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February 22, 2005
Tuesday Reading
No time for in-depth posting today, but here's a myriad of links I ran across today. All kinds of topics:
INTEL DUMP - pontificates upon the rise of entrepreneurial, private military forces in Iraq.
An outstanding piece at World Tribune.com discusses life with the 1st Marine Division in Ramadi. General Mattis is quoted yet again:
"The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event," he tells about 200 Marines, sitting on the ground under a metal windbreak against a cliff in Al Asad.Read the whole thing."That said, there are some a--holes in the world that just need to be shot. But you go on and find your next victim or he's gonna kill you or your buddy. It's kill or be killed," he said.
"There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."
Who knows if it is true, but another World Tribune article says that the assassins of Hariri were dispatched from Iraq and trained by Ansar al Islam.
This Guardian article, Bloggers will rescue the right, set off lots of commentary. Power Line here. Samizdata.net on the other hand, says Blogging will not necessarily save the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives now have a hideous problem. Having lost confidence in its own economic nostrums, with the collapse both of the old USSR and of its own attempts to galvanise the British economy by seizing control of it, the British dirigiste left is content to allow Blair – or, I suspect, any likely successor of Blair – to triangulate away into the sunset. Labour knows that for them, it is either New Labour or no Labour at all. Which means that the Conservatives are no longer united by Labour. Instead they are divided by New Labour.Meanwhile, the executive editor of the New York Times recently told an audience at the Columbia School of Journalism, “This is not a time when editors swear off alcohol.”
Keller also sees “blogging,” or online writing that blurs news and commentary, as a mixed blessing. While he celebrated the blogger’s ability to uncover breaking news, he noted that a blog’s inherent bias might be detrimental to the reader. “A blog is still a view of the world through a pinhole,” he said, noting that it can sometimes fall as low as being a “one man circle jerk.”The genius statements never stop coming at the NYTimes. Brilliant one there, Keller. Keep thinking that right until you get canned. What a moron.
National Journal notes that blogging is quite on the rise.
"Bloggers as News Media Trophy Hunters," The New York Times headlined on February 14, in a story that was picked up across the country. "Some in the traditional media are growing alarmed," the story said, "as they watch careers being destroyed by what they see as the growing power of rampant, unedited dialogue."Andrew Sullivan recently wrote, in a pretty-good piece, Society is dead, we have retreated into the iWorld.Rampant, unedited dialogue! Mercy me, what is democracy coming to?
And why are we having all this intra-media warfare, anyway? Because we can, and because it's good for us. Anyone who isn't exhilarated by the bloggers and the havoc they're wreaking has lost touch with what American journalism at its best has always been about: making trouble to get at the truth.
Technology has given us a universe entirely for ourselves — where the serendipity of meeting a new stranger, hearing a piece of music we would never choose for ourselves or an opinion that might force us to change our mind about something are all effectively banished.A Wired article asks if things aren't about to shift wildly in favor of right-brained individuals.
Syria News
Assad Appoints Brother-in-Law Intel Chief
A confirmation here: Hariri Assassins Said to Come From Iraq
An opinion piece in Arab News apologizes for Syria:
If Syria began pulling out in earnest tomorrow and cut ties with Beirut, where does that leave tiny Lebanon, especially if the new Israeli-Palestinian détente turns sour? What if unfriendly influences fomented a new civil war, just as they did before? Who will step in then? The Americans, who are leading the charge, perhaps or, its client state, the Israelis? The Syrians would no doubt tell them “on your bike”. It isn’t that Syria shouldn’t leave its neighbor but that the timing is wrong. First, let’s wave goodbye to Iraq’s invaders and witness the Middle East peace process reaching fruition. Then, if Syria still insisted on hanging around where it isn’t wanted, it should, indeed, be hauled in front of the UN Security Council with all that could follow.Who will take care of all those poor pitiful Lebanese when the Syrians leave? What drivel.Once again, Syria is not the aggressor here. Imad Mustapha, the Syrian ambassador in Washington asserted that: “Syria is trying to engage constructively with the United States. We are not enemies of the United States and we don’t want to be drawn into such an enmity.” With the specter of Iraq as a precedent, Syria appears to be hedging its bets and forming closer ties with Iran, currently accused of enriching uranium for weapons purposes. Russia seems to be lining up with them both and is set to supply Syria with advanced missiles.
It is time for the Lebanese to decide where they stand during these threatening times. Their choices are thus. They can go shoulder to shoulder with their Syrian cousins, or trust the Americans and the Israelis to secure their safety and future prosperity? Sadly, either way they could be losers in a world where winners are inevitably the ones with the biggest bombs and hardest hearts.
Apparently, the Lebanese agree with me: Thousands in Lebanon Protest Government
Across the Bay is a blog from a writer in Syria, which I have just added to my newsreader. Excellent.
Iran
The BBC reports the price paid for blogging Iran.
Chrenkoff interviews Michael Ledeen. Way to go Chrenk!
Bush in Europe
Discarded Lies asksIs Europe Starting To Love A Cowboy?
New Sisyphus has a line-by-line analysis of Bush's speech today in Brussels.
At Home
US signals hard line on China military threat
Sen Rockefeller, the Vice chairman of the intellligence committee, thinks half of Russia's nuclear materials are unaccounted for. Doesn't seem like good news at all.
The Blue State Conservatives has a greatroundup of conservative blog opinion from blue states. Great stuff.
And I'm out . . .
Posted by Chester at February 22, 2005 12:03 AM
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