America’s taste for getting into no-win wars with undefinable goals is well-known, although rarely stated as honestly as it was yesterday by State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf. When asked whether the U.S. would “lose” if the U.S. doesn’t insert ground troops into Syria, Harf replied candidly: “I’m not exactly sure what ‘lose’ means.” To lose, you have … Continued
In any conflict, the most important consideration is the definition of success. As George W. Bush found, it’s critical to know when to hang the “Mission Accomplished” banner. In Syria, the White House’s definition of success is the destruction of ISIS, but the question is: when will they be “destroyed”? If ISIS changes their name … Continued
“Degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIL is the mission for Syria. But few people have considered what it would take to make good on those seemingly simple and direct words. The complexity of the mission is implied by the name of the target itself: are we at war with the “Islamic State”? Or is it the … Continued
America is once again at war in the Middle East, dropping bombs and inserting “advisers” on the ground in two countries. Americans seem supportive of the stated mission – destroying one division of the cross border insurgency known as ISIS – but they will increasingly grow tired of the actual mission: regime change in Syria. … Continued
It’s not just libertarians who believe that police have become militarized. It’s police themselves. Last week, Indianapolis Police Chief Rick Hite told his city council that he sees himself as a “soldier in an army” and his police force as “paramilitary organization” that is preparing for “battle.” With the issue of police militarization still hot after … Continued
It’s flu season again, which means that soon a crop of viral myths and memes about the flu vaccine will spread over the internet. Besides the usual BS about vaccines and autism, one specific claim that I’ve heard probably a couple dozen times in the last five years is that the H1N1 swine flu vaccines actually “killed more … Continued
Over the past few months, Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar have rolled out another innovative a ridesharing service, this time to allow carpooling between people who commute along similar routes and want to split the cost. Great, right? The problem is that California regulators have just declared this new service to be illegal. …The state’s Public Utilities Commission has … Continued
The U.S. is about to enter a war against an enemy that has no capability or apparently even the desire to attack the United States. In fact, as the BBC reported, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “acknowledged that his organisation was not equipped to attack the Americans at home.” Furthermore, the U.S. government itself isn’t even … Continued
