Weekend Instahoglets

By Cernig

Something for the weekend...

-- Andrew Exum, Abu Muquawama, has announced in an interview with himself that he's to be the in-house blogger at CNAS, the neoliberal mothership. He writes in comments "Maybe the problem is that the COINdinistas are making better use of the internet." Ain't that the truth. Voices in favor of a more traditional military machine aren't very internet savvy and are thus behind the COINdinistas' curve, in a graphic vindication of COIN-informed tactics for information warfare. But netroots progressives are in an even worse position - that of denial. Those who would object to putting all the really practical tools of foreign policy under perpetual military rather than civilian ownership if they really thought about it haven't even begun to do so. 

-- The Eminent Jurists Panel, an independent body of experts convened by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), have called upon the US and others to give up the war paradigm in combatting international terrorism. "It notes that the US has applied the law of war to persons not involved in armed conflict, and in real situations of warfare it has distorted, selectively applied and ignored otherwise binding rules, including fundamental human rights guarantees. This has resulted in human rights violations, including torture and cruel or inhuman treatment, arbitrary and secret detention and the denial of the right to a fair trial."

-- Pakistan: for a remarkably rich and informative backgrounder on internal Pakistani tensions when considering the "War on Terror" vs their traditional emnity to India, look no further than Pullitzer-winner Steve Coll's excellent new piece "The Back Channel". A must read.

-- Meanwhile...one of these things is not like another: The AP reports Pakistani military officials as saying the Taliban have lost two border regions, but Asian Age reports the Pakistani police believe the Taliban could take over Karachi any time they wanted to. (Back in 2005, a Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor report estimated that there were upwards of 25,000 graduates of Taliban training camps living in the city.) And the Zardari government's transparent attempt to keep his main rival, Nawaz Sharif, out of politics by using tame judges against him is even alienating supporters, who hear the sound of the Taliban laughing.

-- Michael O'Hanlon and Ken Pollack argue that the Iraq SOFA agreement and the wishes of Iraqis shouldn't be considered binding and that US troops must stay in Iraq for years..."Having just returned from a trip to the country arranged by the top American commander there, Gen. Ray Odierno". You don't say!

--  Lt. Gen. (Ret.) David Barno, the former head of coalition forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that the US should expect to be in Afghanistan for at least another 16 years. (h/t Kat) The moral for Obama is - don't leave decisions on withdrawal up to people who have a natural inclination to stay in. Generations of women will tell you that doesn't work!

-- But if you're waiting for The Singularity to solve all our problems, forget about it. Charlie Stross explains:

The rapture of the nerds, like space colonization, is likely to be a non-participatory event for 99.999% of humanity — unless we're very unlucky. If it happens and it's interested in us, all our plans go out the window. If it doesn't happen, sitting around waiting for the AIs to save us from the rising sea level/oil shortage/intelligent bioengineered termites looks like being a Real Bad Idea. The best approach to the singularity is to apply Pascal's Wager — in reverse — and plan on the assumption that it ain't going to happen, much less save us from ourselves.

You should read the rest of Charlie's "FAQ for the 21st Century". Really. (h/t Kat again)