What We’re Reading

Preeti Aroon:

• Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions, an editorial by John P. Briggs, MD, and J.P. Briggs II, PhD for truthout.org. Bush’s questionable decision-making style, examined.
• Military Surplus Parts Illegally Find Their Way to Iran, U.S. Officials Say. This AP story broke last Wednesday, so it’s curious that the Washington Post would be picking it up now.

Mike Boyer:

• “Not Compassionate, Not Conservative: A political traditionalist critiques our pseudo-conservative president,” by Ethan Fishman in the Winter issue of The American Scholar. Fishman slams the administration’s conceit that “the executive branch can interpret laws any way it wants.”
• How the left led us into 9/11, The Los Angeles Times. The op-ed version of Dinesh D’Souza’s new book is the laziest piece of pseudo-academia I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s especially disappointing considering his previous works held some merit. I generally like the folks at the Hoover Institution, but this is an embarrassment.

Christine Chen:

• Literary Ambition Without Borders. Vikram Chandra’s new novel, Sacred Games, is “the latest, fattest example of what might be called literary globalization — a 900-page manifestation of the worldwide trend toward culture, commerce and seemingly everything else becoming interconnected,” writes Bob Thompson in Monday’s Washington Post.

Blake Hounshell:

• At Border, Signs of Pakistani Role in Taliban Surge, in yesterday’s New York Times. Carlotta Gall answers the question, “Have Pakistani intelligence agencies been promoting the Islamic insurgency?” with a resounding “yes”.

Carolyn O’Hara:

• Blood Oil, by Sebastian Junger. Vanity Fair, February 2007. Junger meets the militants who are wreaking havoc on Nigeria’s oil supplies.
• The Invisible Enemy in Iraq, by Steve Silberman. Wired, February 2007. Think insurgents are dangerous? Meet the drug-resistant supergerm infecting U.S. troops.
• As if on cue, a new Kleenex tissue fights germs … via mild pesticides. From Can a Re-Engineered Kleenex Cure a Brand’s Sniffles? in the Wall Street Journal, Jan. 22, 2007. 

Kate Palmer:

• Western Europe’s America Problem, by Andrei S. Markovits, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 19. Anti-Americanism in Western Europe has reached a fever pitch, running much deeper than simple criticisms of Bush, and counting every social group, profession, age, and gender among its ranks.
• Intelligence Brief: Russia Wary of China’s Anti-Satellite Capabilities, from Power and Interest News Report, Jan. 22. Russia has more to fear from China’s anti-satellite missile than the United States.