Disqus - Latest Comments for spencer_ackerman

Re: CIA Largely in the Dark on Interrogation Tactics

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:14:10 -0000

Richard, feel like dropping me a line at sackerman-at-washingtonindependent-dot-com?

Re: It’s Not Like We’re In Two Resource-Intensive Ground Wars Where Economy of Force is Crucial or Anything

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:00:19 -0000

'splain, please.

Re: US Casualties Rise in Iraq

spencer_ackerman — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:03:27 -0000

Wow, Taylor Marsh! Thanks for reading!

Re: Foreign Service ‘Simply Not Up To The Task’ of Iraq?

spencer_ackerman — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 04:36:10 -0000

Egads. Thanks guys. Wrote this on the way out the door yesterday. Corrected now. Thanks for calling my attention to the mistake -- I would surely not have caught it myself.

Re: Complexity, Intellectuals and Iraq

spencer_ackerman — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:37:16 -0000

AmiBlue, I didn't think of that, but yeah, I guess it is.

Re: Life After Tuesday

spencer_ackerman — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:21:52 -0000

Holly, the story I'd love to see from you if/when HRC loses is what happens to Penn's clientele. Did Shrum suffer after the Kerry loss?

Re: Irony is For Suckers

spencer_ackerman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:02:16 -0000

Skulz, don't you think "smart" is a value-neutral adjective? Couldn't a person agree with your critique of Gates -- not saying I do, but still -- and still think the guy is intelligent?

Re: Irony is For Suckers

spencer_ackerman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:03:32 -0000

Also, you can't lay Abu Ghraib on Gates, since it happened three years before he became SecDef.

Re: The Banality of Evil

spencer_ackerman — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:50:22 -0000

I didn't see that, Regis. I'll reinspect & change the post as necessary. Thanks for the eagle eye.

Re: Fast and Loose With the Facts

spencer_ackerman — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:22:18 -0000

That it does. Jeff Goldberg Representing Universal Love Eternally's Slate piece went up as my piece was going through edits, and I didn't see it until late last night. I'm blogging it now. As I read it I thought of that Fugazi song, "Latest Disgrace."

Re: Et Tu, Washington Times?

spencer_ackerman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:37:16 -0000

That's a tremendously strained reading. The report cites documents written in the early 1990s, primarily, that show Saddam's intelligence services toe-touching for contacts with terrorist organizations. Not one of them was al-Qaeda. In one case, something called the Army of Mohammed in the Gulf, the Mukhabarat explored sending feelers to an al-Qaeda franchisee. Not once does the report cite what happened to those feelers -- that is, what they resulted in. Middle Eastern intelligence organizations contact terrorist groups all the time. It doesn't mean they sponsor them. And it certainly doesn't mean Saddam even "indirectly" supported al-Qaeda.

Re: Bush’s War

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:28:26 -0000

Dan, email me with your address and I'll mail you the DVDs. sackerman-at-washingtonindependent-dot-com.

Re: McCain Foreign Policy: Bush Doctrine Plus

spencer_ackerman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:07:03 -0000

What are you talking about Skulz.

Re: Sadr: Holding All the Cards

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:44:43 -0000

Ufred is the forces of chaos and anarchy. Everything we say he is, he is.

Re: Reframing the Israel Debate

spencer_ackerman — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:19:48 -0000

Skulz, I've had it with you. I have Jewish friends who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course not all criticism of Israel is anti-semitic. But what you wrote? That IS anti-semitic. You know that it's not just American Jews who can hold dual citizenship, right?

This will be the last time I address you or pay attention to your emails or comments.

Re: Yemen: al-Qaeda’s New Target?

spencer_ackerman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:48:46 -0000

Mark, I know, we killed Harithi there with the Predator in '02, the USS Cole in '00, etc. But fair point: the post as written suggests that Yemen was becoming an AQ hotspot ex nihilo. The perils of writing quickly. Thanks for calling me on it.

Re: ‘Bin Laden Determined To Strike In U.S.’ Pt. 2

spencer_ackerman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:52:19 -0000

Mark, is it really necessary to invent a position for me and then say I'm inconsistent or hypocritical for holding this imaginary position? Really now. Also, are you aware how you've conceived my position as existing at its extreme? If I were to do that to you, would you consider that fair or sensible?

Re: The Liberal Narrative on Iraq Might Not Be Going Official Yet!

spencer_ackerman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:25:39 -0000

If I was trying to conceal something, why would I link to the SWJ post? You need to take a deep breath and think things through.

Re: Torture and the Law

spencer_ackerman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:58:05 -0000

Can we not have comments here accusing John McCain of selling out the country while he was a POW? That's disgusting. Stick to the issue please.

Re: U.S. Lacks Pakistan Strategy

spencer_ackerman — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:35:59 -0000

I know, I know. I can't compete with that!

Re: Unnecessary Amputations At Army Hospitals?

spencer_ackerman — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:09:01 -0000

Thanks, Annie, this is very valuable.

Re: ‘Removal of Clothing’ Is Different From ‘Naked”

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:18:37 -0000

zing!

Re: On Iraq, Game Over For McCain?

spencer_ackerman — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:06:21 -0000

@ufred, as long as there's the option of punting on Kirkuk, expect a three-and-out strategy. And the option appears, contrary to my expectations, not to be disappearing. The fact of the referendum will be what determines violence in the city, not a U.S. presence.

Re: Maliki Comments a Blow to McCain

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:46:04 -0000

I know!!!! It's almost like Goldfarb is, like, stupid or dishonest or something.

Re: A Counterinsurgency Guide for Politicos

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:03:49 -0000

@Soldiernolongeriniraq, Dave did not and does not believe that remark was off the record. I admitted to an error of judgment in including the remark in my piece, but I did not violate any ground rules, which I take to be sacred. I hope this clears that up.

Re: Sources Holler Back: Kilcullen Edition

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:07:51 -0000

@elviselvisberg, I think, in hindsight, it was worse than discourteous, it was counterproductive to the point of writing a piece about the handbook. That's notwithstanding @ajm8127's reading, which I do appreciate. And @pajarito is giving good advice to his/her stepkids, although clearly I am a hypocrite here given my foul foul mouth.

Re: Afghanistan Is Looking Like an Emergency to Everyone But the Pentagon

spencer_ackerman — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:06:41 -0000

God bless your son.

Re: McCain Gets This Party Started With…Guns n’ Roses?!?

spencer_ackerman — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 08:15:00 -0000

@Delong, at least it's not "Wake Up Little Susie" or the Ricky Martin song about the World Cup, both of which the Bush 2000 campaign tortured us with.

Re: Let’s Put Together a Few Iraq Developments

spencer_ackerman — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:46:27 -0000

@vera, please don't threadjack.