War links
About the unrest among Uighurs in China’s far West.
UK PM offers to cut nuclear capability for deal with “rogue” states.
Honduras as a manifestation of the Chavez model. Noting parallels with the political situation in the Philippines.
Wide-ranging interview with Robert Kaplan on the brutality of the Sri Lankan government’s win over the Tamil Tigers, why China was a winner, India and Chinese maritime competition, the soft power of a more liberal Iran and Afghanistan-Pakistan as a single entity.
About the sheer backwardness and social inertia of Afghanistan: Afghanistan suffers from never having been colonised.
The US Administration has asserted its legal right to continue to hold terrorism detainees even if they are acquitted in courts. (If this was the previous Administration, it would be a sign of BushHitler’s rampant fascism.)
Critiquing Obama’s Middle East strategy as dangerously incoherent.
The US is reported to be against economic sanctions on Iran. The US has released five Iranian Qod force operatives captured in Iraq. The US military was not keen on the release. About the problems with the release.
Inside the Basij militia, used against the Iranian demonstrators: For Mr. Moradani, the biggest shock during the election turmoil came in his personal life. He had recently gotten engaged to a young woman from a devout, conservative family. A week into the protests, he says, his fiancée called him with an ultimatum. If he didn't leave the Basij and stop supporting Mr. Ahmadinejad, he recalls her saying, she wouldn't marry him.
He told her that was impossible. "I suffered a real emotional blow," he says. "She said to me, 'Go beat other people's children then,' and 'I don't want to have anything to do with you,' and hung up on me."
She returned the ring he gave her, and hasn't returned his phone calls. "The opposition has even fooled my fiancée," he says.
Michael Yon reports on the slow progress towards peace being made in Mindanao, with pictures: A guerrilla commander told me that he had been fighting since 1976, but came out of the jungles with 34 fighters on 20 April this year. Publicly it’s called a “surrender,” but on the ground it seemed more like a mutual agreement to stop fighting and do something constructive. And also with more detail. And more.
Report that the Taliban are buying children to train them for suicide attacks. Iran had previous used child soldiers.
The problem of Israel finding its would-be negotiating partners (Syria, PLO) keep increasing their demands.
The case for a Sunni-Israeli alliance. The Israeli and Saudi governments have denied that the Saudis have given permission for Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran. About prospects in the Middle East: The settlements aren’t the central question. They’re a tragedy in part because they obscure the central question of this conflict. The only question is: can the world of Arab Islam accept the idea of Jewish national equality? That’s the question, and I don’t know the answer to that.
Naturally, I shade toward pessimism on that question. I’m recalling, among other things, that the Six Day War wasn’t started because of the settlements. If you study the history of the last one hundred years, you’ll see that this is the central animating cause of the conflict. And I don’t see much evidence that Arab Islam can assimilate this idea right now.
Roadside bomb kills British regimental commander in Afghanistan. Russia will allow NATO forces in Afghanistan to be supplied through Russian territory. More.
A short guide to Israeli settlements.
Still some tricky times ahead in Iraq. Some of the more pessimistic views on the ground in Iraq.
UK PM offers to cut nuclear capability for deal with “rogue” states.
Honduras as a manifestation of the Chavez model. Noting parallels with the political situation in the Philippines.
Wide-ranging interview with Robert Kaplan on the brutality of the Sri Lankan government’s win over the Tamil Tigers, why China was a winner, India and Chinese maritime competition, the soft power of a more liberal Iran and Afghanistan-Pakistan as a single entity.
About the sheer backwardness and social inertia of Afghanistan: Afghanistan suffers from never having been colonised.
The US Administration has asserted its legal right to continue to hold terrorism detainees even if they are acquitted in courts. (If this was the previous Administration, it would be a sign of BushHitler’s rampant fascism.)
Critiquing Obama’s Middle East strategy as dangerously incoherent.
The US is reported to be against economic sanctions on Iran. The US has released five Iranian Qod force operatives captured in Iraq. The US military was not keen on the release. About the problems with the release.
Inside the Basij militia, used against the Iranian demonstrators: For Mr. Moradani, the biggest shock during the election turmoil came in his personal life. He had recently gotten engaged to a young woman from a devout, conservative family. A week into the protests, he says, his fiancée called him with an ultimatum. If he didn't leave the Basij and stop supporting Mr. Ahmadinejad, he recalls her saying, she wouldn't marry him.
He told her that was impossible. "I suffered a real emotional blow," he says. "She said to me, 'Go beat other people's children then,' and 'I don't want to have anything to do with you,' and hung up on me."
She returned the ring he gave her, and hasn't returned his phone calls. "The opposition has even fooled my fiancée," he says.
Michael Yon reports on the slow progress towards peace being made in Mindanao, with pictures: A guerrilla commander told me that he had been fighting since 1976, but came out of the jungles with 34 fighters on 20 April this year. Publicly it’s called a “surrender,” but on the ground it seemed more like a mutual agreement to stop fighting and do something constructive. And also with more detail. And more.
Report that the Taliban are buying children to train them for suicide attacks. Iran had previous used child soldiers.
The problem of Israel finding its would-be negotiating partners (Syria, PLO) keep increasing their demands.
The case for a Sunni-Israeli alliance. The Israeli and Saudi governments have denied that the Saudis have given permission for Israel to use its airspace to attack Iran. About prospects in the Middle East: The settlements aren’t the central question. They’re a tragedy in part because they obscure the central question of this conflict. The only question is: can the world of Arab Islam accept the idea of Jewish national equality? That’s the question, and I don’t know the answer to that.
Naturally, I shade toward pessimism on that question. I’m recalling, among other things, that the Six Day War wasn’t started because of the settlements. If you study the history of the last one hundred years, you’ll see that this is the central animating cause of the conflict. And I don’t see much evidence that Arab Islam can assimilate this idea right now.
Roadside bomb kills British regimental commander in Afghanistan. Russia will allow NATO forces in Afghanistan to be supplied through Russian territory. More.
A short guide to Israeli settlements.
Still some tricky times ahead in Iraq. Some of the more pessimistic views on the ground in Iraq.