A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Alleged Architect Of 9/11 Confesses To Many Attacks “Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, confessed at a Guantanamo Bay military hearing that he planned and funded that al-Qaeda operation and said he was involved in more than two dozen other terrorist acts around the world…” (READ MORE)
McCain Fighting to Recapture Maverick Spirit of 2000 Bid “In the seven years since John McCain and his ‘Straight Talk Express’ nearly derailed George W. Bush's White House ambitions, the blunt-spoken senator from Arizona has become the very picture of the highly managed presidential candidate he once scorned.” (READ MORE)
Le Pen Joins Volatile Race For French Presidency “Jean-Marie Le Pen, the anti-immigration politician who stunned France and the world by finishing second in this country's 2002 presidential contest, formally placed his name on this year's ballot Wednesday, adding new uncertainty to an increasingly volatile campaign.” (READ MORE)
Democrats' Resolution on Iraq Reaches Senate Floor “After weeks of delay, Democratic leaders yesterday managed to bring to the Senate floor for the first time a binding resolution that would bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. But Republicans remained confident that they could kill the proposal, and the White House threatened a veto, raising constitutional concerns.” (READ MORE)
U.S. moves to unfreeze N. Korea funds “The Treasury Department yesterday placed a Macao bank off-limits to U.S. financial institutions -- a move that could allow North Korea to recover millions of dollars in frozen accounts and remove a key obstacle in nuclear negotiations with the communist state.” (READ MORE)
Bush 'optimistic' on immigration reform “President Bush said yesterday he has proved his commitment to securing the U.S.-Mexico border and members of Congress now can turn to broad immigration overhaul.” (READ MORE)
Detainee admits planning 9/11 “Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, long suspected as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released yesterday by the Pentagon.” (READ MORE)
Calderon can't say whether U.S. relatives are 'legal' “Mexican President Felipe Calderon yesterday said he doesn't know whether relatives, who he said work as vegetable pickers in the United States, are there legally.” (READ MORE)
Clinton Says Some G.I.’s in Iraq Would Remain “In an interview, the senator said that she would keep a reduced military force in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda.” (READ MORE)
Iraqis’ Progress Lags Behind Pace Set by Bush Plan “Bush administration officials acknowledge that their key political goals for Iraq will take longer than they anticipated.” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Iraq Pundit: A Surge in Rumors, Too “The ever-buzzing Iraqi rumor mill (which is often interchangeable with the Arab press) continues to offer scenarios of possible changes at the top of Iraq's government. True, Baghdadis and other Iraqis see some positive results from the latest security push, but Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, who has been doing a deeply unimpressive job, doesn't seem to get much credit from anybody. Mostly, it's Gen. Petraeus who gets the thanks.” (READ MORE)
The Calm Before the Sand: Pain “Pain is waking up on the morning you leave, with your wife's back against your chest and the smell of her shampoo on your skin. It's feeling her press back again you as she sleeps, and suddenly feeling you've wasted every other similar moment the both of you have shared. It's the hot swell of tears, and the hitch of breath.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Daniel Henninger: The Walter Reed Fiasco “Since its publication on Feb. 18 in the Washington Post, the story of the bureaucratic nightmares experienced at Walter Reed Army Medical Center by soldiers from the Iraq and Afghan wars has been Washington's biggest bonfire in a long time. Nearly four weeks on it still consumes official Washington--with firings, hearings, denunciations and the waving forward of commissions.” (READ MORE)
Victor Davis Hanson: Can General Petraeus Turn the War Around? “The verdict on four years of fighting in Iraq hinges on the events of the next few months. With the U.S. public and many politicians intensely skeptical that a changed military strategy can salvage the war, the U.S.’s new commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, must win them all over — and fast.” (READ MORE)
Thomas Sowell: Global-Warming Swindle “The British Broadcasting Corporation has produced a devastating documentary titled The Great Global Warming Swindle. It has apparently not been broadcast by any of the networks in the United States. But, fortunately, it is available on the Internet. Distinguished scientists specializing in climate and climate-related fields talk in plain English and present readily understood graphs showing what a crock the current global-warming hysteria is.” (READ MORE)
Byron York: Ten Questions for Valerie Plame Wilson “Valerie Plame Wilson, the woman at the heart of the CIA-leak affair, is scheduled to testify tomorrow before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. There she will, for the first time, face questions about her role in the Niger uranium matter that eventually became the basis of the CIA-leak investigation. Here are a few questions Mrs. Wilson might be asked:” (READ MORE)
Kobayashi Maru: Overplaying Their Hand, Part II “Last week I quoted a piece at the American Thinker that singled out Al Gore as one of the millstones around the neck of the global warming movement. Here's an expanded excerpt: ‘Three major factors are responsible for the Green's failure: the weather, Al Gore [and] science... The second factor is something vaster and more certain than mere weather or climate: Al Gore's arrogance.’” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: Senate Dems’ Iraq proposal looks a lot like Kerry’s plan from last summer “Lurch’s plan, you may recall, was offered as an alternative to the Reed-Levin proposal. R-L called for U.S. forces to begin withdrawing by a certain date; Kerry called for them to finish withdrawing by a certain date (namely, July 1, 2007). Result: Yeas 13, Nays 86.” (READ MORE)
Hugh Hewitt: What Part Of "Commander-in-Chief" Don't You Understand? “From the Washington Post story on th Democrat's attempt to rewrite the Constitution: ‘The resolution ‘infringes upon the constitutional authority of the President as Commander in Chief by imposing an artificial timeline to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, regardless of the conditions on the ground or the consequences of defeat,’ the White House statement said.’” (READ MORE)
Congressman John Campbell: Everything but the Kitchen Sink “Last night, I wrote a post showing how the Democrats have thrown over $20 billion in unrelated spending and special handouts to the upcoming war supplemental. Today, I found some more striking information within this 171 page bill that the mainstream media is largely choosing to ignore, but needs to see the light of day.” (READ MORE)
Lorie Byrd: More On Those Fired US Attorneys “Kim posted earlier about the recent firing of the eight US attorneys. I have not blogged about it before now because I learned back in 1993 that it was no big deal when Bill Clinton fired 93 US Attorneys when he took office, including at least one that was working on investigations into his dealings in Arkansas. Even as weary as I am of the Clintons, when I heard a few US attorneys were fired that was the first thought that came to mind.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: The Nutroots: learning the wrong lessons “The Nutroots -- the affectionate little name that is going around for the self-styled "Net Roots" and moonbat element of the Democratic Party -- are growing more and more powerful in that party. And it seems that their obsession with the Viet Nam war -- it comes up pretty much every time they discuss Iraq -- has led them to learn precisely the wrong lessons from that conflict.” (READ MORE)
GayPatriotWest: The President’s Biggest Failures: Not taking on MSM/Excessive Loyalty to Appointees “It seems that whenever I reveal my politics to a new friend, particularly if that friend is gay, he immediately asks if I like the president. And sometimes when I offer my qualified support of Bush, some readily accuse me of being a Bush apologist. But, those who read this blog know that while we have frequently defended the nation’s 43rd* Chief Executive, we have from time to time taken issue with him. As I wrote last year:” (READ MORE)
The Victory Caucus: The House Emergency Supplemental: Micro-managing The War “The Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives has decided to micro-manage the war effort by loading the funding bill required to authorize continued operations in Iraq with conditions and provisions designed to force the President to retreat and withdraw from the fight. The Victory Caucus is pleased to be the very first online --- or print --- media outlet to present in full the text of the conditions imposed in the bill.” (READ MORE)
TigerHawk: The violence veto and censoring the history of Islamic anti-Semitism “I have written many times of the ‘violence veto,’ the means by which nasty pressure groups interdict otherwise lawful speech by threatening life and limb. Now it seems to have silenced an academic talk at the University of Leeds on the history of Islamic anti-Semitism: ‘Matthias Köntzel arrived at the university yesterday morning to begin a three-day programme of lectures and seminars, but was told that it had been called off on security grounds.’” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: ACLU’s man of the year: KSM “Take a good look at Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the bank and the brains behind much of the pre-9/11 activity by al-Qaeda. He has confessed to helping plot 9/11 and the abduction and beheading of Daniel Pearl — as well as concocting dozens of other terror plots. The American Army captured him in a war that was protested even before it began by ANSWER and other lefties — the one in Afghanistan.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: We Are Jackals Fighting In The Nights “Twisted dreams of death and destruction on a massive scale, boiled down into a fascinating but utterly dry, bureaucratic and soulless document, little more detailed than a to-do list with several big items checked off. It starts with courtroom boilerplate and bickering, gets down to business with the confession. Then, we get to Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s perverted vision of himself, some high-minded rot.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: Hillary: The Frontrunner is Backsliding “She will have more money than God when all is said and done. And if wresting campaign funds from fat cat Democratic party donors was all it took to win the nomination of her party, Hillary Clinton would undoubtedly be the runaway favorite, easily besting the populist candidacy of John Edwards and edging out the feel good vapidity of Barak Obama’s messageless run.” (READ MORE)
McQ: The Flying Imams: An attempt at legal intimidation “Of course anyone with even a modicum of intelligence knew this was coming: ‘The "flying imams' " federal lawsuit, filed this week in Minneapolis, has made headlines around the country. The imams are demanding unspecified damages from US Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission, both with deep pockets.’ Call it the new American sport, but whenever there is the slightest disagreement of any sort the court, rather than being the last resort, has become the first. The sport, of course is to see how trivial a lawsuit you can succeed in introducing and how much you can soak the defendant for.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: ISAF denies cross border raids into Pakistan “Denial technically true; Achilles update - Last week, western forces from Afghanistan were reported to have crossed the Pakistani border, and captured Mullah Hakimallah Mehsud, a clansman of Baitullah and Abdullah Mehsud, the two leading Taliban commanders in South Waziristan.” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: Okay, So Hillary Is Just Plain Stupid “Hillary has decided to be more ‘nuanced’ when it comes to what she would do with Iraq as President. This is rich. While her party is attempting to pass legislation to micro-manage the war, Hillary would instead rely on the advice of the military commanders. Huh? And it gets better. The urban war is a ‘loser.’ However, she would obviously have plenty of troops in Iraq to protect our ‘remaining vital national security interests in Iraq’.” (READ MORE)
Major Z: I don't think you can, even if you think you can. And I'm (usually) right--so there. “Supporting the troops means standing behind their decision, their choice, to serve their country, to go into harm's way when so ordered, and to fight, and win. Support comes in many forms, from boxes of cookies, to socks and spices, to camelback coolers, to voice-activated laptops. But support must be total, 100%, fully committed--just like the commitment we expect from our soldiers.” (READ MORE)
Cassandra: Operation Iraqi Truth “In the Washington Times, Roy Blunt waxes... downright blunt about the situation on the ground: ‘House Democrats had an opportunity last week to send an unambiguous message of strength and resolve to our troops in harm's way in Iraq, to our allies and enemies around the world and to Americans here at home. Instead, they used the occasion to announce a timetable for wholesale retreat…’” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: Clinton: I'll Ignore Genocide “Hillary Clinton made an astonishing statement on her policy for Iraq if elected President, in an interview with the New York Times yesterday. She refused to commit to total withdrawal from Iraq, saying that she would keep American troops in Anbar to fight terrorists, a stance that will not endear her to the anti-war Left in her party. At the same time, she said she would refuse to send troops back into Baghdad, even if genocide took place:” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: The Killing Fields “The Internet may finally have ended the ability of the Left to cover up their crimes in the Third World. Philippine Commentary describes, in a link-filled post, how justice may finally be catching up with Jose Maria Sison, whose organization was responsible for the murder of Colonel Nick Rowe. Note the name ‘Satur Ocampo’ in the post below. Ocampo is one of the Communists accused of mass murder. His name will appear in a US news context a few paragraphs from now.” (READ MORE)
Patterico: The Actual Text of the E-mails Provides Further Support That the U.S. Attorney Firings Were Not Motivated by a Desire to Affect Political Investigations “U.S. Attorney Carol Lam was on a list to be fired months before the Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal even broke. One of the fired U.S. Attorneys wouldn’t prosecute illegal re-entry cases until the illegal alien had been apprehended 13 times after his original deportation. These are things I learned reading the entire set of released e-mails regarding the firing of the U.S. Attorneys. These e-mails confirm my conclusion from yesterday:” (READ MORE)
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