Speedkill

It’s been buried in an avalanche of inanity since yesterday, but this post at The Corner was a real gem:

Four years from now, Mitt Romney will be president of the United States. … Point Two: The Republicans always nominate for president the candidate who’s next in line, even if that person is deeply unpopular (e.g., the GOP base’s hatred for John McCain did not prevent him from being nominated; he was the guy who lost to Bush in 2000, ergo…). In 2008, the runner-up was Romney.

You know, you would think Republicans who are so attached to the “we always nominate the next guy in line” thing would know which guy was the runner up last year. It was Huckabee.

Now that that’s out of the way, you can go back to reading about Iran on some other blog. Apparently they had some sort of election. I’m so glad McCain isn’t president right now.

Jeff Iran, The Right

Michael Ledeen thinks we should be worried about Iranian diplomats in Nicaragua. Iran has “easy entry” into the U.S. from there the article he links states that Iran uses Hizbollah to attack its enemies from their embassies, so clearly they’re gearing up for a proxy war against us.

I assume Ledeen’s next post is going to be about how we need to start covertly funding counter-revolutionaries to destabilize Ortega’s government, which is just a Soviet Iranian proxy. Luckily, he’s just the person to connect us to some Islamic radicals we can sell weapons to to cover the cost.

Jeff Iran, The Right

I’m just going to say that while closing Guantanamo and ending the Iraq war will indeed help against al Qaeda, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 9/11 happened before all that and as long as we still have troops in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, we’re not dealing with the core of the problem. And since Obama has made no noises to that end, his impact will probably be limited. Positive, but limited.

Jeff Foreign Policy, Obama

Obama’s been in office almost a week. We seem to be on the march towards some sort of Marxist utopia where government is more transparent, we don’t run secret prisons, and we don’t torture people. Craziness.

Of course, we still have destructive policies regarding Afghanistan and Israel and a terrible economy. Which Obama won’t and can’t fix (respectively).

Could be worse.

Jeff Civil liberties, Foreign Policy, Obama

I recently finished Andrew Bacevich’s The Limits of Power, which is an excellent book. I’ve been meaning to write a review, as Bacevich is a conservative and there are a couple points that I disagree with, but are interesting to mull over. I still may, but I have to say that this Bloggingheads discussion with Bacevich is much better than my review would be. It hits some of my issues and it’s just really interesting. So if you have an hour, go watch it.

(via Daniel Larison)

Jeff Foreign Policy

Go. Read.

We don’t torture people, though.

Also, curse you, overzealous defenders of copyright! I wanted to link to a video of Baltar denying the occupational government tortures people. But no…

Jeff Bush, Foreign Policy

A couple of important stories out today: Senate committee: Bush knew Iraq claims weren’t true and more information on our permanent bases in Iraq.

The first isn’t anything new. We’ve known that the White House ignored whatever information wasn’t useful to their case for war. That meant ignoring consensus on al Qaeda-Iraq ties and ignoring significant dissent over uranium from Africa. A significant portion of their case was based on some evidence, so it’s hard to say they were lying (about all of it, anyway). Still, twisting the facts to make the case for an invasion that would cost significant loss of life is intolerable.

The second story is also not surprising, but still worth mentioning. Our presence in the Middle East drives terrorist recruitment. When we choose our excursions wisely (Afghanistan, for now) the benefits (a weakened and scattered al Qaeda) outweigh the costs (anger over our presence and civilian deaths). When we don’t, well, we get Iraq. Neocon fantasies about an Iraq that loves us and helps us in the region aren’t reality. Our presence there is toxic.

Jeff Bush, Iraq

I just watched No End in Sight, a documentary about the clusterfuck that was (and is) the planning and execution of the Iraq war. I can’t recommend it enough. Unlike Robert Greenwald’s Uncovered, which is similar in subject matter, it isn’t just a few people talking about what they think happened, with little actual information. It features people involved in the planning, soldiers, analysts, etc. It’s very well done and avoids Michael Moore style gotchas and theatrics. The litany of mistakes and inexplicable judgments aren’t new, but they’re presented in a such a powerful and coherent way that the combined weight of it all is crushing.

Of course, the major question that comes up is: why? Why all the mistakes? Why the errors in judgment? It’s asked at the end of the film, but not answered. As you’ve probably noticed previously, I have my own opinion and I think it explains these events the best. The Bush administration went into this with ideological zealotry (of the neoconservatism variety, to be specific) that blinded them from making reasonable decisions. Of course, had they not been so blinded, their inexperience and general incompetency would have been another stumbling block. As it stands, the sheer magnitude of their failures defies simple incompetency.

In any case, check it out. It’s depressing, but definitely worth seeing.

Jeff Iraq

According to this guy:

Having been subjected to this technique, I can say: It is risky but not entirely dangerous when applied in training for a very short period. However, when performed on an unsuspecting prisoner, waterboarding is a torture technique – without a doubt. There is no way to sugarcoat it.

…

Unless you have been strapped down to the board, have endured the agonizing feeling of the water overpowering your gag reflex, and then feel your throat open and allow pint after pint of water to involuntarily fill your lungs, you will not know the meaning of the word.

…

Waterboarding is slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration. Usually the person goes into hysterics on the board. For the uninitiated, it is horrifying to watch.

What a pansy that guy is. We all know it’s just like dunking someone in a bucket of water. Our television characters do it all the time and they’re awesome.

Jeff Bush, Foreign Policy, Silliness

Public trusts the fascists to run things! Good heavens, what will become of our country?

This is just how it was in Germany in the ’30s, man.

Jeff Iraq, Silliness