Stories by AcademicElephant
Posted at 10:35am on Jun. 22, 2008 The New York Times Names Names
A newspaper's "credibility" trumps a CIA agent's safety
By AcademicElephant
The lead article in the Sunday New York Times is "Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation" by Scott Shane. The article is full of the standard boilerplate--Iraq has caused more terrorist plots against us (of course they haven't been actually carried out, but that's hardly the point), "torture" inflicted by CIA interrogators has destroyed our international reputation, and the terrorist detainees really aren't so very bad (they write poetry and drink Ensure, just like many readers of the Times). This may seem just another piece in the emerging narrative in which Iraq is a dirty war. It doesn't matter if we win because the very conflict is illegitimate--and what could be worse than victory without honor? It really would be better to have just lost, as many have been arguing for the last five years.
Hang on, there's more here. Through conduits he chooses not to elucidate, Mr. Shane had access to substantial documentation of the capture and interrogation of several high-value targets. And in the Hallowed Times Tradition, the paper decided its dedication to journalistic integrity was more important national security interests, and a deliberate editorial decision was made to reveal the identity of KSM's chief interrogator--his name, his employer, and his current involvement with the Agency.
Read on...
Posted in new york times | outing CIA agents | terrorist interrogations | War — Comments (32)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:28am on Jun. 19, 2008 Three cheers for Iraq!
now president bush should declare venezuela state sponsor of terrorism
By AcademicElephant
Two major news items from yesterday may seem unrelated, but both have serious ramifications for the intertwined issues of terrorism and energy. On the one hand, we had the excellent news that western oil companies are preparing to go back into Iraq after 38 years. On the other hand, we had the very very bad news that the Treasury Department has established economic ties between Venezuela and Hezbollah.
Read on to connect the dots...
Posted in Foreign Affairs | Hugo Chavez | Iraq | NO BLOOD FOR OIL | Saddam Hussein | Venezuela — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 8:55am on May 7, 2008 The Tragedy of Nargis
By AcademicElephant
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With all the hoopla surrounding yesterday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, most in our country have been distracted from the tragedy unfolding across the globe.
Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on Saturday, causing at least 22,000 deaths. The situation has been made worse by the criminal inaction of the ruling junta, which did nothing to warn the population about the approaching storm, and has done its best to stall or refuse international aid in its wake. It's not clear to me if the government is trying to avoid external scrutiny, is trying to get access to unfettered relief funds for its own purposes, or is simply incompetent--or is motivated by an unsavory combination of all three.
It hardly matters at this point as the slow moving train wreck that has gone on for the last three days could claim many, many more lives. Some 40,000 people are still unaccounted for. Millions of Burmese live in the disaster zone, now cut off from essential services. The wounded, displaced and vulnerable are waiting for help, but they cannot wait for long and the clock is ticking.
The tragedy is that these people do not have to die. Response to the 2004 tsunami demonstrated that rapid, targeted relief can make an enormous difference in the aftermath of a disaster. Yet such help is being denied to the people of Burma by their own government, which is accountable to no one and so has no incentive to act.
It is to be hoped that the United Nations can stir itself to take some action both to help the Burmese and to condemn the disgraceful behavior of this junta, which may well prove far more deadly to the country than Cyclone Nargis.
If you would like to donate, these two charities may be able to get some aid into Burma. [UPDATE: The Salvation Army is also on the ground, if you would like to help them.]
Posted in burma | cyclone nargis | Foreign Affairs | myanmar — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 3:14pm on Mar. 15, 2008 "If you had known then what you know now, would you have invaded Iraq?"
A little old news from Saddam's files
By AcademicElephant
A favorite question of Iraq war opponents is, "If you had known then what you know now, would you have invaded Iraq?" Given all the lies (WMD, links to terrorism) that dogged the lead up to the war, this question generally comes as a brilliant coup de grace in the argument that Iraq has been a brutal, expensive mistake that never should have happened in the first place.
And all too often those who support the war duck this question. The lame, default riposte is that everyone saw the same intelligence and anyway, the fact is that we're in Iraq it doesn't matter why we went--what matters now is winning.
Of course, winning matters very much. But for that victory to be meaningful, I think we need to remember, not avoid, the reasons we went to war in the first place. They may not be as spurious or flawed as many think.
I propose that the answer to "If you had know then what you know now, would you have invaded Iraq?" should be "Yes, and here's why."
Read on...
Posted in Archived | debate over the war | greeted with flowers | Saddam and al Qaeda | WMD — Comments (116)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:48am on Mar. 10, 2008 "Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War"
I would say It's about time
By AcademicElephant
Tom Ricks and Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post have obtained an early draft of Doug Feith's forthcoming War and Decision. In an amazing act of speed reading, they got through the entire 900-page manuscript in one day so they could do a preview in yesterday's paper.
Perhaps not surprisingly, they didn't like the book.
Read on...
Posted in Doug Feith | Iraq | Karen DeYoung | Tom Ricks | War | War and Decision — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:37am on Feb. 2, 2008 Facing threats in 2001 and 2008
In which i shamelessly link Saddam and al qaeda
By AcademicElephant
I'd like to juxtapose two items in today's news that may seem unrelated except for the fact that they both contain the word "Iraq."
They would be Buried WMD Scoop and Al Qaeda use two 'Down's syndrome' women to blow up 73 people in Baghdad markets.
Oh no, you say. You're trying to link Iraq and al Qaeda. You're going to go all "Office of Special Plans" on us.
That's so 2003.
Don't worry, I'm not--although I would have been proud to be part of that shop.
Read on.
Posted in War — Comments (15)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:15pm on Jan. 30, 2008 Many Happy Returns, Mr. Vice President
I vote that the Cheney Cat should lead us!
By AcademicElephant
Richard Bruce Cheney turns 67 years young today.
Let's say we make this an open thread to express 1) your good wishes to the VP and/or 2) who you wish were on stage debating tonight.
Posted in The White House — Comments (23)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:01pm on Jan. 28, 2008 A challenger for Joe Sestak in PA-7
meet W. Craig Williams
By AcademicElephant
Rep. Joe Sestak, who defeated long-time PA Republican Curt Weldon in a high-profile 2006 mid-term race, has a challenger in 2008. W. Craig Williams, a veteran of the first Gulf War and a former ADA in Philadelphia, has thrown his hat into the ring.
More below the fold.
Posted in 2008 — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:55pm on Jan. 27, 2008 Endorsements! Endorsements!
Step right up and get your endorsements!
By AcademicElephant
Three interesting endorsements today:
Florida Gov Charlie Crist endorses Senator John McCain.
Liz Cheney Perry endorses Mitt Romney.
Senator Ted Kennedy endorses Barak Obama (reported on CNN).
What does it mean? My hunch is that Gov Crist thinks he could be on McCain's VP short list, Mrs. Perry is in the ABMcC camp possibly for the same reason I am, and Senator Kennedy wants his brother back.
Bob Hahn points out that he predicted the Kennedy endorsement based on Caroline Kennedy's endorsement yesterday, which was a set up. We might speculate that Mrs. Perry's endorsement indicates something similar--no, not from her father. Think about it.
Since all this is pure conjecture straight from my crystal ball, let's make this an open thread for other opinions on the endorsements and what they mean, if anything.
Posted in 2008 primaries | Archived | Endorsements — Comments (17)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:18am on Jan. 8, 2008 The Thomas H. Crown Honorary Fund
"We're about as similar as two completely dissimilar things in a pod."
By AcademicElephant
So you may have noticed that we have a fundraiser on here at Redstate. We're trying to raise the money to get all the features for our 3.0 platform that will enhance and enable the blogging experience of our online community.
So why should you volunteer your hard-earned after-holiday dollars for something you can get for free? Because of that word--"community." A community isn't free. It's the product of all its members.
Read on...