Quote of the Day: Charlie Hebdo

Time to repeat this fundamental point:

... it is vitally important to resist the impulse–so common among “responsible” institutions, whether foreign ministries or large newspapers–at a time like this to somehow imply that the victims brought their fate upon themselves and that the best line of defense against such attacks is to practice greater self-restraint in the future. ... That is giving the terrorists precisely what they want, indeed the very reason they carry out such attacks is to deter others from similar mockery in the future.

The right to offend is the very essence of free speech–and as long as a publication doesn’t incite violence (which neither Charlie Hebdo nor The Interview did) its right to say whatever it likes must be defended to the last inch.  That is, after all, the very bedrock of freedom upon which Western democracies rest–and the very opposite of the kind of totalitarian state that Islamists have created in Iran and a large chunk of Syria/Iraq.

Meet Bretagne the 9/11 Search Dog

I didn't read this until today, but now I think I have something in my eye.

Oh, Snap

Zing!

The Middle East Friendship Chart

Obviously it's reductive and imperfect (where is Jordan?  I didn't see Lebanon either), but this chart is an interesting attempt to begin to think about the complexity of relationships in the Middle East.  I kind of want to add "Frenemies" as another relationship option and "Kurds/Kurdistan" as another player.  Note, though, how ISIS is pretty much hated by everybody.

Quote of the Day: Nation-Building In Iraq

Yes. THIS:

"The problem in Iraq isn't that we tried to impose democracy by the point of the figurative bayonet, but that we stopped trying to do that too soon."

I'm a historian.  One major problem is that too many people trying to say/do things about Iraq don't know much (anything?) about history, let alone much (anything?) about playing the long game.  I find it absolutely incredible that anybody can seriously think we can just leave after a mere decade and think it's all going to be OK.  That's barely any time at all in the historical perspective.  (Remember Germany?  Japan?)  But hey, who cares about this stuff when your main concern is political optics at home?

Quote of the Weekend on Iraq

From the Wall Street Journal's blistering editorial:

The possibility that a long civil war in Syria would become an incubator for terrorism and destabilize the region was predictable, and we predicted it. "Now the jihadists have descended by the thousands on Syria," we noted last May. "They are also moving men and weapons to and from Iraq, which is increasingly sinking back into Sunni-Shiite civil war. . . . If Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki feels threatened by al Qaeda and a Sunni rebellion, he will increasingly look to Iran to help him stay in power." 

We don't quote ourselves to boast of prescience but to wonder why the Administration did nothing to avert the clearly looming disaster. 

Nerd News: Terrorists Attack Dorm in Nigeria

HORRIBLE.  Some 50 college students were murdered and classroom set on fire.  

Quote of the Week: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Addresses His Nation

Indeed:

The despicable perpetrators of this cowardly act hoped to intimidate, divide and cause despondency among Kenyans. They would like us to retreat into a closed, fearful and fractured society where trust, unity and enterprise are difficult to muster.  An open and united country is a threat to evil doers everywhere.  With our values of solidarity and love for our homeland, we fought proudly and bravely to secure the freedom to lead our lives as we choose.  Our choice is codified in our Constitution. 

We have overcome terrorist attacks before. In fact, we have fought courageously and defeated them within and outside our borders. We will defeat them again. Terrorism in and of itself is the philosophy of cowards. 

The way we lead our lives; in freedom, openness, unity and consideration for each other represents our victory over all those who wish us ill.  We are as brave and invincible as the lions on our Coat of Arms. 

My Government stands ready to defend the nation from internal as well as external aggression.  I urge all Kenyans to stand together and see this dark moment through. Donate blood.  Provide information to the authorities.  Comfort and reassure the affected families.  Let us ashame [sic] the Devil and his works by demonstrating our timeless values of love, compassion and solidarity. 

…We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to. We shall get them. We shall punish them for this heinous crime.

Kenya Police on Twitter

I forgot to post this earlier since life intervened, but here's the Kenya Police's official Twitter feed.  They've been live-tweeting their efforts at Westgate mall.  It's been riveting, and I'll just give one of their many tweets from the aftermath:

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. #WithOneAccord. Thank you for your support.
— Kenya Police (@PoliceKE) September 24, 2013

Sci Fi Novelist Sarah Hoyt on 9/11

Read her blog post!

Tweet of the Day: Buzz Aldrin Remembers 9/11

Today on 9/11 we remember and honor those who so tragically lost their lives. We will never forget. Both 2001 & Benghazi 2012
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) September 11, 2013

Meanwhile In Egypt

The Egyptian air force has reportedly hit jihadists in Sinai.  Just a reminder that there's a lot more going over in the Middle East than Syria and Obama's incompetent international psychodrama that has monopolized the media of late.

Boo Freaking Hoo: Terrorist Groups Have HR Problems

Apparently the managers find that their employees are insubordinate, unstable, violent loose cannons who don't respond well to authority. YA THINK?

Then I read a WaPo sob story about how the Muslim Brotherhood is falling apart in Egypt and whining that now everybody hates them.  Awwwww.  Well, I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to feel much sympathy for people who loot museums, burn churches, and so forth.

In Vino Veritas ... and Explosive Devices

Via Dignified Rant, "wine militants" versus the Socialist Party in Carcassone, France. 

A Movie To Look For: "The Attack"

Take a look at Ziad Douieri's film adaptation of a novel by Yasmina Khadra. It's been controversial, which means it's worth seeking out to see for yourself:

Sometimes the screenplay for “The Attack” (written by Doueiri and his partner, Joëlle Touma) hits the emotions a little too squarely on the nose, but this doleful and nuanced Middle Eastern tragedy is unlike any other recent film from the region in various ways. Doueiri has said that leaders of Hezbollah, Lebanon’s de facto governing power, privately promised not to interfere with his film – but that was before he made it. In depicting Israel as a complicated and conflicted modern society rather than a demonic, monolithic imperialist power, Doueiri should have known he was entering a no-go zone for Arab cinema (which either ignores the existence of Israel altogether or indulges in the worst kind of anti-Jewish stereotypes). 

It isn’t even ironic that “The Attack” won the best-film award at the Marrakech International Film Festival, the Arab world’s leading showcase, and has now been banned in Lebanon and all other nations of the Arab League. That’s exactly how these things work. Producers from Egypt and Qatar have even removed their credits from the film, so that it now appears to be a European-Israeli co-production. But all these marks of disapproval, as Doueiri surely knows, will only heighten the appeal of “The Attack” to younger Arabs hungry to break free of ideological certainty and listen to new alternatives. In its own way, “The Attack” is a crucial step forward: It’s time for the artists of the Middle East to engage in real dialogue, since the politicians can’t or won’t.

Steyn on Politically Correct Big Brother

"The bozo leviathan sees everything ... and nothing." *Sigh.*   It also doesn't help that all this takes place in the middle of Scandal-a-palooza's apparently endless shenanigans.

Quote of the Day: On the NSA Snooping Scandal

Indeed:

President Obama is now caught in a trap of his own making. By downplaying the threat and trying to create an atmosphere of peace and normality in the country, he has delegitimated the measures he believes that our safety requires. Having tried and failed to keep these secrets dark and hidden, he must now try to explain what many Americans will find inexplicable. If the terrorists are really on the run, and we can finally go back to a 9/10 state of mind, why are you assembling and wielding the most powerful and intrusive systems of surveillance ever conceived?

Satire Alert: May Madness Scandal-a-Palooza Brackets

March Madness is (sadly) finished, but a wag at Ricochet has something new for us to play with!  Click to enlarge so you can see all the chicanery, hubris, and moral laxity:

"I am not a crook."

Caveat: This is a joke.  I do NOT support irresponsible talk about actual impeachment efforts, because - let's face it - they're doomed to fail and will only backfire. 

Mark Steyn on the Benghazi Debacle

Pretty much what I want to say, only with far more flair. A bon mot: 

"The government dispatched more firepower to arrest Nakoula Basseley Nakoula in Los Angeles than it did to protect its mission in Benghazi."

Quote of the Day: Benghazi and the Big Picture

A reminder that Benghazi occurred in the context of major lapses in foreign policy:

We are interested in seeing some political accountability for what increasingly looks like a deliberate attempt to mislead the American people on a matter of national security for the sake of political gain, but we care even more about a serious national discussion about our Middle East strategy.