Advice from the Saudis on Afghanistan
In this morning's Washington Post Prince Turki al-Faisal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, former director general of their intelligence service and also their former ambassador to the United States offers President Obama some advice on how to proceed in Afghanistan with which I find I am in almost complete agreement. His advice consists of six action items: There is ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 9, 2009 11:34
Ted Rall: Obama Should Resign
It's been years since I've quoted Ted Rall here. He hasn't appeared in a post title since September 2005's "Rall: Charities are for Suckers." The man's eminently quotable, if in a train wreck sort of way, but constantly pointing out that some commentators are crazy attention whores really doesn't advance the debate much. But you've got to hand it to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 30, 2009 07:22
New Term Nonpermanent Seats on the UNSC
Japan, Austria, Turkey, Uganda, and Mexico will replace Indonesia, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, and Panama in the two year terms for nonpermanent seats on the United Nations Security Council beginning on January 1 of next year: UNITED NATIONS — Japan easily drubbed Iran in the election on Friday for a two-year seat on the Security Council, while the recent financial meltdown ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 18, 2008 13:54
More on the AKP Ruling in Turkey
Yesterday I noted the ruling regarding the banning (or not, as the case was) of the ruling AK party in Turkey. Here's a follow-up which focuses mostly on the funding cut imposed by the court.Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 31, 2008 15:01
AKP Escapes Ban (Barely)
Via the BBC: Turkey's ruling party escapes ban Turkey's Constitutional Court has decided not to ban the ruling AK Party, accused of undermining the country's secular system. But the judges did cut half the AKP's treasury funding for this year. That'll show 'em! (I honestly have no idea which funds or what they are used for--and the story does not elaborate.) In all ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 30, 2008 15:15
Institutionalizing Counter-Terrorism
Bernard Finel argues that we have done a poor job of formalizing rules to deal with the fight against international terrorists. Few, even today, question the legitimacy of the U.S. campaign to remove the Taliban. But has this case set a broader precedent? And if so, what are the parameters of this precedent. Does any country unilaterally have the right to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 20, 2008 15:06
Haggling over Haggling
Will Wilkinson reports that he didn't buy as many things as he would have liked on a recent trip to Turkey because the cultural proclivity to haggling left him cold. He suspects this experience is generalizable. [P]robably hundreds of my dollars stayed in my pocket because I didn’t have good information about the quality of products and I knew ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 14, 2008 08:36
Does John McCain Want to Kill the UN?
During a major foreign policy address yesterday, John McCain talked about his plan to create a League of Democracies. Charles Krauthammer sees a plot to do away with the United Nations: Well, I like the idea of the league of democracies, and only in part because I and others had proposed it about six years ago. What I like about ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 27, 2008 14:20
Caption Contest Winners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst THE WINNERS First: radio free fred - The Definition For Helium and Ron Paul are Similar (A Non Reactive, Inert, Noble Gas.) Second: floyd - No wonder he talks funny.... It's the Helium! Third: Anderson - Ron Paul denied knowing whose hot air was bearing his name. HONORABLE MENTION charles ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 21, 2008 18:47
Ron Paul Phenomenon Not About Ron Paul
Joe Carter, in an interesting reflection on his 30 days working for the Huckabee campaign, makes this observation: The Ron Paul Phenomenon is Not About Ron Paul -- It will take a more astute political mind than I possess to comprehend this Ron Paul phenomenon. All I know is that it has less to do with the candidate than about ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 3, 2008 16:41
Pentagon Giving Turkey Intelligence on PKK
The United States is actively supporting Turkey in its attacks against PKK terrorists, although remaining vague on the precise nature of the intelligence provided. The United States has given Turkey intelligence to track Kurdish fighters hiding in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said on Monday, but he would not say whether Washington gave Ankara precise targets used in weekend raids. Defense Department spokesman ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 17, 2007 14:23
The Council Has Spoken!
The Watcher's Council has announced its picks for the most outstanding posts of the preceding week. The winning Council post was Right Wing Nut House's post, “Buchanan's New Book: “Prepare Ye for the End””. Second place honors went to my own post, “The Visual Imagery Society”. I voted for Rick's post so I'm happy with this ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 30, 2007 09:58
Murtha: Surge is Working
While many war supporters have been pointing to security improvements in Iraq as evidence that the Surge is working for weeks, the meme got a significant boost yesterday from an unlikely source: Congressman Jack Murtha. U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 30, 2007 08:10
James Jones Appointed Middle East Special Envoy
Former Marine Commandant and Supreme Allied Commander James Jones will be appointed as Special Envoy for Middle East Security, AP reports. A former NATO commander is expected to accept a role as adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on security issues related to negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on a peace accord, officials close to the discussions said ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 28, 2007 14:50
Book Review: The Siege of Mecca
I’ve written a review of The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam’s Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda, a riveting retelling of the events of November, 1979, when a group of around 500 Islamic extremists (including at least two American Black Muslims) seized the Grand Mosque at Mecca. The author concludes that this action, taken along ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 27, 2007 00:28
