Last week I mentioned my “admiration” for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the former Iraqi Information Minister, who consistently offered unintentionally hilarious — if not entirely credible — analysis of how well Iraq was doing in the war. Alas, when Hussein’s regime fled Baghdad, al-Sahhaf’s wacky media briefings came to a permanent end. I’m pleased to report, […]
All indications are that the biggest fights of the war in Iraq are done. To be sure, there will be isolated fights and incidents as some semblance of order is restored, but major bombing campaigns — including carpetbombing and “shock and awe” — have ceased to be necessary. “I would anticipate that the major combat […]
Illinois Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald will reportedly not seek re-election next year. As campaign news goes, this is pretty huge. The story broke in this morning’s Chicago Tribune (no link available) in a story that said Fitzgerald told close associates yesterday that he had “no fire in the belly” to seek a second term. The […]
Following up on my earlier post on increasing U.S. threats against Syria, it’s interesting to see major players already lining up as hawks and doves on a possible war. Like the early stages of diplomacy regarding Iraq, people are not necessarily falling into predictable camps. Most notably, Lawrence Eagleburger, Secretary of State for the first […]
About seven months before the invasion of Iraq began, Slate’s William Saletan raised an interesting point about Tom DeLay’s arguments in favor of a war with Iraq: they apply equally well to Syria. From state sponsorship of terrorism, to probable possession of weapons of mass destruction, to threatening Israel, Saletan noted that for every reason […]
The Washington Post’s media critic, Howard Kurtz, had a couple of links to some great articles about Fox News Channel and its war coverage, giving me an excuse to rant once again about the most contemptible attempts at journalism in the history of broadcast television. First up is Dan Kennedy with the Boston Phoenix who […]
There’s an assumption that permeates American politics about partisanship and the military. Republicans, the idea goes, are allies of the military; the Democrats are foes. Republicans want to increase military spending; Democrats seek to decrease funding. George W. Bush, while campaigning for the presidency, took advantage of this conventional wisdom in many public appearances, frequently […]
Among the many arguments used by skeptics of the war in Iraq in the months leading up to the invasion was the idea that Bush’s “preemption doctrine” would set a dangerous world precedent. As the argument goes, civilized countries don’t go around launching unprovoked attacks against other nations. If war is reserved for retaliatory strikes […]
The flap over Roderick Paige’s apparent intolerance for religious diversity in public schools just refuses to go away. Friday, 12 members of Congress wrote a joint letter to the suddenly controversial Secretary of Education, saying they found it “profoundly troubling” that Paige would suggest that the nation’s public schools “offer an inferior education to those […]
Doesn’t the site look better? Carpetbagger’s amazing wife, let’s call her Evening, spent a couple of hours this afternoon giving the site a needed facelift. As you’ve probably noticed by now if you’ve visited the site before, there’s now a way to email me through the site, plus links to many of my favorite news […]