A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Iraqis demand U.S. ouster “Tens of thousands of Shi'ites -- a sea of women in black abayas and men waving Iraqi flags -- rallied yesterday to demand that U.S. forces leave their country. Some ripped apart American flags and tromped across a Stars and Stripes rug.” (READ MORE)
Bush renews bid for reform “President Bush yesterday stopped at the same border town that he visited a year ago -- where apprehensions of illegal aliens have dropped by 68 percent since new fences were built and the National Guard called in...” (READ MORE)
Extremists force women to hide under head scarves “On the streets of the capital, the most common couture is what women call the Islamic uniform: the bulging black abaya that covers the body from head to toe; the head scarf, or hajib; and the long, dark ankle-length skirts.” (READ MORE)
Kerry conspicuous even out of '08 fray “Sen. John Kerry isn't running for president, but he's assumed the vocal and visible roles of campaign fundraiser, Iraq critic, political author and, now, global warming expert.” (READ MORE)
Six U.S. Attorneys Given 2nd Posting in Washington “A half-dozen sitting U.S. attorneys also serve as aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales or are assigned other Washington postings, performing tasks that take them away from regular duties in their districts for months or even years at a time, according to officials and department records.” (READ MORE)
Learning to Live With the Mahdi Army “No, there have been no problems, the police commander was telling the armor-laden American soldiers squeezed into his office in the vast Shiite enclave of Sadr City. Except, he said, for the text-messaged death threats he often received from militia members.” (READ MORE)
In Najaf, Protesters Demand U.S. Pullout “Draped in Iraqi flags and chanting anti-American slogans, tens of thousands of Iraqis swept into the southern city of Najaf on the call of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to mark the fourth anniversary of the ouster of President Saddam Hussein, calling for U.S. forces to withdraw from Iraq.” (READ MORE)
Clinton, Obama to Skip Fox-Sponsored Debate “Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) yesterday joined former North Carolina senator John Edwards (D) in deciding to skip a debate scheduled for September that Fox News is co-sponsoring with the Congressional Black Caucus.” (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Patrick S Lasswell: Travels Through the Souk in Suliamaniya, Iraq “If you've never been through a real middle-eastern market before, you've missed a wonder. Especially for those of us accustomed to shopping in strict rectilinear grids laid out according to the results of exhaustive market research. To add strangeness to the western mind, similar vendors are set alongside each other in Kurdistan, so competitors see each other.” (READ MORE)
Afghanistan JAG: PRIORITIES? “It is saddening that a imbecilic statement by Don Imus and Anna Nicole Smith's baby's daddy are the headlines, when the fact that six Canadians died in Afghanistan on Easter is a mere footnote in the news. How many people are even aware that we have troops in Afghanistan?” (READ MORE)
Duke in Iraq: Service Star Banner “Before I left on my first tour of Iraq, I gave my wife, my mother, and my in-laws a Service Star Banner. What follows describes the Service Star Banner and is from: http://www.bluestarmothers.org/. Display of the Service Star Banner first came about during World War I. During WWI and WWII most flags were hand made by mothers across the nation. One of the most famous flags was that of the five Sullivan brothers who all perished on the U.S.S. Juneau.” (READ MORE)
Badger 6: Civic Action “We are just outside a Marine outpost somewhere between Habaninyah and Khalidiya. Teflon Don told you about this place not too long ago. There were a couple of little girls killed here and we found more than our fair share of that scourge we seek. But not today. The Marines have this place locked down tighter than a drum. To do that they have engaged the local militia.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Patrick J. Buchanan: What Lack of Courage Costs “If Majority Leader Reid is not bluffing about his threat to vote with Russ Feingold to cut off funds, Harry will be rolled by a bipartisan coalition that includes dozens of members of his own caucus.” (READ MORE)
Bill Murchison: So What's the Bad Word Today? “The glaciers are melting; the terrorists are advancing; Iran, after getting away with the kidnapping of 15 Britons, has begun enriching uranium; hardly anybody professes to like the president of the United States; Don Imus makes a bigger donkey of himself than he was by crawling to Al Sharpton, racial trickster extraordinaire, for forgiveness of a racial insult; and ... and ... I think that's enough for now.” (READ MORE)
David Limbaugh: The Pelosi Democrats' Moral Confusion “In our outrage over Nancy Pelosi's unconstitutional and, according to some legal experts, criminal attempt to steal the reins of American foreign policy from President Bush, let's not tacitly give her a pass for her egregiously wrongheaded assertion that ‘the road to Damascus’ is a road to peace.” (READ MORE)
Walter E. Williams: Phony Science and Public Policy “The public has become increasingly aware that the science behind manmade global warming is a fraud. But maybe Americans like bogus science in pursuit of certain public policy objectives. Let's look at it.” (READ MORE)
Jack Kemp: An opportunity to expand civil rights “The Maryland Legislature recently passed a law restoring the right to vote to all ex-offenders who have fully completed their sentences and finished parole and probation, with the exception of people convicted of election fraud.” (READ MORE)
Michael McBride: Surviving capture with your honor intact “Much of military life cannot be completely comprehended by those who have not shared the experience. This is not to say that the general populace cannot respect the efforts or accomplishments of the military, but they might not comprehend that the physicality of the beach landing at Normandy, demanded the equivalent of a couple of marathons - and it continued into the night, the next day, and on, and on.” (READ MORE)
Jon Sanders: Brave John Edwards Ran Away “Edwards, a man who since 2002 has openly aspired to be leader of the free world - a job that entails squaring off against, for example, North Korea, Iran, Islamic radicals, Marxist dictatorships in the Americas, drug traffickers, Russian hardliners, Congress - has now backed out of a second presidential debate for being co-sponsored by Fox News.” (READ MORE)
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pelosi's Proclivities “Speaker Nancy Pelosi is clearly one of those women who want it all. In her case though, this is not simply a matter of a lady seeking to have both a family and a fulfilling and successful professional life. Rather, the first female leader of the House of Representatives evidently seeks also to be the commander-in-chief and the secretary of state.” (READ MORE)
Dinesh D'Souza: It's the Culture, Stupid “Many Muslims point to what they view as the horrors of liberal America: homosexual marriage, family breakdown, and a popular culture that is trivial, materialistic, vulgar, and in many cases morally repulsive. So while many secular Europeans abhor ‘red America,’ many religious Muslims dislike and fear ‘blue America.’” (READ MORE)
WSJ Opinion Journal: Fox and Hounds “The left blackballs the Black Caucus. In the battle for control of the Democratic Party, the George Soros-MoveOn.org crowd is used to getting its way. So it's revealing to watch the consternation in those precincts to the Congressional Black Caucus decision to co-sponsor a pair of Presidential primary debates this year with Fox News. Liberal activists are livid, to say the least, with one anti-Fox pressure group condemning the Black Caucus for ‘dancing with the devil.’” (READ MORE)
Brendan Miniter: Checks and Balances “Wasn't McCain-Feingold supposed to take big money out of politics? With Democrats crowing that their presidential candidates raised record sums of money and are therefore destined to capture the White House, there needn't be any more debate. Sens. John McCain and Russ Fiengold failed miserably in their attempt to drive money from politics.” (READ MORE)
Austin Bay: Thoughts on the British surrender “Last week Dean Barnett questioned the British sailors’ and marines’ decision to surrender to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Dean wondered if the phrase ‘fighting back was not an option’ would be the epitaph on the grave of the Western world. A fair enough point to make about the confrontation with Islamo-fascism, but having chased Iranian and Arab dhow in RHIBs (rigid hull inflatable boats) manned by American sailors I understand how exposed and vulnerable the British sailors were. (A couple of weeks ago in a Creators Syndicate column I discussed small ship inspection and boarding operations in the northern Persian Gulf.)” (READ MORE)
Bear Creek Ledger: If You Are in Military Uniform - Target Doesn’t Want You In Their Stores! “Two Marines in dress uniforms went into a Target in Chesapeake, VA. They were escorted to the door by a Target manager who said they were recruiting! Yes, that’s Target, the Muslim appeasing company. Target bows to the altar of political correctness. They removed Christmas from their ‘Holiday’ signage. They banned bell ringers from The Salvation Army. Now they don’t want US Uniformed personnel in their stores.” (READ MORE)
Dafydd: In Sign of Desperation, Desertion Rate Plummets! “The New York Times reports that the American military has been ‘cracking down’ on deserters ever since 2002, which they conclude is a sign of desperation: ‘The increased prosecutions are meant to serve as a deterrent to a growing number of soldiers who are ambivalent about heading -- or heading back -- to Iraq and may be looking for a way out, several Army lawyers said in interviews.’” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: The Baghdad Security Operation Order of Battle: April 9, 2007 “The Baghdad Security Plan is approaching the eighth week since its official announcement, and Baghdad has seen a relative level of calm compared to the security situation just last year. There have been no major mass casualty attacks inside Baghdad since the suicide bombing in the Shia market on March 29.” (READ MORE)
Captain Ed: Democrats Fear Fox, Part II “Democrats have once again gone running in fright from Fox News Channel for a political debate -- or more accurately, have run from fear of their anti-war base. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama join John Edwards in refusing to appear on Fox for a debate sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus:” (READ MORE)
Confederate Yankee: Imus: An Appropriate Response “Radio talk show host Don Imus got himself in a world of trouble for referring to female basketball players at Rutgers University as ‘nappy headed ho's’ last week, a comment still being discussed today, in the New York Times, on the Imus show itself, and elsewhere. Predictably, there are those calling for Imus to be fired for the comments, and perhaps their argument would have some merit in a perfect world, but ours is not a perfect world.” (READ MORE)
Baron Bodissey: Dawah at Rensselaer Polytechnic “ The Arabic word dawah means ‘call’, ‘summons’, or ‘invitation’, and refers to the proselytizing of infidels by Muslims in an attempt to convince them to submit to Allah. It is the duty of every Muslim to practice dawah towards the infidel. If dawah fails, then the tenets of Islam require the faithful to wage jihad, or holy war, against the infidel until he submits or is killed. There’s a little bit of dawah being practiced at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this week. Over the weekend Dymphna received an email from a woman in Connecticut:” (READ MORE)
Dr. Rusty Shackleford: Rusty Gets a Fatwa, Death Threat “Did I finally get my fatwa? I feel so...so...vindicated. A radical Muslim website has issued a fatwa against me, Rusty Shackleford, editor-in-chief of The Jawa Report. How do I know it's a radical Muslim's website? I'd say the name of the blog, Radical Muslim was the giveaway (pop-up alert: link uses anonymouse for your protection---slow, but worth it).” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: (Audio) McCain says someone was laughing during his Baghdad press conference “This makes three independent reports of distracting chuckling during the presser: Drudge’s original much-maligned story, which accused Michael Ware by name of ‘heckling;’ AFP’s story from last Tuesday, which cited ‘giggling’ by an unnamed reporter; and now J-Mac himself, who appeared yesterday on Sean Hannity’s radio show to do a little rebunking of Raw Story’s debunking.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: On The Ground “‘The Days of My Life.’ A Baghdad schoolgirl talks about a class party, her report card, the car that exploded on her street, her sadness after the widow who used to clean her classroom was killed. Days’ mom also blogs about the odds and ends of her days. Compellingly, chillingly.” (READ MORE)
Neptuns Lex: Unsavory “Well. It appears that the story which nearly everyone wishes would just go away, won’t - at least not for a while: Some of the sailors and Marines who surrendered themselves last month to the clutches of the IRGCN and who then - no doubt under severe duress - made statements harmful to their country’s cause have found a way to find the pony in that particular pile of sh!t: Sell their story to the press.” (READ MORE)
John Noonan: Code Pink on the Airwaves “Lame. No, the troops aren't toys to play with. Nor are they propaganda pieces. These are the same shrill womyn who feel that Walter Reed Army Medical Center is an appropriate venue for protesting. The type who turn their backs on soldiers, mock their accents, and manipulate them for their own selfish political desires. So forgive me if I find their appeal to America's heartstrings a little...well manipulative. Code Pink is the PETA of the anti-war movement, a group who offers little political clout beyond a handful of melodramatic media stunts each year. Credibility. It counts.” (READ MORE)
William Teach: Democratic “Meet With Terrorists” Tour Continues “I have a hard time believing that even Jim Baker meant this: ‘Shortly after House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi took flak for her controversial visit to Damascus, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met in Egypt with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist network that spawned Hamas.’” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: The Left's Idea Of "Patriotism" “Over at MyDD, Chris Bowers wrote a convoluted 1176 word piece trying to explain to his fellow liberals how he could be liberal and patriotic at the same time. In order to come up with a way that he can define himself as patriotic, he basically concludes that it's OK for liberals to love America because it has no defined culture, and therefore you can pretend America is anything you want it to be instead of what it actually is in the real world.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: The new ostriches “Well, the nutroots are at it again. After their stunning victory in Connecticut, when they punished heretic Joe Lieberman for daring to disagree with their dictates, they've found their new cause: punishing Fox News. They've pretty much taken over John Edwards' campaign, pushing him into boycotting a Fox News co-sponsored debate in Nevada. That started a cascade, and eventually all the major candidates to bow out. Now Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have pulled out of a debate co-sponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus.” (READ MORE)
Amy Proctor: Pope's Easter Comments on Iraq Misunderstood “Bottom Line Up Front: Comments from Pope Benedict on Easter Sunday were taken out of context and used by peaceniks to promote the fallacy that U.S. policy in Iraq contradicts Christianity. Pope Benedict XVI gave an inspirational homily on Easter Sunday, encouraging the faithful to cling to Christ’s resurrection to assure their faith in a world troubled by war, famine and hunger. Some of his comments are being taken out of context, however, and the phrase ‘papal infallibility’ being misused by anti-war proponents, as in a reader comment yesterday:” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club:The Centrifuge As Vortex "What links fifteen British sailors, 3,000 centrifuges and an Iraqi ground battle? Iran. Let's start with the centrifuges. Former Spook believes that Iran's recent announcement that it is ready to begin the "industrial" scale production of enriched uranium is a dangerous step towards attaining a nuclear weapon. They aren't there yet, but they are working on it -- and by inflating his country's nuclear capability Ahmadinejad, in the absence of a will to use force -- simply increases the amount of concessions he can extract from a terrified West by his bluster. Former Spook writes:" (READ MORE)
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Linked By:
Iraq War Today - Moonbat Watch: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
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