Foreign affairs (and other links)

Glenn Greenwald argues that much of the current upheaval in Mali can be traced back to us: US-trained soldiers involved in the coup, Malians fleeing Libya after Gadaffi went down returning to their home country with combat experience and radical Islamist ideas. Oh, and our planes may be helping out the French, adding another war to our CV.
•Greenwald also points out our general failure as a champion of democracy in the Middle East.
•Following the election, I heard at least a few pundits (but I don’t remember which ones or have links) suggest Obama prove his bipartisanship by bringing Republicans into his cabinet. Well he did, and now rightbloggers are PO’d about it.
•Wayne LaPierre and others claim that Hitler banned guns. Nope. He did, however, impose tougher restrictions on abortion (believing a woman’s place was at home, popping out babies).
Moving away from foreign affairs:
•Georgia Rep. and doctor Phil Gingrey explains that Todd Akins was on target in his comments about “legitimate rape” and the impossibility of rapists getting you pregnant. It’s important to bring up legitimate rape, you see, because sometimes women lie about that.
Of course, it’s perfectly true that some women lie. By the same token, some banks lie about having notified homeowners when foreclosures were beginning—but I doubt we’d have heard Akin or Gingrey ever refer to “legitimate foreclosure.” Or for that matter, “legitimate theft,” “legitimate assault,” “legitimate fraud” or “legitimate bribery.” It’s with rape where the obsession with proving its legitimacy lies. It’s the same logic by which Gingrey’s fellow Georgia legislator Bobby Franklin wants rape victims identified as “rape accusers” until someone is actually convicted.
•The New York Times cuts costs by firing its environmental reporters.
•A Christian defends putting the image of Jesus on government buildings on the grounds the image of Jesus has no religious significance. As Slacktivist says, something’s wrong here …