Eight CIA officers killed by a suicide bomber wearing an Afghan army uniform near Khost? Stunning. The CIA operators, especially those operating in the border areas, are usually, well, covert. This is an amazing breach of security…and the real concern is this one: The use of an official army uniform could mean any one of [...]
Lynn Sweet has identified a new verb (gerund? participle?) to enter the official lexicon. At moments like this, we miss William Safire.
Josh Gerstein has a very good piece, comparing the Obama Administration’s reaction to Undiebomber to the Bush Administration’s reaction to the shoe-bomber, Richard Reid. But I’d go a step further–and this is very important to remember: The Cheney-Bush Administration, lost in a prior paradigm, refused to take seriously warnings from the Clinton Administration–especially National Security [...]
It’s becoming clear that, assuming it passes, Democratic health care reform will be a major issue in the 2010 congressional races. Several prominent Republicans – including Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey – are already advising GOP candidates to call for full repeal of the legislation. Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to campaign on the merits of [...]
Once lost, credibility is a difficult thing to get back. Especially when you hold a position where the public’s safety rides on your instincts and reflexes in a crisis. The Homeland Security Secretary this morning is trying to walk back yesterday’s bone-headed assertion that the “system worked” in the near-miss that allowed a bomber with [...]
The latest from the New York Times. This part may be a turning point: There were scattered reports of police officers surrendering, or refusing to fight. Several videos posted online show officers holding up their helmets and walking away from the melee, as protesters pat them on the back in appreciation. In one photograph, a [...]
Ashura is a holiday for the celebration of martyrs: it commemorates the death of Mohammed’s grandson Hussein during the battle of Karbala in 680, which led to the Sunni-Shi’a split. Martyrdom is the signal condition at the heart of Shi’a Islam, and on this Ashura Iran’s military dictatorship is recreating the Karbala massacre in the [...]
