A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Online, GOP Is Playing Catch-Up - When David All, a former Republican congressional aide, launched a blog recently that he hopes will spur his fellow Republicans to bridge the digital divide, he did his best to sound upbeat. "Today our Revolution begins," he wrote. "Tomorrow we fight." (READ MORE)
Guantanamo Detainee Returns to Australia - David M. Hicks, the first of hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees convicted under Congress's new rules for enemy-combatant terrorism trials, arrived home in Australia yesterday to finish his prison sentence after more than five years in U.S. custody... (READ MORE)
Edging Their Way Into Sadr City - The U.S. military is engaged in delicate negotiations inside Sadr City to clear the way for a gradual push in coming weeks by more American and Iraqi forces into the volatile Shiite enclave of more than 2 million people... (READ MORE)
Few senators support the illegals bill - Fewer than 20 senators are publicly committed to supporting the immigration deal that hits the Senate floor today while nearly 40 are already opposed or have serious concerns. (READ MORE)
Caucus criticizes plan for 'amnesty' - Members of the Congressional Immigration Caucus say a compromise reached between members of the Senate and the Bush administration over immigration reform violates the rule of law, giving amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the United States. (READ MORE)
Israel eyes U.N. force for Gaza border - Israel may invite a multinational force to deploy along Gaza's border with Egypt in order to block shipments of sophisticated weapons to Palestinian militants, a government official said yesterday. (READ MORE)
U.S. fears pullout of British troops by Blair successor - U.S. officials are bracing for the prospect that Gordon Brown -- Tony Blair's almost certain successor as British prime minister -- will act quickly to reduce his country's military commitment in Iraq. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Outlaw 13: And Then There's These People... “Just the other day IN THIS POST I wrote about well meaning Milbloggers who may have jumped the gun when it came to getting all hot and bothered about the ability of deployed people like myself to post blogs or watch You-Tube while living in our desert summer home. Well, today while casting around the Internet looking for nude pictures of Reagan Yun and Kiran Chetry (not together...although that might be hot...but that is another post), I ran across a link to a post, written by a Mr. Rieckhoff, HERE. Warning, some nuttiness follows:” (READ MORE)
Desert Flier: Salvation Council's Tough Stance “An interesting interview took place a few days ago in Baghdad with the head of the Anbar Salvation Council, Sheik Hamid al-Hais. He eludes to the surge in police recruits over the past few months in Anbar Province, and has some hard-hitting statements about our struggle with Al Qaeda in the area. We have the local and regional sheiks aligned with us, and the results are impressive and cannot be discounted.” (READ MORE)
Badger 6: MRAP Arrival “One of the things that Americans have been concerned with as this war has moved along was whether or not we are properly equipped to carry out our missions. And rightfully so. You have paid your tax dollar, you have supported this effort, and you have sent your loved ones to fight.” (READ MORE)
Omar: Security Update “There hasn’t been any major security incidents in Baghdad since the attacks on three bridges in both its northern and southern suburbs on Friday May 11, more than a week ago. This doesn’t mean Baghdad is essentially calm: there are episodes -albeit minor and limited- still happening from time to time. They often go unreported, so there’s no information on whether they leave any casualties. Anyway, we do hear small blasts and bursts of machine guns a few times a day. In most cases it’s impossible to know whether those were raids by security forces or attacks by militants.” (READ MORE)
Mohammed: The Three Councils of Anbar. “A lot has been said about the Awakening, Salvation and Revolts councils of Anbar and I noticed there was some confusion about which is which, this is why I think this short report from Al-Mada could be useful: ‘A member of the Anbar Awakening Council said that forces loyal to the council are close to clear Ramadi from terrorists who destroyed the city with the sabotage acts against society and infrastructure, adding that these forces are almost done clearing Heet, Kubeisa, Rutba, Barwana and Baghdadi while progress toward Fallujah, Huseiba and Haditha remains slow because the formations of the Awakening are still humble (in those areas).’” (READ MORE)
Michael J. Totten: Soldiers Without Borders “The story of neoconservative political conversion is a familiar one. Many liberals, for one set of reasons or another, become conservatives as they get older. What starts them down the well-traveled road from the left to the right is usually some kind of a shock. Less known, or at least less written about, are the stories of militant anti-totalitarian liberals and leftists from the generation of 1968 who didn’t become neoconservatives, who started out on the radical left and who remain radicals of the left in more mature versions.” (READ MORE)
Stone Cold: Out on Patrol “This week I got to go on a patrol with some of the human soldiers! I went with a patrol from the 134th BSB (Brigade Support Battalion). It turned out that one of my buddies from my POLARCOM reserve unit was part of this patrol! It was sure fun to see him. Here’s a picture of us together: I helped him prepare for the mission by loading a few coolers full of ice into the vehicle. We polar bears need to bring LOTS of ice on patrol with us, so that we don’t overheat.” (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Jon Sanders: Helping Hillary find her theme “Sen. Hillary Clinton announced on her campaign web site that she is seeking an official campaign theme song.” (READ MORE)
Suzanne Fields: The Personal Becomes Political “The feminists got one thing right. The personal is political. The phrase is stretched out of shape to cover a multitude of occasions, but as a rock-bottom truth it holds up. Just not the way it was originally intended.” (READ MORE)
Donald Lambro: The do-nothing Democrats “Public perceptions are everything in congressional politics, and what the voters are seeing is a Congress more interested in holding politicized hearings aimed at grilling administration officials in an effort to embarrass the White House and ambush Bush's senior advisers.” (READ MORE)
Robert D. Novak: Lying About Taxes “In routine party-line votes last week, both houses of Congress completed action on a Democratic-crafted budget containing the biggest tax increase in U.S. history.” (READ MORE)
Michael Barone: Senate immigration bill is progress “I confess that I haven't read the text of the compromise immigration bill agreed to by Sens. Edward Kennedy and Jon Kyl, and I request the right to, in congressional language, revise and extend my remarks.” (READ MORE)
Jennifer Roback Morse: The Ultimate Winner on the Immigration Issue “My Fellow Americans, By the time I am sworn in as President, the current Congress will have passed -comprehensive immigration reform, - because the elites of America have decided that’s what we need. But the ordinary citizens of the United States want and deserve the rule of law.” (READ MORE)
Melik Kaylan: Battling al Qaeda in Iraq “Saturday I witnessed a violent and dramatic illustration of how the Iraqi Army has, in places, begun to work effectively with tribesmen against determined al Qaeda insurgents. The incident occurred some 50 miles north of Baghdad at a remote dusty village in Diyala province, which is now a kind of frontline between the two sides. We were there in the punishing noonday heat, with a rustic crowd on hand, to witness an emotional meeting between tribal chiefs in long robes and a lone, clean-shaven figure in a suit and tie--Ahmed Chalabi.” (READ MORE)
John Fund: Don't Run for the Border “It's understandable that the White House and its Senate negotiating partners want to rush through the compromise immigration bill they agreed to Thursday. Supporters acknowledge that the delicately balanced legislation could collapse if a single destructive amendment is attached to it. Its sponsors admit they want to minimize the political debate. ‘We all know this issue can be caught up in extracurricular politics unless we move forward as quickly as possible,’ says Sen. John McCain , a key architect of the bill.” (READ MORE)
Army Girl: War Changes People “Yesterday, I had dinner with my friend who's just returned.. I'll call him an affectionate nickname.. ‘Plato.’ I'm not sure it's possible for someone to be more of a thinker than when he left for war, but I would venture to say that he certainly has changed. In some ways, he's more of who he was than when he left. It would probably not be fair to give my assessments because we had a period of time lost in our friendship prior to each of our deployments. And I don't want to offend, if I'm wrong about things. There were a couple of pauses in our conversation, where we were both reflecting on our memories. The silence itself, to me, was like a vast bit of sadness.” (READ MORE)
Big Dog: Senators Think We Are not Bright Enough to Understand “Senator Saxby Chambliss received boos and hisses when he was discussing the bipartisan amnesty bill going through the Senate. In typical elitist fashion this elected official let us know that once again Congress understands and we do not. We are not as smart as they are, you see. They know better than we how to spend our money and how to live our lives so of course they know better when it comes to immigration. Chambliss was fairly condescending when he said: ‘After the speech, Chambliss said he took the crowd’s reaction as a lack of popular understanding of the shape of the current immigration system.’” (READ MORE)
Baldilocks: Macbeth Faces the Music “Jesse Macbeth, the man who claimed to be a United States Army Ranger and a recipient of a Purple Heart but who actually was an Army boot-camp wash-out, will face charges for using his fantasies to boost an anti-war rhetoric. ‘Jesse Adam Macbeth, 23, formerly of Phoenix, garnered much attention on blogs and in some alternative media after he began claiming in 2005 to have been awarded a Purple Heart for his service, which he said included slaughtering innocents in a Fallujah mosque.’” (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Realism “Winds of Change comments on the anti-Musharraf movement and asks whether US policy towards Pakistan isn't in rigor mortis. ‘Almost six years after 9/11, the substantial failure of the pact with Gen Musharraf is plain for everyone to see. Osama bin Laden remains at large, the Taliban are back in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, the A Q Khan network is believed to be in operation and the one thing the deal was supposed to avoid---severe political instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan---is at hand.’” (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Iraqi Forces Repel Major Mosul Attack “Many have questioned the slow training and progress of the Iraqi Army and other security forces over the past three years. Training an army from the ground up has tremendous difficulties, and early on, they performed poorly. Iraqi units did not always engage when ordered, and pay issues and terrorist attacks drove many recruits out of the ranks. Now, however, it looks like the Iraqi Army has become a formidable force for stability. In Mosul, they just turned back what looks like one of the largest-scale coordinated attacks on an Iraqi city yet seen:” (READ MORE)
Blue Crab Boulevard: Red Flag “Despite all the inevitable gushing praise bound to projectively vomit forth from the left over the new Michael Moore self-aggrandizing film Sicko, one should really first temper their reactions by reading what Canadian journalists are saying. Because Moore is, yet again, playing fast and loose with the facts and the Canadians are throwing the flag on him. Which makes Moore whine.” (READ MORE)
Chickenhawk Express: Jerking the Knees on the Immigration Bill “I hesitated to post anything about the proposed immigration bill because of the complete meltdown by many on the Right. FreeRepublic is in complete ‘scanners’ mode (remember the head exploding scene?) Every where I look there's just more of the same – ‘Bush has screwed us’, ‘Say goodbye to America’ and other such nonsense. Instead of Bush Derangement Syndrome, we now have full-blown IDS - Immigration Derangement Syndrome... It's Dubai Ports and Harriet Miers all rolled into one big nervous breakdown.” (READ MORE)
Cool, Calm & Collected: Pity Party! “What: Mel's Pity Party Why: Because I want to feel sorry for me When: Right now Where: Mel's House Don't worry everyone. I don't usually do this, but I think I am entitled to a few pity parties, right? I will even give you this quote that I generally try to live by, but not today. ‘The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances’ (Martha Washington) But, like I said, I am not abiding by that today.” (READ MORE)
Counterterrorism Blog: Baghdad: Iraqi Journalists Targeted by Militants “The tragic kidnapping and killing of ABC News employees Alaa Uldeen Aziz and Saif Laith Yousuf last week brought the number of journalists killed in Iraq since 2003 to 104. While I was at the Coalition Press Information Center in the International Zone yesterday, I sat down for dinner with a couple of courageous Iraqi journalists. They provided me with some context of the situation that journalists face here, and it isn't a pretty picture.” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Moore praises France’s worse-than-Katrina health system “Michael Moore has a new flick out and I hope he remembers that he will be allowed to keep about $50,000 more out of every $1 million he rakes in thanks to the George Walker Bush tax cuts. Of course, the Ronald Wilson Reagan tax cuts net him $350,000 extra for each $1 million he makes. Hey, his taxes would be more than double under Jimmy Carter.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Diyala on the horizon “The province of Diyala, where al Qaeda has established its command headquarters over the past year, has been the scene of increased activity of the past several days. Al Qaeda conducted a sophisticated attack in a Kurdish village in the north, and a coordinated attack on a military outpost and a bank in Baqubah. The U.S. detained two al Qaeda leaders in a raid in the city, while the general commanding the 5th Iraqi Army Division was relieved of his command.” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: News Unfit To Print “More than a week of intensive operations, up to 6,000 troops, often on foot, presenting themselves as targets everywhere, and only two Americans reported killed in the search area as of last night, out of two dozen Americans killed in Iraq in that time. That’s remarkable. So much heat on al-Qaeda in the Triangle of Death they can’t get a jihadi video out.” (READ MORE)
Knee Deep in The Hooah!: I am an American Soldier's Wife! “When I went to Mike's graduation from Infantry Training I just loved hearing the Soldier's Creed recited. I thought then that I would love to have one for the mothers of soldiers, but instead I re-wrote it as a soldier's wife. This, I am sure, has been done before. If you know of other versions, please post them. If you would like... change or add your own stanza! HOOAH!” (READ MORE)
Kobayashi Maru: Al Gore, Demagoguery and the Danger of Delusional Distraction “I would rather not be writing about Al Gore--again--but with today's New York Times Sunday Magazine feature on him ("Al Gore Has Big Plans"), I feel I have to if for no other reason than that it's cold and raining here in Boston. We hit near record (low) temperatures on Thursday, at forty degrees Farenheit. This city can be miserable enough in the Spring and so I'll come right out and state a personal agenda and admit that I don't want Al Gore making things any more miserable around here with grandiose schemes to turn down the global thermostat while he relaxes with his heated pool in Nashville.” (READ MORE)
The Marching Camp: Guilty until proven to be a Scapegoat. “New information has come to the fore in the trials of the Haditha Marines. You all remember the Haditha Marines? Tried and convicted in the court of the Press, with Surrender-Monkey-in-Chief "Semper I" Murtha himself presiding over their presumption of guilt. The initial investigation conducted by the unit found that after an IED attack, the Marines were attacked by terrorists fighting from a house nearby. The Marines attacked the house, and some civilians used by the terrorists as human shields were killed.” (READ MORE)
The Redhunter: State of the Surge “Francis J "Bing" West is in Iraq and has filed an report on the status of our efforts there. You can only find it in the May 28 print edition of National Review. To view it in it's entirety you need a digital subscription, so I can't provide a link to the article. His article is called "Start of the Surge: A report from Iraq", and amoung the many articles I've seen since my April update it is one of the most comprehensive. As such, I thought I'd shart some of it with you. Bing West was a Marine infantry officer during the Vietnam War, and and assistant secretary of defense during the Reagan Administration, so he has credibility on military matters.” (READ MORE)
McQ: The worst president in US history tries to hand off his crown “From an abandoned peanut warehouse in Georgia: ‘Former President Carter says President Bush’s administration is “the worst in history” in international relations, taking aim at the White House’s policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy. The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush’s environmental policies and the administration’s “quite disturbing” faith-based initiative funding.’” (READ MORE)
Scott Johnson: More time, please “Faitfhful readers may recall our posts on Lt. Peter Hegseth, the Forest Lake, Minnesota native. He graduated from Princeton and served with the 101st Airborne Division as a member of the New Jersey National Guard. We heard from Pete in connection with his service in both Guantanamo and Iraq. Today's Star Tribune carries Pete's op-ed column "The surge can work, but it needs time." The column is a companion to Pete's October 2006 Wall Street Journal column "More troops, please." Pete's column today argues the necessity of giving General Petraeus - and the new counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq - time to succeed (or fail). In a message to us this morning, Pete updates us on his current mission:” (READ MORE)
Some Soldier's Mom: Consider Yourself Slapped “The other day the House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a ‘Symposium’ on PTSD. I watched the last 60-90 minutes of this ‘symposium’ and to say that I was less than impressed would be an understatement; to say that I was infuriated at times might be an overstatement. Aggravated, agitated (principally at the attitude) might be most accurate.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: Project Payback: Google-Bombing Pro-Amnesty, Republican Senators Up For Election In 2008 “Since 2005, conservatives have been loudly saying, secure the border, build the fence, crack down on the people hiring illegal aliens, and no amnesty. Because those conservatives have put the interests of the American people above those of illegal aliens, they've been ignored, insulted, and talked down to -- not just by the Democrats, which is to be expected, but by Republican senators.” (READ MORE)
Ron Winter: Gathering Of Eagles To Support Coast Guard Grads “One spinoff of the highly successful Gathering of Eagles in Washington D.C. on March 17, where some 30,000 veterans turned out to stand vigil over the national war memorials and show support for our troops, is a system of regional organizations that are carrying on the work of the original gathering. Veterans and our supporters have already organized vigils and counter-demonstrations in places where the far-left, pro-terrorist, pro-communist, pro-socialists have previously gathered with impunity to spew their messages of hatred and opposition to democracy. This Wednesday, May 23, veterans from through New England and further will be gathering at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, to cheer on the graduating cadets, and to give their friends and relatives a vision of support when they arrive for the ceremonies.” (READ MORE)
TigerHawk: Framing Iraq “Anyone who is not trying to gain partisan advantage should think seriously about the best Iraq policy for the United States in the coming months and years. The purpose of this post is to propose a framework for considering both the Bush administration's policy and alternative policies offered by both the right and left. Toward that end, I offer a series of minimalist assertions, delightfully free of evidence and supporting linkage. Each assertion or question is numbered; please comment below with reference to the corresponding number. (Background note: Newer readers may want to look at the most recent edition of my ‘victory conditions’ post, published about a year ago at The Belmont Club. It includes my basic thinking about the intersection of al Qaeda and rogue states.)” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Hey, look over there! “One common theme among government detractors is the accusation that the current administration is engineering a foreign conflict for the sole purpose of distracting the populace from domestic concerns. Nothing unites a people and gets them to overlook problems at home like a nice, juicy external threat. It's a non-partisan theme, too. It's being used against George W. Bush over Iraq; it was used against Bill Clinton over the Balkans, Mogadishu, and various strikes against Al Qaeda; it was used against the first President Bush over the first Gulf War; and it was used against Ronald Reagan and his moves in Grenada -- and those are just the administrations I personally recall clearly.” (READ MORE)
SnoopyTheGoon: Hamas - redefining chutzpa "This word is used quite widely in United States, and usually quite correctly. These days Hamas is giving this word a dimension of its own, pushing the envelope in a way hitherto undreamed of. It was easy to see the first goal Hamas pursued by starting to pummel Israel by Qassams nine or ten days ago: turning attention from the internecine feud and killing. Instead of being seen by their own and by the whole world more clearly for what they are, which is bloody gang of murderous fanatics, Hamas has decided to switch the attention to the trick they do best, which is a) provoke Israel into action and b) start playing victims." (READ MORE)
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