Hold Fast

Just in time for tomorrow’s presidential election in Afghanistan, Brian Conley and friends have launched Alive in Afghanistan, a site that allows distributed reporting of incidents in the political process such as problems voting, illegal campaigning, vote tampering, and threats of violence. They collect data via SMS, email, and the web.
It’s a great project […]

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On Obama and Iran:
Asked about the Iranian elections, Obama said “it is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran’s leaders will be”. Yes, they just did that very thing, Barack. It’s what happened after that that’s the problem.
Yep, that’s the problem in a nutshell.

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Whatever It Is, I’m Against It writes:
I’m not sure if all this talk about the relationship between the US and Islam treats Islam as a nation or the US as a religion.
Heh, indeedy.

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Photo from Times UK
A friend who used to be in the military sent me this photo of cluster munitions, fired by Israel, into urban Gaza. They’re using DPICMs, which are the artillery version of cluster bombs. In a densely populated urban area, Israel is using weapons that are incapable of distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants.
I’ve […]

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Matthew Alexander, a former Air Force interrogator who worked in Afghanistan and Iraq questioning Al Qaeda suspects, has a powerful op-ed in the LA Times. Alexander makes a convincing argument that torture does not work and must be ended. Alexander writes:
Good interrogation is not an exercise in domination or control. It’s an opportunity for negotiation […]

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Yesterday’s news was filled with resignations. I don’t have a tremendous amount to say on either Spitzer or Fallon, other than that it strikes me as the person who has a major say on whether or not the US goes to war with Iran during the Bush administration ought to be treated as far more […]

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Senator Dodd issued the following statement on Fidel Castro’s decision to step aside:

“The United States’ embargo on Cuba is one of the most backward and ineffective foreign policies in history. Today, America has an opportunity to finally turn a new page. We must begin the process of opening up diplomatic and commercial relations with Havana, […]

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