deconstructing "enemy(enemy) == friend" in Iraq

Apparently the US, in its finite wisdom, has started to arm the Sunni insurgency...given promises that they will only fight al Qaida.

Because, you know, this has worked so well in the past.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/14/the-daily-show-arming-the-sunnis-or-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend/

Anyway, the Daily Show does a marvelous job of pointing out that the "enemy of my enemy" thing can result in defining friends the like of which it has been wisely said, "With friends like these, who needs enemas"?

terrorism and putting Islam on trial (literally)

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200610/waldman-islam

This article explores a problem with how justice is being pursued by the US in the wake of 9/11: affiliation with, or interest in, Islam is being used as 'evidence' of terrorist intent...even when scholars of Islam can't agree on how specific pieces of evidence are to be interpreted.

Seriously, what the hell is this sort of argument doing in court?

It's long, but worth reading.

toddlers plot to blow airliners up with sippy cups

Or apparently so some employees of the TSA believe:

http://www.nowpublic.com/nightmare_at_reagan_national_airport_a_security_story_to_end_all_security_stories

Get a grip, guys. Try to remember what it is that you're meant to accomplish. Hint: it's not your personal aggrandizement via petty power trips.

(I have recently spoken, in amnesiadust's LJ, on the subject of cops and why it makes sense that they're often difficult to deal with, namely that people treat them like crap as much as possible and they're often in constant danger of assault. Those factors, for the most part, don't apply here: airline travelers are generally polite and cooperative while they're going through security, and the risk of any of them offering aggression to a TSA worker is basically nil--and even if it happened, they've got backup all around them. TSA workers who act as those in the above story do have, as far as I'm concerned, no excuse.)