John Robb's Weblog

Coming to a border near you...

Dane Schiller, San Antonio Express-News:

To send a chilling message to their underworld rivals, Mexican drug cartels are adopting a method of intimidation made notorious by Middle Eastern terrorist groups. Already this year, at least 26 people have been decapitated in Mexico, with heads stuck on fences, dumped in trash piles and -- most recently -- tossed onto a nightclub dance floor.

Iran: temporary suspension of enrichment?

Interesting diplomatic play going on. Leaking the terms of the deal in order to tank the process. Regardless, Iran is doing a good job at dividing the US from its EU allies (and even many in the State Department). WT. Bush is getting totally played.

Iran is close to an agreement that would include a suspension of uranium enrichment but wants the deal to include a provision that the temporary halt be kept secret, according to Bush administration officials... Disclosure of talks on the secret element of the arrangement comes as Mr. Solana and Mr. Larijani are set to meet today or tomorrow in Europe when the deal could be completed, said officials opposed to the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

More on the pull of primary loyalties...

Washington Times: "There's no doubt in my mind that he has soldiers who are followers of religious leaders," Col. Watt said. "Are they loyal to the division commander? Yes. But they may be loyal to both."

Aargh

Another flu. Between the kids and the guys at the office, I am feeling like a petri-dish.

Brooks: The Chinese Model Works Best

Interesting reversal (David Brooks, "Closing of a Nation," NYTimes Editorial, September 24, 2006) on the concept of nation-building:

As Inglehart, Moaddel and Tessler write, Iraqis “reject foreigners to a degree that is virtually unknown in other societies throughout the world, including more than a dozen predominantly Islamic countries.” Iraqi Arabs almost universally reject Americans, Britons and the French, and roughly 60 percent reject Iranians, Kuwaitis and Jordanians, the groups they are least hostile to.

Meanwhile, Iraqis cling fiercely to their primal identities... Such in-group solidarity is almost without precedent.

...The larger lesson, as we think about future efforts to reform the Middle East and combat extremism, is that the Chinese model probably works best. That is, it’s best to champion economic reform before political reform.

New Support for Open Source Warfare

Hayden in the recent National Intelligence Estimate on terrorism: "New jihadist networks and cells, sometimes united by little more than their anti-Western agendas, are increasingly likely to emerge." “If this trend continues, threats to the U.S. at home and abroad will become more diverse and that could lead to increasing attacks worldwide,” said the general, who was then Mr. Negroponte’s top deputy and is now director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Here's an interesting question

Why do we have an income tax instead of a wealth tax?

Interesting way to lay out the alternatives...

Two options, either you help us or....

Good reading

The Nation has a round-up Iran rumors.

gmoke has a great compilation of quotes from Creveld.

This is absolutely hilarious

Baker/Hamilton on Iraq. Unfortunately, the situation is waiting for our time-table. That period is over.