War links
Top Chinese general advocates space defences as “inevitable”.
Polish outrage over Russian military exercise simulating attack on Poland.
Negotiations with Iran close to collapse. Iran’s President is claiming victory. Russia and the US seem to heading towards a common policy to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons.
Slides from presentation given by the Fort Hood shooter in 2007: the spelling is a little erratic. Claims about what he also said during that presentation. Via jordan179. The issue of “missed signals”. US intelligence were apparently aware of his attempts to contact al-Qaeda. There seems to have been some coordination problems. The FBI’s embarrassment. Probing his links with a mosque one of whose former imans thinks the shooter is a hero. About the rush to avoid considering his actions in a jihadist context. And also on pc’s dangerous obfustications. Further. (A case, methinks, of a strong dose of reality that the “reality-based community” cannot cope with.) About making sure pc does not block needed actions. PC kills (1): colleagues had worries about the shooter’s behaviour but did not want to be seen to be discriminating against a Muslim. PC kills (2): suggesting that the Clinton era ban on carrying weapons on US army bases be rescinded.
Considering the use of hit squads to fit terrorism. Italian judges sentences 23 CIA agents in absentia for their kidnapping of a Muslim cleric.
Two men arrested because they think cartoons are worth killing over. Apparently, all non-Muslims are guilty.
Syria and Israel are to hold peace talks: why nothing will follow from this. A prediction that has already come true. Hamas reported to have rockets that can hit Tel Aviv. Israeli navy seizes ship full of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
Pakistani militant group with ties to Pakistani intelligence admits involvement in Mumbai attack. With Pakistani army apparently helping to run militant training camps. The fears over the long-term security of Pakistani nukes and Pakistan’s instability:
The Obama Administration has had difficulty coming to terms with how unhappy many Pakistanis are with the United States. Secretary of State Clinton, during her three-day “good-will visit” to Pakistan, late last month, seemed taken aback by the angry and, at times, provocative criticism of American policies that dominated many of her public appearances, and responded defensively. …
A $7.5-billion American aid package, approved by Congress in September, was, to the surprise of many in Washington, controversial in Pakistan, because it contained provisions seen as strengthening Zardari at the expense of the military. …
Pervez Hoodbhoy, an eminent nuclear physicist in Pakistan, said in a talk last summer at a Nation and Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy forum in New York. For more than two decades, Hoodbhoy said, “the Pakistan Army has been recruiting on the basis of faithfulness to Islam. As a consequence, there is now a different character present among Army officers and ordinary soldiers. There are half a dozen scenarios that one can imagine.” There was no proof either that the most dire scenarios would be realized or that the arsenal was safe, he said. …
During my stay in Pakistan-my first in five years-there were undeniable signs that militancy and the influence of fundamentalist Islam had grown.
Pakistan is a fractured and dysfunctional society with a riven and dysfunctional state poisoned by religious pathologies and status obsessions (particularly vis-à-vis India).
British frustration with President Obama’s lack of decision on Afghanistan. German frustration with President Obama’s silence and lack of decision on Afghanistan. President Obama is continuing to take his time reaching a decision. Leading counter-insurgency expert is less impressed. Great photos from Afghanistan.
Polish outrage over Russian military exercise simulating attack on Poland.
Negotiations with Iran close to collapse. Iran’s President is claiming victory. Russia and the US seem to heading towards a common policy to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons.
Slides from presentation given by the Fort Hood shooter in 2007: the spelling is a little erratic. Claims about what he also said during that presentation. Via jordan179. The issue of “missed signals”. US intelligence were apparently aware of his attempts to contact al-Qaeda. There seems to have been some coordination problems. The FBI’s embarrassment. Probing his links with a mosque one of whose former imans thinks the shooter is a hero. About the rush to avoid considering his actions in a jihadist context. And also on pc’s dangerous obfustications. Further. (A case, methinks, of a strong dose of reality that the “reality-based community” cannot cope with.) About making sure pc does not block needed actions. PC kills (1): colleagues had worries about the shooter’s behaviour but did not want to be seen to be discriminating against a Muslim. PC kills (2): suggesting that the Clinton era ban on carrying weapons on US army bases be rescinded.
Considering the use of hit squads to fit terrorism. Italian judges sentences 23 CIA agents in absentia for their kidnapping of a Muslim cleric.
Two men arrested because they think cartoons are worth killing over. Apparently, all non-Muslims are guilty.
Syria and Israel are to hold peace talks: why nothing will follow from this. A prediction that has already come true. Hamas reported to have rockets that can hit Tel Aviv. Israeli navy seizes ship full of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
Pakistani militant group with ties to Pakistani intelligence admits involvement in Mumbai attack. With Pakistani army apparently helping to run militant training camps. The fears over the long-term security of Pakistani nukes and Pakistan’s instability:
The Obama Administration has had difficulty coming to terms with how unhappy many Pakistanis are with the United States. Secretary of State Clinton, during her three-day “good-will visit” to Pakistan, late last month, seemed taken aback by the angry and, at times, provocative criticism of American policies that dominated many of her public appearances, and responded defensively. …
A $7.5-billion American aid package, approved by Congress in September, was, to the surprise of many in Washington, controversial in Pakistan, because it contained provisions seen as strengthening Zardari at the expense of the military. …
Pervez Hoodbhoy, an eminent nuclear physicist in Pakistan, said in a talk last summer at a Nation and Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy forum in New York. For more than two decades, Hoodbhoy said, “the Pakistan Army has been recruiting on the basis of faithfulness to Islam. As a consequence, there is now a different character present among Army officers and ordinary soldiers. There are half a dozen scenarios that one can imagine.” There was no proof either that the most dire scenarios would be realized or that the arsenal was safe, he said. …
During my stay in Pakistan-my first in five years-there were undeniable signs that militancy and the influence of fundamentalist Islam had grown.
Pakistan is a fractured and dysfunctional society with a riven and dysfunctional state poisoned by religious pathologies and status obsessions (particularly vis-à-vis India).
British frustration with President Obama’s lack of decision on Afghanistan. German frustration with President Obama’s silence and lack of decision on Afghanistan. President Obama is continuing to take his time reaching a decision. Leading counter-insurgency expert is less impressed. Great photos from Afghanistan.