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)
U.S. Lifts Embargo To Help Abbas - The United States yesterday lifted its embargo on direct aid to the Palestinian government, joining the European Union and other countries in a swift demonstration of support for embattled President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against the anti-Israeli militant group Hamas. (READ MORE)
'Signing Statements' Study Finds Administration Has Ignored Laws - President Bush has asserted that he is not necessarily bound by the bills he signs into law, and yesterday a congressional study found multiple examples in which the administration has not complied with the requirements of the new statutes. (READ MORE)
Military Psychiatric-Care Overhaul Urged - Top officials in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill said yesterday that the federal government must move quickly to revamp the nation's system for identifying and caring for military personnel with the invisible wounds of mental illness. (READ MORE)
Administration Struggles With Interrogation Specifics - Eight months after President Bush signed a bill authorizing the CIA to resume using "enhanced interrogation techniques" on terrorism suspects, the administration has been unable to agree on what constitutes "humiliating and degrading treatment" of detainees. (READ MORE)
U.S. Lifts Palestinian Embargo - The Bush administration yesterday lifted economic sanctions and a diplomatic embargo against the Palestinian Authority after its expulsion of the Islamist group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip last week. (READ MORE)
Democrats Mull Dividing House Immigration Bill - House Democrats say they may break the immigration issue up into a series of smaller bills that would put off the tougher parts and allow others to pass, such as border security, and high-tech and agriculture worker programs that have clear support. (READ MORE)
Sir Salman Slammed - Pakistan yesterday condemned Britain's award of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie, and a Cabinet minister said the honor provided a justification for suicide attacks. (READ MORE)
Obama Blames Staff for Memo - Sen. Barack Obama yesterday blamed his campaign staff for crafting an opposition research document aimed at rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a memo that prompted accusations he is practicing the kind of negative campaigning he regularly assails. (READ MORE)
Illegals Light Border Fires to Sidetrack U.S. Agents - U.S. Border Patrol agents seeking to secure the nation's border in some of the country's most pristine national forests are being targeted by illegal aliens, who are using intentionally set fires to burn agents out of observation posts and patrol routes. (READ MORE)
U.N. Council Halts Permanent Probes of Cuba, Belarus - The U.N. Human Rights Council yesterday ended permanent investigations of Cuba and Belarus as terms expired for nearly one-third of its 47 member nations. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
The Online Chaplin: Thank You “Dear Friends, My duty station will be changing soon. I want to thank all of the things you have sent in the past months to help take care of soldiers. When I know the name of my replacement I will post and give you the name and address. Until then God bless.” (READ MORE)
Michael Yon: Be Not Afraid “Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle. By the time these words are released, we will be in combat. Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope. Even now—the battle has already begun for some—practically no news about it is flowing home. I’ve known of the secret plans for about a month, but have remained silent.” (READ MORE)
Jack Army: The Value of Life “One day last week, I spent the day watching a crane move huge concrete barriers around a building to better protect it for an Iraqi Army unit newly stationed there. My goodness, it was so freakin' hot. I literally sweated all day. Everything was soaked when I got back to the FOB that night. Everything. I sweated so much the outside of my IBA was wet from it. What struck me in the face like a shovel, though, wasn't the oppressive heat, rather it was a comment from a jundi (soldier) at that new IA outpost.” (READ MORE)
Matt Sanchez: Rinse and Repeat “As a media embed in the United States military, a big part of my job is to observe, but as I watched the members of the 96th Transportation Company out of San Antonio, Texas, work tirelessly in preparation for their mission, I got to thinking that something was missing. Something was definitely different between wartime Americans deployed overseas and peacetime Americans hunkered down in the United States. And then it struck me, like the game show contestant who beats his opponents to the buzzer, what was missing from the time I left the United States, only a week before, was the sense of despair, frustration and self-centered complaining. Someone tell me when the American public went from being the can-doers to the will-whiners?” (READ MORE)
Calvey in Iraq: The Iraqi Silent Majority "I wish all Americans could see and meet some of the very brave, freedom-loving Iraqis I have met. In the news, it seems like all you hear about are the ones causing trouble, or the ones with complaints. Everyone has complaints about their government. I have numerous complaints about our government, and when some of my complaints become moot, I can always find others. But if someone were to focus merely on my complaints about our government, they would be ignoring the love I have for America. To focus on the negative would be a one-sided view." (READ MORE)
My Desert Adventure: A religion of peace? "I will go out on a politically incorrect wing here and ask the question “is Islam a religion of peace?” I base that question on what I have seen—not what the talking heads on TV say. Some things that happen over here are simply unspeakable. Today, one of those things happened. Ideology, religion, and politics aside; all children are innocent and precious. They should be protected at all costs and never, ever targeted. To do otherwise in not only unholy, but it is inhuman." (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Dennis Prager: You're in a Bad Neighborhood and 10 Men Approach You . . . “A question I pose to atheists and others who argue that religion is irrelevant to moral behavior has been cited by Christopher Hitchens in his national best seller, ‘God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.’” (READ MORE)
Ashley Herzog: Gay Activists Show Their True Colors “Apparently, gay rights activists aren’t serious about their demand that government ‘stay out of the bedroom.’ Instead of advocating privacy for homosexuals, at least one gay man is making a career out of destroying it.” (READ MORE)
Bill Murchison: The Executive Pay Brouhaha “No one has the least idea how much money a corporate chief executive deserves to earn -- is that the word, "earn"? -- but if you don't hear a campaign issue starting to crackle and sizzle, you just aren't listening.” (READ MORE)
Matt Towery: Inside The Genarlow Wilson Case “Turn back to 1995. I was serving my last term in the Georgia House of Representatives. I introduced ‘The Child Protection Act of 1995.’ It created harsh penalties for the sexual abuse or other harmful neglect of children.” (READ MORE)
William Rusher: How Cynical Are Americans? “A recent national poll indicated that 35 percent of Democrats believe that President Bush knew in advance about Al Qaeda's attack on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001. What are we to think about this staggering statistic?” (READ MORE)
Cal Thomas: Two States of Destruction “The Bush administration's announced goal for Israel and the ‘Palestinian people’ has been two states, living side by side in peace. The administration is two-thirds there.” (READ MORE)
Patrick J. Buchanan: The Democracy Worshiper “Of the Bourbons, restored to the throne after the French Revolution, the guillotining of Louis XVI and the Napoleonic interlude, Talleyrand said, they had ‘learned nothing and forgotten nothing.’” (READ MORE)
Thomas Sowell: Unfinished Business “The disbarment of Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong should be just the first step in remedying the gross and cynical fraud of last year's ‘rape’ case against Duke University lacrosse players.” (READ MORE)
Bruce Bartlett: Synfuel Boondoggle “Back during World War II, the Allies were successful in largely cutting off Germany’s oil supply. To maintain their war effort, the Germans figured out how to make synthetic oil from coal. Later, the South Africans perfected the German technology in order to cope with international sanctions.” (READ MORE)
Karin Agness: CBS Adopts Victim Mentality “If a newly hired employee led his organization to a 20-year low in profits, Donald Trump’s famous phrase, ‘You’re Fired,’ would most certainly be invoked. Well, for most people. Apparently, this general rule doesn’t apply to women because the public is actually to blame.” (READ MORE)
Fred Thompson: Reading Harry Reid “Well, you've heard by now that Senate leader Harry Reid insulted one of this country's brightest military minds, Marine Corps General Peter Pace -- calling him ‘incompetent.’ Let me take a few moments to put this in context.” (READ MORE)
Rich Lowry: Tipping Toward Catastrophe “In the 16th and 17th centuries, the West was convulsed by religious wars that, in the words of historian Paul Johnson, ‘were without redeeming features and were destructive of the Christian faith itself, as well as human life and material civilization.’ In this period, ‘sensible and civilized men had to shout to make their voices heard above the winds of violence, cruelty and superstition.’” (READ MORE)
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Genie-Stuffers “Back when nuclear weaponry and deterrence strategy still received serious national deliberation, most sensible people recognized a basic reality: Once the technology to build nuclear weapons became widely available, there was no way to stuff ‘the nuclear genie back in the bottle.’” (READ MORE)
Donald L. Horowitz: Unifying Iraq “Many people seem to think that if the Iraq war was a mistake, it follows that we should undo the mistake and withdraw our forces--a questionable syllogism at best. Meanwhile, popular sentiment against the war has been so strong that Congress has been following, rather than leading, public opinion. It is time for a much more nuanced debate.” (READ MORE)
Bret Stephens: Persian Puzzles “‘Neo-Cons to plot Iran strategy amid Caribbean luxury.’ Thus did an Internet sleuth describe a conference convened late last month in the Bahamas by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies--a think tank so sinisterly right-wing that its board of advisers includes Donna Brazile and Chuck Schumer. Had our sleuth been at the conference, he might have been disappointed to find that nothing by way of bombing coordinates for the pending attack on Iran's nuclear installations were presented.” (READ MORE)
DJ Elliott and Bill Roggio: The Battle of the Belts “With the last U.S. combat brigade to hit the ground over the last two weeks as part of the surge, Multinational Forces Iraq has declared the beginning of “major combat operations” in the belts regions surrounding Baghdad. The Baghdad Belts, which included Eastern Anbar, northern Babil, and southern Salahadin and Diyala provinces, has long been a staging area for al Qaeda and insurgent operations into Baghdad, and a key part of the Baghdad Security Plan is denying these regions to the enemy.” (READ MORE)
Jay Tea: Mind over Matters “I've said on several occasions that I don't care for Media Matters For America or their unofficial in-house blogger, Oliver Willis. Their mission statement is to expose and oppose conservative bias in the media -- apparently, in hopes of protecting and preserving the overwhelming liberal media bias that they approve of. My irritation with Oliver is, as I've stated before, is largely motivated by jealousy. I don't envy his writing ability or traffic or readership (all of which I believe I have him thoroughly outclassed), but his employer.” (READ MORE)
Wide Awake Cafe: Those Who Stand “The United States Military is a special organization of men and women who share a camaraderie that many civilians have a very difficult time understanding. Who among typical work-a-day Americans could find the phrase, duty, honor, country anything more than just a phrase? It is so much more to those who are under arms. Soldiers know that they are part of something bigger. They understand that they are the guardians of our Republic. They serve under an ethos of loyalty, leadership and brotherly love. Especially in a time of war. Consider the words of Retired Col. Clark Welch, a highly decorated veteran, speaking at Fort Drum at a seminar in 2006:” (READ MORE)
ROFASix: MG Taguba - Run Out on a Rail over Abu Ghraib? “When the story of Abu Ghraib first hit the media I remember a quote from a young Marine who said, ‘Hey! These Army guys just lost the war for us.’ The jury is still out whether he was prescient or not, but it marked a watershed moment for US in Iraq. While the Army was still wrestling with how to respond to a growing insurgency and how to deal with the people of Iraq it marked for many the moment at which we went from liberators to occupiers and fueled the beginning of a rabid anti-American reaction. I don't want to minimize what happened at Abu Ghraib, but some perspective is in order.” (READ MORE)
Right Wing Nut House: George Who? “As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, it becomes more and more apparent that the GOP hopefuls are convinced that President George Bush suffers from some kind of highly contagious, debilitating disease. The way they seek to distance themselves from he and his policies would generally point to one of two things; either Bush has contracted some exotic malady or his poll numbers are so low that he has become the ‘Typhoid Larry’ of electoral politics:” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: F*** The Troops? “Over at MySpace, I've run across a group, with 402 members, called -- believe it or not -- F*** the Troops. I can't say that I admire their attitude, but I do admire their honesty. Liberals usually don't have the courage to write things like this, even though this is what most of them think...” (READ MORE)
Crazy Politico: Barack Odumba? “It seems that things aren't so good for Barack Obama today. First, the Chicago Sun Times has an article claiming that Obama had over $168,000 raised for him by indicted political bag man Tony Rezko since the mid 1990's. A few months back the Senator's campaign pegged the number as ‘between 50 and 60 thousand dollars’, and is sticking by that number, even though others are coming out and saying it was higher. Then, he got bombed by the press over a memo questioning Hillary Clinton's ties to companies in India, with the headline ‘Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)’.” (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Look who’s trading blood for oil “Senate Plurality Leader Harry Reid’s call to up the mandated car mileage could be the next amnesty battle. Studies show that traffic fatalities rise along with the miles per gallon, as smaller, lighter cars are less safe. The Washington Examiner said in an editorial today:” (READ MORE)
Jules Crittenden: Gaga over Gaza “The Christian Science Monitor sees the Hamas victory over Fatah and its isolation in Gaza as Israel’s problem. I’m not sure why. Whatever humanitarian crisis happens in Gaza is Hamas’ doing. Israel will allow aid in … presumeably provided Hamas doesn’t force the closure of the border crossing by shooting it up as someone did to, or by firing rockets into Israeli towns. Hamas is in a box.” (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Diyala's Turn “The US has achieved a significant level of success in Iraq's Anbar province in driving terrorists out. Tribal leaders have allied themselves with American forces and have even started a grassroots political force called the Awakening, acting to pursue al-Qaeda and other foreign Islamists from their territory. As a result, violence has dropped by a third in Anbar over the last four months, and now the US wants to take that show on the road -- to Diyala:” (READ MORE)
Chickenhawk Express: Our Soldiers Rescue Abused Children at Iraqi Orphanage “Our soldiers are without a doubt some of the most compassionate people in the world. It amazes me how in the middle of a war zone the US Military will drop everything to rescue children. It's rare to see it reported in the media that's why this story about our soldiers rescuing abused special needs children from an orphanage in Iraq over at CBS News brought tears to my eyes...” (READ MORE)
Dennis Lormel: Understanding and Disrupting Terrorist Financing “To achieve a meaningful and consistent impact in disrupting terrorist financing, there must be a better understanding of the multi-dimensional elements involved in the funding process. Understanding begins with training. This holds true for the government, business and financial sectors. Terrorist financing is usually discussed in a broad and generic context and therefore seldom understood. To truly understand terrorist financing it must be presented and assessed in specific terms. Terrorist financing training should focus on factors to include:” (READ MORE)
Dymphna: The Emergence of a Separate American Warrior Caste “It used to be that our military was expected to hold that place for us, while we at home held their places here intact. But that world is gone, destroyed mainly by the machinations of the elite and the press in the Vietnam slide to dishonor and despair. Dishonor on the part of civilians who failed to hold the places for those men engaged in a long and bitter war, and despair on the part of the military who watched helplessly as the elites turned victory into sour defeat — in the process leaving million of South Vietnamese to their horrific fate.” (READ MORE)
Scott Johnson: Perpetual fantasy “The decision by the governments of Israel and the United States to supoprt Mahmoud Abbas -- a peacemaker of the kind who still goes under his nom de guerre -- seems misguided to me. In a compelling column, Caroline Glick argues that lending support to Abbas is grounded in fantasy. Fouad Ajami also invokes the term "fantasy" in his New York Times op-ed column today. He also gets off a good aphorism: ‘The political maxim that people get the leaders they deserve must be reckoned too cruel to apply to the Palestinians.’” (READ MORE)
Kobayashi Maru: The Shifting Battle Lines of the Climate Change Debate “In reference to the ongoing global warming debate (if you can call it that), I wrote on Friday: ‘There's a point in some kinds of sporting events... where it becomes clear that the momentum has turned... The odds have shifted and the one playing rope-a-dope has finally come out swinging.’” (READ MORE)
Richard Landes: Six of One… Ajami, Cox and Forkum on Olso Logic “Sometimes, when I outline the horrendous contribution of Arab elites to the suffering of their own people, others object: ‘Oh yeah, but what about what “x” says (where x is a self-critical Jew who takes responsibility for what Israel has done to the Palestinians)?’ To which I often respond, ‘Where is the Arab x?’ Fouad Ajami, born to a Shiite family in Lebanon and professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins, represents the finest example of Arab self-criticism. Indeed, unlike the messianic pretensions of Jewish hyper-self-criticism, Ajami manages to articulate in astonishingly measured tones a sane but devastating indictment of the way the Arabs and the ‘progressive’ West have managed to enable the Palestinian to create their nightmare.” (READ MORE)
A Soldier's Mind: Our Common Struggle … The Quest For Freedom “CavMom sent me the link to this article and after reading it, I knew it was something that needed to be posted here at ASM. In this article, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki correctly compares Iraq’s struggle for freedom and independence, to the struggles that once faced our very own Nation in the 1800’s. Our forefather’s stuck by their guns and continued fighting for what they believed in … a free and democratic society. The path to freedom here in the United States, was a tough one, one fraught with setbacks. One that was full of struggle and difficult times for our fledgling nation, one that was paid for in blood and one that cost the lives of many patriots. But it was a battle that was worth fighting, and an ideal that was worth fighting for.” (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: Things Have Never Been So Bad "In a conversation with an older colleague who I respect and whose company I enjoy, he made an interesting remark which is worth contemplating. He is a confirmed New York Times liberal and has always assumed I share his politics; I have never felt it important to disabuse him of the notion as we rarely talk politics. He said that he was annoyed with a family member who is so concerned with the minutia of daily life. He said, 'we are killing each other all over the world; things have never been so bad.'" (READ MORE)
Pros and Cons: “The goals of the international human rights movement are really quite broad” "Well, yes, they are. Apparently, they include “freedom from want” as well a “freedom from fear (watch out horror-movie aficionados and other adrenaline junkies). Granted that the interviewee is remarkably fair and judicious in her language, but Jeepers! James Taranto demonstrates why such a broad goal set might prove problematical, as it allows such organizations to focus more on Guantanamo or poverty in America than on the following:" (READ MORE)
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