Tuesday Articles

AP: Terrorists Hiding in Iran, Evidence Suggests (2005)

The Long Yomp to Stanley - This is an article discussing the wealth of literature about the Falklands War on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of that conflict.

Wired: CIA Sat on Alleged Drone Hit on bin Laden's Kid - Apparently the American government has been screwing with al Qaeda by not bothering to release news of the death of Saad bin Laden. Huh?

BBC: Mauritania election chief quits

Guardian: Russia: Georgia can't rebuild military; US may rearm Georgia, despite Moscow's opposition (AFP)

Guardian: Even without Hamid Karzai, the first presidential debate was a historic moment in the democratisation of Afghanistan - Debates are good. They're a big part of what's been going on in Iran for the last month or so.

Guardian: South Africa to build three nuclear power stations - South Africa can do it, and we can help the UAE and various other Middle Eastern countries to do it, but we can't do it ourselves? Dirty hippies...

Guardian: The Truth About Arab Science - "Can we look forward to a boom in Arab science or will poverty, bureaucracy and religion be insurmountable obstacles?" Ouch.

Times: "Americans still like their President enormously, but they are suddenly worried sick about what "change" actually means - and how much it is costing" - This guy needs to check the polls. Americans no longer like President Obama enormously.

Times: Researchers clone mouse from skin cells - I don't understand the obsession with federal funding for embryonic stem cell research when there's very little promise in embryonic stem cell research, and a great deal of promise in adult stem cell research (which doesn't threaten the unborn).

Times: Clinton trades insults with North Korea

Times: Ex-SAS officer attacks Afghanistan 'lies' - FOr those of you who haven't been paying attention, there's a big storm raging in Britain over the level of support that Downing Street has afforded to British troops serving in Afghanistan. It's just one more factor that will probably unseat Gordon Brown in the next election.

AFP: Russian Missile Designer Quits After Test Failures

AFP: Mongolia to Send Troops to Afghanistan - Brilliant! Ever since I read Imperial Grunts by Robert Kaplan, I've been quite impressed with Mongolia - so much so, that I don't call it "Mongoria" and make fun of it in the same way that I would North Korea, which is filled with many ronery, ronery people.

UPI: United States Leads Small Arms Sales - America leads the world in the import of small arms - the way God intended it.

Iran 'abolishes' piracy off Somalia (Iran Press TV, Fars News) - If you say so, Iran. Wankers...

AP: Sources: U.S. Man Was 'Gold Mine' of Terror Intel

Homicide Bomber Kills 5 in Chechnya (AP, BBC)

CNN: Piracy upswing expected off Somalia

CNN: Britain hails 'success' of anti-Taliban push

BBC: Afghanistan 'agrees Taliban deal' - Pakistan has tried this before, and it has never worked. The Taliban always back out and start blowing stuff up.

BBC: Baloch separatists attack traders

BBC: Five ancient Roman shipwrecks offer unusually complete remains

BBC: UK urges change in Afghan strategy

Guardian: Lessons that can be learned from talking to the IRA - The bottom line is that the only lesson that can be learned from British work with the IRA is that the Taliban is not the IRA. The IRA never threw acid in the faces of girls, the IRA never buried women up to their heads and stoned them - the contrasts are manifold. The Brits can't seem to get over this idea that the IRA is a nefarious terrorist organization. Compared with the Taliban, the IRA were and are small beans, and reasonably civilized. If the Brits keep trying to use anti-IRA tactics to fight the Taliban, then the war is lost.

Times: Esperanto speakers get physical — and political - The article claims that Esperanto is poised to eclipse English as the international language because a few Iranians and Chinese use it to get around government censors. One could probably say the same about Klingon and Swedish, and they'd be equally wrong.

Wired Danger Room: US Weighs Private Army to Protect Afghan Bases

AFP: Russia Begins Construction of New Nuclear Sub

AFP: US Wants Greater Military Cooperation with Libya: Feltman

AFP: Return of Prodigal US Pleases Asia - Apparently Asians are happy to have an American counterweight to China.

AFP: Swiss Army Knife Morphs with Age - This is a really interesting and light article about the history and recent developments of one of the core symbols of our time, the Swiss Army Knife. Everyone should enjoy this article.

UPI: US Faces Logistics Nightmare in Iraq