Category Archives: War Commentary

Political Commentary, War Commentary

Why Does The Administration

26 Comments

…insist on violating the Laws of War?

Before citing the 1949 Geneva POW Convention, critics should be aware what they actually say. Article 84 states: “A prisoner of war shall be tried only by a military court.” And Article 97 says: “Prisoners of war shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.).” [Emphasis added in both cases.]

It is only because terrorists like Khalid Sheik Mohammed & Co. don’t qualify for full Geneva protection that we have the legal option of trying them in domestic courts.

I think that Eric Holder should be charged with war crimes.

[Update a while later]

Yes, I occasionally do troll my own site — one of the privileges of being the host. As you can see, it didn’t take long to reel the first one in.

Meanwhile, here is a useful discussion on the question concerning with whom we are at war, which could clarify who we do, and do not, Mirandize.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Lutherans, No Doubt

11 Comments

Or maybe Episcopalians.

Eight have been arrested in Pakistan in connection with the Times Square bombing attempt.

They were probably upset about health care.

[Update a few minutes later]

More thoughts from Mark Steyn:

To the traditional who-ya-gonna-believe-me-or-your-lyin’-eyes cliches, Mayor Bloomberg has now added the inspired line that the amateurish loner with no connection to terrorism “didn’t like the health care bill”. I do hope they ask Faisal Shahzad his views on the individual mandate.

Any moment now, Janet Napolitano will announce that effective immediately it will be illegal to remove your sweat shirt in a public place.

By the way, there are so many of these isolated extremists and lone wolves, they surely belong to the United Amalgamated Union of Lone Wolves and Isolated Extremists. So their cadillac health care plan probably has an Obamacare opt-out anyway. Very odd.

Why do public officials so reflexively dissemble and misdirect every time? In the end, all they’re doing is undermining confidence in the integrity of their own institutions. That doesn’t seem a smart move.

It could be because they’re not very smart. Apparently that’s not a criterion for becoming the mayor of a major city, or a federal official.

[Update a couple minutes later]

The bomber had to have had help:

While officials called the bomb itself “crude” and “amateurish”, they now privately acknowledge that the preparation, advanced espionage and meticulous orchestration of events required to insert a Sport Utility Vehicle into a curbside parking space anywhere in New York City reflects a high-level of intellectual and technical sophistication.”

“You don’t just drive into New York and park your car,” the source said. “Without a real-time satellite video feed and agents on the ground in constant communication with the driver, that kind of operation can take hours on a good day. Even with all of those resources, the perps still had to count on a certain degree of luck.”

More evidence that it was sophisticated white guys. And they only have to be lucky once…

[Update a few minutes later]

It’s the Jihad, stupid.

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Willful Blindness

12 Comments

Is the Army ready for another Jihadi attack? I doubt it. When you consider how politically correct things were during the Bush administration, it must be much worse now, in an administration that doesn’t even want to name the enemy. With regard to Times Square, it seems we’ve reverted back to the war on “terror.” Except I don’t think that they believe we’re at war, even though the people who planted that bomb are trying to kill us.

Political Commentary, War Commentary

Not United Nations

12 Comments

It’s a club of thugs, that long ago outlived its usefulness:

We are reminded once more of the truth that Solzhenitsyn uttered many years ago: The U.N. is not the united nations but the united governments or regimes. And that body at large is no better than the governments or regimes that compose it. And, though the world has gone far in democratization, there are still many regimes that are as savage as can be imagined. And they sit on such panels as human- and women’s-rights commissions. You know? Understandable — but still, as I said, hard to swallow.

We need to set up something else, with some minimum entry requirements.

Business, General Science, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, War Commentary

Where Is The Outrage?

15 Comments

Suppose that, a week before the Congress voted on whether or not to authorize military force, a document had been generated that showed there were no WMD in Iraq. Suppose further that it was reported that the Pentagon had sat on it, and not released it until weeks after the vote. And when asked why, the explanation was “we didn’t want to influence the vote.” Then, a Pentagon official comes out and denies that it was deliberately withheld, though the record clearly shows that the information was known by the defense secretary prior to the vote.

Imagine the howls from the Democrats and the press, and calls for firings and impeachment, and demands for a new vote.

Substitute health care reform for Iraq, HHS for Pentagon, and “will cost much more than advertised” for “no WMD,” and that’s exactly what has happened.

[crickets chirping…]