A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
The Woman in the Middle “The Democratic majority was only three weeks old, but by Jan. 26, the grass-roots and Net-roots activists of the party's left wing had already settled on their new enemy: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.), the outspoken chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.” (READ MORE)
Guantanamo Detainees Lose Appeal “A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that hundreds of detainees in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do not have the right to challenge their imprisonment in federal courts, a victory for the Bush administration that could lead to the Supreme Court again addressing the issue.” (READ MORE)
Beyond Baghdad, Grass-Roots Security “The mud sucked at the soldiers' boots as they crept across the wet pasture after dawn. To their right, Humvees and tanks tracked the soldiers' progress from a narrow dirt road. To their left and in front stood cinder-block huts, shaded by date palm trees...” (READ MORE)
Reward to smoker's widow nixed by top court “The Supreme Court yesterday took away almost $80 million awarded to the widow of a longtime smoker and threw into doubt the prospects of future high-dollar jury awards against businesses.” (READ MORE)
Cyprus offers moms bonuses for more babies “Cyprus has become the latest nation to propose paying women to have more babies in an attempt to reverse declining birthrates.” (READ MORE)
Watt is wrong with the bulb? “The government yesterday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country.” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Bill Roggio: al-Zawraa vs al-Qaeda “Mishan al-Jabouri goes on al-Zawraa and attacks al-Qaeda - While the Sunni insurgency is often seen as a united block, the reality is that under the surface, there are great tensions and disagreements between the 'domestic' insurgents and the 'foreigners.'” (READ MORE)
Michael Yon: Hey, Everybody - An Open Letter Home by CSM James Pippin “I am stationed in Mosul, Iraq and things are busy. We have about 15 - 20 incidents a day. An “incident” is an IED attack, enemy ambush, rocket attack against our vehicles, or a mortar attack against our FOB (Forward Operating Base aka where we live). We win every time whenever they stay and fight. But mostly, they hit us, then run away and blend into the crowd. We’re winning a day at a time. And we are taking the fight to them.” (READ MORE)
Andrew Olmsted: Closing Shop “As I noted yesterday, it turns out that I have been blogging in violation of a Department of Defense directive that restricts how much political activity soldiers may be involved with. This directive is intended to prevent even the appearance of impropriety among military personnel:” (READ MORE)
Bill Ardolino: "Tell the American people we need the U.S. Army here:" An Interview with the Jundi “As outlined in my analysis of the Military Transition Team (MiTT) mission, the story of the Iraqi Army in Fallujah is a mixed bag. The "Jundi" (Iraqi Army soldiers) are aggressive and some units are quite competent, but training is ongoing, the quality of their leadership varies, and logistical and pay issues significantly hamper operations. Observing some IAs on a mission and meeting with others at Forward Operating Base Castle in northeast Fallujah reinforced almost all of these assessments initially voiced by various Marine and Army MiTT members.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Iraq War Today: Full Circle: Two Years, Two Soldiers, One Blog... “Last month, I meant to get to a post to note my 2-year blog-iversary. Hard to believe it's been two years since I started here. The two-year blog-iversary came with some other milestones, too. I was named one of the Ten Best Milblogs in the VA Mortgage Center Blog contest. And more recently, I've been nominated for a Milbloggie. Pretty darned cool, to put it mildly - I can remember when I said to myself, how cool would it be to get nominated for a Milbloggie?.” (READ MORE)
Michael Medved: Where Tim Hardaway Was Right “Recent comments by retired basketball star Tim ("I hate gay people") Hardaway did serious damage to his image and career but also unwittingly raised serious cultural issues about sexuality and gender.” (READ MORE)
Bill Murchison: Our Humpty-Dumpty Political Class “What you may be noticing as the presidential candidates advance to be recognized is the pained and plaintive tone in which they speak of the political profession.” (READ MORE)
Austin Bay: The Real News Behind ‘The Surge’ “Adding 20,000 troops to Iraq in a five- to six-month window is a significant increase but in and of itself not decisive, and certainly not a ‘new strategy.’” (READ MORE)
Terence Jeffrey: McCain v. Rumsfeld “Which is more responsible for the tough situation we face in Iraq today: Donald Rumsfeld's management of the military or the assignment of that military to an impractical political mission promoted by John McCain and President Bush?” (READ MORE)
Douglas MacKinnon: Partisan squabbling is an insult to troops “The infantile food fight taking place in Congress in recent days over which partisan, nonbinding Iraq resolution would get a vote is nothing short of a national embarrassment. Worse, it is a slap in the face to the troops in harm's way who are desperately looking for adult leadership from those who helped send them there.” (READ MORE)
Jeff Emanuel: Non-binding Resolutions “Last week’s Congressional debates - and votes - on nonbinding resolutions condemning a key component of President Bush’s ‘new way forward’ in Iraq sent a dangerous message to America’s soldiers and her enemies about the will of America’s government to prosecute the war on terror.” (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: This Week's Target Is.... “The Washington Post is evidently holding a ‘Skewer Mitt Romney’ week on it's Op/Ed page. For the second time in as many day's one of the lead editorials is on Romney's constant evolution of opinion on many subjects. Today it's Ruth Marcus's turn to take on the former Mass. Governor, who has, like a good politicians, evolved his opinion on topics from gays in the military to abortion, to, well just about anything.” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: Video: Murtha lays out the slow-bleed strategy “This is being advertised on its YouTube page as a message to MoveOn.org but I can’t find any evidence of that except the author’s bare assertion. No matter. The creepy takeaway will please war opponents of every stripe: ‘Our troops are caught in the middle of an Iraqi civil war that only the Iraqi people can solve themselves.’” (READ MORE)
Kim Priestap: Poll: Americans Should Stand Behind President Bush During Wartime “Drudge has a flash report about a poll by Public Opinion Strategies that shows the American people want to win the war in Iraq. The numbers also show that the Democrats are actually working against the will of the American people.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Barack Obama's real color problem “The other day, a New Hampshire paper reprinted this article from the San Francisco Chronicle discussing Senator Obama, and his ‘color’ problem. I started reading it, but then tossed it aside (figuratively) as silly race politics. Is he ‘black’ enough? Is he ‘too white?’ I have a color problem with Senator Obama, myself, but it's not black or white. It's green.” (READ MORE)
Blue Crab Boulevard: Tell Me Again... “...Why Sandy ‘Socks’ Berger is not in jail? The Washington Post has more details about the way the Berger document stealing was mishandled at the time it occurred. Even the head of the 9/11 Commission is extremely unhappy about how little they were told by Justice Department officials before they had Berger under oath to testify.” (READ MORE)
Baldilocks: The Art of Communication “The reason I think that the majority of bloggers begin their endeavors is a very simple one: most of us want to transmit ideas without interruption. That certainly was one of my reasons for creating this site. Conversely, those of us bloggers who allow comments realize that the feedback allows uninterrupted transmission of ideas for our readers.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: Pollsters Finally Starting To Ask the Right Questions on Iraq “For the last three years, poll after poll has shown an American public who overwhelming believed that the war was mismanaged, that Bush was doing a horrible job in prosecuting it, that it wasn’t worth the effort, that we never should have invaded in the first place, and that we are losing the war. Of course, the only poll that matters – on election day – saw the Democrats sweep into power promising to ‘change course’ in Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: How Al-Sadr Became the Most Powerful Man in Iraq, and Other Stuff That Happened a Long Time Ago, Elsewhere “I have to think this Foreign Policy article by the NYT’s Dexter Filkins on Moqtada al-Sadr’s rise power and how he is now waiting in the wings, with no mention of how far into the wings he has now retreated, suffers greatly from a 20th-century production schedule, not to mention superficiality that renders the headline overhype. But because Filkins is a good reporter who was been around the block several times in Iraq,* I wouldn’t mind reading a more thorough update:” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: Brit Withdrawal IS NOT News “As you'll see below, the alleged big news today of a Brit withdrawal from Iraq is not really news. It actually appears to be less than was planned months ago. And pardon me for yet once again pointing out what an idiot Glenn Greenwald is while making the point. You can click through to read Greenwald's latest on Blair's withdrawing of troops, or read the MSNBC version distortion here. But I'll post all you need to know.” (READ MORE)
Michael J. Totten: Power, Faith, and Fantasy -- An Interview with Michael Oren “Renowned American-Israeli historian and best-selling author Michael Oren is touring the United States promoting his new book Power, Faith, and Fantasy, a sweeping history of America’s involvement in the Middle East from 1776 to the present. It’s the first and only book on the subject ever written, and it’s currently inching toward the top of the New York Times best-seller list for non-fiction.” (READ MORE)
Andi: Final Thoughts on Walter Reed “As I've stated in my previous two posts on Walter Reed, there's no dispute that there is a problem with the outpatient administrative process there. When I stated that ‘those of us who have gone inside of Walter Reed, without the cover of secrecy, have known about many of these issues for quite some time,’ I was referring to the frustrations with the outpatient process. I have never stepped foot inside of the infamous Building 18 and. like SMASH, had no idea of the state of disrepair of that building. Nor have I seen any evidence whatsoever of filth in the main hospital, the Fisher Houses or the Mologne House.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: Whither Sadr City? “The US has a decision ahead of then with the new surge strategy that could either help drive out the Shi'ite insurgents or lose them the entire city of Baghdad. The joint Iraqi-American forces have cleared and held Shi'ite enclaves around Sadr City, but have not yet entered that power base of the Mahdi Army. They must determine whether and when to do so, and the credibility of the US forces and the Iraqi government depends on their next moves:” (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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