A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Ethiopia Steps Up Attacks on Somalia “LONDON, Dec. 25 -- Ethiopian warplanes attacked the airport in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on Monday in another major escalation of fighting between the Ethiopian-backed Somali government and the Islamic Courts movement that in recent months has taken over much of the country.” (READ MORE)
Democrats Pledge to Restrain Spending “Determined to banish their old tax-and-spend image, Democrats want to shrink the federal deficit, preserve tax cuts for the middle class and challenge the president to raise money for the Iraq war when they take control of Congress next week. But it won't be easy.” (READ MORE)
Death Toll of Female Troops 'Troubling' “The number of military service women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached 70, more than the total from the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars.” (READ MORE)
James Brown, 'the Godfather of Soul,' dies of heart failure “James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose revolutionary rhythms, rough voice and flashing footwork influenced generations of musicians from rock to rap, died early Christmas morning. He was 73” (READ MORE)
Abuse Seen at Iraqi Jail Puts New Focus on Rogue Police “Hundreds of British and Iraqi soldiers assaulted a police station in Basra, killing seven gunmen and rescuing 127 prisoners from almost certain execution.” (READ MORE)Bipartisan Effort to Draft Immigration Bill “The bipartisan bill would place millions of illegal immigrants on a more direct path to citizenship.” (READ MORE)
News From the Front:
The Online Chaplin writes Christmas at War “Alright, it’s here. In three days we will be celebrate Christmas. The holiday synonymous with family gatherings, singing carols, going to church together and being a family. So, how do you handle the holidays when you are at war? Here are some tips…” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio writes Al-Zawraa Responds to Muj TV “While in Fallujah, I wrote about al-Zawraa, or what the Iraqis refer to as ‘Muj TV.’ This is a satellite television station that broadcasts attacks on U.S., Coalition and Iraqi security forces, as well as calls for incitement against Shiites and Iranians.” (READ MORE)
Omar of Iraq the Model writes When Did Wondering Become Analysis!? “A friend of mine asked me to comment on a story that was published on IraqSlogger yesterday. The story is presented as ‘analysis’ by the website's editors but I can't figure out how it could fit this description when it's filled with ‘harder to explain,’ ‘even more puzzling,’ ‘one has to wonder’ and ‘how can we explain’ instead of phrases that are usually used to introduce the author's analysis and conclusions to the readers about a given subject.” (READ MORE)
Acute Politics writes Merry Christmas! “It's officially Christmas here in Iraq. It doesn't really seem like Christmas. Sure, a lot of guys have some little token of the season in their rooms or spilling over into the hallways- there's little trees and some garlands. There's some stockings that someone in the states sent over for the soldiers lying undistributed in a box.” (READ MORE)
Half a World Away writes Christmas in Iraq “Although we aren't where we would like to be this year, the Christmas holiday provided a nice break from the mundane this weekend. Like usual, we are always looking for an excuse to get Grillzilla fired up, so we took advantage of the holiday and had a Christmas Eve cookout.” (READ MORE)
GWOTdotUS writes Christmas in The ‘Ghan “Here are a few photos (poor quality) of Christmas dinner here in Shindand:” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Emily Miller writing at The Washington Post writes The Freedoms My Brother Is Defending “Here is what my brother, a member of the Army National Guard, told me as he prepared to serve in Iraq this year:” (READ MORE)
Jeff Emanuel writing at Townhall.com writes The Medal of Honor “Michael Monsoor, of Garden Grove, California, felt the same call to serve his country that had previously led his father and brother into the Marine Corps. However, he was pulled in a different direction than his family members had been: he was drawn to the United States Navy, not out of a desire to serve in the fleet, but out of a burning ambition to serve as a Navy SEAL, one of America's Special Operations elites.” (READ MORE)
Thomas Sowell writing at Townhall.com writes A dangerous obsession “The media and academia are continuously obsessed with ‘gaps’ and ‘disparities’ in income. As one talk show host put it, "It makes no sense" that a corporate executive makes over $50 million a year.” (READ MORE)
Kevin McCullough writing at Townhall.com writes Why Iraq is a Success “The nation and economy known as the new Iraq is succeeding, and those who dispute this are simply lying. Call it whatever you'd like - a quagmire, a country torn by violence, the next Vietnam, etc. - but it is dishonest to say is that this nation is not a success.” (READ MORE)
Steve Chapman writing at Townhall.com writes 2006 was not a banner year for freedom “When John Kerry came in second in the presidential election, he had to go back to the U.S. Senate, where having a defeated candidate around causes some awkwardness. That was nothing compared to the discomfort felt by Ayman Nour, the 2004 runnerup in Egypt's first multicandidate presidential election.” (READ MORE)
Joel C. Rosenberg writing at Townhall.com writes Red Storm Rising “Since taking office in 2000, former KGB chief-turned Russian President Vladimir Putin has built strong personal, political and military ties to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.Putin has sold Iran and North Korea billions of dollars worth of arms and even nuclear technology.” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit writes Video: Channel 4 (UK)’s ‘alternative Christmas message’ “Our pal kasper kasper carved out a little time from his holiday celebration this afternoon to gift us with this, which ran opposite Queen Elizabeth’s traditional Christmas message at 3 p.m. London time.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea writes Everybody out of the pool! “This morning's Boston Globe has a column by a fellow named Micah Zenko, ‘a research associate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and a doctoral candidate at Brandeis University.’ In his piece, Mr. Zenko has a simple solution to the world's problems: an immediate end to all military occupations everywhere. He suggests that the US announce that this is the new cornerstone of our foreign policy, and we are withdrawing from Iraq immediately to demonstrate our commitment to the idea.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House writes IG Report On Berger's Theft An Eye Opener “He can’t be prosecuted a second time thanks to the double jeopardy clause in the Constitution. But if half of what the Inspector General’s report on Sandy Berger’s escapades at the National Archives can be believed, the former National Security Advisor to President Clinton has a lot to answer for – if not to the law, then certainly to history and the American people.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped writes Changing A Mind: Mission (Near) Impossible Addendum “In response to my post yesterday on how difficult it is to change one's mind, a number of commenters made some very valuable points reinforcing both how, for some people, death can be preferable to challenging their world view, as well as the sense that changes are never restricted to one area but tend to set off a cascade of change. For most of my life I was a fairly typical, left-leaning, liberal Democrat.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden writes Teheran vs. Terrorism “We can rest easy. Teheran is on the job against terrorists. The mullahs will brook no nonsense in the Persian Gulf from terrorists. Or us. Tehran Times editorial via Dan Riehl, who is discussing developments here.” (READ MORE)
Scott Johnson of Power Line writes The Friends of Keith Ellison “According to the invaluable report of the Chicago Tribune, the Muslim Brotherhood operates in the United States as the Muslim American Society. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross's "MAS's Muslim Brotherood problem" expands on the meaning of MAS's relationship to the Muslim Brotherood. Like the Muslim Brotherhood and the MAS, the Islamic Circle of North America promotes the establishment of the Islamic system of life. According to Steven Emerson, the ICNA also has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.” (READ MORE)
Chickenhawk Express writes The Reuters Connection to Haditha “This is truly amazing - a major media organization with direct ties to major players in an incident in which 8 American soldiers are charged with murder and/or coverup. Yesterday I exposed the story of Majid Hameed, a Reuters reporter who had been incarcerated in Iraq due to questionable terrorist ties. Hameed wrote the Iraqis demanding justice story for Reuters on Friday 12/22.” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl writes Iran Threatens As Naval Forces Build “While the New York Times characterizes Iran as defiant in the face of a UN Resolution over its nuclear program, the Tehran Times takes it a bit further in what could be characterized as a veiled threat, possibly an attempt to establish political cover for any naval confrontation in the Straight of Hormuz initiated by Iran.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed writes NSA Wiretaps 17-1 In Court “The fight over the NSA warrantless surveillance program has continued quietly in federal courtrooms, and perhaps part of the reason for the quiet has been the results. The NSA has won seventeen challenges to the program thus far:” (READ MORE)
Red2Alpha writes Nights Like These “It's nights like this that I miss the war. Nights alone with to much time to think that I feel it calling to me. I miss the excitement of patrols and raids, especially the raids. Being the first man in the door, knowing you may die in the next few minutes, the next few seconds. Feeling that rush...” (READ MORE)
Quid Nimis writes Starbucks Conservatives “It's been a mediocre week, made more so by the discovery of so-called ‘Real Conservatives’ who either aren't or do so much hair-splitting about what brand and flavor of ‘Real Conservative’ everyone is that they are completely missing the point.” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club writes The Karaoke and the Secret Chord “When Muslim Mahmoud Abbas made a public relations stop at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, as described by Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post, his audience may consisted largely of Filipinos. The Associated Press reports the troubles have kept the pilgrims away from Bethlehem this year, excepting the Filipinos.” (READ MORE)
Dhimmini This writes Haditha - Not My Lai "This is an old post that I have brought back to the top because of the indictment of the Haditha Marines see Michelle Malkin, BlackFive. I still stand by my position. I have no special knowledge of these events, but I hope that these Marines are not being made political scapegoats. If they murdered innocent civilians then they deserve to be punished. However, I think that they have earned the right to be presumed innocent until all of the facts have been put forth." (READ MORE)
Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.
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