In my readings about Benazir Bhutto, I came across a telling detail about the first (and failed) attempt to kill her on her return to Pakistan. The bomb involved was a baby: A man approached her armored truck, Mrs. Bhutto … Continue reading →
Commenter bunkerbuster speculated recently about the possible aftermath of a US troop withdrawal in Iraq: How many people would die in such a withdrawal? There is indeed a risk that fighting could escalate, though predictions of mass killing of the … Continue reading →
For quite a while now the liberal/Left position vis-a-vis 9/11 has been that those on the Right are a bunch of namby-pamby fraidy cats, motivated by an unwarranted and pathological fear of terrorists. Or, alternatively, that the Right is not … Continue reading →
There’s no dearth of conspiracy theories to explain the audacious attack on Bhutto’s convoy, and Bhutto herself has hinted that the government may have been involved. Has she just been watching too many Oliver Stone movies? No. The sad fact … Continue reading →
[My 9/11 story can be found here.] It’s been six years since 9/11. Too long for it to remain fresh in our minds, but too soon to know how the aftermath will ultimately go. We are still engaged in what … Continue reading →
One aspect of the traditional idea of American Exceptionalism included the notion that its geography kept the US safe from foreign invasion. This was historically true for the most part. Pearl Harbor was the singular exception, as far as I … Continue reading →
I recently read two diametrically opposed pieces about the dangerousness—or lack thereof—of the recent terrorist bombing attempts in Britain. The first, by Steve Schippert at National Review Online, criticizes the reasoning of those who would buy into what I’ve called … Continue reading →
Police speculate that three recent car bomb incidents in Britain are related. Perhaps al Qaeda is part of the picture, perhaps not. But all three car bombs had a similar modus operandi to one another, and the outcomes of all … Continue reading →
Over two years ago I wrote a post about Mohammed Atta’s eyes. In it, I quoted an airline employee who waited on Mohammed Atta early on the morning of 9/11, and described him thusly: It was just the look on … Continue reading →
Disagreements on how to deal with suspected or actual terrorists who are in our custody rest on some basic assumptions, legal and otherwise. The first of these is whether or not we are at war or the equivalent of war, … Continue reading →
Al Qaeda is a secret organization. It doesn’t publish statistics on how many members it has, and if it did we wouldn’t believe them anyway, because for al Qaeda propaganda trumps veracity every time. And yet lack of specific knowledge … Continue reading →
Today a suicide bomber in the Iraqi Parliament managed to kill eight people, and preliminary reports have it that the bomber was a security guard. Whether or not the report of the bomber’s identity turns out to be true, the … Continue reading →