Thursday, June 15, 2006

Random Notes

1. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former Viceroy of Iraq Paul Bremer carefully shifts the blame (WSJ, subs. req'd; alt. free link):

Finally, Shiite militia have contributed to the violence. This is a new phenomenon of the past two years -- during the 14 months I was in Iraq, the coalition confirmed fewer than 100 deaths attributable to sectarianism.

2. An anniversary that shouldn't be a big deal, but in Gitmo-world, it is:

In 1215, at Runnymede, an assembly of barons demanded that King John accede to a document setting out his duties and the rights and liberties of his subjects — the Magna Carta;

3. The new head of the US Marine Corps wasn't a big fan of letting the killing of four American security contractors in Fallujah determine military strategy towards the city -- which the politicians ordered flattened:

Lt. Gen. James Conway ... [disagreed] publicly with the administration. In September 2004, Conway said he and his fellow Marines objected to the initial order to invade Fallujah following the slaying of four U.S. contractors there.

Yet certain soi-disant "liberal" commentators declare that Kos's rather loose and off-the-cuff expression of disdain for the contractors ("screw them") is worse than Ann Coulter sliming the 9/11 widows. It's a strange country. [Kos responds to Kaus in the by-the-way note here]

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