I haven’t read the thing, itself, but I have now read several accounts of Al Gore’s new book, Assault on Reason, wherein he wags fingers at people who watch TV (unless, of course, they’re watching him pimp his book) and the media (particularly those who don’t stick to reporting only his side, of the “manmade” global warming story) and - by all accounts - he trashes the Bush 43 administration from start to finish, enumerating all of Bush’s “lies” and mistakes."
"WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) led U.S. Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives in accepting a petition - the Appeal for Courage -- signed by more than 2,800 U.S. service members urging Congress to support the mission in Iraq and end calls for retreat. A full 60 percent of the petition signers have previously served or are now serving in Iraq ."
"SOMETIMES WHAT WE DON'T KNOW can indeed hurt us. This was the case in 2006, when reporters noticed significant fighting between Iraqi insurgent factions. This confused journalists and government analysts, but the prevailing attitude was that if the insurgents were fighting each other, at least they weren't fighting us.
It turned out that the group that bore the brunt of this violence would later develop into the Anbar Salvation Front, which has proved to be one of our most important local allies in Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, then the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), was trying to wipe out this fledgling movement. If analysts better understood that situation, timely U.S. intervention could have thwarted Zarqawi and allowed the Anbar Salvation Front to make a difference on the ground sooner.
Similarly, today a critically important debate is raging about whether the United States should set a timeframe for troop withdrawal. While most people seemingly have an opinion on the matter, it's difficult to figure out whether the situation is truly futile without understanding the various factions that we're fighting."
"A Syrian human rights activists was sentenced to 12 years in pri son Thursday for meeting with White House officials two years ago. The move signals that any dissent in the country will not be tolerated.
A Syrian court found Dr. Kamal a-Labwani guilty of 'communicating with a foreign country and inciting it to initiate aggression against Syria,' reports said."
"Fifteen years ago, the U.S. intelligence community judged that the People's Liberation Army of China was more than 20 years behind the West. In January, the PLA brought down a satellite with an ultra-sophisticated 'kinetic kill vehicle' weapon. Today, no one views China's nuclear or missile capabilities as anything other than cutting-edge."
"What a difference an election makes. Today the House of Representatives will debate whether global warming is so serious a threat to American national security that the Director of National Intelligence, normally busy with issues like al Qaeda, Iranian nuclear research, and North Korean missiles, should be ordered to put aside other projects to create a special National Intelligence Estimate on climate change. So far, majority Democrats have pushed the proposal through the House Intelligence Committee — on a party-line vote — and there is a good chance it will become part of the final intelligence authorization bill passed by Congress."
"Just recently, on April 30, the European Union began the latest round of nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna, home of Mohamed ElBaredei's IAEA. The pretext for the talks is a 130-nation gathering to discuss the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which addresses the conduct of nuclear states and the handling of the nuclear technology they master. But make no mistake, any and all nuclear talks begin and end with the Iranian nuclear crisis, and this gathering is no different. The talks are scheduled to last two weeks. Today, reports abound of an Iranian acceptance of a compromise during the talks, a compromise lacking in the Iranian nuclear posture since its clandestine nuclear program was publicly exposed in 2003. On the surface, this is a good development and welcomed news. But beyond the surface, nothing has changed. "
Every morning, representatives from a cluster of antiwar groups gather for a conference call with Democratic leadership staff members in the House and the Senate.
Shortly after, in a cramped meeting room here, they convene for a call with organizers across the country. They hash out plans for rallies. They sketch out talking points for “rapid response” news conferences. They discuss polls they have conducted in several dozen crucial Congressional districts and states across the country."
"His writings revealed a severely troubled young man. 'My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl!'"
"Everyone has the right to renounce past views. But not to make up that past. It is beyond brazen to think that one can get away with inventing not ancient history but what everyone saw and read with their own eyes just a few years ago. And yet sometimes brazenness works."
"From a low of 73 percent in Indonesia to a high of 92 percent in Egypt the Muslims believe that America's goal is 'to weaken and divide the Islamic world.' Fairly assuming that these four countries' populations represent worldwide Muslim views in Islamic countries, in other words, about 80 percent of the 1.4 billion Muslims or about a billion souls see America as hostile or an enemy to Islam."
My Granddaughter’s Granddaughter’s world.
My Grandmother way born in 1881. She was a tiny woman, barely reaching 5 feet tall. She seemed small standing next to her husband Bill, 6 feet two in the old family black and white photos. The only images of her with him are from the early 40’s. Both have that tough as nails look of the times - farmers, raising a large family with war about them. Their second war, having lived through the first. Neither was directly involved but their daughters Gerri and Madeline married pilots in WWII, Victor winning the DFC. Bill passed before the war ended, grandma moved into town. Another war –
And it happened so fast, those 125 years. Given this timeline, what will Adeline’s granddaughter’s world look like? The year would be around 2075. What would Adeline’s world look like if her great great grandmother’s world would have sat out WWI? What would it look like if D-Day casualties would have prompted the
The question for the Democrat party is this – what legacy are you going to leave Adeline’s granddaughter? Will she be a free woman or a slave of the veil? Will she live in an open and vibrant society or will she be little more than an Islamofacist’s chattel? Will she look back on history and be proud her ancestors stood against an evil enemy at the gate, or will she be subjugated because they opened the gate? Will her country be strong, free and growing, or a heap of nuclear slag?
As the Democrat party marches us gleefully towards defeat, I would ask that they look beyond 2008 to 2075 and into the eyes of my Adeline’s granddaughter. What fate are you bestowing on her in your reckless quest for power?
LEGISLATION passed by congressional Democrats last week would force US troops to abandon Iraq beginning Oct. 1. Though a veto was foreordained, the vote was great news for the jihadis in Iraq, their second such morale boost in a week. On April 19, Senate majority leader Harry Reid had run up a white flag, declaring that "this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything" -- music to the ears of Al Qaeda and its allies .
My first clash with Saudi culture came when, being driven around in a bulletproof jeep, I saw African women in black abayas tending to the rubbish bins outside restaurants, residences and other busy places.
“Why are there so many black cleaners on the streets?” I asked the driver. The driver laughed. “They’re not cleaners. They are scavengers; women who collect cardboard from all across Jeddah and then sell it. They also collect bottles, drink cans, bags.”
“You don’t find it objectionable that poor immigrant women work in such undignified and unhygienic conditions on the streets?”
“Believe me, there are worse jobs women can do.”
TEL AVIV – Democratic presidential hopefuls flashing their anti-war credentials last night at a national debate by stating they would immediately withdraw from Iraq, encouraged Palestinian terrorist leaders here, who labeled the debate a victory for Iraqi insurgents and "resistance movements" throughout the world.
The debate was widely covered today by the Palestinian and pan-Arab media.
"We see Hillary (Clinton) and other candidates are competing on who will withdraw from Iraq and who is guilty of supporting the Iraqi invasion. This is a moment of glory for the revolutionary movements in the Arab world in general and for the Iraqi resistance movement specifically," said Abu Jihad, one of the overall leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization.
I think democrats will do good if they will withdraw as soon as they are in power," he said.
No Results in DamascusShort answer - nope, things have gotten worse, not better.
Having finished hosting U.S. politicians, Syria's dictator has returned to jailing dissidents and sponsoring terrorism.
Friday, April 27, 2007; Page A22 Editorial, Washington Post
THE CONGRESSIONAL leaders who visited Damascus this month to meet Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad gave a practical test to the oft-stated theory that "engaging" his regime is more likely to produce results than the Bush administration's policy of isolating it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was particularly unstinting in her goodwill, declaring that she had come to see Mr. Assad "in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace." In a statement, her delegation reported that it had talked to Mr. Assad about stopping the flow of foreign terrorists to Iraq and about obtaining the release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers. It also said it had "conveyed our strong interest in the cases of [Syrian] democracy activists," such as imprisoned human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni.
Three weeks have passed, so it's fair to ask: Has there been any positive change in Syrian behavior -- any return gesture of goodwill, however slight?
The Democratic Debate: What, Us Weak on Defense?
Two of the three frontrunners stumble on a very basic question.
By Byron York
During the debate, moderator Brian Williams of NBC News brought up Giuliani’s comment, and the candidates quickly pronounced it a “myth.” But Williams then turned to Sen. Barack Obama, second in the polls but gaining fast on the frontrunner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. “If, God forbid, a thousand times, while we were gathered here tonight, we learned that two American cities had been hit simultaneously by terrorists,” Williams said, “and we further learned beyond the shadow of a doubt it had been the work of al Qaeda, how would you change the U.S. military stance overseas as a result?”
The question was specifically focused on a military response, but Obama didn’t talk about the military, or any use of force at all. “Well, first thing we’d have to do is make sure that we’ve got an effective emergency response, something that this administration failed to do when we had a hurricane in New Orleans,” Obama said. “And I think that we have to review how we operate in the event of not only a natural disaster, but also a terrorist attack.”
“The second thing,” Obama continued, “is to make sure that we’ve got good intelligence, A, to find out that we don’t have other threats and attacks potentially out there; and B, to find out do we have any intelligence on who might have carried it out so that we can take potentially some action to dismantle that network.”
One Choice in Iraq
By Joe Lieberman
Thursday, April 26, 2007; Page A29
Last week a series of coordinated suicide bombings killed more than 170 people. The victims were not soldiers or government officials but civilians -- innocent men, women and children indiscriminately murdered on their way home from work and school.
If such an atrocity had been perpetrated in the United States, Europe or Israel, our response would surely have been anger at the fanatics responsible and resolve not to surrender to their barbarism.
Unfortunately, because this slaughter took place in Baghdad, the carnage was seized upon as the latest talking point by advocates of withdrawal here in Washington. Rather than condemning the attacks and the terrorists who committed them, critics trumpeted them as proof that Gen. David Petraeus's security strategy has failed and that the war is "lost."
Imam Fouad ElBayly, president of the Johnstown Islamic Center, was among those who objected to Hirsi Ali's appearance.
"She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death," said ElBayly, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1976.
We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war. Senator Schumer has shown me numbers that are compelling and astounding.
--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, April 12.
Gen. David Petraeus is in Washington this week, where on Monday he briefed President Bush on the progress of the new military strategy in Iraq. Today he will give similar briefings on Capitol Hill, but maybe he should save his breath. As fellow four-star Harry Reid recently informed America, the war Gen. Petraeus is fighting and trying to win is already "lost."
Mr. Reid has since tried to "clarify" that remark, and in a speech Monday he laid out his own strategy for Iraq. But perhaps we ought to be grateful for his earlier candor in laying out the strategic judgment--and nakedly political rationale--that underlies the latest Congressional bid to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq starting this fall. By doing so, he and the Democrats are taking ownership of whatever ugly outcome follows a U.S. defeat in Iraq.
