A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Ahmadinejad Says British Troops Will Be Freed “Fifteen British sailors and marines seized by Iranian naval personnel have been pardoned and will be freed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a press conference Wednesday, but vowed his country would not tolerate invasions of its borders by any country.” (READ MORE)
Bush says war bill endangers troops “President Bush yesterday put a human face on the war-funding standoff with Democratic lawmakers, saying their failure to send him a ‘clean’ spending bill that he can sign will keep some troops in the field longer and force others to deploy sooner...” (READ MORE)
Executive power hot topic at New Hampshire forums “Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday defended President Bush's extensive use of national security tools such as the USA Patriot Act as no worse than other countries, but Sen. Barack Obama said he would use executive orders to roll back some...” (READ MORE)
Baghdad curfew eased as surge scores successes “American and Iraqi soldiers yesterday killed six terrorists and captured another 41 insurgents and death-squad suspects in operations in Baghdad and outside Fallujah, military officials said.” (READ MORE)
Breakthrough makes all blood types universal “A scientific breakthrough could help alleviate blood shortages and reduce the danger of accidental blood-type mismatches, researchers and executives for a U.S. biotech firm said yesterday.” (READ MORE)
For Bush, Fighting Democrats And Doubts “He strode alone into the Rose Garden and complained that ‘it has now been 57 days’ since he asked Congress for more money for the Iraq war and still has not gotten it. For President Bush, the fight over war-spending legislation has become the only talking point...” (READ MORE)
U.S. Holds Suspects In War Crimes “Ernesto Guillermo Barreiro seemed to fit in well with his neighbors in Virginia's placid horse country. The quiet, genteel man from Argentina opened an art and antiques store after moving into a farmhouse last year in The Plains.” (READ MORE)
Britain Ready To Send Team To Iran for Negotiations “Britain urged direct talks with Iran, is willing to send a ‘technical delegation’ to help ease the 12-day crisis over 15 British navy personnel detained in Iran, and is waiting for clarification from Tehran on the purpose and substance of such talks, according to sources familiar with the back-channel diplomacy....” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Badger 6: Iraq: An Improving Assessment “One of the things Patterico asked me to blog about was an assessment of the situation here in Iraq. Specifically he asked me to respond to this correspondent at Powerline. Blogging and reporting about the situation in Iraq is complex and difficult. What is true in one block may not be true in the next block and while the General Officers have an overall view, it becomes difficult for them to roll all of their assessments into one neat little sound bite.” (READ MORE)
The Calm Before the Sand: Grateful “Our motor pool is a barren expanse of gravel and sand on the northern perimeter of our FOB. It borders the flightline of the local airbase, and is big enough to accomodate at least thirty football fields. It's easy to get lost amidst the rows of vehicles and equipment; especially if you work at it.” (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: Night Operations on the Falluja Road "Two weeks ago, along with another route clearance unit, my platoon spearheaded a large operation south of Falluja,. We cleared two routes into the farmland for over six hundred Marines and soldiers who were to operate in the area over the next few days. We traveled to the operation staging area early, and took our places among the tanks, trucks, and other vehicles. The gravel lot of the staging area was bigger than a football field, and the entire surface was filled with lines of vehicles. Marines clustered around groups of trucks making final checks and preparations." (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Michael Medved: A Palestinian "Right of Return"? “One of the most annoying quirks of our major media outlets involves their consistently misleading characterization of the current debate about demands for a Palestinian ‘right of return.’ The latest Arab League peace proposal, recycled with much fanfare from a 2002 Saudi plan, includes a requirement that Israel should accept untold millions of Palestinians who would relocate into Israel itself, rather than making their homes in the newly created Palestinian State.” (READ MORE)
Paul Greenberg: Save the Electoral College “How strange: Legislators here in Arkansas, or at least those in this state's House of Representatives, have just voted for a bill that would cast the state's six electoral votes for whichever presidential candidate won the nation's popular vote.” (READ MORE)
Terence Jeffrey: Will the Ayatollah Win -- Again? “In the Shiite theocracy of Iran, the people elect the parliament and president, but the nation is not a democracy.” (READ MORE)
Michelle Malkin: Whitewashing Jihad in the Schools “Flabbergasting, but true. In the wake of 9/11 and the jihadists' carnage against schoolchildren in Beslan, Russia, the school chose to prepare their students for an attack by Christian homeschooling ‘wackos,’ not Muslim suicide bombers.” (READ MORE)
Austin Bay: An Armed Liberal Asks the Iraqi People About U.S. Withdrawal “Washington's high-decibel debate over funding U.S. military operations in Iraq has utterly drowned out one of the most important voices we must consider in any substantial discussion of goals and consequences: the voice of the Iraqi people.” (READ MORE)
Michael Zak: Bipartisan ticket? Republicans beware! “Any Republican interested in a proposal by Unity08 for a bipartisan ticket should consider the disaster that befell the country when the GOP did nominate a bipartisan presidential ticket. In 1864, President Lincoln's running mate was a Democrat, Tennessee's Andrew Johnson. Though anti-Confederate, Johnson proved to be a racist buffoon and an alcoholic and a true Democrat. Thanks to John Wilkes Booth, choosing Andrew Johnson was the biggest mistake of Abraham Lincoln's life.” (READ MORE)
Dick Morris and Eileen McGann: Dems' Next Debacle: More War-Funding Follies “Democrats in Congress are heading into a game of chicken with the Bush White House akin to the Gingrich-Clinton government shutdown battle of 1995-96. The roles are reversed this time - so the Republicans are likely to prevail.” (READ MORE)
WSJ Opinion Journal: Fitzgerald's Cover-Up “It's time to hold the special prosecutor accountable. For a prosecutor who claims to be a truth-seeker, Patrick Fitzgerald sure can be secretive. Even now that the Scooter Libby trial is over and his ‘leak’ investigation is all but closed, the unaccountable special counsel wants to keep his arguments for creating a Constitutional showdown over reporters and their sources under lock and key.” (READ MORE)
David Hazony: Cold War II - What Islamist Iran has in common with the Soviet Union. “A new Cold War is upon us. Though there is no Soviet Union today, the enemies of Western democracy, supported by a conglomerate of Islamic states, terror groups and insurgents, have begun to work together with a unity of purpose reminiscent of the Soviet menace: not only in funding, training and arming those who seek democracy's demise; not only in mounting attacks against Israel, America and their allies around the world; not only in seeking technological advances that will enable them to threaten the life of every Western citizen; but also in advancing a clear vision of a permanent, intractable and ultimately victorious struggle against the West--an idea they convey articulately, consistently and with brutal efficiency.” (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Ignatius Right? “I don't generally agree with columnist David Ignatius of the Washington Post, but maybe today he's right, that Congress, and the President, need to find a common ground to work from in Iraq. He suggests the Baker Hamilton report issued last year. The Democrats claim to be invoking it with their milestones and withdraw deadlines, but the truth is both of those items were written as hard and fast in the congressional legislation, which isn't what the report recommended.” (READ MORE)
Bryan Preston: Reuters on Bush vs al Qaeda: So successful we’re bound to fail “Somebody cranked up the spin machine to 11 on this one. Thesis: The Bush adminstration’s strategy is beating al Qaeda. And that’s baaad. ‘President George W. Bush’s administration has crippled al Qaeda’s ability to carry out major attacks on U.S. soil but at a political and economic cost that could leave the country more vulnerable in years to come, experts say.’” (READ MORE)
Kim Priestap: Nancy Pelosi Conducts her Own Foreign Policy “To say she's audacious is to be kind. She's in Syria today to speak with Bashar Assad, the president of Syria, in direct opposition to President Bush, who is the only one who can set our country's foreign policy. When President Bush criticized Pelosi, she thumbed her nose at him in return: ‘House Speaker Nancy Pelosi toured Damascus on Tuesday, the highest- ranking American politician to visit Syria since relations began to deteriorate four years ago. President Bush criticized the trip, saying it sends mixed signals to President Bashar Assad.’” (READ MORE)
The Sundries Shack: Pelosi: To Hell with Womens’ Rights “I hope the next time Nancy Pelosi stand up and brags about what a wonderful role model she is for women someone blows up this photograph to billboard size and stick it right behind her. After today, Nancy Pelosi has forever forfeited the ability to speak about equality for women without having everyone burst into scornful laughter.” (READ MORE)
Kim Zigfeld: Russia Convicted in the EHCR (again) “On March 29, 2007, the European Court for Human Rights handed down yet another conviction against Russia on a charge of violating human rights. This time, however, it wasn't for violating the rights of a dark-skinned person in Chechnya, but for an attack on a Slavic Russian in the nation's ‘northern capital,’ St. Petersurg. The ECHR's judgment came in the case of Andrei Frolov v. Russia. It ruled that Russia was guilty of human rights violations against Frolov and ordered Russia to pay him over $20,000 in damages.” (READ MORE)
Dymphna: A Slow Bleed “Lower and middle class Americans have always seemed so naïve to nuanced European sophisticates. Those church-going, bible-spouting, conservative hayseeds - what could they possibly have to say that anyone beyond the borders of the US would want to hear? Yet now cultured and refined Europe sees its fragile worldly wisdom beginning to fracture as the cherished truisms of statist economics and devout scientism hit the stone floors of reality.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: Democratic Foreign Policy: Opportunities and Risks “In response to a powerful anti-war base, the Democratic party has taken it upon itself to press forward with their won, anti-war, foreign policy. Thomas Sowell emphasizes the disrepute in which so many hold them for their obstructionism and muddled attempts to undermine the foreign policy of the United States in time of war:” (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: Britain Makes Smart Move “Britain is ever so politely waiting for a response from Iraq regarding the Brits desire to hold direct bi-lateral talks. The mullahs must be too busy laughing to get back to them straight away. But such talks actually benefit Britain. With bi-lateral talks, they won't have to worry about the rest of the world looking in and laughing at them, as well. Though it may be a bit late for that. Let's see - what shall we call such a summit ... how do you say, pull my finger in Persian?” (READ MORE)
Kat in MO: POWs and MIAs: Very Few and Far, Far Between “Something to contemplate since the British sailors were taken captive: in this war, unlike any war before (including Gulf War I), we have no known, classified POWs and only one known MIA: Spc Matt Maupin. Official POWs from the invasion include 7 soldiers from a maintenace company later rescued , Jessica Lynch and two Apache helicopter pilots. The reasons that there are few POWS or MIAs may vary.” (READ MORE)
Andi: There's No Such Thing as a Global War on Terror “I mean c'mon....what a silly, silly phrase. ‘The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget. This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee's Democratic leadership doesn't like the phrase.’” (READ MORE)
Cassandra: Staring Into The Abyss “There are many kinds of courage. In a man's world, conquest is the crucible in which he is measured and found worthy; the road to Valhalla. Small boys eagerly gobble up tales of heroes performing feats of daring against mighty foes. Young men dream of glory, imagining themselves in countless confrontations against dastardly and despicable enemies. But in the end, virtue and valour win the day. In such childish imaginings the lines between good and evil are drawn with brilliant clarity, each limned with its own blinding corona. It is impossible to mistake one for the other. If only real life were that simple:” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: Bush And The Senate GOP Slash The Size Of The Border Fence “There are few things that Bush and the Republicans in the Senate could do that would more strongly telegraph their opposition to enforcing our immigration laws than cutting back on the size of the wall being built at the border. So, what did are they planning to do? You guessed it...” (READ MORE)
Neptunus Lex: He was so close “Given the hostility that some on his side have taken to displaying against the military these days, it was good to read the words of liberal blogger, New York Times guest columnist and Army brat Robert Wright today (”Times Select,” i.e., pay subscription only - feh). Wright makes an interesting admission: ‘The part of San Francisco I lived in was the Presidio, which was then a military base. I was 12, and my father was an Army officer. I remember my family once driving toward the Presidio’s Lombard Street gate past tens of thousands of protesters who seemed to think my father was part of a very bad outfit.’” (READ MORE)
Greyhawk: Afford? “’Senator Harry Reid: AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD BUSH STRATEGY ANY LONGER’ Given the $40 billion in pork projects the House and Senate have tacked on to this bill, I think the ‘afford’ issue is the wrong attack. Unless, of course, you are absolutely unconcerned about how the press will cover the story.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: Chertoff: 'Clean-Skin' Terrorists The Big Threat “Michael Chertoff tells the London Telegraph that the US and the West has to do more to protect themselves from ‘clean-skin’ terrorists -- those born in the West who become disaffected enough to align themselves with radical jihadists. He also insists that the US has ‘every right’ to toughen its visa policies, a move that has been unpopular in Europe:” (READ MORE)
Dadmanly: Grandma Makes Peace? “US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes an independent, unauthorized trip to Syria to make diplomatic overtures to Syrian President Bashar Assad, as reported by the Associated Press. Her trip immediately followed her visit to Israel earlier this week. Her message to both countries: Grandma Speaker wants the kids to stop that bickering and just get along.” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: In the Middle East “Nancy Pelosi in Syria, courtesy of photographs from the Associated Press. ‘Wearing a flowered head scarf and a black abaya robe, Pelosi visited the 8th-century Omayyad Mosque, shaking hands with Syrian women inside and watching men in a religion class sitting cross-legged on the floor. She stopped at an elaborate tomb, said to contain the head of John the Baptist, and made the sign of the cross. About 10 percent of Syria's 18 million people are Christian.’” (READ MORE)
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