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Charlie Wilson's Betrayal
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Feature stories
Turning point in Iraq
Monday, January 19, 2004
The screw is finally turning in Iraq. We've seen the prolog of the runup to war with now-disproved hysteria over WMD, a lightning invasion, a premature declaration of "mission accomplished," the failure to establish a secure occu-liberation, the withdrawal of international participation due to the inability of the occupying powers to secure the country, the capture of Saddam Hussein and finally the failure to establish an orderly process for forming a permanent government. Now what? More...
Code Yellow and a Half
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
What's the deal with the Homeland Security threat levels? It's a hall of mirrors that amplifies images of our fears. The latest security scare reveals some interesting aspects of the information war. More...
Futurist Markets
Wednesday, August 6, 2003
The recently blasted "terrorism futures" market isn't as bad an idea as it's been made out. DARPA's highly ideological embodiment was modeled on the commodities market, a questionable implementation that turned a means of measuring shared knowledge into an instrument of psyschological warfare. But the underlying idea consensus knowledge mining has been around for quite a while. And it's not a bad idea. As a matter of fact, I'd like to propose an entire society based on the principle. More...
Looting or Sabotage?
Friday, June 20, 2003
Reports from Iraq don't properly distinguish between looting and sabotage. The continuing security problem is not getting better -- indeed, it may be getting worse. But as long as perceptions are cloudy as to what is actually going on, the initiative will remain in the hands of the attackers. More...
Recent commentary
on the news
Passionate anti-Semitism
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
It's not up to the level of the notorious anti-Semitic forgery of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion, reiterates themes of classic religious anti-Semitism. Religious anti-Semitism is an uncomfortable subject. Confronting it reinforces the value of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. It also casts light on the enslavement of bigots to their beliefs. More...
Ricin in the mail
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Three ricin incidents show problems with anti-terrorism policies and programs. The initial surge of news reports contain very strange statements about terrorism. Like sending powerful biotoxins through the mail and shutting down the Senate isn't terrorism. And the curious case of the Secret Service intercepting an earlier ricin attack and not bothering to tell anyone. And the mysterious silence from Homeland Security. More...
Poodle leaves sinking ship
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Ahmad Chalabi, once the US' hand-picked successor to Saddam Hussein, has now joined Ayatollah Sistani in calling for Iraqi elections. More...
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Charlie Wilson's Betrayal
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Charlie Wilson's War: the Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History is two books in one. The outer story is a quasi-mythological tale of red blooded American boys and girls killing commies in Afghanistan. The inner story is one of treason, betrayal and the most successful foreign intelligence operation waged against the United States since the Russians penetrated the Manhatten Project More...
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