Center for a New American Security

Good god it was a busy week here at the world famous Abu Muqawama. So busy that Charlie can't be bothered to format the Week in Review. Mostly, we talked about Basra.

Also, Obama and McCain; David Ucko; Babes in Kurdland; drugs and corruption in Afg.

And, of course, basketball. (Well, Charlie talked about basketball because AM is too embarrassed to admit that he's getting schooled by a girl. A girl whose team is IN THE FINAL FOUR!)

[hums quietly: it's the most wonderful time...of the year!]

Here's this week's highlights; stick around for some roundball trash talking in the weeks to come. (Sorry about that whole Arkansas loss, AM. Hope you enjoy being UNC's 2 seed.)

Monday: Democracy or Musharraf

Tuesday: Extra! Extra! Cowardly peace-monger retires

Wednesday: McCain and EADS

Thursday: Brigades Can't Be Advisors

Friday: Falling Towers of Babble (nice pun, Kip)

Saturday: [crickets chirping...] (Go watch the Marines in Berkeley again)

Sunday: Olympic Hurdles (and! a new book club entry from Tom Ricks)

Keep your eyes peeled for AM's after-action on last week's COIN boondoggle. Charlie remains in her Fortress of Solitude for the foreseeable future.

This week's highlights:

Monday: At War No Longer

Tuesday: That's right, a cocktail napkin

Wednesday: Le Ratissage

Thursday: Lunacy in Lebanon

Friday: The Colonels and the Matrix and The Lebanon Narrative

...and...

The Return of the Book Club!

We had a big week here at AM: lots of posts, lots of traffic. Here are the highlights:

Monday: No Better Time than Now...for the Navy

Tuesday: Economics of Assassination

Wednesday: An Adaptive Enemy

Thursday: Standing Athwart History, Yelling Stop!

Friday: Three Reasons to Worry About Iraq

Saturday: GEN Casey, meet LTG Caldwell

Sunday (Bonus!) : Kagan and Kagan on Odierno

By far the most traffic (and most comments) this week centered on our beloved blue suiters. Danger Room's reporting on Cyber Command's new blog restrictions got everyone's blood up; and we couldn't help ourselves when the Frogs beat out Boeing for the refueling tanker contract. Thanks to all the Instapundit readers who stopped by...there's more to come, so stick around!

For those of you who missed it, here is a selection of AM's best of the week:

Monday - Hassan Nasrallah is Comin' For You
Tuesday - Honey, Pack up your Ivy League J.D. and give notice to the boss cuz we're moving to Watertown
Wednesday - You've Been Selected for an ETT
Thursday - R2P, Post-Colonialism, and the Incoherence of Western Liberals
Friday - Grand (and not so Grand) Strategy

And for those of you following the debates on Nagl's portrait tips for the modern metrosexual, here are the winners:



WINNER! Anonymous: O HAI
I UPGRADED UR DOKTRIN

#2 Anonymous: OH HAI!
YOU EATN SOOP? HERE, I HAZ KNIFE.

#3 Alex: I HAZ YR MIND. CAN HAZ YR HEART?

#4 spencerackerman: Would you read me? I’d read me.

#4 Anonymous: EMO HERR NAGL SAYS…ur warz iz fail, try diz

#5 Anonymous: "Pie Jesu domine..."
(THWACK)
"Dona eis requiem..."
(THWACK)
"Pie Jesu domine..."
(THWACK)
"Dona eis requiem..."
(THWACK)

Winners were determined by a mathematical scheme involving the swearing of Air Force General officers upon viewing caption and picture.

Thank you for the great entries. We at AM loved them all (but not all equally) and will definitely do something like this again.

The winner receives a prize. Email abumuqawama@hotmail.com in order to collect.

Another good week here at Abu Muqawama. For those of you who missed the highlights and fireworks, here they are:

Monday: COIN Markets

Tuesday: War and Film

Wednesday: Security Clearances

Thursday: Who Killed Imad Mughniyeh?

Friday: George Packer's New Play, Reviewed

And while there were a lot of good comments, Kip gets the award for starting the best conversation with this thread.

We'll make you better. Highlights from AM last week:

Saturday: Abu Muqawama: One Year Later

Friday: Skeptics Central

Thursday: More Complaints about IO

Wednesday: More Troops for Afghanistan?

Tuesday: Winning, But Not Won?

Monday: Bob Bateman's Combat Trauma Bibliography

The best debate this week can be found in Wednesday's post on more troops for Afghanistan. And the comment of the week goes to Andy who massively chides Charlie's lazy pot-shots at the Air Force and F-22. Keep it comin'.

PS This Week in Review feature is new at AM. Let us know in the comments if you find it useful.

Let's just say that by the end of the match, Abu Muqawama's friend Jamie was trying to figure out some way in which New Zealand is actually a lost colony of Scotland whereby we have Dan Carter & Co. at our disposal for next week's match. As it was, we were embarrassed.

Abu Muqawama (the blog) had a good week, though, and for those of you who missed some of it, here are the highlights:

Saturday: The Debate To Which You Should All Be Paying Attention

Friday: Afghan Study Group: The Wheels Done Come Off

Thursday: Afghanistan a failed state? (Again?)

Wednesday: Lipstick on a Pig

Tuesday: Surge to Victory?

Monday: Big Changes for Big Army

The best debate, meanwhile, took place in the post on Arab Unity, while the best comment was afghanistanica's, which inspired a whole 'nother post.