A distinction between “old” and “new” wars is vital. “Old wars” are wars between states where the aim is the military capture of territory and the decisive encounter is battle between armed forces. “New wars”, in contrast, take place in the context of failing states. They are wars fought by networks of state and non-state actors, where battles are rare and violence is directed mainly against civilians, and which are characterised by a new type of political economy that combines extremist politics and criminality... I argue in this article that the United States viewed its invasion of Iraq as an updated version of “old war” that made use of new technology. The US failure to understand the reality on the ground in Iraq and the tendency to impose its own view of what war should be like is immensely dangerous and carries the risk of being self-perpetuating. It does not have to be this way. Iraq: the wrong war - Mary Kaldor writes of what was happening in pre-invasion Iraq, what happened thereafter and what the alternatives were. Well, there is always
Exit strategy: Civil war. And on that, note this:
Kurdish Officials Sanction Abductions in Kirkuk--a city from which, I am afraid, we will hear more and more as time goes by.
posted by y2karl
on Jun 15, 2005 -
20 comments
The Blissful Life in Utopia SUGAR LAND, Tex. -- This is the home of Britton Stein, who describes George W. Bush as "a man, a man's man, a manly man," and Al Gore as "a ranting and raving little whiny baby."
Forty-nine years old, Stein is a husband, a father, a landscaper and a Republican. He lives in a house that has six guns in the closets and 21 crosses in the main hallway.
Diary of a Freeper. Fascinating read. Insightful.
posted by nofundy
on Apr 28, 2004 -
130 comments
Camera Obscura trolls the attics and abandoned dressers of the world, finding the great lost portraits of the past, then burying them and posting these laughable ones instead. Develop Dutchophobia and learn to fear the Irma!
posted by snarkout
on Mar 29, 2004 -
9 comments
Techies Left Behind James Pace Jr. used to work as a steamfitter in a General Electric plant in Bridgeport. That was back in the early '70s, when the grapevine was alive with warnings: These jobs are going overseas. Go back to school. There's no future here.
Pace left the plant, enrolled in computer school, studied information technology and never looked back. That is, not until 23 years later, on the day he was told his $100,000-a-year job as an IT (information technology) consultant had been sent to India
posted by Postroad
on Jan 16, 2004 -
80 comments
"Buildings of Disaster are miniature replicas of famous structures where some tragic or terrible events happened to take place. The images of burning or exploded buildings make a different, populist history of architecture, one based on emotional involvement rather than scholarly appreciation."
posted by MrMoonPie
on Aug 11, 2003 -
27 comments
A Special Kind of Poverty This great article appeared in yesterday's Washington Post Sunday Magazine. Its subject: the trials and tribulations of the poor seeking treatment for their infertility. I don't think I have to list the whole raft of issues this subject raises. As touching as it is thought-provoking.
posted by tommyspoon
on Apr 21, 2003 -
77 comments
Bush and Chirac debate Iraq
"I will bomb him in his car;
I will bomb him from afar.
I will bomb him in his house;
I do not like him, he’s a louse.
I’m going to bomb him here and there.
I’m going to bomb him everywhere."
posted by Perigee
on Mar 20, 2003 -
12 comments
"You are now clear to engage the vehicles." (Warning: 5.5 meg Windows Media video.) This video purports to be the gunsight view of an American AC-130 gunship targetting a compound, and its inhabitants and vehicles, in Afghanistan. Complete with battlefield audio. While I can't guarantee its provenance, it does appear to show what it says. Leaving that aside: How do you react to this footage? Does it change your view of the engagement in Afghanistan? Should more people see this footage? What has the lack of this sort of footage -- didn't we see much more of this sort of battlefield view during the Gulf War? -- meant to the war effort, and the war at home?
posted by lupus_yonderboy
on Dec 17, 2002 -
126 comments
The man who wrote 10,000 Grooks (
grooks,
grooks,
grooks), Piet Hein, was also the inventor of
Hex and the creator of the
Soma Cube. In the design world, he is most famous for the
SuperEllipse, a figure that rivals Buckminster Fuller's geodesics in ingenuity, an aesthetic balance between a circle and a square, and a
mathematical figure which has been used to design a
square in Stockholm. From the SuperEllipse, you can get the SuperEgg, a strange solid which will unexpectedly balance on one end and has been
mistaken for an alien artifact.
posted by Winterfell
on Oct 28, 2002 -
11 comments
Agency disavows report on Iraq arms "The International Atomic Energy Agency says that a report cited by President Bush as evidence that Iraq in 1998 was 'six months away' from developing a nuclear weapon does not exist. 'There's never been a report like that issued from this agency,' Mark Gwozdecky, the IAEA's chief spokesman, said yesterday in a telephone interview from the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria."
posted by owillis
on Sep 29, 2002 -
52 comments
The Ant Farm: A small inventor success story. Levine, who never attended college, gave lectures, wrote chatty books about ants and made appearances on "The Shari Lewis Show." "I spoke to Lamb Chop for a half an hour about ants," he said. "I felt like an idiot." Reg: cpunks/cpunks
posted by skallas
on Aug 5, 2002 -
9 comments
Cracked Magazine is back. I used to read this back in the day, but I hadn't seen it in ages. I always thought it was inferior to Mad, but I liked it anyway. Supposedly it's on shelves now. Has anyone seen a new copy?
posted by SisterHavana
on Jun 5, 2002 -
11 comments
Feeling evil? Raise a little hell with your comrades and cohorts...report them via a faux news report for commiting a crime.
posted by pedantic
on May 10, 2002 -
8 comments
Religion, Government, and Media When all three are combined, as in Saudi Arabia, you get interesting newspaper articles. It would seem very strange to have a mainstream paper such as the New York Times having a section like this.
posted by LinemanBear
on Feb 12, 2002 -
29 comments
AOL's Netscape sues Microsoft for damage done to its Netscape Internet browser by violations of antitrust law found in a separate government case against the software giant. "I don't see this case as primarily about money. I see it as primarily about injunctive relief,'' said Steve Salop, a Georgetown University law professor.
posted by hitsman
on Jan 22, 2002 -
9 comments
I've been burned with FPPosting before, but
this story has made my Friday.
Bring on the weekend!
posted by Frasermoo
on Nov 16, 2001 -
8 comments
civilization III interview with Sid Meier and Jeff Briggs. the return of turn-based games? :) looks like you'll be able to build the internet, small wonder!
posted by kliuless
on Oct 20, 2001 -
21 comments
BotFighters: BotFighters is a brand new type of action game. The mission of the game is to track down and battle with other players, but in BotFighters, the real world is the game arena. You have to move yourself physically close enough to be able to hit.
The game concept is similar to "Gotcha!", or virtual paintball. Your mobile phone is used as a weapon and a radar device to track down opponents. When playing, you can at all times be attacked by other players, so be careful! You play with your mobile phone by sending SMS commands to number 6688. (from
play)
posted by andrew cooke
on Oct 19, 2001 -
8 comments
I'm usually not a big fan of optical illusions (unless there's a nice magic trick built around it), but
this one is pretty brain-burning. (Yes, that's my entire front-page post. But hey: at least it ain't a news story.)
posted by Shadowkeeper
on Oct 18, 2001 -
29 comments
Comedy College
Steve Martin begins hosting a weekly public radio show, profiling legendary comics. This week: The Cos. (Real Player required)
posted by Optamystic
on Oct 7, 2001 -
2 comments
New US National Anthem? Slate's Dialogue this week is about alternatives to "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the US national anthem. Should we keep it? If we replaced it, what should we replace it with?
posted by kirkaracha
on Oct 1, 2001 -
57 comments
RIP, Mr. Dressup. For Canadians who were growing up in the 70s and 80s, the loss of this icon is a sad, sad happening. If only there were people to teach today's kids how to have fun with pipecleaners and cardboard instead of whining for $300 in video games. What became of old-fashioned imagination?
posted by Electric Jesus
on Sep 18, 2001 -
12 comments
A glimpse into the "Ivory Tower" - The online community at
Swarthmore College is abuzz with reflections, debates, insults and demands for revenge prompted by the recent tragedies. After being physically threatened by a member of my college community after commenting that I thought that the Netherlands was a more "free" nation than the US, I've stopped going to the site myself; however, a look at the forum may demonstrate that such reactionary thought isn't limited to "middle America" or the "unenlightened," as some intellectual snobs/idealists seem to think. (Swarthmore was tied with Amherst as the number one liberal arts college in the country according to
U.S. World and News Report.)
posted by surblimity
on Sep 13, 2001 -
10 comments
In need of a chuckle? With all the horror that's come to light these past two days thought I'd share this, pretty funny (not sure how new it is though)
posted by zeoslap
on Sep 12, 2001 -
7 comments
Caution: This links might be inflamatory
A friend runs a site that is a portal dealing with middle-eastern news (for his safety, I will not link to it). He often receives hate-filled emails urging him to act out against various ethnic groups. This link was sent to him a couple of months ago; it is Islamic Resistance Support Association and is loaded with anti-american propaganda. [view at your own risk]
posted by hotdoughnutsnow
on Sep 11, 2001 -
4 comments
Heroes by James - James doesn't like the some of the action fugres he buys, so he modifies them to get what he wants. Check out the Hulk and Iron Man figures. Pretty nice.
posted by plinth
on Sep 4, 2001 -
6 comments
Environmentally Correct Dance Party Set for Amazon. "Brazil's lush Amazon rain forest may be best known for its isolated Indian tribes and abundant wildlife, but local officials hope it will soon be a hotbed of techno music ... [the] four-day 'rave' that is expected to lure tens of thousands of clubbers from around the world to all-night 'environmentally correct' dance parties." Can any one give me a ride?
posted by madreblu
on Aug 3, 2001 -
7 comments
