It’s been pretty clear — and definitely clear since late September’s Qom disclosure — that the intelligence community probably misforecast the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate concluding that the Iranian government abandoned its desire for nuclear weapons in 2003. (Perhaps — I’ve got to run to something, so I’m not exactly Googling around on this — [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 037-10 January 16, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 13 at Combat Outpost McClain, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. The soldiers were assigned [...]

RockRichard tipped me off to this: That’s my friend Max playing bass for Ke$ha right here. If I’m not mistaken, the last time I saw Max play some music was in 2008 at ABC No Rio. If I wasn’t already, I am now officially on Team Ke$ha.

Something doesn’t add up in this (otherwise very good & detailed) Washington Post piece about Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the al-Qaeda double agent who killed seven CIA & Blackwater operatives at FOB Chapman in Khost Province. The beginning of the piece is a fascinating explication of how al-Balawi went from internet irhabi to actual murderer. [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 035-10 January 15, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Lucas T. Beachnaw, 23, of Lowell, Mich., died Jan. 13 in Darya Ya, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 033–10 January 15, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Spc. Kyle J. Wright, 22, of Romeoville, Ill., died Jan. 13 at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered earlier that day when enemy forces attacked his [...]

Just out from the ACLU: a redacted list naming 645 detainees held by the U.S. at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. ACLU filed a suit in September to get the names as well as stuff they don’t have (yet) — “records relating to the rules and agreements that govern the facility and documents pertaining to [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 034-10 January 15, 2010 DOD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Christopher R. Hrbek, 25, of Westwood, N.J., died Jan. 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine [...]

Laura Rozen reports that Steve Radelet, the guy who came up with the idea for the Millenium Challenge Corporation, may get a senior position in the State Department. I asked a friend about that, and received permission to attribute the IM that follows to “a jilted source close to the MCC that’s going to have [...]

I did this item about Gen. Casey’s inexplicable comments about wanting to rebalance deployment/dwell time for soldiers in 2010 when that very obviously isn’t going to happen. Then my new friend/sparring partner Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive tweeted that I should check out David Bellavia’s Casey Awards. The Casey for Best Actor goes to Gary Oldman. [...]