition, many other elements of the ill-treatment, either singly or in combination, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
ICRC Report on the Treatment [...]
Tensions Defused in Pakistan, Rising in Iraq
Posted in Iraq, Pakistan on March 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Finally, something to applaud:
Pakistan’s government agreed on Monday to reinstate Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice to defuse a political crisis and end a street agitation that was threatening to turn into violent confrontation.
Iraq provides the cloud for the silver lining:
In Anbar Province, six former Camp Bucca detainees were on their way home on Friday when [...]
Afghanistan: ICG Lays Out the “Don’ts”
Posted in Afghanistan on March 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I have tremendous respect for International Crisis Group. In fact, I think they’re pretty much infallible. Needless to say, I’m taking their new report on Afghanistan very seriously, and I think everyone else should, too. In case 20 pages sounds like too daunting a task for a Friday night, let me briefly summarise the section [...]
Kagans Visit Afghanistan, Declare War Easier than Iraq
Posted in Afghanistan on March 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Fred and Kimberly Kagan, accompanied by Max Boot, have taken a Petraeus-organised package tour in Afghanistan and have arrived at a cheerful conclusion: not only is the war winnable, but it’ll be a cakewalk:
Even without much popular backing, Afghan insurgents are staging an increasing number of attacks, but major cities like Kabul and Jalalabad, which [...]
Obama and FDR: Why ‘09 Isn’t ‘33
Posted in Election 08, U.S. on March 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In the New Republic, William Galston compares Barack Obama’s “too-long wish list” with FDR’s way of doing things and comes up with a bleak conclusion:
The key analogy between today and 1933 is the centrality of the financial crisis, which makes it hard to understand why the administration has not yet moved as decisively to fix [...]
Iraq: Shoe Thrower Gets 3, Saddam’s Henchman 15
Posted in Iraq on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So let me get this straight: throwing your shoes at the president of a country that attacked yours is only five times less serious than serving as the right-hand man of a genocidal dictator?
Iraq: Portrait of an Explosion
Posted in Iraq on March 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Washington Post’s inimitable Anthony Shadid has been to Abu Ghraib — not the prison but the town — to assess the atlal, or wreckage, from Tuesday’s bombing that killed 33 people. The story is brilliant.
The atlal were the orphaned boy who had been selling plastic bags for a few cents. They were the vegetable [...]
