4 ways to fire a frenchperson

Something we were discussing at Third Place last night. ( Read more... )

quote of the day

Iran has benefited enormously from America's military intervention in Iraq and continues to do so. The Shiite fundamentalist parties that America helped bring to power in Baghdad are deeply indebted to Iran for the years of sanctuary, training and aid they received there during Mr. Hussein's dictatorship. Now those parties are well positioned to repay those debts, while America, with much of its military tied down and its multilateral credibility in tatters, is poorly positioned to thwart Iran's advancing drive to arm itself with nuclear weapons.

It was never any secret that Mr. Hussein was Iran's most feared enemy. Nor was it any secret that Iraq's two main Shiite parties — the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party — were Iranian-sponsored. The only mystery is why Washington never bothered to put two and two together and figure out before the war how to keep Iran from becoming the biggest beneficiary of American intervention.

- from The New York Times column "Talking Points: 25 Key Questions on Iraq". The Talking Points columns are one of the reasons I subscribe to the premium service. They're not only in-depth but they include loads of links to more information. I have NOT included all the links below, just the ones from the sidebar. ( Read more... )