A discussion of The Strong Horse with author Lee Smith

I love books that stand conventional wisdom on its head and ask the reader to think about old problems in new ways. That, in a nutshell, is what Lee Smith has done with The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations.

I especially liked the book description from Max Boot,

The Strong Horse is hard to describe and even harder to put down. Lee Smith has concocted an addictive and original brew of reportage, memoir, and political analysis that casts the Middle East and its relations with the “Great Satan”; in a fresh and fascinating light. Writing about his meetings with everyone from Omar Sharif to Natan Sharansky, he delivers one shrewd insight after another. Anyone seeking to understand the world’s most volatile region should read this timely and entertaining book.

It was a pleasure to welcome Lee to the show, I only wish we had more time to discuss this because clearly, we were only able to scratch the surface. Special thanks to Martin Solomon of Solomonia who recommended the book to me.

The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Marc Thiessen says Obama administration is Courting Disaster

One of the most underappreciated aspects of the Scott Brown victory in deep blue Massachusetts was his vigorous, clear, no apologies defense of some of the most controversial aspects related to how we handle the war on terror, or whatever the Obama administration is calling it this week. War on man-made disasters is sooooo 2009!

Scott Brown said quite clearly, the Christmas Eve crotch bomber was funded and trained by Al Qaeda and therefore, he should be treated as an enemy combatant within the military justice system. His opponent, Martha Coakley, agreed with the Obama administration that he should be read his rights, lawyered-up and put into our civilian court system where he will enjoy the same constitutional protections as you or I would.

The choice for voters was crystal clear.

I have never read a book that made me as angry as Courting Disaster. The Obama administration approach to the war on terror is as naive as it is dangerous. The crotch bomber incident is the perfect example of how we are no longer able to effectively interrogate, or even question, terrorists with potentially critical information. In a war against small cells of people able to move freely around the world, human intelligence is more important than ever. The Obama administration has put a blindfold on the CIA.

Stephen F. Hayes at the Weekly Standard reviews the way the crotch bomber was dealt with and it just serves as validation for everything author Marc Thiessen covers in this book.

We learned that the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, whose agency is responsible for pulling together pieces of intelligence to prevent attacks, went on vacation the day after the attack. We learned that the top White House counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, told him to go. We learned that the White House’s initial view of the botched attack — from Janet Napolitano and Robert Gibbs — was that “the system worked.” We learned that President Obama still believed the attempted bombing was the work of “an isolated extremist” three days after the attack, despite a wealth of evidence that Abdulmutallab had been sent by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). We learned that Brennan was surprised that AQAP was capable of attacking the United States. We learned that Napolitano was surprised by al Qaeda’s “determination” to hit the U.S. and stunned that they would send an individual — not a group — to conduct an attack. We learned that four top U.S. counterterrorism officials — Leiter, Napolitano, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair — were not consulted about whether to treat Abdulmutallab as an enemy combatant or a criminal. We learned that a proposed “high-value detainee interrogation unit,” or HIG, does not exist one year into the Obama administration. We learned that Blair, the nation’s top intelligence official, thought that it did. We learned that Abdulmutallab was read his Miranda rights less than twelve hours after he was captured. We learned that the FBI interrogated Abdulmutallab for just 50 minutes before he was told he had the right to remain silent and chose to exercise it.

That’s an impressive record of incompetence.

We had a bad connection initially, but we called Marc back and jumped right into this excellent book. We covered a lot of ground but it felt like we only had time to scratch the surface. I hope to have him back on soon. I recommend buying this book, and some Tums to go along with it.

The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Kevin Bacon wins Golden Globe for HBO’s Taking Chance

One of the greatest experiences I have had in five years of Pundit Review Radio was getting to know the family of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps and Lt. Col. Michael Strobl. Chance was killed in Iraq in 2004 and Lt. Col. Strobl was assigned to escort his body home from Dover AFB to his final resting place in Wyoming. He wrote an incredibly moving account of his experience on Blackfive, which I HIGHLY recommend you read in its entirety. This incredible story was made into a sublime and beautiful movie by HBO called Taking Chance. Kevin Bacon plays Lt. Col. Michael Strobl in the movie.

Taking Chance Trailer

Last evening, he won a Golden Globe for the role.

In the days before the HBO movie was released, we did a very emotional interview with Chance’s mother Gretchen Mack and Lt. Col. Strobl, this was truly an unforgettable experience and interview,

Michael Strobl and Gretchen Mack on Pundit Review Radio

The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bad Omen

A lot of things are used as political weapons including cyberspace, civilians and the environment to name a few. In my lifetime, terrorism has always been used as a political weapon. It’s been a highly successful one, after all it got Yasar Arafat a Nobel Peace Prize.

What we haven’t seen, for the most part in the West, is assassination used as a political weapon. In the Muslim world, yes, it has been a tactic in recent years, from Harari in Lebanon to Benazir Bhutto. In the West however, we had two major assassination attempts within three months in the spring of 1981 with President Reagan and Pope John Paul II both being shot.

I write this out of a sense of dread that I got watching this video of the Christmas Eve attack on the Pope. The video is pretty terrifying and it made me realize that there have been a series of recent incidents that could have had tragic consequences.

December 24
AP: Raw Video: Pope Knocked Down at Christmas Mass

This woman tried to do the same thing at this mass last year and yet Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said, “Ms Maiolo is known to the Vatican, but she was never thought to have been of any serious danger. If anything, the poor woman needs treatment, which is what she is getting.”

What if she had a gun? Incredible.

Italian PM Berlusconi has fractured nose, broken teeth after attack
December 13

According to CNN, “The attack at a campaign rally Sunday in Milan left Berlusconi bleeding profusely from his left upper lip and cheek.”

Feds: Couple crashed Obama’s state dinner
November 24

Sure, who could argue that Tarq and Michaele Salahi are pathetic fame whores. Still, the security angle of their reality TV inspired stunt has been underappreciated by the media and the public. If they had intentions beyond 12 episodes on Bravo, who knows what could have happened.

I wasn’t sure if I should even do this post. It should go without saying, but it doesn’t, that although I oppose his policies, I wish this president, any president, absolute security and safety. We (the civilized world) have been lucky that these have all been minor incidents. Hopefully, this is just a phase and not a sign of things to come, a bad omen.

Jared C. Monti Medal of Honor Ceremony

UPDATE: Last night, Bruce McQuain used the Someone You Should Know segment to describe to us in vivid detail the battle on the side of an Afghan mountain which ultimately cost Jared Monti, and two other soldiers, their lives.

My thoughts and prayers are with Jared’s family, friends and fellow soldiers today.

On August 30, 2009 I was joined in studio by Blue Mass Group co-founder David Kravitz. We were honored and humbled that Jared’s father Paul, along with two of Jared’s best friends, Darin Souza and Janell Holmes, were able to join us as well. Paul wants Jared remembered for the man he was, not for the soldier he was, and it’s easy to see why. As we learned that night, through some highly entertaining stories, Jared was one hell of man. His loss is a big one for the military, but more so for humanity.

Local bloggers from both sides of the aisle came together and helped raise more than $3000 for the Jared C. Monti Scholarship Fund. It’s not too late to honor his service and sacrifice, please consider making a donation,

PAYPAL ONLINE DONATION:

On Father’s Day weekend in 2007, Pundit Review Radio featured Massachusetts native Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti as Someone You Should Know. Bruce McQuain told us about Jared not through a media account, but through the words of his fellow soldiers.

Following Bruce’s moving tribute we were honored to have Jared’s father Paul join us to talik about his son. As you can imagine, this was a difficult night for Paul. Father’s Day was the last time he spoke to his son, who was killed three days later in Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006.

Ralph Peters and The War After Armageddon

Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters is a Fox News strategic analyst and columnist for the New York Post. He is also one of our favorite and most frequent guests on Pundit Review Radio.

Ralph has a new novel, a thriller, called The War After Armageddon, which is in bookstores starting tomorrow. The story starts following multiple dirty bomb attacks in the US and AFTER Israel has been nuked off the face of the earth by Iran. Not a pleasant topic, but one that grows more realistic with each passing day.

We had to start by aksing Ralph about about the vile Maureen Dowd column from Sunday, which elicited a typical Ralph Peters response…awesome.
We also talked about the anniversary of 9/11, he says we have learned nothing and are wrong to pretend that Islamic jihadists will change their stripes.

The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.

What is Pundit Review Radio?

On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

If it wasn’t for Rick Rescorla, 9/11 death toll in NYC could have been double

There will be a lot of thoughtful posts in the blogosphere about the eighth anniversary of September 11. Here, I want to tell just one story of a man who we got to know thanks to Matt Burden and his Someone You Should Know series at Blackfive. Here is Matt’s tribute to Rick Rescorla,

Rick was a British (Cypress and Rhodesia) and American (Viet Nam) war hero. He retired as a Colonel in 1990.

Decades later, after 9/11, I had no idea that Rescorla had everything to do with denying Al Qaeda a huge victory. I wasn’t surprised that Rick had saved 2,700 people that day, and then paid the price with his life when he went back into the tower for stragglers. He knew, KNEW, it was coming down. And he went anyway…

Tenacious, strong, and leading all the way to the end.

Here is the Someone You Should Know Matt did in memory of Rick Rescorla on September 11, 2006,

Here is Greyhawk’s tribute at Mudville Gazette.