The Sadrists go for the Maysan governorship, combing their hair and acting respectable: “We want to show the world we are a modern people, an intellectual people,” said Fathal Namaa, the group’s political director in Maysan. “We don’t want to be radical Islamists. I tell my supporters, don’t dress all in black or carry weapons.” [...]

I put a warhead/ on a forehead/ in Pakistan But the cargo bombs await me, from San’aa Thanks to my snitch/ I place a GPS fix/ on my border-crossing Hellfiyaaaaah If Pakistan is central/ then I come across as mental/ for my endless Afghan campaign But refocusing on Yemen/ turns the amps up to eleven/ on [...]

To return to Rep. Peter King’s upcoming congressional hearings on American Muslims and law enforcement, the Washington Post reports that consultants to police groups around the country recommend mass demonization: Like Montijo, Walid Shoebat, a onetime Muslim who converted to Christianity, also lectures to local police. He too believes that most Muslims seek to impose [...]

More Taliban attacks in northern Afghanistan. The south gets the attention and the resources, the north and west deteriorate, and the east — the area most centrally important to the stated al-Qaeda-centric objectives of the war — is in a state of drift, as best I can tell. For all the justified and justifiable criticism [...]

“6 Foot 7 Foot” is an insane masterpiece, a declaration that Wayne has lost interest in making sense to you — keep up or don’t bother. I’m kind of shocked that it got performed on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ in the same way I’d be surprised if McDonalds ever slathered a quarterpounder with truffle oil or [...]

South Korea: Not fucking around this time? If you want a longer assessment, wait about two hours and head to Danger Room, but note that the South Korean fire drill scheduled for either Monday or Tuesday on Yeonpyeong island will fire its artillery southwest, i.e., away from the petulant, bellicose north. Newly appointed Defense Minister [...]

Complex has the brilliant idea to revisit the Nastradamus predictions. A prediction of my own: Nastradamus will enjoy the kind of critical reappraisal that Sandinista! enjoyed. No sarcasm. Believe in the 2011 revival.

Who could have predicted this? [Three prominent Republican senators announced they would vote against the treaty. Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Jon Kyl of Arizona, the top two Republican leaders, said on Sunday talk shows that they would oppose it because of concerns about its possible impact on missile defense and other issues. Neither [...]

Not doing anything Monday at 7:30? In D.C.? Come by the Historic Sixth & I Synagogue, where a bunch of writerly Jews will be telling tales of great jewwy Jewishness. I’ll be one of them. Self-indulgent? Certainly, but there’ll be true-life-tales of Jewishness and foreign travels. And what a cast! Emily Yoffe from Slate, NPR’s [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1162-10 December 18, 2010 DOD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Lance. Cpl. Jose L. Maldonado, 21, of Mathis, Texas, died Dec. 17 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th [...]