20 Questions the Media Will Not Ask Concerning Iraq

Along the Tracks

Seen on Instapundit

In Najaf: A Success Story

MY friends and family back in the states are frustrated because every time Najaf - the city in southern Iraq where my unit has been stationed - is in the news, the reports are of conflict between the U.S. forces and armed militias. To hear the media tell it, America has done nothing to improve the infrastructure or security, and the Iraqi public is volatile and seeking revenge.
This is not the Najaf I know. Here's the story lived by those who have worked hand-in-hand with the locals since the end of combat operations: the U.S. Marines.

New York Post Online Edition: postopinion

Where to find good news

DANIEL HENNINGER sez:

Some 64% of Americans stand firm in support of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq, according to The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll just out. That makes sense. But 51% now oppose Mr. Bush's request for $87 billion to rebuild Iraq. That makes sense, too. What evidence of progress in Iraq have the American people been given to sign another check?

If the people e-mailing and calling this office about Iraq at all mirror these poll numbers, they suggest that many Americans think the situation there can't be as bad as they are reading or seeing on TV but are confused about just what is going on there. Is Iraq as anarchic and homicidal as they've been given to believe the past 12 weeks? Or is something else happening in Iraq as well, something that would justify the moral and financial commitment the U.S. is making to win this war?

OpinionJournal - Wonder Land

Consumerism comes to Baghdad:

When Massoud Mazouri learned that the U.S.-led coalition had ousted Saddam Hussein from power on April 9, he hurried to Baghdad from his home in northern Iraq to set up an electronics business.

Now the 28-year-old Kurdish merchant is selling televisions and satellite receivers at a brisk pace to gadget-starved shoppers. It's among the first signs that Iraq's larger economy is coming to life.

Iraq's new finance minister, Kamil Mubdir al-Gailani, announced sweeping economic changes this week that will allow foreign ownership of companies in every industry except oil and other natural resources. The 25-member Iraqi Governing Council hopes that Iraq's 24 million people will be an attractive market and workforce for global businesses willing to invest in the country.

Influx of goods, cash puts Iraqis in buying mood Hoarded dollars, U.S.-paid wages go for once-unobtainable items

Lefties say the violence in Iraq is Iraqis railing against the occuptation. What do you think?

An explosion at a market outside Baghdad killed eight Iraqis and wounded another 13 Thursday, hours after a bomb damaged an NBC News office and a member of the U.S.-appointed government died from wounds received in an ambush five days ago.

The market in Baqubah, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, is believed to have been struck by a mortar, U.S. military spokesman Sgt. Danny Martin said.

Yahoo! News

Just the other day on my favorite forum, I was saying how we don't get to hear good military news from Iraq largely because broadcasting it would reveal our tactics. I think this is one of those stories: "U.S. military forces in Iraq (news - web sites) are holding 19 al Qaeda suspects among 248 foreign fighters captured there, the U.S. administrator of the troubled country said on Friday. "

Yahoo! News

No, I haven't disappeared

I've been recharging the batteries, doing work on the bike, (DAMN, but those parts are expensive!) and just taking a few days for myself. The g/f and I are heading out tomorrow for the Anacortes Oyster Run, which means I had to use up some vacation. But it'll be worth it.

But anyways, the news that ticked me off. The US is saying that the UN will have a larger role in reconstructing Iraq. My only question is "WHY?" The France and Germany led UN, filled with thugs and dictators, didn't do a DAMN THING for Iraq when Saddam ruled it with an iron fist. And lets not forget that it was the UN who allowed, through either their corruption or plain incompetance, Saddam's oil-for-food scheme which resulted in people starving while Saddam piled up US $100 bills. HALF A BILLION DOLLARS WORTH. The only role the UN should be playing is either a footmat for the new Iraqi government to wipe their feet on, or an ATM machine for the rest of us who actually did something about Saddam. If you want gross incompetance, negligence, corruption, brutality, mass murder, genocide, and appeasement, just let the UN run a country. Hey, it's worked great for Bosnia, hasn't it? There STILL isn't a self-supporting Bosnia yet, and the UN has been running that place for HOW MANY YEARS?! Allowing the UN to "play a larger role" is translated into "Allowing the UN to run a country for their own gain, while making the population more and more dependant on the UN, and forcing the USA to foot the bill for the entire thing." Why don't we skip the part where the UN wrecks that country, hmmmmm? If the USA had taken control of Bosnia, instead of playing the part of UN enforcers, we might not have troops still stationed there! Piss on the UN. I wouldn't trust them to wipe their own ass properly, much less rebuild a country.

And since I still have more saved up, I want one of those barking moonbats to answer a question. Just how do you think an organisation made up of thugs, dictators, and theocracies can properly rebuild a democratic system of government? A good HALF of the countries in the UN don't allow democracy in their own damn country! Why should we trust them in Iraq? Do you really think Iran wants a democracy right next to it? Why are we giving these criminals a chance to screw things up?

As far as I'm concerned, we can round up the UN, put them all into that pretty little building of theirs on the Hudson river, and implode it. The world would thank us later, trust me.

On the home front, Rep. Janklow has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. I got news for you, Janklow. Your drunk ass plowed your Caddilac into a motorcycle. Your drunk ass killed a man. YOU ARE GUILTY! And if I had my way, the family of that man should be able to attach battery cables to your shriveled little nutsack and watch you twitch for the next twenty years. You don't deserve to be in Congress, you deserve to be in jail. The people of South Dakota deserve someone better than a murdering lush to represent them, so go to hell. Go directly to hell, do not pass "Go", do not collect $200, your ass should belong to Bubbah right about now.

Or maybe I can put it this way: Janklow's decision to drive drunk caused a man to die. That man's family is going through hell right now. This wasn't a death that you could expect or prepare yourself for. Those are painfull enough. But to lose a member of your family, your son or your husband or your father, is like taking a sledgehammer to the chest. To lose him because some drunken fuckwit rammed a Caddy into him is even worse. What do you say when a little girl asks "Why did daddy die, Mommy?"

It's time for Janklow to twitch. Killing him is too merciful. Is that harsh? It is? Good. Because it's nothing compared to what that family is going through right now.

And last but not least, critics of the GOP are saying that the 'publicans haven't been forcefull enough. Gee, ya think? Allowing not one, not two, but THREE fully qualified judges to be fillibustered? Hell, Estrada had the backing of every judge in the country, but that wasn't good enough for the Donks, because he was a *gasp* conservative! Not only does this highlight the hipocricy inherant in the Donks, ("Yes, we support diversity, but only when those brown-skins stay on our plantation like they're supposed to!"), but it allowed the Donks to wrest a bit more control away from the Republicans. There should have been a damn vote. Make those fucking sacks of slime actually stand up a filibuster. I know that Teddy "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy has a big mouth, but I want to see him go two hours without a drink before I accept his little fillibuster. Make the bastards back it up. Because they CAN'T! But it never came to that, because the Republicans folded like a house of cards. They needed to show some backbone, and failed. So we now have to live with the choices of socialists, parasites, and communists because our elected officials didn't do their damn jobs.

Hell, lets just nuke Washington and start over. The Republicans aren't the party of the Right anymore, they're the party of "Lets be friends!" And that won't get this country anywhere but down.

Young, Liberal, American

This is a from a Yahoo! Group:

Come hear how the 10 Democratic candidates
will strengthen America and win The White House
as DEMOCRATIC AMERICA watches the debate
tonight, 9pm, at the McManus Democratic Club.

What will the General say?
How will the Doctor respond?
And can anyone out-cadence the Reverend?

Before and after the debate,
raise your thoughts and a pint
with fellow Lefties at Rudy's Bar,
the usual home of DEMOCRATIC AMERICA.
.
.
.
Tonight, think and drink liberally.

Yahoo! Groups : democraticamerica Messages : Message 60 of 60

Ah, the blissful splendors of ignorant youth...

The language in this decision by a judge in Hyperphrase Technologies, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation is pretty humorous.

Wacthers Council business for the week has been concluded. The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Approaching Iran by Spiced Sass, and The New Uncle Wiggle Wings by Dean's World. Find the full results here.

Got Ipecac?



Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat receives a framed portrait of
American peace activist Rachel Corrie from her parents Cindy and Craig Corrie
at Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah Thursday Sept. 25, 2003.

Corrie was run over and crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer on
March 16, 2003, while she was trying to stop it from tearing down a building
in the Rafah refugee camp, witnesses said. (AP Photo/Hussein Hussein, HO)

There's something intirguing over at Wesley Watch. Click carefully, as it may disturb you.

On a lighter note, the RIAA plans to begin visiting schools next month with a "stealing is bad" message illustrating the history of copyright law and the evils of online file sharing. The effort includes games like "Starving Artist," in which students pretend to be musicians whose work is downloaded free from the Internet, and a crossword puzzle called "Surfing for Trouble."

David Warren's latest piece begins with this:

President Bush's address to the General Assembly yesterday will not make sense, entirely, if the reader has fallen for the false media account of the sequence of events. The first thing to grasp is that the U.S. appeal for U.N. help in Iraq and Afghanistan is nothing new. It is the continuation of an appeal that began more than a year ago, when Mr. Bush last addressed the General Assembly.

and ends with this:

Iraq, and Afghanistan, now offer the world, and the Islamic region, an unprecedented opportunity to pursue good works -- to raise men up from squalour and slavery to prosperity and freedom. Through its courage and persistence, the Bush administration and the United States have created this opportunity. It is beyond the moral and intellectual capacity of much of the world to acknowledge this fact, but let them at least act in subconscious acknowledgement.

What is in between makes good sense: davidwarrenonline.com

A retired U.S. military intelligence officer says Iraqi defectors have made independent allegations that weapons are being stored in Iraq's mosquesweapons are being stored in Iraq's mosques, in which U.S. forces in Iraq are forbidden to search.

Know all of that boring dull bloodless news about Americans reshaping Iraq that Big Media ignores? Here's a very well-written piece:

Nowhere is the grass-roots push and pull of forging a postwar administration more apparent than in northwestern Iraq.

Here, the 18,000-strong 101st Airborne Division commanded by Maj. Gen. David Petraeus has taken the lead in nation building. It has been the first to train a wide range of new Iraqi forces including infantry, border patrols, and security guards. It has organized local elections in a majority of towns. To stimulate business, General Petraeus ordered the reopening of trade across the Syrian border and is facilitating the first major privatization deal outside Baghdad, a multi- million-dollar hotel contract.

The division has often acted in advance of the civilian-run occupation authority in Baghdad, which for months had virtually no presence in Iraq's 18 provinces.

"We've been a bit ahead of the power curve," Petraeus told the Monitor. Some within the US military worry, however, that as Baghdad asserts itself, it threatens to re-impose the top-down bureaucratic structure that stifled initiative under former president Saddam Hussein. Local officials in Mosul and other cities are also pressing for Baghdad to decentralize power and give them a greater say in national affairs.

In Iraq's northwest, an emerging model

Finding WMDs - how hard can it be?

This past April, as the war in Iraq came to its statue-toppling climax, an Iraqi businessman made some alarming discoveries about two houses in his neighborhood, Baghdad's posh Mansour district.

First, two of his children brought home a pair of Kalashnikov assault rifles they had taken from a villa near his house. Its rooms were full of guns, grenade launchers, and ammunition. It had been left open, the contents free for the taking.

Then the businessman and his family learned about another mystery villa, one that stored information: file cabinets, computers, heaps of reports. Starting on April 9 - the day Baghdad fell - men who were apparently Iraqi intelligence agents spent three days at the house. Neighbors wandered over to see them burning files, computer disks, and videotapes.

The guards stopped the businessman from purloining two videos as souvenirs, but one of his sons - an enterprising eight-year-old - managed to spirit a videotape, a half-dozen audiocassettes, and a fistful of photographic negatives out of the house. The audiocassettes were recordings of unremarkable international phone calls made to or from Iraq. The negatives depicted UN weapons inspectors at work.

Read more: The hunt for a WMD | csmonitor.com

New York Post Online Edition: SEEING THE FACTS CONVERTS A CRITIC

Connecting Iraq and Al Qaeda

What Liberal Media?

The following is from an AP account of last night's debate in California. The emboldening is mine.

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Democrat, came under fire for taking millions of dollars in Indian casino money. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was criticized for supporting a divisive ballot initiative nine years ago that would have prevented services for the children of illegal immigrants. State Sen. Tom McClintock was told he had the facts backward on the economy, and independent Arianna Huffington was hit for barely paying income taxes.

I'm not even with Bernard Goldberg anymore - this stuff is purposeful, clearly.

Yahoo! News - Calif. Debate Turns Into Shouting Match

More and more evidence is surfacing that proves the left's notion of doom and gloom, of Iraqi's hating America, is wishful thinking on their part and shows just how morbid they truly are. I'm not sure if this was already posted, but it shows just how wrong the left is. It just disgusts me when they pretend to care about the Iraqis. It is Bush hatred, plain and simple. An excerpt (bold added by me):

Evidence of the comparative gentleness of this war can be seen in our poll. Less than 30 percent of our sample of Iraqis knew or heard of anyone killed in the spring fighting. Meanwhile, fully half knew some family member, neighbor or friend who had been killed by Iraqi security forces during the years Saddam held power.

Perhaps the ultimate indication of how comfortable Iraqis are with America’s aims in their region came when we asked how long they would like to see American and British forces remain in their country: Six months? One year? Two years or more? Two-thirds of those with an opinion urged that the coalition troops should stick around for at least another year. We are making headway in a benighted part of the world. Hang in there, America.

More levity from the left

"My reaction was disgust because of the ignorance of some SMU students," said Houston, who is black. "They were arguing that affirmative action was solely based on race. It's not based on race. It's based on bringing a diverse community to a certain organization."

Affirmative Action has got to be the biggest misnomer ever...it would be more aptly named - Negative Reaction. At least we can rest in the knowledge that the African American college students have been thoroughly indoctrinated by the Jacksons and Sharptons of the world.

The CIA funded Ben Laden! Or not.

Everybody knows that, right? Uh...... not according to Bin Laden himself.

Sigh... another liberal lie exposed. This is getting almost tedious. Thanks to the Rott for the tip.

A compendium of polls from Iraq can be found here.

More about the other side

Syria was pretty strange and surprising in that we never had a SINGLE protest or harsh word or sideways glance-- very different from last year when we had protests at every show. I would watch the CNN reporters describing the Middle East and Iraq and think they must be living in an alternate universe-- which I expect is called the Al-Rashid Hotel Bar.

There simply was no hostility towards us AT ALL, compared to last year. I remember seeing Amanpour on CNN while I was in Aleppo, telling someone she was interviewing (maybe they were interviewing her, given her desire to throw in subjective statements of her own devising) that "The Iraqis just want the U.S. out of there Right Now!" This struck me as odd given that I had just spoken with a guy in the band I was travelling with's mom (an Iraqi) who had come that day from Baghdad, and had been in Erbil and Mosul, and who said that ALL the Iraqis-- while they grumble about things being better under Saddam-- have NO desire to see the US go.

Blogcritics.org: "NO desire to see the U.S. go"

The Other Side of Iraq

The point is, all this talk about the "Arab Street" (how do I get there again? Turn left at "Africa Street"?) is a useless generalization, reinforced by a bunch of journalists sitting around the Al-Rashid and Palestine Hotel bars, while they wait for their drivers to pick them up in air-conditioned SUVs for a day trip out to Fallujah or Ramadi. Is there a "White Street," an "Asian Street"? It's a ludicrous and vaguely racist concept to begin with.

I have spoken to loads of Iraqis, Syrians, Kuwaitis etc. and what I have seen is the definitive breakdown of "Arab Unity" as a generation of academics (the ones who taught me at least) knew it. As I mentioned in the last e-mail, the graffiti on the walls of Baghdad University is not "US Go Home"-- it's actually...."Palestinians Go Home. The Free Ride Is Over"!!! There is a sea change going on, right now, and CNN will be the last place to learn about it.

Remember that story early in the war about the Iraqis attacking an Al-Jazeera van and destroying it and wounding its crew? CNN barely covered it, but the Iraqis I have spoken to recently said they are sick and tired of the "old" Arab media (which strangely enough includes Al-Jazeera to them) reporting only the negatives and ignoring the progress they've made and the fact that for many, things are better...they see this as other Arabs trying to stir up trouble in "their" country. And they resent it.

They want Al-Jazeera and Manar out of there, and they want to get on rebuilding their country themselves, thank you very much.

Eric Olsen

General H. Hugh Shelton regarding weighs in regarding Our Man Wesley.

A new poll from an unnamed source says: Baghdad residents optimistic.

Found on Right-Thinking

Kazaa is suing Big Entertainment, asserting that the RIAA used pirated software to get onto the Kazaa network and then "violated the terms for using the network".

US or UN?

That's what Arnold Kling would like to ask the presidential candidates.

Do you believe that the rifts within the United Nations indicate moral obtuseness on the part of (a) the United States or (b) other members of the UN?

I think the ideolgocial lines could be split right down with that question.

Today, a consumer of news media could be forgiven for thinking that the United Nations passed a completely different resolution than what actually was passed prior to the war. You might think that the decision of whether or not to go to war was conditional on whether a complete and accurate description of Iraqi programs of weapons of mass destruction was supplied by the United States and Great Britain.

In fact, the critical resolution required Iraq to provide a complete and accurate account. They failed to comply. Other members of the UN, in their moral wisdom, said, "Never mind."

......

I am not Karl Rove. I want to see a vibrant democracy in this country. I would like to see the differences between my libertarian persuasion and neoconservatism contested. I can imagine an election where I weigh the answers to a number of questions when I make my choice. I can see two parties competing for my vote.

But the UN party is not one of them.

Yep.

Found via AlphaPatriot.

A goverment agency in India has blocked its citizens from accessing Yahoo! news groups, "causing havoc to India's flourishing IT industry".

I subscribe to a number of new groups, and it surely is the case that most of the people who pose questions are not named Tom, Dick, or Harry.

Help the Chief

I've you've been alive for more than six seconds, you probably know about Chief Wiggles and his toys for Iraqi kids plan. If you DON'T know about it, check your pulse (because you might be dead), and then get over there to help.

I'm not behind this just because it's a cute "Awwww, lets help out da little kiddies" type of thing. This is one heck of an opportunity to impress on the average Iraqi that Americans are friendly, affable, and generous, things that we want them to know before they get their country back completely. Think of it as bringing a bottle of wine over to your new neighbor who just moved in next door. "Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Dave, and I'd like to welcome you to the block!". Only this isn't the block, it's the world, and all the greedy, power-hungry assholes that inhabit it, who will take the Iraqi's for a ride the moment we leave the country. We need to let them know who their friends are, and I think this could go a long way towards doing that.

'Cause the damn *spit*french*spit* sure aren't going to do squat.

Because I want to

And because I need to keep up my reputation as a mean bastard, I'll re-post a few observations from Cold Fury.

So, Congress is complaining on how long Bush’s war is taking but consider this: It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation. It took less time to find evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records. (They conveniently appeared shortly after the statute of limitations had run out.) It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to storm the Medina Republican Guard than it took Teddy Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sunk at Chappaquiddick. It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida.

Chancellor who?

Chancellor who?

Some days, it's nice just to know you have friends.

Unplanned Parenthood – Unplanned Death

Strange Bedfellows

Just about the last place on Mother Earth I would have ever expected to find one of our blogs mentioned is on a flaming American Leftie hatchetblog like Monkey Media Report. But Wesley Clark has made widely divergent people allies, and so if you click the link below, then find the picture of the Eisenhower doll and click on it, you wind up at WesleyWatch.

Amazing. My face is turning red and I don't know if it is because I am flattered or embarrassed.

Monkey Media Report

JOIN THE CLUB

Barbra Streisand Says She's Bored by Her Own Songs (washingtonpost.com)

More fun and Joy!

I'm not a Bill O'Riley fan. I think he's overbearing, pompus, and at times preachy. But there's one thing that separates him from the rest of the Donk-schlocking dimwits that populate the news: He isn't afraid to piss you off.

So an executive member of the Dukakis/Bentsen campaign chimed in that she didn't see the big deal because all political parties are tax-empt; Democrats, Republicans, etc.

O Reilly responded that those were political parties. Moveon.org is not a political party, and their representation that they are merely a grassroots political organization belies the fact that they are a partisan mouthpiece for the liberal end of the Democratic party.

A fair point; one that even the biggest Moveon.org moonbats couldn't possibly even consider denying.

So she says "It's no different than all the right-wing organizations that exist only to destroy Democrats." I perked up at that, so did my wife. We were finally going to get some meat and potatoes.

Her point became the claim that there are right wing organizations who misrepresent their political activities just as much as Moveon.org, and who are not clearly right wing.

O'Reilly asked a question you would never consider hearing out of the mouth of a Brian Williams or Dan Blather: "Name one..."

Silence and blank stare.

Thank you Insignificant Thoughts, a misnomer if I've ever seen one.

Following up on Raging Dave's post about corruption and unions in Philadelphia politics, I am reminded of this story:

Adams was part a large Clinton protest and held a sign calling Bill Clinton a 'Liar, Pervert, a National Shame.' Teamsters wearing 'TEAMSTERS FOR CLINTON' t-shirts approached Adams. Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 115 boss John Morris reportedly 'marked' Adams for violence by placing his hat on Adams' head. Then several Teamsters kicked and punched Adams. He suffered two black eyes, bruises, and a concussion. The incident was videoed by TV news cameras.

National Legal and Policy Center -- Organized Labor Accountability Project

That's pretty much the way it went down. There was guy protesting against Clinton and he got attacked by union thugs.

More interesting was the next day, when Mayor Ed Rendell, now the Governor of Pennsylvania, had his PR guy comment in a press conference. When asked about the incident, Rendell's press secretary shrugged and said: "Disagreeing with the Teamsters can be bad for your health."

Hardy har har.

Time shows THE LEFTY BACKPEDAL REDEFINED thanks to Ted Kennedy

--Bold added by me--

Republicans were quick to pounce; House majority leader Tom DeLay accused Democrats of venting more "hateful rhetoric at President Bush than they ever did at Saddam Hussein." In fact, Kennedy's remarks may have been a case of frustration with the war overtaking the facts. While the CBO report does say it cannot account for how all the money being funneled into Iraq is being spent, it contains no reference to any unaccountable $1.5 billion. Nor is there any evidence that the funds are being used to lure foreign troops to Iraq. Asked on CNN whether he had proof to back up his $1.5 billion allegation, Kennedy hedged on the specifics and resorted to the broad brush.

This guy needs to take his pickled liver back to taxachusettes and try taking his foot out of his mouth

More liberal "tolerance"

Here's a question for you. If a republican mayor of a major US city had made remarks like "Jewish lawyers and Jewish architects." how long do you think he would last? What if that same mayor gave a no-bid, $1-million-a-year airport contract to his brother? And what if this same mayor, who is in a tight election race, had his supporters try to intimidate the opposing candidate? How long do you think that mayor would last? Not very long, right?

Amazing how things work if you're a Democrat though, isn't it?

And from the Department of "Meet Bubba, your new cell-mate", is the story of Rep. Janklow (R-SD). Guess what, Mr. Janklow. When you get tanked to the gills, and then get behind the wheel of your car and kill someone, it's just the same as if you pulled a gun and shot them. YOU made the decision to drive drunk. YOU made the choice to get behind the wheel. YOU could have avoided this crime. But you didn't. And now, someone is dead because of YOUR CHOICE.

I have no doubt that the justice system will find a way to avoid their duty, since drunk driving is punished slightly less than jaywalking in this country. I can't tell you the number of DUI's I've processed, only to see some asshatted judge reduce the sentance to "reckless driving". Misdemeanor, no jail time, thankyouforrapingthejusticesystemwithasandpapercondom your "Honor". This bastard got drunk and killed someone. Send him to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars, go rot in jail until your life ends. And then maybe, just MAYBE, you can experience the misery of a family who's life has been shattered because you wanted to have "just a few drinks" before you drove home.

This country needs to get serious with drunk drivers. A national case like this would make a good start.

Why the Left suddenly disdains liberation

One of the more ironic facets of contemporary politics in Europe and America is the left's rejection of liberation.

It's not entirely unexpected. The arch-left's concept of liberation always included government-enforced shackles on social and economic liberty. Still, the language of liberation and revolt against despots was a constant monolog from mouths like Gore Vidal and magazines like The Nation.

"Monolog" is the appropriate word. The arch-Left's "lib talk" exhibited a high degree of self-absorption, to include moral grandstanding and absolutist demands that smacked of the same narrow certitude hobbling all religious fundamentalists.

Conservative Lead Liberation of Iraq Unacceptable for Liberals - On Point Commentary by Austin Bay @ StrategyPage.com

I was reading come stuff over at Right Thinking when, and this is not untypical of that place, I found some good content in the comments. Here's some of it:

Jason Kallini:

It would be nice if we could all just snap our fingers and make the world a better place, but unfortunately, reality breaks in on us occasionally. Well, some of us.

My point exactly, Saudi is number one on my personal shit list. But GW just does not have the BALLS. Maybe Wesley Clark does, he did want to go the russians and they had nukes..

The president put his entire political career on the line to go after Afghanistan and Iraq, and he doesn't have the balls to go after SA? Maybe that's because it would have been stupid. SA can be brought around much more effectively with diplomacy. Once we get Iraq secure, and industry privatized and running there, Saudis won't have the corner on the ME oil market that they do right now. That lets the world put pressure on them. Since their king is not a mad tyrant like Saddam, that means he'll likely attempt reforms over chemical weapons.

We also had military bases in SA. I guess we should have declared war on them and let them kill all our soldiers stationed there. That would have been brilliant. Thankfully, our President has opted for removing our military presence, pulling lots more money away from the Saudis. Not a bad move.

SA has just signed an agreement to with Russia to try and crack down on terrorism. The crown prince is trying right now, according to MEMRI, to give women full and equal rights, including removal of the bhurka, driver's licenses, etc.

All these reform attempts, without a shot fired by us. God knows if they'll be successful, but they deserve a chance to try.

The US cannot feasably go after every single country on the planet and make them better. In fact, you are using the same idiotic argument that the libs have been screaming about for over a year now. Apparently, we need to reform the whole world, or nobody, or we're not doing it right.

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, and thankfully the president can see it even if you don't. So go ahead, vote for Clark instead. I'm sure that fuckwit will do a wonderful job as president. Maybe he can get rid of all of our smart weapons, our javelins . . . hell, any weapons that weren't around since he was a lieutenant, since he hates this "new" warfare that won us Iraq so quickly.

And sure, he has no stance on ANY other issue except that he doesn't like Bush. But he's rabid to start wars, so he must make a good president.

----------------------

Shark:

[[[ My point exactly, Saudi is number one on my personal shit list. But GW just does not have the BALLS. Maybe Wesley Clark does, he did want to go the russians and they had nukes.. ]]]

Enough of this fucking idiocy. The Kingdom is also #1 on my list, and I would love to see it vaporized via a nuke, but lets be real here. We (teeth gritted) have to deal with Saudi Arabia in a different way than we can deal with Iraq. We attack Saudi Arabia, the uprising in the arab street people always talk about would probably actually happen. Arabs would go nuts! Especially if Mecca or Medina took any accidental damage. Sorry, we can't risk it.

We can do what we're doing- slowly moving our troops out of Saudi, put political pressure on them, watch the new Iraq put pressure on them, and watch as Al Qaeda keeps making problems for them...

Amazing. Bush attacks, and he's a unilateral cowboy warmonger. Now you're mad because he's not attacking another country. Idiot. Iraq is NOT Saudi Arabia is NOT N. Korea and different methods for each.

----------------------

Christopher Kallini:

Then we attacked the WRONG country. Lets see, September 11th, Planned by Osama and El Quada (Suadi Arabia), perputrated by terrorists (the majority of whom were from Suadi Arabia), funded by Suadi Arabia...

If you can't see the strategic importance of turning Iraq into a stable, capitalist, representative republic (you know, something that has never before existed in the Middle East), then I really don't know what to say to you. The importance of Iraq to me is so blindingly obvious that I need sunglasses to look at a world map.

The Kallinis are pretty swift.

Found on Right-Thinking

Scratch a liberal, find a dictator

So says Kim, after reading this little article.

Fairness was the overriding concern for the folks marching to the barricades, but no one really knew how to define or achieve it. So we decided to set up a "fair trade soda stand" along the parade route on Saturday. We offered Coke, Sprite, and water to the hot and bothered activists. The catch was that they could choose from two options: the free trade and the fair trade price. The sign for the fair price (20 pesos) explained that the price included the true cost of the drink plus: health care, environmental protections, taxes and other welfareish provisions; while the free trade price (5 pesos) included only the true cost of the beverage.

All was going well, until.......

This drew the attention of the anarchist section of the parade. Unlike the Nirvana cheerleaders, these lads, toting spray paint and broom handles, didn’t seem too amused with our little beverage stand. They formed a human trade barrier by encircling our booth, holding hands, and glowering at us. At this point, we decided it best to leave rather than risk reprisal.

Kim's exact quote? "I've always stated that when you scratch a liberal, you find totalitarianism not far under the surface."

Yep. And like Kim, I would have stood there until the bastards forced me to move, in which case there would have been several of the anti-freedom bastards carried to the hospital. Don't be fooled by pretty words, folks. These "activists" and other assorted Leftists don't give a damn about freedom, being fair, or anything else. They want control over you, over your families, over your friends, and over your country. Single payer healthcare? Who do you think controls that? Not you! Welfare state? Who do you think controls that? NOT YOU! Gun control? Who do you think controls the guns? NOT YOU!

Modern American Liberalism is about taking away control from the common man. And it shows.

The left are all a'titter about the supposed backtracking that the White House is making when it states there is no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved in the events commonly referred to as "9/11".

Here's what Bill Hobbs says:

You'll note none of those articles provide any evidence that Bush was falsely tying Saddam to 9/11. All of these Left-wing sources recognized that Bush was proposing a pre-emptive war against Iraq, not a war in response to some alleged involvement by Iraq in the 9/11 attack.

By the way, the Bush Doctrine of the right of the U.S. to engage in pre-emptive war is contained in this document, titled The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, released in the fall of 2002. Chapter 5 of that document defends the policy of pre-emptive war, and does not mention Iraq nor state or imply a direct tie between Saddam and the 9/11 attack

And here is a LINK to a major policy address Bush gave in October 2002 outlining the case for war against Saddam's regime. Nowhere in the speech does Bush explicitly or implicitly tie Saddam to the 9/11 attack.

Go scope the rest of it out.

HobbsOnline A.M.

More about the press slant in Iraq:

Journalists are giving a slanted and unduly negative account of events in Iraq, a bipartisan congressional group that has just returned from a three-day House Armed Services Committee visit to assess stabilization efforts and the condition of U.S. troops said.

Lawmakers charged that reporters rarely stray from Baghdad and have a “police-blotter” mindset that results in terror attacks, deaths and injuries displacing accounts of progress in other areas.

The Hill.com

From a Canuck Friend

Who was rather upset about a comment he heard regarding Canadians and their apparent lack of humor. So he found these on the net and sent them to me. I'll do one a day, just for giggles.



Yep.

In the News Today

File this under the "What liberal media"? heading. MSNBC has this nifty piece about Bush's speech to the UN. The title? "Bush won’t offer Iraq concessions"

Say what? What concessions could we offer Iraq that we're not already giving? But as you read the piece you realise that we won't offer concessions to the UN. Hmmmmmm... What else can we find?

In an interview Sunday with Fox News scheduled to be broadcast Monday night Bush indicated that that he would not cede authority to the United Nations or agree to a quick transfer of power to get a new resolution, saying, “I’m not so sure we have to, for starters.”

That's because we DON'T have to hand over power to a corrupt group of power-hungry, lying, decietfull, hipocritical sacks of shit who just happen to occupy valuble space on the East River in NYC.

The New York Times also quoted unidentified officials familiar with Bush’s speech as saying Bush would not apologize for ordering the invasion of Iraq. Nor will he acknowledge any mistakes in planning for postwar security and reconstruction, the newspaper reported.

We shouldn't apologise for anything! We should have the UN apologising to US for allowing Saddam to flaunt international law for over a decade! Acknowledge mistakes? Tell me just how the quickest military victory of that scope in HISTORY with an unprecedented low level of civilian casualties constitutes a mistake?

It is not clear to what degree the U.S. stance will alienate countries such as France, Germany and Russia, which led the opposition to the war

What IS clear, however, is how little I give a shit about back-water, world power wannabe countries like France. That is to say, none. Speaking of the back-stabbing sacks of excretement, just when do the cheese eating surrender monkeys want us out of Iraq?

Chirac did not specify the timetable, but last week he said the handover should occur within “months, not years.”

Right, because with the USA in Iraq, france can't exploit the country for it's oil and rape the natives out of any kind of weath, power, or respect. France is a parasite that needs to be squished.

You want to see backbone? You want to see pride and determination? The soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, were informed that for the first time ever, they could stand down while Hurricane Isabel came through. The answer back was "Sir, no Sir!"

“Once you become a badgeholder, it’s like you’ll do whatever you have to do to guard the unknowns,” (SSG) Lanier said. “For one, it’s my job. And for two, that’s just how much respect I myself have for the unknowns. That’s just something we cherish.”

I wonder how many of the gutless wonders who populate Washington DC have ever braved a hurricane in order to perform their duty? Hooah, 3rd Infantry!

YES, YOU'RE NOT HALLUCINATING...THIS WAS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

Attackers Wound an Iraqi Official in a Baghdad Raid: "She said in the interview that she had admonished the French not to try to drive a wedge between the United States and the new Iraqi government by offering tempting plans for quick sovereignty.
'Don't think the Iraqis will ever forget what the Americans did in liberating them,' she said she told French officials, adding, 'we will not allow the Americans to fail.'"

And More Good News

Before the soldiers arrived, the school had broken or missing windows, dilapidated wooden doors, no curtains, broken desks, no heat or air conditioning, no running water and chalk boards sitting on the ground, West said.

That was inside the school. Outside, the courtyard was barren, with no playground or area for the children to have fun.

“There was literally nothing there,” West said.

The battalion used the funds to hire local workers to make the school someplace where children would enjoy learning.

The $45,000 repairs were completed in five weeklong phases, West said.

The phases involved installing new wiring, plumbing, a playground, air conditioning, and heat and having water pumped into the bathrooms. The workers also repainted walls, built brand new desks for the students and brought in six new computers.

101st gives kids chance to learn

Good News From Iraq

This may not be enough to convince some reporters progress is at hand. And, they keep reminding us -- Iraq isn’t Germany. Perhaps they should compare progress in the two countries:

= Establish a central bank – Germany three years; Iraq two months

= Standing up a police force – Germany two years; Iraq two months

= Selecting a new cabinet – Germany 14 months; Iraq four months

More: Commentary: Where’s fair and balanced news?

Bias in Media Coverage of Iraq

"And we do, but I'm afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded, the Blumbergs. Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with 'the rest of the story,' the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy."

ajc.com | Opinion | Falsely bleak reports reduce our chances of success in Iraq:

Found on Right-Thinking

In other techonews:

US PC users have banded together to protest against "deceptive advertising" of hard drive capacity by filling a lawsuit against the world's biggest computer manufacturers.

The Register

Email bandit makes mistake

So this lady decides whe is going to "phish" for suckers on AOL by creating a web page that accepts credit card information and then sending notices to AOL users saying "we could not charge your credit card in our last billing cycle - please update your information here...."

It's a typical kind of thing whose success makes P. T. Barnum look like an underestimator for the ages. Phishing is, as scams go, a fairly decent one.

So how did this lady wind up in handcuffs?

One of her addressees was an FBI agent specializing in computer fraud.

I almost feel sorry for her.

The Register

Found it!

Fruits of a Cowboy Presidency

Sequence of Events:

1. The President of the United States declares Saddam Hussein the United States' number one enemy.

2. Without consulting the United Nations, the President of the United States quickly launches a unilateral attack on Iraq.

3. The attack kills and injures civilians and enemy combatants alike.

4. The job is left undone.

5. Recruitment for groups who aim to target the United States rises dramatically.

Just what the Left predicted, right?

"This reason for attack is fabricated! It's all a tissue of lies, spun to distract Americans from the woes of their President! This attack will make us MORE vulnerable to terrorism - for every terrorist we kill, ten more will sign up. This unilateral action is illegal! Why rush? Let the inspectors do their work!"

Right?

Bush is the cowboy who has made things worse!

Right?

Wrong.

The date? 1998.

The Cowboy President? Bill Clinton.

The Mercury

Glenn Beck was talking this morning about how Saddam Hussein recruited guerillas to fight an occupation after 1998's Desert Fox operation. Does anyone have a link on that?

Looks like maybe Iraq gave resources to a suspect in the 1993 world Trade Center attack. You remember that attack, don't you? It's the one President Clinton responded to with a Grand Jury.

Things I wish I'd written

While surfing Kim du Toit's site, I found a quote that I wish I'd written. Kim wishes he'd written it as well.

"It's one thing for Donks (or anyone, for that matter) to put out disinfo for partisan political purposes, but when it becomes obvious that they really believe their own shit, it's time to worry. These loons, despite my best efforts to educate them, still see Bill Clinton's Lewinsky blow job as an isolated case of bad behavior, unfairly pounced on by evil Republicans who used it to impeach him. Absent from their equation are the 1992 goon squads sent out to threaten a legion of Bill's "Bimbo" victims into silence. Or several credible accusations of rape. Or his perjury during court proceedings. Or his involvement in Chinagate or, yes Watergate (and, no, the Starr report did not exonerate the Clintons from a crime that put everyone else involved into prison). Every major newspaper in the nation independently counted every Florida vote from the 2000 election, and not one could report a viable scenario that put Al Gore into the White House, but the fucktards still persist. Every major voting fraud uncovered in recent memory has been Democratic, yet they worry about it? We're talking seriously impaired fucktards, boys and girls."

Indeed. Kim also has a post about Britan's National Health Care system.

Ambulancemen refused to lift a 90-year-old war hero from the floor when he fell at his house in Cookham Dean, Berkshire. Air Marshal Sir Patrick Dunn, DFC, who weighs less than 10 stone, was left lying where he fell for an hour, according to his wife, in spite of his pleas for help

Lady Dunn, 92, said that the two paramedics who answered her 999 call claimed that "regulations" prevented them from lifting her husband until special equipment arrived. They agreed to lift him only when they were told by their control room that the ambulance carrying the equipment had been diverted to another emergency.

When you hear the Donks blather about a "single-payer system", hit them. Hard. And start asking questions. If a national healthcare system is so grand, why are Canadians flocking over into America to have surgeries? That's one that always makes them stutter. Check out the wait times for surgery in Canada, folks. I've dealt with one person who had to wait TWO FUCKING MONTHS for BREAST CANCER TREATMENT! TWO FUCKING MONTHS! My mother had breast cancer. It was the scariest part of my families life, but from discovery to surgery it was less than a month. Mamogram (which was inconclusive), biopsey (because the doctor didn't like the mamogram), lab results (showed cancer), and surgery (double masectomy), all in less than a month. If she had been Canadian, and waited two months for treatment, she might not be alive today. That's not just stupid, that's criminal.

Just remember. Frances national healthcare system killed HOW MANY elderly people this summer? The last number I heard was 15,000, but I have a feeling that's somewhat overblown.

Libertarian Samizdata has found the rarest of rare things: a politician he respects. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas gave a speech before the House of Representatives, urging congress to reject UN gun control.

Over the past decade, the UN has waged a campaign to undermine gun rights protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on members of the Security Council to “tackle” the proliferation and “easy availability” of small arms and light weapons. Just this June, the UN tried to “tackle” gun rights by sponsoring a “Week of Action Against Small Arms.” Of course, by small arms, the UN really means all privately owned firearms.

Secretary Annan is not the only globalist calling for international controls on firearms. For example, some world leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac, have called for a global tax on firearms. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council’s “Report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Small Arms” calls for a comprehensive program of worldwide gun control and praises the restrictive gun polices of Red China and France!

From my cold dead hands, you gun-grabbing dictators. Does that sound harsh? Does that send the Leftists into a finger-shaking tizzy? GOOD!

I would remind my colleagues that policies prohibiting the private ownership of firearms were strongly supported by tyrants such as Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung.

Hmmmmm, all people who the Donks either idolize, or try to emulate! Why am I not suprised!

I'll be back, raging a bit more later. Work calls.

sdrawkcaB

That's right, backwards. Upside-down. Topsy-turvy. What am I talking about?

My Mighty Mariners are sinking like a lead weight, but my Seahawks are 3-0. This isn't supposed to happen. The M's aren't supposed to get swept by the Rangers, and the Seahawks are supposed to flounder until mid-season, when it's too late to recover. They are NOT supposed to make a gritty, determined, "we are going to WIN" last minute drive to beat the Rams. I've been rooting for the Seahawks since 1984, and I cannot EVER remember a year that started 3-0. Hell, the last year we started 2-0 was '86. 3-0?! Unheard of. Uncharted waters.

This might just be a good year after all.

Feel good about Iraq

Every hospital and clinic in Baghdad is now operating. The coalition is printing 5 million new textbooks, handing out school supplies to 1.2 million children and rehabilitating 1000 schools. Iraq is producing over 1 million barrels of oil a day. For the first time in history, Baghdad has a garbage collection service. Power production has jumped from 300 mega-watts per day after liberation to 3300 mega-watts per day. There are 1.3 million Iraqis drawing salaries, 92,000 receiving social security payments, and 90,000 working to clear irrigation canals of obstructions.

So the next time you listen to the presidential contenders and media - with their predictions of another Viet Nam, failure and hysteria, you know the real deal. Military campaigns are never easy - and replacing a tyrannical dictatorship with a democracy where one has never before existed is especially difficult. But, our troopers are making it happen and making it matter.

The Braden Files : Making progress in Iraq

JUST SOME MORE LIBERAL BIAS IN THE MEDIA

That some want to debate that there is liberal bias in the media is not surprising. When does the Left ever concede their errors? But here is a great example of what I call Left-Wing Bias in the media. If this is indeed not an example of media bias, it is, at least, evidence of the media's sympathy for Left-Wing extremism. I'll get to the point.

The group that claims responsibility for dozens of 'actions' against property in the name of environmental purity calls themselves the Earth Liberation Front. Here is their fundamental guideline:

"To inflict economic damage on those profitting from the destruction and exploitation of the natural environment."

Recently, the group has claimed responsibility for an arson action on a Hummer dealership in Southern California. They have also claimed responsibility for a number of arsons against property development. In one incident, they nearly killed some construction workers who were on site when the arson occurred. That they have not killed anyone yet is merely good fortune. These people are Terrorists by any definition. Yet, the media consistently calls their 'actions' vandalism. Something tells me that if a clandestine group were claiming responsibility for a series of abortion clinic arsons, they would rightly be labeled Terrorists by the mainstream press. Must the ELF actually kill someone before the media will call them terrorists? Or will they simply be charged with vandalizing an innocent human?

Here are just a few examples:

In this AP article, the arson at the SUV dealership causing over $1 million in damage is called a 'vandalism attack'.

Here is how another AP article describes the ELF, "ELF stands for the Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmentalist group that has claimed responsibility for dozens of acts of arson and vandalism, including a $50 million fire that destroyed a residential development in San Diego last month." It takes the San Diego Chief of Police to call the ELF actions for what they really are, "This is clearly an act of domestic terrorism in our city." The AP does not seem to agree.

One last example will suffice, and this one takes the cake. So I can be fair to my argument, this one is credited not to the AP, but to the LA Times (Hint, hint...the bias is systemic). The headline to this article says, "Man Claims Role in SUV Vandalism."

How about, "Man Claims role in Eco-Terrorism." After reading ELF's self-description, any reasonable person would agree that's a more appropriate headline.

Oh joy.

Noted unfunny man and Libertard mouthpiece Stuart Smally Al Franken is assaulting Seattle this week. I was made aware of this as I read the opinion section of the Seattle Commie Apologiser Post Intelligencer, where Franken gets the main essay. I wish I could find it online, so that you can see the level of idiocy, mediocrity, and hipocricy that Franken has sunk to. Or is that "risen to"? Given the level of non-existant talent, almost anything from Franken would be an improvement. Let me give you just a little taste of what the Seattle PI thinks is great writing, worthy of top billing in the Op-Ed pages.

Asking whether there is a liberal or conservative bias to the mainstream media is a little like asking whether al-Qaida uses too much oil in their hummus. The problem with al-Qaida is that they're trying to kill us.

Holy crap, someone finally admitted it! Al-Qaida wants us dead! Other than that, any analogy or point attempting to be made, isn't. And the essay goes South from there. Rambling, non-sensical, lacking any kind of a point, and existing just to insult anyone on the right, it's Franken to a "T". This is the man who, when faced with a well written book by Rush Limbaugh, wrote a book titled "Rush is a Big Fat Idiot". Yay, bravo, yet another piece of drivel lacking any kind of coherant though, logic, or argument, existing solely to insult Franken's intellectual superior. This seems to be all Franken can do. He flopped in showbusiness, he failed at comedy, and now he simply hurls incoherant insults at his betters. His new book, "I'm a lying suckweasle" or something like that, simply shows that Franken STILL isn't funny, STILL lacks any kind of coherant argument, and STILL doesn't prove a thing, except that Al Franken knows what a lie is. I'm not suprised, since Franken wouldn't know the truth if he snorted it up his nose along with whatever drug he seems to be snorting at the present time.

What really gets to me is that the moonbats here in Seattle lap it up. They're good little drones, nodding their heads, going "Yes, yes, of course.", making the UW campus look like Edgar Bobblehead Night at Safeco Field. Plastic, empty, and without thought, that describes Franken and his bobbleheads. Here's a tip to Franken: When you turn on Bill O'Riley with both guns, and he proceeds to blow you out of the water, you're done. Hell, you never WERE! I've seen better writing from a 3rd grader with Turette's Syndrome.

Courtesy of SpicedSass comes a naval officer's account of dealing with the New York (Jayson Blair? Don't know the name.) Times.

Mr. Beidler wrote back, "I will never again allow a reporter from The New York Times to interview me or a member of my family. There will be no opportunity for 'another encounter' and no chance for your paper to rise above the reputation you've established in my eyes." The NYT was exposed as a liberal rag that lies, the BBC is exposed as a liberal rag that lies... What liberal media? Please. If you actually think that there's no liberal bias in the media, you should be sitting in the Franken Bobblehead section.

Random Nuclear Strikes has a picture of Salma Hayek up. Why? Why not? I'm sorry, but this is a woman who can make water boil at 100 yards just by her very presence. There are few women in this world that would make me stop, stare and drool. Salma is one of them. Any hetrosexual American male who can look at her and not feel anything needs to be checked for a pulse. And my gay (female) co-worker goes ga-ga over her too, so I know it's not just me.

The Grouchy Old Cripple (in Atlanta!) was feeling rather grouchy over the weekend. Or at least, that's what I gather from his magnificent fisking of an op-ed by ex-senator Max Cleland. If there are any Donks reading this, let me give you a hint. When we can go over a piece, written by a Democrat, and refute it line by line, we have no choice but to think either A) you're an idiot, B) you're corrupt, or C) you're flat-out, treason-edging anti-American. In order to be nice, we just go with A. The GOC also has a little joke, destined to piss off our liberal friends: "Why does Jimmy always lay on the bottom when having sex? Because all he knows how to do is fuck up."

Yep. Sums it up rather nicely.