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Matthew Duss

Matthew Duss is a foreign policy analyst and a contributing writer for the Prospect. You can follow him on Twitter @mattduss.

Recent Articles

I DON'T THINK THAT ANECDOTE MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS.

Matthew DussNov 08, 2007

Over at LGM, D handles this jaw-dropper of a column, in which Alan Dershowitz defends the utility of torture by arguing that it worked for the Nazis. Seriously.

Dersh:

"There are some who claim that torture is a nonissue because it never works--it only produces false information. This is simply not true, as evidenced by the many decent members of the French Resistance who, under Nazi torture, disclosed the locations of their closest friends and relatives."

D:

GETTING REAL WITH IRAN.

Matthew DussNov 07, 2007

Trita Parsi corrects some of the misconceptions which have muddied the debate over Iran. Here's a significant one:

OH, THE AGONY OF BEING THE MELISSA RIVERS OF CONSERVATISM!

Matthew DussNov 06, 2007

Getting quickly to the task of restoring Commentary's intellectual seriousness, newly enthroned editor-in-chief John Podhoretz calls Heather Hurlbert a "poseur" for writing this:

"I haven't posted lately because of a painful nerve problem in one arm. Even with Vicodin, ibuprofen, muscle relaxants and the occasional naughty glass of wine in my system, the Bush national security policy, progressive infighting, and the decline of our global standing hurt just as much, I'm sorry to say."

MAX BOOT PERFORMS A DOUBLE-REVERSE KIPLING OFF THE HIGH BOARD

Matthew DussNov 05, 2007

Bing West, via Max Boot, argues that the outrage over waterboarding is being blown out of proportion:

"In my book, The Village, I described how in 1966 the police chief Thanh of Binh Nghia village used what is now called waterboarding, rubbing lye soap into a wet cloth and placing it across the face of the prisoner. (p. 67). I never saw a prisoner die or not be able to walk out of that room. But they talked. I reported it and our orders were to keep the Marines in our Combined Action Platoon out of that room. The PFs were under our command, but not the National Police.

THERE IS NO WAY TO UNSCREW THIS POOCH.

Matthew DussNov 02, 2007

Yoram Schweitzer, writing in Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth, throws some cold water on claims of victory against al-Qaeda:

"Al-Qaeda has already achieved several of its goals in Iraq, and while these may be circumscribed, they will not be reversed entirely. The global jihad has indeed been reinvigorated and been granted a new pretext and new context for its continued struggle, for new recruitment, and for accelerated training of new combatants.

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