About the tendency of the US Army
to revert to “big war” focus.
Arguing that
negotiating isn’t appeasement. Well no, but the problem of appeasement wasn’t negotiating, it was (1) falsely analysing Hitler’s purposes and what he was willing to do to achieve them and (2) selling an ally (Czechoslovakia) down the river to buy off an enemy who didn't stay bought.
Suggesting
al-Qaeda is in possibly terminal decline. Noting that Islam
regularly produces “mad mullahs”.
About the
refusal to take responsibility for their societies being basic to the chaos caused by insurgent groups. That the Shia in Lebanon
deserve better than Hezbollah’s endless war. The
burden they place on the Shia of Lebanon. Hezbollah is too tough to beat,
not big enough to dominate.
About
the fighting in Lebanon. Dubya
warns Syria and Iran over Lebanon. Hezbollah
may not have done so well.
Iran’s ambitions
are not doing so well in Iraq anymore with its own form of blowback The Iranians didn't see the rapid rise of the Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has become the most popular ayatollah in Iran as well as the most powerful cleric in Iraq. Iranian and Iraqi clerical ties are old, complicated, intensely personal, and often quite affectionate--all of which now plays powerfully against the Iranian ruling elite's cynical politics in Mesopotamia. The use of highly sophisticated armaments in IED’s
suggests Iranian involvement.
A bomb
strapped to an eight-year old girl was detonated by remote control, killing an Iraqi captain. Words fail. Iraqi
actors, artists and singers have been targeted by insurgents. It is a Guardian piece, can you tell: Culture was encouraged during Saddam Hussein's regime, but no longer. About
a book on Iraq, the places ideologies go to die. Looking
good on patrol in Baghdad.