In the ArenaUncategorized
The New York Times reports a Ramadan-inspired peace accord betweeen the two leading Shi’ite families in Iraq, the Sadrs and Hakims…but the Washington Post has an excellent piece that puts the deal into perspective and raises the appropriate doubts about its sustainability. Note that that the local police in Karbala are actually members …
Some of you have probably already seen the Vanity Fair piece in which Christopher Hitchens wrestles how his worlds motivated a young soldier to enlist… and now, that young man is dead, killed by an IED while riding in an under-armored Humvee.
Hitchens is one of my favorite writers; even when he’s wrong, his wit and erudition amplify a …
In the ArenaUncategorized
I don’t always agree with Ralph Peters, but his integrity and military expertise are unimpeachable and he is absolutely, angrily right about the impact of private contractors like Blackwater on the military.
The chief military prosecutor in the effort to charge and try the detainees at Guantanamo abruptly quits as the result of a dispute with his superiors. More than five years after the first of the detainees arrived at Guantanamo, only one war-crimes case has been disposed of–and that one by a plea bargain. Part of the backstory:
Davis,
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The Time.com political team has assembled a “gaffe database” for your amusement and edification, and input: you can rate the gaffes from 1 (harmless) to 13 (major screw-up). If something is “harmless,” though, is it a gaffe? Hm. Obama’s flag pin thing, by the way? Negative 2.
Jay Newton-Small reports via email from the “Defending the American Dream Summit” here in DC:
Hillary was the punching bag of most of the GOP candidates at today’s conference. Giuliani slammed her 10 times by name, Brownback once, Huckabee once. Thompson – oddly- saved his fire for Bill Clinton reminiscing how formidable an opponent
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Remember when HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson touched off a flap last year by telling a minority business organization that he had cancelled a federal contract because the prospective contractor didn’t like George Bush? As the Dallas Business Journal recounted, Jackson told the group:
“He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD
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Corrected in the post below, but the Politico’s Mike Allen has this from a GOP official, explaining the technicalities of stripping Craig of his committee assignments completely:
“Taking his committee assignments, in absence of a felony, would require a vote by the Conference followed by Senate passage of a new committee organization
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Adam Zagorin, who has turned his superior investigative instinct onto subjects ranging from Jack Abramoff to Guantanamo Bay in recent years, delivers a must-read piece in this week’s print magazine on newly discovered irregularities in the investigation that put former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman in prison. Zagorin has as exclusive …
In the ArenaUncategorized
It probably wasn’t the wisest thing for Barack Obama to say, and he’s backtracking now–but I can certainly understand why he was less than proud of our country’s behavior starting, say, in the fall of 2002.
I mean, you had an administration that went to war arrogantly, stupidly and without good reason.
You had an administration that …
The headline on a Romney campaign press release today was more than a little deceptive:
ROMNEY FOR PRESIDENT TOTALS OVER $18 MILLION IN
TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER
So Mitt Romney raised over $18 million — not bad, right? Right — $18 million raised would put him in range of Hillary and Obama for the third quarter. But that’s …
Craig and coming out: DO NOT WANT
Craig Reaction to Court Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Idaho Senator Larry Craig issued the following statement in reaction to today’s ruling by the State of Minnesota District Court Fourth Judicial District allowing the guilty plea to stand:“I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am
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