Donald Stoker writes that, historically, most insurgencies are failures.
the real question in Iraq is not whether the insurgency can be defeated
Why Europe Abandoned Israel
A long, but insightful essay.
There are a number of factors that explain European behavior towards Israel. I have identified seven of them:
- Europe’s dependence on Middle East oil
- Europe’s rivalry with the US
- The growing number of Muslims and their militancy
- The small number of Jews, and their passivity
- The role of elites in Europe’s politics
- Europe’s long term disease of anti-Semitism, and
- The decline of Christianity in Europe.
Turning Up The Heat On Iran
Maybe we’re starting to get serious.
And yes, the notion of Iran complaining about violations of diplomatic facilities bent the needle on my irony meter.
Falcon Launch This Weekend?
Elon Musk says that the window opens on Saturday.
I’m guessing that this flight is one of their milestones for COTS.
Meanwhile, speaking of COTS, Jeffrey Bell wonders what’s really behind it.
He confuses VSE and ESAS (as many do). The Space Frontier Foundation is not opposed to VSE–it is opposed to ESAS.
I think that the answer to his question is much simpler than any of his speculations, and I don’t buy his theory of “COTS as management slush fund for Constellation.” COTS is funded because the White House wants COTS to be funded. What their motivation is, I don’t know, but this is not a NASA-driven program, for any reason of the reasons he states. And that’s bad news, since it may not have any defenders in a new administration. They’re going to have to make a lot of progress in the next two years to ensure program survival. And even then, it could be cancelled. We’ve certainly done dumber things.
Escaping The Times Select Firewall
John Tierney is blogging on science.
A Beating Heart
Manufactured from stem cells. Some of the commenters are skeptical, though.
Run Away, Run Away!
Somalia isn’t the only place that Al Qaeda is in retreat. They’re fleeing Baghdad as well.
The apparent evacuation of Baghdad by al Qaeda forces comes from direct orders issued by al-Masri, the former soldier who took control of the Iraqi wing of al Qaeda following the June 2006 bombing death of Zarqawi.
Initially, the intelligence officer informed Pajamas, the Baghdad-based AQ fighters did not want to leave. Al-Masri had to send unequivocal orders for their retreat, adding that one of the lessons from the Fallujah campaign was that Americans have learned how to prevail in house-to-house fighting. Masri said that remaining in Baghdad was a
Ummmm….No, Dear
I just heard a Fox News half-hour announcer say “John C. Stennis has just left his home port…”
No. John C. Stennis “left his home port,” permanently, a dozen years ago. This news story was about a ship. It should have been read, “The John C. Stennis has just left her home port.” Yes, I know it sounds strange (particularly given how little gender-driven English is, compared to, say Romance languages or German), but that’s how it’s done.
Let The Poppies Bloom
Anne Applebaum has some good policy advice for the fanatical drug warriors in the administration.
This is yet one more reason to wish that we’d had better choices in the last couple elections.
But the anonymous morons in my comments section will continue to call me a “republican stooge.”
Extending Moore’s Law
Through a new kind of chip architecture.