Abu Aardvark has a thought-provoking post about jihadi’s use of the Internet for more than just recruitment and training. They use its ability to facilitate communications over wide ranges to define their larger ideas, values and strategies. As is often noted, they use the technology of the present to push for a return to the […]

Lindsay has updated the earlier Hamas photo to fit with the others:

She’s pretty good at this, no?

Hamas takes over the Gaza Strip and has some fun:

And here’s a photo from Reuters that is funny without comment:

[Hotel Tango: News Bloggers.]

Great new United Nations ad campaign.
[Hotel Tango: Civil-Military Relations]

With the recent takeover of Gaza Strip by Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist group, and Fatah’s continuing hold on the West Bank, are we suddenly seeing the arrival of a need for a three-state solution?
This is one case where one-plus-one may equal three. We have (or had) two parties in a Palestinian coalition government that […]

David over at War is Boring compares and contrasts the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:
Our politicos have lumped the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan together under the same ridiculous “war on terror” moniker, but these are two very different conflicts.
Most of Iraq’s major cities – Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan are the major exceptions – […]

In 1999, while stationed at Keesler AFB for technical training, a friend of mine, Airman Eberhart, randomly mentioned to me in line for chow one day that 16 people had been killed by pirates the year before. I remember my reaction as being, first, “Pirates!?” and, second, “Where did you find that out?”
Sure enough, it […]

On the heels of last week’s declaration by Russian President Putin that he is the world’s only “pure democrat” (which was followed by criticism of civil rights abuses in the West), Russian authorities attempted to stop an opposition (read: anti-Putin) protest by encircling the rally’s planned location with dung.
Opponents of President Vladimir Putin had hoped […]

Interesting article in the June issue of The Atlantic Monthly:
To fight today’s wars with an all-volunteer force, the U.S. Army needs more quick-thinking, strong, highly disciplined soldiers. But creating warriors out of the softest, least-willing populace in generations has required sweeping changes in basic training.
I may have more to add on this when I’ve finished […]

Oh, I love it when The Economist gets snarky.
This story about the increase in hostilities between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers is from the current issue:
Those nationalists — led by a bigoted Buddhist clergy, whose small but shrill political party shares power with Mr Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party — considered the […]