A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Pelosi Backs War Funds Only With Conditions “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday linked her support for President Bush's war-funding request to strict standards of resting, training and equipping combat forces, a move that could curtail troop deployments and alter the course of U.S. involvement in Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Reluctantly, the Senate's Weekend Warriors “Now this is war. After four years of fighting in Iraq, and two weeks of trying to force senators to debate the conflict, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday wheeled out the ultimate weapon. He ordered his colleagues to work on Saturday. To the average American, this would be an inconvenience. To a senator, a Saturday vote is a hardship reserved for national crises such as impeachment or Terri Schiavo. Votes have been held on Saturday only five times in the past 10 years.” (READ MORE)
Hamas and Fatah Act to Clear Way For Palestinian Unity Government “JERUSALEM, Feb. 15 -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, resigned Thursday to make way for a power-sharing government with the rival Fatah party in the hopes of ending factional strife and restoring international aid to the nearly bankrupt Palestinian Authority.” (READ MORE)
House Democrats aim to limit troops “House Democratic leaders yesterday revealed their plan to restrict President Bush's use of war funding, though some Democrats said the proposal, released on the eve of a symbolic vote against the war in Iraq, does not do enough to stop the war.” (READ MORE)
Rice wary of Mideast peace trip “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the "uncertainty" of the new Palestinian government will complicate her peace mission in the Middle East next week and that Washington will not support the future Cabinet unless it recognizes Israel.” (READ MORE)
Senate vote upsets '08 hopefuls' plans “The Senate's informal caucus of presidential hopefuls faces its first test in balancing their jobs with their White House ambitions tomorrow: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a key vote on the Iraq war.” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
The Online Chaplin: David and Goliath “I know the names of your giants. Cancer, loneliness, despair, anger, addiction, hopelessness, abuse, war, hatred, disease. I know there names. I have seen how they stand on the battle field of your life and mock you. I have seen them come against you with sword and spear and javelin. And I saw you give up the battle field. I have seen you tuck tail and run. I have seen it, and recognized it well, because occasionally it shows up in my mirror too. I have a word for you, for us.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader al-Masri reported wounded; aide killed “Reports are unconfirmed; US military is silent; aide may be the chief of al-Qaeda's security detail - Iraqi and Coalition forces may have gotten a lucky break in the hunt for the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. CNN is reporting, based on a source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry, that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been wounded in a firefight on a road somewhere between Fallujah and Samarra.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Mike Gallagher: A heartbreaking story “I’ve just been told a heartbreaking story. And it’s one of those stories that usually end in total helplessness, but since I’m fortunate enough to have a forum like this weekly column at Townhall.com, I hope you’ll engage me for a minute or two and allow me to share this awful tale with you.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: Liberal emotion vs. Conservative logic “It takes a lot more integrity, character, and courage to be a conservative than it does to be a liberal. That's because at its most basic level, liberalism is nothing more than childlike emotionalism applied to adult issues.” (READ MORE)
Dr. Paul Kengor: Lessons from Reagan for Bush and the War on Terror “Because of a bitter, increasingly costly war in Iraq, Americans are questioning their president’s leadership more than ever before, and George W. Bush has watched his approval ratings plummet to all-time lows.” (READ MORE)
Alan Reynolds: Politics and Religion “When Jack Kennedy ran for president, there was a great deal of fussing and fuming about his being Catholic. In a June 1960 Roper poll, 35 percent objected to a Catholic president.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: This Gun Not For Hire “Retired Col. Ken Allard has quit his post as an NBC military analyst because NBC has retained its anti-military analyst, WaPo online hack Bill Arkin. Allard on his decision:” (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Broder on Bush “David S. Broder, syndicated columnist, has an interesting piece on a possible ‘Bush Bounce’ because of some tactic changes by him over the last month or so. I'm not convinced Broder is totally right that Bush can make anything of a substantial comeback; he's beyond being damaged goods and closer to being a total wreck. However, Bush has done some things that are going to help him, and hamstring the Democrats in Congress, specifically on Iraq, and in a broader sense, moving into 2008's election season.” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: San Fran committee OKs “anti-militarism” comic book for public high schools “You can see the whole landscape of this debate before it even starts. Our side will attack the school board for being anti-military; the left will counter that they’re not anti-military, they’re anti-militarism…” (READ MORE)
Hugh Hewitt: The White Flag Republicans “Today’s vote in the House will be significant only for the light it will cast on the Republicans. We know the Democrats are committed to defeat in Iraq, and Congressman Murtha is the gift of clarity that keeps giving.
But we will also get the outlines of the extent of the White Flag Republicans, and while not all of them will draw the same level of ire as term-limit pledge breaking “Lawnboy” Ric “It Runs Like A Deere” Keller, the WFRs will not escape that designation even if the war goes well and Iraq stabilizes. At a crucial moment, they bolted.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: They Ain't Doing Jack “While Congress has been debating its ‘non-binding resolution’ condemning President Bush's latest move in Iraq, I've been thinking about it. It seems we have a huge fight going on over whether or not Congress will actually vote on the matter. Once that is settled, there will be a huge fight over how they vote on it. And after it passes, it will be utterly meaningless and worthless and a complete and utter waste of time.” (READ MORE)
TigerHawk: A Note on The Subversion of The Press in War “I sometimes get comments or emails asking why I and other righty bloggers spend so much time flyspecking the mainstream media's coverage of irregular wars involving the United States and its allies. One reason is that there are so many examples of the media swallowing enemy propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and occasionally being complicit in its promotion. As regular blog readers know, both of these tendencies figured prominently in last summer's Hezbollah-Israeli war, and they have also been a staple of blog coverage of Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: BDS and Iraq “For a week, Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferers contended that Bush was making stuff up about Iran being involved in the Iraq insurgency/civil war. So what will BDS sufferers make of this report?” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: Paradigm Shift and Paradigm Collapse: A How-to Guide for the GWOT “There has been several long discussions here recently detailing many of the opposing positions on the Global War against Islamic fascism. A prominent divide occurs between those who claim that our enemies represent only a small fraction of the Muslim world versus those who believe that Islam itself is the enemy. Although I would take issue with the idea that only a small fraction of the Muslim world supports armed violence against the West, in an important way both sides are correct.” (READ MORE)
Dr. Rusty Shackleford: Exclusive Video: as Sahab 'Holocaust of the Americans in Afghanistan' Exposes al Qaeda Misinformation Campaign “An unreleased English subtitled video produced by as-Sahab, the al Qaeda production company, has been obtained for The Jawa Report by Laura Mansfield. The video is titled "The Holocaust of the Americans in the Land of Khorasan (Afghanistan)". The video may be downloaded here. The 24 minute video of al Qaeda & Taliban fighters in Afghanistan begins with footage from a recent speech by Ayman al-Zawahiri.” (READ MORE)
Flopping Aces: The Ever Elusive Jamil Hussein “Well, well, well....maybe it's time to put that Free Jamil Hussein corner icon back up on my front page. Recall when the AP triumphantly announced that the Iraqi Ministry of Interior had admitted that there was in fact a Jamil Hussein and he was the source for the AP:” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: Rudy Vs. The Myth Of Social Conservatism “At The American Spectator, Jennifer Rubin has an interesting piece: Rudy's New Social Conservatism. Disclaimer: I consider myself a Social Moderate, whatever the hell that is. ‘The better, at least the more interesting, question is whether Giuliani can establish a new description of what it means to be "socially conservative." Perhaps to be socially conservative means something more than just fidelity to pro-life and anti-gay marriage positions.’” (READ MORE)
Major Z: Here we go again “Off to Fort Meade in about 30 minutes for surgery. The Mrs. and I went to chinatown for lunch yesterday, then to the Air&Space museum, then off to visit with some friends for supper. (Thanks again Kevin & Rebecca (and Dan--I need to buy some more stamps today!)” (READ MORE)
Kat in MO: Venomous Snakes of the United States: Copperheads “The past few days, leading up to the Feb 16 debate on the Iraq war in congress has been an eye opener. The Democrat wing of congress has been planning to play both ends in order to appear to be doing something while actually not committing to any thing.” (READ MORE)
Andi: Waiting and Watching “Recently, I was able to have a brief conversation with a military strategist, someone highly respected by his peers. I'm not a military strategist, by any stretch of the imagination. My main focus is on supporting the military spouse community, but I'm deeply interested in what ‘true’ military strategists -- not shameless politicians -- think about the current state of affairs.” (READ MORE)
Cassandra: Our Welfare State “Anna has been bashing the Blog Princess about the head and shoulders with the apparently alarming factoid that The Twig, when he is not shredding and feeding the Bill of Rights to Barney the White House Terrier or offing obnoxious pundits like Keith Olbermann for shreiking truth to power (admit it -- you wondered why those roses in the White House Rose Garden were so lovely this time of year, dincha??? Dead pundits make excellent fertylizer) hasn't pencilled in any money for The Illegal and Immoral War Against Irak in 2009 - a year when, let's not ferget, he will no longer be Prez.” (READ MORE)
Tracy: Another Lefty says, "That's not what I meant to say. . . ." “PULEEZE! I am so sick and tired of these politicians saying ‘but what I meant to say was. . . .’ Say what you mean the first time. Or did they? I'm sure you've all heard about Obama and his use of the word "wasted" when talking about the sacrifice of our troops. Here's the video:” (READ MORE)
Confederate Yankee: Iraqi General Disputes AP Claim on Jamil Hussein “Note: This is a background article to the exclusive posted today at Pajamas Media. From the very beginning of the controversy surrounding the Associated Press' coverage of a series of Shia militia attacks on Sunni homes and mosques in the Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad on November 24, 2006, Iraqi government officials, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and bloggers have questioned the identity of one of the primary Associated Press sources for the accounts, an Iraqi Police Captain called Jamil Hussein.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: US To PA: No Sale “The latest attempt to end the sanctions that have crippled the Palestinian Authority appear to have failed. The White House informed Mahmoud Abbas that all Palestinian Authority Cabinet ministers would have persona non grata status until the new unity government complies with the Quartet demands to recognize Israel and reject violence:” (READ MORE)
Major Pain: Tragic! “Pretty much sums it up. When I was in Iraq, we heard that there was little to no news about the great things we were doing there at the time back in the states or even the town our base was in. Tragic!” (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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