HOT5 Daily 2/19/2010

1. "The Rorschach Test for Evil" An thought-provoking analysis worth reading.

Representative Sample:These people are the very definition of evil. They often reflect some part of every political belief because every political belief has some piece that can be used to justify being selfish and evil. They take only the bad and none of the good from every ideology.

2. "Has anyone else noticed there was just a coup in Niger?" Not until I read this article.

Representative Sample: It's coup season in Africa, apparently, with the third such takeover in just two years. Or that's what it looks like from the first reports streaming in from Niger

3. "Disputing the "Hearts and Minds" Strategy" There are other ways to crush insurgencies. They should at least be given theoretical consideration.

Representative Sample: winning the hearts and minds of a population is a proven strategy for breaking an insurgency--because it has been proven to work. But it hasn't always worked. Shouldn't our forces then also at least discuss other methods of breaking insurgencies?

4. "Social Scientists Under Fire" Speaking of "hearts & minds." 

Representative Sample: The formation of the Human Terrain System was guided by a woman named Montgomery McFate, a Harvard- and Yale-educated civilian anthropologist who became a controversial figure in the insular world of American social science by advocating the use of academics in the Mideast wars.

5. "War in the Falklands Round 2" Argentina has made some recent aggressive moves. Could the situation escalate into another war?

Representative Sample: we come to the recent sparring of words, at least so far, over a major oil discovery off the coast of British controlled Falklands Island that promises to make some extraordinarily rich. Just who that “someone” will be brings us to this present crisis.

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