OTB Latenight - The Clash

Here's a little something to amp up your Friday night:

U.S. Airstrikes Kill Pakistani Troops

Pakistan is condemning a U.S. air strike which allegedly killed 11 Pakistani paramilitaries as a "completely unprovoked and cowardly act." U.S.-led forces killed Pakistani troops in an airstrike along the volatile Afghan border that Pakistan's army condemned on Wednesday as "completely unprovoked and cowardly." U.S. officials confirmed that three aircraft launched about a dozen bombs following a clash between ...

Kosovo and the Clash of Civilizations

Richard Fernandez argues that the rioting by Kosovar Serbs was entirely predictable: The wider impact of the Kosovo crisis is the precedent that it sets for many of the "frozen conflicts" of the world, ranging from Azerbaijan to the Basque region. Remarkably, many Muslim countries have refused to recognize Kosovo. And their reluctance is fueled in part by the desire ...

Winning Hearts and Minds

Kevin Drum takes issue with my dismissal of the idea, floated by Bob Kerrey, that electing a guy with the middle name "Hussein" would help America reach out to Muslims. Kerrey wasn't suggesting that electing Obama would have any direct effect on hardcore al-Qaeda jihadists. It wouldn't. But terrorists can't function unless they have a critical mass of support or, at ...

God Endorses Guiliani

Josh Marshall, somewhat obliquely, makes an excellent point about today's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid by televangelist Pat Robertson. Giuliani's claim to the presidency is based on his service as mayor during and immediately after 9/11. What stops him from being a shoo-in for the nomination is his track record supporting abortion rights and gay rights. ...

DNC Strips Florida of Delegates

The DNC has stripped Florida of its delegates to the party convention unless it quickly moves its primary at least a week after New Hampshire's as required by party mandate. The Democratic National Committee sought to seize control of its unraveling nominating process yesterday, rejecting pleas from state party leaders and cracking down on Florida for scheduling a Jan. 29 ...

Pakistan Mosque Clash Kills 9

The fight between Islamist terrorists and an illegitimate regime in Pakistan is coming to a head. The tension long brewing around a radical mosque in Pakistan's capital burst into street battles Tuesday between security forces and masked militants who challenged the government by mounting a vigilante anti-vice campaign. At least nine people were killed and scores wounded in the clash, which ...

Losing The War Against Radical Islam?

Fareed Zakaria notes that there are several hopeful signs in the fight against Islamist terrorism, including the capture of important leaders and several schisms threatening to break apart alliances in Iraq and elsewhere. Moreover, he argues, the jihadists face numerous structural problems. The split between Sunnis and Shiites—which plays a role in Lebanon as well—is only one of the divisions ...

Caption Contest Winners

The Price is Right... Up There Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. (Ali Jarekji/Files/Reuters) The Winners: First: floyd - "The food was mediocre, but these table cloths are fabulous!" Second: Hodink - "Go ahead. Laugh! One day your family will dress this way." Third: Timmer - The Clash, they are number one in my book. "Rock the Casbah" makes me ...

$50 For Unlimited Music Downloads

Eliot Van Buskirk reports that one knowledgeable source has estimated that an annual fee of $50 per music lover would allow record labels to remain profitable while allowing unlimited downloads. At a SXSW panel called "Reinventing Payment Models for Digital Music," Cambridge-educated economist-turned-music-manager (Pink Floyd, The Clash, Ian Dury And The Blockheads, Billy Bragg) Peter Jenner put a figure on how ...