Baghdad Backdrop

A U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter flies over eastern Baghdad as the command staff of the 10th Mountain Division conducts aerial reconnaissance of major joint security stations and combat outposts in Baghdad, July 25, 2008. U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Brian D. Lehnhardt.

Web Reconnaissance for 07/31/2008

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)
The End of Free Trade? - The demise of the Doha trade round is another blow to the struggling world economy, and there's plenty of blame to go around. But the crucial question going forward is whether this is merely a temporary setback, or if it marks the end of the post-World War II free-trade era that has done so much to spread prosperity. (READ MORE)

Mr. Paulson's New Bonds - These days, it's next to impossible to sell a mortgage-backed security -- unless, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you have access to the full faith and credit of Uncle Sam. So this week Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson teamed up with four of the country's biggest banks to jump start an alternative to securitization known as "covered bonds." (READ MORE)

Scandalous Justice - So, let's see: The Bush Justice Department this week indicted a prominent Republican Senator for corruption less than 100 days before he's up for re-election. But we are supposed to believe that Bush Justice is corruptly politicized because some of its dimmer bulbs asked job-seekers about their ideological leanings. (READ MORE)

Gates Sees Terrorism Remaining Enemy No. 1 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the "Long War" against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation's top military priority over coming decades, according to a new National... (READ MORE)

Alaskans Fret About a Future Without Help From 'Uncle Ted' - ANCHORAGE, July 30 -- Alaska's vast landscape is littered with federally funded tributes to Sen. Ted Stevens's single-minded promotion of the state, from the brushed steel of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to the $187 million that subsidizes air mail for the one-third of residents who... (READ MORE)

IOC Allows China To Limit Reporters' Access to Internet - BEIJING, July 30 -- The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese government acknowledged Wednesday that reporters covering the Olympics will be blocked from accessing Internet sites that Chinese authorities consider politically sensitive. (READ MORE)

Obama Tries to Show Missouri Concern for Small-Town Issues - UNION, Mo., July 30 -- Sen. Barack Obama campaigned through the conservative heart of rural Missouri on Wednesday, determined to prove that a Democrat can capture this bellwether state by winning over voters in its far-flung small towns as well as in its urban centers. (READ MORE)

N. Korean Food Crisis Spurs U.N. to Act - BEIJING, July 30 -- With shriveled harvests and a cutback in imports, North Korea has slipped back into a serious food shortage that is causing millions of people to go hungry, the United Nations announced Wednesday. (READ MORE)

Olmert Declares Intent to Step Down - JERUSALEM, July 30 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, facing a widening corruption investigation, announced Wednesday that he will not compete in his party's leadership primary in September. The move will effectively end his tenure as premier and is likely to complicate efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before President Bush leaves office. (READ MORE)

Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader May Be in Afghanistan - BAGHDAD, July 30 -- The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, according to group leaders and Iraqi intelligence officials, a possible further sign of what Iraqi and U.S. officials call growing disarray and weakness in the organization. (READ MORE)

Turkish ruling party secure - Turkey's highest court on Wednesday narrowly rejected an indictment to outlaw the nation's ruling party for Islamist activities - ending months of turmoil that had paralyzed the NATO ally, frightened foreign investors and stalled the nation's bid to join the European Union. (READ MORE)

Ad rips celebrity Obama - Britney, Paris and ... Barack? Sen. John McCain on Wednesday charged that his Democratic presidential opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, is more Cosmo than he is commander in chief, running a stark, harsh and groundbreaking ad that matches him with clips of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. (READ MORE)

Pakistan probes Taliban collusion - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said U.S. concerns about collusion between members of his nation's intelligence agency and terrorists are being taken seriously and "will be resolved." (READ MORE)

Obama supports union organizing - Legislation that would make it more difficult for workers to hold a private ballot vote in unionization drives, which critics say would lead to harassment and intimidation, has spurred a pitched battle between powerful labor unions supportive of Sen. Barack Obama and big business in the presidential campaign. (READ MORE)

Illegals figure drops by 11% - The Department of Homeland Security is claiming success after an independent study released Wednesday argued that stepped-up enforcement efforts have reduced the illegal immigrant population by 11 percent since August. (READ MORE)

Police aware of Maryland's spying - Maryland State Police documents show that the Baltimore Police Department knew of the state's spying on groups opposed to war and the death penalty and once offered backup assistance at a protest. The American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the documents earlier this month, said Wednesday that it is broadening its investigation into the matter to include more activist groups and more state and federal agencies. (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Daniel Henninger: Is John McCain Stupid? - Is John McCain losing it? On Sunday, he said on national television that to solve Social Security "everything's on the table," which of course means raising payroll taxes. On July 7 in Denver he said: "Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't." This isn't a flip-flop. It's a sex-change operation. He got back to the subject Tuesday in Reno, Nev. Reporters asked about the Sunday tax comments. Mr. McCain replied, "The worst thing you could do is raise people's payroll taxes, my God!" Then he was asked about working with Democrats to fix Social Security, and he repeated, "everything has to be on the table." But how can . . .? Oh never mind. Yesterday he was in Aurora, Colo., to wit: "On Social Security, he [Sen. Obama] wants to raise Social Security taxes. I am opposed to raising taxes on Social Security. I want to fix the system without raising taxes." (READ MORE)

Lanny J. Davis: Why Obama Should Pick Hillary - Picking a vice president is obviously Barack Obama's decision to make. He must be comfortable with who he picks. Comfort level between a president and vice president may be the most important factor of all. So I can only offer my argument, based on some facts and subjective impressions, as to why I believe it would be in Sen. Obama's personal and political interest to select Hillary Rodham Clinton as his vice presidential running mate. Not just to enhance his chances of winning -- but, more important, to help him be a more effective president. Let's start with one undisputable fact: Sen. Clinton is the only Democrat who gives Sen. Obama a statistically significant boost in any national poll results. This is not a criticism of other candidates. This is simply a fact -- a product of Sen. Clinton's nearly 18-month national campaign in all 50 states and the 18 million votes she won. (READ MORE)

Karl Rove: Obama's Iraq Fumble - In a race supposedly dominated by the economy, both Barack Obama and John McCain have spent a lot of time talking about Iraq. Why? Because both men have Iraq problems that are causing difficulties for their campaigns. How each candidate resolves his Iraq problems may determine who voters come to see as best qualified to set American foreign policy. If Mr. McCain wins the argument on Iraq, he will add to his greatest strength -- a perceived fitness to be commander in chief and lead the global war on terror. As the underdog, Mr. McCain needs to convince voters that he is overwhelmingly the better choice on the issue. Mr. Obama needs to win the argument because his greatest weakness is inexperience and a perceived unreadiness to be president. That's dangerous. Voters believe keeping America safe and strong is a president's most important responsibility. (READ MORE)

Arthur C. Brooks: Where's the Outrage? Really. - "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." So lectures a popular bumper sticker in my university-dominated neighborhood. And according to an emerging journalistic narrative of this campaign season, ordinary Americans are indeed outraged -- at the Iraq war, at gas prices, and by the fact that their houses are not rising in value. As a July 4 Associated Press headline put it, "Americans' unhappy birthday: 'Too much wrong.'" One does not do well to question the legitimacy of this alleged anger. Former Texas senator and McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm learned this the hard way. Looking at data showing less economic trouble than he felt the gloomy headlines warranted, he said in an interview on July 9 that the U.S. was a "nation of whiners" and that we are merely in a "mental recession." Within a few days he stepped down from a McCain campaign increasingly worried about a possible backlash from supposedly enraged voters. (READ MORE)

Laurence H. Tribe: The Supreme Court Is Wrong on the Death Penalty - It's not often that the U.S. Supreme Court is asked by a state and the federal government to reconsider a case it has just handed down because it missed key evidence. But that is what is happening now in Kennedy v. Louisiana. In that case, the court ruled in late June that Louisiana could not execute someone convicted of violently raping a child. Dividing along familiar 5-4 lines, the court held, speaking through Justice Anthony Kennedy, that the death penalty must be reserved for killers and traitors. To apply it to others, including the most reprehensible violators of young children, would constitute a "cruel and unusual punishment" violating the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. Emphasizing the evolving character of what constitutes an "unusual" if not an unduly "cruel" punishment, the court rested its condemnation of executing the rapists of children largely on what it described as a trend away from the use of death to punish such crimes both here and abroad. (READ MORE)

Ann Coulter: A Baby Daddy for Both Americas - The mainstream media really seem to imagine they can prevent Americans from knowing information by refusing to mention it in newspapers or on TV. For those few Americans without an Internet connection and to whom I have not faxed the National Enquirer stories: Evidence is accumulating that John Edwards is right -- there really are "two Americas." There's one where men cheat on their cancer-stricken wives and one where men do not cheat on their cancer-stricken wives. To put it another way, it would appear that ambulances aren't the only things John Edwards has been chasing lately. Last year, the National Enquirer broke the story about New-Age divorcee Rielle Hunter, formerly Lisa Druck, telling friends she was having an affair with Edwards and that she was pregnant with his "love child." Who knew that "my father was a mill worker" could be such a great pickup line? (READ MORE)

Frank Turek: The Presidency Is Not An Entry-Level Position - Barack Obama’s recent op-ed in the New York Times declares, “It’s time to end this war.” (You remember that Senator McCain tried to respond, but the Times apparently wanted to give McCain his opinion rather than allow him to express his own. Every day I read the New York Times and the Bible just to see what both sides are doing.) Is Obama right? Is it time to end this war? Maybe it is time to begin drawing down our forces and handing-off more responsibility for security to Iraqi forces. This idea is gaining favor in Bagdad and Washington. The problem for Obama is that withdrawal, not victory, has always been his goal. Obama wanted to “end this war” when it would have meant an American defeat. The only reason a slow withdrawal is possible now is because President Bush made the unpopular but wise decision to increase our efforts while Obama and the Democrat party tried to get us to cut and run. (READ MORE)

Larry Elder: A Black Conservative Lament - Oh, no, not another "blacks in America" news special! One of the cable networks recently put together another one of these "specials" on what it's like to be black in America. The network asked a conservative friend of mine to participate. He sent the following letter; and I wrote back. Dear Larry, OK, Larry, I grew up a bit last night. Those (unflattering descriptive deleted) at that news network on cable used me like a two-dollar whore! I interviewed with them for almost 10 hours, and all that talk was whittled down into five-second sound bites that put me in a rather negative light. Part of our talk was about the crack epidemic. I spoke about the way we are fighting this drug war, which we should approach as a health issue as opposed to a law enforcement problem. I talked about the impact single parenthood has on crime rates. … I talked and talked. They edited it all down to, "If you don't want to go to jail, don't sell crack." I am really angry. (READ MORE)

Victor Davis Hanson: What If Iraq Works? - There is a growing confidence among officers, diplomats and politicians that a constitutional Iraq is going to make it. We don't hear much anymore of trisecting the country, much less pulling all American troops out in defeat. Critics of the war now argue that a victory in Iraq was not worth the costs, not that victory was always impossible. The worst terrorist leaders, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Muqtada al-Sadr, are either dead or in hiding. The 2007 surge, the Anbar Awakening of tribal sheiks against al-Qaida, the change to counterinsurgency tactics, the vast increase in the size and competence of the Iraqi Security Forces, the sheer number of enemy jihadists killed between 2003-8, the unexpected political savvy of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the magnetic leadership of Gen. David Petraeus have all contributed to a radically improved Iraq. (READ MORE)

Ken Blackwell: Freedom Now - Nancy Pelosi wants to the save the planet. That was the House speakers answer to why she is not allowing a vote on expanding domestic oil drilling. Unfortunately, Americans need for an ambitious long-term plan for energy independence is placing a damper on the speakers planet-saving pursuits. The energy issue is taking center stage for the public. If this issue is forced to the next level, Senator McCain might win the White House and Republicans might avoid another election year rout. First, Mr. McCain must outline an ambitious Kennedy to the moon ambitious energy plan aimed at transforming America from an energy importer to an energy exporter. He should start with the obvious. Only conventional sources can address Americas short-term energy needs. The nation has the infrastructure to use coal, oil, and natural gas, and all it needs is additional supply. (READ MORE)

Maggie Gallagher: Everything's Coming Up Nancy - Move over, Hillary, its Nancy's turn to take center stage. This past Monday, Nancy Pelosi was all over your television set, penetrating as many American living rooms as she could with her new message: Girl Power Forever -- aka "Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters." Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most powerful woman of all? Nancy Pelosi showed the Republicans who's boss of the Hill recently. After promising "fairness and open debate," according to David Rogers at Politico.com, Pelosi resorted to hard-knuckle politics to shut down the GOP's chance to offer any policy alternatives to the Dems' official party line. She's not exactly apologetic about it. Rogers reports: "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet," she says impatiently when questioned. "I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy." (READ MORE)

David Strom: Revealed: Conservatives Have Escape Plan for When They Destroy the Earth - Well, the secret is out. Conservatives' willingness to destroy Mother Earth in pursuit of financial gain now makes sense. The missing fact that helps explain the seemingly inexplicable willingness of Conservatives to destroy the planet was revealed last week by former astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell. You may or may not remember Mitchell as the astronaut who holds the record for the longest moonwalk. Dr. Mitchell has broken a long-standing wall of silence and revealed that our government-and governments around the world-have been in secret contact with alien beings from another planet. Mitchell revealed the aliens to be "little people who look strange to us." Mitchell still refuses to put a name to cigarette-smoking man and other top government officials in on the conspiracy, but details are sure to follow. We can surely know that they are a cabal of neoconservatives. (READ MORE)

Paul Weyrich: A Possible Judicial Solution to Re-imposition of the So-called "Fairness Doctrine" - I have been feeling rather blue. Those who know me know that I never give up without a fight. My problem is with the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," which represents the opposite of fairness. Talk Radio, as we now know it, represents one of the very few weapons in the conservative media arsenal. 630 WMAL's brilliant commentator, Chris Plante, has declared that 2008 is the year that true journalism died in the United States of America. I agree with him. The national media overwhelmingly supports Senator Barack H. Obama (D-IL), the presumed Democratic nominee, for President. How can he lose with the national media all but carrying his bags as he goes abroad? With the exception of Fox News Channel the television media is all in the hands of the left. Fox itself is more Republican than conservative. The left also controls nearly all of the print media. (READ MORE)

Lawhawk: UN Fails Again - The UN is ending its peacekeeping mission along the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, claiming that Eritrea is hampering peacekeeping activities. “Council members and other diplomats said the U.N. had little choice but to withdraw its 1,700-strong force that has been monitoring a 15-mile-wide, 620-mile-long buffer zone between the two nations. The vote means the entire mission will be terminated on Thursday, Vietnam's U.N. ambassador, Le Luong Minh, told reporters after the vote. Belgian Ambassador Jan Grauls told the council that the mission, known as UNMEE, ‘had become impossible to implement’ because Eritreans progressively limited peacekeepers' movements -- including restricting night patrols, supply routes and diesel fuel -- and Ethiopians refused to accept an independent boundary commission's 2002 decision to award the key town of Badme to Eritrea.” (READ MORE)

Ace of Spades: The audacity of fraud - Wexler isn't really a FL resident - Apparently, Fox/O'Reilly had something on this, but it made it above the fold in the print version of the Palm Beach Post today, so the story must have enough traction that even the reliably Bolshevik PBP can't bury it. Wexler is of course a flaming moonbat, high profile Dem attack dog, and staunch supporter of the Messiah. “Acknowledging that accusations that he doesn't really live in Florida are raising ‘concerns’ among his constituents, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said Tuesday that he will begin leasing an apartment in his congressional district rather than continue to claim residency at his in-laws' home near Delray Beach. Wexler made the announcement on the same day that his two challengers produced records showing Wexler received property tax breaks by declaring his house in Potomac, Md., a ‘primary residence’ from 1999 to 2002. He also signed a loan document with his wife in 2005 describing the house as ‘my/our principal residence.’...” (READ MORE)

Donald Douglas: Abdullah Saleh Al-Ajmi: From Guantanamo to Martyrdom - Debra Burlingame, at the Wall Street Journal, illustrates how the civil liberties activists of the American left have enabled terrorists and sacrificed lives to the nihilist mayhem of Islamist evil. The story begins with Abdullah Saleh Al-Ajmi, a one-time detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who was released from American custody in 2005. Al-Ajmi returned to the Middle East to commit a suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq, in March 2008 (as seen below, in the blast photo from the Combat Outpost Inman). It turns out that Al-Ajmi had written poetry while at Gitmo, with one poem mocking the American detention system, and glorifying holy martyrdom under Islam: (READ MORE)

Pamela Geller: Saudi funded Hate School Director Pleads Guilty to Covering Child Sexual Abuse - He plead guilty? According to the Koran, he's innocent. Al-Shabnan's arrest came after police alleged he covered up an incident in which a 5-year-old girl attending the school reported that she was being sexually abused by her father. According to court papers, Al-Shabnan, 52, of McLean, told police that he didn't believe the girl, and advised the girl's parents to put her into counseling. But state law requires school authorities to report alleged child abuse within 72 hours of learning of the allegation. This director of this school curriculum included 12th-grade text on Quranic interpretation that taught students that it is permissible for Muslims to kill adulterers and converts from Islam, according to the investigation by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a panel created by Congress that monitors religious freedom rights around the world. (READ MORE)

Baldilocks: Why Is the Black Vote in the Democrats’ Pocket? - Why do 90% of eligible black Americans vote Democrat and call themselves liberal? A few weeks back, I lambasted prominent black conservatives for even thinking of voting for Barack Obama, a man who embodies only one part of the two-word description “black conservative.” Several black conservatives were quoted in the article to which I was responding. However, the most revealing quote came from former U.S. Representative J.C. Watts (R-OK): “J.C. Watts, a former Oklahoma congressman who once was part of the GOP House leadership, said he’s thinking of voting for Obama. Watts said he’s still a Republican, but he criticizes his party for neglecting the black community. Black Republicans, he said, have to concede that while they might not agree with Democrats on issues, at least that party reaches out to them. ‘And Obama highlights that even more,’ Watts said, adding that he expects Obama to take on issues such as poverty and urban policy. ‘Republicans often seem indifferent to those things.’” (READ MORE)

Dafydd: Congressional Dems: Some Branches Are More Equal Than Others - For months now, Democratic congressional leaders, such as Rep. John Conyers (D-MI, 100%) and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT, 95%), have declared Karl Rove to be in contempt of Congress. Now, had they accused him of having contempt for Congress, they might have a case; but if that is the standard, they will have to refer 82.7% of adult Americans to the U.S. Attorney (USA) for prosecution. Apart from the laughability of Congress demanding that a USA appointed by President George W. Bush prosecute the chief advisor to George W. Bush, merely because Mr. Rove tweaked the Democrats' beards (Squeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Haight-Ashbury, shaves hers off), there is actually a serious question here. According to our constitution, our government comprises three branches: the Legislature (Congress), the Executive (President of the United States), and the Judiciary (Supreme Court and all inferior federal courts). (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: Data point 2 - The European trip is over and Obama is still falling in the Intrade prediction market. AFP writes, “No ‘bounce’ from Obama foreign trip: poll” CNN’s Jack Caffery expresses his bafflement. “It’s a mystery to many: why isn’t Barack Obama farther ahead in the polls? CNN’s poll of polls shows Obama up by 5 points, leading John McCain 45% to 40%. In most polls, he rarely breaks 50%. A new USA Today/Gallup Poll actually shows McCain leading Obama 49% to 45% percent among likely voters. It seems like Obama should be miles ahead of McCain when you consider the political climate.” And what an adulatory climate it was. The Guardian described his “rock star” welcome. “For the man who has brought rock star charisma to electoral politics, yesterday saw the campaign rally as pop festival, a summer gathering of peace, love and loathing of George Bush. Taking what he calls his ‘improbable journey’ to the heart of Europe, Barack Obama succeeded in closing down one of Berlin’s main thoroughfares last night, luring the city’s young in their tens of thousands to stand in the evening sunshine and hear him spin his dreams of hope - not for America this time, but for the whole world.” One story from Bild was filed from a gym where the Candidate was working out. (READ MORE)

Driven @ Blackfive: ...coming forth to carry me home... - Back when I was a PFC, my company was out in the field for a week for MOUT training. The first day was spent practicing reflexive fire. When the sun goes down at Ft. Bragg the humidity rises and the temperature seems to hold steady. Even with the sun's burning stare gone we did not find any relief. An hour before midnight we started our march. We followed a tank trail around the perimeter of the training areas. I could only see the cat eyes (glow in the dark patches we attach to the back of our helmets) of the man in front of me. The night was silent except for the sound of soldiers on the march. There wasn't even a breath of wind as we trudged through the darkness. Loaded down with our equipment and already tired from the day's training we walked in muted silence. At about 2 A.M. the wind picked up and a mummer passed down the line. Everyone knew what was coming. This wind brought no relief, it brought rain. (READ MORE)

Jeffrey Imm: ISNA and MPAC Seek to Silence Steven Emerson at Congressional Hearing - As mentioned in Andrew Cochran's July 28 posting, the Investigative Project on Terrorism's (IPT) counterterrorism leader Steven Emerson will be testifying on Thursday July 31 at a Congressional hearing on "Foreign Aid and the Fight Against Terrorism and Proliferation: Leveraging Foreign Aid to Achieve U.S. Policy Goals." This hearing will take place at the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade this Thursday at 10:30 AM ET in room 2200 of the Rayburn House Building. In the past day, however, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) have been working on a public relations campaign to silence Steven Emerson at this July 31 hearing. ISNA sent out an "Urgent Action Alert" to its membership calling for them to lobby Congressman Brad Sherman to either have "balanced, qualified testimony"... [or demand that] "the session be canceled." (READ MORE)

Flopping Aces: FINALLY! Wartime Opposition to War Is Explained Clearly - Ok, for those of you playing the home game, let’s recap: President Bush invaded Iraq and ended America’s 13 year war with Saddam with the authorization of Congress, and support of Democrats. Even before the war started, Gov Howard Dean ran for President on an anti-war theme (in addition to governor of Vermont, doctor, maple syrup king, and Presidential Candidate, he’s secretly been a middle eastern intelligence operative and the only man in the world who could accurately assess the threat from Saddam…or…so people were led to believe). As soon as Coalition forces crossed the border, Democrats en masse changed their tune, opposed the war like candidate Dean, and they themselves either tested the Presidential campaign waters, or just jumped right in. And so it was that the debate raged, grew, exaggerated, distorted, and became an animal-a monster-in and of itself. (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Economic growth doubles - Not good enough for the New York Times, which keeps hoping for a recession. The New York Times headline was dour: “G.D.P. Grows at Tepid 1.9% Pace Despite Stimulus.” It goes on to say this dimmed hopes for a “quick recovery.” Recovery from what? There has been no recession. Perhaps if the Times did not rely on former Enron adviser Paul Krugman for economics advice, its editors would understand the basic definition of a recession. The AP was more positive:
Economic growth picked up in the second quarter as tax rebates energized consumers and exports boosted businesses. The rebound followed a treacherous patch where the economy jolted into reverse at the end of 2007. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the April-to-June period. That marked an improvement over the feeble 0.9 percent growth logged in the first quarter of this year and an outright contraction in the economy during the final quarter of last year. (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Hey, what do you know? Enforcement works! - A report from the Center for Immigration Studies concludes that illegal immigrants have left the US in large numbers, thanks to enforcement efforts at federal and state levels over the past nine months. The change coincides with the rejection of the comprehensive immigration bill considered by Congress and abandoned last July. The CIS contends that this created a disincentive that pushed almost a million illegals back across the border: “A report released yesterday by a Washington think tank that advocates stricter limits on immigration says the number of illegal immigrants in the country appears to have declined significantly over the past year, at least partly because of the chilling effect of stepped-up enforcement. The study by the Center for Immigration Studies based its findings on census data that indicate that the number of less-educated, working-age Hispanic immigrants, defined as 18-to-40-year-olds with a high school diploma or less, has dropped by more than 10 percent, or about 830,000 people, since last August.” (READ MORE)

Fjordman: The Organization of the Islamic Conference and Eurabia - Dr. Andrew Bostom, editor of the excellent book The Legacy of Jihad and the recent book about Islamic anti-Semitism, warns that the 57 Muslim nations of the Organization of the Islamic Conference are trying to impose Islamic blasphemy law -- which includes the death penalty for those who "blaspheme" the Muslim prophet Muhammad -- as the universal standard across the world. These sentiments of the OIC were reiterated more brazenly by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. During a sermon in response to the Danish Muhammad cartoons which aired February 3, 2006, Qaradawi demanded action from the United Nations in accordance with sharia-based conceptions of blasphemy: "…the governments [of the world] must be pressured to demand that the U.N. adopt a clear resolution or law that categorically prohibits affronts to prophets—to the prophets of the Lord and his Messengers, to His holy books, and to the religious holy places." (READ MORE)

Quid Nimis: Barry the Redeemer - "[Barry the Redeemer] is going to demand that you shed your cynicism." Well, maybe we can just have a National Day of Shedding, and Obamassiah can join in.Just checked in with Melanie Phillips over at the spectator and she has a trenchant word or two about the Prayer in the Wall scandal. In case you aren't completely up to speed, it appears that when Barack Obama had his pray note stolen by some go-getter seminarian in Jerusalem, it wasn't exactly the scoop of the century, as MP, who is terribly cynical for one so young, points out: “What kind of unprincipled individual would steal such a note and reveal its contents to the world? they fretted. This seemed to me at the time to be remarkably naive. Was it really likely that Senator Obama would have inserted such a note in such a place, with the serried ranks of the world's media lenses pointing at him, without at the very least harbouring the teensiest suspicion that within seconds it would be removed and its contents find their way into a newspaper?” (READ MORE)

John Hinderaker: Racial Progress, Or Stagnation? - It's generally assumed that Barack Obama's nomination for President is a sign of great racial progress in the U.S. Perhaps so. But several stories in the news this week suggest that for many, racial politics are stuck in the same dead end of victimology that has held back African-Americans for decades. Last night, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow. The resolution passed on a voice vote, relieving members of the need to go on record for or against it. But I hope none of our Minnesota Congressmen voted for the resolution. Minnesota became a state in 1858, just in time to send its best men to help preserve the Union and stamp out slavery. We never had Jim Crow legislation here. If anyone should apologize, it's the Democratic Party, which supported slavery and disunion to the bitter end and did its best to preserve segregation in the South long after the Civil War. (READ MORE)

Scott Johnson: Midnight conservative - Early in his career, Jon Voight must have been stationed somewhere on the far left of the Hollywood crowd. When he came up to Dartmouth in the spring of 1970 for a showing of "The Revolutionary," he clearly identified with the film's hero. In the question-and-answer session following the showing of the film, Voight explained in all seriousness that we should know "the revolution" was going to begin in Washington on November 15. Voight's radicalism was obviously no impediment to his livelihood. Indeed, it may well have facilitated a career of great prominence and distinction, including an Academy Award for his performance in "Coming Home." Voight's career withstood his foolish radicalism, but his turn to patriotism and the middle of the road has raised a red flag, so to speak, in Hollywood. In his Washington Times column condemning Barack Obama, Voight speaks from his own experience: (READ MORE)

McQ: Obama, Unions and the secret ballot - If you’re ready to revisit the era of union strong-arm tactics and closed shops (which have seen businesses flee for ’right to work’ states), a vote for Obama is recommended. “‘We’re ready to play offense for organized labor. It’s time we had a president who didn’t choke saying the word “union.” A president who strengthens our unions by letting them do what they do best: organize our workers,’ Mr. Obama told the AFL-CIO in Philadelphia on April 2. ‘I will make it the law of the land when I’m president of the United States,’ Mr. Obama told the labor federation.” Of course, this promise explains why the SIEU is dropping $150 million in the effort to get him elected and why the AFL-CIO has "a ramped-up campaign" to help Obama win. In fact the AFL-CIO is committed to a 600,000 mailing to uncommitted voters on Obama’s, and thereby the union’s, behalf. (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: Land, Ho? Try Landstuhl, No! - Well, it's taken about a week or so for enough details to emerge about Senator Obama's canceled visit to the hospital for American troops in Landstuhl, Germany, and it's a smidgen more complicated than originally presented -- and, as is eminently predictable, falls pretty well between the two sides who first started tussling about it. As a bit of backdrop, it's become customary for government officials to visit troops who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has made numerous trips to Walter Reed, and has met with families of those killed in action. He's also hosted quite a few wounded vets at the White House. It's also become customary (backed up by military regulations) for these visits to be kept largely free of publicity and politics. The only time I can think of Bush's actions in this area getting much attention was when it came out that Cindy "Momma Moonbat" Sheehan, who was demanding a meeting with President Bush, had actually had one... (READ MORE)

The Midnight Sun: CHILD TORTURE AND MURDER ELEVATED AS ‘ART’ - From the British government covering the butt of pedophiles in Britain to the push in the Netherlands for a legal pedophile party, things aren’t looking too safe in the world for children any more. But who’d have thought that artists would now be glorifying the torture and murder of a real toddler? Back in April, we posted on the widespread pedophilia in high places in Britain and a coverup by Tony Blair of the police investigation of many of his staff. I predicted at that time that pedophilia would be legalized, and referred to other posts we’d done previously on the rising drive in Europe for the legal acceptance of pedophilia here, here, here and here. Incredibly, in a matter of months, in Sydney there erupted the scandal of the taking soft-porn shots of a naked 13-year-old girl, and of sick, perverted art critic Robert Nelson going into ecstasies about the ”diabolically sexual” image of his toddler daughter “pleasure sucking” on a dummy/pacifier. (READ MORE)

Kings of War: Putting Munich and Hitler behind us - Jeffrey Record is a scholar whose work on insurgencies and the use of history I very much respect. I recommend ‘Beating Goliath’ to the swelling number of my own students who want to understand how great powers lose lesser wars. But I can’t agree with his latest piece in Parameters. He argues that we should retire the potent historical analogy of Munich, Chamberlain and Hitler, along with the overarching fable about appeasement, which teaches that it is futile to accommodate aggressors, and that only a confrontational strategy is a winning strategy. Record notes that hawkish folk have overused this analogy, pressing it into service with disastrous results in Iraq (not to mention Suez). Further, there was little realistic alternative to a policy of appeasement in the 1930’s. Preemptive intervention with force, say, in 1936 was politically and militarily impossible. (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.

Team Up

U.S. Army Sgt. Austin Fabacher and Pvt. Edgar Gonzalez take a breather after searching a home in Northern Adal, Iraq, July 14, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Manuel Martinez, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq.

Peek a Boo

A U.S. Army Soldier plays with Iraqi children during a patrol in Balad, Iraq, July 25, 2008. The Soldier is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force Photo By Staff Sgt. Micky M. Bazaldua.

Centered

A U.S. Army Soldier stands guard outside a home being searched for weapons in Balad, Iraq, July 24, 2008. The Soldier is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Micky M. Bazaldua.

LT COL Jeffery Chessani USMC Hounded by our Government

Found in my mailbox via Townhall.com I believe that LTCOL Chessani is being used as a scapegoat by the Governement to cover up a serious case of command influence on the part of the Haditha Investigation and that is why I am posting this here.

Dear David M,

For the last two and a half years Lt. Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, USMC, has been investigated and prosecuted for his involvement in the so called "Haditha massacre" – a massacre that never happened.

Now – after devoting 20 years of his life to defend ours' ─ he faces criminal charges as a result of a legitimate combat action taken by four of his Marines after being ambushed by insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005.

If convicted, he faces 2 ½ years imprisonment, dismissal from the Corps, and loss of all of his retirement pay.

You may have heard that last month a military judge dismissed all the charges against LtCol Chessani.

But the government appealed. And yesterday they filed their brief.

Jeffrey Chessani is their political scapegoat and they're embarrassed about the loss.

We now have 20 days to file a response brief. Your donation now (click here) sends a message to all our combat troops that you will stand with them when they need your help.

Your donation helps keep America strong!

It's hard to believe the lengths to which the politicians in the Pentagon will go to convict an innocent Marine officer. As you read on you'll know why.

After all he has done for his Nation ─ for you and me ─ will you chip in $25 to help this Marine? If you can give more, please do.

He urgently needs your help – NOW.

Click here to donate to the LtCol Chessani Defense Fund.
Your donation is tax-deductible.

He has been defending our Nation for twenty years…often away from his wife and children… so that we could be safely with ours.

LtCol Chessani served three combat tours in Iraq. He served in the First Persian Gulf War, and in Panama. He is a committed Christian, husband, and father of 6 young children, ages 10 and under.

I am certain that when you hear the facts, you will be as outraged as I am about what our government is doing to this courageous and loyal Marine.

So please read on…

On November 19, 2005, at approximately 7:15 a.m., a Marine convoy was rolling through Haditha, Iraq — a terrorist stronghold. Suddenly, a roadside bomb went off destroying a Marine Humvee, killing one Marine and seriously injuring two others.

The Marines immediately received fire from the ambushing insurgents, who were shooting from nearby civilian-occupied homes.

A four-man fire team responded as trained; they cleared several houses occupied by the armed insurgents, and in the ensuing room-by-room, house-by-house gun battle, it was reported that 8 enemy were killed.

Tragically 15 civilians also died ─ in urban combat, where insurgents purposefully use civilians as human shields, civilian casualties are tragic, but not uncommon. In fact, sometimes the insurgents themselves kill civilians to achieve a propaganda victory by blaming the Americans.

LtCol Chessani was the battalion commander of these brave Marines ─ the 3rd Battalion ("The Thundering Third"), 1st Marines—one of the most decorated units in the history of the Marine Corps.

As the Battalion Commander, LtCol Chessani was responsible that morning for approximately 2000 American and friendly Iraqi troops in an area of operations just about the size of South Carolina.

He immediately reported the deaths of the 15 civilian Iraqis to his superiors.

Not one of LtCol Chessani's superiors hearing of the 15 civilian deaths ─ including top generals ─ considered it unusual. Not one ordered a further investigation.

However, several months later, an inflammatory Time news article accusing the Marines of massacring innocent civilians caused public hysteria. The story was planted by insurgent propaganda operatives who knew too well that the liberal anti-war media hungered for such stories.

Anti-war Congressman John Murtha, who wields tremendous power over military appropriations, jumped in and echoed Time's story.

He appeared on major television networks and publicly accused the young enlisted Marines of "cold blooded" murder and Marine officers of a "cover-up." He blamed it all on the stress of being in Iraq too long.

Incredibly, these accusations were made even before the investigation was completed.

It's clear ─ the government has turned the prosecution of Jeffrey Chessani into a never-ending persecution.

The trumped-up charge: failing to properly report and investigate the November 19, 2005 incident.

The government is doing everything it can to convict LtCol Chessani. He is the political scapegoat they must convict to satisfy Murtha and the press.

The vast resources of the military are at its disposal. The number of military investigators is virtually limitless. Government prosecutors can go anywhere, talk to anyone, and get anything, all at government expense. The Marine command structure is mandated to cooperate.

So far, the government has spent millions of our taxpayer dollars, employed over 65 Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents ─ the largest investigation in that agency's history ─ and granted immunity to scores of witnesses, all in their attempt to make Jeffrey and the "Haditha Marines" political scapegoats.

But I'm sure you know that the impact of this case reaches far beyond the personal tragedy and injustice to Jeffrey and his family.

You know it will drastically curtail the future ability of our combat men and women to defend our Nation.

Lt. Colonel Paul Ware, USMC, an Investigating Officer who heard testimony in several cases involving the charged enlisted Marines blasted the credibility of the government witnesses and expressed concern that the allegations were nothing but a tactic "to erode public support of the Marine Corps and mission in Iraq."

He went on to say:

"Even more dangerous is the potential that a Marine may hesitate at the critical moment when facing the enemy . . . ."

Retired General Thomas McInerney, former Joint Force Commander and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, called the prosecutions of the Haditha Marines "despicable." He warned:

"We cannot fight a war like that . . . We're not taking care of our people."

Regardless of how you feel about the war, LtCol Chessani was in Iraq because his country sent him there. He defended us, now we must defend him.

Just to give you an idea what this Nation has lost by the prosecution of LtCol Chessani, and why he deserves your support, I want to give you a few excerpts from his official Combat Fitness Report.

This is a required annual evaluation of a Marine officer's performance prepared by his superiors. It covers the period of September 2005 to February 2006 ─ which includes the date of the incident for which LtCol Chessani is facing criminal charges:

• "Leads Marines from front in every operation. Demonstrates moral courage everyday. Doesn't hesitate to report bad news fast or contest unrealistic plans/poor concepts. Despite the complexity and size of his AO [area of operations], he always maintains a calm, cool demeanor."

• "Always seeks advantage over complex, diverse insurgent enemy. Truly one of the finer thinkers in this COIN environment."
  
  
• "One of the top 3" infantry/cavalry battalion commanders "of 13 who have served with RCT –2 [the regiment] during OIF. A superb leader, who knows his men, knows the enemy, knows his business. Doesn't attract a lot of fanfare; just gets the job done to an exceedingly high standard."

• "Long ball hitter; recommend selection for promotion to Colonel and TLS [Top Level School]."

The Reviewing Officer, Major General Huck added his comments: "Top notch officer with outstanding potential. Promote and select for TLS [Top Level School]. Post TLS slate for Regimental command and subsequent joint tour. Unlimited potential and value to the Marine Corps. Capable of the most challenging assignments."

One distorted magazine article has devastated the life and family of this patriotic Marine officer… and could adversely affect our military for years to come.

Simply put…

This case is about how our military fights and will fight in the future.

LtCol Chessani has willingly answered the call to serve his country. That's why he deserves the support of every Patriotic American today.

Click here to Donate Now.

Sincerely yours,

Richard Thompson
President and Chief Counsel, Thomas More Law Center

P.S. It is urgent you donate now. We have 20 days to file our response to the government brief. We must also prepare for the inevitable trial. The successful defense of Jeffrey Chessani is vital to the security of America and to all our military personnel we place in harm's way. Your donation is tax-deductible.

P.P.S. Please share LtCol Chessani's story with others who will realize the gravity of this important case. Click here to forward this article to a friend now.

DONATE NOW

Sign up now to receive updates on this important case.
Click here.

Game Time!

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ryan Chang plays a game of ping pong with local children during a combined patrol with the Iraqi Army in the Shula district, Baghdad, July 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill.

Flight 93 blogburst: Stop the Crescent Mosque!

Tom Burnett Sr. and Alec Rawls will be in Somerset PA this weekend to condemn the crescent/broken-circle memorial to Flight 93. Here is Alec's notice about the press conference that he and Mr. Burnett will host after they speak at the public meeting of the Memorial Project Saturday morning:

...Also on the press conference panel will be Diane Gramley, President of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, and the Reverend Ron McRae of Johnstown.

In addition to our own statements, Mr. Burnett will read a statement from Congressman John Kline (R-MN), and Alec Rawls will present statements from Rich Davis, founder of the Chester County Victory Movement, and from the president of Muslims Against Sharia Law.

After answering questions for the press, Mr. Burnett and his co-panelists will host a rally to stop the re-hijacking of Flight 93. Members of our informal Western Pennsylvania Compatriots group (who spoke out at the last public meeting) will be in attendance, and some out of town folks will be coming as well.

And check this out: a big color ad in the local paper:

To inform and invite the local populace, a half-page full-color ad will be running in tomorrow’s edition of the Somerset Daily American. It explains how the original Crescent of Embrace design remains completely intact in the Circle of Embrace redesign, which is explicitly described by the Park Service itself as a “broken” circle. That is exactly how architect Paul Murdoch described his original Crescent design.

All the redesign does is include an extra arc of trees that explicitly represents a broken off part of the circle. The unbroken part of the circle (the crescent), remains exactly as it was. It is still a giant Islamic shaped crescent, still pointing to Mecca , as your colleague Kirk Swauger verified a year ago:

Rawls maintains that the midpoint between the tips of the crescent points almost precisely toward “qibla,” the direction to Mecca , which Muslims are supposed to face for prayer.

His claims seem to be backed up by coordinates for the direction of qibla from Somerset that can be found on Islam.com. When superimposed over the crescent in the memorial design, the midpoint points over the Arctic Circle, through Europe toward Mecca.

Except for Kirk’s verification of the Mecca orientation of the crescent (which was not picked up by any other news organization), reporters have not been bothering to check the facts. When our claim that there are to be 44 inscribed translucent blocks emplaced along the flight path was reported a few months ago, Gordon Felt, President of Families of Flight 93 was quoted denying it, but despite this clear conflict of factual claims, no reporter bothered to simply open up the design drawings and count.

Can reporters actually be shamed into doing their jobs? Doubtful. They seem to regard actually checking the facts as giving some kind of unfair advantage to the side that is right (which they would be happy do do if the right side was THEIR side).

When the press is in this anti-fact-checking mode, their methodology is just to quote each side. We are trying to take advantage of this behavior by having some of our independent supporters use source documents to fact-check our basic claims, then attest in press releases and at the public meeting that they have personally counted the translucent memorial blocks etcetera.

Co-panelist Diane Gramley will be making such declarations for the cameras. Cao (the organizer of these blogbursts) did some checking from source documents this week and has already posted a powerful press release about her findings that Alec will present at the press conference.

Tom Burnett's attendance should bring national news coverage. If Tom and Alec can direct some of that coverage to our independent fact checking, it might break the media embargo on fact checking, and once we get the Mecca orientation of the giant crescent out as verified national news, the crescent goose will be cooked.

If you want to participate in our fact-checking drive, Alec has a set of fact checking guides, with links to source documents, at CrescentOfBetrayal.com. Just send him a link to the post or comment in which you attest to your fact-checking results, and he will compile them.

To join our blogbursts, just send your blog's url.

Site of the Day

The Thunder Run Site of the Day is: Neptunus Lex

Recently retired and now a government contractor wheenie, Lex is a Naval Aviator and a friend of this blog.

Stop in and read a sea story or two.

From the Front: 07/30/2008

News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.

In their own words:
A Major's Perspective: Iraq Diyala Offensive - Today Iraqi and US Forces kicked off the offensive into Diyala. Here are some of the reports coming out of Iraq currently: (NY TIMES ART): “U.S.-backed Iraqi troops sealed off Baqouba and staged house-to-house searches Tuesday as they began a new offensive in Diyala province in the latest bid to clear al-Qaida in Iraq from its last major belt near the capital. Iraqi security forces hope to build on recent security successes elsewhere in a new test of the country's readiness to take over its own security and enable American troops to withdraw eventually. The U.S. military said the improved abilities of the Iraqi troops have enabled the Americans to play a less high-profile role in operations, helping to lower the number of U.S. casualties so far this year.” (READ MORE)

Sgt B AKA Gramps: Chow… - Pretty much anywhere else you go, you eat three meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner… Normally you eat it sitting down, whether at a table, picnic table, dinner table, or driving down the road.. Everywhere except the military… Every meal is called “chow”, and, in the Infantry, it is eaten standing up… They don’t even make the vehicles with flat hoods to use as a dinner table anymore… (I miss my old jeep…) Whether it’s “morning chow”, “noon chow”, or “evening chow”, it’s all “chow. It comes in green plastic containers called “mermites”, and in each container is one element (meat, veggies, dessert, etc…) The company forms up from junior to senior, privates and specialists first, and then NCOs, and then officers; you take care of the juniors first… (READ MORE)

Fearless 1st Marines’ blog: Combat Engineers finding fewer IEDs - FALLUJAH, Iraq – Blinding lights pierce through the darkness on a long and winding stretch of pitch black road, exposing otherwise unseen rusted metal objects and abandoned cars. Behind these bright lights are a group of Marines, part of a route clearance team with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1, who are tasked with locating ordnance on and near roads traveled by Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces. The Marines, with Company C, conducted an all-night street-sweeping operation July 23, in the city of Karma, Iraq. In past years, the city and its surrounding area has been a hotbed for insurgent activity, and many of the roads were heavily laden with improvised explosive devices. (READ MORE)

Bill Roggio: Taliban, Pakistani Army clash in Swat - The Pakistani Army claimed 48 Taliban fighters, including 10 senior Swat leaders, were killed in a major battle in the settled district of the Northwest Frontier Province. Five Pakistani soldiers were also reported killed. The Taliban refuted the claims of heavy casualties, but confirmed one leader was killed in the fighting. "We have inflicted heavy losses on the militants,” a military spokesman told GEO TV. “We have video footage showing bodies of the militants killed in the fighting." The Pakistani military has inflated enemy casualties in the past while downplaying their losses. Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman for Swat leader Mullah Fazlullah, denied the Taliban took heavy casualties. He did confirm that Maulvi Hussain Ali, a Taliban commander who is also known as Toor Mullah, was killed in the fighting. (READ MORE)

Matel-in-Iraq: The Worst Hard Time - I just finished The Worst Hard Time about the dust bowl of the 1930s. Some of what the author describes applies to Iraq. We get the different color dust and it is almost impossible to get away from it. [...] Iraq has a climate like the Texas Panhandle, only hotter. Anbar gets 4-7 inches of rain in a usual year. Most of that rain falls in winter. I saw a couple of good storms and once it rained all day, but the place is a desert. I wonder, however, how much of desolation is man-made. The dunes in Anbar are dust and dirt, not sand. Plants can grow on dirt, if they have a chance. Unfortunately, people and goats have been working on this place for 4000 years. It would never be verdant, but how much could be restored? We have planned and funded some small scale restoration projects. I don’t know if they will last very long. Local shepherds have incentives to let their animals devour what they can get, even if it means destruction in coming years. (READ MORE)

Manrymission: Site Visits in Kurdistan - Last week, I spent a day visiting projects in Dahuk followed by a day of visits in Erbil. I saw lots of great projects. With construction projects, the most memorable things are the things that aren’t perfect. You’ve probably heard the phrase “good enough for government work”. When I was in Korea, we often joked that it was the land of the “not quite right”. Sometimes when I visit projects here, I think of “Iraqi good enough”. At one school we visited in Dahuk, the contractor had recently completed a basketball court. Unfortunately, he installed the goal so that the backboard was almost even with the half circle below the free throw line. In the photo, Masuood, the Deputy in the Dahuk Office, is shooting from the line. Also at this school, the contractor installed a very popular fire extinguishing system I’ve seen at several other school projects. (READ MORE)


Back and still writing:
Bouhammer: Bouhammer’s Plan - I have wanted to write about this for a while, and I think it is time. What you are about to read is controversial. It may make some people dislike me, if not hate me. It may make some never read my blog again. If so, I can only say it is a shame that you would let a disagreement with my opinion offend you that much. I have felt this way for a long time and have been very verbal about this for quite a few years, to include an editorial I wrote in the Army Times several years ago. This article http://www.military.com/news/article/general-defends-15month-tours.html does not necessarily support my opinion, but it is partially there. See here is what Bouhammer thinks…. I think that we as a country, government and military need to get off of this notion of a 12 or even 15 month tours and then rotate out. I call this the Vietnam mentality, and it does not serve us well. It may have been needed then, when we had a draft for a highly unpopular war, but it does not fit now. (READ MORE)


News from the Front:
Iraq:
After the bombing, Shiite pilgrims walk on - The sea of pilgrims moved toward the majestic Imam Kadhim mosque complex with its twin gilded domes and towering minarets. They came to mourn Imam Kadhim, the Shiite saint who died in 799 when, his followers say, the Islamic world's caliph, a Sunni, poisoned his food in prison. The pilgrims — women in black robes, and men in traditional dishdashas or simple T-shirts and sweatpants — marched long distances from all over Iraq to mourn his death. They covered their heads with T-shirts to protect themselves from the sun. (READ MORE)

Operation Sabre Pursuit in Diyala nets several cache finds - DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – North Soldiers discovered several weapons caches July 28 near Hamud, a town in the eastern Diyala Province, during clearing operations in support of Operation Sabre Pursuit. Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 18th Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, along with 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment Soldiers, unearthed 12 caches. (READ MORE)

Ministry of Interior tells two-years of progress - Baghdad – While fighting terrorism and insurgents during the past two years, the Ministry of Interior has undergone great change and faced many challenges yet managed to nearly double its police forces and greatly improve security for Iraqi citizens. A conference at the Ministry of Interior Monday highlighted some of the major progress since Jawad al Bulani became Minister of Interior in June 2006. (READ MORE)

MND-B Soldiers reduce explosive threat, detain suspected terrorist - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers confiscated homemade explosives, destroyed an improvised explosive device and detained a suspected terrorist in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad July 28-29. At approximately 11:45 p.m. July 28, Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division secured an undisclosed amount of homemade explosives at a house in the Saydiyah community of Rashid. (READ MORE)

ISF, MND-B Soldiers seize munitions in Baghdad - BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized multiple weapons caches in Baghdad July 29. At approximately 12 a.m., soldiers with the 24th Brigade, 6th Iraq Army Division seized improvised explosive device components north of Baghdad. (READ MORE)

MND-B Soldiers detain five suspects in New Baghdad - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a key suspected criminal and four of his suspected associates in eastern Baghdad July 29. Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) detained the suspects while conducting an operation specifically targeting them in the New Baghdad district. The individuals allegedly house and hide key criminal leaders. (READ MORE)

Al-Qaeda support structure dwindling - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed one known terrorist facilitator and detained 18 suspected terrorists during operations around the country to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq operations Monday and Tuesday. Coalition forces killed a known terrorist facilitator during an operation in Baghdad on Tuesday. When the force arrived at the target location, the targeted man came out and refused to follow the interpreter’s instructions to surrender. (READ MORE)

Wolfhounds Continue Their Search for Weapons - CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Cache search operations in the Taji Qada is an ongoing effort. This area, northwest of Baghdad, is dotted with occasional houses, farms, growing businesses, and vast amounts of barren land travelled by goat herders and the occasional terrorist. (READ MORE)

Soldiers Tour Adhamiyah Fish Market, Assess Needs, Find Solutions - BAGHDAD — Deep purple eggplant glisten in the sun while stacks of fresh watermelon rest on display safely under cover from the mid-day, 115-degree weather as Striker Brigade Soldiers walk the street admiring the produce and assessing needs of this popular Fish Market in the Suleikh neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, July 24. (READ MORE)

Iraqi Forces Show Self Sufficiency - CAMP VICTORY — This past June, Iraqi Army Soldiers in Taji recovered two broken down humvees on their own and restored them without any help from Coalition maintenance. “Probably the most exciting thing for me is I compare (today) to our partnership with the IA in 2006, and it’s night and day,” said Capt. Steve Chadwick. (READ MORE)

Iraqi Government Conducts National Literacy Program - CAMP VICTORY — Iraq is targeting more than 6 million illiterate adults through a national literacy campaign. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates that more than 60 percent of the adult population in Iraq cannot read or write. This was not always the case, U.N. officials said. (READ MORE)


Afghanistan:
Militants killed in Ghazni province - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (July 29, 2008) — Several militants were killed during a Coalition forces’ operation Monday in Ghazni province targeting a Taliban leader. Coalition forces searched compounds in Gairo District targeting a militant leader known to conduct foreign fighter operations in Ghazni and Paktika provinces. (READ MORE)

Militants detained in Khost province - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (July 29, 2008) — Three militants, including the target of the operation, were detained Monday during a Coalition forces’ operation to disrupt militant activities in Khost province. (READ MORE)

Web Reconnaissance for 07/30/2008

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)
Trade Talks Crumble in Feud Over Farm Aid - International talks aimed at ushering in a new era of free trade collapsed in Geneva yesterday during a bitter split between developed and developing countries over the future shape of global commerce. (READ MORE)

Sen. Stevens Indicted On 7 Corruption Counts - Alaska's Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, was indicted yesterday on seven charges of making false statements about more than $250,000 that corporate executives doled out to overhaul his Anchorage area house. (READ MORE)

McCain Charge Against Obama Lacks Evidence - For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true. (READ MORE)

U.S. Wary of Pakistani Appeal for More Cooperation - Bush administration officials have responded with skepticism to an appeal by visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani for increased intelligence cooperation, which he said would help his country attack militant groups and terrorist encampments near its border with Afghanistan. (READ MORE)

Chinese Officials Give Club District A Brusque Cleanup - BEIJING -- Ryan Horne loves living in China. He arrived in March from Los Angeles to manage the opening of a club in the heart of the city's night-life district. Drawn by the promise of wealthy investors and an ultra-creative founder, Horne set about trying to shape the "it" factor in Beijing... (READ MORE)

Rivalry to Taliban 'not welcome' - The Bush administration's senior official for South Asia said Tuesday that a reported buildup of the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance's forces in Afghanistan to counter the Taliban's expanding influence is "not welcome" and that "ethnic politics" should not impede the central government's efforts to unite the country. (READ MORE)

U.N. thermostat to be set higher - UNITED NATIONS Everyone complains about climate change, and the United Nations is finally doing something about it - on Friday, the temperature inside U.N. headquarters in New York will rise by 5 degrees. (READ MORE)

Farm tariffs sink world trade talks - For the fourth time in five years, global trade talks collapsed Tuesday, dealing what could prove to be a fatal blow to the nearly seven-year-old Doha round of negotiations. (READ MORE)

Campaign trail drains the Hill of staffers - After months of sitting on the sidelines and watching the presidential race unfold in Iowa, Florida and Colorado, Capitol Hill staffers are leaving for the campaign trail in droves. (READ MORE)

U.S. homelessness on decline - Some 1.6 million people were forced to use an emergency shelter or transitional housing at some point between 2006 and 2007, but the number of people who are chronically homeless dropped nearly 30 percent from 2005 to 2007, according to a report made public Tuesday. (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Austin Bay: Challenges of the Muslim World: Oil, Testosterone and War - Oil and unemployed testosterone don't mix, they collide -- with war the likely result. "Economics and demographics" lack the sizzle of oil and testosterone, which as eye-grabbers are an Oprah-notch below money and sex. But in the grand sense of geo-strategy and the intricate 21st century problems that produce wars, poverty and other forms of sustained misery, economics and demographics are the fire. Anyone looking for instant soundbites won't find them in William Cooper and Piyu Yue's "Challenges of the Muslim World, Present, Future, and Past" (Elsevier, 2008). Cooper is an economist at the University of Texas. A spry 94 years old, he's comfortable with detailed history as well as voluminous data. Yue works at the University of Texas' IC2 Institute. The book is not a political polemic -- it is penetrating scholarship addressing persistent, fundamental structural issues that defy polemics. (READ MORE)

Michelle Malkin: The Brangelina-fication of the Obamas - You couldn't pass a grocery store line this weekend without seeing the picture-perfect smiles of the Obama family. There were Barack Obama's young daughters (whose privacy their parents so sanctimoniously claim to want to protect) flashing their pearly whites on the cover of People magazine. Malia and Sasha competed for attention right next to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's toddler daughter, Shiloh, whose cherubic face was splashed on the cover of another celebrity tabloid. Next to them beamed basket-case starlet Lindsay Lohan and her new lesbian lover -- oh, and that formerly pregnant "man" who just gave birth to a baby girl. The Obamas blended seamlessly into this Hollyweird pop culture galaxy. The spread in People, which earlier this year fawned over a photo of the bare-chested Obama in his swimsuit, was supposed to be an "exclusive" first and last look at life at home with the Obamas. (READ MORE)

Walter E. Williams: Environmentalists' Hold on Congress - Let's face it. The average individual American has little or no clout with Congress and can be safely ignored. But it's a different story with groups such as Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy. When they speak, Congress listens. Unlike the average American, they are well organized, loaded with cash and well positioned to be a disobedient congressman's worse nightmare. Their political and economic success has been a near disaster for our nation. For several decades, environmentalists have managed to get Congress to keep most of our oil resources off-limits to exploration and drilling. They've managed to have the Congress enact onerous regulations that have made refinery construction impossible. Similarly, they've used the courts and Congress to completely stymie the construction of nuclear power plants. As a result, energy prices are at historical highs and threaten our economy and national security. (READ MORE)

John Stossel: How Many Wives Is Too Many? - "Texas authorities on Tuesday indicted the leader of a polygamous sect ... on charges of felony sexual assault on a minor, the first criminal charges to stem from a massive raid on the group's West Texas compound," The Los Angeles Times reported last week (http://tinyurl.com/6oenlz). The Associated Press and other media used similar words: "indicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs ... charges of felony sexual assault of a child." Straightforward reporting? In my "20/20" special "Sex in America", polygamy activist Mark Henkel said no, it's an ignorant distortion. "The media kept saying, 'Polygamist leader, polygamist leader,'" Henkel told me. "But the case actually involved incest and arranged marriage of a girl with her 19-year-old cousin. There wasn't anything [that] had to do with polygamy. [Jeffs] wasn't called an incest leader. He wasn't called an underage-marriage leader. He was called a polygamist leader." (READ MORE)

Brent Bozell III: Barack's No Reagan - Newsweek's love for Barack Obama knows no bounds. After Obama's speech in Berlin, Newsweek published a headline that suggests an editor who's spent six days drunk on a merry-go-round: "Obama's Reagan Moment." That deserves the Lloyd Bentsen retort: "I knew Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a friend of mine. Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan." The Newsweek piece sneered that while Obama and John Kennedy spoke to more than 100,000 people, Reagan spoke to a much smaller audience, "only about 20,000," and they were outnumbered by leftist protesters the night before. They recalled, "Even some of Reagan's aides were embarrassed by the 'tear down this wall' line, thinking it was too provocative or grandiose." Newsweek would concede only that "Reagan understood stagecraft," and communism's fall "made his words prescient." In other words, the Gipper was a showboat who got lucky. (READ MORE)

Mike S. Adams: The Al-Jazeera Constitution - "It is puzzling to the court that the promotion of tolerance would take the appearance of such intolerance as is contained in the religious materials distributed with the Safe Space program.” Federal Judge Owen Forrester writing on diversity at Georgia Tech. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) may have taken the place of The New York Times as both the most liberal and least credible paper in America. And Andrea Jones may well be the least professional reporter at the AJC. Some will recall Jones’ crass assertion that plaintiffs in the recent Sklar v. Clough federal case against Georgia Tech were suing for the right to be “intolerant.” When I called her out on this, she responded via email suggesting I lacked credibility by saying that I was just a “blogger.” This is significant because I have never “blogged” nor inhaled while doing so. (READ MORE)

Harry R. Jackson, Jr.: Are You Ready For $6.00 a Gallon Gas? - Two weeks ago, more than two-dozen civil rights, African-American, agriculture, senior citizen, and veteran advocacy groups came together to begin the STOP THE WAR ON THE POOR Campaign. We announced our support of legislation of any kind that will increase domestic energy supplies and decrease energy costs for our domestic poor. We especially like the Americans for American Energy Act (HR6384), which offers significant short-term and long-term solutions to our energy woes that amount to economic enslavement of the poor. The increase of African-American and senior groups speaking out on this issue is a new and unexpected twist in this debate. Evidently, it has made a lot of people nervous on Capitol Hill. This week a partisan political group, funded by radical green groups, is answering our call. (READ MORE)

Jon Sanders: Tell the Legislators: Low Taxes and Regulations Are Good for Growth - If there were a handbook produced for state lawmakers entitled "Economic Growth: How Best to Stop It Without Making Voters Think That's What You Want," it would promote high progressive tax rates to care for the poor and high regulations on business to protect people. There's no better way for states to rid themselves of the people responsible for the lion's share of state revenues, both directly through paying their taxes and indirectly through growing the state's economy. That is a lesson that resounds in a new study by the American Legislative Exchange Council written by Dr. Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore. In their study, "Rich States/Poor States: The ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index," Laffer (yes, the Dr. Laffer of Laffer Curve fame and Reagan's supply-side revolution) and Moore (economist and editorial board member of The Wall Street Journal)... (READ MORE)

Michael Medved: War on Middle Class Values, Not on Middle Class - Despite demagogic and alarmist claims that a relentless “War on the Middle Class” has left ordinary Americans pummeled and powerless, middle income people still manage to find enough money to secure most of life’s true necessities – like the grotesquely violent and anti-authoritarian video game Grand Theft Auto IV, which shattered all sales records in its first week of release. Despite a price tag of sixty dollars (more than ninety dollars in the special edition), and despite its release on April 29, 2008, at the very height of national concern over a potential recession, the game sold an astonishing 6 million units in its first week. By the end of 2008, at least 11 million Americans will have purchased GTA IV, placing the game in nearly one out of ten households in the land of the free. (READ MORE)

The Virtuous Republic: A Perfect Example of the Media’s Leftist Bias - We in Hell know that much of the mainstream media–an extension of the left, despises their country and make every effort to let that hatred be known. Though We are surprised the VOA published such a piece, it is a perfect example of a typical “America is evil” leftist journalism. First, the report has to include a statement from the Taliban. What the hell? Did we call Hitler after every skirmish in WWII and ask him for his take on events? The Taliban are our enemies. Remember 9/11? Remember they provided safe haven for al-Qaeda? Hello, they are our enemies, not Big Oil! Second, why is it that every story from Afghanistan has to include a statement that NATO forces killed “innocent” civilians? For the love of God, did this author check out the credentials of those who claim that civilians were killed? (READ MORE)

John Hawkins: John Edwards, The Democratic National Convention, & A Rielle Hunter Inspired Catch-22 - Since the National Enquirer caught the Silky Pony at a hotel room with his mistress, Rielle Hunter, the media landscape has been surreal. Even though Fox News has spoken with a security guard who has confirmed that Edwards was there, this huge story has been largely ignored by most of the mainstream press. In some cases, the Left has even gone to bizarre lengths to try to keep the story quiet. After a blogger at the LA Times wrote about the story, they ordered their bloggers not to discuss the story again. Even Wikipedia initially blocked any mentions of the story on John Edwards' page (As of today, they do have a small mention of the story). The reaction on the left side of the blogosphere, with a few exceptions, has been to either ignore the story or protest that it's not true....Which brings us to the Democratic National Convention next month. (READ MORE)

abu muqawama: Ackerman & Kilcullen hullabaloo - Here's some one-stop shopping for those of you who may be following the fall-out from Spencer Ackerman's story yesterday about the new inter-agency COIN manual,* wherein Spence includes a profanity-laden quote from one David Kilcullen regarding the stupidity of the Iraq war. This prompted Herr Doktor Kilcullen to post a clarification on SWJ: “Spencer Ackerman, in yesterday’s Washington Independent, claims I told him the Iraq war was ‘f*cking stupid.’ He did not seek to clear that quote with me, and I would not have approved it if he had. If he HAD sought a formal comment, I would have told him what I have said publicly before: in my view, the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was an extremely serious strategic error. But the task of the moment is not to cry over spilt milk, rather to help clean it up: a task in which the surge, the comprehensive counterinsurgency approach, and our troops on the ground are admirably succeeding.” (READ MORE)

This Ain't Hell: Gitmo’s poets - Debra Burlingame writes in the Wall Street Journal about Abdullah Saleh Al-Ajmi, a former Guantanamo detainee cum homicide bomber in Mosul last March. His poetry was included in the book “Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak,” (Iowa University Press, 2007) and read for a Guantanamo “teach-in” in 2006; “In his introductory remarks to the students, Mr. [Marc] Falkoff described Al-Ajmi and the other detainee poets as ‘gentle, thoughtful young men’ who, though frustrated and disillusioned, expressed an abiding hope in the future. ‘One thing you won’t hear is hatred,’ he said, ‘and the reason you won’t hear it is not because I edited it out, it’s because it’s not there in the poetry.’” Two years after the “teach-in”, that gentle, thoughtful young man drove about 10,000 pounds of explosives into an Iraqi army compound and detonated the truck killing 13 and wounding scores of others leaving a smoldering 25-foot crater where his “gentle, thoughtful” personage evaporated. (READ MORE)

Soccerdad: A passive aggressive national ethos - The other day I commented on a story from the Washington Post that Arab states were failing to fulfill their commitments to fund the Palestinian Authority. Since then a few other bloggers have written about the story as well as a related story in the Jerusalem Post. Boker Tov Boulder points out that by focusing on what wasn’t paid to the PA, the story misses the bigger picture: what’s been paid to the PA and gone for naught. In fact 3 weeks ago, we learned that $1 billion in international aid had been disbursed to the PA in 6 months. (This is something that Boker Tov Boulder followed up on.) “The international community has paid out nearly a billion dollars in direct aid to the Palestinians in six months, officials of the International Donors’ Conference for the Palestinian State said here late Monday, while hitting out at Israeli restrictions on movement by Palestinians.” (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: Bull, China, Shopping - Well, the 2008 Summer Games are drawing nearer, and it seems that everyone is getting into the spirit of celebrating the Olympics and their host, Beijing, China. Those of us who opposed awarding the Games to that city and nation from the outset are growing fewer and fewer -- but the evidence that we were right is growing. My reasons for opposing Beijing were twofold. First up, the Olympics are a "reward" for being a good member of the international community. Countries that have a brutal record for outward aggression and inward oppression are usually excluded from the honor. And on that front, China's record -- on both fronts -- is indisputable. Outward aggression? Talk to Tibet. Or Taiwan, formerly known as the Republic of China. Inward oppression? Try being a Christian there. (READ MORE)

Winds of Change: From Counterinsurgents to Peacekeepers - Associated Press Baghdad Bureau Chief Robert Reid and his chief military reporter Robert Burns published a dispatch from Iraq over the weekend that should have made banner headlines. “It's not the end of fighting,” they wrote. “It looks like the beginning of a perilous peace.” This is exactly right, but millions of Americans still have no idea. Coverage from Iraq has diminished as much as the casualty rates since General David Petraeus implemented an effective counterinsurgency strategy in early 2007. At least we’re finally seeing a media consensus emerge after a year and a half of looking at the data as though it were inkblots on a Rorschach. It’s nearly impossible to work in Iraq anymore and deny what has happened. Even so, this is no time to get recklessly drunk on victory and declare “mission accomplished.” Nor is this the time to bolt for the exits from an unpopular war. (READ MORE)

Orin Kerr: The War on Terror and Measuring the Threat - I've been enjoying the Opinio Juris blog debate on Ben Wittes's new book, Law and the Long War. I'm almost done with the book, which I have found a really excellent read: As with all of Wittes's work, it is thoughtful, balanced, and independent. But before posting some substantive response to the book, I wanted to flag a dynamic that I think is driving both the book and the blog responses to it: Assessments of the terrorist threat. My sense is that each person's assessment of the terrorist threat heavily influences where they come out on what measures the government should take in the war on terror. At bottom, everyone in this debate is a pragmatist. Everyone balances the values of advancing public safety by taking aggressive measures against the value of advancing civil liberties by rejecting those measures. (READ MORE)

Steve Schippert: Intelligence, Pakistani Whispers and 'Fighting The War For Ourselves' - Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani’s demands that the United States hand Pakistan intelligence and allow the Pakistanis to exclusively “do the job” themselves has been irking me all day and into this morning. Again, here’s what he said right after meeting with President Bush. “If the missile strike was proven to have been a US operation, it would be a violation of Pakistani sovereignty, he said. ‘Basically, Americans are a little impatient. Therefore in the future I think we’ll have more co-operation on the intelligence side and we’ll do the job ourselves,’ Mr Gilani said.” I was going spend significant time writing why this is a wholly untenable alternative and explain it in simple, plain terms. But there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. An August 2007 PrincipalAnalysis on precisely this - cause and (adverse) effect in sharing target intelligence with Pakistan - is precisely the round peg for today’s round hole presented by Prime Minister Gilani. (READ MORE)

ShrinkWrapped: The Youth Vote and Hubert Humphrey - In 1968, the counter-culture was flush with fervor, passion, and glamor. The youth of America were going to stop a war, end inequality, and bring peace, love, and happiness to all. The embodiment of the pacifist, anti-war position was Eugene McCarthy. He mounted such a successful challenge to Lyndon Johnson that Johnson decided not to seek re-election. Hubert Humphrey, a good man and a long time figure of great stature among liberal politicians (who had become invisible as LBJ's VP*) eventually took the Democratic nomination. Prior to his stint as LBJ's VP, Hubert Humphrey was known as an impassioned liberal who pressed a legislative agenda based on progressive ideas. His one failing as a nominee was that he could not bring himself to completely break with the policies of LBJ. He supported the war in Vietnam and tried to hedge by explaining how he would end the war and bring the troops back home. (READ MORE)

McQ: Obama wants a "peace dividend" - This was linked previously by Lance, but it deserves a post of its own. We’ve been through this before: “Barack Obama said Friday that persuading NATO allies to contribute more troops to Afghanistan could lead to U.S. troop cuts and help improve the U.S. economy, with reduced military expenditure being diverted into tax cuts to help middle class families.” As you see more and more specifics from this guy (see reparations post) the scarier he gets. We’re presently engaged in building up the military because we’ve found that our doctrine of being able to fight two mid sized wars simultaneously can’t be done with the military of the size it is today. Why? Because it puts too much stress on the force, doesn’t allow for the appropriate amount of downtime for training and can’t be sustained. All of those points were points the Democrats have been pounding for years. (READ MORE)

Dale Franks: Madness! Madness! - This election cycle is just stunning. I really am amazed at the level of sheer insanity being played out on the Left side of the political spectrum. Just scroll down on the current home page here at QandO. One idiot doesn’t want a bomber pilot as president. Another idiot wants to tax the top 50% extra to defray the costs of their global warming burden. South Central LA may have all new fast food joints banned, presumably because they’re keeping Whole Foods from opening up a combination market and organic tofu deli straddling Crip and Blood territories. All I can think of is that it’s because the Left is now positive they’ll sweep the election in November. "Finally, we’ll have a real progressive in the White House, not some half-Republican like Bill Clinton. And we’ll control the Senate! We’ll finally get to remake the country the way we always wanted, back when we were dope-smoking hippies at Berkeley in ’68!" (READ MORE)

Political Vindication: Liberals Reveal Their Problem With Democracy - The problem? Americans might get to vote on issues that the left has been ramming through the courts! John Fund of the Wall Street Journal has a wicked column unmasking the tactics of leftist who are opposed to Ward Connoly’s Civil Rights Initiative that seeks to “approve race-neutral government policies in public hiring, contracting and university admissions.” Here in California I worked for the campaign that ultimately passed, called the California Civil Rights Initiative. It was my first dip into the dirty pool of politics, and after two months of being spit at, called a racist and hollered down in my classrooms when I rose to defend it, I learned a bitter lesson - liberals don’t want to debate you, they want to beat the shit out of you. (READ MORE)

Missiles and stilettos: 54% Back Military Tribunals for Terrorists over U.S. Courts - Most Americans believe suspected terrorists should be tried by military tribunals rather than in U.S. courts, as the first such trial began this week at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. Seventy-one percent (71%) say the suspects should not be given the rights U.S. citizens have in court, while only 18% think they should, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national survey. While some politicians, foreign officials and non-government groups like Amnesty International argue that the Bush administration is acting outside of the law in its treatment of these terrorist suspects, just 30% of Americans believe they should have access to U.S. courts, as opposed to 54% who favor the special military trials. (READ MORE)

Neal Boortz: DESPERATE TO BE GREEN - The Democrats have their thongs so far up their politically correct behinds that they are unable to think rationally. They are drunk on OwlGore's kool-aid. Take this Democrat Convention coming up in Colorado. First it was the food. No fried food. Food must be organic or have a small carbon footprint. You get the point. Well now it looks like their entire scheme for offsetting their carbon footprint for the convention has completely failed. Eager to utilize their latest scheme – carbon offset programs – the Democrat Convention chose the eastern Colorado wind turbine as their offset investment. The only problem: It doesn't generate electricity. None. An investigation reveals that the turbine which was to begin producing electricity February 15th but it is incapable of producing its intended output. They found that the district's turbine has never produced marketable energy because of massive equipment malfunctions. (READ MORE)

Amy Proctor: Iraqi Official Visits Walter Reed, Thanks Troops, Praises Facility - Iraq ’s interior minister Jawad al-Bulani visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center and thanked U.S. servicemembers and their families for their sacrifices on behalf of his country. From the DOD: “Jawad al-Bulani told reporters that he wanted to convey his country’s ‘gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by these great warrior-soldiers, in the freeing of the Iraqi people and in helping us in Iraq to recover from tyranny and dictatorship.’ The senior Iraqi official also told reporters that he’d witnessed ‘the level of technical and medical sophistication’ that is being practiced at Walter Reed. Observations at Walter Reed will be employed ‘to help our own wounded and many, many victims of terrorism and violence in Iraq,’ Bulani said.” (READ MORE)

Allahpundit: The One: “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions”; Update: GOP launches “Audacity Watch” - Spaketh He Who Is to a choir of Democrats, “[T]his is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.” But wait, says Jake Tapper, rushing to the rescue. He didn’t mean it the way it sounds. He’s not claiming to be the incarnation of America’s “best traditions;” he’s merely claiming to be a blank screen on which the Andrew Sullivans and Doug Kmiecs of the world can project their fondest hopes and dreams — which is true enough, as even Hillary once acknowledged. Feel better now? All geared up for Commander-in-Chief Blank Screen? “His entire point of that riff was that the campaign is NOT about him,” says a House Democratic staffer. The Post “left out the important first half of the sentence which was something along the lines of ‘it has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. Its about America. I have just become a symbol.’” (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Will Congressional Dems back down on oil ban? - David Freddoso sees a showdown coming six weeks before the election in Congress — and he looks forward to it. The ban on drilling in the OCS and in shale formations expires on September 30th, and Congress usually extends these bans in the appropriations process. Freddoso expects Nancy Pelosi to remain obstinate in supporting the ban, and hopes Republicans in both the House and Senate rise to her challenge: “Democrats will likely propose a continuing resolution to extend funding for the government through the end of the calendar year without making major changes. This bill will certainly include a continuation of the drilling ban — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), a zealous opponent of offshore drilling since the 1980s, has resisted all attempts to change it.” (READ MORE)

Flopping Aces: “Settled science”? 31,072 American scientists just say no to AWG - The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine - an organization poo poo’ed by AGW proponents as insignificant, ties to “big oil”… the usual mantra - has released the results of their petition drive to American scientists. 31,072 of them who reject the assertation that global warming is a crisis, or that it is caused by human activity. The release of the list has managed to elude most MSM outlets, but can be found reported in Heartland Organization’s July 2008 newsletter, Environment & Climate News. Tho SourceWatch has a less than complimentary review of both the OISM and it’s head, Arthur Robinson, the petition has garnered the support of credible scholars. “The current list of 31,072 petition signers includes 9,021 PhD; 6,961 MS; 2,240 MD and DVM; and 12,850 BS or equivalent academic degrees. Most of the MD and DVM signers also have underlying degrees in basic science.” (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Blackwater follies - Remember that defense contractor that Obama blasted in the primaries? Its employees protected him in Afghanistan. And by protected, I mean, were willing to take a bullet for him. Toby Harnden of the London Daily Telegraph reported: “A tight-lipped Anne Tyrrell, spokeswoman for Blackwater, said she could neither confirm nor deny that the company had been involved in the visits by the senators to Afghanistan or Iraq. My request to Bill Burton, Obama’s national spokesman, for comment on the Bedard story - including whether the alleged quote or its sentiment was genuine - went unanswered. But a source familiar with Obama’s security arrangements told me that Blackwater, along with the Secret Service, did pull security for the three senators in Afghanistan, though not Iraq.” Harnden reminded readers of what Obama said in the winter and spring: (READ MORE)

Dadmanly: Kinds of Allegiance - Last week, Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama made a speech in Berlin, Germany. The Grand Revision on Iraq may be underway in earnest, but there were other revisions on display as well, when Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama gave a grand speech in Berlin. It is no doubt true that those who win wars get to write history, but it is just as true that just about anybody, from any political legacy, can attach themselves to a victory they did not foresee, in a struggle they did not support, for an objective they did not seek. This is just as true when speaking of the Cold War, as when speaking of our emerging victory in Iraq. Sen. Obama, presumptive Democratic Party nominee for President, hails from a political tradition and party that devalued and obstructed both. For many on the Left, the Cold War was an invention and a series of provocations; communism and socialism were appealing doctrines, marred only by unfortunate implementations. (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.