en-us http://www.intensedebate.com/users/551474 Comments by Quillen http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/10/12/lara-logan-casts-her-spell-for-war/#IDComment38560515 Gonzo, you clearly don't know much about Kelley Vlahos - she has produced a number of groundbreaking stories on the treatment of our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan that required hard and innovative work on her part. Logan is a reporter, not a journalist, and she shouldn't be acting as if she actually knows what's going on when, in reality, she is being fed "points of view" by the usual neocon/milindustrialcomplex flacks who promote her career and that of her husband. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:55:54 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/10/12/lara-logan-casts-her-spell-for-war/#IDComment38560515 http://news.antiwar.com/2009/10/09/bizarro-peace-prize-awarded-to-obama/#IDComment38025166 Maybe they just want to encourage good behavior after the awful behavior of the past eight years, but if that is so they are likely to be disappointed. What bothers me is that the White House has never solicited any advice from anyone who has opposed the whole misguided imperial agenda. It's all the same hacks all the time recommending more of the same. McChrystal's AfPak plan is little more than a neocon fantasy. Obama must see through it all but I assume he thinks it is easier to go with the flow... Fri, 9 Oct 2009 20:24:52 +0000 http://news.antiwar.com/2009/10/09/bizarro-peace-prize-awarded-to-obama/#IDComment38025166 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/10/05/mcchrystals-ultimatum/#IDComment37538005 Jeff's metaphor "We’re as likely to turn Afghanistan into a real country as we are to make a herd of cats march in a straight line" was priceless. I have noted that American policymakers have a fundamental difficulty in dealing with reality on the ground regarding the places we invade. They ain't exactly like us and they sure as hell won't do what we tell them to do. Every neocon and politician believes that those funny furriners are just like Americans if they can only be nudged in the right direction. Wrong. Tue, 6 Oct 2009 22:10:52 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/10/05/mcchrystals-ultimatum/#IDComment37538005 http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/10/01/on-your-mark/#IDComment36836455 I've had the same experience as Smithboy. Comments that are even mildly critical of Israel somehow never make it through the mediation process at Huffington. I know there are some bloggers on the site who do criticize Israel very effectively, but it seems to me that there is a deliberate policy to let a few comments through to appear to be open minded on the issue while suppressing the rest. Arianna Huffington is a self promoting hypocrite who knows where her money comes from. She switches her political allegiance seamlessly in an effort to make herself a media player. God knows what she really stands for. Fri, 2 Oct 2009 12:55:29 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/10/01/on-your-mark/#IDComment36836455 http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/09/28/two-faces-of-kimberly-kagan/#IDComment36522745 Thanks for the article Kelley! What gets me most about the neocon "experts" is how few of them actually have any military experience to draw on. Eliot Cohen, Michael Ledeen, Danielle Pletka, Reuel Gerecht, the three Kagans, Matthew Continenti, Bill Kristol, Victor Davis Hanson...the list goes on and on. Some of them were actual draft dodgers during Vietnam who suddenly have seen the light, apparently. Hanson is the only one who actually produced a serious book and that was on hoplite warfare, written before he had found his way to lotus land. He recent analysis of the Peloponnesian War is laughable. To those who say you don't need to actually serve to understand the military I say bullshit. The military is a unique institution culturally that is impervious to outsiders most of the time. For the Kagans battallions of soldiers are little more than pawns being moved around on a chessboard. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:26:52 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/09/28/two-faces-of-kimberly-kagan/#IDComment36522745 http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/09/21/sibel-edmondss-big-day/#IDComment35507647 David, I did not ignore the Armenian genocide issue. It was a major part of the interview but when we edited down from 10,000 words to get under our 4,000 word limit we felt there were other issues like treason and corruption that we had to include and were unable to come up with enough space to give the Armenian issue justice. There simply was no room to discuss the details of the Ohio court case filed by David Krikorian or to analyze the voting record of Congressman Dennis Hastert. Yes, I lived in Turkey and like Turks but I am not "pro-Turkish" or I would not have done this interview which is highly critical of Turkey. I do not believe that the Armenian genocide resolution should be passed by our Congress, but that is a foreign policy issue for me as it is for many others and I do not question in any way the reality and horror of the Armenian genocide. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:45:42 +0000 http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/09/21/sibel-edmondss-big-day/#IDComment35507647 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/14/death-by-bananastan/#IDComment34553701 During the Vietnam War I was a flunky intelligence officer whose job was to make the colonels look good by putting together slide shows demonstrating how every month production was up. Numbers, not quality, was what mattered. Slide shows were our version of power point. I often wondered if the Soviets were doing the same thing and whether there was a Lieutenant over on their side who was as pissed off as I was. We would have had a lot to talk about. Point is, the military (and government in general) runs on bullshit and you will always find senior officers who can explain plausibly why things should be done in a certain way. Most of it is self serving. That is what we are seeing in AfPak and Iraq, where we could easily lose both wars and no one will be to blame. If we are ever stupid enough to attack Iran the same crap will be served up after the Mullahs sink one of our aircraft carriers with one of their Chinese made silkworm missiles. Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:48:46 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/14/death-by-bananastan/#IDComment34553701 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/10/bananas-in-bananastan/#IDComment34053863 Obama is actually an intelligent guy, unlike his predecessor, and you have to wonder what he actually thinks. I particularly wonder what he must tell his wife at bedtime, "Jeezus Christ honey, I'm going to have to obliterate Kandahar tomorrow morning" or "That bonehead McChrystal is stopping our German allies from having a beer. They'll be out of here faster than shit through a goose." He must realize that the whole national security agenda is a lot of B.S., but maybe he knows this is all Kabuki and it doesn't really matter if he wants to stay in power. Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:19:01 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/10/bananas-in-bananastan/#IDComment34053863 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/09/09/obamas-turning-point/#IDComment33925253 Hey Henry read what the article says - it's not about who is running America, it's about a screwed up foreign policy. I have zero expectations that Obama will do anything and am merely pointing out that if he is really serious he will have to make a major policy move soon. I don't expect him to do anything and am basically setting up a straw man to point out that Obama as an agent of change is pretty much an illusion. Unlike you I have no idea who is running America, but it sure as hell isn't me and my friends here at antiwar. - Phil Giraldi Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:31:22 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/09/09/obamas-turning-point/#IDComment33925253 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/08/the-general-who-would-be-king/#IDComment33770397 General who would be King for sure, apologies to Kipling, but it also recalls the Napoleonic wars when the British likened Napoleon to a frog who had inflated himself to become as big as an ox. At least Napoleon knew how to win a battle or two. Our generals are most adept at starting wars that they never can finish, by design one assumes. Wed, 9 Sep 2009 19:18:26 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/huber/2009/09/08/the-general-who-would-be-king/#IDComment33770397 http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2009/08/20/blackwaters-unwritten-death-contract/#IDComment31472901 Excellent piece Ray! Cofer Black would be considered a dangerous psychopath in most contexts but instead he was placed in charge of the CIA's own war on terror. He was then rewarded with a senior position with the Blackwater headcases to order up still more mayhem. The US has been on a revenge binge since 2001. When will Obama figure it out and pull the plug on Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the other needless engagement worldwide? Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:00:41 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2009/08/20/blackwaters-unwritten-death-contract/#IDComment31472901 http://original.antiwar.com/thomas-harrington/2009/08/18/new-think-tank-seeks/#IDComment31206109 It's amazing how humorless and ideologically driven the people who comment on antiwar are! Out of ten comments only three appear to have understood that this was satire. Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:57:55 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/thomas-harrington/2009/08/18/new-think-tank-seeks/#IDComment31206109 http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/08/11/how-i-wrote-1000-columns-for-antiwar-com/#IDComment30532180 Because we in the antiwar movement have to know what the MSM is saying to be able to effectively counter it. Antiwar's website is the best one-stop-shopping site to know exactly what is going on and who is saying what. For that reason alone it is invaluable. When friends ask me what website they should look at first thing every day, I tell them antiwar if then want to be both well informed and read top quality opinion. Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:18:30 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/08/11/how-i-wrote-1000-columns-for-antiwar-com/#IDComment30532180 http://original.antiwar.com/madar/2009/07/28/the-circle-cannot-hold/#IDComment28740838 So Jeff Huber aside, antiwar has a sense of humor! Clearly the two preceding commenters do not. Perhaps you should flag pieces that require a sense humor as satire so everyone will understand... Look forward to learning more about the threat from Io. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:10:19 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/madar/2009/07/28/the-circle-cannot-hold/#IDComment28740838 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/22/obamas-free-lunch-is-over/#IDComment28064206 Not true Pattonpaws. I have never "refused" the evidence. I am just not convinced by it any more than I am by similar theories that it was the CIA or Pentagon. I do believe there are serious problems with the accepted narrative and I do know that Israel was carrying out a massive spying and influence campaign in the US at that time, but I am just not sure if all the dots really connect.-Phil Giraldi Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:45:26 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/22/obamas-free-lunch-is-over/#IDComment28064206 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment27130604 So you are advocating new interventions to correct the bad interventions of the past? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me... Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:03:47 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment27130604 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment26808486 Military takeover is a bit strong, what? We aren't giving in to anything and it's none of our business. If you want to go chain yourself to the Honduran Embassy gates, feel free. Thu, 9 Jul 2009 19:24:50 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment26808486 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment26806212 Pellefant and cmichaelg49 clearly want to see the world in a certain way, i.e. American exploitation of Latin America as a continuous process and the rich suppressing the poor as a way of life. All the Hondurans (and Latin Americans) I have spoken to believe Zelaya is just another Chavez in the making. Of course the people I speak to are generally educated and have jobs so they might not be representative. I happen to believe that even the rich and propertied have a right to a rule of law and to be protected from the populist demagogues who play class warfare to gain power and keep it. Zelaya might not be one of those and might have pure motives, but it is up to the Hondurans to decide what is best for them, not some pundit sitting safe and smug in the United States or Europe. The "bolivarian independence" cited by Pellefant must be some kind of joke line, right? Chavez has neutered the judiciary and congress in his country, muzzled the press, and wrecked the economy. A wonderful model for the rest of Latin America to emulate, huh? - Phil Giraldi Thu, 9 Jul 2009 18:50:34 +0000 http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/07/08/hands-off-honduras/#IDComment26806212 http://news.antiwar.com/2009/07/05/biden-israel-entitled-to-attack-iran/#IDComment26411688 Israel is the ultimate entitlement regime. They are entitled to continue occupation of the West Bank, entitled to billions every year from the US taxpayer, and now we learn that they are entitled to attack Iran if they choose to do so. Maybe Mr. Biden should begin to ponder whether the United States has any national interest in the ME that Israel will damage by its actions. Nah, it's too late for that. Biden is already a totally owned subsidiary. Sun, 5 Jul 2009 20:41:49 +0000 http://news.antiwar.com/2009/07/05/biden-israel-entitled-to-attack-iran/#IDComment26411688 http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/07/02/michael-scheuer-10/#IDComment26156772 Scott does a good job confronting Michael Scheuer's contradictions. Scheuer has a couple of problems. First, he likes to play the shock jock of counterterrorism by saying outrageous things that he knows will give him an audience. Second, he backs himself into a corner and then defends positions that he has not thought through carefully enough and yet deep down knows are indefensible like torture. He says he supports torture because it is the only tool we have. Rubbish. Once you are pro-torture it's hard to maintain credibility with anyone who has seriously looked at the issue - there is no evidence that torture is on balance an asset to either police or intelligence operations. Thu, 2 Jul 2009 19:26:16 +0000 http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/07/02/michael-scheuer-10/#IDComment26156772