Daily Links UPDATED

Francis Fukuyama thinks President Obama should promote democracy in Iran.

Daniel Henninger crystallizes the current national debate about the size & scope of government and the importance of private entities.

Holman Jenkins thinks Apple may turn into Microsoft (in a bad way).

Newt Gingrich gives us 10 GOP ideas/solutions to our health care problem.

This is an old one, but: Michael Lewis looks at AIG.

Dean of Columbia Business School, R. Glenn Hubbard, looks into his fiscal crystal ball and doesn't like at least one thing that he sees: higher taxes.

Bret Stephens dispels 7 myths about Iran.

Fouad Ajami thinks the Obama spell (wherein people think he is the harbinger of liberal utopia) has been broken.

UPDATE 2:26pm BST: The Global Warming "consensus" (fraud) is falling apart, opines the Washington Times. (h/t Scott L.)

UPDATe 2:52pm BST: A friend of a Friend of Lybberty recently started a blog and his first post critiques Barbara Boxer's so-called Taxpayer Fairness Act.

Finally, a little more than just a link, I'll leave you with a little knowledge. We already learned from Heather Mac Donald that poverty ≠ crime. Now, James Kirchick informs us that poverty also ≠ terror.

Of the 30-odd attempted terrorist plots against the United States or American installations abroad that have been foiled since 9/11, roughly a third have been uncovered in the past year alone. What is new, and particularly frightening, about these recent attempts is that the budding perpetrators were initially indoctrinated inside the United States, with help from extremist websites or Islamic preachers. It was only after they had been brought some ways along the road to holy war that at least some of these would-be jihadists sought training and logistical support from al-Qaeda and others overseas. . . .

While they come from diverse ethnic and regional backgrounds, most of the men involved in homegrown plots fit a similar profile: they are middle class and well-educated. The same can be said of many, if not most, Islamist terrorists, whether it be the son of the former Nigerian finance minister who attempted to bring down a plane on Christmas Day near Detroit; the seven British doctors (and one medical technician) who plotted to carry out car bombings in 2007; or Osama bin Laden himself, whose family operates a massive construction empire worth billions of dollars. This reality contradicts the trendy, post-9/11 contention, as wrong then as it is now, that terrorism is caused by poverty.

This kind of rains on the parade of people who, wherever they look, see class warfare and jealousy-caused conflict between the "haves" and the "have nots."

If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Francis Fukuyama Shouldn't Bet Against The U.S.

In a fantastic article at the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens reports on a bet he made with Francis Fukuyama.

The bet?

Whether or not Iraq would be "a mess" 5 years after the invasion. Fukuyama said yes, Stephens no.

Last week Fukuyama sent Stephens a check for $100.

From Stephens article, a list of the accomplishments to date in Iraq:

Saddam is dead. Had he remained in power, we would likely still believe he had WMD. He would have been sitting on an oil bonanza priced at $140 a barrel. He would almost certainly have broken free from an already crumbling sanctions regime. The U.S. would be faced with not one, but two, major adversaries in the Persian Gulf. Iraqis would be living under a regime that, in an average year, was at least as murderous as the sectarian violence that followed its collapse. And the U.S. would have seemed powerless to shape events.

Instead, we now have a government that does not threaten its neighbors, does not sponsor terrorism, and is unlikely to again seek WMD. We have a democratic government, a first for the Arab world, and one that is increasingly capable of defending its people and asserting its interests.

We have a defeat for al Qaeda. Critics carp that had there been no invasion, there never would have been al Qaeda in Iraq. Maybe. As it is, thousands of jihadists are dead, al Qaeda has been defeated on its self-declared "central battlefield," and the movement is largely discredited on the Arab street and even within Islamist circles.

We also have -- if still only prospectively -- an Arab bulwark against Iran's encroachments in the region. But that depends on whether we simply withdraw from Iraq, or join it in a lasting security partnership.

At the conclusion, Stephens proposed a another bet with Fukuyama: that on the 10 year anniversary of Iraq's liberation, Fukuyama will concede the broader case for war in Iraq.

Here's to hoping that this time, Fukuyama will know a losing bet when he sees it.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.