tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61184382011-04-21T12:49:42.380-07:00Iraq Action Online"The failure of democracy in Iraq would throw its people back into misery and turn that country over to terrorists who wish to destroy us. Yet democracy will succeed in Iraq, because our will is firm, our word is good, and the Iraqi people will not surrender their freedom." - President Bushseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comBlogger581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1095054713293950042004-09-12T22:22:00.000-07:002004-09-12T22:51:53.293-07:00IRAQIS FOR KERRY - Ali from Iraq the Model doubts that the anti-Democracy forces in Iraq will be stumping for Bush this November:
"There is however another factor *this time* that will have an influence on this from now on. It’s the American’s elections and their effect on the Iraqi issue. I don’t think there are plans for a terrorist attack on America, because they ( the enemies of America’s seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1094710047301191232004-09-08T22:15:00.000-07:002004-09-08T23:11:40.090-07:00NUMBER CRUNCHING - The complaint that the US should not have gone to war to depose Saddam because we armed him in the first place was never persuasive even taken at face value (after all, shouldn't we strive to correct our mistakes?). Others may disagree on this: to them I suppose a forgein policy change after several decades proves hypocrisy, and hypocrites shouldn't wage war. What happens seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1094276321607673182004-09-03T21:34:00.000-07:002004-09-03T22:38:41.606-07:00GETTING A CLUE - The good news is that so far, France is not backing down on the head scarf ban (and some French Muslims are rallying to support the government). I fear though that the majority in Europe still don't understand the enemy we are fighting:
"Yet with this week's hostage crisis, residents say they are slightly disbelieving that the country is suddenly involved in Iraq's troubles.
'seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1093413967981111012004-08-24T23:00:00.000-07:002004-08-24T23:28:11.183-07:00LOW MORALE? - Apparently not in this National Guard unit (link via Instapundit):
"The largest Alabama Guard unit to return from Iraq, the 877th Engineer Battalion, had its first weekend drills earlier this month at its northwest Alabama armories. And at those drill sessions, only 19 of the 555 soldiers who attended said they wanted to hang up their helmets or were seriously considering it...
seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1092984116263781472004-08-19T23:13:00.000-07:002004-08-19T23:41:56.263-07:00NICE PICTURE - Check out this snapshot from Athens.... (link via Iraq the Model)
seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1092633191829413452004-08-15T22:05:00.000-07:002004-08-15T22:54:19.806-07:00"ACCIDENTAL THEORY" - Jonathan Lipow on Krugman and Iraq (link via the Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid):
"Since he began writing regular op-ed columns for The New York Times, however, Krugman has become increasingly difficult to take seriously. In his columns, Krugman repeatedly imagines that his conclusions simply emerge from the facts. They don't.
For example, Krugman has argued that seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1092200210731895992004-08-10T21:08:00.000-07:002004-08-10T21:56:50.730-07:00STILL MUDDLED - I'm sure glad Kerry finally "clarified" his position on Iraq! Now we know that Kerry agrees with Bush that the war was necessary (missing stockpiles notwithstanding). We know that in Kerry's mind, Bush erred in "rushing" to war on faulty intelligence, while Kerry was correct in voting to allow him to do it. We know Kerry will reduce US troop levels in Iraq within 6 months of seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1091858098893231452004-08-06T21:58:00.000-07:002004-09-08T22:15:32.283-07:00WELL, WELL, WELL... - Apparently, the information that made the arrests of two terrorist-aiding Albany men possible didn't come from meticulous and mutually affirming dialogue between the Bush Administration and diplomats from each and every one of the UN General Assembly member countries, but rather, the tip off came from intelligence gathered by US soldiers on the ground IN IRAQ! Funny that seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1090389062134309102004-07-20T22:39:00.000-07:002004-07-20T23:42:53.680-07:00THE BIG PICTURE - A little perspective from Victor Davis Hanson:
"The catastrophes did not end after the Normandy campaign. More Americans were killed between December 1944 and January 1945 — when we wrongly pushed back the bulge by confronting it head-on rather than slicing it off far to its rear — than all those lost previously in the months since the D-Day landings. Germans had heavy seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1089786488969701472004-07-13T22:56:00.000-07:002004-07-13T23:30:09.750-07:00THE TRUTH HURTS - As if the "Bush lied" folks weren't feeling deflated enough these days...now along comes the Senate Intelligence report on prewar intelligence. From Opinionjournal:
"A few apologies would seem to be in order. Allegations of lying or misleading the nation to war are about the most serious charge that can be leveled against a President. But according to this unanimous study, seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1089609315980511492004-07-11T21:14:00.000-07:002004-07-11T22:27:47.286-07:00BALANCE - We all know that good news from the disaster-zone that is Iraq is virtually non-existent. If this were not the case the mainstream press would run more than the occasional positive story on that impoverished, U.S.-hating, suicide-bomber infested country that's (in case you missed it on the news) teetering on the brink of civil war. Nevertheless blogger Chrenkoff has somehow managed toseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1089349721763542262004-07-08T21:35:00.000-07:002004-07-13T22:38:45.026-07:00A NON-NUCLEAR IRAQ - So, if the "peace" activists had had their way, Hussein would have had easy access to 1.8 tons of enriched uranium. We all know Saddam would have been all over the supply the nano-second the crumbling sanctions regime died for good (read this for a historic example of the obedience inspired by those dreaded "U.N. seals"). Thanks to the Coalition of the Willing we need notseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1088659711275212702004-06-30T21:15:00.000-07:002004-06-30T22:47:22.433-07:00IRAQI SOVEREIGNTY - While the cynics at home try to spin the power transfer as a negative, ordinary Iraqis celebrate: Ali from Iraq the Model purchased a cake to share with coworkers to commemorate the historic event. He had the following to say about Bremer's departing speech:
"The speech was impressive and you could hear the sound of a needle if one had dropped it at that time. The most seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1087278982700450292004-06-14T21:51:00.000-07:002004-06-14T22:56:22.700-07:00JOINT OPERATIONS - I guess this story was a yawner for the mainstream press: no bombs exploding, no heavy American casualties, no "crowds" dancing around charred remains of murdered Westerners...Just Iraqi and American soldiers quietly working side by side to successfully beat back anti-democracy forces:
"Portions of Iraqi Private Imad Abid Zeid Jassim's citation for bravery reads: "...[A]s theseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1086931839347307242004-06-10T21:24:00.000-07:002004-07-06T23:25:25.106-07:00HITCHENS ON CHALABI - Christopher Hitchens thinks the recent Chalabi-bashing is unwarranted:
"Even if you assume the worst to be true -that the INC's "defectors" were either mistaken or were conscious, coached fabricators - the fact remains that the crucial presentation of the administration's case on WMD and terrorism was made at the United Nations by Secretary of State Colin Powell, with CIA seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1086067510469420472004-05-31T21:33:00.000-07:002004-05-31T22:40:27.466-07:00SADDAM AND AL QAEDA - Stephen F. Hayes is still convinced that there was in fact a link between Saddam's Iraq and al Qaeda. Hayes brings out some interesting tidbits of information, but he overstates in his conclusion. So, by the way, do those who claim that they are certain that no link ever existed. We simply don't have enough information at this time to prove either side positively correct seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1085118216896667682004-05-20T21:57:00.000-07:002004-05-20T22:45:26.560-07:00THOSE PESKY WMDS - A former Iraqi nuclear scientists thinks the recent discovery of sarin nerve gas (and don't forget the mustard gas found a few weeks ago) in Iraq is just the beginning:
"Gazi George, a former Iraqi nuclear scientist under Saddam's regime, told Fox News he believes many similar weapons stockpiled by the former regime were either buried underground or transported to Syria. He seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1084519294429951492004-05-13T23:48:00.000-07:002004-05-20T22:46:40.503-07:00SOME PERSPECTIVE - The abuse at Abu Ghraib does not change the fact that good news continues to percolate out of Iraq (link via Instapundit):
"JUST IN THE OFF CHANCE THAT THE EVENT doesn't attract much attention from the print media, sovereignty passed today from the CPA to Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This makes the Foreign Ministry the eighth Iraqi ministry to quietly, and successfully,seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1083903505104954032004-05-06T21:18:00.000-07:002004-05-07T22:47:30.670-07:00FINISHING THE JOB - Jonah Golberg compares Iraq reconstruction to open heart surgery:
"...the important thing to keep in mind is that in a major operation - on a person or a nation - the patient is the most vulnerable, and looks the most horrible, halfway into the procedure, not at the beginning or the end. And if, in your horror, you screamed, "Stop what you're doing right now!" you'd be sayingseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1083474922622517432004-05-01T22:15:00.000-07:002004-05-01T22:34:32.466-07:00CONSISTENCY PLEASE - So far, the knee-jerk Bush-bashers haven't seemed troubled when shrieking that "Bush lied about WMDs" without providing a shred of evidence to support this claim. Now that Bob Woodward has put this particular slander to rest in his tell-all book I'm sure all those who have accused Bush of lying will apologize with haste...Since we know that these same folks consider the seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1083306645419605382004-04-29T23:30:00.000-07:002004-04-29T23:49:34.340-07:00REALITY CHECK - In another great piece for NRO Victor Hanson Davis explodes some of the more popular myths spread by the anti-war crowd:
"Myth #1: America turned off its allies. According to John Kerry, due to inept American diplomacy and unilateral arrogance, the United States failed to get the Europeans and the U.N. on board for the war in Iraq. Thus, unlike in Afghanistan, we find ourselvesseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1082438982733747222004-04-19T22:29:00.000-07:002004-04-19T23:44:58.890-07:00THE SAUDI CONNECTION - Stephan Schwartz thinks tensions in Fallujah stem from Wahhabist tendencies more than Baathist sympathies:
"A more significant ingredient in the stewpot of Fallujah's discontent, however, is local adherence to Wahhabism, the extremist Islamic sect that is the state religion in neighboring Saudi Arabia and whose purest expression is al-Qaeda. Here and there, Western seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1082095285940497122004-04-15T23:01:00.000-07:002004-04-19T21:42:19.763-07:00U.N. NO PANACEA - Those who call for a UN take-over in Iraq as a quick and easy fix may want to consider the performance of this esteemed peace-keeping organization in recent years. Let's see now.... allowing the massacre in Srebrenica, hand - wringing and pontificating while genocide was raging in Rwanda, coddling dictators (like, um, Saddam Hussein)...I certainly wouldn't want the UN in chargeseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1081403211437169982004-04-07T22:46:00.000-07:002004-04-07T23:44:24.186-07:00FLUSHING THEM OUT - I generally agree with blogger Cavalier's take on al Sadr: he and his Islamo-fascist cronies need to be eliminated:
"It's possible that closing his hate-spewing newspaper Hawza and arresting his aide Mustafa al-Yacoubi (accused of knifing al-Sadr's rival Abdel-Majid al-Khoei to death) were specifically done to drive al-Sadr into action now. It's critically important to seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1080627326908337752004-03-29T22:15:00.000-08:002004-03-29T23:01:55.780-08:00IT WAS A LIBERATION (DAMMIT!) - David Gelernter comments on the indifference to the liberation of Iraq in some (mostly Democratic...) quarters:
"Turning away is not evil; it is merely human. And that's bad enough. For years I myself found it easy to ignore or shrug off Saddam's reported crimes. I had no love for Iraq or Iraqis. Before and during the war I wrote pieces suggesting that Americansseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1080024886943400342004-03-22T22:54:00.000-08:002004-03-22T23:16:28.873-08:00MILITIAS DISBANDING - SF Chronicle editors must have just hated having to document Paul Bremmer's progress in convincing Iraq's militia members to lay down their arms (thus making civil war in Iraq less likely). The liberal rag couldn't of course totally ignore the news... nothing like a little negative spin to sugar coat that bitter pill:
"Iraq experts and crisis analysts warn, however, seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-107976600793905812004-03-19T23:00:00.000-08:002004-03-19T23:06:08.623-08:00WHAT DISASTER? - One year after the liberation, and Iraqis are optimistic about the future (oh, and they also don't want the "occupiers" to leave...):
"More than 56% say that things are either much or somewhat better now than in the spring of 2003, compared with 19% who say it is much or somewhat worse. And as the nearby box shows, Iraqis are even more optimistic about their lives a year fromseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1079331439967401382004-03-14T22:17:00.000-08:002004-03-17T22:34:51.513-08:00A GRAVE MISTAKE - The results of today's elections in Spain amount to a stunning victory for al Qaeda. Terror cells around the globe are surely inspired at how easily they can expect capitulation from the West. Foreign terrorists have just chosen the government of a democratic country with a carefully timed bomb blast: a staggering accomplishment which I fear will have horrific ramifications. seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1078813212921937902004-03-08T22:20:00.000-08:002004-03-08T22:35:18.513-08:00IT'S OFFICIAL - Here's the text of Iraq's interim constitution.
LIBERAL BUZZ WORDS - Victor Davis Hansen on why the words "preemption" and "unilateral" have become meaningless:
"So like preemption, in today's super-charged political climate, unilateralism and multilateralism no longer convey any meaning. Those words too have now become little more than coded nomenclature to denigrate the seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1078294346061350822004-03-02T22:12:00.000-08:002004-03-02T22:18:12.090-08:00FOILING THE CYNICS (AGAIN) - In spite of the lack of faith (and so encouragement) from some quarters, Iraq's Governing Council has agreed on an interim constitution. It lays out what will be the law of the land in Iraq until at least 2005:
"As described by members of the Iraqi Governing Council, the interim constitution approved Monday lays out a vision for an Iraqi state that has all of the seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1076916435878313672004-02-15T23:27:00.000-08:002004-02-16T00:03:58.186-08:00OIL PRODUCTION UP - Thanks to reconstruction efforts under the CPA, Iraq is expected to make 15-20 billion this year on oil sales. Output is not up to pre-war levels yet, but progress has been faster than expected.
GREAT NEWS - According to Zeyad from Healing Iraq, after protest, Resolution 137 (which allowed family law to be adjudicated under Sharia rules) has been repealed:
"The seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1076650124796563762004-02-12T21:28:00.000-08:002004-02-12T23:06:22.000-08:00DESPERATE ACTS - The latest sickening attacks in Iraq seem to confirm that the foes of democracy are changing their tactics. From the NYT:
"attacks against American soldiers have dropped by more than half, and the gun battles between American soldiers and Iraqi insurgents that used to mark daily life in many cities and towns seem in many places to be on the wane.
At the same time, attacks seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1075784778312694942004-02-02T21:06:00.000-08:002004-02-02T21:09:30.670-08:00TAKING A BREAK - I'll be on vacation for about a week.... but please keep up to date on happenings inside Iraq through the excellent Iraqi blogs Iraq the Model and Healing Iraq. seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1075511204253216512004-01-30T17:06:00.000-08:002004-01-31T16:17:42.500-08:00MORE ON INTEL - A David Frum reader has more insight (and rebukes to critics) on the so-called "intelligence failures" surrounding Saddam's WMDs:
"Secondly, the intelligence community must naturally err on the side of pessimism and alarmism. The cardinal rule in military intelligence is to estimate the worst your enemy could possibly do, not what he probably is willing to do, or could seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1075272970937303012004-01-27T22:56:00.000-08:002004-01-27T23:40:37.200-08:00HE LIED ABOUT WMDs!!! - Saddam did, that is, according to the former head of the Iraq Survey Group - the organization which has been attempting to uncover evidence of WMDs in Iraq. David Kay's much hyped resignation and recent comments don't bring much new to the debate on Hussein's elusive WMDs however. Intelligence is by nature always incomplete and often flawed. The intelligence suggesting seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1075012447931482662004-01-24T22:34:00.000-08:002004-01-24T22:36:13.733-08:00PROGRESS REPORT - I like to check in with USAID from time to time for an update on reconstruction projects. Here are links to the news in education and health care.
GLOBAL BENEFITS - Victor Davis Hanson puts the lie to the claim that the world is worse off because of the Iraq War in his latest NRO piece:
"For all the chaos we supposedly created, we no longer have mass graves, but instead seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1074837478004128362004-01-22T21:57:00.000-08:002004-01-22T23:08:19.873-08:00CONSPIRACY UNMASKED - Rich Lowery exposes the global conspiracy behind the push for war in Iraq....
BUILDING BRIDGES - I'm pretty sure the myth of the arrogant, bullying U.S. occupier has close to zero adherents these days...but just in case: here's the reality.
A THIRD WAY? - Apparently members of the GC are trying to iron out a middle way between Sistani's push for immediate elections and seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1074406169069515212004-01-17T22:09:00.000-08:002004-01-17T22:11:25.576-08:00A HEALTHY FUTURE - Iraqi surgeon Dr. Quraish Al-Kasser is hopeful about the prospect of rebuilding Iraq's decimated health care system. He recently visited the U.S., met with colleges in San Francisco, and addressed the AMA's House of Delegates in Honolulu. He also visited the White House:
"Al-Kasser said he was impressed by how much President Bush was concerned about health care in Iraq. 'seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1074233249637943692004-01-15T22:07:00.000-08:002004-01-17T22:38:56.153-08:00A TERRIBLE DECISION - This is why Iraq needs a constitution in place before elections are held (Link via Healing Iraq). Let's hope the GC ruling can be overturned - I've written the CPA to voice disapproval of the decision.
WHAT A HYPOCRITE - According to Dean sometimes (perhaps when denouncing it won't help you win a nomination...??) unilateral action is OK. (Link via Rosemary). Dean also seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1074141906208972692004-01-14T20:45:00.000-08:002004-01-14T21:14:55.310-08:00CORRECTION - I guess I should have fact checked Clark (or the AP?). The book "the Price of Loyalty" by Ron Suskind is based on Paul O'Neill's accounts of meetings he attended during his tenure as Treasury Secretary.
MORE ON O'NEILL - Suskind and O'Neill did a joint interview with Terry Gross on NPR today. I found O'Neill to be extremely measured in his criticism of the Bush Administration.seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1073973515332227822004-01-12T21:58:00.000-08:002004-01-12T21:58:56.723-08:00YES, AND....? - I'm not sure why Wesley Clark thinks former Treasury Secretary O'Neill's new book is big news... Regime change In Iraq has been official U.S. policy since Congress passed and Bill Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. In fact, early on Bush's Iraq policy was virtually indistinguishable from Clinton's. Yes, hawks in the administration were arguing for using force to seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1073718420016211782004-01-09T23:07:00.000-08:002004-01-10T00:07:23.320-08:00HOW IRAQIS FEEL - According to a recent poll of multiple cities in Iraq, most residents disapprove of attacks against civilians and Coalition troops (nearly 70% oppose attacks against U.S. troops). Iraqis also perceive the attacks as reason for Coalition soldiers to stay in, not leave Iraq. Why is the anti-war/anti-"occupation" left so out of touch?
BACK "ON TRACK"- According to this WaPo seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1073454838986363592004-01-06T21:53:00.000-08:002004-01-07T00:24:00.106-08:00SLOW AND STEADY - In spite of the hype about mass desertions from the new Iraqi army, incremental progress on building the government bodies that will eventually take over security detail from Coalition troops continues. A new battalion of close to 700 men just graduated and:
"By the Pentagon's count, the new battalion will join 160,000 armed Iraqis serving alongside the United States-led seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1073114294704594682004-01-02T23:18:00.000-08:002004-01-02T23:18:33.143-08:00THE POLISH MODEL - Matthew Kaminski warns against "gradualism" in liberalizing Iraq's economy:
"The questions about America's right to implement economic changes on behalf of the Iraqis fail to consider the huge investment of taxpayer money, not to mention the potential for failure. Take Bosnia. After the civil war ended in 1995, the international community poured in more than $5 billion to seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1072848819446594922003-12-30T21:33:00.000-08:002003-12-30T21:39:57.676-08:00RESOLVE PAYS - The good news is even starting to percolate out of the troubled "Sunni Triangle": influential sheiks from Tikrit are now advocating cooperation with coalition forces. Sheik Sabah Mahmoud puts it this way:
"The reality is they (American forces) are here on the ground; the past is dead. Give the Americans a chance to see what they are going to give us".
Smart man. Hussein's seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1072685353315591522003-12-29T00:09:00.000-08:002003-12-29T00:10:02.196-08:00REALITY CHECK II - Hussein's draining of Iraq's southern marshes- an act called "a social, economic and ecological disaster" by environmental groups and human rights activists- is now being reversed. Hope for the decimated marsh dwellers was delivered by coalition forces, not the chants of anti-war protestors. Critics will cry foul and triumphantly point out that Bush did not invade to protectseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1072502531416561432003-12-26T21:22:00.000-08:002003-12-26T21:22:27.960-08:00REALITY CHECK PLEASE - It's tough to open the paper or turn on the TV without being bombarded by yet another scathing criticism of the failures in Iraq. Now, I know all the anti-war spokespersons, elitist university professors and ornery syndicated columnists have spent long hours reading up on the subject, but isn't also nice to occasionally hear from folks who are actually...um...ON THE seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071966632281585692003-12-20T16:30:00.000-08:002003-12-23T21:45:31.603-08:00THE RIPPLE EFFECT - First Iran and now Libya. Of course, the fact that Gadafi made the decision to scrap his WMD programs during the build-up to war in Iraq could be entirely coincidental. Score yet another victory for the "Bush Doctrine"! seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071727303627038372003-12-17T22:01:00.000-08:002003-12-17T22:08:22.753-08:00KERRY ON IRAQ - I can see why the angry Democratic base is leaning toward Dean: take out references that would automatically give away the speaker, and about half this speech could be attributed to Bush. Kerry has to resort to some amazing verbal acrobatics to distinguish himself from the current administration. He says:
"...at other times, Governor Dean said that we should not go into Iraq seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071467093785676432003-12-14T21:44:00.000-08:002003-12-14T21:45:06.886-08:00A GREAT, GREAT DAY! - for Iraq, and the world. Iraqi blogger Omar (Iraq the Model) says it all in his post today:
"Horrraaaaa
It's the justice day.
I'm speechless.
I'm crying.
The tyrants' hour has finally came. I went down to the streets to share the joy with my brothers. This is our day, the day of all the oppressed and good people on earth.
Tears of joy filled the eyes of all the people.
seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071380224496895022003-12-13T21:37:00.000-08:002003-12-18T22:22:48.540-08:00LOSING IT? - Tom Friedman is a pretty smart guy who usually writes pretty thought provoking op-ed pieces. In light of that fact , I'm perplexed by his latest offering. He's worried that democracy will not happen in Iraq, because either there is no plan for reconstruction in Iraq or the plan differs depending who one talks to. I think Friedman and many, many others use flawed logic to reach seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071212091073732802003-12-11T22:54:00.000-08:002003-12-16T23:56:39.213-08:00FINALLY THE WORD GETS OUT(sort of) - The Baghdad anti-terror rally did get some coverage... but why was the story buried in the, er, "Paper of Record"? The SF Chronicle goes even further... they reprint the NYT story but edit out the 2 lines about the demo. The only reference is in a photo caption which would be easily missed and in any case does not explain that the march was organized with seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1071126378090282932003-12-10T23:06:00.000-08:002003-12-11T23:53:29.370-08:00OH, THE CONDESCENSION - This editorial in the S.F. chronicle irked me on many levels. The author has this to say about the work of an artist in Baghdad:
"Nowhere in Pasha's mural, for example, is there any reference to the recent invasion, current occupation or continuing struggle of Iraqi civilians. His work is a tame ode to the treasures of "old Baghdad." Buildings from the city's glorious seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1070952984429641652003-12-08T22:56:00.000-08:002003-12-08T23:40:28.840-08:00SUPPORT THE IRAQ ANTI-TERROR DEMO DEC. 10th - Why hasn't the media been covering rallies that have been held by Iraqis condemning the current violence in their country? This should be front page news considering 1) Hussein is still MIA and as we know he still has numerous armed supporters on the streets 2) Iraqis who "collaborate" with coalition forces are routinely targeted for assassination seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1070689168368603892003-12-05T21:39:00.000-08:002003-12-05T21:39:39.203-08:00JUSTICE FOR KILLERS - This is why we fought and are still fighting in Iraq. Another blogger made the case for humanitarian intervention in Iraq exhaustively and eloquently back in July. Don't let anyone tell you that U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq "for no reason". seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1070611702436219592003-12-05T00:08:00.000-08:002003-12-12T00:09:32.950-08:00ROOTS OF TERROR - Before the war in Iraq anti-war activists claimed an invasion would increase terrorism in the world - this was one of many gloomy predictions used to argue against toppling Hussein's government. The same argument is being used now to discredit and end the efforts to rebuild in Iraq.
Two points on this flawed reasoning:
1)We have absolutely no way to compare the number seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1069832105620060442003-11-25T23:35:00.000-08:002003-12-05T22:51:57.070-08:00WHERE'S THE PLAN? - Those who don't like the current Iraq policy need to provide viable options. The alternatives I've heard from the critics -including many of the Democratic presidential contenders- are laughable. Howard Dean mostly offers criticism and is light on the details on his official campaign site, but does indicate he would fix Iraq by getting more troops from other nations toseshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6118438.post-1069568537243465372003-11-22T22:22:00.000-08:002003-12-05T21:08:52.476-08:00WHAT WAR CRITICS WON'T TELL YOU - Tales of progress in Iraq are getting hard to ignore - much to the disappointment of liberal pundits and "peace" protesters who parrot their cries of "quagmire". Even the lefties at theBBC now have to admit the news from Iraq is not all bad. Of course, the bad news should not be overlooked and it hasn't been. Yes, US soldiers are dying - loss of life does seshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13845231998213670039noreply@blogger.com