The Political Conundrum!

ProFlowers.com has approached CJ over at A Soldier’s Perspective with an awesome offer for his readers.  He  has FIVE free $70 gift certificates to give away as he sees fit.  So, here’s how it will work.  If you know a Soldier or Spouse that deserves free flowers, send CJ an essay on why you think that person deserves free flowers.

“Now, I know ALL military family members deserve free flowers, but I can’t give them to everyone.  The essay should no more than 250 words.  From all the essays I receive, I will post the top ten (without names) for voting.  In addition to this offer, I will have a special gift for EVERY entry I receive.”

The cut-off for submissions is 6 Feb, with winners being announced on 9 Feb - in time for Valentine’s Day.

Read the whole story and see answers to common questions he has recieved at http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/blog/2009/02/01/free-flowers-for-troops/

I have talked about it before and of course it has not let up. The ANP just keep taking terrible hits.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486488,00.html

There are many good reasons for wanting to talk directly to one's enemies, particularly states that pose a direct threat to one's security. The Obama administration, facing a host of domestic problems and inheriting the ineffective policies of the previous administration in dealing with Iran's nuclear program, has incentives to want to get the Iran issue contained, at a minimum.

The same can be said for the Afghanistan crisis, which is lurching from bad to worse. The Taliban, flush with opium money, is making inroads while the corrupt and ineffective government fiddles, and Kabul is close to burning.

But one has to be clear that the other side wants some sort of serious back and forth. This is what is missing in both cases. One must start from a recognition of what it is Iran wants: the abolition of Israel, the unimpeded sponsorship of armed non-state actors (Hezbollah and Hamas, with the dalliance with al Qaeda when convenient), and imposition of a global theocracy. None of these issues is negotiable.

From this Wall Street Journal piece, it is quite clear that Iran sees nothing to be gained by talks, and much to be gained by trying to humiliate the incoming administration. Perhaps they are simply recognizing the reality that their basic goals leave little room for substantive negotiations.

It seems to me that Fareed Zakaria makes serious mistake in his assessment of Afghanistan policy in calling for talks with the Taliban. My full blog is here.

President Barack Obama said Sunday that the peaceful elections in Iraq are "good news" for U.S. troops and their families, and he agreed with the suggestion that a substantial number of those troops could be home within a year.

A U.S. soldier says his military training helped him land safely on his first skydiving jump after the instructor he was tethered to died from an apparent heart attack as they parachuted over South Carolina.

With its six big-screen TVs, assorted beer and a menu of chicken wings and pizza, it looked like any bar hosting a Super Bowl party. But this was the chow hall at Camp Victory, the sprawling U.S. military base on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The U.S. Navy is retiring the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, the oldest active warship in the fleet. More than 2,000 former and current crew members, their families and dignitaries gathered in Bremerton, Washington to bid goodbye to the ship.

An individual may look healthy physically, but it's possible that, even without any physical manifestations, stress and traumatic experiences can take their toll on both humans and horses. But, thanks to psychotherapy, horses and humans are interacting and bonding with one another to help each other heal.

The latest issue of Policy Review just published my review of John Agresto's Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq.

Agresto, a former President of St. John's College and chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities served as the special adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education for about a year. Although a true believer in the cause, he has harsh criticism for poorly thought out U.S. policies. However, as that story has been told by so many others I focus on Agresto's deeper questions about the nature of democracy, the role of higher education in democracy, and the enormous challenges to building an Iraqi democracy. I did not realize that the article would come out as Iraq's provincial elections were being held. The elections have been generally peaceful and according to some reports the secular parties are winning. However, as I discuss in the review, the Iraqis appear to have adopted the forms of democratic government - but the open question remains whether or not the substance has taken hold. This is a fundamental question for reform in Iraq and throughout the region.

Read the complete review here.