“Hi, USA? It’s your old buddy, Pakistan! “Osama bin Laden in our country? As if! Hmm, it’s really a mystery where he is … don’t you guys hate Iran? I mean he’s gotta be there, right? The guy’s an icon of religious tolerance; surely he could have overcome the centuries-old Sunni/Shi’a divide. “No, of course […]
Here’s a thoughtful piece that should be obvious but too often isn’t: just why it is that military occupation makes people angry, no matter how well-intentioned it may be. “Why They Hate Us: Lessons from Civil War Reconstruction”, ForeignPolicy.com, Nov. 23, 2009 Although as the first commenter pointed out, the question is when it’s worthwhile […]
“Does this make me look West Wing?” The hot-spot, Central Command phase of Barack Obama’s foreign-policy tour is winding down, and so far he seems to have hit all the right political notes. Hooping it up was a particularly swift move, but even more fortunate was the fact that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki came […]
I think this has floated around the web a bit, but if you haven’t read it, check out this NY Times magazine piece: Battle Company Is Out There It’s very heavy, but gripping. I’ve read a few people complaining that it’s biased or gives an incomplete picture of the war, but that’s not what it’s […]