Today’s Reads
1. Spencer Platt in Diyala, Iraq
According to Iraq’s former #2 commander LT Gen Raymond Odierno, about 50% of attacks on US soldiers in Iraq come from Shiite militias linked to Iran. The other half come from Sunni extremists. Odierno claims Iraqi Shiites are traveling to Iran to receive training. Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in Baghdad, denies any collusion: “It is the American practice to present others as guilty wherever they are defeated. Is it not funny that those with 160,000 forces in Iraq accuse us of interference?”
Nowhere in Iraq do both Sunni and Shitte extremists thrive like Diyala Province. Located right to the east of Baghdad Province and connecting to the Iranian border, Diyala’s capital, Baquba, is an ethnically mixed warzone. And the rest of the province—a lush breadbasket—is tough terrain for battle.
2007 WPP winner Spencer Platt was in Diyala with US forces over the weekend.
US literally trying to “smoke out” insurgents.
Two IEDs found.
We come in peace.
2. Chavez is a Dick
On Saturday the Colombian military struck FARC guerillas in Ecuador, killing it’s #2 leader Raul Reyes. (The US annually gives Colombia $600 million in military aid.) Colombia’s sovereign violation rightly outraged Ecuadorian officials, who promptly removed their ambassador from Bogota and mobilized troops. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s President Chavez said:
”Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately — tank battalions, deploy the air force,” Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program as loyalists in the crowd applauded. “We don’t want war, but we aren’t going to permit the U.S. empire nor its lapdog to come weaken us.’”
Chavez defends FARC, calling them “freedom fighters” despite the group’s use of child conscription, targeted killing and kidnapping of civilians, and drug running for some 30 years. Of course, the Miami Herald (above link) offers the best coverage. A war between Colombia and Venezuela would send oil prices ever higher, and the US would obviously be involved whether outright or by proxy.
3. Hank Steinbrenner: World Class Shit Talker
All baseball fans should check out Jonathan Mahler’s Yankees story from the Times’ PLAY Magazine. Mahler perfectly details the rise and end of The Boss Era. He calls the new Yankee Stadium “Red Sox Nation’s version of hell.” It sure sounds like earth’s toilet to me:
If the stadium’s exterior, with its limestone and granite façade, is self-consciously retro, the interior will be thoroughly modern. Trost might as well have been talking about a new themed hotel in Las Vegas as he described what would become of one drafty concrete chamber after another: the New York Yankees martini bar, a steakhouse (NYY Steak), a grill room, a Yankees museum, a year-round banquet hall and a conference center. The team’s interlocking “NY” logo will be everywhere, from the door handles to the latticework. Lining the so-called Great Hall that runs from home plate to the right-field foul pole will be huge two-sided banners, with Yankee legends in black-and-white on one side and more recent superstars in color on the other.
Ever since A-Rod’s WS Game 4 opt out, Hank Steinbrenner’s been an amazing asshole. Mahler’s story turns him into an outsized and (almost) sympathetic figure. Hank’s from the horse racing world, and his gambling trash talk is great. The story’s last words:
“Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”
Hmm…I’d say the Nation was more a Dan Shaughnessy creation than ESPN’s, like the Curse of the Bambino. Responding to Hank in the Globe, Shaughnessy the Carrot of Wisdom says:
Entitled Sox fans have virtually forgotten about the hated Pinstripers. It’s been months since a hearty “Yankees Suck” chant broke out at a New England wedding or bar mitzvah. And in Tampa, the hound-dog Yankees now acknowledge they are the ones doing the chasing.
Welcome back to the fight, Mr. Steinbrenner. This is reminiscent of the good old days when your dad regularly lobbed verbal grenades at the feet of Boston baseball fans.
A lot of Sox fans hate Dan S, but I think he’s the best baseball columnist in America, always getting scoops and often LOL funny.
Hank, how do you stop this man?
Two time World Series winner and full time Rastaman Manny Ramirez, by Stan Grossfield, Globe.
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