Fun link: A Short Play Starring Christopher Hitchens, by Jonathan Schwarz.
Speaking of troublemakers…
It all began with a recommendation to celebrate Veteran’s Day with a donation to AntiWar.com. Well, at least that was the proximate cause of this round. Be sure and read Brad Spangler’s evaluation, which begins, “If there’s one thing Tom Knapp knows how to do well, it’s stir up a bunch of shit. This is, in fact, laudable on his part. If I may explain…”
Clark Stooksbury defends Bush! OK, Bush may not be the worst President ever yet, but can anyone rival him in chimpiness?
The Cunning Realist has some important points to make about the Egyptian elections and the American response to them, here first, and then here.
Abu Aardvark compares the Bathrobe Bloggers to Global Voices.
Here’s Bob Geiger shining a light on the pro-war “Move America Forward” Cindy-Sheehan-stalkers, via MoxieGrrrl, who doesn’t bother being diplomatic about her opinion of Melanie Morgan, MAF’s lead pitbull.
John Robb on why current US strategy (clear and hold, aka oilspot)in Iraq will fail. How badly? Robb says, “If we do it flawlessly (which is going to be very difficult given a thinking enemy), the controlled chaos may hold long enough for the US to get most of its troops out.” How hard will it be for the US to get the troops out? According to Martin van Creveld, who should know:
Handing over their bases or demolishing them if necessary, American forces will have to fall back on Baghdad. From Baghdad they will have to make their way to the southern port city of Basra, and from there back to Kuwait, where the whole misguided adventure began. When Prime Minister Ehud Barak pulled Israel out of Lebanon in 2000, the military was able to carry out the operation in a single night without incurring any casualties. That, however, is not how things will happen in Iraq.
Not only are American forces perhaps 30 times larger, but so is the country they have to traverse. A withdrawal probably will require several months and incur a sizable number of casualties. As the pullout proceeds, Iraq almost certainly will sink into an all-out civil war from which it will take the country a long time to emerge — if, indeed, it can do so at all. All this is inevitable…