For Shame

So shameful, the liberal, anti-war crowd. Victor Davis Hanson points out the obvious, only to be see by the those of willing conscience:

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I listened carefully to the Democratic Senators denouncing the effort in Iraq. All were supposed repositories of deep wisdom. Most of them voted for the war, once gave alarmist speeches on the threats of WMD, and now demonize the Iraqi reformers of all people as ingrates who weren’t worth our sacrifices. For each face that came to the podium, I remembered a past quotation: the now shrill Sen. Harry Reid once demanded that we go to war on the basis that Saddam had broken the 1991 armistice accords (a fact no one has contested);...

...

“There is no military solution.” Who denies that? But such reductionism means nothing when no Iraqi politician can craft any meaningful compromise until Anbar province is first secure.

“It’s time the Iraqis step up.” Of course, they should. But it’s difficult for 25 million to do so when under daily assault by a few thousand killers in their midst who kidnap, behead, and now employ poison gas. How odd that liberals are the most vehement illiberal critics of liberal Iraqis.

“George Bush did …” Of course, as President he is responsible for the war. But he went to war only after seeking approval from Congress, and not only got it, but also as dessert impassioned speeches from the Democratic Congress on why he should. ...

“We are in the middle of a civil war.” It would be wise, then, to cite a civil war akin to Iraq....

We took our eye off the real war in Afghanistan.” Would some Democrat explain exactly how to invade nuclear Islamic Pakistan and kill the al Qaeda leadership responsible for 9/11?...

...Democrats the last two years called for Rumsfeld’s head, for more troops to be deployed, for a change of military leadership in Iraq—and now got all three. But no sooner has Dr. Petraeus arrived and inaugurated his radically different way of doing things, than the Democrats wish to cut off his funds before the verdict is in.

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If you can stomach it (and I'm not sure I can), read the whole thing.

Where is our pride?

If you frequent this site, you know I support the war. I see the need for making Iraq a country that will not harbor and send terrorist to the US to kill us. This is what Afghanistan was. So if you agreed that Afghanistan was a just cause, you have to believe the same for Iraq, today.

The Senate cowardly encouraged the enemy, yesterday. It's a tragedy. They let down America. They sacrificed millions who would be free and not hostile to the US. And they did it for money and for votes. Your votes. Because they think you want to quit a war that we can win, and are winning and have been winning.

War takes time. There is no fix duration. You're either in it to win or lose. And to the victor go the spoils. So if the terrorist win, we will pay, later. And pay more that if we pay now.

Instapundit sums up some reaction to the Senate bill:

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It's a disgrace, but par for the course for this bunch.
...

And Don Surber itemizes some of the pork and observes: "Disgusting is too nice a word for people who voted to send troops to Iraq in 2002, and less than 5 years later play political chicken with funding for those very troops."

They're all the same

So if you voted for "Change" in November, you got porked. (via. Gateway Pundit)

There is nothing to see, here

As the story of the kidnapped British sailors gets sidebar treatment from the mainstream press, remember the points made at Captain's Quarters and The Belmont Club. There is nothing to see, here. Please disperse.

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...Iran has blatantly announced it is going to violate the Geneva Conventions, but no one in the press or the human rights community seems to notice.

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No of course not. As currently interpreted the Geneva Conventions only apply to individuals bent on destroying America. Individuals who blow up elementary schools, kidnap children, attack churches and mosques, kill invalids in wheelchairs, plan attacks on skyscrapers in New York, behead journalists, detonate car bombs with children to camouflage their crime, or board jetliners with explosive shoes -- all while wearing mufti or even women's clothing -- these are all considered "freedom fighters" of the most principled kind. They and they alone enjoy the protections of the Geneva Convention. As to Americans like Tucker and Menchaca or Israeli Gilad Shalit -- or these fifteen British sailors for that matter, it is a case of "what Geneva Convention?" We don't need no steenkin' Geneva Convention to try these guys as spies. That's the way the Human Rights racket works. Don't go looking for any Geneva Convention in Somalia, Darfur, Basilan or Iran. Try Guantanamo Bay.

Awakening

In Anbar province, Iraq, Al-Qaela has ruled. The US has fought hard, here, but with limited success. But success seems to be coming. The Awakening Council is council of Sunni tribal leader in Anbar province. They have finally had enough. Enough of their children have been killed. And they have started to eradicate Al-Qaela. And they are on good terms with the US. It remains to be seen whether they will be part of democratic Iraq in the future, but for now, they are killing the enemy.

Watch this Guardian Film tell the story via INDCJournal.

Steady Progress

Mudville Gazette posts an e-mail and comments from an Iraqi.

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(From an Iraqi paper)

Nearly 40% of Families who left Basra have returned to their homes in Basra


Haider's comments:

The leader of the Sunni Accord in southern Iraq, were Sunnis are a minority, goes out of his way to announce this tremendous news. Not only does he confirm that security is good in Basra. That the mostly Shiite security forces are working hard to protect every one. That the security operations are being effective. He also point out the strong historical bond between Shiite & Sunni in Iraq. How can Alkhzerji be describing what our media and some politicians are calling civil war?

And Hope for America

It's paragraphs like this that define the true heroism of our soldiers. They serve for what America stand for, silent in the face of the realities of war. God bless you all for doing what must be done, but few will do.

Michael Yon:
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Many of the soldiers streaming into Iraq will spend a scorching summer with no air conditioners or running water. They will stink like soldiers; there will be no ice cream. There will be grit and filth, mosquitoes with malaria, foul smells from the burning garbage of the cities, snipers, and terrorists who will try to flatten their buildings with truck bombs. The soldiers will see things that age them a decade or more over the course of a single summer. Many will die here, others will lose limbs and a few will go crazy. They bring the final hope for Iraq.

Generation I

I am a member of Generation I(mpatiant). Everything should be instant. E-mails get to China in 3 seconds. Order a book in 30 sec - it's delivered next day. Get a call on your cell from anyone, anytime, anywhere. I want all of the news and all of history, unbiased and downloaded into my head. I want it now and I want it my way. But until we reach the singularity, there are still things that take time. Like walking to the printer. And reading and learning. And war.

Austin Bay
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No, Madame Speaker. It’s perseverance. Alas, Baby Boomers get antsy when a Big Mac is two minutes late. Lack of patience is America’s greatest strategic weakness.

Astonishing

If an astonishing thing happens, and no one is there to witness it, is it astonishing?

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Iraq, as ancient Mesopotamia (the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers), seeded Abraham's Ur and Hammurabi's Babylon. The region was the Eden of city-states, the consolidator and exporter of the Agricultural Revolution. It is also the center of a predominantly Muslim region where -- to paraphrase historian Bernard Lewis -- something "went wrong." Lewis was addressing the "fossilization" that began to afflict the Middle East at least six centuries ago, a cultural, intellectual and, yes, political ossification and decline.

The decline did two things that directly affect the War on Terror (which Rudy Giuliani more correctly calls The Terrorists' War Against Us). The decline undermined Islamist utopian notions of theological supremacy. That millennialist disappointment seeds the long list of "grievances" infesting al-Qaida's propaganda.

The far greater consequence (and truly grievous wrong) was arresting Middle Eastern populations. Arrest is the right word. The Middle East was trapped in the terrible yin-yang of tyrant and terrorist, the choice of one or the other -- which is no choice, for both mean oppression and death.

In November 2001, I wrote that we -- the United States specifically, but the civilized world as a whole -- are in a "fight for the future" with terrorists and tyrants. Iraq (Mesopotamia) has been and continues to be an influential if not critical stretch of geography.

In January 2003, I argued that toppling Saddam's tyranny in Iraq would do two things: begin the process of fostering political choice (democracy) in the Middle East and bring al-Qaida onto a battlefield not of its choosing. Moreover, that battlefield would be largely manned by Muslim allies, exposing the great fractures within Islam and the Middle East that al-Qaida's strategists tried to mask by portraying America as "the enemy."

Credit the Iraqi people with taking the opportunity by conducting three honest, open, democratic elections. In May 2006, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formed a democratically elected, consensus-seeking government not simply in Mesopotamia but in the heart of the politically dysfunctional Middle East.

That's an astonishing achievement.

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When I read this it feels like when you tell a good joke and the person doesn't budge at the punchline. What is it that they don't get? It's pretty straight forward to me.

Tragically Simple

"Domestic and personal political quests trump responsible action." notes Austin Bay, in response to this quote from a Washington Post article.

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The only constituency House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignored in her plan for amending President Bush’s supplemental war funding bill are the people of the country that U.S. troops are fighting to stabilize. The Democratic proposal doesn’t attempt to answer the question of why August 2008 is the right moment for the Iraqi government to lose all support from U.S. combat units. It doesn’t hint at what might happen if American forces were to leave at the end of this year — a development that would be triggered by the Iraqi government’s weakness. It doesn’t explain how continued U.S. interests in Iraq, which holds the world’s second-largest oil reserves and a substantial cadre of al-Qaeda militants, would be protected after 2008; in fact, it may prohibit U.S. forces from returning once they leave.

"...they know so much that isn't so"

John Noonan @ Townhall.com

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.... Ronald Reagan used to say "it's not that liberals are ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." ...

... Opposition to President Bush has become downright religious for some Americans—activists whose greatest fear is that victory in Iraq would be tantamount to justifying the whole invasion and occupation.

Thus leftist pundits erect pyramids of anti-war rhetoric, built on falsehoods, misconception, and doubt—constructs that serve as pillars of justification for a hasty retreat. None of it is built on sound military judgment or expertise, which should be a requisite for respected war punditry, but like Ronnie said, "they know so much that isn't so." And, there's nothing left-o'-center bloggers love more than to show off that knowledge.

Take Juan Cole for example. ...

Visiting Iraq: Cartoonist Chris Muir

Chris Muir writes a political cartoon, day-by-day. He recently visited Baghdad. Here are a few clips from his post at The Fourth Rail. Read the whole thing. It's quick and humorous. And it's straight talk from someone there, not a politician looking for votes or a broadcaster looking for ratings (and votes).

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Sand is a misnomer; subatomic particulate I think describes the main element present in Kuwait, Iraq, et al. A fine dust that finds it way everywhere and into anything, it also makes for an astonishingly mobile mud that actually travels up one's pants when it (infrequently) rains. I still grind when I walk.
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OK, I made that one up, but you get the picture, even if they wouldn't. Baghdad, like any large city, is largely quiet except where terrorist (gang) activity takes place. If you toured Watts in LA, only, well yes, there's violence. But 99.8% of the city is just fine. Then again, there aren't large amounts of US heavily armed soldiers touring through it, so...
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I went on patrols most every day, with 1-9 Cav, and 2-7 Cav, respectively. The MSM had geared me up to expect RPGs flitting about like ginormous mosquitos, but I gotta tell ya, I couldn't draw a single shot while I was there.
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Contrary to what one hears, these guys are so oversupplied with armor, they leave some of it on base so they can maneuver effectively on patrol, whether body armor or Humvee armor.
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In the brief time I was there, I attended meetings where everyone was working with each other, I mean sheiks, the Police Chief of the city, US Army, Kurds, Sunnis, Shia, cats and dogs, everyone- together. There are real divisions here, but also a real determination to weld the place into a more stable society.
...

People here will tell you they are mostly afraid of one thing-that we will leave soon, like we have since Vietnam, Somalia, etc., and that they will then be at the mercy of the terrorists who seep in from Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Saudia Arabia. ... People here ... want us here to give them time to reform their society.

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From a fellow dork, thanks for the perspective, Chris.

Progress: Another source from the front

Here is another Iraqi sending word of progress being made in Baghdad (IraqPundit). You have to read through some warranted chastising of the New York Times, first, but here is just a piece of his report on the situation in Baghdad, today.

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I spoke to an aunt in Baghdad the other day. She and her husband live in a mixed area that locals call "The Judges' Neighborhood." They and their neighbors have seen a lot of terrible violence, and have experienced far more than their share of fear.

I've talked with this aunt frequently, and while she's always tried to sound as if she and her husband will be just fine, this recent call was different. This time, she had palpable optimism in her voice. For the first time in a long, long time, she told me, she and the people around her feel that things might turn out okay after all.

Progress 4

Are you hearing about the progress elsewhere? It's happening, but you'll have to hear it from such "unreliable" sources as someone who lives in Baghdad.

Omar at PajamasMedia

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As we noted in earlier reports, we feel safer about moving around in the city now than we did a month before. I have recently been to districts in Baghdad where a month or two ago I wouldn’t have thought of going to. In the last week or two I’ve showed my ID to soldiers and policemen in checkpoints dozens of times. A few months ago this was considered an extremely risky thing to do — especially for someone whose ID shows a name and profession such as mine. “Omar” is a pure Sunni name and everyone here knows that scores of young Baghdadi men were killed by death squads just because they had the name.

Numbers are always useful in assessing results of any effort, and the numbers so far are on the good guys’ side. I read today that the count of various death squads’ victims for this month is one half that of January, and little more than one third that of December of last year. This comes from the official figures reported by the Baghdad morgue.

The other number that’s become one of the important parameters for assessing the situation in the Baghdad is the number of displaced families that have returned to their homes since the beginning of Operation “Imposing Law.” This one too is giving a positive sign. The last official count by the authorities brought the total to little over 1,020 families in just two weeks according to Baghdad paper al-Mada.

...

The results of Operation “Imposing Law” are not magical. We didn’t expect them to be magical. The commanders didn’t claim they’d be when the Operation began. Still these latest developments are certainly promising. And let’s not forget that what has been achieved so far was achieved while many thousands of the new troops assigned to Baghdad are yet to arrive.

Medal of Honor

From the Wall Street Journal's, Opinion Journal:

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Amid the mad jumble that makes the news in our time, the White House on Monday held a ceremony for a Medal of Honor recipient. His name is Bruce Crandall. Mr. Crandall is 74 now, and earned his medal as a major, flying a Huey helicopter in 1965 in the Vietnam War.
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The particulars of Lt. Col. Crandall's act of heroism, and what others said of it at the awarding of the medal on Monday, offers we civilians a chance to understand not merely the risks of combat but what animates those who embrace those risks.

Mr. Crandall, then a major, commanded a company with the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, carrying soldiers to a landing zone, called X-ray, in the la Drang Valley. An assault from the North Vietnamese army erupted, as described at the White House ceremony Monday. Three soldiers on Maj. Crandall's helicopter were killed. He kept it on the ground while four wounded were taken aboard. Back at base, he asked for a volunteer to return with him to X-ray. Capt. Ed Freeman came forward. Through smoke and bullets, they flew in and out 14 times, spent 14 hours in the air and used three helicopters. They evacuated 70 wounded. The battalion survived.

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Two men have received the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq: Army Sgt. First Class Paul R. Smith, who died defending some 100 fellow soldiers, allowing their withdrawal; and Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who died after he dove atop a live grenade to protect his squad. (Cpl. Dunham's act was the subject of a 2004 Wall Street Journal story by reporter Michael M. Phillips and later a book, "The Gift of Valor.")

....

In a less doubtful culture, Maj. Crandall's magnificent medal would have been on every front page, if only a photograph. It was on no one's front page Tuesday. The New York Times, the culture's lodestar, had a photograph on its front page of President Bush addressing governors about an insurance plan. Maj. Crandall's Medal of Honor was on page 15, in a round-up, three lines from the bottom. Other big-city dailies also ran it in their news summaries; some--the Washington Post, USA Today--ran full accounts inside.

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Where are we headed if we do not honor and respect those who give the ultimate price for us and our country?

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Most schoolchildren once knew the names of the nation's heroes in war--Ethan Allen, John Paul Jones, Stephen Decatur, the Swamp Fox Francis Marion, Ulysses S. Grant, Clara Barton, Billy Mitchell, Alvin York, Leigh Ann Hester. Lee Ann who? She's the first woman to win a Silver Star for direct combat with the enemy. Did it in a trench in Iraq. Her story should be in schools, but it won't be.

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Thank you, Lt. Col. Crandall.