June 8, 2007

Web Reconnaissance for 06/08/2007

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.


In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Filibuster Spoils 'Bargain' - The immigration "grand bargain" imploded in the Senate last night under a Republican-led filibuster, with the bill under attack from both sides and collapsing of its own weight. (READ MORE)

Putin Backs Away From Missile Rhetoric - Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday toned down his opposition to a U.S. plan to install a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, saying that if the U.S. instead chose a site in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, he would not retarget miss (READ MORE)

Kennedy Alliance Costly to GOP Senators - An immigration alliance with Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts is damaging Arizona Sen. John McCain and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham among conservative Republicans. (READ MORE)

Immigration Overhaul Bill Stalls in Senate - A tenuous compromise to overhaul the nation's immigration laws collapsed last night when senators from both parties refused to cut off debate and move to a final vote, handing the unlikely alliance of Democratic leaders and President Bush a setback on a major domestic priority. (READ MORE)

Nominee to Coordinate War Offers Grim Forecast on Iraq - President Bush's nominee to be war czar said yesterday that conditions in Iraq have not improved significantly despite the influx of U.S. troops in recent months and predicted that, absent major political reform, violence will continue to rage over the next year. (READ MORE)

Putin Offers to Join Missile Shield Effort - After days of escalating rhetoric about missile defense, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise offer to President Bush on Thursday, proposing that Russia join with the United States and some of its European allies to operate a shield intended against missile... (READ MORE)

Passport Rules to Be Suspended - The Bush administration is poised to suspend a major post-Sept. 11 security initiative in response to increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules. (READ MORE)


From the Front:
Matt Sanchez: Operation Alljah “Sometime after 0200 Operation Alljah began in a middle-class neighborhood in northern Fallujah. The Marines of the 2nd Battalion 6th Marines occupied a police precinct and began a swarm or strategic blocking off of the streets, in order to control access both in and out of the neighborhood. That morning, by the time I arrived with the 5/10, a civil affairs unit out of Camp Lejeune, the 2/6 were firmly ensconced in the east side of the concrete precinct, the 5/10 took the west and the Iraqi Police seemed to have everything in control.” (READ MORE)

Chris Muir: Seeing “FOB Marez, Mosul, Iraq - One of the Many Stomping Grounds of Michael Yon. 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division: the people here definitely make up for the weather. It is somewhat odd to be addressed as ‘Sir’, and everyone is polite. I wanted to come here, primarily after reading Michael’s dispatches, to see if I could get some background for my character Zed, an ex-military guy, for my comic strip www.daybydaycartoon.com. Want to know how soldiers feel on the front, what they think there? Well…read Yon.” (READ MORE)

Jack Army: IP Station Visit “Not every village or town has an Iraqi Police (IP) Station. In many cases, a larger town is responsible for the surrounding villages and the IP in that larger town will patrol the villages as well. We make a point of visiting the IP stations and providing whatever assistance we can. Sometimes, it is something tangible like weapons and equipment for the officers, money for normal operating costs or materials for protecting the IP officers and their station. Many times it is intangible such as guidance on how to run a patrol schedule, how to properly store weapons and maintain an armory, or how to set up an investigation unit and conduct proper criminal investigations.” (READ MORE)

Desert Flier: Meet Suhad “After two surgeries to repair her liver, diaphragm, and stomach, Suhad finally made it back to Charlie Medical last night. She is the girl that was accidentally shot with an AK-47 a few days ago. Her surgical incisions are healing well, and I found her this morning eating breakfast with her brother, Towad, in patient hold. She had follow-up surgery the day after I flew her to Al Asad, and quickly recovered. Within days, she is ready to be united with family.” (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Fouad Ajami: Fallen Soldier “Mr. President, some weeks ago, I wrote a letter of appeal, a character reference, to Judge Reggie B. Walton, urging leniency for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Scooter, I said, has seen the undoing of his world, but he comes before a ‘just court in a just and decent country.’ I was joined by men and women of greater acclaim in our public life, but the petitions were in vain. Now the legal process has played out, Judge Walton has issued a harsh prison term of 30 months, and what will rescue this honorable man is the power of pardon that is exclusively yours.” (READ MORE)

Kimberly A. Strassel: Bush 1, Greens 0 “Just call him George W. Bush, star international diplomat. Don't snicker, don't spit out your coffee. Instead, read over the final document on climate change released yesterday by the Group of Eight. Yes, it's a major shift in how the world will address the supposed threat of global warming. It's also largely the vision put forth years ago by none other than George W. Bush--that international cowboy--even if few European politicians will admit it.” (READ MORE)

Dimitri Cavalli: A Liberal Mix of Religion and Politics “In a recent issue of the Rhode Island Catholic, a diocesan newspaper, Bishop Thomas Tobin condemned Rudy Giuliani's position on abortion: ‘As Catholics, we are called, indeed required, to be pro-life, to cherish and protect human life as a precious gift of God from the moment of conception until the time of natural death. As a leader, as a public official, Rudy Giuliani has a special obligation in that regard.’ The issue of how the Catholic hierarchy in the U.S. should deal with the problem of pro-choice Catholic politicians came up last during the 2004 presidential election. Some bishops warned Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, that he should not take Communion in their dioceses because of his support for legalized abortion.” (READ MORE)

Collin Levy: It's Not Easy Pleasing Greens - Do environmentalists oppose pollution or capitalism? “If you want to understand something about the changing nature of environmental politics, have a look at a group of New Jersey nuns. The Sisters of St. Dominic, who generate their own solar energy to reduce their carbon footprint, also own stock in ExxonMobil. In May, they led a shareholder movement to require the global oil giant to figure out how to reduce its own greenhouse impact by September. The story didn't get much attention in the nuns' backyard. But 3,000 miles away in northern California, it created a mini-firestorm. Here's why: Stanford University, which receives a $100 million research endowment for its Global Climate and Energy Project from Exxon to examine climate change--and owns stock in the company--also has a policy of supporting environmentally friendly initiatives.” (READ MORE)

Charles Krauthammer: The Endless Campaign “In Britain, Canada and other civilized places, national elections are often called, run and concluded within six weeks. In America, election campaigns go on forever. It used to be one year, now it's two. No one planned this, but like other evolutionary artifacts (the Founders applied intelligent design to the general makeup of the U.S. government but never foresaw formal political parties, let alone the endless campaign), this crazy improvisation embodies a certain wisdom.” (READ MORE)

Rebecca Hagelin: The Immigration Giveaway “Nobody ever said that being a parent is easy. But do politicians have to make it harder? Here I’ve been all these years, teaching my three children that you can’t get something for nothing. If you want something, you have to work for it. Now along comes the Senate to debate an immigration bill that would undermine that very principle.” (READ MORE)

Mike Gallagher: Hitchens - No Way “This creep makes Michael Moore look like a dignified elder statesman, and yet there seems to be no shortage of conservative radio and TV hosts who enjoy giving him a platform to spew his foul venom.” (READ MORE)

John Hawkins: Proving The 9/11 Conspiracists Wrong “According to a poll by Rasmussen, 22% of all Americans and 35% of all Democrats believe that George Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.” (READ MORE)

Oliver North: Hitting the Jackpot in the War on Terror “It was one of the largest payouts ever in the State Department's Rewards for Justice program: $10 million to a handful of brave Filipinos who had the fortitude to stand up to terror.” (READ MORE)

David Limbaugh: The Dem Presidential Candidates' Sojourn to Faithland “You've got to hand it to Democrats. They are bountiful in chutzpah and relentless in trying to expand their tent. With the second-class treatment they routinely mete out to Christian political activists you'd think they'd be more discreet about proselytizing Christians on the virtues of liberalism. Think again.” (READ MORE)

Burt Prelutsky: First, Kill All the Judges “Recently, I was on a panel addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition here in the San Fernando Valley. The others on the dais were screenwriter Roger Simon, comedian Evan Sayet and in the role of moderator, radio talk show host Mark Isler. We discussed a gamut of issues, including what we panelists would do if we were president.” (READ MORE)

Fred Thompson: The New Hostages “Kidnapping and hostage-taking have been the hallmark of the Iranian regime since it came into power. Unfortunately, it has never paid a serious price for the tactic.” (READ MORE)

Bill Roggio: Targeting the Iranian "Secret Cells" “Since the end of April, Multinational Forces Iraq has released a multitude of press releases noting the capture or killing of members described as belonging to ‘a secret cell terrorist network known for its use of explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, as well as facilitating the transport of weapons and EFPs from Iran to Iraq, and bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.’ Coalition and Iraqi forces killed 25 members of this network and captured 68 since April 27, 2007. These are Shia terrorists which are trained, armed, funded and directed by Iran's Qods Force, and have connections to Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army.” (READ MORE)

Don Surber: The Fred Phenomenon “Bloggers explain the Fred Thompson phenomenon as a creature of the Internet. This self-reference is like an old newspaper publisher claiming to be a Kingmaker. But while Thompson uses new media, so does Ron Paul. Thompson has something to say that is worth hearing.” (READ MORE)

Cassandra: Friendly Fire: A Plea For Self Restraint “It is with a certain amount of trepidation that I type these words. For several months now I have been watching developments in the Milblogging community which concern me greatly, yet I have chosen to say nothing. But to remain silent any longer violates every principle I hold dear. We are engaged in what many of us see as the defining struggle of our generation, a fight between a culture trapped in the Middle Ages and one headed for the stars; between one that believes in democratic governance and one that sees no possible truce between democracy and Islam, sending suicide bombers to achieve by force what they cannot by persuasion.” (READ MORE)

ROFASix: Pork Barrel Patronage “It used to be in America that if a company invented a better mousetrap, the world would beat a path to their door ... or so the story went. Today though, it's not quite that way. Invent the better mouse trap and the government will buy it ... provided you have greased the skids with your local politician. When I wrote Mo' Pork in 2008 Defense Bill I focused on the biggest and smallest of the $7.6 billion added to the bill via 447 Congressional earmarks. This story provides more details, particularly on the ‘return on investment’, companies get for their campaign contributions to members of the House of Representatives.” (READ MORE)

Right Wing Nut House: The Right Lessons to Learn from Vietnam “Peter Rodman, one of the architects of our military and political policy in Iraq and William Shawcross, liberal hawk now branded traitor by the left for his support of the Iraq War, have written what I believe to be an extremely important Op-Ed in the New York Times on why walking away in defeat from Iraq would be an unmitigated disaster: ‘SOME opponents of the Iraq war are toying with the idea of American defeat. A number of them are simply predicting it, while others advocate measures that would make it more likely. Lending intellectual respectability to all this is an argument that takes a strange comfort from the outcome of the Vietnam War. The defeat of the American enterprise in Indochina, it is said, turned out not to be as bad as expected. The United States recovered, and no lasting price was paid.’” (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: The Next Children's Crusade “In the thirteenth century, the fabled (and almost certainly mythical) Children's Crusade set out to bring peace to the Holy Land. According to the legend, a young boy proselytized throughout central Europe that Jesus had told him in a vision that an army of pure children could liberate Jerusalem just by showing up, and that the waters of the Mediterranean would part to greet them when they arrived in Italy. They set out in boats instead, sail to Tunisia -- where they all get sold into slavery and are never heard from again, even in legend. One might think that anyone relying on this kind of strategy 800 years later would automatically discredit himself as a leader. However, John Edwards thinks this is a better way to fight terror than actually fighting terror:” (READ MORE)

Dafydd: Hillary's Cloture of Corruption “In an audacious move brazen even by Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-Carpetbag, 95%) standards, she has appointed Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL, 95%) one of her two national presidential campaign co-chairs for Florida. Alcee Hastings was one of only six federal judges ever to be impeached and removed from office; he was impeached in the House of Representatives and convicted in the United States Senate on charges of corruption and perjury: soliciting a $150,000 bribe to give a lenient sentence – and return the assets -- to convicted gangsters Frank and Tony Romano, who were found guilty by a jury of looting a Teamsters pension fund.” (READ MORE)

Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.

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