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This gets it right. Obviously, trying to pose as defenders of the rule of law when you believe that the government needs to be doing a lot more arbitrary detention and torture is going to lead you to a lot of illogical arguments, but I'm especially amused by the "if prosecutors have good evidence, it's like you're not having a trial at all!" routine.

But State's bureau in charge of
protecting its personnel is already stretched thin and the Afghanistan surge
could only exacerbate its administrative and strategic shortfalls, according to
a soon-to-be-released GAO
report, obtained exclusively by The Cable.

Ninety percent of DS personnel are contractors, at the cost of $2.1
billion since 2000, and DS has 1,000 contractors doing administrative jobs
alone, the report says.

The
President will soon request from Congress the resources needed to implement
this focused civilian effort. His request will include not only a sizable
increase in civilian assistance, but also funds to support deployment of
additional civilian experts beyond the roughly 1,000 U.S. government civilians
who will be on the ground by early next year. These civilians will help build
Afghan governance and private sector capacity. In the field, they will work
from District Support Teams and PRTs, side by side with our military. Some will
also extend our permanent diplomatic presence outside of Kabul by staffing new
consulates in Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.



We are now in the midst of the civilian surge. I spoke last Thursday at the
Foreign Service Institute with a class of 90 experts from USAID, USDA and State
who will be deploying before Christmas; the next such class is in two weeks, so
our tempo is quick. On Friday, I met with a packed room of Foreign Service
Officers looking to sign-up for tours in 2010 and beyond. Next week, I'll
travel to Camp Atterbury, Indiana<!--[if gte vml 1]>
<![endif]-->, where every civilian deploying to the field undergoes a
week-long, realistic, intensive field exercise with our military counterparts.



Secretary Clinton is proud of noting that among these civilians are our top
experts from 10 different U.S. government departments and agencies. And once
deployed, they report to our Embassy in Kabul through a unified civilian chain
of command, with senior civilian representatives at every civ-mil platform. In
short, our selection, training and leadership is better than ever before. The
result is improved civ-mil coordination at all levels of our effort in
Afghanistan, and gives us the civilian expertise out in key districts that will
allow our locally-focused strategy to succeed. Admiral Mullen attested to the
quality of the civilians during his appearance before the Congress last
Thursday.

The State Department is already "surging" civilians into the warzone, increasing their number to 974 civilians in
a deployment that has already begun.

Taiwan's deputy national security advisor, Ho Szu-yin, is in Washington this week and is said to be talking with the administration about the issue.

"I
can assure you this administration will not waiver in its commitment to
provide those defense articles and services necessary for Taiwan's
defense," Assistant Secretary of Defense Chip Gregson told the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council in September.

A United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen is ground zero for heated political disputes about global environmental policies. But one American evangelical minister at the talks wants to bridge political divides with a religious appeal. We explore "Creation Care" and the issues that divide religion and science.

On November 29th, a 24-inch jagged rupture in an oil pipeline in Alaska's North Slope led to one of the worst spills in the region's history. The pipeline was shut off, and the source was discovered on December 3rd. But so far at least 46,000 gallons of crude oil and contaminated water have poured out into the surrounding Alaskan wilderness.

At the WH Christmas Ball Monday night, they served ACORN cookies

Bartlett’s point in the post is that most of the opponents of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were Democrats.

This is very true. But it simply highlights the fact that politics in 1964 were not ideologically aligned.

acted unprofessionally and inappropriately, but did nothing illegal,

The report, by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, recommends nine steps for ACORN to take in order to regain public trust in the wake of the scandal, including that it return to its "core competency - community organizing and citizen engagement empowerment, with related services."

a relatively small fraction of the world’s total economic output.

Second World War

sacrifice
for their country