Mitch Townsend

Iraq as Potential Failed State

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Belmont Club’s latest post is worth reading. Wretchard argues that the Iraqi insurgents are best understood as gangsters rather than nationalists; they seek not so much national political power as chaos, which they would exploit by carving out regions of local control where their violent business enterprises may thrive. In this regard they closely resemble the Afghan warlords and the gangs that have gained considerable power in some of the weaker Latin American countries. This argument implies that we should systematically reshape our national-defense tactics to deal with gangster insurgencies (as we are already doing, to some extent, in response to events if not by plan), and that we should recognize that the strategic threat posed by ruthless and increasingly powerful anational gangs may transcend more-visible nationalist threats to our security.

They Really Exist

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Via Little Green Footballs: the appalling part is the comments. Please read the expressions of support for a cop-killer at Indymedia. This is beyond lunacy. Think of a Unabomber political party.

Coincidence?

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I had just been thinking today, while waiting for an elevator, about how much time I spend riding elevators, and how seldom I have seen Bruce Willis come through the trapdoor in the ceiling. I wonder what this poor guy was thinking.

An old girlfriend

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I confess – I once loved France. At one point, I would have gone back to Marianne back in an instant, as abject as a dog rescued from death in the pound; at another, I would have gladly strangled her with her own hair. For more conflicted love and hatred, try Elvatoloko, a young man from France now in the USA. Not a clue what the blog title is supposed to mean.

An Immortal Lie

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A letter to the editor, Sydney Morning Herald:

You may want to suggest to Alan Ramsey that he do a little fact-checking before embarrassing himself in print, if indeed he is capable of embarrassment. Perhaps he was pressed for time, but his March 9 column was mostly a reprint of a speech Bill Moyers made, in which said that “delusional” American Christians supported the destruction of the environment and the expansion of Israeli settlements in order to hasten the Apocalypse. In support of this assertion, he quoted former Secretary of the Interior James Watt as saying “After the last tree is felled, Christ will come back.” Mr. Ramsey may not be aware that Mr. Moyers formally apologized to Mr. Watt for using an entirely fictional quote. Since I am clearly a delusional right-wing fanatic, I invite you to consult a more credible source: Editor and Publisher’s website.

Please note the timeline: Mr. Moyers made his speech on December 1, 2004. The speech and the quote were published by a variety of newspapers, some more obscure than others, and reached the Washington Post on February 6, 2005. Mr. Watt demanded an apology and received one on February 9. Yet Mr. Ramsey reprinted the speech with its counterfeit quote on March 9. If you have no objection to paying Mr. Ramsey for recycling someone else’s three month-old speech – an admirable effort in conservation – I suppose I should not care whether the Sydney Morning Herald receives value for its money. As Mr. Ramsey himself says, “If not you deserve everything you get, even if the rest of us don’t.” Or if you favor the use of quotations, consider this one from Mark Twain: “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” And unlike Messrs. Ramsey and Moyers, I can furnish the source for that one.

Update: I should have included a reference to the original challengers to Moyer’s “higher truth.” The mad geniuses at Power Line, John Hinderaker in particular, drove this story. What a pity that professional journalists can’t be bothered to do for pay what Hindrocket does for love of the truth.