Here’s an Osama quote I somehow missed, reassuring us about his benevolence:
"The Jewish community in Morocco today is one of the largest communities in the world. They are alive with us and we have not incinerated them."
I think this is a new standard for Islamist treatment of the Jews. If not incinerated, it’s toleration.
An update on this apparently erroneous report.
Here’s a whole new meaning for "still life":
Martin Klimas drops clay figurines from the same height in complete darkness with the camera lens open. When the figurine hits the ground, the sound of the impact triggers the lights to go on for a fraction of a second.
Interview and more photos here.
A BBC global poll finds a convergence (PDF) between views across the world about the Iraq occupation, and the views of Americans’. Just not the president’s.
Kevin Drum notices some sleight of hand in a Petraeus graph.
You may remember them from such movies as "The Matrix" and "V For Vendetta." One of them is now a sister.
After blaming the previous "supine" Congress and Rumsfeld for our current impasse, she repeats that skepticism of Petraeus’s report is merited. She seems to have conceded that there’s no chance that the Congress can stop the continued escalation. That won’t inspire the netroots, will it? Money quote:
"You wrote the book, General, but the policy is not by the book, and you are being asked to square the circle, to find a military solution to a political crisis."
Ryan Crocker’s testimony was far less cogent than Petraeus’ because he has almost nothing substantive to point to (except some photo-ops in the last couple of weeks). And when he does make an assertion – that the current situation reminds him of America’s civil rights struggles, for example – one tends to shudder at its inappropriateness, or gape at its vagueness:
Most Iraqis genuinely accept Iraq as a multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian society – it is the balance of power that has yet to be sorted out.
Er, yes, Mr Ambassador. Thanks for pointing that out. Crocker’s real point is his final one:
Our current course is hard. The alternatives are far worse.
I’m not so sure. And nothing Crocker said today swayed me.
Out-takes from Fred Thompson’s first marriage in the British papers. His first wife stands by him though. Her brother explains why:
"It has been a bit of a dilemma, deciding whether to support him. But his political philosophy and ours are very close, time heals and Sarah and he had three children together. We believe he can beat the hell out of the Democrats."
A chronology of false assertions of OBL’s demise. I’m guilty too.
