History offers up a few moments when the world is presented with a choice:  someone is committing a naked act of aggression on someone else, and we can choose to ignore it, or we can stand up to the bullying.

Ignoring the bullying is the preferred option ~ who wants to get involved in a messy situation with no end in sight.  Standing up to the bullying is the right (morally and strategically) option.

It is time to stand up to the Russian bullying in Georgia.

This diary is meant for supporters of former Sen. Edwards.  I am not one, but I feel your pain (and please pardon the pun).

I can understand what you are going through.  I went through that myself back in January 1998... when news about Monica Lewinsky first surfaced.

I had come to like and admire President Clinton.  I had come to believe that his alleged infidelities were just right wing smears.  I had come to believe that the latest allegations about him having "done an intern" (as Chris Mathews used to put it every night) was nothing but rumors being manufactured by the usual suspects.. and that he was really just taking a paternal interest in the young lady's career.

I sympathize with your anguish, your grief, your denial and your anger.  You have every right to those emotions.  

Personally, I believe he (Sen. Edwards) made a mistake, like we all do, and I would rather focus on the positive.  He (Sen. Edwards) admits that he "started to believe that (I)he was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic"  

That is an honest admission... even if it comes from a man who is 1% dishonest.  Let us cut the man some slack for it... he has just admitted to something far worse than having an affair!

To all those writing their farewell diaries....

I am not leaving !

Yes, this site has it's problems.  It even sucks on occasion.  But I came to this site because the front page was not actively demagoguing any democrats... and you cannot say the same about most blogs.

Yes, this site has it's share of "moderation issues", and it's share of troll (of the concern, purity and other varieties).  

But it is still better than any other site out there.  It offers the opportunity of open debate between people who hold opposing viewpoints. I, for instance, have thoroughly enjoyed my debates with Shaun Apleby, for instance... even though we disagree on whether to support Sen. Obama.

And so... in a nutshell: I am not leaving.

Some of you may recognize me as a "Clinton supporter"... I was a late supporter (I signed on only after NH), but you may recall various diaries I have done supporting Sen. Clinton, and a recent diary I did supporting Pres. Clinton against various accusations of racism.  I believe that Pres. Clinton was a very good President.

I say all that because I am now going to launch into a scathing criticism of US foreign policy, one in which Pres. Clinton does not look good.

The various facets of foreign policy can be analyzed like just about every other human (or collective human) behavior... it is conducted for 3 types of reason:
(a) historical:  we do things a certain way because we have always done things that way.
(b) strategic/tactical: we will do certain things that give us a strategic or tactical advantage over our peers or rivals
(c) moral:  we will do certain things that are "right"

Oftentimes, the 3 motivations point us in contrary directions.  It is interesting to analyze the choices we make when we are faced with such choices.  Please keep this in mind, when you analyze the following set of events that track Operation Desert Shield to Operation Desert Fox.

This diary is about doping in sports... or the use of performance enhancing drugs.  This is an appropriate topic, made all the more appropriate with the upcoming Olympics.

Doping has a long history in sports, obviously.  Many athletes have been caught, and there is a cloud that hangs over every sport as a result.  

But how pervasive is the problem ?  What is the underlying origin of the problem ? And can something be done about it ??

Michael Shermer (of the Skeptic Society had an article in the April issue of Scientific American on that topic recently (unfortunately, you need to be a subscriber to get the pictures; but the fulltext is available).  His arguments sound really compelling:

I have been avoiding political diaries, but I could not resist writing this one.  The sight of former Pres. Clinton pleading that he is "not a racist" is very disturbing.  

Clinton at first said he did not want to rehash events of the past year because it "interferes with the issue which is who should be elected in November." But then he offered a lengthy defense of his own role and chastized the media for its coverage.

When asked, "Do you personally have any regrets about what you did, campaigning for your wife?" Clinton, at first, answered, "Yes, but not the ones you think. And it would be counterproductive for me to talk about."

But then he added, "There are things that I wish I'd urged her to do. Things I wish I'd said. Things I wish I hadn't said.

"But I am not a racist," he continued. "I've never made a racist comment and I never attacked him [Obama] personally."

Obviously, there were very many accusations of racism hurled at him (and at Sen. Clinton) during and after the campaign (sorry, I am not going to provide any links).  And obviously, some of those accusations must have hurt.

And so, it is worthwhile to consider what Pres. Clinton has been upto since leaving office.  Here are just two examples:

This diary is about the NorthWest Frontier Province ~ the region between Afghanistan and Pakistan that Sen. Obama identifies as the crucible of terrorism.  He would refocus American energies there.  My diaries are an attempt to shed some light on it's history, with an goal of outlining the difficulty of the current situations.

There was a time when the NWFP had hope.  There was a time when the NWFP was led by a great man.  

His name was Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan.  

He was known as Badshah Khan (or King Khan).

He was also known as Sarhaddi Gandhi (or Frontier Gandhi ~ Gandhi of the Frontiers).

And the best way to understand the tragic story of the NWFP is to follow the story of this great man... from hope to betrayal and to disappointment!

This diary is about the mountainous region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which Sen. Obama has identified as being the central front in the war on terror.  This region is called NWFP: the North West Frontier Province.  It is a troubled land...it is a land without hope.

It was not always so!

And, in order to understand the current problems, it behooves us to go back and visit the era when these problems were created, and to the era when this land had hope, and to when this hope was extinguished.