Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | yesterday
by Eric Martin Steve Clemons tries to suss out the price tag associated with escalation/continuation in the rudderless conflict in Afghanistan: The White House is suggesting the price tag will be...$1 million per new soldier per year. And can I...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
by Eric Martin Although it won't pass, unfortunately, this is the right idea: Senior House Democrats have introduced legislation that would impose a surtax beginning in 2011 to cover the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [...] “For...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
by Eric Martin Steven Simon, whose work I admire greatly, discusses the negative reaction to the decision to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in a civilian court. After summarily dispensing with the more inane critiques of Obama's decision, Simon takes on...
Aaronovitch Watch (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
There's a good (and long) post on Obsidian Wings by Eric Martin: This Constitution Kills Fascists, which, in turn, links to a good (and long) article by Johann Hari Renouncing Islam.But once they had made that leap to identify with the Umma – the global Muslim community – they got angrier the more abusive our foreign policy came. Every one of them said the Bush administration's response...
Boardgame News (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
By W. Eric Martin November 19, 2009 Designer: Uwe Rosenberg Publisher: Hall Games Players: 1-4 Ages: 10+ Playing Time: 60-120 minutes Rules Language: English / German Links: Version played: Purchased copy Times played: Five, once solo, twice with 2 and twice with 4 So I’m in round eight of At the Gates of Loyang , just after taking cards in the first pass through the card phase. The other three...
Newshoggers (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
by Eric Martin Johann Hari has a fascinating piece in The Independentthat recounts his interviews with several British nationals that have made the journey from active participantsin jihadi/terrorist causes and back. Hari's quest to find out how and why certain people join terrorist groups, or espouse and propagate radical Islamist ideology, had been frustrated by the reticence and dissembling of...
The Agonist (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
In charting how far afield (or a'sea) that Somali pirates are venturing into the Indian Ocean, Gadahn at maritime blog Information Dissemination also points out. . . With Army Generals in Afghanistan now pointing out that Al Qaeda has almost entirely shifted out of Afghanistan to Pakistan and Somalia, Somalia should be treated as an emerging asylum for the global jihad with intent to attack the United...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
by Eric Martin Colonel Gian Gentile, the alternative to the epidemic of irrational exuberance invested in the ability of counterinsurgency doctrine (COIN) to solve any insoluble military/political conundrum, offers yet another reality check: History shows that occupation by foreign armies...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
by Eric Martin Nir Rosen has a fascinating piece on recent events in Iraq in the Boston Review. This portion is about as concise and accurate a recounting of the evolution of the conflict as I've come across: Since the...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
by Eric Martin The news emanating from the White House is that President Obama is unsatisfied with the various proposals for Afghanistan policy recently submitted by his review team (each of which called for a substantial increase in the number...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
by Eric Martin I think what we need to do is pass a lawtargeting the entire ACORN organization because some low-level ACORN employees were caught in a video entrapment sting engaging in unethical and, possibly in some instances, illegal behavior...
Boardgame News (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
I’ve played a few games that debuted at Spiel in late October 2009 at least twice, so I thought I’d offer early impressions, with more detailed reviews to follow once I’ve played them a sufficient number of times. Here goes: • Tobago – Bruce Allen has created a fun deduction-style game that contains no deduction. On an island with different types of terrain and landmarks,...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
by Eric Martin Back in 2006, a wise man said this: It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. And yet, three years...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
by Eric Martin In an effort to cobble together a plausible number of boots on the ground to match thegrandiose mish-mosh strategy of multi-decade counterinsurgency, counterterrorism and nation building in Afghanistan, US forces are, again, relying on the ability to...
Obsidian Wings (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
by Eric Martin By popular request, an open thread. Possible topics of conversation: Election results in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York - as well as ballot measures in Maine. Or: whatever suits your fancy. Rock on.
Videos