Here are a few more quick hits for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy!
Quick Hit #1: Abstinence. I disagree with just about everything that the Democrat leadership is doing nowadays, but this was a refreshing burst of good news. The Democrat-led House of Representatives recently passed a Labor-HHS appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) that included a $28 million increase for abstinence education programs, with even ultra-liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi voting for it! Even outside of the obvious religious implications, this policy is also common sense, and the House should be commended for helping it out.
Quick Hit #2: Gitmo and Al Qaeda. This story in the Wall Street Journal discusses the debate about what to do with captured Al Qaeda prisoners in relation to Gitmo. While no one really likes the portait painted of Gitmo, it serves a critical purpose - it allows us to obtain intelligence, especially from high-ranking Al Qaeda members, that we wouldn't otherwise get. Contrary to popular belief, the legality of Gitmo was upheld by the Supreme Court. Even so, any American leaders want to close it down, but no one has yet figured out what to do with the detainees already there. If we release them, they'll go back to kill more Americans (at least 30 already have) on the battlefield. If we give them the rights of Americans and put them into the court system (which is exactly what many left-wing liberals want to do), it is inevitable that a number of them would end up being released inside the U.S.. The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point recently examined the non-classified evidence about Gitmo detainees, and in a new report concludes that 73% were a "demonstrated threat" to U.S. forces. No less than 95% were a "potential threat." Wouldn't that be a great idea?
Quick Hit #3: No Money Means Freer Speech? Ramesh Ponnuru blogs at NRO's "The Corner" about a recently approved Mike Pence amendment that will prevent funding for the Justice Department to enforce the most controversial piece of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law: the part regulating political advertising just prior to an election. Basically, the law prevented political ads from running right before elections in a thinly-veiled ploy to protect incumbents from TV ads by challengers. While it would be better to have the law completely struck down, this lack of funding for enforcement could prove to be almost as good. It will be interesting to see what happens with this one.
Quick Hit #4: More Surge Success. Don Surber blogs about Republican Congressman Kevin Brady's recent trip to Iraq. In his comments, Brady said, "I really expected the worst. Instead I am very encouraged. Communities all across Iraq are turning against al Qaeda and working with Iraqi and coalition forces to take back their cities. Half of Baghdad is no longer safe for insurgents." He continued with a call to success: "while congress has the right to debate this war, it has the responsibility to help win it as well. That means letting this new strategy work to the end of the year or the beginning of the next if we are truly serious about a stable Iraq and safer America." Yet more proof that the surge is working.
Quick Hit #5: Winning in Iraq, Losing in Washington. Ralph Peters wrote a great column in the New York Post yesterday that perfectly framed the war in Iraq. There is far more information in that article than what I can summarize here, so I highly encourage you to go read the whole thing for yourself. Here are a few highlights:
- To a military professional, the tactical progress made in Iraq over the last few months is impressive. To a member of Congress, it's an annoyance.
- In the words of a senior officer known for his careful assessments, al Qaeda's terrorists in Iraq are "on their back foot and we're trying to knock them to their knees." Do our politicians really want to help al Qaeda regain its balance?
- Al Qaeda lost the support of Iraq's Sunni Arabs. The fanatics over-reached: They murdered popular sheiks, kidnapped tribal women for forced marriages, tried to outlaw any form of joy and (perhaps most fatally, given Iraqi habits) banned smoking. In response, the Arab version of the Marlboro Man rose up and started cutting terrorist throats.
- Since the tribes who once were fighting against us turned on al Qaeda, our troops not only captured the senior Iraqi in the organization -- which made brief headlines -- but also killed the three al Turki brothers, major-league pinch-hitters al Qaeda sent into Iraq to save the game.
- to quote that senior officer again, "our forces have been taking out their leaders faster than they can find qualified replacements."
- Even the Democrats yearning to become president admit, when pressed, that al Qaeda's a threat to America. So why didn't even one of them praise the success of our troops during their last debate?
- Republicans ... haven't rushed to applaud our progress, either. They'll give up Iraq, as long as they don't have to give up earmarks.
- It isn't only al Qaeda taking serious hits. After briefly showing the flag, Muqtada al-Sadr fled back to Iran again, trailed by his senior deputies. Mookie's No. 2 even moved his family to Iran. Why? Though he's been weak in the past, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now green-lighting Iraqi operations against the Jaish al Mahdi, the Mookster's "Mahdi Army."
- In Baghdad, the surge isn't only about American successes - Iraqi security and intelligence forces conducted a series of hard-hitting operations against both al Qaeda and Iran-backed Special Group terrorists.
Peters' rousing conclusion: "Gen. Dave Petraeus and his subordinate commanders are by far the best team we've ever had in place in that wretched country. They're doing damned near everything right - with austere resources, despite the surge. And they're being abandoned by your elected leaders. Maybe the next presidential primary debate should be held in Baghdad."
Have a great weekend!
There's my two cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment