War and Peace, cont.
A grab bag of stuff, all of which I'm still digesting myself.

A really fascinating article in Wired News on how the sysadmins at Iraq's State Company for Internet Services (SCIS) have gotten Iraq back on-line. Apparently, SCIS is still being run by Baathist holdovers with the apparent approval of the Coalition Provisional Authority, according to the lead sysadmin.

That's just one bit of Good News/Bad News from Iraq. A poll says almost 2 out of 3 Iraqis want the U.S. military to stay until Iraq is stable and secure; only 17 percent want American soldiers out now. “But some U.S. lawmakers are increasingly uneasy about the daily killings of soldiers, the stretching thin of troop forces, excessive demands on reservists and the costs of the war.” See this article for a perspective from the troops. Strategic Forecasting takes a pessimistic view of the current situation: “Suppressing a guerrilla operation without alienating the indigenous population represents an extreme challenge to the United States that at this point does not appear avoidable -- and the seriousness of which does not appear to be broadly understood”. The Economist calls these efforts counterproductive.

Other reports suggest that the situation elsewhere in Iraq isn't as bad as it's made out to be, and that the Iraqis are spontaneously organizing themselves to restore services and civil society. At the same time, this article in the NYT says “United States military commanders say foreign fighters are being actively recruited by loyalists to Saddam Hussein to join the resistance against American forces in Iraq”.

It looks like Saddam and his sons are alive and in Iraq. We may have just found documentary evidence of Iraq's WMD program. We'll see.

The latest in a series of continuing operations in Afghanistan is underway. Here's a story about how the civil situation there continues to deteriorate.

There are reports of student arrests in Iran; after 10 days of demonstrations, things appear quiet for the moment. Hopefully, this is just a respite and the reform movement will continue to gather strength. Here's a photo essay of the protesters from Iranian.com. How should the US respond? Read this.

Here's a post making the imperialist argument in US foreign policy. Here's a better, more considered set of ideas.

Some links via Slashdot, Instapundit, The Agonist

Update: Now there's a report that Saddam and one son may have been killed in an operation last Wednesday. DNA tests are being performed.