Internationalized civil war, international terrorism

The Washington Post has a fascinating piece on foreign fighters (or whichever term you prefer) who crossed a border into Iraq to join the insurgency. The military now estimates 90 percent of suicide bombers are foreigners, although it's hard to say how they determine that precise percentage. The primary source for the article, al Qaeda in Iraq documentation, seems pretty thorough, though.

The article points to the fact that civil wars are rarely simply between a state and its people, and that terrorism can be very internationalized as well.

Chalk another one up for Biblical literalism

Lots of craziness today. One thing in particular is the man who cuts off his own hand, seemingly because the Bible says that's the thing to do if you believe it causes you to sin. (Although one could take issue with the supposed causation.)

"The book of Matthew also contains the passage: 'And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.'"

The NY Times has the story here.

Like 'The Office," but at Harvard's Gov department

It's a 12-minute video. A bit slow a times, but contains some gems. Go here.

People into political science will probably appreciate the jokes about policy and theory.

Found it at Chris Lawrence's blog.