Baker commission on the Iraq war paper leaked

NY Sun

A commission formed to assess the Iraq war and recommend a new course has ruled out the prospect of victory for America, according to draft policy options shared with The New York Sun by commission officials.

Currently, the 10-member commission — headed by a secretary of state for President George H.W. Bush, James Baker — is considering two option papers, "Stability First" and "Redeploy and Contain," both of which rule out any prospect of making Iraq a stable democracy in the near term.

More telling, however, is the ruling out of two options last month. One advocated minor fixes to the current war plan but kept intact the long-term vision of democracy in Iraq with regular elections. The second proposed that coalition forces focus their attacks only on Al Qaeda and not the wider insurgency.

Down with DRM

Free Culture: Down With DRM Video Contest Winners

friday random ten

Photo by Ryan McManus

1. "Days of the Underground" - Hawkwind [Quark, Strangness & Charm]
2. "A Siver Key Can Open an Iron Lock Somewhere" - LiLiPUT [LiLiPUT]
3. "She's Not There" - The Zombies [Zombie Heaven 4: Live on the BBC]
4. "It Covers the Hillsides (Alternate Version)" - Midlake [Young Bride single]
5. "Start!" - The Jam [Snap!]
6. "He Passes Number Thirty-Three" - Okkervil River [Stars Too Small To Use]
7. "Sleeping In" - The Postal Service [Give Up]
8. "Pajama Party" - The Cocktail Preachers [Spy-Fi]
9. "Rollercoaster" - The Jesus and Mary Chain [Honey's Dead]
10. "Eleanor" - The Cloud Room [Live on the Current (3/26/06)]

Bonus #11. "Isolation (Dec. 6, 2002)" - Spoon [The Devil's Dishes Rarities]

John Peel Day 2006

John Peel Day 2006

Bongwater
Peel Session
19-Mar-1991

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Peel Session
(22-Aug-2002)

a strategic failure of the first order

Guardian Unlimited

North Korea today announced the successful conclusion of its first nuclear test, sparking a wave of international condemnation from old enemies and traditional allies alike.

The controlled explosion, carried out at Hwaderi, near the north-eastern city of Kilju, sent shockwaves across the world and escalated tensions in north-east Asia.

According to the US Geological Survey, a magnitude 4.2 seismic event was registered on the peninsula at 10.37am local time (0237 BST).

TPM

We'll need to wait a few more hours for confirmation. But initial signs suggest that the US picked up the seismic signature of the underground nuclear test the North Koreans are claiming to have carried out. We've been pretty sure for some time that the North Koreans had developed a nuclear capacity. This would not only confirm that assumption, but the decision to conduct the test will be interpreted as a sign of belligerence that will send ripples throughout the region, probably first through Japanese rearmament.

For the US this is a strategic failure of the first order.

The origins of the failure are ones anyone familiar with the last six years in this country will readily recognize: chest-thumping followed by failure followed by cover-up and denial. The same story as Iraq. Even the same story as Foley.

sunday briefs

The woman who exposed the Kremlin's dirty war in Chechnya is assassinated.

The number of U.S troops wounded in Iraq has surged to its highest monthly level in nearly two years.

The Secret Letter From Iraq