"The English landed elite took a leading role in modernizing agriculture. Through the enclosure system, a brutal process of asserting their rights over the pastures and commons of their estates, they forced the peasants and farmers who had lived off these lands into more specialized and efficient labors”

"Earlier this month, four Italians were kidnapped near Falluja. One was murdered. His last words, caught on video, seconds before he was shot in the head, were apparently: "Now I'm going to show you how an Italian dies." His captors have since demanded that Italians demonstrate against their government. The hostages' relatives have called a march in Rome. But it is clearly billed as being in support of peace rather than the withdrawal of troops. The reaction of virtually all Italy's politicians has been to say the government must not give in to blackmail."

"The terrorists are getting desparate and making strategic mistakes. If they had painted this as a war against the U.S., they could have played to a sympathetic audience in many places. Now they're revealing this war for what it is: a war against Western values, democracy, equality for women under the law, and constitutional, non-theocratic governments."

"he is damaging UK (and western) interests by backing George W. Bush's misguided policies in the Middle East." and ...

"The diplomats were shocked into action not just by gathering signs of implosion in Iraq but by US backing for the decision of Ariel Sharon, Israeli prime minister, to keep most Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank - and Mr Blair's endorsement of this "one-sided and illegal" new policy. Downing Street insists it has not abandoned the principle of a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine and the internationally underwritten "roadmap" to it. But Mr Sharon's strategy tramples on several United Nations Security Council resolutions, and Washington and London's support for it has inflamed Arab opinion to the point where it sees Palestine and Iraq as two fronts in a war of resistance against the west - the optimal outcome for the fanatics who follow Osama bin Laden.

In Iraq itself, the letter says, the indiscriminate use of force and heavy weapons "have built up rather than isolated the opposition", while there "was no effective plan for the post-Saddam settlement". The critique is trenchant and almost wholly accurate.

Detractors say the diplomats propose no alternative. But the problem is that the mishandling of Iraq (and Israel-Palestine) has gradually closed off any plausible path forward. What this letter warns is that this is an accelerating downward spiral with no brake - and that Britain's duty as an ally is to use such influence as it has in Washington as "a matter of the highest urgency". Though the letter does not say it, it is hard to see how that meagre influence would not augment, were London to co-ordinate its position more closely with its European partners."

"The British FP people you (-that is not Brad deLong himself but someone else reacting-; fg) are criticizing advocate careful, restrained, targetted use of violence. They think what the US is doing in Iraq is like a dentist with a Sledge-Hammer, and they'd prefer to an alliance that acts like a surgeon with a scalpel. Calling such people pacifists shows either desperate ignorance on your part (have you never met a real pacifist?), or a deliberate attempt to confuse the issue.

The British didn't edge towards peace over Northern Ireland by invading Dublin, or by sending SAS special forces teams into the US to kill those rich Americans who were funding the Provo IRA. Defusing a terrorist movement requires a very careful balance between violence and restraint."

"...de software waar onze sites mee worden gebouwd is eigenlijk nauwelijks gebouwd voor interactie, dus dit hebben ze niet.
Continue redactie uitvoeren is voor een Kamerlid met een halve medewerker simpelweg niet mogelijk. Misschien probeer ik het over een tijdje nog eens..."

"While Moqtada's religious credentials are weak, his family's political standing is as deep as the modern history of Iraq. His grandfather was the prime minister in 1932. And this young, militant cleric didn't spontaneously emerge after the fall of Saddam Hussein. US forces now entering the city of Najaf, are up against a man who has donned the well-cultivated mantle of his father (Sadek al-Sadr), the leading Shiite thorn in the side of the Hussein regime in the 1990s."

"But Sadr's men have also turned their sights on other targets, most specifically their domestic Shiite political opponents. US officials say Sadr was behind the murder of Abdel Majid al-Khoei in Najaf last April. Imam Khoei was close to the US, and had returned from exile with US funding to win supporters in Najaf. After Khoei's muder, Sadr militiamen surrounded the house of Sistani, who was briefly forced into hiding.

These incidents demonstrate Sadr's long-term aims go far beyond simply getting the US to leave Iraq. "What's happening now has more to do with the dynamics between Sistani and Sadr than it does between either of them and the coalition,'' says Patel."

"I won't leap to any huge conclusions based on a single source, but Cole's basic argument is that al-Sadr represents a Khomeni-like devotion to full-blown theocracy, whereas Sistani's view is that clerics should not be involved directly in government. I'll judge both on their actions, but the perspective was useful..."

"So, a smart university press (or even trade press) would put me on their list for review copies of law books, or at least some subset of law books, such as legal history, constitutional law, and law and science, especially because their competitors aren't doing so yet. I'm not at all offended by the lack of attention, nor am I in any need of free books. I just find it interesting that book publishers have been so slow to recognize a new medium through which they can publicize their wares."

"Sterkte Chileen & de rest!
Dit is echt te triest voor woorden!! Ik hoop echt dat ze die k*nkerlijers te pakken krijgen, maar vooral dat hun namen vervolgens worden gepubliceerd."

"Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan have all denied top U.S. officials informed Bandar of the decision to go to war against Iraq before Powell had been informed of the plan.
Woodward Tuesday denied he had claimed Powell was left out of the war planning in his new book, "Plan of Attack."
"I never said that," he said on NBC's "Today" show. Secretary Powell, Woodward said, "is disputing things that I don't say."

"Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Monday ....... criticized President Bush over a report that he had struck a deal with Saudi officials to lower gasoline prices before the election.
"If ... it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people," Kerry said during a campaign stop in Florida. "If this sounds wrong to you, that's because it is fundamentally wrong."

"Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar bin Sultan said Monday that ex-President Clinton sought a secret deal to keep oil prices low before the 2000 election, explaining that the request was nothing unusual. ..
"We always want any president who is in office to be reelected," Bin Sultan explained, while stressing that his hope for lower oil prices was not a direct effort to influence the outcome of the U.S. election.”

"GlobalSecurity.org is focused on innovative approaches to the emerging security challenges of the new millennium. The organization seeks to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons and the risk of their use -- both by existing nuclear weapons states and those states seeking to acquire such capabilities. GlobalSecurity.org aims to shift American conventional military forces towards new capabilities aligned with the post-Cold War security environment, and to reduce the worldwide incidence of deadly conflict. The organization is working to improve the capabilities of the American intelligence community to respond to new and emerging threats, reducing the need to resort to the use of force, while enhancing the effectiveness of military forces when needed. GlobalSecurity.org also supports new initiatives utilizing space technology to enhance international peace and security.”

" I happened to cross the Khunjerab Pass into Kashmir during the same week that General Pervez Musharraf seized power via a military coup. Unbeknownst to me and most of the world, Musharraf's first act was to invite Taliban and Al Qaeda militias from neighboring Afghanistan into Pakistani Kashmir as surrogates to launch an offensive in his country's ongoing conflict against India.
Three Talibs, one of whom spoke fluent English ("NYU! Class of '83!" he beamed), pulled me off the bus at an improvised checkpoint outside a town where a minor battle was winding down. Taliban leader Mullah Omar had recently issued an edict directing that Americans, including diplomatic passport holders, were to be put to death if apprehended on Taliban territory. "We are sorry," the Talib said blandly, "but you are American. Therefore, we must execute you."...
"The worst thing about you Americans," I remember the Talib saying, "is that you never admit when you make mistakes. Last year, your President Clinton sent his cruise missile against a drug plant in Khartoum, Sudan. He killed many innocent people. Does he say he is sorry? No. The same day he sent cruise missiles against my country. Again: only innocent people were killed."
Actually, the Afghan strike had missed bin Laden--who had claimed responsibility for the bombings of the American embassies in East Africa--by hours. He was probably tipped off by intelligence officers of the Pakistani ISI. I didn't bring up these unpleasant facts.
"America causes misery everywhere--Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan--but not in America." His face brightened. "But no more. We are going to bring the war to you, so your country learns what it is like."
Bring the war to America: The same phrase bin Laden had used in interviews....
It wasn't, as Bush says, because radical Islamists are evil or because they hate our freedom. It was vengeance for 1998, for cruise missile attacks that scarcely raised an eyebrow in the United States even as they convulsions of rage surged through millions of Muslims. It's perfectly reasonable, therefore, to blame Bill Clinton for 9/11, but not because he didn't do enough. What led to 9/11 was a clumsy application of excessive military power and arrogance.
It's a lesson that the United States, so accustomed to swinging a sledgehammer to kill a fly, should take to heart in its dealings with the rest of humanity.

"..Can't we just run on the fact that the President is stupid? I mean we can debate policy, economics, outsourcing, terroism, the Iraq war, and whatever else you want. But, it is PAINFULLY clear that Bush is not all there."

"Kerry of course is the quintessional insider. He is even a member of Skull and Bones, a secretive but probably very powerfull "old boys network" at Yale. Bones members have positions at the CIA, in business, in Congres and at the Supreme Court. And at the White House. Indeed, also a member: George W. Bush (as were his father and grandfather, his grandfather apparently robbing the grave of Geronimo, taking the skull and personal relics of the Apache chief for display at the Skull and Bones’ tomb). So if Kerry is the Democrats' choice, whatever the result, a member of the Skull and Bones will be the next president. And so the incumbents are indeed winning."

"I wish the Democrats would follow Mr. Kerry's example and take it a step further by putting together a small contingent of Democrats with international reputations, a kind of shadow government — not to undermine American policy but to achieve what Mr. Bush seems unable to do. The Democrats ought to explain the dangers of modern totalitarianism and the goals of the war. They ought to make the call for patience and sacrifice that Mr. Bush has steadfastly avoided. And the Democratic contingent ought to go around the world making that case.
The Democrats ought to thank and congratulate the countries that have sent troops, and ought to remind the economically powerful Switzerlands of this world that they, too, have responsibilities. The Democrats ought to assure everyone that support for a successful outcome in Iraq does not have to mean support for George W. Bush. And how should the Democrats make these several arguments? They should speak about something more than the United Nations and stability in Iraq. They should talk about fascism. About death cults. About the experiences of the 20th century. About the need for democratic solidarity.”

"”The war against the occupation is now being fought out in the open, by regular people defending their homes and neighbourhoods - an Iraqi intifada.”

”They stole our playground," an eight-year-old boy in Sadr City told me this week, pointing at six tanks parked in a soccer field, next to a rusty jungle gym. The field is a precious bit of green in an area of Baghdad that is otherwise a swamp of raw sewage and uncollected rubbish. "

“And I saw something that I feared more than any of this: a copy of the Koran with a bullet hole through it."

"Ms Andreasen, a Spanish citizen, had announced last February that she would join forces with Mr Van Buitenen in his fight for transparency and accountability but has since not been able to formally live in the Netherlands – an official requirement for standing as a candidate in a Dutch party.

"Marta is involved in a disciplinary procedure by the Commission and she stands under heavy pressure. She is still working in Brussels and she needs the full support of her family in Barcelona. Having to live a few days a month in the Netherlands would be too much at this stage", said Mr van Buitenen. "

"At the same time I believe that an economic offensive of labor-intensive projects should be initiated with the main objective of creating employment in economically feasible ways. This effort should be evenly spread in the provinces. The great response to recruitment in the police and security forces despite all the dangers demonstrates the dire need for employment. Less dangerous employment will surely attract even greater numbers."

"Most of the Shea’at in Iraq (as well as allover the world) generally believes in Al-Mahdi state, but they differ in the way they look at it. One part remained faithful to the old myth that someday the 12th Imam who disappeared mysteriously, will appear and start to lead the Shea’at to victory over all their enemies, starting with the hypocrite mullahs and ending with the Jews, and that all they have to do is sit and wait for his appearance. This part is represented by Sistani and his followers in Iraq. These are the people who refused to revolt against Saddam. The other part represented by the late Sadir and before that by Khomaini, saw that this ideology will put the Shea’at out of the political struggle, which led Khomaini to come up with the theory of (wilayat Al-faqiuh) which means that an honest and highly educated cleric can serve as a deputy for the Mahdi and lead the Shea’at to fight and find their way between the lines and prepare for the appearance of the Mahdi.
The Shea’at in Iraq were divided nearly equally in their loyalty between Al-Sadir and Sistani. After the fall of Saddam the Shea’at on both parts found that democracy will give them their golden opportunity to take the lead in Iraq for the first time since the seventh century.

"Another good outcome of this riot is that it showed that the influence of clerics including Sistani, is much smaller than they and their followers were claiming. I’ve heard it from most of the Shea’at that the whole Iraq supports Sistani and that the Americans don’t dare to defy him! They really believed their illusions. Now it appears that the fatwa of Sistani didn’t have any significant effect on the Americans’ determination to end this riot, nor it convinced the fanatic Shea’at to stay calm. Even the GC paid no attention to him and showed readiness to use force if it is needed.
When this riot will be crushed, and it will be, Sistani and all the clerics will no longer seem as strong as they seemed before, and once they see the 'wholly' name Al-Sadir in handcuffs, they will think a million times before committing a similar stupidity in the future. Even some members of the GC with its religious, tribal and ethnic composition, proved to be short of meeting the challenge. This should clear the political field from these traditional representatives of the Iraqis and surly Iraqis in the future will be forced to search for alternatives once they realize how hypocrite, feeble and lacking their current leaderships are.

""Osama," the first Afghani feature-length film made since the fall of the Taliban, is a film you want very much to like, and many do. It's an incredibly simple tale, more a series of horrifying tableaux than a fully-formed narrative, about a young girl who, driven to starvation by the Taliban who refuse to allow her widowed mother to work, is forced to pass herself off as a boy. As you might imagine, this act of desperation is not one that can be sustained long-term.

"The finite nature of the world's water and air resources is shown on these scale models. On the left, all the world's water (some 1.41 billion cubic kilometres) is shown as a ball covering central Europe. On the right, the entire atmosphere (5140 trillion tonnes) at sea level pressure is a slightly larger ball.

"Goodbye multiculturalism, welcome to a culturally integrated Britain. This is the new line from Britain's Commission for Racial Equality, which ironically, was created to promote multiculturalism. Its chairman, Trevor Phillips, himself of Guyanese origin, has admitted that the idea does not work any more and the time has come to give it a decent burial. This, he says, should be replaced by a greater assertion of common British `values' overriding racial and cultural differences."

"Richard Godwin former Presidential advisor to Kennedy and Johnson writes a good piece in the NYT providing some historical context for previous intelligence failures and how they were handled. This is how he concludes:

"Those now trying to figure out what went wrong before the war in Iraq should bear in mind a simple truth: we are more likely to "know" what we want to know than what we don't want to know. That human flaw is built into the very process of making intelligence estimates. Perhaps the only way to counter it is if those who make the final decision beware taking a large risk on what is, inevitably, speculation. As Kennedy told the National Security Council in the days after the Bay of Pigs, "we're not going to have any search for scapegoats . . . the final responsibilities of any failure is mine, and mine alone."

Contrast that with Bush today on Meet the Press:

I went to Congress with the same intelligence Congress saw the same intelligence I had, and they looked at exactly what I looked at, and they made an informed judgment based upon the information that I had. The same information, by the way, that my predecessor had. And all of us, you know, made this judgment that Saddam Hussein needed to be removed."