[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).