Damned Liberal Media, Pt. 2

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?

War Nerd on “Greater Albania”

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.

Perle’s Prequel

“>
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.

Freedom Fighter, Terrorist, Whatever

Read this Ralph Peters op-ed on Bush getting cozy with the Turks.

Judas drove a hard bargain compared to President Bush. At least the great betrayer got 30 pieces of silver. All Bush is going to get for delivering the Kurds unto their enemies will be 10,000 Turkish troops – who will act solely in Ankara’s interests, not in the interests of Washington or the people of Iraq.

Oh, the Kurds aren’t as cute and cuddly as we’ve been led to believe? Well, that’s not exactly Peters’ complaint. You had better sit down for this.

The administration is even dishonest about Kurdish “terrorists.” The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has, indeed, engaged in terrorist actions against Turkish targets in the past. But if there ever was a case of freedom fighters using terror as a tool, it’s the PKK.

Take a minute to digest that.

(Link courtesy of my good buddy Glenn Reynolds.)

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