Monday Evening Roundup

Forgive me, I've been busy.

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A host of leftist luminaries, including Noam Chomsky, have lent their imprimatur to a book which, among other things, effectively denies the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Well, let nobody accuse folks of singling out the Jews anymore, at least.

The internal IDF probe of the Gaza flotilla incident (distinct from the independent Terkel commission) has found mistakes in the operation, but fully sanctioned the use of force by the commandos. One of its observations was that there aren't really that many ways to stop a ship from going someplace without boarding it, and there aren't that many ways to board a ship whose crew is violently resisting without yourself using some violence.

Whoever wrote the screenplay for this World War II thing I keep seeing on the History Channel needs to find a new profession. I mean, sheesh.

It's not nice to kick folks while they're down, but Matt Yglesias I think is appropriately harsh to journalists just now discovering that John McCain is 95% hack. He didn't really change, you just weren't paying attention.

Switzerland refuses to extradite Roman Polanski, bowing to an international outcry that punishing a convicted child rapist is a gross injustice when the rapist is friends with important to people.

Adam Serwer has a good post on the Justice Department dropping voter intimidation charges against the New Black Panther Party.

The NAACP is considering a resolution condemning racism in the Tea Party movement.

A Congo (and Rwanda) Roundup

I do Israel roundups all the time. Why can't I do a Congo roundup?

CNN reports on calls for rebels to lay down their arms and reintegrate into the national forces. So far, it seems like they're making some progress.

Meanwhile, the joint Congo/Rwanda offensive in the east seems to be going apace, though understandably the locals are very nervous about the prospect of more conflict (and particularly the presence of Rwandan troops -- Rwanda being quite unpopular for its role -- hopefully now in the past -- in destabilizing the region).

Unfortunately, there is growing nervousness that the arrest of rebel Gen. Laurent Nkunda is a facade and will not hold up on the Rwandan's end. The problem? Nkunda -- with deep ties to the highest levels of Rwandan politics and society -- might "know too much" about the going-ons of that nation's regional ambitions and practice.

And because of all the uncertainty, I agree with Dylan Matthews that some well-placed pushes by American diplomacy would be very well-received at the moment, to make sure everyone stays on the straight and narrow.

Congo Update, Part II

The UN Dispatch has more on the capture of Gen. Laurent Nkunda. This looks like a big breakthrough, less because of what Nkunda himself did (though he's a major negative influence) and more because it signals Rwanda is willing to break off it's destabilizing policies towards its western neighbor. The reason Nkunda's arrest is a bit surprising is because in general he's been viewed as a Rwandan front. The indicators now, however, is that Rwanda is willing to abandon Nkunda and the policies he represents in favor of engagement with the Congolese central government.

This New York Times article also gives some excellent context on what's going on, and really sounds a genuine note of optimism.