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)
State of Union To Touch On War, Economy - For years, President Bush and his advisers expressed frustration that the White House received little credit for the nation's strong economic performance because of public discontent about the Iraq war. Today, the president is getting little credit for improved security in Iraq... (READ MORE)
Israeli 'Economic Warfare' to Include Electricity Cuts in Gaza - JERUSALEM, Jan. 27 -- Saying they were waging "economic warfare" against the Gaza Strip's Hamas leaders, Israeli officials told the Supreme Court on Sunday that the military intends to start cutting electricity to the Palestinian territory and continue restricting fuel. (READ MORE)
The East Berlin Tunnel: Whose Ruse? - BERLIN -- On a rainy day 52 years ago, the cover was blown on one of the biggest espionage plots of the Cold War. Soviet and East German forces announced that they had found a quarter-mile-long tunnel that the CIA had burrowed into East Berlin as part of a massive wiretapping operation. (READ MORE)
Having Driven Out Business, Kenyan Town Faces Consequences - KISUMU, Kenya -- Three weeks after burning down the old Kimwa Grand Hotel here, many of the admitted arsonists returned to its charred remains, scavenging sheets of scrap metal, doors and wires. (READ MORE)
Election Officials Bar Putin's Ex-Premier From Presidential Race - MOSCOW, Jan. 27 -- Former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, a political opponent of President Vladimir Putin, was barred Sunday from running for president after the Central Election Commission said it had found tens of thousands of forged signatures among the 2 million gathered by his campaign to get his name on the ballot. (READ MORE)
Giuliani Falls far Behind in Florida - Florida now appears to be a two-way race between Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain, as two new polls show Rudolph W. Giuliani losing support after skipping six straight presidential-nomination contests. (READ MORE)
Olmert's Future Rides on Report - The final report this week of an inquiry into the handling of the 2006 war in Lebanon could determine the fate of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government just as it settles into peace talks with the Palestinians. (READ MORE)
As I-4 Corridor Goes, So Goes Florida - This asphalt artery that stretches 132 miles from Tampa east to Daytona Beach passes through some of Florida's most coveted electoral turf, serving as the Sunshine State's main battleground for presidential hopefuls. (READ MORE)
McCain Sees Attrition as Way to Ease Illegal Entries - Sen. John McCain now is embracing a version of the attrition strategy to fight illegal immigration, saying his version of a guest-worker plan would actually force many illegal aliens to leave the country over the next couple of years. (READ MORE)
The Clinton Race Gambit - About Bill Clinton, what can you say? Even before the polls closed in South Carolina on Saturday, the former President was diminishing Barack Obama's victory and trying to boost his wife in the next primaries by playing the race card. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Michael J. Totten: The Final Mission, Part I - FALLUJAH – At the end of 2006 there were 3,000 Marines in Fallujah. Despite what you might expect during a surge of troops to Iraq, that number has been reduced by 90 percent. All Iraqi Army soldiers have likewise redeployed from the city. A skeleton crew of a mere 250 Marines is all that remains as the United States wraps up its final mission in what was once Iraq's most violent city. “The Iraqi Police could almost take over now,” Second Lieutenant Gary Laughlin told me. “Most logistics problems are slowly being resolved. My platoon will probably be the last one out here in the Jolan neighborhood.” (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Through a Humvee window - I'm luckier than most. My mission calls for me to go out into the Afghan villages and countryside on a regular basis. That means I get to see a good bit of the real Afghanistan and interact with the people. Unfortunately most of what I see is traveling to and from a location and viewed within the confines of a Humvee window. Often I see images that are very photo-worthy, but I have avoided taking pictures for fear the quality would suffer through the thick bullet-proof glass. (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: The Pantheon - Whether we like it or not, life is as temporary and as fleeting as that corporeal feeling a young child gets on Saturday mornings, literally swelling with the happiness and freedom possibility yields. I'm no mad scientist, and I offer no magic potion that counters this very basic truth. But immortality does exist for those brave enough to claim it. For those dumb enough to make a dash for it. For those lucky enough to comprehend it. It is in this vain of thought - a thought, by the way, that is not nearly as morbid as it may appear upon first read - that I bring you the examples of IT; a Pantheon of Rockin’ Heroes we all should celebrate and canonize. (READ MORE)
Desert Dude: 26 January - So, I am back home in my own room and my own bed and safe and sound and somewhat warm…last night I stayed up till around 0230 because I slept late yesterday…well, our time to be ready to get to the chopper terminal was 0615…yeah, I woke up late, after tossing and turning on my little cot in the busy tent…we signed in and sat waiting for the flight…lucky for us, our FOB was the first stop in this flight… (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Brian Wesbury: The Economy Is Fine (Really) - It is hard to imagine any time in history when such rampant pessimism about the economy has existed with so little evidence of serious trouble. True, retail sales fell 0.4% in December and fourth-quarter real GDP probably grew at only a 1.5% annual rate. It is also true that in the past six months manufacturing production has been flat, new orders for durable goods have fallen at a 0.8% annual rate, and unemployment blipped up to 5%. Soft data for sure, but nowhere near the end of the world. (READ MORE)
Mary Anastasia O'Grady: Tax-Happy Brazil Hits the Wall - As Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva starts the second year of his second term as president of Brazil, he remains popular, with approval ratings of 50%. But those numbers were no help last month when he sunk serious political capital into a bid to renew the national financial-transactions tax. The effort went down in flames in Congress, where elected officials are finally waking up to the fact that the government can't squeeze the public forever. (READ MORE)
Tim Parks: A Nation Spent - VERONA, Italy -- How exhausting democracy can be when the institutional machinery is all wrong and no one seems able to raise their eyes from their immediate personal interest and look to the collective good. Italy is exhausted with its politicians, exhausted with their easy piety, chronic cronyism and interminable lawsuits, their permanent, quarrelsome presence on TV and sepulchral absence from Parliament, exhausted with the parties they form one day and break up the next, with the coalitions, and the coalitions within coalitions, or across coalitions, or between coalitions, the countless aggregations and desertions, the coteries, caucuses and cliques... (READ MORE)
Star Parker: Thompson's failure: substance as much as style - Post-mortems on Fred Thompson's short presidential run focus on how the actor and former senator ran his campaign. Started late, poorly managed, lack of enthusiasm, etc. But these analyses miss the more fundamental, and instructive, problem -- his message. Touted as the only "real conservative," a careful look shows that this label was pretty dubious. His ideas were devoid of the vision and leadership that fueled Republican ascendancy a quarter-century ago and badly needed today. (READ MORE)
Paul Greenberg: Barack Obama's Great Challenge - A specter is facing Barack Obama's once bright-as-hope presidential campaign. Instead of the new hope of his party, and maybe of the country, he may be pigeonholed as the Black Candidate, his appeal effectively limited to just one segment of the electorate. It didn't seem much of a danger at first, certainly not after he swept the caucuses in snow-white Iowa. He was the all-American candidate for a happy while there. (READ MORE)
Suzanne Fields: Life in the Jungle: The Candidates Have a Lot to Learn - Not so long ago, our parents and teachers were forever admonishing us not to act like animals. Now our candidates for president are showing us how they think they can profit by imitating animals, especially the brainy ones. Like the elephants, for example. Hillary can take heart. "Among elephants, it is the females who are the born politicians," writes Natalie Angier, a science writer, in The New York Times. An elephant typically cultivates robust and lifelong social ties with at least 100 other elephants, a task made easier because of their ability to communicate "infrasonically," in sound below the human ability to hear. (If only Hillary could laugh and shout infrasonically.) (READ MORE)
Donald Lambro: Voters Show Their Primary Colors - WASHINGTON -- Talk about a flip-flop. A month or two ago Mitt Romney and John McCain were trailing Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee in the polls and all but declared politically dead. Now the Republican presidential contest has turned into a very close race between McCain (who won New Hampshire and South Carolina) and Romney (who won Michigan and Nevada), while Huckabee and Giuliani were trailing badly in the polls in key state primaries to come. (READ MORE)
Wynton Hall: Kamikaze Republicanism - Some unsatisfied Republican voters, especially conservative ones, have threatened to sit out the Republican primary in protest. Indeed, within GOP circles it is not uncommon that one may hear the refrain, "I'd rather have Hillary or Obama win and start fresh than to vote for a RINO (Republican in Name Only) or some half-committed conservative." Rants of frustration such as these, while understandable, are baseless. More than that, they belie and betray the Republican and conservative arguments regarding the existential battle of our time-the long term threats posed by radical Islamic terrorism. (READ MORE)
Carol Platt Liebau: The Unique Threat of John McCain - Last week, Bill Clinton took pains to point out that a Hillary Clinton-John McCain match-up would be “the most civilized election in American history” because the candidates “like and respect each other” so much. Perhaps the President was addressing the multitude of Americans who can’t stomach the prospect of the slash-and-burn tactics now being deployed against Barack Obama lasting all the way to November. But Clinton’s remarks only reinforce the concerns that so many Republicans have about John McCain already. Whenever a Democrat praises a Republican’s “civility” there’s reason to beware. (READ MORE)
Jerry Agar: The Nanny-Stater Challenge: Where's Your Constitutional Basis? - Dear Jon, Our tongue-in-cheek wager based on the political fortunes of “your” nanny-stater, John Edwards, against “my” nanny-stater, Barack Obama was justifiably tweaked by some readers who want us to take on the leftward slide on the Republican side. You rose to the challenge. (READ MORE)
W. Thomas Smith, Jr: Hezbollah’s bags of cash - For years it’s been reported that Hezbollah – the Lebanese-based Shiia terrorist organization that by any military standards fields one of the world’s most formidable “terrorist armies” – has been receiving money from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the tune of $100 million, annually. That figure was recently, reportedly upped to a staggering $400 million, and more recently to an incomprehensible one-billion U.S. dollars. In a Jan. 11 piece for Human Events, Middle Eastern terrorism expert Dr. Walid Phares wrote: “This ballistic leap [in funding] would enable the organization to crush any opponent inside Lebanon and engage in worldwide operations against Western democracies and Arab moderates.” (READ MORE)
Jeffrey Anderson: Thompson Supporters Should Back Giuliani - Even with their candidate out of the race, Fred Thompson’s supporters can make a big impact in Florida. They should do so by supporting Rudy Giuliani. More than any other candidate, Rudy matches Thompson’s conservative credentials in the three most important areas: he offers a conservative economic policy, an explicit promise to nominate only “strict constructionist” judges, and a strong dedication to national security. On the economy, social issues, and defense, a Giuliani presidency will take the nation in a clearly conservative direction... (READ MORE)
Steve Chapman: The High Price of Pretense - Washington, D.C. is a place where delusions go to thrive. That explains why Congress and the president are now agreed on remedies that will not work, expending money they do not have, to fix a problem that may not exist. The alleged problem is a recession. From the sounds of panic, you would assume we are already in a deep downturn. In fact, that does not appear to be the case, and many economists doubt we will have a recession (defined as two consecutive quarters in which total economic activity declines) at all. (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: The Prodigal Left - Wow. It seems that almost every day, another champion of the Left joins the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that made the Clintons the target of their wrath back in the 1990's. As Bill and Hillary turn their vaunted political machine against Barack Obama and ratchet up the attacks, the scales fall from more and more eyes, and the chorus of "I loved it when they did that to YOUR people, but I can't believe they're now going after one of OURS!" echoes around the political world. This presents those of us who have known the Clintons for what they are for some time now with an interesting dilemma. (I personally take pride that back in 1992, when Bill Clinton was campaigning on Manchester, New Hampshire's Elm Street, I personally snubbed him.) How do we treat these new converts? (READ MORE)
Westhawk: What will be the status of U.S. forces in Iraq? - A negotiation will soon begin between the U.S. and Iraqi governments over a Status of Forces Agreement (SFA) governing the long-term presence of U.S. military forces in Iraq. The very fact that this negotiation will occur represents the imminent achievement of victory in Iraq. Concluding an SFA will mean that both governments agree that Iraq has achieved enough stability so that the two countries can establish a normal diplomatic and security arrangement, an arrangement similar to those the U.S. has with scores of other countries around the world. Thus, excellent news. (READ MORE)
TF Boggs: IRR Here I Come - Next month I will attend my final Reserve drill weekend and I am having mixed emotions about it. On the one hand I am excited about ending the military chapter in my life and moving on to full time civilian life. I am ready to see what life is like free of restraints and commitments that will land me in jail if I don’t fulfill them. On the other hand I am somewhat sad about finishing up with what has been the best period of my life. I have been thinking lately what my life would be like right now if I had never joined the military. Frankly it scares me to think that way. I am not sure how I would have turned out if I hadn’t had the experiences I did up until this point. (READ MORE)
Travelers’ Testimony: Different Perspectives on Operation Iraqi Freedom - For the Isolationist their ideals revolve around not getting involved in wars around the globe and holding the power within the home country. This is an age old held belief that America should abstain from foreign relations and instead focus on our domestic needs. George Washington in his farewell speech said that, “Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.” (READ MORE)
Nick Grace: As-Sahab: Winds of Paradise Part 2 - As-Sahab, al-Qaida’s central media wing, released its 4th video for 2008 and the second installment of “The Winds of Paradise” on January 27 on the main al-Qaeda message forums. The 46-minute video, a documentary-style strategic PSYOP product aimed at boosting morale among the rank and file, promoting martyrdom, and encouraging participation in the Afghan theater, is an extremely well-produced product that features a group of al-Qaida fighters from Turkey, Kuwait, Syria and Afghanistan who died while fighting alongside Taliban forces in Afghanistan. (READ MORE)
Steve Schippert: Tangled Web of Simplicity: Nukes, Iran, Spies, and the IAEA - As tangled as the web may be, often spun so for public consumption and confusion, at the end of the day dealing with the Iranian nuclear weapons program comes down to trust. Do you trust Iran with a nuclear program? The rest is confusing clutter, and we engage ourselves in heady, time-consuming intellectual debate over the incredibly simple. The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth had a conversation with Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister. He addressed Iran, Hamas and the potential of a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists “within 10 to 15 years.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: Bill Clinton, Spouse in Chief - I have a confession to make to my fellow conservatives: I don’t hate Bill Clinton. Don’t get me wrong. I have a pronounced animus toward his policies, what he stands for generally, and his scorched earth, take no prisoners, political attack dog style of politics. But I have to admit to a sneaking admiration of Bill Clinton, as a man. He isn’t someone I’d want to sit down and have a beer with. This is someone I’d love to go on a lost weekend with. He appeals to the juvenile in all of us men – a rogue’s rogue who I could see playing marathon poker games and going on weekend trips to Vegas. Good cigars, good whiskey, and of course, the guy is a chick magnet. (READ MORE)
Dan Riehl: What's Really Happening In Florida And Beyond - Often times I think some of these well-paid pundits are idiots who like to hear themselves talk. So, short and sweet, here's where we really are in Florida. And what happens next. The polls. In a close race with McCain riding a slight lead out of South Carolina, Romney won the debate. He started picking up undecideds and some voters from whomever. If nothing else happened, he'd win - close. McCain is calling in all markers for endorsements and employing a dishonest hit to blunt Romney's late climb. Clear front-runners don't use such tactics. If what he's done and may do before Tuesday stems the tide and just slightly reverses it - he'll win. If not, it's Romney. (READ MORE)
Political Vindication: Spain Offers Dems Example Of What Surrender Buys You - In Spain they had a choice to make. On March 11, 2004 their country had suffered a terrorist bombing three days before the elections. It killed 191 people and wounded 1755. Spaniards, already largely against the war in Iraq, felt the attack was a consequence of their involvement. The investigation afterward centered on a group of North African men ” inspired by a tract on an al-Qaida-affiliated website that called for attacks on Spain. The tract called for “two or three attacks … to exploit the coming general elections in Spain in March 2004″, saying that they would ensure the “victory of the Socialist party and the withdrawal of Spanish forces [from Iraq]” (READ MORE)
Neo-Neocon: Leadership, Bush: not an oxymoron - It’s common knowledge that President Bush’s approval ratings still hover somewhere in the 30th percentile, where they’ve lingered for the last two years, with only short forays into the 40s. One would think this proves that Bush is a lousy leader. But then again, leadership is not synonymous with popularity. although there can certainly be overlap. Whatever leadership Bush may or may not exhibit, it is agreed that he is extremely flawed in the all-important matter of communicating with the public. It’s also common knowledge that many people think of Bush as dumb, and almost all agree he is inarticulate. (READ MORE)
Knee Deep in the Hooah!: He teacheth mine hands to fight … Part 3 - Thus continues the saga, “He teacheth mine hands to fight …” It was a heck of a summer vacation. When last we spoke I was leaving BCT for OCS. Therefore I’m titling this second half: “Audacity, audacity, audacity!” I chose a quote by General George Patton, on whose ground I was now about to tread. He said, “There are only three principles of warfare: Audacity, audacity, audacity!” Thus far I had the audacity to join the military at an advanced age, go through and pull off BCT at Ft. Benning (of all places). For my next trick I will obtain a Commission through Officer Candidacy School. Who do I think I am? (READ MORE)
Amy Proctor: Iraqi Officer Challenges Media Misinformation about Coalition Forces - This isn’t Saddam’s Army anymore. It used to be that Iraqi soldiers intimidated civilians, but now in the new Iraq they are interfacing with the population and building relationships with the locals. They even visit classrooms and read to school children. It is now considered a part of their duty to build trust between the two. Civil Affairs Officer MAJ Zyad Junade Omar of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraq Army Division also bridges the gap between locals and Coalition Forces as he tries to set the record straight on misinformation by some Arab media that portray U.S. soldiers in a negative light. (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Get out of harm’s way - Earth to Katrina victims: Move to higher ground. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, my reaction was do not rebuild the city. My idea was to buy out the people and have them rebuild the city on higher ground. I was vilified. OK, fine, but rebuilding a city that is mainly below sea level is — what’s the technical word for it? — oh yeah, stupid. And as a famous general once said, don’t get stuck on stupid. Mark Schleifstein of the Times-Picayune reported today: “Corps proposes voluntary buyouts outside levees.” (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: My Vote - Over a year ago and many times since, I wrote that I could give no endorsement, because I had honestly not made up my mind about which candidate to support. I also told the CapQ community that if I did make a decision, I would announce it as soon as I made it so that they knew where I stood. The deadline for that decision rapidly approaches, since Minnesota caucuses on February 5th, and I have decided to caucus for Mitt Romney. This decision did not come easily. Some have complained about the choices available to the Republicans, but I have seen the field as a collection of highly accomplished, experienced candidates, almost all of whom I could support -- enthusiastically -- in a general election. (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: The Great Money Give Away - The so called economic stimulus package negotiated by the President, John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi isn't looking so certain, now the Senate has it's hands on it. First though, a couple of things about the general idea of the economic stimulus package; it's not needed, and even if it were, it's misdirected at any type of sustained growth. The only folks in the real business world licking their chops at this package are the makers of one time big purchases. You'll see tons of big screen TV's computers, etc, getting bought when the checks come out. Probably 70% of the people getting the money won't use it in a way that actually has lasting effects. (READ MORE)
Dadmanly: Troubling Questions - Claudia Rosett has proven herself as one of the most disciplined and tenacious investigative reporters working today. She applies her skills to maximum effect in a recent piece in National Review Online, where she digs into the recent controversy over the firing of Pentagon Analyst Stephen Coughlin. She began to unravel the mystery by asking, Who is Hesham Islam? Earlier reports allege that Islam, a native Arabic speaker and Muslim with a high visibility role in outreach to Islamic groups, along with highly influential contacts within the Pentagon, served as catalyst for Coughlin’s dismissal. (READ MORE)
The Captain's Journal: Why are we succeeding in Iraq - or are we? - For all those readers who care about counterinsurgency - how to wage it, what we have done wrong in Iraq, what we have done (and are doing) right in Iraq, and what the campaign in Iraq does for our doctrine - there is a discussion thread at the Small Wars Journal that in our opinion is the most important one that has been started. Without hesitation and in no holds barred fashion, it became a fascinating and most useful strategic slug-fest of competing ideas and narrative accounts of the campaign in Iraq. If the main stream media reports have become boring and repetitious and the blogs have become outlets for talking points, this kind of discussion is at the same time professional, honest, forthright and intellectually complex, and should be engaged by all professional military who want to learn about both making war and peace. (READ MORE)
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