Saturday, January 27, 2007
<!– s9ymdb:1 –><img width=’336′ height=’450′ style=”float: left; border: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;” src=”http://sixtiessurvivor.org/dlnb/uploads/IRAN_SYRIA.sff_VAH101_20070123051838.jpg” alt=”” /><br />
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<p> Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left, shakes hands with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem at the start of their meeing in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007. (AP Photo)<br />
<p>For a bit more about Mr. Moallem see <a [...]
Saturday, January 20, 2007
I don’t know what possessed me to take a look again at <a href=”http://books.google.com” title=”google books”>Google Books</a>, its project to scan mass quantities of texts from libraries all over the place. Having in mind a wonderful Santayana quote I typed “vowed to perdition” into the search box, and in a blink of the eye [...]
A friend wrote expressing mild hope for a resolution to the Iraq impasse. I reply:
I’m not hopeful. The devil has been dancing a LONG time in the Mideast, and the piper wants to be paid.
1. Bush is not even asking for enough manpower to do the job. The authors of the so-called “surge” (a very [...]
I have posted copies of several recent discussions of the proposed ramp-up of manpower in Iraq:
The Right Type of “Surge” by Jack Keane & Frederick W. Kagan
The Consequences of Failure in Iraq By Reuel Marc Gerecht
A Heavier Iraq ‘Footprint’ ~ Editorial
‘Our Only Hope’ By Bing West and Eliot Cohen
What do I mean by “dreadful,” above, [...]
This is a long tough read:
The Consequences of Failure in Iraq
Marc Reuel Gerecht is one of the few observers now writing about Iraq whose views ought to command everyone’s attention. See also, for example, his The Pope’s Divisions, a copy of which is on my article blog Shock. Horror. Chop Spree.
A friend wrote complaining about the reaction stirred up by the suggestion that some Social Security benefits be granted illegal aliens. Here is my reply:
I Believe:
1. The American public has a highly developed sense of fairness.
2. In the American memory, hard times are still vividly present, e.g. WWII, the Depression, etc.
3. Consequently, [...]