Just saw this headline at the BBC: Iran calls halt to petrol importsI have no evidence for this statement, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Iran was somehow readying itself and the public for potential punitive sanctions by the West, which may include disruptions to imported, refined oil.For all the oil Iran produces and exports its refining capacity is sub-par, making them dependent on imported oil (yeah, it's wierd I know). Just a thought.Apparently the FP Passport and I think alike.Filed as: Iran
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Sunship has alerted me to some problems with the XML feed. Feedburner has detected two sets of problems:1. We're using 0.3 rather than 1.0. I'm not sure how to change this. If someone could let me know, I'd appreciate it.2. Peter wrote his first post using a wysiwyg editor, and that created some series serious markup garbage that seems to be creating problems for XML. As an experiment, I've pulled his introductory post. Could someone let me know if that fixed the problem?That's all folks!
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In previous posts and other arenas I have argued that the Iraq War could not be explained simply by the threat of WMDs, the desire to liberate the Iraqi people, to spread democracy, to uphold the credibility of the UN, etc, etc. My point was that you must look at the operation in the larger context of a global struggle against innumerable threats to US security, both state- and non-state based, where the US for all its power recognized its limited resources and options.Iraq was not an end in itself but rather the means to further the ends of our
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Apparently, three protestors dressed like clowns (no, literally, circus clowns) broke into a nuclear launch facility in North Dakota and, I am not kidding about this, used a sledgehammer to disable the lock on the personnel entry hatch of a Minuteman III missile that provides access to the warhead and then hammered on the silo lid that covers the 300 kiloton nuclear warhead.The three staged the event in part "to call for national repentance for the Hiroshima and Nagaski A-bombings in 1945."The three have been charged with criminal tresspassing. Duh. They are lucky they are still breathing.Let me get this
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Today's maxim seems particularly appropriate, given recent discussions about Iraq and the potential for military conflict with Iran and North Korea.The worst enemy of someone who begins a war is his belief in easy victory. For no matter how simple and certain it appears, a war is subject to a thousand accidents. And the confusion these accidents create will be even greater if they happen to someone who has not prepared his mind and his forces for them--preparations he would have made if he had considered the war difficult from the start. (Series C, 180)Carter and Perry, I think, should
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In case anyone had any doubts about the moral relativism of certain segments of the right-wing anti-terror warrior-punditry, Wretched provides a useful reminder. Sleep Management, Stress Positions, Change of Scenery, Dietary Manipulation, Environmental Manipulation and Sensory Deprivation have already been acknowledged as unacceptable treatment, even for the hard core of the enemy. But surely these tiny cells were as bad as anything the Nazis were capable of?Well, gee, we aren't as bad as the Nazis. The contemporary US also looks pretty good in comparison to Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, the Akazu, and lots of others. My conscience sure is
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I don't like to discuss domestic political races on the site, but this is such blatant misinformation I really couldn't resist, especially given its relation to US foreign policy debates. I guess this is what you get when your poll numbers look like this:Santorum (R) 34 (36)Casey (D) 52 (49)Filed as: Santorum, Misinformation
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Previously, I've pointed out the overt hypocrisy of American non-proliferation policy. The U.S. continues to seek new nuclear weapons and maintains a very large arsenal of these weapons; yet, it tries very hard to prevent many other states from acquiring these same armaments.Since the U.S. position is that states like Iran, Iraq, and North Korea should abide international norms about nuclear proliferation, this hypocrisy could be viewed as a fairly serious problem. Many realists, however, note that this sort of hypocrisy is normal in international relations.In any event, the contradictions in American policy are fairly obvious and targeted states like
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One rule of international politics: when something interesting happens, look to see what else is going on because sometimes the they are related.In other words, perhaps the North Koreans read the news too and aren't as irrational as the Bush Administration would have you believe. Or, context matters. Take your pick.Lets review: The North Koreans are preparing to launch a Taepo-Dong II missle into the Pacific Ocean. They are demanding direct bilateral negotiations with the US as the entry price for halting the launch, and the US has rejected such a meeting. Today, former Secretary of Defense William Perry called
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Yesterday Germany handily won Group A of the World Cup, defeating Ecuador 3-0 (their third straight victory) and advancing to the next round of competition. This wasn't a huge surprise; Group A wasn't exactly the strongest of groups this year, and the German team is quite the powerhouse behind stars like Miroslav Klose. So on march the Germans into the round of 16, facing Sweden on Saturday.The press coverage of this has been very interesting. Everyone seems to feel the need to comment on the fact that the German public is celebrating and waving flags, displaying various symbols of the
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Much has been made of the activation of the nascent US-based missile defense system seemingly in response to North Korea's imminent test of what we believe (but do not know) to be a long-range ballistic missile. The DPRK is obviously looking for attention given that the focus of the West has shifted drastically towards Iran recently. US officials are denying that they are considering shooting down a North Korean missile should it be launched. However, this scenario raises an interesting question; should the US have turned on the system at all in response to the North Koreans? This question is
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Mark Safranski kindly forwarded me a link to a really interesting blog, Cynical Nerd's The Indian National Interest. The most recent post (as of today) is entitled "India, Russia and Geopolitics." The conclusions:While India might move closer to the United States due to a convergence of threat perceptions, the continued ambivalence of the latter towards Indian interests vis-a-vis Pakistan, not to mention United States efforts to cap India’s nuclear capacity, leaves India with no option but to retain links with Russia as a strategic insurance in the fast shifting sands of geo-politics.Russia conversely views India in purely commercial terms i.e
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Well, that just about speaks for itself, doesn't it? I don't think he actually wants us to treat "unlawful enemy combatants" the same way we treated Nazi POWs and war criminals, because that would mean applying the Geneva Convention and even extending representation to those charged with crimes.If our readers have any additional nominations for "most idiotic political cartoon of the year", let us know.[edited for clarity. Apologies to Mark S.]Filed as: stupidity
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[Updated] If I have to hear someone else, whether it is an administration official like Tony Snow (scroll down) or a member of the wingnutty club (pick one, any one), tell me that Iraq is 'getting better' and 'we are making progress' my head might explode, alla Scanners (not for the feint of heart).It's not ok, it hasn't been for a while and it isn't likely to be so for a very long time. This isn't 'liberal rage' or 'lefty pessimism' or some kind of joy derived from seeing things go poorly in Iraq (which is what you are essentially
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A significant majority of Catalans voted for greater autonomy today. The Financial Times reports on the diffusion of devolutionary rhetoric in Spain:Spanish regions began clamouring for sweeping new powers on Monday after Catalonia approved a new self-government charter in a referendum on Sunday.The wealthy region of Catalonia’s quest for more autonomy has led to a rash of copy-cat legislation throughout Spain. Valencia, Galicia, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia – regions that account for more than one-third of Spain’s population – want to take over responsibility for more public services and are demanding more tax transfers to do so.Like Catalonia, they
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[updated]Japan scores a victory at the IWC: Japan and other whaling nations on Sunday for the first time in two decades won support for a motion criticizing a global whaling ban.The approval of a non-binding pro-whaling declaration by the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, does not immediately threaten a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, which is credited with saving the Earth's largest creatures from extinction and which Japan would like to overturn.But in backing by 33 votes to 32, a statement that said the whaling ban was no longer valid, that whales were responsible for depleting fish stocks and that
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The latest NRO fund-raising gimmick: Since this Trek-ban backlash seems to be motivating many Corner readers to give, I’m upping the ante. If the Trek-o-Meter hits $20,000 by the end of the weekend, NRO will launch a line of Trek-inspired merchandise.Jonah Goldberg on intellectual property:As I am in the intellectual property business, I'm a pretty big fan of intellectual property rights. And, without reading the stuff he's referring to, I think I disagree with Mark. I may agree with him about the undesirability of certain "gibbering and twitching" in the popular culture, but I think he's off his feed if
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By now we are all familiar with the current status of the civil war in Somalia. Last week, Islamic militias in Somalia seized the capital of Mogadishu, defeating the US-backed coalition of warlords. The Christian Science Monitor had an interesting article discussing the next step for the US in its bid to avoid the creation of neo-Afghanistan on the Horn of Africa. The answer--diplomatic engagement with the Islamic Courts Union. The US, it would appear, is starting to realize that the world of international politics is not so black and white.According to the CSM:"...the US is sending out conciliatory signals
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During my guest stint at Lawyers, Guns and Money I got involved in a spat with Unfogged's LizardBreath over Linda Hirshman's argument that highly-educated professional women who choose to become stay-at-home moms are the contemporary Quislings of the feminist movement.Despite our disagreement, I thought LB held up her side of the argument rather well--which shouldn't be surprising, given her sterling reputation. But I also thought she ignored some pretty important arguments.For example, I claimed that little evidence suggests that the existence of more women law partners and corporate executives would create an environment more conducive to a family friendly workforce.
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Some interesting Sunday morning reading:The Washington Post today reprints a rather lengthy cable from the US Embassy in Iraq to Main State. Its worth a read.The Post introduces the Cable: Hours before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees. This cable, marked "sensitive" and obtained by The Washington Post, outlines in spare prose the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded
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