Nasty Little Wars: Roundup

∞ BBC Reporting on Sri Lankan government drive to push itinerant Tamils out of (majority Sinhalese) Colombo.

∞ Basque Separatists call off ceasefire with Spain, insist that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero (the same man pushing to increase gay rights and ease abortion restrictions in Spain) is a "fascist."

∞ And this creepy quote from the NYT article on the US missile strike in Somalia:

"On Saturday, Bryan Whitman, a Defense Department spokesman, said in an e-mail message, “This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them.”

The statement went on to say, “The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations, is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies.”

Bizarro International Brigades fighting in Somalia

Bizarro Hemingway, Bizarro Orwell killed in US strike on Islamist fighters in Somalia. Also, a Swede, and a number of civilians yet to be determined.

"For Whom the Muzzin Wails" and "Homage to Puntland" now will remain unfinished.

Page A-friggin' 18!

We bomb Somalia, possibly killing "an unknown number of villagers" and the Washington Post chooses to report it on A18? A friggin' 18? Is this where we are right now? Oh, and by the way, Walter Pincus continuing his excellent reporting on pre-war dissent in the CIA. This one on page A8.

Bring Back Ben Bradlee!









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Outrage-ometer: IN THE RED

5.45: Slate's Dahlia Lithwick on Vote Caging. This has legs.

7.72: The "50 Years of American Military Presence in Iraq" idea is gaining traction among small clique of mentally disabled policymakers. NOTE TO BUSH: This is why people fly airplanes into our cities. Imperialism is trés 19th Century.

9.01: Global War on Terror in Africa not working out too well, either. Somalia in a state of collapse that is bad even by the tragic standards of Africa's Horn. Anthony Shadid writes about the humanitarian side.