Про Наполеона

Недавно узнал забавную вещь про Наполеона Третьего. Оказывается, алжирцы тогда взбунтовались против Франции при активной поддержке местных колдунов, которые своими "чудесами" уверяли их в поддержке Аллаха. Тогда Наполеон Третий отправил в Алжир фокусника Жана Роберт-Гудина (чью фамилию позаимстовал Эрих Вайс, когда назвался Гарри Гудини), чтобы тот убедил их в обратном. Что тот и сделал - его фокусы были куда впечатлительнее арабских.

И я подумал - не отсюда ли растут ноги хасидской легенды, что Наполеон (первый) был чёрный маг, заинтересованный в личности Алтер Ребе? Последний, по этой легенде, даже велел сжечь свой дом при отступлении из Ляд, чтобы Наполеону не достался ни один предмет, ему принадлежавший. Вуду?

The Iraq War is Over. We Won.

WARNING: the following op-eds may either raise or decrease your blood pressure.

The War in Iraq Is Over. What Next?
By BING WEST
August 12, 2008; Page A21

The war I witnessed for more than five years in Iraq is over. In July, there were five American fatalities in Iraq, the lowest since the war began in March 2003. In Mosul recently, I chatted with shopkeepers on the same corner where last January a Humvee was blown apart in front of me. In the Baghdad district of Ghazilia -- where last January snipers controlled streets awash in human waste -- I saw clean streets and soccer games. In Basra, the local British colonel was dining at a restaurant in the center of the bustling city.

For the first time in 15 trips across the country, I didn't hear one shot or a single blast from a roadside bomb. In Anbar Province, scene of the fiercest fighting during the war, the tribal sheiks insisted to Barack Obama on his recent visit that the U.S. Marines had to stay because they were the most trusted force.

The war turned around in late 2006 because American troops partnered with Iraqi forces and tribal auxiliaries to protect the population. Feeling safe, the population informed on the militias and terrorists living among them. Then, in the spring of 2008, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attacked the Mahdi militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that controlled Basra and half of Baghdad. The militia crumbled under pressure from Iraqi soldiers backed by coalition intelligence and air assets.
( Read more... )

---

My Bet With Francis Fukuyama
By Bret Stephens
August 5, 2008; Page A17

No matter what happens in November, the war in Iraq will not be brought to an end by either Barack Obama or John McCain. The war in Iraq is over. We've won.

Exhibit A for my claim: Francis Fukuyama has agreed to write me a check for $100.
( Read more... )