A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Pentagon cites alternative to Baker report “The Pentagon is drafting its own new options for winning in Iraq, in part, to give President Bush counterproposals to fall back on in case the Iraq Study Group comes up with ideas he does not like, defense officials say.” (READ MORE)
Anti-Syrian Lebanese Christian official slain “Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family, was gunned down yesterday in his mainly Christian constituency of Jdeideh, a suburb of Beirut, heightening a growing sense of crisis in the fragile democracy…” (READ MORE)
Killing seen as bid by Damascus, Tehran to hit U.S. role in Mideast “The brazen assassination yesterday of Christian Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel has pushed Lebanon's fragile democracy, heralded by the United States as a model for the region, to the brink of collapse.” (READ MORE)
Gay custody case stalls in court “Two Baltimore County judges have delayed ruling in a child- custody case that has forced a 7-year-old girl to spend time with her adoptive mother's former lesbian partner, despite objections from a court-appointed child-welfare specialist.” (READ MORE)
Homeland Security Lax On Contracting Rules “Report finds officials neglected records as they spent billions after Sept. 11 attacks, often on security systems that did not work as planned.” (READ MORE)
News From the Front:
Perfect Killing Method, but Clear Targets Are Few (NYT) “KARMA, Iraq, Nov. 16 — The sniper team left friendly lines hours ahead of the sun. They were a group of marines walking through the chill, hoping to be in hiding before the mullahs’ predawn call to prayer would urge this city awake.” (READ MORE)
Afghan Defense Minister Thanks U.S., Praises Troops, Rumsfeld “WASHINGTON – Afghanistan’s defense minister thanked the United States today for its steadfast support for his country, specifically recognizing the U.S. troops who have served and sacrificed there and outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.” (READ MORE)
Kirkuk Hospital, Clinics Receive Medical Supplies “TIKRIT, Iraq — Coalition Forces delivered medical supplies and equipment to the Kirkuk General Hospital Nov. 12.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio writes More Raids in Sadr City - Three forrays into Sadr City over the past four days “Iraqi special forces (from the 1st Special Operations Forces Brigade), accompanied by U.S. Special Forces advisors and backed by Coalition air support, raided a location in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of Iranian backed cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Walter E. Williams writing at Townhall.com writes Should we copy Europe? “Some Americans look to European countries such as France, Germany and its Scandinavian neighbors and suggest that we adopt some of their economic policies. I agree, we should look at Europe for the lessons they can teach us. Dr. Daniel Mitchell, research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, does just that in his paper titled ‘Fiscal Policy Lessons from Europe.’” (READ MORE)
Rick Amato writing at Townhall.com writes Ahead to 2008 “As the line of Republican candidates running for the White House in 2008 begins to form, there is one candidate making preparations to run whose name voters outside of San Diego and Washington will be hard-pressed to recognize, but that could change in time. I'm speaking of the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, California Rep. Duncan Hunter.” (READ MORE)
Austin Bay writing at Townhall.com writes Reconciliation, from Vietnam to Iraq “Last week's trip to Hanoi by President George W. Bush was about forging a new, positive relationship -- a new and better history.” (READ MORE)
Brent Bozell III writing at Townhall.com writes Murtha scandal time arrives “For most of the last year, Rep. John Murtha has been placed on a pedestal by the major media, painted in red, white and blue hues as a "hawkish" Democrat who courageously declared we needed to "redeploy" (read: withdraw) from Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Greg Koukl writing at Townhall.com writes Christianity's Real Record “It's easy to characterize religion as a blood-thirsty enterprise, a perpetrator of witch hunts, crusades, and religious jihad. Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have raised such charges recently in their popular books. But has Christianity been the cause of such evil, or does the truth turn out to be just the opposite?” (READ MORE)
Opinion Journal Editorial: Assassins and Diplomacy “Former Secretary of State James Baker has been saying that, when it comes to diplomacy, you don't ‘restrict your conversations to your friends’ - shorthand for the view that the U.S. should engage Syria and Iran to find solutions in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. But yesterday's murder of Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel might remind even Mr. Baker and his Iraq Study Group what some of those non-friends are all about.” (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico writes Excellent Reading On Iraq v. Viet Nam “If you need an excellent comparison of Iraq to Viet Nam, you can't find a better on that Dennis Byrne wrote in the Chicago Tribune, in fact, one paragraph pretty well sums up the comparison: ‘We abandoned millions of people to be stripped of their freedoms, imprisoned for their beliefs or slaughtered by a monstrous, tyrannical regime. It was one of the most shameful days in American history. It was our own day of infamy.’” (READ MORE)
Red2Alpha writes Breakfast at Denny's “The sky was lightening outside the windows, another overcast, wet, day as I read James Brady's book 'The Marines of Autumn'. The cops had left and I was watching the waiter ring up a sale out of the corner of my eye. He turned and started toward my table with, what I guessed, was my bill. ‘Here you are, sir. Your meal has been paid for by a lady on in the other section. She has short dark hair, glasses, and is reading a book.’” (READ MORE)
In From the Cold writes Ike Skelton Knows Better (Or, At Least He Should) “In recent years, Democratic Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri has been something of a rarity in his party--a voice of moderation and sanity on defense issues. Over the course of a 30-year career in the House, Mr. Skelton has been a consistent champion of the armed services (and those who serve) supporting the weapons modernization programs, along with pay and benefit increases for those who wear the uniform. But, apparently, even Congressman Skelton knows when to toe the party line.” (READ MORE)
Blonde Sagacity writes What Degree of Killing Warrants U.S. Intervention? “I am sure this question has been asked 9,000 different ways over the past 3 years, but let's give it another go...’How do people that supported sending American troops to Bosnia, Somalia and are now urging for military intervention in Darfur justify being against the war in Iraq?’” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club writes The Rout Continues “If the Cedar Revolution came on the coat-tails of Operation Iraqi Freedom, on the crest of the wave of belief in the ‘purple stained fingers’ of voters, then the assassination of Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel comes upon its ebb. The results of the November election have sent the clear message that America is in retreat.” (READ MORE)
Dadmanly writes Dishonor and Vietnam “James Q Wilson reports on The Press at War over at the City Journal. Here’s how Wilson opens his Media War coverage: ‘We are told by careful pollsters that half of the American people believe that American troops should be brought home from Iraq immediately. This news discourages supporters of our efforts there. Not me, though: I am relieved. Given press coverage of our efforts in Iraq, I am surprised that 90 percent of the public do not want us out right now.’” (READ MORE)
Francis Marion writes I've said it before... “BlackFive is discussing the latest Democrat strategy, reinstating the draft. I wrote about this before and my words are just as relevant today as they were 15 months ago. I also predicted that if the draft were to return the Dems would do it. Here's what I wrote:” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped writes Considering Iran “A great deal of energy is being spent discussing the advisability of "engaging" Iran in discussions of the future of Iraq and the entire Middle East. Many hope, without any particular evidence, that by such engagement, Iran will ultimately become a more responsible international citizen and in due course the threats that have been emanating from Iran's leadership will be ameliorated without the need for military action of further international isolation. This hinges on a formulation that is worth examining.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden writes It's a Dirty Job ... “It will be interesting after the assassination of Pierre Gemayel in Lebanon ... not to mention last summer's hijacking of the nation by Hezbollah ... not to mention last year's assassination of Rafik Hariri ... not to mention the last 25 years of Syrian and Iranian interference in Lebanon and now in Iraq ... it will be interesting to see if anyone will still counsel talks with Syria and Iran under any terms that do not include a very real threat of force.” (READ MORE)
Scott Johnson writing at Power Line writes Another job well done “Alberto Fernandez is the infamous State Department employee whose job it is to appear on behalf of the United States on Arab media outlets. He's a fluent speaker of Arabic and capable of performing his assigned task, if he adequately represented the United States. He recently condemned American behavior in Iraq for its "arrogance" and "stupidity" on Al Jazeera. He has also expressed his high regard for Yusuf al Qaradawi, the European sheikh who has been refused admission to the United States because of his support for terrorism.” (READ MORE)
McQ of QandO writes Hastings v. Harman : Pelosi’s leadership dilemma “Brad Plumer boils down the Hastings v Harman controversy for the chair of the House Intelligence Committee pretty well. After discussing the obvious and well-known corruption problem from which Hastings suffers he says: ‘More substantively, Harman knows a lot about intelligence. She's very experienced. Very smart. But she's also very hawkish. She strongly supported the war in Iraq, although she's since made some pointed criticisms of both the occupation and the administration's warrantless spy program.’” (READ MORE)
Cassandra writes Military Not ‘So Poor And So Black’ “Yesterday the half vast editorial staff refuted Rep. Charles Rangel's past assertions that a draft was needed to keep blacks from becoming cannon fodder in time of war. Contrary to his assertions, the facts are quite simple:” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins writes Misc Commentary For Nov 22, 2006 “The whole idea of having an Iraqi study group that features a bunch of Democrats, people who never bought into the war in Iraq to begin with (like James Baker), and people who have no business having anything to do with foreign policy (like Sandra Day O'Connor), come up with an Iraqi policy is faintly ridiculous. The President is the Commander-In-Chief and he should get together with his staff and the generals to decide how we handle Iraq, not try to outsource the issue to the clowns in Iraqi Study group.” (READ MORE)
Greyhawk writes Here's a Real Secret “Scott Ott points out (as only he can) something most people are overlooking on the Pentagon ‘Iraq review’ story: ‘The unnamed Pentagon official in charge of leaking national security secrets to the Washington Post said it’s possible that the U.S. could adopt some combination of the three.’ His three options are a bit different than the Washington Post report - but I'm talking about the yet another leaked secret study aspect of this. (Of course, some secrets are more secret than others - nudge nudge wink wink.)” (READ MORE)
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