There is a fascinating post at Pat Lang’s about a study trip to Lebanon which involved meeting some interesting and alarming people (Samir Geagea, described here as “a bit Lyndon LaRouche” – well, whatever hard things have been said, quite understandably, about the latter, he never commanded a militia that cut huge crosses in the…
Read More The Switzerland of the Middle East (for some periods of Swiss history)Douglas Farah reckons the Russians are trying to press the US State Department to press for Viktor Bout’s release, or rather his extradition to Russia, which would amount to the same thing. It’s an interesting suggestion, although usual caveats apply to a story sourced to Bill “WMD to Syria!!” Gertz. I can imagine them pitching…
Read More Even More Viktor Bout Arrest BloggingSays Iranian foreign minister Manoucher Mottaki: “America, today, in the international system is facing a serious challenge … Americans are in a very, very difficult situation. “The people of Afghanistan would not allow America to use Afghanistan against any country. This is our … belief,” he said. Mottaki said Tehran’s findings from three rounds of…
Read More Let’s lay this one to restRight, I’ve already given reasons why it’s urgently necessary to start staff talks with Iran about how we can get out of Iraq. Someone asked what incentive the Iranians had to participate. I suggested, essentially, that they would rather not have us shoot our way out with AC-130s down Highway 8. Well, here’s a better…
Read More Talking to Iran, part 3The North Koreans are attention-seeking again, flaunting the possible launch of some sort of rocket that possibly might be the putative Taepodong-2 ICBM. And, apparently, the US government is thinking of shooting it down with their ballistic missile defence system. Well, system. Experimental test rig would be more accurate. This is incredibly stupid. Fortunately for…
Read More Missile Defence and Deterrence