Antiwar.com Blog

Israel is now reported to have submarines equipped with nuclear weapons.

As an Israeli, I find it a great relief. Now, even if Israel is completely destroyed, we’ll strike back at whoever did it. We may all perish – but not ignominously!

In fact, the future is already here. Just like in the doomsday scenario, Israel’s governments have been doing their best to destroy the country in every possible way – devastating its economy, society, culture, environment, security, its political, education, welfare and health systems – but enhancing its ability to strike militarilly (in order to expand the settlements).

The only trouble is that we Israelis have no nukes to strike back at our own government. So we do perish ignominously, after all.

Read this post by Glenn Reynolds, then read the article it refers to. Then convince me that Reynolds hasn’t gotten into Limbaugh’s stash.

Reynolds makes it sound as if Brendan O’Neill’s article somehow makes the case for war, like this hawk yelp from Charles Krauthammer. Say what? Contra Krauthammer (“Rolf Ekeus, living proof that not all Swedish arms inspectors are fools”) and the rest of the inspectors-were-wimps warbots, O’Neill points out that the inspectors were belligerent liars, too:

From the outset, UNSCOM was far from a neutral, peace-loving body. Its powers of intervention and destruction were unlike anything that went before in the arms control and inspection business…

Those who oppose Western intervention in Iraq and elsewhere should have no truck with the inspectors’ current claims. Say no to war – and no to weapons inspections.

Or rather, damned French media. From AFP:

In Baghdad’s Sadr City district, more than 10,000 Shiites gathered for the funeral procession of two of their own killed in a firefight Thursday night between the Mehdi Army militia and coalition soldiers that also left several people hurt.

Militiamen armed with assault rifles and pistols escorted the funeral procession, led by a cleric who waved a ceremonial sword.

Raising their fists in the air, the men roared, “There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God.”

I bet an American soldier is digging a well somewhere. Why aren’t we hearing about that?

Sam’s post on a book review in the eXile reminded me I haven’t visited their page for a while. One of my favorites is the “War Nerd,” though I’m not sure why. Maybe because he doesn’t mince words…
Here’s his take on the whole “Greater Albania” issue. The way I’ve argued it, it’s a bit more complex, but this guy just cuts right to the bone.
There’s also a great piece on French military history, for all those who denigrate them as “cheese-earing surrender monkeys.” Pay attention to the battle of Monongahela and its implications for American history (i.e. what if a certain officer had not survived?).
Fascinating stuff.

Pat Robertson suggests nuking the State Department. It’s a start.

[For the satirically-challenged and Justice Dept.-employed, I am joking. I’m not so sure about Robertson and Joel Mowbray.]

(Link plucked from LRC blog.)

“>
billion with a ‘b’) dollar secret program to aid the Afghan mujahideen in the ’80s. There is some debate about whether bin Laden and the other ‘Afghan Arabs’ who formed al Qaeda received US money or only matching funds from Saudi Arabia through this program. (The Saudi government claims to have stopped directly funding bin Laden in 1989.)

I haven’t read the book yet, and after reading a review of it on Exile.ru, I’ll probably borrow it rather than buy it. (If you’re not familiary with The Exile, it’s a site run by US expats in Moscow; worth checking out if you’re not too bothered by foul language, cynicism and nihilism.):

“The author, George Crile, is hopelessly infatuated with his subject, and scolds Wilson as unconvincingly as Aunt Polly dressing down Tom Sawyer. In fact, Crile loves the whole filthy DC world: every fascist spook, tyrant’s bagman and rightwing nutcase.”

Of particular interest regarding the US’s possible miscalculation in Iraq is one-note regime-change expert Richard Perle’s guest appearance.