[img nocaption float=”right” width=”640″ height=”426″ render=”<%photoRenderType%>”]8867[/img] Juneau
MONDAY MORNING began early with an all-star panel discussion featuring Kimberly Kagan (author of The Iraq Report), Frederick Kagan (one of the authors of the Baghdad Security Plan), and Military.com’s Christian Lowe to discuss Iraq, the Surge, and the state of American foreign policy. Kimberly Kagan talked about the details of how American strategy changed when Gen. Casey’s command gave way to Gen. Petraeus while Frederick Kagan discussed the state of Sunni-Shia conflicts and the particular role of al Qaeda in Iraq. Afterwards, they were joined by Bill Kristol and Michael Gerson and the topics broadened to include the perils of a nuclear Iran, the strategic implications of a rising China, and the state of affairs with Putin’s Russia.
As the morning session wrapped up, the Oosterdam pulled into Juneau’s harbor and the cruisers dispersed for a day of high adventure. A disciple of Matt Labash’s High Church of Fly Fishing, Christian Lowe took a float plane to Tongass National Forest for six hours of fishing on the fly. Naturally, he brought his own gear. A slew speakers and cruisers took boats into Stephen’s Passage–and were lucky to spot six or seven whales, including a pair of mothers with their calves (that’s two of them up at the top).
For those who haven’t been, Juneau is a weird and wonderful town. A small town of 30,000 (with a 1:1 ration of people to bald eagles), it’s a rain forest and is perpetually shrouded in clouds and mist. It’s also the state capital and (by geographic area) the second largest city in America (the borough clocks in at just over 3,000 square miles). And, this is the funny part, Juneau is accessible only by air or sea–there are no roads connecting it to the rest of the state.
After spending the afternoon wandering around and exploring Juneau we came back to the Oosterdam for another fabulous dinner. As always, the cruisers have proven to be an interesting and impressive lot: engineers, doctors, academics, at least one retired general, and a former U.S. senator. It’s been great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. The only disappointment is that, thus far, the craps table has been cold. Ice cold. But, inspired the morning’s panel, I’m planning my own surge at the casino. An after-action report will follow.
The 2008 WEEKLY STANDARD cruise will be in the sunny Caribbean. It sets sail on March 24, 2008. If you’re interested in joining us, send an email to [email protected] and we’ll give you all the details as soon as we have them.
–Jonathan V. Last
