Tag Archives: War On Terror

Holebrooke Has It Wrong On McCain And Timetable

But that’s never stopped him before. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe show this morning, former Ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke perpetuates the media spin about Iraqi PM alMaliki and the timetable and McCain. In speaking about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Holebrooke portrays McCain as being at odds with both Bush and alMaliki regarding a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq when they are all, in fact, on the same page.

The reality is that the timetable the three are in agreement with is more Table than Time, based on progress on the ground and political progress in Baghdad, not on the calendar. They next interviewed Andy Card, former Chief of Staff for Bush, who corrected Holebrooke’s spin. And much to their amusement, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski laughed at him.

What is most amusing, or disturbing, about the hosts on the show, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, is that they could not discern the difference between the two.

related link: Iraq’s Timetable Is More Table Than Time

Iraq's Timetable Is More Table Than Time

Good news. Iraq is finally in the position to look toward taking over complete control of their country, and us out.

In politics, nothing happens by accident. Although the last of the five Army brigades that made up the surge will be leaving this month, political solutions still need to happen. 15 of 18 goals set forth last year have been met.

The widely publicized, and misrepresented, ‘timetable’ is a lesson in political maneuvering. PM al-Maliki has some coalition building of his own to undertake. Bringing together all the political parts to unify the country is required. Talk of a timetable, it is hoped, will facilitate that. The real timetable isn’t based on the calendar. According to his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, it is based on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security, which is in agreement with the Bush administration, not against it.

It is the media’s interpretation of a TIMEtable that the administration is against. Not Iraq’s.

related links:Iraqi security better; governance falling short | Iraq raises idea of timetable for US withdrawal

Senate Overwhelmingly Passes FISA Law

In a 69-28 vote yesterday, the Senate approved a revised FISA bill that the House approved last month. The President is expected to sign it. It is a little disappointing that the vote wasn’t 97-0, since we are talking about taking out terrorists and terrorist cells, but it does show the far left’s commitment to their wacko base.

Bowing to President Bush’s demands, the Senate approved and sent the White House a bill Wednesday to overhaul bitterly disputed rules on secret government eavesdropping and shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits complaining they helped the U.S. spy on Americans.

alAP is not pleased. In fact, if you want to know where alAP stands on the issue, one only has to read the title of their article, ‘Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill.’

They could have approached it from a different perspective, like an unbiased news perspective. They might have used one like this, ‘Washington United In Fighting Terror.’ Had they done that, it would have also sent the correct message to the enemy, instead of the wrong one.

link: Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill

Today's Special

I don’t know how this story got past the al-AP editorial board, but it is sure to be ignored by everyone else. Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program that included 550 tons of yellowcake. That is enough needed to produce about 145 nuclear warheads. From the American Thinker . . .

The media have been telling us for years that Saddam had no WMD, so “Bush’s War”: was based on a “lie.” And those who believed Saddam did have WMD or WMD programs were delusional or worse.

But today, on July 6, 2008, the Associated Press reports that

* Saddam Hussein had a nuclear program
* At the Tuwaitha nuclear complex just south of Baghdad
* Which included 550 metric tons (over 1.2 million pounds) of “yellowcake”, or concentrated uranium
* And multiple devices that could be used in a nuclear weapon.

Should be obvious to everyone now that the 550 tons of yellowcake was for making radioactive sand castles, not for developing nuclear weapons grade uranium. Now that the dis-confirmations have been dis-confirmed, who was lying and who was ignoring?

For about five years now, those of us who thought Saddam Hussein probably had at least WMD programs, if not WMD themselves, have been called not only wrong, but illogical and insane.

There’s not enough bandwidth on the Internet to handle all the ‘corrections’ and apologies for years of disinformation by the media and Democrat politicians in general. We weren’t the ones who were crazy ideologues.

related link: AP Exclusive: US removes uranium from Iraq | Disconfirmations Disconfirmed: Saddam Had Nuke Program

NYT Outs CIA Agent, Who Cares?

If we weren’t talking about war and warfare, this would be funny. You don’t have to look hard to see the bias of the media. Scott Shane, a reporter for the New York Times just outed the identity of the CIA agent that interrogated Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and nobody seems to care. And it was no accident either.

Fearing retribution, the agency asked the paper not to name the CIA analyst. The paper ran his name anyway, saying it generally withholds names only in the case of ‘victims of sexual assault or intelligence officers operating undercover.’ While the operative was not serving undercover, the fact that he interrogated the architect of the 9/11 plot was classified. Naming him added nothing to the Times story.

Remember too the record of New York Times when it comes to national security of the United States . . .

The New York Times previously disclosed the existence of the Bush administration’s secret National Security Agency program for intercepting calls of suspected terrorists when one leg of the call is in the U.S. It also disclosed the administration’s SWIFT program for tracking the worldwide financial transactions of terrorists.

Starting with the Valerie Plame debacle, who still insists that Dick Cheney outed her, when we all know, the media included, that it was Richard Armitage that outed her, and Scooter Libby is the only one who gets charged. No actions taken against Armitage.

Now, we have surrogates of Barack Obama and the far left attempting to diminish John McCain’s military experience to something equal to Obama’s, which is zip, zero, nada. They’re saying he’s not a hero, he’s a loser who got himself shot down and participated in a propaganda video.

Today, no one is asking any questions or jumping in front of TV cameras, and generally foaming at the mouth like Democrats were when the whole Plame/Wilson theater production took place. There is no effort afloat in Washington to put that reporter or the New York Times in front of a Senate Intelligence Committee (I know, its an oxymoron) with the aim of getting the Justice Department (another one) involved. Amazingly, there’s no curiosity whatsoever about it.

Who tortured Scott Shane to go so far as he did, to really jeopardize the welfare of that agent and his family when he published the agent’s name that interrogated KSM?

links: Inside a 9/11 Mastermind’s Interrogation | N.Y. Times Names Names, Jeopardizes Safety – Again

Another Corner Turned In Iraq

By now it is obvious to everyone that the so-called ‘news’ media has no interest in telling this story since they, along with the left, are invested in defeat where Iraq is concerned. This development in Iraq is the kind of success everyone has been looking for. Iraq is opening its oil fields to international oil companies for bidding for development and production.

This is not to suggest that the war there and our participation there is over. But the fact that the newly formed democratically elected government of Iraq has progressed to the point that they can make plans for their future says a lot about the success of the war so far.

The move to invite bids for the development of Iraq’s largest producing fields should mark the return of the oil majors, whose cash and expertise Iraq needs to restore its oil infrastructure that has been hard hit by sanctions and war.

By allowing international firms to help raise output at its key producing oil fields, the Iraqi government is breaking with the policy of major oil-producing neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates where national firms keep tight control of foreign investment in their oil sectors.

Iraq’s move to embrace the world economy is a corner we’ve been looking forward to turning. The left will no doubt say, ‘ya see, it was a war for oil.’

It is Iraq’s own resources that Iraq needs to join the world as a friendly and prosperous country. It’s what the Iraqi people need. The left’s premise in their whole ‘war for oil’ rant is that the oil is for us, the U.S. On the contrary, the war for oil was about keeping it from Iran and al Qaeda and saving it for the people of Iraq. The fact that theses terrorists would have all the money they could possibly need to wage war on us had they taken over Iraq still escapes the left, Barack Obama included.

related link: Iraq throws open door to foreign oil firms

Iraqis Prefer McCain

The fact that the Iraqi people prefer McCain over Obama should tell you something.

See what these key provincial Iraqi leaders said . . .

“The Iraqis are really fearful about some of the positions the Democratic Party has adopted,” says Sheik Ahmed Abu Rishah. “If the Democrats win, they will be withdrawing their forces in a very rapid manner.”

Mamoun Sami Rashid al-Alawi, the governor of Anbar province, agrees. “We have over a million casualties, thousands of houses destroyed,” he says. “Are we going to tell [Iraqis] that the game is over? That the Americans are pulling out?”

Democrats, so concerned with what the rest of the world thinks of them, what do they think the Iraqi people will think of them if, like Democrats want to do, they leave before the job is finished? That, would be a betrayal. And, not a good way to develop trust, or allies, around the world.

WSJ link: Why Iraqis Back McCain

Democrats Closed Tent On Lieberman

Referring to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) as public enemy no. 1, Democrats are once again illustrating how really ‘closed tent’ that party really is. They are upset that Joe Lieberman supports Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) instead of the Democrat’s choice, first-time Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

Anyone who knows Joe Lieberman, knows how he feels about the war on terror. Like me, he feels that there is nothing else more important to us as a society right now than to see to it that we don’t have 9/11’s on a weekly basis. They are at war with us, believe it or not. And if you’ve been blown up, what does it matter which company you can tax into oblivion? Then the company gets blown up, like what happened on 9/11. Then what are you going to tax? Continue reading Democrats Closed Tent On Lieberman

USF Student Pleads Guilty To Terrorism Charges

Remember these University of South Florida students? In August 2007 the two, both Egyptian, were caught with explosive materials in their car, while headed in the direction of a Navy base where nuclear warheads are loaded onto submarines, and another military base where former Guantanamo prisoners are being held. They were indicted on terrorism charges last September.

What a terrorist from Egypt looks like.

Smiley Mohamed isn’t smiling any more. He just plead guilty to being a terrorist. The ‘they were just fireworks’ defense didn’t fly. Read Ahmed Mohamed’s plea agreement here.

H/T to Debbie Schlussel for the whole story.