Shut Up and Think

Steve Reynolds, friend of the Pit, sent me today’s NY Times op-ed by Bob Herbert, and it just set me off on some things I’ve been meaning to say lately. So I said them. Have a look at the op-ed first, though. Sorry folks, but this little editorial just caught me wrong. The ultimate irony [...]

How Many US Soldiers Has Rumsfeld Killed?

A couple interesting links forwarded to me by a co-worker: “The Battle Between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon” “What Was Rumsfeld Thinking?” The first is a good analysis of the planning leading up to the war, while the second speculates on why Rumsfeld has been so insistent on a policy that stretches US forces so [...]

Slaughter at the Bridge of Death

A roundtable between Paul Barrow, Jay DeFrank and myself . It began last night when Aaron Butler sent me Mark Franchetti’s recent piece for the London Times, “Slaughter at the Bridge of Death: US Marines Fire on Civilians.” Brutal, ugly, horrific – this was war at its most disturbing. So I sent the URL around [...]

Can Iraq Win This War? An Unlikely Scenario

Some friends – specifically Greg and Lair, the Brothers Stene – have recently been pondering how, exactly, we’re going to win this war – and by “win” we’re talking about terms of resolution, not merely body count or square miles under technical control. Superior firepower notwithstanding, there comes a time when this turns into a [...]

Black Gold, Texas Tea

This little exchange occurred via e-mail. Recorded here for posterity. Lair Stene: Please give me a reality check: Somewhere between the cynical (we’re invading at the direction of a president who came to power in a coup, supported by an Administration made up of Texans, who want their own private Texas-sized oil well in the [...]

War and the Press

A roundtable between Jay DeFrank, Greg Stene, Denny Wilkins and myself. It begins with Matt Taibbi’s column in New York Press.com this morning: “Cleaning the Pool: The White House Press Corps politely grabs its ankles.” You really need to read this first. So Dr. Denny Wilkins, our friend and colleague at St. Bonaventure University (no [...]

We’re Off to War, But Who Will Lead Us?

Time for a quiz. Q1: You’re charged with murder. Who would rather have defending you? A: The best lawyer in town, the guy who graduated top of his class, nailed the bar exam first try, and can’t remember the last time he lost a case. B: The guy who partied all the time, was just [...]

The Realpolitik of War

Sometimes the important stuff goes down via e-mail. Greg Stene and I have been having a pretty good back forth over the pending war, and what you have below is one of the e-mail exchanges. I apologize that things are picking up in medias res, but you can sort of infer what has been said [...]