X. Benedict

Article IX. yes. I am not saying that they could sell it. But what would be most important would be the domestic reaction in NK and ROK - and then China's prattle about US hegemony. No I don't think it would be a perfectly rational act, but then it is NK we are talking about.

How about NK provoking something with Japan, claiming some type of Japanese assault, and arranging a limited strike on JPN without the ROK involved. The Japanese would probably respond with something limited-including a submarine blockade of NK. This type of standoff could be used to recentralize power in NK and enflame anti-japanese sentiments across Asia. Some amount of US cooperation with JPN would be a plus for the NK. This would not be a nice senario for the US.

gotcha.

Are you suggesting that we tacitly support partition?

Smarter? not sure. It is if he is informed and has a conscience that worries me.

nice to see.

How many times has the missus put on that Jills outfit? 3? Congrats

I was surprised to learn his take that Iran is unilaterally obsessed with the US. Am I characterizing that correctly?

If they put pink flamingoes or Our Lady of the Bathtub in front of the house or in front of their residence then they should be allowed to live in peace. Anything short of that, they should be exiled to forced to live in Clarence and pay property tax.

This going to sound like a cliche, but I think the choice that is the least bad is #1. We are deeply invested in what was a gamble from the beginning, I agree with CTM that this can't be looked at in isolation, if you pull out unilaterally with nothing to fill the vacuum, lots of nasty things can develop throughout the entire region. The nascent government may not be perfect, but hopefully it will be something. It may not be able to control the whole country, but it may be able to control some of it. This is a weak hand but it is preferable to controlling none of it. I read the Foreign Affairs acticle and I think there is something deeply unsatisfying about it that my mind hasn't come around to grasping (perhaps it is the scope of the comparison). It is worth the read, however. Edit: On the Foreign Affairs acticle, I read this a few weeks ago and re-read it today, and I think that the "communal civil war" notion tends to underplay the significance of the regional players. It also seems to be written from the perspective that the Sunni held provinces would emerge as the most detering forces and underplays the both the Shite militias and their ability to enforce law independent of the government. While the militias may be clearly sectarian, they have evolved to fill a security vacuum and are not as one dimensional in their concerns as just grabbing power, with Sistani they represent both a mechanism for some sort of urban security in the minds of the people, and in this light also have grown in their moral suasion. The article seems to think the Al'Sadr is a type of aboration and is not placed in the wider Shite context.

I'll take Scraps. Ed's a big target.

That is when the drinking problem started.

Your enemies would probably never forget the smell of Depleted Uranium mixed with Channel no. 5.

A stranger thought still: In theory you could run a tank on biodeisel, couldn't you?

Roger Roger.

Please explain what a 6 means then. What type of questions did he get correct?

Football players can jump the shark? I guess he has lost his all his Fonzi.

No comment other than this seems way too succinct.

Will he be able to gragitate college?

They could bounce at bars, but then they would need someone else to proof ID's for them.

I did google: Writers copulating in loon suits. Not much there.

I thought he was a plant from the NEA to convince America that more money needs to be spent on education.

Those Miami of Ohio grads must hate the confusion.

I am working with a guy that insists Vince Young will fall as far as Miami in the draft. He's a Miami fan.

In principle or application?