A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention updated throughout the day…so check back often. This is a weekend edition so updates are as time and family permits.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Iraq Push Revives Criticism of Force Size - The major U.S. offensive launched last weekend against insurgents in and around Baghdad has significantly expanded the military's battleground in Iraq -- "a surge of operations," and no longer just of troops, as the second-ranking U.S. commander there said yesterday -- but it has renewed concerns... (READ MORE)
Obama Pledges Stronger Lobbying Reforms - MANCHESTER, N.H., June 22 -- Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has promised a "different kind of campaign," one that hovers above the political fray. And so on Friday, after a week of contentious exchanges between his campaign and those of his Democratic rivals, Obama returned to talking about his... (READ MORE)
Hillary, Boxer Miffed Over Inhofe's Radio Claim - A political spat involving talk radio emerged in Congress on the heels of a report this week critical of "conservative dominance" of the industry, whose credibility is being questioned separately. (READ MORE)
Bloggers, Radio Reshaping Bill on Immigration - The top Senate Republican negotiator on immigration said he has heard the complaints of conservative talk-radio show hosts and bloggers, and will try to change the immigration bill to accommodate them. (READ MORE)
IAEA Team Returning to North Korea - U.N. nuclear inspectors will travel to North Korea on Tuesday to discuss the modalities of a promised shutdown of Pyongyang's nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced yesterday. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Jack Army: "That Was Some Scary Shit" “Yesterday, I experienced something I didn't think I ever would, but knew was a possibility. I told you recently about some force protection upgrades we were working on for our Iraqi Army (IA) brothers in an outpost in this area. Yesterday, we stopped by that outpost in a small town to perform several tasks. My boss met with the city leaders, I checked in with the IA and others on our team were going to meet with various other folks in this town. The barriers were in place and the IA guards were well positioned and understood their jobs. The IA commander of this outpost felt he understood the dangers in this town and this area but I'm certain that he only had a partial understanding of what was going on.” (READ MORE)
Mohammed: Sadr Bites the Hand that Feeds Him “In our last post we briefly mentioned a statement in which Sadr’s office accused Iran of hosting and assisting al-Qaeda, today I’ll talk about that statement in more detail. The claim itself is not strange. What’s strange is whom it came from. Sadr was the last voice we’d expect to say such a thing. Accusing Iran of interfering in Iraq’s affairs is one thing, but accusing it of hosting and assisting al-Qeada is a whole new ballgame. It opens the door for speculation and analysis, especially since Sadr only weeks ago returned from a long stay in Iran in which he was a guest of the top leaders of the Islamic Republic. So why make this statement now?” (READ MORE)
Matt Sanchez: Extreme Home Makeover Iraqi Style “For all the people who believe the troops are out here moping around feeling sorry for themselves, you've got to see this.” (READ MORE)
The Online Chapline: Reintegration Tip #3 Try Some Vitameatavegamin. It’s good for you. "My favorite episode of "I Love Lucy" was the one with Vitameatavegamin. It was the cure all for everything. Just think if you went to the doctor and found out you were pregnant. The doctor says, 'Don’t worry, I have just the thing. Vitameatavegimin.' Then later you go to the doctor with a broken arm, 'Don’t worry, I have just the thing. Vitameatavegimin.'" (READ MORE)
Brotherhood of Courage: Hello everyone "It's been a good month for me and the platoon. My team leader got promoted and we made it here at our destination safe. I once again thank everyone that left comments. We are always busy here so I post as often as I can." (READ MORE)
Michael Fumento: Update on FOB Mizan - it's heated up since I left "'From 1st Lt. Kevin Stofan, commander, FOB Mizan, Zabul Province, Afghanistan' I have not been able to contact you since I have been away. I was up at FOB Baylough with some of my platoon to help reinforce our brothers up there. It is real rough up there. Daily rocket, mortar, recoilless rifle, and small arms attacks. We did some great missions up there and really took a toll on the Taliban up there. Cpt. Edwards the B Co company commander has definitely been presented with a serious challenge up there given the lack of forces needed to properly do the job, but he is doing a great job with what he has." (READ MORE)
Outlaw 13: Why Some Soldiers Hate the Air Force "There has been in some circles a love/hate thing going on regarding the USAF since they escaped from the clutches of the Army back in the late 40's. A lot of folks would claim jealousy as the primary reason. But, I would wager it's statements like these being made by the ACC (that's Air Combat Command to you) Commander that give guys that are driving the roads of Iraq real reason to question our sister service's willingness to 'man up'." (READ MORE)
Those Wacky Iraqis: Pet coke and random farts "It has been a weird day. I went to a refinery today to look at some of our installations that are embedded there. It is pretty damn weird to see US Army ocean going vessels and gate guards who are US Navy. That is like some strange alternate military universe. It is also weird to see brick after brick of petroleum coke just dropped all over the place. I used to work at the Port of LA and the terminal I was at exported pet coke to the far east." (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Diana West: Why Not Disarm Iran? “A reader recently e-mailed me about casualties sustained by his nephew's Stryker unit in Iraq after an attack by an Iranian-manufactured fragmentary device. ‘Why,’ he wrote, ‘are we not leveling the plants in Iran that manufacture these weapons?’” (READ MORE)
Fred Thompson: Tax Cuts for Kids “Letting the Bush tax cuts expire would amount to a tax hike of historic proportions -- a tax hike that would take a higher share of our total economy than any year but one since the end of World War II.” (READ MORE)
Michael Fumento: No Negotiations with the Taliban “It's time to negotiate with the Taliban says Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf. Canada is one of our top Afghanistan allies and almost two-thirds of Canadians in a May poll think we should parlay with the Taliban.” (READ MORE)
John McCaslin: Who's On First? “Out to raise some cash for the Democratic Party, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos is inviting select baseball fans - those with big wallets - to join him and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean in the owner's box at Camden Yards on Wednesday night, when the slumping Birds take on the New York Yankees.” (READ MORE)
Sadanand Dhume: Sir Salman Rushdie “Another Friday in Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi -- and as if on cue, the hoarse, bearded and pyromaniacal pour out of the mosques into the streets armed with Union Jacks and effigies of Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair and the newly knighted Sir Salman Rushdie. Having protested Danish cartoons and popish detours into Byzantine history to the point of exhaustion, the proverbial Muslim street is once again seething.” (READ MORE) REG REQ
Peggy Noonan: What's Not to Like “Hillary Clinton doesn't have to prove she's a man. She has to prove she's a woman. She doesn't have to prove to people that she's tough enough or aggressive enough to be commander in chief. She doesn't have to show she could and would wage a war. She has to prove she has normal human warmth, a normal amount of give, of good nature, that she is not, at bottom, grimly combative and rather dark.” (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: One Week of Operation Phantom Thunder "Operation Phantom Thunder, the corps coordinated operation across three theaters in the Baghdad Belts, has completed it seventh day. Ground forces commander Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno gave a briefing on the operation. To date, Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 159 al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents, wounded 41, and detained 721 suspects. Coalition and Iraqi forces found and destroyed 304 roadside bombs, seven car bombs and 128 weapons caches." (READ MORE)
TigerHawk: The Queen and the Taliban: "Insults" as a measure of morality "The Taliban -- literally, 'students' -- have apparently decided that Islam authorizes the deployment of suicide bombers as young as six years old. The Guardian: 'Children as young as six are being used by the Taliban in increasingly desperate suicide missions, coalition forces in Afghanistan claimed yesterday.' Now, the Taliban claim they are strict adherents to Islamic law, and would not have engaged in this action if it did not comply with their interpretation of Islam. In effect, when they strapped the bomb vest on this boy they claimed the authority of Islam as their justification." (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Dancing with the devil "Ever since the split between Fatah and Hamas and the Hamas coup in the Gaza Strip, I've been waiting for someone to come up with a way to blame two groups of Palestinian terrorists killing each other on George W. Bush -- and, thanks to my colleague Larkin at Wizbang Blue, I have it. Shoulda known the Grauniad would come through for me. I'm not going to go into the particulars of the Grauniad's author's fevre dream, but instead use it as a launching point for a bigger issue:" (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: No Surprises "The Blogosphere, with its great hope of increased engagement and discourse feels like it is in a rut. (Maybe it is just me, that I feel like I am in a rut with Blogging and am externalizing my discontent; time will tell.) People "talk" but there is very little communication. It is not obvious why this should be so. After all, the left side of the Blogosphere was instrumental in the change of party in Congress in 2006. The right side of the Blogosphere has been equally involved in derailing an immigration bill that most Americans find lacking. Yet, there is a very real sense that our national institutions are unavailable, unreachable; that they do not learn the proper lesson from the "interpretations" offered by an aroused Blogosphere." (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: In Our Name "The release of nearly 700 pages of formerly classified documents detailing CIA lawbreaking from the 1950’s to the 1970’s will hardly surprise those who have been critics of the agency. Many of the 'black bag' operations, the wiretaps, the surveillance, the unusual experiments on American citizens, have been hinted at or exposed through the years so there are no real bombshells – although I found the process of how these operations were compiled fascinating." (READ MORE)
Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.
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Brave, Brave Sir Lugar! Yet he passes for relatively constructive opposition. from Pros and Cons
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