Saturday, December 30, 2006

Justice, Closure and a Message

Austin Bay has appropriate thought on Saddam's execution. (bold my emphasis)

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The next to last thing Saddam ever expected was a hangman’s noose. The last thing he expected, of course, was a fair trial.

The Strong Man expects to die in one of two ways — with a nine millimeter ballot (ie, assassination) — or old age. That has certainly been the case in the Middle East. A public, legal trial followed by court-sentenced execution? That isn’t going to happen unless…unless a democracy replaces a tyranny. This is astonishing news — history altering news. For centuries the terrible yin-yang of tyrant and terrorist has trapped the Middle East. In 2003 the US-led coalition began the difficult but worthy effort of breaking that tyrant’s and terrorist’s trap, and offering another choice in the politically dysfunctional Arab Muslim Middle East.

...
In Spring 2005 the democratic project in the Middle East had momentum — and we (the US) didn’t follow through by sufficiently supporting Lebanese democrats. But let’s not draw arcs on canvas. History is fits and starts and often three point nine steps back for four forwards. It’s a fight. “War is a series of catastrophes that results in victory” (Georges Clemenceau great line).

...
I don’t like capital punishment but I support it. (I do believe all life is sacred.) I think war is wrong but I’ve waged it. To say the least, this world isn’t an easy place. That obvious case stipulated, in my opinion dictators like Saddam don’t understand mercy. (For the megalomaniac it’s all about me.) Tyrants like Saddam are self-absorbed and narcissistic. Show them mercy and at best they interpet mercy as a recognition of their own superiority– a reinforcement of their ability to survive. Mass murderers like Saddam are the men who have earned execution. Execution is their one moment of enlightenment. Read the Newsweek article. Saddam quaked. And the whim of another Strong Man didn’t do him in; he went through a legal process, where he had his say.
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That's right. He quaked. He was scared. He was helpless. He was powerless. And nothing can be more foreign or more freighting to a dictator.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Signals

At Iraq The Model, Iraqi blogger Mohammed discusses the talk in Iraq about the "policy change" pending in Iraq.

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"Oh Iraqis, just listen to what your American enemies are saying these days and you'll know that victory is close…" this is a slogan among many others we hear everyday on one of the terrorists' mouthpieces. ...

It's neither new nor unexpected from our region's leaders and politicians ... to misread signals coming from American or western statements. We'd always lacked clear strategic vision in our region ... because it's rare to see intellectuals or reasonable thinkers given a real role in governance. ...

... Apparently here, the leaders got it this way: that the change in strategy would be from one of victory to one of exit.

To put it simply; saying that a policy that aims at ridding the world of regimes and criminals such as Saddam, al-Qaeda, Ahmadinejad or Assad is a wrong policy that breeds extremism is utterly stupid.
I personally do not think that America changed its policy from victory to exit but I see that it hasn't been good at expressing its intentions nor sending the right signals, and when I say right I mean clear even to those who have a problem understanding things.
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Of coarse the enemy will translate "change" into "surrender". That's how they fight - misinformation, propaganda. That's how they stay motivated. That's how they keep fear in the eyes of the population. But they were going to say that from whatever information they are getting. Of coarse, if there wasn't a deluge of this information, they wouldn't be able to use it as a weapon. If there wasn't a steady stream of "cut-and-run", it would be harder for them to claim victory, or at least progress. If "cut-and-run" were a minor view-point, their claim of victory would be hollow. But seeing as the established media has proclaimed that the "cut-and-run" crowd has taken control of the county, what other conclusion can the enemy come to?

The policy change will be harsh on the enemy. But the message will not be clear to those that are mislead by the mainstream media. Watch the blogs for information from the ground. And make up your own mind.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Gruesome

Iraqi soldiers eat frogs, rabbit at handover ceremony

What's far more disgusting about this article is that, for a story that should have headlined progress toward victory in Iraq (handing over control of a former "triangle of death city", the media could only shock it's audience by headlining a gruesome tradition.

HT: BA

Monday, December 18, 2006

Iraq News

At Winds of Change, there is a wrap up of news over the last week from Iraq. It's not all roses. It's a broad spectrum of good and bad. It's a little slice of real. (HT: Winds of War)

From this article, you can link to Bill Roggio, whom I a have blogged about before. He is reporting on patrol with the Iraqi Army:

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Lt Cortez, Cpl Curcell, Amir and I joined 14 jundis from 3 Company for today's morning patrol in southwestern Fallujah. The patrol kicked off after a 7:30 briefing, and started through the tall reeds, date palm groves and small farms running along the banks of the Euphrates. Insurgents have planted bombs along the path in the past, we walked by the location where one was detonated just last week. Also, in the past sniper fire has been encountered from the east. There were no such problems today.

...

The patrol was largely uneventful from the jundi's perspective. Several Fallujans called the lieutenant over to provide information. The Iraqi soldier's ability to develop local intelligence networks, understand the language and culture and know the lay of the land far outweighs any tactical deficiencies they may have. “They can tell who's not from the area – who's from Mosul, or Tikrit or Ramadi – just by their accent, and they can tell when someone's lying,” said Cpl Burcell.

But Fallujah wasn't quiet during the patrol...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Justification

From James Lileks (via. Instapundit)

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It was about Iran and Israel, I gathered; another day, another speech threatening to wipe Israel off the map. It’s interesting: if the Holocaust “conference” decides that the Holocaust didn’t happen, well, then the justification for Israel is specious and founded on lies, and the mullahs are justified in redressing a mistake. I have the awful feeling that terms, conditions and justifications are being set right before our eyes, and the putative leaders seem unwilling to acknowledge what most canny observers infer.

It’ll all make horrible sense. In retrospect.

Friday, December 08, 2006

I'm not one for conspiracies

And usually Charles Krauthammer is not either...

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The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, renegade Russian spy and fierce critic of Vladimir Putin's government, is everywhere being called a mystery. There is dark speculation about unnamed "rogue elements" either in the Russian secret services or among ultranationalists acting independently of the government. There are whispers about the indeterminacy of things in the shadowy netherworld of Russian exile politics, crime and espionage.
...

Some say that the Litvinenko murder was so obvious, so bold, so messy -- five airplanes contaminated, 30,000 people alerted, dozens of places in London radioactive -- that it could not possibly have been the KGB.

But that's the beauty of it. Do it obvious, do it brazen, and count on those too-clever-by-half Westerners to find that exonerating. ...

The other reason for making it obvious and brazen is to send a message. This is a warning to all the future Litvinenkos of what awaits them if they continue to go after the Russian government. They'll get you even in London, where there is the rule of law. And they'll get you even if it makes negative headlines for a month.
...

But even Litvinenko's personal smallness serves the KGB's purposes precisely. If they go to such lengths and such messiness and such risk to kill someone as small as Litvinenko, then no critic of the Putin dictatorship is safe. It is the ultimate in deterrence.

A Bad Spell

Any more references to Victor Davis Hanson, here and I'm going to have to buy a tee shirt. Read the whole thing.

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We, deliberately or inadvertently, have empowered our enemies this last month or so by the Rumsfeld departure, the grandstanding comments about failure in the Gates confirmation hearing, the Bolton resignation, and now the Iraq Study Group, all of which conspired to convey the image of an overripe, juicy American plum easy to be picked off by assorted enemies. Which brings us back to …

The Baker Commission…

Upate: Bits I found relevent:

There is the obviously accurate diagnosis of the problem that a weak elected government in Iraq has been able neither to provide enough basic services to the people to ensure their support, nor to marshal the will to kill the jihadists—given various Shiite and Sunni militias’ infection of the government itself.

But while accurately describing symptoms and forming a diagnosis, most of its other recommended therapy and prognosis are surreal. ...

Does anyone really believe that Syria and Iran, at least in the short-term, abhor chaos in Iraq?... Only a perceived mess in Iraq keeps the attention of the United States and, indeed, the world community away from Teheran...

why are there not terrorists attacks originating from Syria on the Golan Heights? ... The answer probably is deterrence; that is, Syria knows that a single Israel plane might in response take out the power grid of Damascus for a year or so.

...the Assad regime use surrogates in Lebanon or the West Bank that offer deniability of culpability of sorts. After all, hit back at the West Bank and you only add to the “misery” of the poor “refugees” and end up on CNN. ...

We forget that the jihadist websites are still worried about Iraq, both the losses suffered there, and the emergence of a democratic government. We think we are not winning, but so do they think they aren’t either.
...

..pouring in more manpower will only exacerbate the situation. Right now with all coalition troops and Iraqi security forces combined, we must be nearing 450,000-500,000 soldiers pitted against perhaps 10,000 terrorists. Thus the problem is not numbers per se, but the conditions of engagement under which the enemy finds advantage regardless of numerical inferiority.

I've said it before

"They're in it for the ratings."

I can't say as I can disagree. Why don't I read MSM? Because I don't trust them. Their facts don't check (alt media tells me). Their logic is flawed. But I do watch Fox News, and one reason is that I agree with most of what they are saying. So am I watch because they are telling me what I already agree with so it feels good, or is it because I feel like I'm getting the truth, from which I can make my own decisions. "You decide."

Blame biased readers, not biased journalists

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Judge not on today, but on history

If you follow the alternative media (which you may if you ended up here), you will start to see stories like this about Donald Rumsfeld (Exit Rumsfeld, Smiling). You won't be surprised to see such stories because in this media you will find those who look beyond tomorrow and yesterday. Those that get their news (like it or not) from the mainstream media won't appreciate such broad sweeping analysis - they won't remember when their source for the "truth" was wrong because they were rushing to judgment for a story and a rating.

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... accomplishments ranging from bringing ballistic missile defense from theory to reality to transformation of the military from a Cold War garrison force to the flexible forces needed to fight the war we're in. Add to that the rapid overthrow of the Taliban and Saddam regimes, positioning America to deal with the rise of China, subtract Bush's unwillingness to take the battle to the enemy's centers of gravity, and Rumsfeld's record will be seen as imperfect, but one that may prove him to have been our best Secretary of Defense. ...

After 9-11, the president wanted to hit the Taliban hard, fast and decisively. But Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki insisted that almost the entire army had to be deployed to do it, and that would take several months. Rumsfeld and the other military leaders crafted a plan to take us to war - and to victory -- in weeks. America attacked the Taliban in early October 2001 and the Shinseki army - except for Army Special Forces and helo forces -- stayed home. By December the regime was toppled. Then began the media's contrivance of stories - possibly in collusion with congressional Democrats - about Rumsfeld's supposed failures that have led to everything from Usama bin Laden's escape to the mess in Mesopotamia.

The media suffered a panic attack at the beginning of the Afghan and Iraq wars. When our forces paused in the advance toward Baghdad, the media panicked. Reports said we're pausing, so we must be in trouble, we're running out of ammo, food and even water. There aren't enough troops. The war plan was wrong, and we have to stop, we're in Vietnam, another quagmire. The media were proven so wrong so quickly and so decisively that even they were embarrassed and they've never forgiven Rumsfeld for it. Their revenge is in the contrivance of fables about him.

WWII and WoT

Writing at Real Clear Politics, Victor Davis Hanson discusses Pearl Harbor and WWII with 9-11 and the War on Terror.

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So far the United States has encouraged its citizens to shop rather than sacrifice. The subtext is that we can defeat the terrorists and their autocratic sponsors with just a fraction of our available manpower - ensuring no real disruption in our lifestyles. That certainly wasn't the case with the Depression-era generation who fought World War II.

And in those days, peace and reconstruction followed rather than preceded victory. In tough-minded fashion, we offered ample aid to, and imposed democracy on, war-torn nations only after the enemy was utterly defeated and humiliated. Today, to avoid such carnage, we try to help and reform countries before our enemies have been vanquished -putting the cart of aid before the horse of victory.

...

A stronger, far more affluent United States believes it can use less of its power against the terrorists than a much poorer America did against the formidable Japanese and Germans.

World War II, which saw more than 400,000 Americans killed, was not nearly as controversial or frustrating as one that has so far taken less than one-hundredth of that terrible toll.

And after Pearl Harbor, Americans believed they had no margin of error in an elemental war for survival. Today, we are apparently convinced that we can lose ground, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, and still not lose either the war or our civilization.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The F-lying Imams

If you haven't heard, the 6 imams who were thrown of the plate for "praying" staged the event in order to make headlines.

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As we first suspected, the six imams bounced from a US Airways flight misled the public about the incident and likely staged the whole thing as a scheme to weaken security.
...

The imams acted more like provocateurs than victims. At the gate before boarding, they angrily cursed the U.S. Then they bowed to Mecca and prayed "very loud," chanting "Allah, Allah, Allah," according to the gate agent and another witness.

On the plane, they didn't take their assigned seats and instead fanned out to the front, middle and rear of the plane. One even "pretended to be blind" to gain access to another passenger's seat, according to a flight attendant.

Some ran back and forth speaking to each other in Arabic. Adding to suspicions, most of them asked for seat belt extensions even though they didn't need them — or even use them.

Yet the ringleader, Omar Shahin, claimed before the police report was released that they "did nothing" unusual. "It's obvious discrimination," he insisted

...

If it were an orchestrated stunt to create public sympathy and force airports to look the other way when groups of Muslim men fly, it's working. The Minneapolis airport plans to add a prayer room for Muslims, and Democrats plan to hold hearings on Muslim profiling. This could have a chilling effect on efforts to investigate terror suspects in the Muslim community.

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Happy flying.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

You want to support the troops?

If you really supported the troops, you'd at least acknowlegde their input. Bill Roggio has been embedding with the troops for years, and was previously in the war as a soldier. He has done some of the very best report of the war. As in independent reporter, he puts the words he hears on paper so you and I can decide. No spin. This report is a good example. It's about the soldiers he met or was in the presence of while on his way to Fallujah, Iraqi.

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At the transient tent (where you get to sleep and store your gear while waiting), I spoke to an Explosive Ordinance and Demolitions (EOD) contractor. These are the guys that blow up the leftover explosives and munitions from the Saddam era. He told me about how the media isn't telling the full story about the nature of the enemy, and specifically complained about the manipulation and distortion of the Kay report. He said he's run across bunkers and the equipment and chemical precursors to WMD buried in the deserts of western Iraq.

During a smoke break, an Army private discussed his time in Balad. He said mortars (which are blind-fired) are the greatest threat his unit faces. Not IEDs, I asked? Nope. While waiting to board the flight to BIAP, a Marine Major complained about how the progress in western Iraq has virtually gone unnoticed, and was furious over the characterization of the Devlin report on Anbar province...

...

In nearly every conversation, the soldiers, Marines and contractors expressed they were upset with the coverage of the war in Iraq in general, and the public perception of the daily situation on the ground. The felt the media was there to sensationalize the news, and several stated some reporters were only interested in “blood and guts.” They freely admitted the obstacles in front of them in Iraq. Most recognized that while we are winning the war on the battlefield, albeit with difficulties in some areas, we are losing the information war. They felt the media had abandoned them.
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I don't believe Iraq is close to being stable or safe. But I do put faith in this type of report. I put more faith in this report than I do a CNN report. Bill is not being paid to put his life on the line to tell us what he's experiencing. And we have seen several instances of the big news operations being inaccurate in their reporting, and (as with 90% of their reporting) it always sheds a bad light on the war. War is bad, but losing this war would be far worse. It wouldn't be the soldier who lose this war. It's up to you and I back home.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

It couldn't be more clear?

Victor Davis Hanson is shouting "Fire" in a burning theater. But people are hoping it's not really buring, cuz the movie they are watching is really cool.

He notes a quote from the immenet leader of despotic Cuba
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If anyone wishes to understand the ripples of an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq, try reading Raul Castro’s public address in Havana, in which he announces the end of American global influence as evidenced by our inability to defeat the terrorists (e.g., “In the eyes of the world, the so-called “crusade on terrorism” is unavoidably heading down the path to a humiliating defeat.”). My favorite line is the enforcer of the Cuban Gulag sermonizing on Americans’ “secret prisons.”

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But don’t we need some perspective on this new assessment of “lost”? What would these same critics say to Abraham Lincoln in May-June 1864 (“Each hour is but sinking us deeper into bankruptcy and desolation.”) when Grant’s Army of the Potomac tottered at the brink (Spotsylvania [ca. 18,000 casualties]; Cold Harbor [ca. 13,000 casualties]; Petersburg [ca. 12,000 casualties), prompting calls for an armistice on the basis of a status ante bellum, and the real prospect not just of Lincoln not winning the election of 1864, but perhaps not even receiving the Republican nomination? Or what would the pundits of the Kennedy School of Government or the Council on Foreign Relations have said about retreat from the Yalu River in November 1950 (ca. 14,000 casualties)? Korea is lost? We destabilized the Korean peninsula? We only empowered the real enemy Russia in Europe?