The Man Who (Maybe) Never Was

Marc Danziger - aka Armed Liberal - is searching for Capt Jamil Hussein. From what I can glean from the current information available, there may actually be such a person, except that isn't his name, and he isn't a captain in the police, and he might not work where the AP claims he does. Or not.

It certainly looks like this bizarre story is hurtling to an inevitable unsatisfactory and inconclusive conclusion.

Which will be terribly disappointing to those on both sides of the argument who couldn't figure out that the existence or identity of this guy never mattered in the first place. Unless you're only interested in playing "gotcha" with the AP, it's what he claimed that matters. Danziger's asking about that too - good on him.

(Via Glenn Reynolds, who links an Editor and Publisher piece whose authors may have been a bit over-excited in their response to an earlier version of Marc's post.)

Worst POL/MIL idea of the year

Some ideas are so bad, and so "..never gonna happen.." that some people can't help but think it should be done.

Growing instability across the Middle East has prompted foreign policy think tanks to brainstorm ways to stabilize that region. One idea circulating in Washington last week called for admitting Israel into NATO.

At least one analyst thinks NATO membership could provide security to Israel, help settle the Israel-Palestinian border and make the alliance a stabilizing force in the region.

Dangerous duty

The submarine shown above was designed to help solve a problem that cost the U.S. Navy 12 ships near Okinawa alone.

The problem and the planned solution set out here.