A Few Good Reads

Paul Levian, a former German intelligence agent, posits a likely scenario for an Iranian war. The lede:

Judging from the rather frantic behind-the-scenes efforts of Russia and China in Iran, they seem to appreciate that the Iranian leadership is in for a big and probably deadly surprise. The Bush administration has not only handled its Iran dossier much more skillfully than Iraq, but also managed to set up Iran for a war it can neither win nor fight to a draw.

This is an interesting article that deviates from the current received wisdom.

Mark Steyn, on the subject of those cartoons depicting Muhammad, writes “'Sensitivity' Can Have Brutal Consequences.” Sample paragraph or three:

The rule for "brave" "transgressive" "artists" is a simple one: If you're going to be provocative, it's best to do it with people who can't be provoked.

Thus, NBC is celebrating Easter this year with a special edition of the gay sitcom "Will & Grace," in which a Christian conservative cooking-show host, played by the popular singing slattern Britney Spears, offers seasonal recipes -- "Cruci-fixin's." On the other hand, the same network, in its coverage of the global riots over the Danish cartoons, has declined to show any of the offending artwork out of "respect" for the Muslim faith.

Which means out of respect for their ability to locate the executive vice president's home in the suburbs and firebomb his garage.

Don’t miss this one. And there’s more great commentary on the cartoon flap at Maggie’s Farm.

h/t for all three of the above links: The Anchoress.

And finally, the last word of the day. Have you visited Mr. (WO-1) Mike Fay lately? The USMC’s artist-in-residence in Iraq has some great new drawings and word pictures up on his blog. Unbelievably GOOD stuff. Your loss if you don't go.

Update 02/06/2006 1815 hrs: While I was out running around the countryside this afternoon, Laurie posted the following comment:

Just got an e-mail update from the American Family Association. NBC has pulled the Cruci-fixin's piece. In fact, they did a bit of backpeddling saying they didn't know how that info got released, they had no script, blah, blah. But that apparently was a bit of deception. More info here for those interested.

It's good to see NBC (that's almost an alliteration!) back down on this one. One gets very tired of the gratuitous shots taken at Christians. Furthermore, this particular scenario was a case of appalling taste, period. When one can't imagine another religious group being taken to task in the same manner, e.g., Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, then you know it's wrong. I'm not a religious man, but I do know where the boundaries are...or should be.

Thanks for the update, Laurie!