A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Pakistani Court OKs Musharraf - A Supreme Court stacked with judges loyal to President Pervez Musharraf cleared the way yesterday for him to rule as a civilian president, throwing out a final challenge to last month's election. (READ MORE)
Democrats Party of Rich, Study Finds - Democrats like to define themselves as the party of poor and middle-income Americans, but a new study says they now represent the majority of the nation's wealthiest congressional districts. (READ MORE)
Arabs Holding Out on Peace Conference - Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians sought yesterday to persuade skeptical Arab nations to attend a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference, insisting it could open the door to a Palestinian state in the next year. (READ MORE)
Hillary Criticized for Press Strategy - When Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants to get a message out, her presidential campaign handpicks news outlets. Or, in some cases, bypasses the media entirely. (READ MORE)
Agents Question Slow Indictment of Border Suspect - Two U.S. Border Patrol agents were indicted two months after shooting a drug-smuggling suspect as he fled back into Mexico, but it took the Justice Department more than two years to bring charges against the suspect, and the head of the National Border Patrol Council wants to know why. (READ MORE)
Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request - Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers. (READ MORE)
A Gap in Knowledge About Kids, Medication - A decade after the government began trying to ensure that prescription drugs used to treat children work and are safe, doctors still have scant information to guide them when they administer many medications to kids. (READ MORE)
Returnees Find a Capital Transformed - BAGHDAD, Nov. 22 -- Iraqis are returning to their homeland by the hundreds each day, by bus, car and plane, encouraged by weeks of decreased violence and increased security, or compelled by visa and residency restrictions in neighboring countries and the depletion of their savings. (READ MORE)
Court Clears Way For Musharraf to Remain in Office - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 22 -- President Pervez Musharraf's script for a tightly controlled political transition moved ahead on cue Thursday, as his handpicked Supreme Court dismissed the final legal challenge to his election to another five-year term and officials said he would resign as army chief within days. (READ MORE)
From Hopeful To Helpless At a Protest In Lebanon - BEIRUT -- Squalls of rain lashed the offices of Carmen Geha and other young activists. Thunder rolling off the Mediterranean provided a cadence to their work. The weather was a little like politics this week in Lebanon -- turbulent and baleful. And Geha, optimistic against the odds, was determined to provide a glimmer of hope. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
1romad: AfghanisTanksgiving - This is probably the earliest I've ever wished someone Happy Thanksgiving. Just after 12:15 am zulu (4:45 am local and 6:15 pm CT) I was working in our TOC due to a 100% 'stand to.' So I wished everyone Happy Thanksgiving and made myself some coffee. At about 3 am we were stood down, so it was off to breakfast. But breakfast on Turkey day is a bit different--the sign outside the meal tent said "Continental Breakfast." Loosely translated it means we are using our burners to get the turkey ready so good luck scrounging up something to eat. I chose the protein bar, blueberry muffin, and what they claim is white milk. (READ MORE)
Bill and Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure: Thanksgiving In The Land Of Sandcastles - Happy Thanksgiving! We thought we were going to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the most dangerous firebase in the province, but that plan changed before breakfast due to a late night email barrage between two Colonels. It's not important what it was about to anyone but us. The end result was that we took a nice long drive in the land of sandcastles, policed up some Joe's, and returned to Bagram for our Thanksgiving dinner. (READ MORE)
ETT PA-C: Heading Back! - So, once again back in the airport awaiting a flight back to "home." It's been a great visit with family and friends and I'm not sure I could've maximized it any more. It was great to see you all, assuming I saw you and I appreciate all of you that shared your hospitality with my family and me while we were home. Thank you. So, I'm here in the international wing of the H...field Int Airport and there are these two European dudes sitting a few feet away from me as I type. (READ MORE)
IraqPundit: Fringe Benefits? - The Democrats -- who surely must know better -- have been busy trying to please the fringe elements of their party. Now we learn they have a new ally. Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, best known for being linked to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, has assailed current war strategy as doomed to fail, says the United States cannot win in Iraq with the military alone and that it is prudent to bring troops home to bolster national security. Okay, let's have a look at this strategy Sanchez says is doomed: (READ MORE)
Michael Yon: Happy Thanksgiving: Baqubah Update - Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq! I had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with General Petraeus. Very interesting series of helicopter flights to several bases. Bottom line is that progress is clear and real, but there are tough days ahead and al Qaeda, for instance, is far from dead. The mood is of cautious optimism, with a concern that some of the very positive media lately might set expectations too high. (That’s right: many military leaders are concerned that the media lately might be too positive.) Bottom line is that I am more optimistic than ever before, but I share that caution. It’s obvious, too, that the tough fighting is not over. (READ MORE)
LTC Richard Phillips: R&R Leave - I’ve been terribly remiss in posting. Let me get back on track and tell you about my R&R (Rest and Recuperation) Leave. All service members deployed for 12 months or more are entitled to R&R leave, more correctly titled Environmental and Morale Leave (EML). If you’re deployed for 12 months you get 15 days leave; if you are deployed for 15 months you get 18 days of leave. I’m deployed for 15 months, so I got 18 glorious days of R&R leave with my beautiful wife, Joyce. (READ MORE)
Sergeant Grumpy: Happy Thanksgiving - Happy Thanksgiving from Iraq. Here, well it is just another day. Another day out on the road, in training with the Iraqis, another day trying to put together the pieces of several puzzles, of trying to sort through, of trying to get through. But then it is also not any other day. The most American of Holidays, it is a day to set aside differences and sit around the table and enjoy the bounty of our land together. To enjoy the company and conversation of good friends and family. It is a day not to take for granted. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Giving more than thanks - We could have taken an "off" day today, seeing as it is Thanksgiving. Clothes and food are ready to distribute.But instead, one of our district teams decided it would be more fitting to do unto others. Good call! We organized a humanitarian assistance visit to Khogiani, one of the districts where we work closely with the Afghan National Police. The subgovernor held a shura, or meeting with the elders, to discuss the issues of the district. Stuffed animals and radios await a good home. Then the real fun started. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Burt Prelutsky: Jews and the Evangelicals - It is a peculiar thing about Jews that we seem to trust our enemies more than we do our friends. Maybe that's because, historically, we at least had the comfort of knowing where we stood with those who openly despised us, but very often suffered betrayal from our alleged allies. It would help explain why many of my older relatives, those who had been born in Czarist Russia and had experienced pogroms, believed in Stalin, and eagerly lapped up his propaganda. Because he was an enemy of their enemies, they foolishly mistook him for a friend. It's simplistic, but why else would so many seemingly well-informed American Jews have enlisted in the Communist Party, swelling the ranks of Stalin's "useful idiots"? (READ MORE)
Oliver North: Thanksgiving at Turtle Bay - WASHINGTON -- Now that we are stuffed like turkeys, consider that Thanksgiving is celebrated as an official national holiday in only two countries -- the United States and Canada. In both nations, it is uniquely mandated as a day for offering thanks and praise to God. Interestingly, there is no mention of God or thanksgiving in the U.N. Charter. Nonetheless, United Nations officials apparently take full advantage of the holiday as a respite from the grueling work of international diplomacy. Calls to the secretary-general's office (212-963-7162) on Thursday, Nov. 22, were unanswered. One can only wonder whether the striped pants set at Turtle Bay had gone to church. (READ MORE)
Charles Krauthammer: Turning Tides in Iraq - WASHINGTON -- It does not have the drama of the Inchon landing or the sweep of the Union comeback in the summer of 1864. But the turnabout of American fortunes in Iraq over the last several months is of equal moment -- a war seemingly lost, now winnable. The violence in Iraq has been dramatically reduced. Political allegiances have been radically reversed. The revival of ordinary life in many cities is palpable. Something important is happening. And what is the reaction of the war critics? Nancy Pelosi stoutly maintains her state of denial, saying this about the war just two weeks ago: "This is not working. ... We must reverse it." (READ MORE)
Mona Charen: An Egyptian Makes the Case for America - When you begin reading the output of MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute (memri.org), you are at first blown back by the intensity of the hatred, deliberate lies and fantasy that characterize so much of the journalism from the Arab and Middle Eastern press. MEMRI dutifully translates it without comment. Here you can read transcripts of interviews with leading Arab commentators who explain that the United States is engaged in a war of extermination against Muslims, that Israel calls all of the shots in Washington, D.C., and that 9/11 was a hoax. But there are other voices, too. There are figures within the Muslim world who make the case for democracy, liberalism (small l) and historical accuracy better than we do. (READ MORE)
Ann Coulter: NYT: Suicide Manual For Dems - Here's a story that may not have been deemed "Fit to Print": In the six months that ended Sept. 25, The New York Times' daily circulation was down another 4.51 percent to about a million readers a day. The paper's Sunday circulation was down 7.59 percent to about 1.5 million readers. In short, the Times is dropping faster than Hillary in New Hampshire. (Meanwhile, the Drudge Report has more than 16 million readers every day.) One can only hope that none of the Democratic presidential candidates are among the disaffected hordes lining up to cancel their Times subscriptions. (READ MORE)
Phil Harris: Abortion and the U.S. Constitution - I am thankful for my constitutional scholar hat, which I am wearing at this very moment. It is a magic hat, of course, because I am not a constitutional scholar. To make it work, I sprinkle a bit of common sense powder and a dash of logical thinking on the inside of it. Then when I put it on, …BAM!!! For all of you front-end baby boomers, the answer is no. Common sense powder is not a hallucinogen, and no, I do not buy my logical thinking in a bottle imported from Mexico. I realize that many of today's social realities were conceived in that manner, and that our liberal politicians lost far too many brain cells during their period of enlightenment, otherwise known as attending college in the '60s. (READ MORE)
Kimberly A. Strassel: Will Character Be Destiny? -You might not think one lousy debate performance, or one silly planted question, would jolt a storming campaign. Then again, you might not be Hillary Clinton. If the last few weeks have shown anything, it's that Mrs. Clinton has some weak spots. What isn't yet clear is whether her Democratic opponents have the time, or the will, to exploit them. Until recently, the biggest thing going for Hillary is that she has appeared "inevitable." This is no accident. Mrs. Clinton may not be as naturally gifted as her husband, but she does have access to his playbook. (READ MORE)
Peggy Noonan: People Before Prophets - I was talking with an old friend, a longtime Democrat, and she asked if I knew what religion a certain presidential candidate was. I replied that I didn't know and hoped I'd never find out. We started to laugh, and she nodded. I didn't mean it and yet I meant it, for we have come to an odd pass regarding candidates and their faith. It's not as if faith is unimportant, it's always important. But we are asking our political figures--mere flawed politicians--to put forward and talk about their faith to a degree that has become odd. We push them against the wall and do a kind of theological frisk on them. We didn't use to. (READ MORE)
Mike Cox: Second Amendment Showdown - The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that will affect millions of Americans and could also have an impact on the 2008 elections. That case, Parker v. D.C., should settle the decades-old argument whether the right "to keep and bear arms" of the Constitution's Second Amendment is an individual right--that all Americans enjoy--or only a collective right that states may regulate freely. Legal, historical and even empirical reasons all command a decision that recognizes the Second Amendment guarantee as an individual right. The amendment reads: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." (READ MORE)
Humbled Infidel: "The Agenda Item Targeting Israel." The UN Is A Corrupt Organization - Do We Need Them? - By a vote of 165 to 7, a UN General Assembly committee last Friday approved "institution-building" changes to the Human Rights Council that actually weaken or eliminate several of its key institutions. The package scraps the independent investigators of abuses in Cuba and Belarus, makes it harder to criticize specific countries for violations, and institutes the permanent censure of Israel as a fixed agenda item, an initiative pushed by the group of Islamic states. The U.S., Canada, Australia, Israel and three Pacific Island states voted in opposition. The European Union countries supported the package, arguing it was the best possible compromise to preserve a functioning council. (READ MORE)
Army Girl: Turkey Day 2007 - On this day last year, I was working... Up early, boots on... hair pulled back and weapon slung. I'd volunteered to relieve some of the soldiers working Entry Control Point 1, so that they could have a few hours off and go eat some hot chow. They brought our meals to us in a van and we spent the day scanning and patting down local nationals for weapons, bombs, etc. That evening, I spent a few hours hanging out with the guys at a small compound within a compound... around a camp fire, listening to the stories and sipping on soda. A local national brought us something that resembled a charred bird and told us it was Turkey. I have no idea where they got turkeys in Afghanistan, but I ate it anyway. We all thought about our families back home, and hoped they were enjoying the day and festivities even in our absence. (READ MORE)
Ace of Spades: 600 Shiite Leaders, 300,000 Iraqis Sign Petition Condemning Iran's Terrorism - It's something: “‘The most poisonous dagger stabbed in us, the Iraqi Shi'ites, is the (Iranian) regime shamefully exploiting the Shi'ite sect to implement its evil goals. They have targeted our national interests and began planning to divide Iraq and to separate the southern provinces from Iraq.’ -- From the petition” John Murtha immediately praised the letter, suggesting that the US could help defeat the Iranian menace by re-deploying our troops to Trinidad/Tobago, an island strategically located, of course, between Iran and Iraq. Plus, he continued: "All that jerk chicken! Mmmm!" (READ MORE)
Big Dog: Congressman Uses McKinney Racism Defense - Congressman Danny Davis a Democrat in the 7th District of Illinois said he was the victim of racial profiling because he was pulled over early in the morning while driving a few of his friends. Two white police officers pulled him over and issued a $75 ticket because he went over the center line. Davis is crying racism and said he can't think of any other reason he was pulled over other than he is black and had black people in the car. How about her drove over the line and that is the reason? (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: You Take the High Road, I'll Take the Low Road - Tigerhawk notices an article in the Washington Post. More than 300,000 Shiite Muslims from southern Iraq have signed a petition condemning Iran for fomenting violence in Iraq, according to a group of sheiks leading the campaign. Yes, you read that right. "The Iranians, in fact, have taken over all of south Iraq," said a senior tribal leader from the south who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his life. "Their influence is everywhere." (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Clinton Wins Support From Another Ethics-Challenged Administration - This story challenges the boundaries of satire. Hillary Clinton captured the vital corrupt-foreign-leader constituency with Bernadette Chirac's endorsement yesterday. The wife of the French ex-president said that she thought Hillary had the makings of a president, although her personal experience at that may not play too well on the campaign trail (via Memeorandum): “U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won surprise backing from the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, together with a pledge to join her on the campaign trail.” (READ MORE)
Matthew Levitt: Sentence in Chicago Hamas Trial - Abdulhalim Ashqar, who was convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal comtempt in a Hamas-related trial in Chicago earlier this year, was sentenced today to 135 months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. The sentence was arrived at through application of the Sentencing Guidelines terrorism enhancement based on what the judge thought the trial evidence showed about Ashqar's activities for, and knowledge of, Hamas. On February 1, after fourteen days of deliberation, a Chicago jury acquitted Muhammad Salah and Ashqar of charges that they were involved in a racketeering conspiracy by financing and supporting Hamas terrorist activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The two were accused of laundering funds, facilitating communications, and providing recruits for Hamas, but were convicted only on minor charges of obstruction of justice and, in Ashqar's case, criminal contempt. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Al Qaeda attacks the Awakening; Senior al Qaeda leaders killed, captured - Al Qaeda in Iraq may be down, but it is not out. While al Qaeda has suffered a major setback after US and Iraqi forces launched multiple offensives throughout Iraq, the terror group still retains some capacity to conduct attacks. Today, al Qaeda attacked the Awakening movement two villages north and south of Baghdad. The battles resulted in scores killed on both sides, including 10 al Qaeda fighters. Meanwhile, Iraqi and Coalition forces have killed or captured several senior al Qaeda leaders over the past week. (READ MORE)
Knee Deep In the Hooah!: Military Desertion Rates and the AP - Hat tip to Black Five for leading me to the following article by Alan Fraser of American Thinker. When I first came across the AP article he mentions I knew that the statistics being used in the story were not telling the whole story. In research unless you have a total and accurate picture of the subject then you really can not draw any conclusions from the statistics. Remember the quote attributed to Mark Twain (and many others too)? There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies; and statistics. The story I read that AP put out was obviously a damned statistical lie. (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: Abandon Hope - Or hope with abandon?* Euro think tank reports Taliban control half of Afghanistan, winning hearts and minds, not if but when Kabul will fall. UK Telegraph: “… The Senlis Council claimed that the insurgents controlled ‘vast swathes of unchallenged territory’ and were gaining ‘more and more political legitimacy in the minds of the Afghan people.’ It said that the Nato force in the country needed to be doubled to 80,000 front-line soldiers who should be allowed to pursue militants into Pakistan.” (READ MORE)
Amy Proctor: Military Journalists Report on Lack of War Funding - Military reporters who are also active duty soldiers report military news on the Pentagon Channel. This report focuses on Congress’ refusal to fund the military. This story looks much different through the eyes of a soldier than from the mouth of a Katie Couric or Wolf Blitzer. “GEN (Ret) Meigs (Director of JIEDDO) says the funding crisis comes at a time when IED attacks have dropped 55% since their high in June this year. And average daily attacks are down 42%. However, without an approved funding bill, the organization only has enough money to remain operational through April 2008.” (READ MORE)
The Monkey Tennis Centre: There's no one left for the Left - Pajamas Media is linking to lefty blog Crooks and Liars, which has video of John Bolton appearing on Hardball. It’s a fairly unspectacular clip, with Chris Matthews challenging Bolton over his insistence that the US can’t allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Bolton makes his case calmly and persistently, while Matthews and a Middle East ‘expert’ who doesn’t sound like much of one, and who makes infantile comments about ‘Nintendo wars’ and the like, become ever more excited. The reason that the poster at Crooks and Liars is so excited about the clip is that at one point Matthews calls Bolton a ‘neocon’, and Bolton responds sharply that he isn’t one. “No,” sneers the poster, “Mr Bolton isn’t a Neocon – he just thinks, talks and acts like one.” Bolton, as anyone who knows anything about anything knows, isn’t a neocon. (READ MORE)
Neptunus Lex: The peace process - Many critics point to the current US administration’s hesitation to enage American prestige in the Middle East peace process as the reason why things over there remain a chaotic mess. Why we should risk wrestling with that particular pig - especially given the painful lessons learned by the Clinton administration during their attempts in the region - is a mystery, however. And over in the WSJ, former Clinton-era UN Human Rights Commission delegate Jeff Robins points out some of the reasons why Condi’s Mid East engagement process may well be the worst thing to come out of Annapolis since Jimmy Carter graduated. In order for there to be peace between Israel and her neighbors, everyone concerned must prefer that outcome to the status quo risks and costs of continued, smoldering hostility. Clearly, not everyone does: (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.
Trackbacked / Linked by:
A democratic republic is the worst of all forms of government, except for all the others. Updated. from Pros and Cons
No comments:
Post a Comment