Catherine and Kriston had me pause the Top Chef finale while they walk home from Solly's. For the last thirteen minutes the TV has featured a freeze-frame of Ilan making the screwface. The anticipation is killing me. In order to pass the time -- and find out if anything happened in the MLB offseason while I wasn't paying attention -- I clicked over to Yanks Fan vs. Sox Fan, only to find that, for tonight, it's become Marcel Fan vs. Ilan Fan. Amazingly, and gratifyingly, contempt for Ilan has united what is typically a bitterly divided (yet respectful) community. Marcel Vigneron, I have your back tonight.

P.S.: Fuck Frank Bruni.

UPDATE: Fuck. THAT.

No. 117-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.They died Jan 27 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during convoy operations.They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:

Cpl. Timothy A. Swanson, 21, of San Antonio, Texas.

Pfc. Jon B. St. John II, 25, of Neenah, Wis.

Pfc. David T. Toomalatai, 19, of Long Beach, Calif.

That piece about Fallon's hearing yesterday -- very shrill! -- is now up at the Guardian's website. We had some space constraints and so some stuff about Iran fell out, but the Guardian folks very generously consented to let me post that here. So behold! The Missing Paragraph!

On Iran, Fallon was similarly inscrutable. Many analysts have speculated that the first-ever appointment of a Navy officer to head Central Command indicates a new, bellicose focus on the Persian Gulf -- meaning Iran. In recent weeks, Bush's position toward Iran has hardened significantly, with U.S. troops raiding an Iranian diplomatic office in Iraqi Kurdistan and Bush promising to "respond firmly" to Iranian-sponsored attacks on Americans in Iraq. Fallon said merely that the Iranians "have not been helpful to date" in Iraq. He pledged himself unsure of Iranian intentions in the Gulf, but said he believed Iran was trying to deny the U.S. access to the Strait of Hormuz. Although many journalists in the room had at this point started flipping through the sports pages out of boredom, Fallon had perhaps inadvertently laid out a prospective casus belli: the strait is the gateway to the Persian Gulf, and denial of U.S. access to it would mean a massive disruption of the U.S. oil supply. But when Senator John Warner asked if Fallon was interested in "battleship diplomacy" against Iran, he said he found it "most appealing, because we've got plenty to do right now with active combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan."

As a certain blog once had it, Joe Biden is thugged out:

Mr. Biden is equally skeptical—albeit in a slightly more backhanded way—about Mr. Obama. “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

Clean! A clean black man! And so articulate! Which will come first, I ask you: Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race, or 5 p.m.?

UPDATE: Which blog did I refer to, you wonder? This one.

According to a recently-issued Special Forces manual, while certain pack animals are acceptable to use for spec-ops purposes (donkeys, mules), elephants "should not be used by U.S. military personnel." In the assessment of the manual's authors, "Elephants are not the easygoing, kind, loving creatures that people believe them to be. They are, of course, not evil either." (h/t Steve)

There you have it. The U.S. military is cavalier about the threat posed by Pachydermofascism.

Perhaps you remember this classic Logic 101 fallacy:

1. All men are mortal
2. Socrates is mortal
3. Therefore, Socrates is a man.

Now, turn your attention to Alvin H. Rosenfeld's new essay for the American Jewish Committee, 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semetism:

The Israel that emerges in Radicals, Rabbis and Peacemakers -- a country characterized as "amoral," "barbaric," "brutal," "destructive," "fascistic," "oppressive," "racist," "sordid," and "uncivilized" -- is indistinguishable from the despised country regularly denounced by the most impassioned anti-semites.

I'm going to spend the rest of my night watching Veronica Mars, so more on this vile essay later.

UPDATE: This post has been corrected. Initially, I erroneously wrote that David Harris, who wrote the introduction, wrote the whole essay. My apologies.

Speaking as someone who first picked up his father's drumsticks at age three and began trying to execute a double-stroke roll on a pillow at age 11, seeing John & Belle's toddler daughters drumming brings warmth to my heart and tears to my eyes. In the interest of cultivating their talents, here are a few drummers they should seek to emulate:

1. Elvin Jones. Nuff said here. Lots of string and brass musicians have used their instruments percussively. Elvin Jones was the first, and best, to use the drums to provide melody. If not for him, we'd never know what the far side of the ride cymbal sounds like.

2. Stewart Copeland. I sort of hate the Police. There's a number of good songs out there in the dark of their catalogue -- "So Lonely" is pretty awesome -- but, by and large, their prog is corny and their punk is fake and their reggae is cringe-inducing and their rock is passable. The thing that brings me back to them is Stewart Copeland, who actually introduces breaks to a band that's as white as a fluffernutter. I'd advise the girls to listen to Stewart Copeland for those times that they need to rescue a song from its creators.

3. Janet Weiss. My dream interview is me & Janet, talking drums for hours and hours. I have so many questions about why she does what she does. With a band as frenetic and taught as Sleater-Kinney -- which, of course, has no bass guitar -- you can imagine the temptation exists to provide a stable beat and little else. (As Lara MacFarlane demonstrates on Call The Doctor.) Janet never, ever does this. You have to listen to her like you listen to a jazz musician -- always asking why she made this particular choice of rhythm, dynamic and tone and not another one. If ever you think she doesn't serve the song, notice how different her style is with Quasi than it is with S-K.

4. Topper Headon. The only band that mattered had the only drummer that mattered. The break in "Guns of Brixton" could be the entire basis of another drummer's style. (I say that because after I heard it, I made it the basis for my entire style.) Legend has it he recorded Give 'Em Enough Rope in one take. Topper married James Brown rhythms to the Clash and made punk rock transcendent. Just listen to how sad and pedestrian the Clash can sound when Tory Crimes drums for them -- a track as straightforward as "White Riot" comes alive with Topper behind the kit, but with Tory Crimes, the Clash are held back to a standard, plotting halftime two-four backbeat.

Remember, girls: learn your rudiments, and there's no substitute for proper gripping. Never hold your sticks using your thumb as a brace -- it's tempting, particularly when you're tired, but you're only cheating your finger strength. There are a lot of sucker drummers out there. Don't play yourselves.

Wes Pruden:

But these are mad and treacherous times, when even resentful elderly statesmen feel no constraints of decency, decorum and love of country, and let fly with bottled-up bile.

Yeah, that was Wes Pruden who said that. A few grafs later:

As anti-war rallies go, as any post-feminist arm candy vocal Christian autobiographer could tell you, this one was small turnips compared with the monster rallies of her barefoot years, which drew millions to the Mall.

Sgt. Mickel D. Garrigus, 24, of Elma, Wash., died Jan. 27 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat patrol.Garrigus was assigned to the 543rd Military Police Company, 91st Police Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Drum public affairs office at (315) 772-8286.

I'm working on a quick piece on this right now, so more later, but I just got back from Admiral Bill Fallon's hearing to head Central Command, and I've never heard a military officer testify for nearly four hours and fail to exhibit an understanding of even one issue he's about to grapple with. Anyway, as they say, more TK.

No. 106-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Maj. Alan R. Johnson, 44, of Yakima, Wash., died Jan. 26 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee at Muqdadiyah, Iraq, the same day. He was assigned to the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Tonawanda, N.Y.

For further information on this soldier, contact the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command public affairs office at (910) 824-4628.

No. 107-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2007
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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Anthony C. Melia, 20, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., died Jan. 27 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

For further information related to this release, contact the Camp Pendleton public affairs office at (760) 725-5044.

John Bellinger, the State Department's legal adviser, is blogging at Opinio Juris, and introduces a new meaning for an old term:

The phrase "the global war on terror"—to which some have objected-- is not intended to be a legal statement. The United States does not believe that it is engaged in a legal state of armed conflict at all times with every terrorist group in the world, regardless of the group’s reach or its aims, or even with all of the groups on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Nor is military force the appropriate response in every situation across the globe. When we state that there is a “global war on terror,” we primarily mean that the scourge of terrorism is a global problem that the international community must recognize and work together to eliminate.

This is, to the best of my recollection, just not true. The "global" in GWOT is first meant to signify that we'll act globally against the terrorists, as opposed to any one particular theatre of war. Secondly it's meant to say that the enemy is, as the old phrase used to have it, "every terrorist group of global reach." (In fact, that very line from Bush's September 20, 2001 speech to Congress held that the GWOT "will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." Bellinger, like most intelligent people, figures that Bush can't possibly mean what he said, and judging by his actions, he doesn't.) I suppose a third-order meaning might be that it's the fight of the globe, and not just America, but to substitute that nice mulitilateralist meaning for the one that everyone understood until Bellinger's blog post is a bit rich.

Can someone explain to me why the term "Democrat Party" is a slur? I recognize that it sounds grating, and agree that it's probably intended to be demeaning. But... why should it be? Help.

Hugh Hewitt posted on Friday a letter to Jim Webb by a fellow Naval Academy graduate. If there's a point here in this rambling display of invective, it's that Webb is obsessed with losing a boxing match to Oliver North decades ago, and that's what's led his descent into liberalism. Also the Iraq war and the Bush administration are resounding successes, Bush had no responsibility for Katrina, and only traitorous Copperheads could disagree.

Qommi responded to Bush. Now Bush responds again, in an interview with NPR. "If Iran escalates its military action in Iraq to the detriment of our troops — and/or innocent Iraqi people — we will respond firmly." Simultaneously this puts the bar for Firmness rather high and rather low. Apparently we're to Respond Firmly if the Iranians attack U.S. forces and if they kill some random Iraqi. If I'm an Iranian, the message I receive is that Bush is on the warpath.

At the National Security Council, Gordon Johndroe tries to pick up the pieces, commenting, "If Iran wants to quit playing a destructive role in the affairs of Iraq and wants to play a constructive role, we would certainly welcome that." Question: what would a constructive Iranian role in Iraq look like to the Bush administration? Presumably it would mean non-intervention, which isn't going to happen. Destructive Role it is.

No. 105-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.They died Jan 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Killed were:

Sgt. Alexander H. Fuller, 21, of Centerville, Mass.

Pfc. Michael C. Balsley, 23, of Hayward, Calif.

For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-3420; after hours (719) 526-5500.

Shiite death cults! U.S.-plus-Maliki apparently fought Shiite death cults in Najaf yesterday who plotted to blow up Najaf shrines -- not Sunni psychotics -- in an attempt to get the messiah's ass down to earth tout suite. Shades of the Machteret Yehudit! The Los Angeles Times quotes a dude saying, "Everyday someone claims he's the Mahdi."

He lamented that Iraq's death and destruction had convinced some Shiites that the end of days was coming.

"There's nothing bizarre left in Iraq anymore," Nomas said in a telephone interview. "We've seen the most incredible things."

Can we talk about this for a second? The Iraq war is so fucking awful that even some Shiites -- beneficiaries of the political process , remember -- would rather blow up their own shrines and bring on the apocalypse than continue to, you know, live. Somehow I don't think this will come up in Admiral Fallon's nomination hearing tomorrow. We don't need Petraeus in Iraq, we need Buffy the motherfucking Vampire Slayer.

Isn't John Negroponte a great family man? A gentle, urbane soul, educated at Exeter, his house an elegant shade of mustard? Oh, yes, and he knew about the death squads.

One of my favorite moments in the Iraq war so far took place nearly a year ago today in Irbil. I was sitting in the balcony of the Kurdish parliament waiting for Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani to announce a much-delayed union of two Kurdish factions -- largely to leverage influence in Baghdad and prepare the way for eventual independence -- when the dignitaries began marching in. Zalmay Khalilzad strode to his chair, with his British, French and Chinese counterparts not far behind, and they exchanged greetings to the Kurdish leaders and their entourages. Then came someone I didn't recognize, dressed in an ostentatiously Shiite style, all flowing brown robes and taught turban. I figured it was someone from SCIRI -- Adel Abdul Mehdi was also there, but he was seated several rows behind the foreigners -- and so I asked my translator if he knew who this was. Sure, G***** said: it was the Iranian ambassador, Hassan Kathemi Qommi. The Kurds were very happy to see him, even if Khalilzad never so much as turned his head to acknowledge the man sitting five seats away.

Today Qommi announces his government's own plans for a surge. Iran is offering security and reconstruction assistance -- you know, exactly what Bush says he's got on the table. In essence, Qommi is remarking that the U.S.'s plans for rebuilding Iraq have fallen short, and so Iran -- an ultimate beneficiary of the Iraq war in any case -- might as well take it from here. (Or, in his own arch words, "We have experience of reconstruction after war.") There's actually nothing in Stephen Hadley's op-ed on the surge that Qommi would find substantively objectionable.

The intelligence community is devoting a lot of energy into determining the extent of Iranian influence in Iraq. Qommi is essentially saying not to bother -- of course Iran is deep in Iraq; in the case of the Shiites, Iraqis want the Iranians in Iraq more than they want the Americans in Iraq. If there's an implicit message here, it's one that says: Are you sure IRAQ is where you want to hold a contest for hegemony? After all, even if Petraeus succeeds in retaking Baghdad, it will be to hand Iraq over to a political process that heavily favors Iranian proxies.

Look: as long as this is true, the U.S. really might as well negotiate a modus vivendi with Iran over Iraq. It doesn't make any sense to fight them in Iraq and risk a regional war in order to entrench their allies's position in the Iraqi government. Qommi's comments to the Times simply underscore that we simply don't have anything like a winning hand here; even if we "win" in Baghdad, Iran comes out stronger than we do, and all the bloviation about evil won't change that. What's holding Bush back from making such a deal is merely a vain refusal to admit error -- that he fucked up strategically and not just tactically. At this point, an alternative course to stay in Iraq and roll back Iranian hegemony really requires a U.S.-backed coup that puts an Iyad Allawi figure in charge. Then, maybe, Iran would have something to worry about. For now, as a wise man once said, we're going off the rails on a crazy train.

UPDATE: That said, it is of course, a good thing that yet another Shiite shrine -- this one in Najaf -- wasn't blown up by Sunnis. Score one for U.S.-plus-Maliki forces.

Lally Weymouth jawbones with Adel Abdul Mehdi:

All Americans see on TV screens are Sunnis slaughtering Shiites and ethnic cleansing in the streets.

Unfortunately this is true. But this is only one part of the picture. Only 12 months ago, we had elections and 12 million people voted, Sunnis and Shiites.

Yes, and as a result, all Americans see on TV screens are Sunnis slaughtering Shiites and ethnic cleansing in the streets.

Also, if I'm Adel Abdul Mehdi, and a reporter mentions to me at the World Economic Forum that I'm Bush's favorite to replace the of-course-sovereign PM Maliki, I'd walk into the Swiss foreign ministry and seek asylum.

Huge Makili-on-insurgent clash today outside Najaf. Keep standing up, fellas; I wouldn't mind standing down. For another helpful hint over who's standing up, see the Los Angeles Times:

Although Iraqi officers emphasized their support for the U.S. forces' methodical approach to clearing villages, many of their men grew impatient. They repeatedly asked in broken English, "When we kill Wahhabis?," a reference to adherents of the fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam practiced by many Al Qaeda members.

The article doesn't specify the sect of these officers, but suffice it to say no Sunni Iraqi is referring to his co-religionists as "Wahhabis."

Every now and then, there's a reminder of how the Iranian regime is less diabolical than it is comical and buffoonish. From Laura Secor's excellent New York Times Magazine tour d'horizon:

Democracy, he explained, was acceptable within the boundaries of Islam, and human rights were contained within Islam, but such rights should not include freedom of worship or freedom to believe things that are untrue or unwise. (His examples were the misguided beliefs of Nietzsche and Machiavelli.) The Islamic penal code required no modification in the modern era; its harshest punishments, he asserted, were no more violent than some American and European spectator sports. He appeared shocked by the suggestion that Iran held political prisoners and demanded an example. I offered the journalist Akbar Ganji, imprisoned for six years on account of his critical writings. Gharavian replied: “Did you read Mr. Ganji’s manifesto? He questioned the whole establishment.” Freedom of expression, he explained, did not include the freedom to “breach the peace of the society.” He demanded, “Don’t you have prisoners in your country?”

UPDATE: We need a moratorium on writing that Country X is "in a sense defined by its contradictions." Please. I'll go first.

No. 102-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Nathan P. Fairlie, 21, of Candor, N.Y., died of injuries suffered in Baqubah on Jan. 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations.

Fairlie was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

For further information related to this release, contact the Fort Hood
public affairs office at (254) 287-9993.

The less said about Smokin' Aces, the better. As best I understand it, Jon Carmichael argues that Israel is the result of a malevolent, deceitful mistake, and only honest people within the U.S. government can destroy it, as Israel can survive even the most audacious acts of violence. Also, Swedes will help it to live. Sommer heard my theory and wisely cautioned me to resist allegory.

But. In the very near future, we're going to get Hot Fuzz, the latest feature-length offering from the three greatest cinematic geniuses alive -- Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright. If you saw Shaun Of The Dead, you know what I mean. Along with comic legends Jessica Stevenson and Mark Heap, PeggFrostWright created the best sitcom of all time, Spaced. The intricate latticework of the late-90s British comedy scene entwines Spaced, through cameos, with similar titans like Peter Serafinowicz (Duane) of Look Around You, David Walliams (Vulva) of Little Britain, Kevin Eldon (Matrix Thug #1) of Big Train and Nighty Night, Reece Shearsmith (Dexter) and Mark Gatiss (Matrix Thug # 2) of League of Gentlemen (Gatiss was also in Nighty Night). Heap went on to do Green Wing, which also features Stephen Mangan in the ladykilling role of Guy Secretan, and you know Mangan as DAN! from I'm Alan Partridgewith Steve Coogan. Green Wing co-starred Tamsin Grieg from the not-as-funny-as-it-should-have-been Black Books, which gave the world Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey... who, respectively, played the annoying boyfriend in Shaun Of The Dead and Bilbo in Spaced.

I intend to see Hot Fuzz several times on the day of its release and recommend, sight unseen, you do the same.

No. 101-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Darrell W. Shipp, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, died Jan. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

For further information on this soldier, contact the Fort Hood public affairs office at (254) 287-9993.

It's 4:30 on Friday. Ain't nobody gonna call me back at this point. Kids, if you want to grow up to do the journalism, you have to be prepared to place a lot of phone calls and handle the endless waiting for callbacks. Suck it up and do work, as they say.

So what should you do? I recommend turning on Imperial Leather's Something Out Of Nothing LP. You like Swedish punk rock? A little Hellacopters action? Some Dead Boys in your bristles-n-studs? This is going to knock you unconscious and shave your eyebrows off. I just copped this from Profane Existence -- it's not new, but it's new to me -- and you should as well. One of the dudes in this band calls himself 138. How awesome is that?

Yeah, I said Profane Existence. What, guys who appear in the Scooter Libby indictment can't relax to some d-beat? Some grindcore? A spot of power violence? You got your crust in my peace punk? No, you got your peace punk in my crust! The postwoman also brought me the Detestation LP, a Drop Dead comp CD and Witch Hunt's As Priorities Decay album. Yay for punk rock.

No. 098-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2007
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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Mark D. Kidd, 26, of Milford, Mich., died Jan. 25 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Kidd was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Mount Clemens, Mich.
For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the Marine Forces Reserve public affairs office at (504) 678-4177.

When Zalmay "Abu Omar" Khalilzad says it, it doesn't get the attention it deserves, but still. Consider the implications of this quote:

We will not allow hegemony of a hostile regime to have power over this area.

One can easily imagine an Iranian general reading the paper and muttering to himself, "Takes one to know one." Khalilzad is not talking about interests here, or anything else that's tangible. He's talking about diminishing Iranian influence in Iraq -- and, probably, the Middle East more broadly. (Khalilzad, of course, is about to become Ambassador to the United Nations.) With that position, there simply is nothing to discuss. Hegemony is a zero-sum game. It's us or them. In other words, it's war, and the only question is whether it's a limited war or not.

My cubiclemate just turned on Enter the 36 Chambers. As a testament to the times we now face, "P.L.O. style" just doesn't sound threatening anymore.

Eli Lake has a story I wish appeared under my byline, about how the intelligence community, though divided, assesses Iran's penetration of the Iraqi Shiites as thorough and near-complete. How deep? To give just one example, in 2004, for the low-low price of $140,000 up front, Iran recruited 70,000 conscripts for one Shiite militia alone. (Badr? Probably.) According to a paper written by a Fort Leavenworth-based Army Reserve sergeant, all of the Shiite and Kurdish allies America relies on in Iraq are also Iranian allies. Indeed, Iran started reaching out to Shiite proxies like SCIRI as early as November 2001 to prepare for what Teheran accurately forecast as an inevitable U.S. invasion. Unlike us, Iran had a Phase IV in place for what came next.

In short, a reasonable conclusion is that Iran views Iraq much like Pakistan viewed Afghanistan in the 1990s: as an opportunity for strategic depth -- that is, an area of comfort on its border, allowing it to focus on larger threats. The parallel isn't exact, of course, because the larger threat that Iran is facing is from the United States, and it exists primarily in Iraq. Dafna Linzer has more today on Bush's order to attack Iranian assets inside Iraq, as it's not just Task Force 16. In a statement proving irony is truly for suckers, CIA Director Michael Hayden observed "Iran seems to be conducting a foreign policy with a sense of dangerous triumphalism." In order to combat that, the Bush administration is planning "aggressive moves" to disrupt Iranian actions throughout the Middle East, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Palestine.

So let's review administration strategy here. In Iraq, the plan is to escalate the war in order to buy time for Iraqi politics... which is thoroughly dominated, according to U.S. intelligence, by Iran. The best case scenario for us in Iraq is handing Iraq to Iran even more than we already have. At the same time, U.S. military and intelligence assets will go around the country seeking to kill Iranian Revolutionary Guard Forces. (Pop quiz: how many soldiers or intelligence operatives do we have in Iraq who can tell the difference between Arabic and Farsi if they heard it?) Also, we plan to take unspecified "aggressive moves" to roll back Iranian influence around Iran, and, for good measure, confront Iran over its nuclear program on the world stage. And apparently, we think Iran will do nothing, roll over, and decide that conducting foreign policy with a sense of dangerous triumphalism has all been folly, according to Linzer: More likely, Archduke Ferdinand is en route to Sarajevo.

No. 091-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Brandon L. Stout, 23, of Grand Rapids, Mich., died Jan. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an explosively formed projectile detonated near his vehicle. Stout was assigned to the 46th Military Police Company, Michigan Army National Guard, Kingsford, Mich.

For further information in regard to this release the media contact the Michigan National Guard public affairs office at (517) 481-8140.

Reuel, in February 2005:

If the Bush White House were wise, it would ensure that all parliamentary debates are accessible free via satellite throughout the entire Middle East. Such Iraqi C-SPAN coverage could possibly have enormous repercussions. For just a bit of extra money, Washington should dub all of the proceedings into Persian, remembering that Baghdad's echo is easily as loud in Tehran as it is in Amman and Cairo.

Maybe not the best idea:

Mr. Maliki made his threat to arrest the Sunni lawmaker shortly after promising once again that a crackdown on illegal activity and would be carried out with equal vigor in Shiite as well as Sunni communities.

The prime minister’s claim was challenged by Abdul Nasir al-Janabi, who represents a powerful Sunni Arab bloc. “We can not trust the office of the prime minister,” he said over jeers from the Shiite politicians before his microphone was cut off.

Mr. Maliki could barely contain his rage, waving his finger in the air and essentially accusing Mr. Nasir of being a criminal.

“I will show you,” Mr. Maliki said. “I will turn over the documents on you” showing all your crimes, “then you can talk about trust,” Mr. Maliki said.

Shiite politicians in the room erupted in applause.

But Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the speaker of Parliament and a Sunni Arab, slammed his gavel down and condemned the prime minister and those who applauded.

“That is unacceptable, Mr. Prime Minister,” Mr. Mashhadani said over the tumult. “It is unacceptable, Mr. Prime Minister, to make such accusations against a lawmaker under the dome of Parliament.”

Also, never read the end of a conditional whose antecedent is "If the Bush administration were wise..."

No. 089-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2007
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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Michael M. Kashkoush, 24, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, died Jan. 23 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Kashkoush was assigned to 3rd Intelligence Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the Okinawa public affairs office at 011-81-611-745-0790.

Jon. You know very, very well Marty, um, isn't really fond of the Arabs. For instance, he likes to flirt with descriptions of Arabs as subhuman. Everyone who works at TNR knows Marty is a racist. Don't make me tell stories. You shouldn't really be contesting this point with Matt. And, if you insist on it, you certainly shouldn't write about how someone else "wants to pretend he doesn't know that's the case."

I concede defeat. Punk Rock Kitchen has been fucking pre-empted by a vegan online cooking show called -- I swear to God -- Post Punk Kitchen. She even has a fucking Nausea flyer in her intro. These are dark days for me. Luckily, I can announce that in the coming days, Debbie Lee and I will be serving you something special.

Man, is the blogosphere getting swept by seasonal affective disorder? Even John Hinderaker is sounding like he should be screaming into his guitar pickups at a Frail show:

Blogging is overrated, and I, in particular, am overrated. ...

Anyway, it's kind of fun to be overrated--an experience everyone should have at some point in his life.

You are a Soviet defense strategist. It's 1984. The occupation of Afghanistan has not gone according to plan. One reason for your misfortune is the external support the mujahideen receive, via Pakistan, from your longtime enemy, the United States. The CIA station in Pakistan has provided the mujahideen with shoulder-mounted missile systems, the Stinger, that severely hinder your air-cover capacity and kill your helicopter pilots. While it's not clear that your fortunes would change if you could somehow severe the U.S. influence in Afghanistan, some of your more hawkish colleagues argue that your fortunes won't change if you don't. They also counsel that you need to see the bigger picture: the U.S. is already at war with you via this proxy force. Are you supposed to ignore the U.S. role in the deaths of your troops? After all, from your perspective, Afghanistan is now the front line, the hottest place in the Cold War. Therefore, your colleagues argue, the U.S. must be made to pay a price here -- or, before you know it, your allies in Latin America will begin to question your commitment as they face their own U.S.-backed insurgencies.

But you've got this nagging feeling that with Pershing missiles in West Germany and your forces bogged down in Afghanistan, the U.S. is at a position of strength here. It may not be the wisest thing to expose your overreach by expanding the war into U.S. strongholds -- or even across the border in Peshawar. There are ways of dealing with the Americans, you think, remembering that the American government consists of a panoply of voices and interests -- some of which align with your own. Nonsense, say your hawkish colleagues. As long as the U.S. can hurt you without cost, it will. You're not going to negotiate a withdrawal from Afghanistan with Washington, so Washington will continue to cause you pain in Afghanistan, no matter what niceties it issues to your face. Better to raise the cost of their involvement.

Keep this scenario in mind when you read about Iran's involvement in Iraq. It's by no means an exact parallel -- we're, y'know, not Iran -- but I find it somewhat helpful.

No. 085-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Michael J. Wiggins, 26, of Cleveland, Ohio, died January 23 in Balad, Iraq, of a non-combat related injury. He was assigned to the 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The incident is under investigation.

For further information on this soldier, contact the Fort Sam Houston public affairs office at (210) 221-1151.

No. 084-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2007
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Dod Identifies Marine Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Matus, 19, of Chetek, Wis.

Sgt. Gary S. Johnston, 21, of Windthorst, Texas

Matus died Jan. 21 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Matus was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Johnston died Jan. 23 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Johnston was assigned to 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force Okinawa, Japan.

Media with questions about Matus can call Camp Pendleton public affairs office at (760) 725-5044. Media with questions about Johnston can call the Okinawa public affairs office at 011-81-611-745-0790.

No. 083-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2007
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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Emilian D. Sanchez, 20, of Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., died Jan. 21 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Media with questions about this Marine can call Camp Pendleton public affairs office at (760) 725-5044.

The Gay Agenda is one big musical, according to the hatemongers at something called C.H.O.P.S, or (ugh) Converting Homosexuals into Ordinary People. They've helpfully put together a list of musical acts that promote homosexualism or include notable homosexualists, so parents can disinfect their children's iTunes libraries from digital GRIDS. You get some of the expected targets -- kd Lang, Ani DiFranco; Elton John is listed twice, as he's "really gay" -- and also some dark horses, like Kansas, Metallica, Wilco and Jay-Z. Perhaps this is all a hoax, as Morrissey is listed as "questionable," and a list of "safe bands" includes Cyndi Lauper. If you're wondering why this organization even exists, it's because its founders believe that the lesson of the 2006 election is that the Republican Party is far too gay.

(h/t: Nah Right)

UPDATE: The site's founder posted an introduction in which the viewer, um, supplicates before him, and then films with his band a music video in which we learn that "God hates fags, and if you're a fag, He hates you too." It's a shame I don't know how to perform any acts of internet sabotage.

No. 081-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of 12 soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 20, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed.

Killed were:

Col. Brian D. Allgood, 46, of Oklahoma, who was assigned to the 30th Medical Brigade, European Regional Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany.

Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Midlothian, Va., who was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, Virginia Army National Guard, Sandston, Va.

Sgt. 1st Class John G. Brown, 43, of Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

Lt. Col. David C. Canegata, 50, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, Iowa, who was assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa.

Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Davidsonville, Md., who was assigned to the 70th Regiment, Regional Training Institute - Maryland, Maryland Army National Guard, Reisterstown, Md.

Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford, Va., who was assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters of the Virginia Army National Guard in Blackstone, Va.

Staff Sgt. Floyd E. Lake, 43, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, 29, of Decatur, Ga., who was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

Capt. Sean E. Lyerly, 31, of Pflugerville, Texas., who was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard's 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, 36th Infantry Division, Austin, Texas.

Maj. Michael V. Taylor, 40, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

1st Sgt. William T. Warren, 48, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

The incident is under investigation.

For information on Allgood, the media can contact the European Regional Medical Command public affairs office at 011-49-6221-17-3317.

For information on Booker and Kelly, the media can contact the Virginia National Guard public affairs office at (434) 298-6107.

For information on Brown, Taylor and Warren, the media can contact the Arkansas National Guard public affairs office at (501) 212-5020.

For information on Canegata and Lake, the media can contact the Virgin Islands National Guard public affairs office at (340) 712-7750.

For information on Gabbard, the media can contact the Iowa National Guard public affairs office at (515) 252-4582.

For information on Haller, the media can contact the Maryland National Guard public affairs office at (410) 576-6179.

For information on Langarica, the media can contact the Fort Huachuca public affairs office at (520) 533-2752.

For information on Lyerly, the media can contact the Texas National Guard public affairs office at (512) 782-1034.

There was some good heckling at Will Wilkinson's house during the SOTU, which is where I watched it. One arch-heckler, whose name I sadly didn't get, spied a shot of the balcony on MSNBC and remarked, "I think that's... Dikembe Mutombo." No way, I said, there's no chance in hell that Bush would sex Mutombo in the speech. I think that disqualifies me from any analysis.

One thing, though. I could have sworn that Dick Cheney was eating something. He moved his hand up from his desk, covered his mouth, removed his hand -- and then very slowly started to chew, the way my dog does when he savors a treat. Will speculated that he had a Ziploc bag full of Cheerios down there. Anyone else notice this? I will call the White House today and report back.

Afterwards, I joined up with the Flophouse n' Friends at Townhouse Tavern to celebrate Kriston's birthday. As the night progressed, Capps, Catherine, Ficke and myself huddled up and belted out a rendition of "With Or Without You." Needless to say, I have a soul-crushing hangover.

Pfc. Ryan J. Hill, 20, of Keizer, Ore., died January 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee.

Hill was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany.

For further information on this soldier, contact the 1st Armored Division public affairs office at 011-611-705-4859.

No. 075-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.They died Jan 20 in Karma, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee.The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Killed were:

Sgt. Sean P. Fennerty, 25, of Corvallis, Ore.

Sgt. Phillip D. McNeill, 22, of Sunrise, Fla.

Spc. Jeffrey D. Bisson, 22, of Vista, Calif.

Spc. Toby R. Olsen, 28, of Manchester, N.H.

For more information about these soldiers, contact the Fort Richardson public affairs office at (907) 384-1542.

o. 076-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information about these soldiers, contact the Fort Richardson public affairs office at (907) 384-1542.

In advance of the State of the Union, I spent my day watching and writing about General Petraeus's confirmation hearing for the Prospect. Or at least that was part of my day. The part that's upset me was an unexpectedly bitter argument I had with a good friend and neoconservative Iraq supporter.

I confess I started the fight. The guy sent me some thoughts of his about Iraq, and I found them stunningly unworthy of his talents, and said so in a particularly nasty manner. We went back and forth, and soon enough I found myself being called an advocate of "retreat and defeat." I protested that this was a low blow. He said not at all: after all, I do in fact advocate retreating from Iraq and conceding defeat. I replied, look, at some point, you may find yourself unable to accept the idea that there's anything salvageable here. How would you like to be called that? He parried: Well, if I do, that's what I'll be. The implicit premise was that I'm unprepared to accept the implications of my own course of action.

And I think he had me there.

Many of you, I suspect, also think the better part of valor is in leaving Iraq. If you're like me, this is an agonizing thing, something that makes you heartsick. Awful things will happen after America leaves. Even if it's apparent that it will be worse if we stay, there's no masking this. Being called a retreat-and-defeatist is a way of suggesting that I revel in this conclusion instead of coming to it reluctantly. And yet I suppose that's what I am. This, I suppose, is why I got so pissed at Jason Zengerle for writing that withdrawal advocates were underemphasizing the consequences. Perhaps it's a defense mechanism; or perhaps I've let my position in this whole thing embitter me to the point that I'm even embittered at myself, and will find myself snapping at my friends. I try to avoid mistakes -- but in doing so, commit other ones.

UPDATE: That Petraeus piece is here. Sam n' Ann gave it the awesome hed, "Surgin' General."

No. 071-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., died Jan. 20 in Karbala, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his meeting area came under attack by mortar and smalls arms fire.Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio.

For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) public affairs office at (910) 432-2035.

No. 069-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2007
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Allen B. Jaynes, 21, of Henderson, Texas, died Jan. 20 in Iraq of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

For further information, contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-3420.

No. 068-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
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DoD Identifies Marine Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Jacob H. Neal, 23, of San Marcos, Texas, died Jan. 19 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Neal was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Lance Cpl. Luis J. Castillo, 20, of Lawton, Mich., died Jan. 20 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Castillo was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Lansing, Mich.

For further information related to this release, contact the Marine Forces Reserve public affairs office at (504) 678-4177.

First an old friend mails me sweets, and now Julien Temple makes a documentary about Joe Strummer. I hope it'll be better than Dick Rude's passable film about Joe and the Mescaleros. (No real beef with the film per se, but I happened to see it screened at the Tribeca Film Festival a number of years ago, and Rude revealed himself during a subsequent Q & A to be a massive douchebag.) As someone who obsessively purchases Clash bootleg LPs and DVDs, to see Temple take on Strummer will be sublime -- Temple, after all, got Johnny Rotten to cry on camera.

I got a re-up on that package today: my old friend Debbie Lee, now a New York pastry chef and globetrotting foodie, mailed me some delicious-looking "Siamese Dream Meringues," wrapped in a lovely cellophane arrangement. Before she found me through THFTNR, I don't think Debbie and I had seen or heard from each other in eight or nine years. In the way-back-when we were punk rockers together, hanging around the Go-Kart records store waiting for Jesse to get off work and go to some show at CBs or Brownies or Wetlands or Tramps or somewhere in New Jersey or Long Island. One particularly pungent memory has Debbie, Jesse, myself, Ivan, Gentle Ben Manners, Filthy Dan Galucci, Erica Waldorf, Nick Balls-Steffens, Michael Finkler and Emma Allen sneaking into a single motel room in Seaside Heights. There might have been GHB and bumper cars involved for certain people, but, of course, things happen on the streets and proof is hard to come by. Anyway, Hooray for Debbie.

"Fuck them, dude. Anyone with a fucking rag on their head is fair game."

That's a quote from the most disturbing YouTube video out there, via IraqSlogger. Allegedly this clip shows a former Abu Ghraib guard bragging about gang raping female Iraqi detainees. Simply put, I refuse to believe this is authentic. This asshole is slandering friends of mine who are serving or have served in Iraq. If this person actually served, it's stunning that he would consent to a YouTube confession. Bullshit.

Patrick Radden Keefe has a great piece in Slate about the ambiguity of the "Terrorist Surveillance Program" in its new FISA-friendly incarnation. The trouble is that not many people outside the White House, the NSA and the Justice Department (and the D/CIA's office) understand how the program actually works. But the best guess is that the subject of surveillance is several degrees of separation removed from a known al-Qaeda operative or affiliate -- which is why the program's architects scrapped the probable-cause standard, and hence the FISA court, to begin surveillance. Keefe worries about a back-door revision of FISA that would make the FISA Court much more of a rubber-stamp:

If this new judicial oversight doesn't alter the program, such oversight must entail a novel reading of the FISA statute. In the background briefing, one of the Justice Department officials said, tellingly, that in securing a compromise that allows the program to continue under the wiretapping law, administration lawyers had drawn on "our own approach to the statute." The officials said several times that the solution they had arrived at was "innovative," and one wonders whether they managed to innovate their way around one of the keystones of the FISA system—the requirement that warrants be issued on a particularized basis.

The objection to this scenario is that a FISA Court judge presumably wouldn't allow the Justice Department to unilaterally rewrite the statute. But Keefe points out something I didn't know, and should have: "the Jan. 10 orders had not come from the entire panel, or even from the FISA court's presiding judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, but from one particular judge who happened to be on duty that day. These orders appear to be unappealable, and no one outside the FISA court and the administration knows what they say."

Stripping away the legal and constitutional questions, there's a hard, security-policy core here -- one that basically prompts the legal and constitutional questions:

How solid a connection to a known Al Qaeda member is required to trigger surveillance? How solid a connection should be required?

By rejecting probable cause and FISA, the Bush administration conceded not only that it found the current restrictions unacceptable, but that it found the prospect of setting legal boundaries for terrorism surveillance unacceptable. That's the prerogative of the authoritarian. Yet it should be said that it's, at the very least, problematic to set hard-and-fast boundaries beyond which someone should be ineligible for court-approved surveillance, since such a thing could telegraph to al-Qaeda how to escape surveillance. (A caveat: to a great degree, this turns on the question of whether an al-Qaeda operative would be inclined to share information with a person who represents the Nth-plus-one degree of separation. Al-Qaeda's habit of compartmentalizing information suggests that setting such boundaries may not be as problematic as I'm fearing. But if there's some imaginative way al-Qaeda might be able to turn people into unwitting conveyors of information, then it remains possible.) Similarly undesirable: it may simply be that we'll have to wait until the next administration to see whether someone who isn't Bush believes that there's a compelling need to take the radical step of jettisoning the probable-cause standard.

Matt tries to squash the beef between him, Brad Plumer and Richard Just after Richard's latest post. But I'm not as classy. Admittedly, it's hard to tell what exactly Richard is arguing, since he drifts in and out of agnosticism about the wisdom of Israel attacking Iran. (Note: this last sentence was corrected.) At one point, however, he addresses the case of the much-quoted, oft-truncated Rafsanjani quote, and concludes:

So, even if Yglesias is right that "such an eventuality" refers only to the loss of Israel's nuclear superiority, Rafsanjani is celebrating that loss of superiority because it will allow Iran to pursue Israel's destruction by conventional means.

To people who know something about military affairs, this is ... not the greatest interpretation. The prospect of Israel losing to Iran in a conventional military conflict is absurd. The IDF is much, much more powerful than the Iranian military. If I were the Ramatkal, the best war I could ever imagine with Iran would be one in which Iran decides to launch a conventional attack. If Iran decides to send its pilots on a bombing mission, look what they'd be flying in:

As of 2000 it was estimated that only 40 of the 132 F-4Ds, 177 F-4Es and 16 RF-4E. Phantoms delivered before 1979 remained in service. At that time, approximately 45 of the 169 F-5E/Fs delivered are still flying, while perhaps 20 F-14A Tomcats of the 79 initially delivered were airworthy. Another 30 F-4s, 30 F-5s and 35 F-14s have been cannibalized for spare parts. One report suggested that the IRIAF can get no more than seven F-14s airborne at any one time. Iran claims to have fitted F-14s with I-Hawk missiles adapted to the air-to-air role.

Seven F-14s! One wishes not to be cavalier about the threats allies face, but the IAF has this one well in hand. Let's not bother talking about ground forces. Or training. Or weaponry. Or command structure. Or battle experience. Let's say that Richard is correct that Rafsanjani was talking about blunting Israel's nuclear arsenal in order to even the playing field for a conventional war. If so, Tel Aviv should be popping fucking champagne bottles to celebrate the national suicide of Iran. More likely, Rafsanjani wasn't making this point, but rather making a point about deterrence while sounding bellicose notes on a national holiday filled with ugly -- but rather typical -- patriotic gore.

No. 066-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2007
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DoD Identifies Navy Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer A. Valdivia, 27, of Cambridge, Ill., was discovered deceased on Jan. 16, 2007, in Bahrain. Valdivia was assigned to the naval security force for Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.

Valdivia's death was a non-combat related incident in Bahrain, which is located within the designated hostile fire zone. Valdivia's death is under investigation.

For further information related to this release the media can contact commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs Office at 011-973-1785-4027 or pao@me.navy.mil.

No. DoD Identi IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2007
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The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. William J. Rechenmacher, 24, of Jacksonville, Fla., died Jan. 18 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations.

Spc. Rechenmacher was assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

For further information related to this release, contact the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office, (254) 287-9993.

No. 062-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Jason J. Corbett, 23, of Casper, Wyo., died Jan. 15 of injuries sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations in Karmah, Iraq.

Spc. Corbett was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

For further information related to this release, contact the Fort Richardson Public Affairs Office at (907) 384-1542.
ix

Oh, Jon. Today, on partisan acrimony:

Oh, now you want a cease-fire? How convenient. A cease-fire, of course, is not the same thing as peace. Peace is a long-term accommodation. A cease-fire is a tactical move, usually called for by the losing side in a conflict so it can regather its forces and resume the offensive when the time is right.

Jon, of course, sees through the ruse. And yet... last week... on, um, a different issue:

What's even sillier is judging someone's foreign policy insight solely based on his or her stance on the last war. Over-learning the lessons of the last war is a classic foreign policy blunder. Yet many liberals want to make the lessons of the Iraq debacle the central basis of American foreign policy.

A cynical dove might say, oh, now you want a cease-fire? How convenient.

Huh?

Arkan al-Mujamai, 28, a day laborer who lives near the crash site, said in a telephone interview that the helicopter was shot down by a group of Sunni Muslim insurgents, one of whom is his uncle.

Didn't the Post just guarantee that its source is going to an interrogation room?

To the motherfucker who stole Kriston's iPod: as the man once said, bub, you just signed your own death warrant. Huge, huge mistake. This ain't rapping. This is street hop.

Last night's flophouse party was the worst yet, which was unfortunate, given that we were celebrating birthdays for Catherine, Kriston & Becks. However, a larger proportion of right-wingers than usual, and in the near future you may hear about an interesting collaboration with some of them.

No one is entirely sure where al-Zawra -- the hardline Sunni/insurgent-supporting/anti-Shiite television network started by a corrupt Sunni ex-parliamentarian -- broadcasts from, but according to the New York Times, "Kurdish officials denied reports that the station was operating out of a Christian neighborhood in Erbil." I love that neighborhood; it's probably the funnest place in quasi-Iraq and hence Iraq. At the Happy Times pizzaria (don't order the pizza) you can watch 50 Cent and Daddy Yankee videos on a 70-inch projection screen, and the proprietors look the other way when you pour your liquor into their glasses. Nearby is the USAID compound, and the Kurdistan Development Corporation offices -- run by an American-gone-native named Doug Layton -- and, perhaps, the HQ of a station that describes its mission as "represent(ing) all factions of resistance against the Iranian and American occupation."

It's not escalation. It's not even a surge. It's not Bush's war. This is the Dawning of the Age of Petraeus. (Yes, it would help if "Petraeus" had another syllable. But bear with me.)

The Weekly Standard has nowhere to go with the Iraq war. In Kristol and Fred Kagan's editorial this week, their big knock-out punch to the Democrats is that they might believe the Iraq war is... lost. Well, guess what.

So what's left? One option is to cloak themselves in a hero -- namely, General David Petraeus. In that editorial, K & FK hug Petraeus closely: "There is one man who should be recommending the size of American forces in Iraq, and that is the incoming commander, General Petraeus." (Somewhat ironic, given that they've been opining on troop levels for four years, but hey.) In the same issue, Tom Donnelly ejaculates all over the general, without revealing anything in particular about Petraeus.

It's not hard to see what's at work here. Petraeus is an American hero, as his nomination hearing next week will prove. There's nothing to gain by keeping a failed president as the public face of the war. As a result, those implicated in the war, like the Standard, have everything to gain by becoming Petraeus's best friends and closest allies. When he fails, they will say that, like Creighton Abrams, alas, Petraeus's predecessors had fucked things up in such a way that even a hero like Petraeus could not unfuck them. It's a line that will have the virtue of being true. And if Petraeus ever desires to um, enter politics, perhaps he'll remember who his closest allies back home were.

Richard Just insists he's not sold on a war with Iran by either Israel or the United States; he just wants to hector Brad for being insufficiently hysterical. He adds:

I will say this: If I were Israeli, I would be terrified of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. As an American Jew, I am terrified on Israel's behalf.

Richard's post is instructive for any number of reasons. For one thing, it shows how the proponents of war can easily set the terms of debate. Over the last few years, the IAEA has uncovered a great deal of information about the Iranian nuclear program, a fact acknowledged by left and right alike. As a result, the intelligence community doubled its estimate of the time it would take Iran to get a nuclear weapon -- from five years to ten. Should we take this as gospel? Of course not. But it's significant that the more we've learned about the Iranian nuclear program, the less capable the Iranians appear to actually produce a nuclear weapon. (This should hardly be surprising, given that the Iranians have flirted with nuclear production since the days of the Shah. Not that it's done them much good.)

And yet Richard believes we should be "terrified" of a threat that looks more remote upon closer inspection. In all likelihood, that's because Bush has yelled into his ear for years that Iran's nuclear progress is unacceptable, despite that progress not actually amounting to much, well, progress. The administration has stoked hysteria -- the events of the last week and a half demonstrate that it believes its own hysteria, and miscalculates accordingly -- and otherwise sensible people are reacting with credulity. Once again, Lucy's setting up the kick. If seeing through the gambit amounts to being cavalier, better to be cavalier.

One quick thing. I'm an American Jew. And I'm not really terrified on Israel's behalf. That, of course, doesn't mean I want to see Israel get nuked. It's because Israel has a massive nuclear arsenal and the most powerful military in the region by leaps and bounds; and it's also got a military doctrine that's big on preventive war. The most likely situation under which Iran uses its meager nuclear weapon in a decade or so against Israel is a situation in which Israel has already launched attacks on Iran. And that's a scenario that apparently Michael Orin and Yossi Klein Halevi are contemplating for a forthcoming issue of TNR. Such hysteria Israel doesn't need.

It's parochial, but I felt an acute sense of loss about Joseph D. Alomar's death in Iraq. Alomar was a Brooklynite and only four years younger than I am. Unlikely as it is, the first thought that popped into my mind was that we might have known each other. Maybe we passed each other by in Kings' Plaza, or at Beat Street, or at the Brooklyn College recreation center, or at the Junction, or on the 44 or the D (or, as you philistines call it, the "Q") train. More likely, we never knew one another and we never would have. Neither Nexis nor Google even record his life, let alone his death. I feel nauseous. To be honest, I felt nauseous already, but the cavalier way Joseph Alomar's death has been treated as the non-end of a non-person is inflaming my stomach. He died for a lie, but I'm sure he gave it meaning, and a relentless, true heart. And now George Bush wants more time for more of his comrades to die for nothing.

No. 061-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

DoD Identifies Navy Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph D. Alomar, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died in a non-combat related incident Jan. 17, 2007, at Camp Bucca, Iraq, where he was assigned to the Navy Provisional Detention Battalion.

Alomar's death was not the result of hostile action, but occurred in a hostile fire zone. Alomar's death is under investigation.

For further information related to this release the media can contact Multi National Forces Iraq Combined Press Information Center at (703) 270-0279/0299.

Spc. Collin R. Schockmel, 19, of Richwood, Texas, died Jan. 16 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using grenades during security and observation operations. Schockmel was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

For further information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-1264 or after hours at (719) 526-5500.

So why did Marty take the unusual step of teasing Michael Orin and Yossi Klein Halevi's forthcoming Iran piece on his blog? According to TNR office scuttlebutt, the piece is causing shpilkis about being yet another hysterical, warmongering embarrassment to the magazine. Right now it's just a rough draft, but insiders fear it could still emerge in print as something pernicious -- hence Marty's preemptive guarantee of publication. Developing...

Just in case you thought you were only being lied to by American generals, here's Lt. General Graeme Lamb, the Scotsman who represents the UK in MNF-I, today at a press conference:

Who am I? Graeme Lamb. I'm a Scotsman.I spend my entire adult life doing this stuff, 25 -- no, 35 years now; know nothing else, really.I have a youthful spirit, a sense of humor.I still believe in duty, service and sacrifice.May be a bit old-fashioned."Go as a pilgrim and seek out danger, far from the comforts and the well-lit avenues of life" type stuff.I still believe in heroes.

Hooray! Heroes! But here's Pam "Longshanks" Hess:

Q Sir, this is Pam Hess with United Press International.I think we all appreciate your optimism, but many people watching this will have a hard time squaring your optimism and your statements that there's been progress on the ground with what we see, and not necessarily just from the news but the U.N. report, 34,000 Iraqis dead this year; the Pentagon reports of just spiraling sectarian violence. Can you square up for us where your optimism comes from more specifically and how we balance that against what we have to take to be fairly objective reports?

GEN. LAMB:Yeah, it's just the way I see it.

Now, I could take it as the glass half full or the glass half empty.

Coood ye, now? He also has a funny and approving reference to the "American crisis" of 1776, which you wouldn't expect a subject of the Queen to make.

Back in the summer, during the Israeli war on Lebanon, I noticed that TNR ran a Leon-penned editorial that asked, "Will the West finally get ruthlessly serious about Iran?" Stunned, I went into the office of a colleague at TNR and said that the magazine was laying the editorial groundwork for endorsing a future military action against Iran. This colleague, whose judgment I continue to respect, called me a paranoiac and told me not to bother him the next time I wanted to grasp at straws for my conspiracy theories. It was disappointing, but I agreed.

Via Matt, I see that it took about six months. Marty promises that in the next issue or so, "we are running an article by Oren and Yossi Klein Halevi on Iran's nuclear capacity, and what should be done about it." Neither Oren nor Yossi have any particular expertise on nuclear weapons. They do have a history of urging wars on Israel and the United States, and of conflating the national interests of the two countries. Frank, I know I'm not your favorite person, but for God's sake, ask yourself: Is this is a responsible thing to run? Have you already begun writing the apology, slated to run in 2011, for endorsing the Iran War?

No. 058-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2007
Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Gregroy A. Wright, 28, of Boston, died Jan. 13 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.Wright was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

For further information in regard to this relelase the media can contact the Fort Riley public affairs office at (785) 239-3410.

Look at the last ten days in the life of U.S.-Iran relations.

On Wednesday last, Bush says on television that "Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. ... And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq." He adds that he has authorized a second aircraft carrier strike group to enter the region, meaning that U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf have matched their high-point in 2003, during the invasion of Iraq. Within hours, the U.S. raids an Iranian quasi-consulate in the placid city of Irbil -- much to the horror of the Iraqi foreign minister and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (of warlords) -- and takes six hostages.

On Thursday last, General Pace testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the need to disrupt Iranian activities inside Iraq. (Interestingly, Pace said in March that no such evidence of malignant influence inside Iran existed. Such converts' zeal has also overtaken CIA Director Mike Hayden.) That same day, Condi Rice gets lit up at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She says that "I don't want to speculate on what operations the United States may be engaged in, but you will see that the United States is not going to simply stand idly by and let these (malevolent Iran) activities (inside Iraq) continue." Meeting furious resistance from Senators Biden and Hagel, she tells the New York Times for its Saturday edition -- in short, just before her trip to the Middle East -- that Bush authorized, months ago, military operations against Iran within Iraq. The Irbil raid, in other words, was part of a broader strategy.

In today's edition of U.S. News and World Report, there's more on that strategy. MNF-I has created Special Operations Task Force 16 -- a/k/a the Iran Hunters. (OK, not really a/k/a.) If other spec-ops task forces in Iraq or Afghanistan are any model, it will go anywhere in Iraq and take down anyone Iranian, and it may not play by Marquis of Queensbury rules. This is the strategy: escalation in Iraq, and serious escalation east of Iraq.

On Friday last, Tony Snow tried to shoot down an "urban legend" at his press briefing:

I want to address kind of a rumor, an urban legend that's going around -- and it comes from language in the President's Wednesday night address to the nation, that in talking about Iran and Syria, that he was trying to prepare the way for war with either country and that there are war preparations underway: There are not.

Right, why would anyone think that we're about to attack Iran? Snow's formulation echoes Ari Fleischer's infamous "there are no war plans on his desk" statements months before the long-ago-decided 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Whether or not Snow is telling the truth is important, of course, but it's not the only consideration. The escalation over the past 10 days does not need to be designed to bring out a war in order to produce a war. Iran has recourse to escalate as well, by increasing arms and other resources to its proxies in Iraq to attack U.S. forces. To put it differently, Bush is likely stumbling into a war, rather than declaring one. Iran knows Iraq much better than we do. Iran has more allies, and closer ones, in Iraq than we do. (Some of them, like Ahmed Chalabi, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Massoud Barzani and Nouri al-Maliki, are our "allies.")

In short, Iran can make a choice: perhaps, if the U.S. wants to go down this road, it makes more sense from an Iranian perspective to keep the U.S. in Iraq and bleeding there than it does to push the U.S. out. Iran can remain publicly committed to the end of the occupation, but if the U.S. opts to treat Iran like an enemy, it can easily resort to the most successful tactics of U.S. enemies -- asymmetric warfare, designed to exasperate and exhaust U.S. forces. No matter what, the U.S. couldn't invade Iran, goes the thinking, as long as its troops hold Iraq, so it makes sense to confront a bellicose America while it's tied down in Iraq, where Iranian assets are large and deep and U.S. familiarity and competence is comparatively minute.

Think long and hard about whether you want this to happen.