Eye on the Watcher’s Council

As you may know the members of the Watcher’s Council each nominate one of his or her own posts and one non-Council post for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week’s Council nominations is here.

A new member has been selected to fill the seat on the Council being vacated by Andrew Olmsted: Bookworm Room. I’m not familiar with Bookworm’s work so this will be the start of a grand, new adventure. Welcome, Bookworm!

The Glittering Eye, “The Fog of War”

In my submission for this week I reflect on the uncertainty in war, generally, and the war in Iraq in particular.

Eternity Road, “The Imperative of the Age Part 2: Plans”

I think there’s some food for thought in Francis Porretto’s submission for this week on being armed.

I think my views on firearms differ somewhat from his.  I have no particular distaste or fear of firearms.  There was a firing range in the basement of my high school.  I think most of the students must have shot, at least a little.  As far as I’m concerned firearms are tools, like any tools neither evil nor good but susceptible to inflicting substantial harm when in the hands of the reckless or careless.

I have no particular fondness for or attraction to firearms, either.  As I say, they’re tools.

In think that romantics of the left exaggerate the danger of firearms; romantics of the right exaggerate their effectiveness.

I taught self-defense for many years and have successfully defended myself against attackers.  In my view the best weapon is the prepared mind and, without that preparation, the biggest gun or knife may be worse than useless.

Done With Mirrors, “Patton Medicine”

In his submission for this week Callimachus considers the use of force and societal change.  In one passage he asks some questions:

Would we have, did we ever have, what it would have taken to show up in Iraq with the kind of aggressive force and homefront unity that would have snuffed out every tendency toward insurgency, every temptation of neighborly meddling, every instinctive nationalist instinct to IED the invader? Would it have been endured here at home?

I believed that the answer to those questions in 2003 was “No” and that played an important role in my opposition to the invasion of Iraq in the first place.   Without evidence I believe that the Bush Administration, in its heart of hearts, thought so, too.

Soccer Dad, “Too Cynical for David Broder”

Soccer Dad uses a column by David Broder critical of Hillary Clinton as a stepping-off point for an examination of Sen. Clinton’s qualifications for the presidency.  If cynicism and a desire for power are critical qualifications for the presidency (they may well be), she’s qualified.  Overqualified, maybe.

American Future, “Israel’s Position on the Iranian Threat”

Marc dissects a speech of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s, attempting to discern Israel’s position on the threat posed by Iran.   I suspect that there are quite a few people in both Israel and the U. S. who are hoping that the other country will take the problem off their hands.  I think they’ll both be disappointed.

Bookworm Room, “They’ve Finally Admitted It”

Bookworm hones in on some sad truths:  that leaders in the Muslim world are profoundly indifferent to the Palestinians who are merely a handy distraction and that the existence of Israel constitutes a rallying cry for the Palestinians, without which they’d likely be fighting amongst each other.   IIRC that’s what Steven Den Beste argued in his “wasps in a bottle” characterization of the likely results of an effective wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The Colossus of Rhodey, “But Dan Says ‘There’s Not Two Sides to This Story!’”

I think that Hube is a tad off in this statement in his post chiding global warming absolutists:

Since fossil fuels are the biggest current contributor to global warming (via humans), keep in mind that said fuels are finite and the current supply is not supposed to last the century. Certainly, countries (especially industrialized ones) will be making the transition to alternative fuels long before this supply begins to dwindle. As a result, it is logical to assume that greenhouse gas levels will begin to level off and then decrease when this happens.

My understanding is that, while oil may become relatively scarce and expensive by the end of this century, no such prediction is made for coal (which is also a fossil fuel).  Increasing  construction of coal-fired electrical power plants both here in the United States and in rapidly developing countries like China and India, is a non-trivial concern.

Rhymes With Right, “Union Membership Down”

Greg considers the implications of the decreasing proportion of American workers who are members of labor unions.  I think the greater concern is the rising percentage of unionized workers who are members of public employees’ unions, the influence of these unions with the Democratic Party, and their tendency to, coincidentally, favor larger government.

The Education Wonks, “Education in Afghanistan: Running in Reverse”

I share Edwonk’s chagrin at the re-emerging influence of the Taliban and their benighted view of education in Afghanistan.  Where I think we may differ is that I believe that the key problem is that in 5, 10, or 20 years people who believe the stuff that they do will still be there and we won’t.  I just don’t believe that we have that kind of commitment to Afghanistan.

Right Wing Nut House, “9/11: Just a Real Bad Day”

Rick Moran comments on David Bell’s op-ed in the Los Angeles Times the other day wondering whether we had overreacted to the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Joshuapundit, “Bush on the Ropes…and the State of the Union”

Freedom Fighter’s take on the State of the Union address is that Bush has been rocked back on his heels (if not worse), hasn’t got a lot of juice left, and that we could use a little leadership about now.  No argument here.

The Sundries Shack, “2007 SotU Democratic Rebuttal Tidbits”

Jimmie Bise, on the other hand, analyzes Virginia Senator Webb’s Democratic response to the State of the Union speech and finds a number of exaggerations.

Well, I’ve decided which posts I’ll vote for.  Which would get your votes?