Population: One

Well, that’s interesting. I figured when the Solomon Islands politely extricated themselves from the coalition, it was just one of those things and a good excuse to poke some fun at Bush. A diplomatic error but not a really important one.

So what do I say when it happens again? This time, Slovenia is saying “Hey, wait, include us out.” This time it’s after we accidentally included them in the wartime budget. No kidding; we were slated to give ‘em four and a half million until the Prime Minister of Slovenia said they didn’t want our money.

This story on a couple of Iraqi soldiers who surrendered in Umm Qasr is revealing all the way through. Start with the fact that they were both recent conscripts, one only seventeen years old. Notice how they didn’t feel safe surrendering until an old Iraqi who’d been through the first Gulf War told them it’d be OK. They were really happy to surrender once they thought it was safe, though.

On the other hand, they wouldn’t call their parents to tell them they were OK because their father would have been disappointed in them. And who’s willing to handle prisoners? The British; the Americans didn’t want ‘em.

I’m glad these two (and others like them) are OK.

Rumsfeld just told Syria to stop sending arms to Iraq, and stated that he considered supplying arms to Iraq to be “hostile acts.” Does that mean we’re threatening military action? “I’m saying exactly what I’m saying. It was carefully phrased.”

Three things.

First: Rumsfeld ain’t Secretary of State. Why isn’t Powell saying this? (Yeah, OK, so it’s a rhetorical question.)

Second: if Syria’s actions are a hostile act, what is it when Russia supplies arms to Iraq?

Third: I liked Rumsfeld better when he was being blunt. Can we have the blunt Rumsfeld back? I don’t think I trust him to send subtle messages.

Oh, yeah, and he warned Iran too. See, that’s a blunt warning, that was good.

Man. We all knew that Iraq was only the first step in a series of Middle Eastern wars, but this is heating up a little more quickly than I expected.

Hah. I’ve mathematically clinched victory in my group in the Yahoo March Madness pool. Nobody can stop Mr. Domino! I’m actually doing pretty well overall, being in the 77^th percentile. If Kentucky holds on and goes all the way I’ll have a respectable record. If not, well, I selected Florida to be in the finals, which tells you what you need to know about that eventuality.

Gary Hart has a weblog. He has made the fundamental mistake of turning on comments. Word to the wise: some of the most popular bloggers on the Internet don’t have comments. You can do without ‘em, and if you have ‘em, people will expect you to respond to them. The pitfall of opening lines of communication is that you might be forced to close them, and that’s worse than never opening ‘em at all.

But hey — good luck. And upgrade Movable Type, there’s a security hole in the version you’re using.

So of course, Richard Perle is gonna stay on the Defense Policy Board. Good news for Perle; he still gets to make money from a venture capital fund which invests in homeland security, and he still gets to officially advise the President on matters which will affect those investments.

I’d like to officially redefine the term “”Trent Lott moment”:http://popone.innocence.com/archives/000654.html” as follows: a Trent Lott moment is when someone in the public eye is caught doing something unethical, and as a result steps down from his or her former position in a way which doesn’t actually cause him or her any significant inconvenience beyond a loss of prestige. Thank you for your attention to this detail.

I’m getting really obsessive; I’m tempted to subscribe to Stratfor’s War on Iraq service. Fifty bucks… well, Kit Paypaled me a buck yesterday, so call it forty-nine bucks. I’ll think about it. I am an admitted information junkie.

It occurred to me yesterday that I’d have a blast taking a year off, travelling around the world, and blogging the whole thing. Sort of like Allbritton, but less dangerous and not really anything like a professional journalist. I’m committed to my current job for a few years minimum, so it won’t happen any time soon, but one never knows. Maybe someday. I could have done it the other year, while I was unemployed, and come to think of it I should have. I hadn’t expected such a long period of unemployment, though. (Laugh at my naivety.)