If anyone needs further proof that the United States is racing for the exits in Iraq, just follow the bouncing ball that is Rick Santorum. A Republican leader in the Senate and a true-blue (or red) Iraq hawk, he has long slobbered over George W. Bush. But when Bush went to Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania to give his Veterans Day speech smearing the war's critics as unpatriotic, the senator went missing in action.

as James Fallows writes in the latest issue of The Atlantic Monthly, if we're not ready to invest many years in building a real Iraqi army, America's only alternative is to "face the stark fact that it has no orderly way out of Iraq, and prepare accordingly."

Frank Rich: One war lost, another to go - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

If the United States leaves, Iraq will descend into a full-scale civil war. The Iranians will come in on the side of the Shiites. The Syrians, Saudis and God knows who else will be tempted to come in on the side of the Sunnis. The Turks will be tempted to come in to take care of the Kurds. We might be looking at the Middle East version of World War I

i was opposed to the invasion from the beginning
however now we have to deal with 'facts on the ground' rather than about the justifications for the war
should we withdraw quickly and watch Iraq collapse or stay and commit to nation building
it isn't like Vietnam where there was virtually a government in waiting
should we commit to a long occupation since the insurgents know there are political forces in the US and Britain pushing hard for a quick withdrawal so the insurgents from their point of view have the psychological upperhand, a short sharp aggressive push and the occupation forces pull out and the puppet regime swiftly collapses.
The article warns not just of a civil war but the danger of others being drawn in and a wider conflagration.
The war was immoral but do we compound the error by leaving swiftly and letting the state descend into anarchy or do we add oil to the fire by continuing an illegal occupation, act as a recuiter for al-Qaeda and unite those who oppose the occupation.
damned if we stay
damned if we leave

David Brooks: The importance of staying with Iraq - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

On the night of Aug. 22, 1991, several construction cranes and a crowd of about 50,000 determined people gathered in central Moscow to seal that promise of something better than Soviet misery. In front of the sinister KGB building, workers rocked, cracked and then toppled the formidable statue of Feliks Dzerzhinsky. This is the man who in 1917 founded the Cheka, the "Extraordinary Commission" that terrorized the nation with the arrests and brutal executions that became known as the Red Terror. This invention was the precursor of the KGB, the vast and brutal secret police and spy network that stood as a symbol of barbarism in the 20th century. The statue of "Iron Feliks" was relegated to an undistinguished patch of land behind the New Tretyakov Gallery. The "monster's graveyard" was a tourist attraction for Westerners, who enjoyed the sight of the scattered commissars, including Comrade Dzerzhinsky lying on his back, his steely glare aimed at nothing more than the gray Russian sky.

Earlier this month, with little fanfare but plenty of dreary symbolism, Dzerzhinsky was returned to a position of honor in central Moscow. It is nothan the gray Russian sky.

Earlier this month, with little fanfare but plenty of dreary symbolism, Dzerzhinsky was returned to a position of honor in central Moscow. It is not the same statue, and not the same site. Instead, Iron Feliks is a few blocks away at the Interior Ministry, his bronze bust back on a pedestal in the new Russian society.

ghosts
as if the new German Chancellor had permitted a statue of Himmler

Iron Feliks is back - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

Do you back the U.S. efforts to bring “Democracy” to the ME?
RESULTS:

Yes
( 50 %)

No
( 50 %)

some surprising
some strange
some bizarre
some scary
votes on aljazeera.com (in English)
plus check out some of the conspiracy theories

WHAT READERS THINK

Iraq detainees 'found starving'

There have been persistent claims of abuse by Iraqi security forces
Iraq's government says it has begun an investigation into the alleged abuse of more than 170 detainees held by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

u can't expect to change a culture overnight
evidence perhaps that it is unrealistic to expect to be able to withdraw Allied troops this year or next and leave behind a stable human rights observing democratic state
does anyone really expect an iraqi army capable of asserting its authority not to extend that authority to the political sphere and in the name of political stability conduct a coup d'etat

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iraq detainees 'found starving'

Wrestling With History
Sometimes you have to fight the war you have, not the war you wish you had

a fasinating look at Rumsfeld, his work at the Pentagon and his role before the invasion and amidst the insurgency to transform the US military to conform to his vision of 21st century needs and how this has effected his management of the insurgency

Wrestling With History

Call centres, contact centres ... regardless of their name, regardless of their location, they're still the same: tough to work in, frustrating to deal with

life as a call center battery chicken

Guardian Unlimited Money | Work | Battery operated

Over dinner a few weeks ago, the novelist Lawrence Naumoff told a troubling story. He asked students in his introduction to creative writing course at UNC-Chapel Hill if they had read Jack Kerouac. Nobody raised a hand. Then he asked if anyone had ever heard of Jack Kerouac. More blank expressions.

"I guess I've always known that many students are just taking my course to get a requirement out of the way," Naumoff said.

In our increasingly complex world, the amount of information required to master any particular discipline -- e.g. computers, life insurance, medicine -- has expanded geometrically. We are forced to become specialists, people who know more and more about less and less.

In this frightening new world, students do not turn to universities for mind expansion but vocational training.

When was the last time you met anyone who was ashamed because they didn't know something?

[ I've been talking about this for years, and thinking about it since a very early age. Growing up has given me the acuity to define my early unease and express the issue in words, but I have felt this way for as long as I can remember.

For whatever reason, I'm a naturally curious person. I make no claims of expertise in *any* subject, and get by in work by being sufficiently intelligent and attentive to do a competent, and often a good, job, despite not being anything like a specialist. It's been a contant source of tension in my life -- on the one hand admiring people who are at the very pinnacle of their field, and on the other hand being surprised and annoyed at the things people, particularly these very smart people, don't know a thing about. And, as the article says, the most troubling aspect for me is not that they don't know something, but that they express no interest in learning it. We've become such pragmatists that anything which doesn't further our qualifications in one or two narrow focus areas is unwanted, undesired... perhaps even a distraction.

I don't deny that my lack of focus, my broad interests, are probably detrimental to me in the long run. I think it's probably true that the specialization requirements will not abate. I onlt hope that I can continue to coast on intellect enough to make a decent living and enjoy my life. I can say for certain, any life in which I must turn away from the vastness of knowable things, discard fiction and biology, religion, politics, and all the rest so that I can focus all my energies on one thing is not a life worth living, for me. I think it's a pity, with so much available to us, that we can't grasp it, for fear of losing the race, not being successful. It's sad. -k]

Lack of curiosity is curious

Should the United Nations control the Internet? That’s the subject of a heated debate slated to take place at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis later this month. The European Union is pressing for a UN role in governing the Internet, which is currently in the hands of a US nonprofit. Lawrence Lessig breaks down the debate and offers his views.

The largest cause of this rift is European distrust of the United States. It’s not particularly related to the Internet. The Europeans are eager to stand up to the Americans, and that I think has been produced by the last five years of U.S. foreign policy. It’s not really a cyberlaw problem.

I am English and a strong supporter of European integration. However another reason for the problem is that a lot of the EU is very undemoractic and run entirely by bureaucrats and they love to have their fingers in every pie and consequently some of the things that come out of Brussels are full of shit.
I hate US foreign policy regarding Iraq but I have no problem with some US non-profit organisation running the internet. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Foreign policy is no excuse for anti-Americanism.
However although in part it may be anti-Americanism I think it is mostly the bureauocrats wanting a piece of the pie. Run a search on some of the things they have passed legislation on.

Larry Lessig, on Battling for Control of the Internet

One of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world, Hong Kong has an overall density of nearly 6,700 people per square kilometer. The majority of its citizens live in flats in high-rise buildings. In Architecture of Density, Wolf investigates these vibrant city blocks, finding a mesmerizing abstraction in the buildings' facades.

These are amazing photographs. I wish I could go to the exhibition.

MICHAEL WOLF