Regular readers know that I have been critical of Gen. Petraeus’s counterinsurgency doctrine because I found it unrealistic, and I wish the US had just withdrawn militarily from Afghanistan in 2002. Lt. Col. John L. Cook, Ret., argues in his new book that the counterinsurgency doctrine made for bad military tactics and strategy on the battlefield. […]
Winning the war on Fracking would be the biggest Victory of All (Cantarow)
Ellen Cantarow writes at Tomdispatch: There’s a war going on that you know nothing about between a coalition of great powers and a small insurgent movement. It’s a secret war being waged in the shadows while you go about your everyday life. In the end, this conflict may matter more than those in Iraq and […]
Palestinians say Israel trying to Silence Media, by Attacking Journalists
The USG Open Source Center translates articles from the Arabic on the Israeli attack on newspapers and journalists in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians Say Israel Trying To Silence Media Following Attack on Journalists West Bank and Gaza Strip — OSC Summary Sunday, November 18, 2012 … Document Type: OSC Summary… The Bethlehem-based independent Ma’an News […]
Iran Sanctions may be ‘Crippling,’ but they are not ‘Working’ (Cher)
Ladan Cher writes in a guest column for Informed Comment On Iran and sanctions, a necessary clarification: “Crippling” is not synonymous for “working” In the tug-of-war between Iran and the United States, sanctions remain the Hail Mary approach to an ever-present picture in international politics: a nation wants to avoid military force but needs to […]
Top Ten Myths about Israeli Attack on Gaza
1. Israeli hawks represent themselves as engaged in a ‘peace process’ with the Palestinians in which Hamas refuses to join. In fact, Israel has refused to cease colonizing and stealing Palestinian land long enough to engage in fruitful negotiations with them. Tel Aviv routinely announces new, unilateral house-building on the Palestinian West Bank. There is […]
If You are 27 or younger, you’ve never lived through a colder than average month (Bump)
Paul Bump at Grist points out that The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on global temperatures in October 2012 as follows: “The average temperature across land and ocean surfaces during October was 14.63°C (58.23°F). This is 0.63°C (1.13°F) above the 20th century average and ties with 2008 as the fifth warmest October on record. […]
Palestinian Civilians imperiled as 500 Israeli Strikes hit Gaza (Democracy Now!)
Democracy Now! report: “”Nowhere to Run”: Israel Fires Over 500 Strikes in Gaza, Civilian Toll Grows in Humanitarian Crisis From the transcript: “MOHAMMED OMER: You’re welcome, Amy. Well, let me start with the last—I’m right now in Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli F-16 missile just fired at […]
Top Ten True costs of BP Gulf Oil Spill
BP yesterday agreed to pay a fine of some $4.5 billion dollars from the US Department of Justice for malfeasance in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest fine paid in US history. There are also manslaughter and obstruction of justice charges against individual executives. BP also was forced by President Obama to pay […]
Candidate for CIA Chief Jane Harman Advocated Ethnic Breakup of Iran
CNN lists former California representative Jane Harman, now head of the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., as a potential successor to Gen. David Petraeus as head of the Central Intelligence Agency. This idea is a very, very bad one. Harman is an Iran hawk who would be perfectly happy to give Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin […]
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