Letters to the Editor
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@ L.W.M.
Politics is civil war, (per Clausewitz). When it gets carried on by other means it is quite uncivil. But like terrorism, no one can quite decide on a working definition agreeable to all parties.
Actually, I wasn't thinking so much in terms of the term "civil war" being oxymoronic (although that it is too, I guess). I was thinking of the use of the term "legitimate" WRT a civil war. Civil wars tend to violate the laws of the countries in which they occur. None of this ambassadorial courtesy and the customary diplomatic niceties. By the "law of war", they are not exactly legit.
Cheers,
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The civil war in Iraq is over
Well, this is just very odd, I must say. Last I heard, the Three Putzes (Fred Kagan, Robert Kagan, and Michael O'Hanlon) were saying there is no civil war in Iraq. Now they're telling us the civil war in Iraq is over?
How did we get from "it's not a civil war" to "the civil war is over."
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Oh, anonymoose is just cheering his usual cheer.
Or is nabalzbbfr just cheering, as he typically does, for death and destruction in general? - sysprog
No, that's about it. If we were back in 9 AD Rome, he'd be one of the citizens cheering news of the slaughter in Teutoburg Forest, utterly unbothered that it was three Roman Legions getting chopped into mincemeat and not the Germans.
Witness his latest calls for an attack on Iran, conveniently overlooking the logistical and practical consequences likely to follow from such a move (which would resemble Teutoburg Wald, but multiplied by a magnitude of 10). This guy is either a reincarnation of Ares/Mars himself, or he's even more fucked in the head than shooter242.
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@ nabalzbbfr I know a good psychiatrist....
Man, you sound seriously disturbed, "stalwart Iraqi military". "Stalwart", who the hell are you? Rudyard Kipling?
Even Kipling lost the taste for blood and empire after his son was killed in WWI.
What will it take for a sap like you?
And you want to go into Iran? How will that help exactly? You're nuts!
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The first deadly sin
Judging by the Kagan quotes a serious situation exists, because he and his cohorts are not only deceitful with us, they are dishonest with themselves. Scary things happen when the only talent that Kagan and other advisors have is to make Bush and Cheney believe the ideas are their own and telling them what they want to hear.
When did being a trusted advisor become defined as someone who knows how to pump the advised with faked fawning, ignoring reality, and a group hug of shared delusions? The first deadly sin of capitalism is believing one's own bs.
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sysprog@6:53
Very well done.
(Translated from the original COBOL.)
ROTFL
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nabblrfrabble was *this* close!
The surge has definitely removed the threat of civil war in Iraq. This has thus enabled the final chapter of the Iraq drama that we are witnessing this week -- the desperate last throes of Iran's proxies in Iraq, as they are systematically dismembered by the stalwart Iraqi military and police, who have finally come into their own.
The only problem here is that the Iraqi police are the Iranian proxies and the people they are attacking are the Iraqi nationalists.
Other than the fact he got is absolutely backwards he's totally right though. A for effort!
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Good Night, Irene
Bedtime for Moosie. Everyone have a great evening.
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I didn't create that McCain program
The original (as far as I know) version was by Mark Arenz:
http://ridiculopathy.com/news_detail.php?id=2057
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Better yet ...
Pathetic
There is something pathetic about our experts on Iraq who inhabit think tanks. We should rename the Heritage Foundation, AEI and other places were stupid men play word games the Thoughtless Tanks. As soon as they pronounce on Iraq an event nails the lie. But are they humbled or shamed? No way. They bob and weave; and in weaving to create their cloth of deception. Ignore these bums.
-- Alan Bennet
A better term: putz-pools or maybe putz-puddles.
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Laugh out Loud
So there I was at C&L, to see how the doughboy would do his fighting. Nearly fell out of my chair laughing. Don't you wish Fathead Freddy could be stuck in a Green Zone bunker right now, bundled in his Peace is at hand flack jacket and his Victory Right Now and Forever kevlar helmet while the evidence of his ignorance blew up around him?
Then the nitwits dare to pretend they are making the sacrifices of real soldiers, as if getting your butt powdered by the AEI is somehow dangerous. To such brotherly cowards as these I would not even waste a fart in their general direction.
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@ sysprog
Excuse me, but does one compile it or compost it?
My subroutine predicts that before this is over, not only will Lieberman's lips be permanently glued to McCain's ear, but there'll be a guy who looks like Schwarzenegger under each of the old faker's elbows, dragging him from place to place with his toes leaving furrows behind him as he goes -- kinda like Mao in his last days.
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Letting AEI know we appreciate their satire
I emailed the following to the AIE's public relations contact. As Mr. Greenwald continues to remind us: scorning these idiots is a useful tactic.
To: vrodman@aei.org
Subject: request to have Fred Kagan to speak
I watched Mr. Kagan speak on the 24'th at the conference "Iraq: The Way Ahead". I'd like to hire him to deliver a similar speech. His satire is sure to be a hit at the local comedy club.
P.S., If you need additional deep thinkers I have a Border Collie that makes Mr. Kagan look like a turnip.
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@ Bill Owen
And you want to go into Iran? How will that help exactly? You're nuts!
Naselfibber doesn't want to help us, but he has a sneaky feeling feeling that it might help his pals over at SettlerState.org. Heading over to the *nest of vipers* in Tehran with the pro-Iranian Iraqi military is a good one, though. Would that all our trolls could accompany them to see just how that works out.
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@Arne
By the "law of war", they are not exactly legit.
Actually they are covered, as "conflicts not of international character".
Minimally, everything is covered by so-called "Common" Article 3 of Geneva 1949.
The 1977 protocols have one which applies regardless of the kind of conflict, the 2nd is specifically non-international conflicts, and covers civil war and war against a colonial power.
As of Hamdan v Rumsfeld, at least w/respect to the U.S., the laws of war apply to our war with a bunch of terrorists. That was then weakened when the Bushies wrote revisions of the War Crimes Act into the MCA. Retroactive immunity on the revisions back to November 26, 1997.
Of course, Bush has been ignoring Supreme Court decisions for years, nobody ever does anything to him for it. It's been years since he was supposed to provide a proper status hearing for prisoners, for instance, he's not really allowed to issue blanket edicts declaring all prisoners to not be P.O.W.s, or set up his own courts to determine status outside both the U.S. court system and the military code of justice. He knows every step takes years in the court system and nobody is going to even so much as slap his wrists.