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I talked to a legal scholar this afternoon who specializes in law of armed conflict.

His take on why Ayala's case seems to be moving forward so quickly compared to the Blackwater case...

[QUOTE=Ken White;60630]Except we do not know all the facts, ergo some thinking is justified until such point as those fact are pretty conclusive.

True, we don't know all the facts. Have you seen...

There's no "thinking" about it. The facts are the facts. What he did was against the law, pure and simple. An honor code is just that, a code, a highly subjective set of rules of conduct that...

Apparently that's correct, according to this AP story.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hM067vULxgQQZnSRtoCVH5C8pajAD94IUDH00

Looks like Ayala beat Blackwater to the punch.

Does anyone know of any other PMCs, in Iraq or AFghanistan, who has been charged with murder? Is this a first?

How do Blackwater guys kill dozens of Iraqis at a traffic circle and not get charged...

That's a good story about Taliban motives. I don't know how much you can extend the characterization to all Taliban/ACM, but it's a good corrective to the common notion that the Taliban are...

Thanks for the link. I don't think any plans to 'win' in Afghanistan can afford not to include robust reconciliation efforts, including allowing Taliban/ACM fighters to come in from the cold without...

oh right, the cryptome piece. 'piece' is precisely what it is. a piece of what I leave to your good opinion.

Hmm... a link to a Mother Jones article in a blurb about my article? Wasn't aware of that. By "author" do you mean me? Cuz it ain't me. I can't seem to find this link. In any case, I don't...

Hey all you HTT news junkies, my feature story about the first HTT in Afghanistan is now out in the current (Sept.) issue of Harper's Magazine. Most of it will be old hat to those of you who know...

that's a horrible piece of 'journalism' over at cryptome. Talk about not having any standards. Don't you just love this disclaimer at the end, about TRADOC not answering the writer's questions fast...

hey all -- i should've mentioned that there's more and better discussion on the subject deeper in the Registan site. Apparently the author of the blog has pursued this topic for a while, and it's...

Registan.net posted some interesting and brief analysis on 14 Aug 08 about how paved roads in Afghanistan have actually encouraged more insurgent attacks rather than discouraged them, contrary to...

Good point Beez. I'm going to check out your link.

And yes, SecDef's recent speech is consistent with some of the criticisms raised by RI in that report. I'm liking this trend, though, of...

"For example, the percentage of Official Development Assistance that the Pentagon controls has skyrocketed from 3.5% to nearly 22% in the past decade, while the percentage controlled by USAID has...

When I said the result of the media's lack of critical analysis leading up to the war in Iraq resulted in mainly jingoistic stories, I meant that, largely, the stories the media did publish supported...

Definitely #2.

I think the result of #2 has been jingoism, mainly.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing more of #1 if the theoretical media outlet and/or media personality was clearly anti-war, a...

I thought that the satire itself was quite good! It's the propagandistic bent to it that brings it down. But enough of that...

I don't think we in the U.S. get enough mainstream media stories...

The post that started this thread is conservative propaganda and not worth the attention of SWJ readers. The discussion it generated is more interesting.

That said, are there any actual...

Does the RCMP have anyone investigating this case? I recall reading something about it a couple years ago. No doubt worse things wash up with regularity elsewhere in the states, but there's...

okay, here's the email address written to avoid spam bots:

sfeather AT twcny DOT rr DOT com

I give my kids a good Featherstoning every day whether they deserve it or not, just for good measure.

I'm always open to good story lines, and I've found that folks who work with the State Dept....

Do you see the extra "C" now? That's for you, B., and for the hundreds of kids who made fun of my real last name -- Featherstone -- for so many wonderful years! It's a fun name to have.
...

that's a good story, thanks for posting.

what do you do in Kiev, B.?

I've been following this story for a while now. I've been developing a story on 'food security' and I'm trying to pinpoint a place or a region that's in conflict over wheat production/consumption. ...