Provocations

It’s another weekend of deja vu it seems, since Ed was telling you just yesterday about North Korea firing short range missiles off their eastern coast. Apparently not satisfied with that outing, Kim Jong-un decided that Sunday would be another fine day for provocation and fired off another one. Launches by the North of short-range [...]

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Red lines.

A rebel spokesman, who spoke from a “liberated area” held by the opposition in Damascus, told NBC News there were huge explosions just before 2 a.m. Sunday local time (7 p.m. Saturday ET) in the Qaysoun mountains on the edge of Damascus… “Secondary explosions continued for about four hours. They shook all of Damascus. There [...]

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War

You’re to be forgiven if you’ve opened your browser to good ole’ Hot Gas this morning and think you’ve stepped into a scene from Groundhog Day. Israel bombed Syria? Didn’t we just cover this yesterday? Yes… yes we did. But this is the other bombing that happened overnight. BEIRUT — Israeli warplanes bombed the outskirts [...]

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Remember

Every year on this date, a somber anniversary rolls around which which we would all do well to never forget. It was on this day in 1970 when anti-war protesters at Kent State University were confronted by members of the Ohio National Guard. Thirteen seconds and 67 bullets later, more than a dozen of the [...]

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Boom

Just this afternoon, Ed was asking whether or not North Korea was dialing down the rhetoric and, just perhaps, signaling a return to the lousy normal situation we face regarding the ongoing Dancing With the Kims reality show on the Korean peninsula. But that answer is far from clear and some other voices are expressing [...]

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Smart power.

I guess it didn’t work. Clifford Hart, the State Department’s special envoy to the now-defunct six-party talks, met North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations Han Song-ryol in mid-March, just before North Korea began its latest string of provocative statements and actions, diplomatic sources said. The meeting was done through what’s known in diplomatic [...]

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Mainstream.

Stereotyped for decades as pro-pot, pro-porn and pro-pacifism, libertarians are becoming mainstream. Led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), libertarians hope to become a dominant wing of the GOP by tapping into a potent mix of war weariness, economic anxiety and frustration with federal overreach in the fifth year of Barack Obama’s presidency… [Ron] Paul and [...]

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The brink.

The State Department said Thursday the United States had to take necessary defensive steps in light of North Korea’s escalating threats, but emphasized that it can “change course” if North Korea tames its rhetoric… Nuland also said that while the U.S. takes North Korea’s “bellicose threats” seriously, the situation on the Korean Peninsula “does not [...]

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Jitters.

The latest round of threats exchanged by North Korea and the United States is dragging on longer and taking on a more virulent tone than in the past, provoking deep concerns among American officials and their allies… While a direct attack on U.S. forces on the mainland or in the Pacific seems unlikely, nongovernment analysts [...]

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So, okay then.

So now can we deport Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang? No? Well, you don’t know until you ask. In case you’d already gone to bed and missed it, (like me) it appears that the latest in the line of vertically challenged Dear Leaders in North Korea has had enough of the United States and South Korea [...]

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War

All this week I’ve been witnessing some of the end zone dancing taking place among various groups regarding the recent decision to allow women to fully serve in combat roles alongside the men. There are many variations on the theme, of course, but the editorial board at the Gray Lady probably summed the general sentiment [...]

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Patience.

Are we surprised?  The Washington Post reports that the White House wants to restart negotiations with the Taliban for a peace deal in Afghanistan, and with a new if uneasy rapprochement with Pakistan, the time might seem ripe.  The Taliban, however, see the timing somewhat differently: The Obama administration has launched a post-election push to [...]

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Inconvenient truths.

Here’s a good catch from the Washington Free Beacon on a point I missed during the debate itself.  Joe Biden attacked Paul Ryan for his votes to support two wars as the reason for the massive deficits we now face.  Biden also claimed to have voted against both.  The only problem with that argument is [...]

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Target

The BBC is reporting that a recent Taliban attack in Afghanistan had a very specific target in mind… Prince Harry. Prince Harry was at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan during an assault by the Taliban which killed two US marines. American officials said small arms, rockets and mortars were used to attack the perimeter of the [...]

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Afghans retake in dawn raid.

Shades of Mumbai?  The Taliban attacked a resort hotel in Kabul late yesterday, killing 18 people and holding dozens more hostage while holding off Afghanistan security forces.  By daylight, however, combined Afghan and ISAT forces rescued the hostages and killed all five Taliban terrorists: Fourteen Afghan civilians, three security guards and an Afghan police officer [...]

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Dick Cheney hardest hit

Here’s a headline you probably didn’t see coming: Oil Output Soars as Iraq Retools Despite sectarian bombings and political gridlock, Iraq’s crude oil production is soaring, providing a singular bright spot for the nation’s future and relief for global oil markets as the West tightens sanctions on Iranian exports. The increased flow and vital port [...]

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They shall be with you

While watching the news, I happened across a really nice story which seems appropriate to share on this Memorial Day weekend. It was the tale of Cynthia LeMay, a Georgia resident who, like many, worries about the safety of loved ones and family members serving in harms way, and is reaching out to help them [...]

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Heroes

With Memorial Day almost upon us, it is only appropriate that we take a look at not only our fallen heroes, but at some of the people who are out there doing the hard work involved with keeping their memories alive and supporting the rest of the troops. This weekend a friend directed me to [...]

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Bombs answer the "mission accomplished" moment.

The thrill is back, at least in Chris Matthews’ leg. The host of MSNBC’s Hardball provided live analysis of Barack Obama’s speech in Afghanistan last night — no, wait, that’s not really accurate.  Matthews, along with Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Politico’s Jim VandeHei provided a cheering section that only lacked a Bidenesque most-brilliant-thing-in-the-last-500-years claim.  [...]

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Warrior.

“The president who won the Nobel Peace Prize less than nine months after his inauguration has turned out to be one of the most militarily aggressive American leaders in decades… “Mr. Obama’s readiness to use force — and his military record — have won him little support from the right. Despite countervailing evidence, most conservatives [...]

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Uncertainty.

“It may not be the economy, stupid. “Then again, James Carville’s famous maxim about the 1992 presidential campaign might well be valid in 2012. But it’s quite possible that on Election Day, voters’ most urgent concerns — economic or not — will be driven by overseas events that neither President Obama nor his Republican opponent [...]

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Endgame.

A new high since they started asking this question in 2009. That’s noteworthy but not surprising given the gruesome Rasmussen poll Ed blogged a week ago. How much of it is driven by a reaction to the massacre on March 11 allegedly carried out by Robert Bales and how much is a reaction to the [...]

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Creativity.

The Washington Examiner’s David Freddoso makes sport of earnest, sincere, pleading, heartfelt Democratic fundraising e-mails: I noted yesterday that I’ve received 23 fundraising emails on the topic [of Sandra Fluke] from just the two Democratic congressional committees (the DCCC and the DSCC). You know that silly game Republicans play with flag-burning amendments? The Democrats’ version [...]

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Uh oh.

This is simply awful, if true — and it appears it is: A U.S. soldier was taken into custody in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, a few hours after he opened fire on Afghan civilians, killing 15, U.S. and Afghan officials said. The shooting took place at approximately 3 a.m. as a lone soldier left a [...]

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"We're not out of the woods yet."

Skip to 3:30 for the key bit. I actually like this answer, even though the “calmed things down” bit is nonsense in the same way that the infamous “jobs created or saved” metric for the stimulus was. There’s no way to tell what would have happened without O’s apology. In fact, the riots went on [...]

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