A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Senate rejects Iraq withdrawal “Senate Democrats yesterday failed to get enough votes for a bill to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by next March, the first test of new Democratic leaders who will spend the next weeks challenging President Bush's war strategy.” (READ MORE)
Detainee admits beheading Pearl, plotting attacks “Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mastermind of the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, confessed to U.S. military officials he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl ‘with my blessed right hand.’” (READ MORE)
Funds sought after firings “Democrats smell blood -- and campaign cash -- in the uproar over the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors last year.” (READ MORE)
Cleric hits Ahmadinejad for making enemies “A leading cleric and close associate of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini has joined critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is coming under increasing criticism from Iran's political and religious authorities.” (READ MORE)
Imams' suit risks 'chill' on security “Six imams who are suing an airline and an airport for removing them from a flight also have aimed the lawsuit at passengers who the imams believe reported some of their activities.” (READ MORE)
For U.S. and Sadr, Wary Cooperation “U.S. troops are conducting security sweeps in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City for the first time in three years, part of a revamped plan to pacify the capital. Yet the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has not risen up to fight them, despite U.S. raids on militia...” (READ MORE)
Valerie Plame, the Spy Who's Ready to Speak for Herself “She has been silent nearly four years. Today, the CIA officer whose unmasking fueled a political uproar and criminal probe that reached into the White House is poised to finally tell her own story -- before Congress.” (READ MORE)
Two Senators Secretly Flew to Cuba for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind's Hearing “Two key congressional leaders secretly flew to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday to observe the closed military hearing for al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed, according to Capitol Hill staff members and Pentagon officials.” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Mohammed: Is Iran’s honeymoon in Iraq over? “Iran’s ‘project’ in Iraq has recently been facing one setback after another. There are an increasing number of signs that the ‘project’s’ prospects for success, for realizing Iran’s ambitions in Iraq, do no point upward anymore. It simply isn’t having much success lately in undermining Iraq’s emerging democracy through politics and force.” (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: The Dump “We went to the dump today, two of my buddies and I. A dump is a normal fixture at any base in Iraq- I've already explored scrap piles at Ramadi and Habbaniyah. Dumps interest me; I like to see what other people have no more use for. I like to put into practice the old saying: ‘One man's trash is another man's treasure’. I've always been that way; a trip to the dump with my dad as a kid almost always ended in him trying to keep me from dragging home more trash.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Cool, Calm and Collected: Not too shabby... “Through everything that has happened, I expect there to be 'bad' days, and 'not-so-bad' days. I was blessed today with a 'not-so-bad' day. (I'm not saying it was perfect, by any means... And not a moment went by that I wasn't missing Jim...But it was a better day than most have been.)” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: Good News Bad News “You’ve got your good news, you’ve got your bad news. Now, for some completely different news: Royal Dutch/Shell announces a consortium with Turkish energy firms to bid on natural gas projects in Iraq and build pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. With Turkey on board, ticklish Turk-Kurd issues may be cleared, and if traditional insurgent-prone areas can be avoided, Stratfor posits: ‘With these problems addressed, the petroleum supermajors — like Shell — might be ready to tap Iraq’s reserves. The only real obstacle that remains is for the Kurds and other Iraqis to create an oil law on which they can all agree.’” (READ MORE)
Lorie Byrd: Journalists should be held to account for deceptive reporting of U.S. Attorney firings “Last week watching the coverage of the Libby verdict I wondered how it was possible for so many in the media to completely ignore Joe Wilson’s credibility problems in their reporting.” (READ MORE)
Linda Chavez: Shooting itself in the foot again “The Bush administration has a knack for shooting itself in the foot, or in the most recent example, the head.” (READ MORE)
Mike S. Adams: Klansman teaching History at Kent State “Kent State University now has another problem on its hands. A member of the Ku Klux Klan who just recently was found operating a hate website (www.KillTheNegroes.com) has now been identified as a history professor at Kent State.” (READ MORE)
Kathleen Parker: America's Clear and Present Danger “As presidential candidates try to stake out an electable position on the war in Iraq, Americans are justified in wondering: Is it reality, or is it just politics?” (READ MORE)
Oliver North: It Was Easier In Hanoi “As one might expect in a communist country where they take red tape very seriously, my producers spent weeks before our trip filling out forms, questionnaires and documents required by numerous government bureaucracies.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: 5 Things Republicans Can Learn From The Democrats “We might as well change the Republican Party symbol from an elephant to a punching bag because the Republican wimps in DC just refuse to fight back. The base may have no qualms about going after liberals, but when we look for Republican pols on the Hill to show some leadership in this area, we're almost always sadly disappointed.” (READ MORE)
Jeff Emanuel: Anti-war Leftists take careful aim, shoot selves in the foot once again “As the Iraq war (and the debate surrounding it) has raged on in the years since, the Left has been trying harder and harder to claim the moral high ground with regard to the treatment and use of US troops, both by championing the few it can find who oppose the War on Terror, and by attempting to marginalize those who dare speak out against them.” (READ MORE)
Steve Chapman: The Attorney General We Have and the One We Need “The uproar over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys may be a case where Gonzales actually had sound reasons, rather than unsavory political motives, for doing what he did. Someone who has consistently been a pliable administration functionary, though, can hardly expect the benefit of the doubt when scandal erupts.” (READ MORE)
Opinion Journal: KSM's World War - What his confession says about our enemy--and us. “In Cairo last year, Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Habib told us that the 9/11 attacks were ‘great crimes,’ but that he doubted Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible. It's probably too much to expect that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession that he ‘was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z’ will sway minds like Mr. Habib's. But for the rest of us, the testimony by bin Laden's top operational lieutenant is a jolting re-education in the enemy we face.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: Mosul Court Sets Example For Independent Iraqi Justice “A court in Mosul, staffed by anonymous judges who operate courts that exclude Westerners as observers, has set an example for an independent judiciary in Iraq. Carefully guided by American military advisors but only after the adjudication of cases, the tribunal has established itself as a clean and impartial standard by which other courts can pattern themselves:” (READ MORE)
Chickenhawk Express: You Know Things Are Improving in Iraq When... “You know things are improving in Iraq when the Dems are up in arms about something that is truly trivial and frankly stupid. This whole ‘firing of the 8 state attorneys’ is such a non-issue. I am no fan of Alberto Gonzalez but there are a lot of other things - much more important than 8 of 93 state attorneys losing their jobs - that I take issue with. (leaks not prosecuted being #1).” (READ MORE)
Dadmanly: Double Down on Iraq “Tom Maguire, guest-blogging at Instapundit, links to a the New York Times interview with Senator Hillary Clinton, in which she suggests that up to 75,000 US troops may remain in Iraq beyond 2008 under her plan for Iraq. Two stunning paragraphs open the Times report:” (READ MORE)
LGF: Al-Jazeera's Dirty Little Secret “Al Jazeera, the Arab satellite channel that’s always first with new releases from Al Qaeda, seems to be keeping a low profile for the moment in their push to get access to US airwaves. But they’ll be back. You can count on it. Because, as Steven Stalinski shows in this New York Sun piece, they’re a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood.” (READ MORE)
Neptunus Lex: A strategic thinker “For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, Thomas P. M. Barnett is a strategic thinker who has developed something of a cult-like following in the hallowed halls of the five-sided wind tunnel. Clearly very bright, he’s also exceptionally witty, even glib, and he’s taken his patented, PowerPoint road show - complete with “Law and Order ‘ca-ching’” transition soundtrack, all over the world, selling a pair of popular books along the way.” (READ MORE)
Pirate's Cove: Plameout To Testify In Political Play Of Comedy “The Democrats are pulling another political grandstanding stunt. Will the lead actress have her lines down? (from the Washington Post, page A1) ‘She has been silent nearly four years. Today, the CIA officer whose unmasking fueled a political uproar and criminal probe that reached into the White House is poised to finally tell her own story — before Congress.’” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: What is ‘Post-Normal’ Science? “Wikipedia shows that the curious term used by Mike Hulme, who argues Global Warming can only be met by something called "post-normal" science has a history of use in the environmental movement since the late 1980s and early 90s. I have interspersed the Wikipedia entry describing the term with my own commentary.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: The Battle of Diyala “Strykers engage in heavy urban combat in Baquba as the Diyala front becomes very hot - Baquba, the capital of the violence wracked province of Diyala, has emerged as the latest battlefield in Iraq. Earlier this week, Multinational Forces Iraq began to redeploy a battalion of Strykers - about 700 soldiers and 100 of their Stryker combat vehicles from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division - from Baghdad to Baquba to chase down the 2,000 plus estimated al Qaeda fighters who have fled the capital in anticipation of the Baghdad Security Plan.” (READ MORE)
The Middle Ground: Democrats Trot Out the Old/New Anti-War Vets “In an effort to combat the administration and pro-war factions insistence on listening to the commanders in the field while simultaneously trying not to appear anti-war to the point of being detrimental and derogatory towards the military (after polls showed that stupid comments from Dick Durbin, Kerry, et al regarding the military were damaging their support), the Democrat party has trotted out their newest members of congress, recent veterans of the Iraq war, to put a military face on their demand for retreat.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: AL Qaeda and The Oslo Syndrome “If you listened to this week's Sanity Squad Podcast, you had the opportunity to learn about what Dr. Kenneth Levin has termed The Oslo Syndrome. His take-off on the Stockholm Syndrome referred to the leaders of the state of Israel convincing themselves that Yasser Arafat, by mouthing peaceful words for Western approval, was a worthy "partner for peace" even as he continued to spew hateful and genocidal rhetoric for the delectation of his Arab audiences.” (READ MORE)
Ian: (Video) Rosie dismisses KSM, says he is not “be all, end all” of terrorism Update: Rosie defends KSM; robbed of his “humanity” "In the segment prior to what we originally posted, Rosie defended Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s 'humanity', remarking terrorists aren’t treated like 'humans' but instead 'treated like animals.' O’Donnell also raised a picture of KSM and commented he 'doesn’t look very healthy after three years in captivity.' Note to Rosie: that picture was taken when he was captured 4 years ago in March 2003." (READ MORE)
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