Essay of the Week: 4/26/09-5/2/09

This documentary from the Guardian is worth watching provided you keep two things in mind. The first is that the documentary is from the Guardian with all that implies. The second is that the journalist is captive to a Sunni perspective and he does not even realize it.

No Shia would talk about how nobody in pre-invasion Iraq paid any attention to sectarian divides. To be sure, Shia and Sunni served together in the Iraqi army. But Shia did not serve in the elites unites that kept Saddam in power. It seems that the narrator’s fond memories of his childhood Iraq in part reflects the fact that he had a privileged Sunni upbringing (This is conjecture on our part based on his biography).

Having said that, the Sunni view point is important for the future of Iraq. I doubt that any Sunni in Iraq is feeling optimistic now that the Iraqi government is going after Sunni militias that fought for the Americans and the Americans seem inclined to leave and let God sort the whole mess out.

If you want other views on the documentary, here is the comment section of Abu Muqawama talking about the piece.

Links for Today

An account of a successful American ambush in Afghanistan. Cometary from professionals can be found in the comment section here.

My question: What is up with using an F-15 to chase down a few fleeing men? I am starting to believing those people who are arguing that America is using air power indiscriminately. I can understand mistakes and collateral damage, but throwing a 500 pound bomb at every fool with a AK-47 seems counter productive.

More games from Citigroup. Somehow, we think we can construct a recovery on lies.

Suicides on the rise in India and Japan.

Links For Today

The End of the World Is Nigh Again. (A post arguing that the market is due for another major correction).

The Fruits of China’s One Child Policy. We all know that there is going to be more males than females in China because of the one child policy. But the figures keep getting worse and worse.

The US electrical grid has been penetrated by Chinese and Russian Intelligence agencies according to the Wall Street Journal.

The French Are Making America Look Bad

From the Telegraph…..

As a multinational force off Somalia built up its military muscle, French forces staged their rescue after talks broke down.

One hostage and two pirates were killed and three other adults and a child on the yacht, the Tanit, were rescued six days after it was seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, a spokesman for Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said.

Meanwhile, the pirates defy America….

We are not afraid of the Americans,” one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite telephone on behalf of the gang holding the captain.

“We will defend ourselves if attacked.” A pirate commander onshore in the Somali pirate town of Eyl said that preparations were being made by other pirates to set sail to help their beleaguered friends.

“We are planning to reinforce our colleagues who told us that a navy ship was closing in on them and I hope the matter will soon be solved,” said Abdi Garad. “We are making final preparations and will try our best to save our friends.”

Speaking of beleaguered, The Belmont Club remembers all hostages that nobody seems to care about. It is a useful counterbalance to all the news coverage being given to the captured American captain.