Ever Cautious China

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BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- The Communist Party cautioned China's increasingly impatient reformers and intellectuals Tuesday that political liberalization and democracy are still a long way off despite the rapid pace of economic change during the past two decades.

The warning, in an article attributed to Premier Wen Jiabao in the official People's Daily, constituted the party's first-known response to a bubbling up of political debate as China prepares for an annual session of its legislature and an important Communist Party congress -- held every five years -- that is scheduled for this fall.

-- Edward Cody for The Washington Post

Business, good; voting, less so.

I guess we will not be seeing a liberal, democratic China in our lifetime. If we can avoid war with them, I'd say we are still ahead of the game. And at least they don't seem to be into jihad.

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Ever Cautious China

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BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- The Communist Party cautioned China's increasingly impatient reformers and intellectuals Tuesday that political liberalization and democracy are still a long way off despite the rapid pace of economic change during the past two decades.

The warning, in an article attributed to Premier Wen Jiabao in the official People's Daily, constituted the party's first-known response to a bubbling up of political debate as China prepares for an annual session of its legislature and an important Communist Party congress -- held every five years -- that is scheduled for this fall.

-- Edward Cody for The Washington Post

Business, good; voting, less so.

I guess we will not be seeing a liberal, democratic China in our lifetime. If we can avoid war with them, I'd say we are still ahead of the game. And at least they don't seem to be into jihad.

xXx

Israel: Anticipatory Self-Defense

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Faced with a steadily nuclearizing Iran, Israel must consider whether it can rely entirely upon a suitable combination of deterrence and active defenses or whether it must also prepare for preemption. The results of this essential consideration will have existential consequences for the Jewish state.

... Israel still faces certain state enemies whose undisguised preparations for attacking the Jewish state are genocidal, and who may not always be rational. Israel has every right to act preemptively when facing an existential assault. Known as "anticipatory self-defense," this general right is affirmed in both codified and customary international law, including the 1996 Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.

... Left alone in its nuclear plan, Iran would probably share certain of its atomic munitions with assorted anti-Israeli proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Ballistic missile defense is indispensable for Israel, but it is also critical for both Jerusalem and Washington that Iran's nuclear infrastructures be destroyed at their source.

-- Louis Rene Beres and Thomas McInerney for The Christian Science Monitor

There is a lot of heat against the of the possibility of the Bush Administration attacking Iran. In light of Iraq, that seems like a no-brainer. But it really is not that easy.

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Israel: Anticipatory Self-Defense

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Faced with a steadily nuclearizing Iran, Israel must consider whether it can rely entirely upon a suitable combination of deterrence and active defenses or whether it must also prepare for preemption. The results of this essential consideration will have existential consequences for the Jewish state.

... Israel still faces certain state enemies whose undisguised preparations for attacking the Jewish state are genocidal, and who may not always be rational. Israel has every right to act preemptively when facing an existential assault. Known as "anticipatory self-defense," this general right is affirmed in both codified and customary international law, including the 1996 Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.

... Left alone in its nuclear plan, Iran would probably share certain of its atomic munitions with assorted anti-Israeli proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Ballistic missile defense is indispensable for Israel, but it is also critical for both Jerusalem and Washington that Iran's nuclear infrastructures be destroyed at their source.

-- Louis Rene Beres and Thomas McInerney for The Christian Science Monitor

There is a lot of heat against the of the possibility of the Bush Administration attacking Iran. In light of Iraq, that seems like a no-brainer. But it really is not that easy.

xXx

Flying Like a Bird

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Andrew Sullivan posted this about "Jet-Man" in an entry he titled "Icarus 2.0".

Isn't this what we have dreamed of?


(Source: Andrew Sullivan Blog)

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Flying Like a Bird

♠
Andrew Sullivan posted this about "Jet-Man" in an entry he titled "Icarus 2.0".

Isn't this what we have dreamed of?


(Source: Andrew Sullivan Blog)

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