Buffer zone? That's good. For any German readers out there: that translates to Lebensraum.

If by "diplomatic consequences" you mean being forced to withdraw from Iraq, and starting riots in Egypt and Tunisia (Arab Spring happen that long ago we've already forgotten?), then yes it had some effect.

If it weren't for Manning's revelations, we'd still have troops in Iraq, and the Arab Spring might have been a lot smaller than it turned out to be. If that isn't significant, I don't know what is.

I know chemistry isn't everybody's thing, but being able to produce hydrocarbons from renewable sources is *huge*. We don't just use them for energy, they're important for manufacturing everything from fertilizer to ipads. One of the un- talked about dangers of the end of cheap oil is that we will no longer be able to use hydrocarbons for manufacturing. Nuclear power is useless if you can't afford to insulate the power cabling to get that energy to where it's needed.

They wanted a secular democracy, and had it. Then we took it away from them, and the only folks left who were willing and able to fight for self-determination were Islamist extremists. It's not the government they deserve -- it's the only option the CIA left them. And now because of us once again (Stuxnet/Flame), the Islamists have a pretext to restrict internet freedoms even further in that country. Way to go, guys.

"we should have faith..." that the justice system works? And your signature talks about Orwell being an optimist. I'm positively flummoxed. Look here if you'd like some information about those "low numbers" of innocents: http://www.innocenceproject.org/

Sweden has been proven to have delivered "terrorism suspects" to the CIA, who has then subsequently sent them abroad for torture (see Wikileaks documents themselves or any of the countless news stories about it). I'm not sure the same can be said of the UK. So, regardless of which is easier to obtain extradition from, Sweden has a proven and globally known track record on human rights violations that can be used as an excuse to grant asylum, whereas the UK does not.

It's called a "recursive acronym."

Fun speculation, but the news seems to have that covered already:

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/10/israel_mek_and_state_sponsor_of_terror_groups/

It appears that Israel is in fact using the MEK to assassinate these scientists. This is the same organization, by the way, that several US politicians are supporting openly, despite the organization being on our list of terrorist organizations. Looks like Israel's a state sponsor of terror. Who would have guessed?

This right here. GO OUTSIDE. If you have a car, go camping. Take somebody of the opposite sex. Make the life that you will probably end up throwing away in exchange for a lifestyle.

Rape is good for the soul? Really?

I don't know whether to be proud or offended that you think this targets our demographic.

It's obvious that the author here has never actually read The Minority Report. The moral question was "can we arrest someone for something we *know* they're going to do." The entire framework setup in that story to pose the question relied on a magical ability to see into the future, not merely suspicion. Using tech to find suspicious searches is something entirely different. A big *whoosh* for the genius who wrote this drivel.

HP *is* a defense contractor, and they fuck it up pretty badly in that sector, too.

I wouldn't call it a firefight when the CIA uses a robot piloted from Virginia to incinerate an unarmed American child thousands of miles away. I would call that murder.

I think it is you who have no understanding of what's going on in the world if you think this is defensible behaviour for anyone, especially our government.