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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

"HOARD WEAPONS, GROW GILLS, AND LEARN TO COMMUNICATE WITH SERPENTS."

Matthew DussSep 04, 2007

"HOARD WEAPONS, GROW GILLS, AND LEARN TO COMMUNICATE WITH SERPENTS." Jonah Goldberg is upset that, two years after Katrina, the news media are still under-reporting their own failures.

GUILTY PLEASURES

Matthew DussAug 30, 2007

GUILTY PLEASURES. Jamie Kirchick takes a stand:

"I'll admit, the New York Post is a guilty pleasure. It's the first paper I buy whenever I'm in the city. Like most of its readers, I take it for what it is, and enjoy it for a few minutes on the subway. It's fun and understands its role as a tabloid, which is to say, it has a sense of humor. One of the best Post headlines was a front-page spread showing Yasir Arafat's grieving wife at his funeral: "THE FAT LADY SINGS."

MUQTADA CALLS A TIME OUT.

Matthew DussAug 30, 2007

MUQTADA CALLS A TIME OUT. The big news from Iraq is that Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his militia to stand down, though he has stated they will continue defensive operations against the occupation forces. Muqtada's image has suffered greatly from the perception among Iraqis that elements of his Mahdi Army incited the violence we saw earlier in the week. Starting a fight at the birthday observances of the imam after whom your group is named doesn't speak well of your piety, which is one of the strongest things he has going for him, so he has to do some serious damage control.

DARWIN... DARWIN... ANYONE? ANYONE?

Matthew DussAug 28, 2007

DARWIN... DARWIN... ANYONE? ANYONE? You didn't think "Intelligent Design" was going away, did you? After the devastating defeat of the Dover decision, in which a judge ruled, based upon scientific testimony as well as internal documents from ID's own proponents, that ID was little more than religion dressed up in cheap science costume, the ID gang have regrouped, and now present themselves as brave, embattled scientific insurgents.

LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE HADGI BADAH

Matthew DussAug 28, 2007

LEAVE THE GUN, TAKE THE HADGI BADAH. Today's LA Times, on the difficulties of rooting out Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army:

Many soldiers also say practices that worked against insurgencies in other wars or in other parts of Iraq may not apply to Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods.

The Al Mahdi militia is not a textbook insurgent group. To Iraqi Shiites, the militia offers a source for basic services and support for the political and religious work of popular anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr.

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