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POPSAnti-Jihad 'University': Bringing Insurgents In From The Cold
While I was not permitted to talk privately with detainees, I visited both Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport, and remote Camp Bucca, near Basra in southern Iraq. A major tipping point in the program, say officers, was when detainees began volunteering for the classes being offered. Although al-Qaida detainees and the Takfiris (another group of religious extremists) pressured fellow Iraqis against participating in the very popular religious discussions, over 3,000 detainees have done so. “After Iraqis here learn how to read and write, they can read the Koran themselves for the first time,” says Sheikh Ali, a Sunni who counsels detainees and who, like most of the Iraqis working in the program, declined to have his surname used and must live in an American-guarded compound to avoid reprisals. “I’ve seen detainees break down and cry when they realize that the conduct they thought was sanctioned by God is actually a sin.”
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POPSCensoring Iraq Michael Yon went to Iraq initially at the behest of military friends who insisted that what Americans were seeing on the news wasn't an accurate reflection of the reality on the ground. Two of my friends died on consecutive days. When the charred remains of American contractors were strung from a bridge in Falluja, I put aside a book I was writing to attend the funerals. In Colorado we laid to rest a Special Forces friend who'd been killed in Samara; then on to Florida for the funeral of the friend who'd been murdered and mutilated in Falluja. A photo of the dang ling corpses won a Pulitzer. I purchased and borrowed the equipment required for the journey. Camera, satellite phone, laptop, body armor, helmet, and so on. Like most of the people who would later be called "alternative media," I bore these expenses myself, including the flights to Kuwait.
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POPSUPDATE: Al Qaeda in Iraq: al-Masri Captured: US Military Yet To Comment "The police raided this house and arrested him. During the primary investigation, he confessed that he is Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Now a broader investigation of him is being conducted," he said to Iraqiya. If confirmed, the arrest would represent a major blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has been on the run for the past year following a shift in alliances by Sunni tribesmen in western Anbar province, and elsewhere, and an influx of thousands of U.S. troops. "The commander of Ninevah military operations informed me that Iraqi troops captured Abu Hamza al-Muhajir the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq," al-Askari told The Associated Press by telephone. He did not have any further details nor did he say when the Al Qaeda leader was arrested. According to unconfirmed reports he was caught Thursday evening in the Tayran area in central Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
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POPSHow We'll Know When We've Won: Frederick W. Kagan Certainly, the American people have a right to insist that our government operate with a clear vision of success and that it develop a clear plan for evaluating whether we are moving in the right direction, even if no tidy numerical metrics can meaningfully size up so complex a human endeavor. As shown here, supporters of the current strategy do indeed have a clear definition of success, and those working to implement it are already evaluating American progress against that definition every day. It is on the basis of their evaluation that we say the surge is working. http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.,pubID.27890/pub_detail.asp
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POPSThe Axis of Evil: An Idiot's Guide: David Frum Joseph Cirincione, the man most widely identified as Obama's top nuclear-affairs adviser, last September pooh-poohed as "far-right" "nonsense" the early rumors that the Syrian nuclear facility was indeed a nuclear facility. Cirincione wrote on the Foreign Policy blog: "This appears to be the work of a small group of officials leaking cherry-picked, unvetted 'intelligence' to key reporters in order to promote a pre-existing political agenda. If this sounds like the run-up to the war in Iraq, it should. This time it appears aimed at derailing the U.S.-North Korean agreement that administration hardliners think is appeasement. Some Israelis want to thwart any dialogue between the U.S. and Syria." Cirincione seems to have been so determined to avert what he regarded as the threat of U.S. over-reaction--so eager to promote dialogue with Syria--that he blinded himself to the reality of a nuclear threat.
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POPSIraqi Air Force Lifted By Support Missions In 1991, the Iraqi air force had 16 bombers, including Tu-22 and Tu-16; 360 fighter ground attack craft, which included J-6, MiG-23, Su-7, and Su-20; and 275 fighters, including the MiG-21, Mirage and MiG-29. Today, it has 17 reconnaissance planes, three transport planes and only several aircraft for training. Despite the shortage, the recovery of the Iraqi air force over the past few years is considered a successful endeavor for Iraq-U.S. relations. Since November 2006, the U.S. Air Force has been aiding Iraqi military commanders in an effort to get the fledgling branch to solely take on military operations. "We will continue our relations and future as friends," said Gen. Barzanji, he added that "Iraq will one day be a good example for the rest of the Middle East."
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POPSSupport Victory In Iraq: Sign Our Petition Please show solidarity behind General Petraeus and our heroic military. Make our voices of hope and support louder and stronger than those of the radical anti-war groups. We must illustrate that the efforts of the military in this successful surge have not gone unnoticed. We must proclaim that it would be undeniably disastrous for our national security to retreat and inhumane to leave the Iraqi people in the hands of the brutal and violent Islamic jihadists.
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POPSWhittling Away At Shia Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (continued) Al-Qaida in Iraq tried to ignite a sectarian war -- its now-dead emir, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, made that goal explicit in February 2004. Al-Qaida massacred en masse, to the point that U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D for Defeatist) declared the war in Iraq lost. Then, the Sunni tribes in Anbar turned on al-Qaida. Sunni political integration is by no means complete, but al-Qaida has failed. In August 2004, Sadr's thugs grabbed the Grand Mosque in Najaf. Sadr was counting on Americans to bomb the mosque. The United States opted to follow the political lead of Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Sistani's aides told coalition officers: "Let us deal with Sadr. We know how to handle him and will do so. However, the coalition must not make him a martyr." Think of the Iraqi anti-Sadr method as a form of suffocation, a political war waged with the blessing of Ayatollah Sistani that requires daily economic and political action, persistent police efforts and occasional military thrusts.
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POPS Q&A: Who is Moqtada al-Sadr? (continued)>>>Shi'ite guerrillas, who continued the insurgency. Where is he now? Sadr is believed to have moved to Tehran last year and is studying to become an ayatollah in the holy city of Qom. He is said to have married an Iranian woman. It is not clear how much control he exercises over the Mahdi army. A substantial part of the army still takes its orders from the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The ceasefire has been repeatedly tested by the "special groups", but Sadr's call for a civil revolt appears to have been prompted by the necessity of surviving the most aggressive bid by Iraq's security forces to assert the state's authority in Basra. What happens next? The Iraqi army, despite its British and American training, does not have the organisation or discipline to drive his followers out of towns and cities. The best that can be hoped for is that Sadr supporters will acquiesce to a stronger security force and establish their support in provincial
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POPSBREAKING - Feds Indict Former CAIR Chief/Current Muslim Charity Exec as Saddam Spy U.S. Attorney Murphy Allows Charity to Remain Open, Main Financier to Walk Free By Debbie Schlussel The indictment says that Saddam Hussein's government gave Al-Hanooti two million barrels of oil in exchange for his work on behalf of the Iraqi intelligence service in America, one wonders how much of a cut of that his partner Alomari and his close buddy and champion, Imad Hamad, got. A good take, I'm sure. And I bet the feds know about this but are looking the other way. Mark my word. So, while it is mildly good news that Muthanna Al-Hanooti may face justice, that news is far too belated and far too little. When Mohammed Alomari is indicted, LIFE For Relief and Development is shut down and its assets frozen, and Imad Hamad--who worked for Al-Hanooti and LIFE to get USAID status and federal government protection through Senator Carl Levin--is also stopped cold, then I will be happy.
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POPSSaddam's Terror Links It's true that the Pentagon report found no "smoking gun," i.e., a direct connection on a joint Iraq-al Qaeda operation. Supposedly this vindicates the view that Iraq's liberation was launched on false premises. But the Administration was always cautious, with Colin Powell alleging merely a "sinister nexus" in his 2003 U.N. speech. If anything, sinister is an understatement. The main Iraq intelligence failure was over WMD, but the report indicates that the CIA also underestimated Saddam's ties to global terror cartels. The Administration has always maintained that Iraq is just one front in the war on terror; and the report offers "evidence of logistical preparation for terrorist operations in other nations, including those in the West." In 2002, an IIS memo explained to Saddam that Iraqi embassies were stockpiling weapons, while many of the terrorists trained in Fedayeen camps were dispatched to London with counterfeit documents, where they circulated throughout Europe.
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POPSF-18 Pilot Returns Home To Canine Friend From Iraqi War Zone Dennis met Nubs in the Al Anbar Province where the dog ran wild at an Iraqi Border Fort. When Nubs was a puppy, an Iraqi sliced off most of his ears in an attempt to make the dog tough and more alert. Another time, Nubs was stabbed with a screwdriver, and Dennis nursed him back to health. When Dennis' unit, the Border Transition Team, moved camp 70 miles away, Nubs somehow tracked them to their new location two days later. It was against the rules to keep the dog in camp, and friends jumped in to bring Nubs to San Diego. “Once he found us there, it seemed like this was supposed to have happened,” Dennis said Saturday. “After he walked all that distance, it seemed like he was supposed to end up in San Diego.” Dennis said his first outing with Nubs will be a jog on the beach. “It will consummate the whole journey, going from the sand of Iraq to the sand of San Diego.”
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POPSSamantha Power And Democratic Lies About Iraq (continued)>power in the Persian Gulf, possibly with a nuclear weapons capacity in the coming years. In an interview with the BBC program HARDtalk, Power was asked about Barack Obama's plan to remove American troops from Iraq. In her response, she described the candidate's tight withdrawal timetable as "a best case scenario," which he would "revisit" once elected. That sliced and diced answer prompted the show's host to inquire whether Obama's commitment to withdraw most soldiers within 16 months was, actually, no commitment at all. Power's reply was revealing: You can't make a commitment in March 2008 about what circumstances will be like in January of 2009. He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator. He will rely upon a plan—an operational plan that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn't have daily access now, as a result of not being the president.
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POPSBaghdad Rocked As McCain, Cheney Visit McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh on Sunday and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, the U.S. Embassy said. Further details of the visit were not released for security reasons, the embassy said. Before leaving the United States, McCain, who was making his eighth trip to Iraq, said the tour to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity. McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions. The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France.
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POPSWhy Winning In Iraq Is So Critical It is in Europe, not in post-Iraq Kansas, where a Turkish prime minister announces to Muslim expatriate residents that they must remain forever Turks and assimilation is a crime; it is in post-Iraq Europe, not Los Angeles, where politicians and churchmen talk of the inevitability of Sharia law; and it is in post-Iraq Europe, not the United States, where honor killings and Islamic rioting are common occurrences. Why? A number of reasons, but despite all the misrepresentation and propaganda, the message has filtered through the Middle East that the United States will go after and punish jihadists — but also, alone of the Western nations, it will risk its own blood and treasure to work with Arab nations to find some alternative to the extremes of dictatorship and theocracy. Europe, in contrast to its utopian rhetoric, will trade with and profit from, but most surely never challenge, a Middle Eastern thug. ...Read the whole thing.
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POPSClinton, Obama In Tight Race Ahead Of Texas Primary Voters in Texas are gearing up for what could be the biggest showdown yet between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Houston 03 March 2008 "I think we have to renegotiate NAFTA and what I am going to do is make it very clear; we need core labor and environmental standards, we need to end the provision that lets foreign companies sue to overturn protection for the environment and our workers," said Hillary Clinton. The attack on NAFTA has no appeal to business leaders here in Texas who say the trade agreement has been a resounding success for all three nations-the United States, Canada and Mexico. Cross-border trade on the Texas border with Mexico is booming. Critics also note that Clinton spoke in favor of NAFTA when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. But many workers believe the agreement has been unfair to them and Clinton says it must be changed.
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POPSMcCain To Obama: Al-Qaeda Is In Iraq TYLER, Texas Republican presidential hopeful John McCain mocked Barack Obama's view of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the Democratic contender responded that GOP policies brought the terrorist group there. The exchange Wednesday underscored that the two consider each other likely general election rivals, even though the Democratic contest remains unresolved. McCain said he had not watched Tuesday night's debate but was told of Obama's response when asked whether as president he would reserve the right to send U.S. troops back into Iraq to quell an insurrection or civil war. Obama didn't say whether he'd send troops but said: "As commander in chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And if al-Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad."
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POPS Democrats Juggle Iraq, Economy (continued) there is also less pressure on them to back a withdrawal from Iraq, Republicans say. While Democrats say they plan to keep the pressure on the Bush administration to change course in Iraq, they are now emphasizing the economic impacts resulting from the war’s costs. Their base appears to be resigned to the fact that Congress won’t be able to force a change in military strategy this year and is instead planning a series of ads to make Republicans pay for their war support at the polls. The coalition, which calls itself the Iraq/Recession Campaign, is seeking to tie the downturn in the economy to the war costs, and plans also to target Republican senators up for reelection, including Susan Collins (Maine), John Sununu (N.H.), Norm Coleman (Minn.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). The coalition includes MoveOn.org, the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress.
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POPSUncommon Heroes in Iraq 1000 characters isn't enough for this clip. I suggest going to the source. Looking back at my initial arrival in the CPIC, I thought of the Swiss journalist who pulled me aside and asked, "May I offer you a bit of a heads-up before you go out there to your unit tomorrow? I don't want to offend you, but if you'd like to hear the real story, I am happy to tell you." I said, "Sure. Any orientation would be great." But I was thinking, "Uh-oh, this guy is just going to unload on me and tell me how fouled up the Americans are." But putting his arm around my shoulder, he went on: "The facts are quite compelling and simple: The Americans have actually turned the page in Iraq in terms of security, and I am impressed by the brilliance of your General Petraeus." That Swiss journalist must've had extensive "willing suspension of disbelief".
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POPS What Obama's Senate Votes Reveal This past September, he joined 27 other Democrats in voting for a bill ordering Bush to begin withdrawing most American forces within 90 days. >>>>>>>>>>>from msnbc.com 'Yes' on Iraq funding cutoff The bill would have cut off funding for the Iraq deployment by June 30, 2008. Just two hours before that vote, Obama missed another Senate vote, this one to denounce a full-page New York Times ad run by the anti-war group Moveon.org mocking the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus as “General Betray Us.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23276453/page/2/ >>>>>>>>>>>>> Last October Obama voted for an act that would have allowed illegal immigrants who become permanent legal residents to qualify for lower in-state tuition rates at state universities. Obama voted against a bill extending the cuts in capital gains and dividends tax rates that Congress enacted in 2003, and against the repeal of the tax on inherited wealth, the es
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POPSMarine's Simple Act Of Kindness To Save An Abused, Injured Dog He couldn't take the dog with him and watched as it tried to follow the Humvees away from the border. Two days later, while Dennis and a comrade were working on a Humvee, he looked up and saw the dog staring at him. "Somehow that crazy damned dog tracked us," he wrote Jan. 9. But the reunion was short lived. Military policy prohibits having pets in war zones, and Dennis was given four days to get the dog off the base or kill him. The decision was easy: Nubs was going to San Diego. The logistics, though, were anything but easy. With help from his Iraqi interpreter, Dennis managed to find a Jordanian veterinarian to get the care and paperwork needed to get it to the states. He also negotiated the red tape to get the dog across the border into Jordan. His family and close friends helped raise the $3,500 needed to get the dog from Amman, Jordan, to San Diego, said his mother, Marsha Cargo.
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POPS 'End the War in 2009' February 20, 2008 The Nation General David Petraeus will be testifying in Washington that the conditions are improving in Iraq and that the United States must "stay the course." Petraeus will be acting as a de facto surrogate for McCain in domestic politics. Obama will have to respond to the general's serious claims without retreating from the commitment he has given to early withdrawal.The questions of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan could intensify as a symbol of America's current policies towards terrorism. McCain has already absorbed both neoconservative doctrines and the neoconservatives themselves in his campaign against "Islamo-fascism" as the greatest threat in American history. They will attack Obama for proposing to pull the plug on Iraq just when the tide is turning. They will question Obama's experience in pushing for diplomacy towards Iran, draw him out on why he favors more troops in Afghanistan and a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan if there is "actionable intelligence."
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POPS Vehicle Delay Blamed For Marines' Deaths The letter to the senators is evidence of the "bad advice" senior Marine Corps leaders receive, Gayl contends. The letter, he says, portions of which were probably drafted by the Combat Development Command, omitted that the urgent 2005 request from the Iraq battlefield specifically asked for MRAPs — and not more heavily armored Humvees. It also ignored the Marines' own findings that armored Humvees wouldn't stop IEDs. If MRAPs arrived to Iraq late, or proved too bulky for certain missions, the Marine Corps should have come up with different and better solutions several years ago when the IED crisis was growing, Gayl contends. He has been an outspoken advocate for non-lethal weapons, such as a beam gun that stings but doesn't kill and "dazzlers" that use a powerful light beam to steer unwelcome vehicles and people from checkpoints and convoys. Biden and Bond rebuked the Marine Corps in September for "apparent retaliation" against Gayl.
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POPSPurported Al Qaeda Video Shows Prisoners Burned Alive I swear by God almighty that we will have no mercy on them," he continues. "Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar." According to the summary — in Arabic and German — included in the nearly 15-minute video posted on Google, many of the clips were found in Diyala, Iraq. The makers of the film say that the originals were "passed to us by others." video on Turkish news site: WARNING:VERY DISTURBING IMAGES
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POPS The Race To Pull Out Of Iraq Elsewhere, however, it is hard to find many areas where they disagree on their approach to foreign policy or national security issues. The reason could be that their advisers are largely made up of people from Bill Clinton's administration. Hillary's team includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and former National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, who was caught red-handed, stealing classified Clinton documents from the National Archives. Mr. Obama's advisers include former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake; Susan Rice, an assistant secretary of state in Mr. Clinton's second term; and Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brezezinski. "If you add up all of their differences, they both fail on Iraq. They both are advocating a policy that unless significantly modified would lead to a reversal of all our military progress in 2007," Mr. O'Hanlon said.
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POPS"False hopes?" Obama told a crowd "There's no such thing." Meanwhile the authoritarian Putin has punkishly succeeded in restoring Russia to its inglorious heritage, reminding the world of the old formula that capitalism plus state power equals fascism. In Iran, none of Ahmadinejad's domestic troubles seem to have modified the state's sense of ascendancy, or its will to nuclearize itself, or its appetite for instability in its region. In Iraq, the streets are safer but the sects are not sweeter. In the Korean peninsula, diplomacy has gone ominously cold. In Palestine there are two Palestines, and one of them belongs to Hamas. In Darfur--well, you know, because everybody knows. In Latin America, the failures of liberal economics have sullied the reputation of liberal politics. And so on. And into this unirenic environment strides Obama, pledging to extract us promptly from Iraq and to negotiate with our enemies. What is the role of a conciliator in an unconciliating world?
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POPSal-Qaeda Prepares Dual-Track Offensive In Iraq Just In Time For Jan 20, 2009 February 11, 2008, 2:11 PM (GMT+02:00) Just in time for President Bush’s first – and last - Middle East tour, al Qaeda’s new operational arm, Fatah al-Islam, completed its redeployment from Lebanon on two warfronts: Iraq and the Gaza Strip. Al Qaeda has managed to pull together two fronts for twin campaigns orchestrated by a single commander, Fatah al-Islam’s Palestinian chief Shaker al-Abessi, from his new base in Iraq. Fatah al-Islam under Abessi’s command pinned the Lebanese army down at the northern Nahar al-Badr camp for four months in the summer of 2007 before being driven out. With his top command, Abessi was able to access Iraq from Syria in the last month by transiting a purportedly sealed border. According to our sources, the Palestinian-led terrorist force has reached North Iraq and is taking reinforcements from Lebanon and Syria preparatory to joining the main al Qaeda body fighting US and Iraqi forces in other parts of the country.
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POPSPRO-VICTORY IRAQ VETERANS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN 2008 Whether Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine, we all shared a common goal in Iraq: victory. As Republican candidates for Congress we share a vision for America’s future, her security, and that of future generations. We are unified in our commitment to relieve the Democrats of their command of Congress. Voters want to restore leadership and honor back to Washington. Who better to accomplish that mission than our generation of warriors? All veterans whose service to the United States brought them first to Iraq and now to a run for the House as pro-victory Republicans are welcome to become part of Iraq Veterans For Congress. United we are capable of sending to Congress a squad-size element of Iraq vets to keep us on offense in the War on Terror and counter calls for defeat. In short, unification of all Republican Iraq Veterans will be a powerful force multiplier. By joining forces we will generate crucial nationwide grassroots support while sharing ideas and strategies.
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POPSNow Is The Winter Of Our Conservative Discontent Perhaps his biggest opportunity to neutralize previous damage is with immigration reform. He needs to make it clear that he no longer favors rewarding illegal residents with permanent residence or a shot at American citizenship, unless they pay some penalty and get back in line in some symbolically and substantively important way. If he is able backtrack and admit doing so, a door opens for him. Schadenfreude Season Obama is reported to have raised three million dollars yesterday alone, raising the question of how far will the Clintons go in financing her campaign, against Obama, the candidate with all the momentum Hillary was known as a tightwad, so this kind of financial drain must be painful indeed for her, and persuading Bill to cough up the dough from his gigs in Dubai, Kazakhstan and other erstwhile friendly states may be no picnic.
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POPSAmerica's "End The War" Hijacked [hint: Democrats 2008 Presidential Election] Though few congressional aides would think of saying so on the record, in private many dismiss their party's lame anti-war effort as an absurd dog-and-pony show, a calculated attempt to score political points without ever being serious about bringing the troops home. But in September, Gen. David Petraeus reported that Bush's "surge" in Iraq was working, giving Republicans who might otherwise have flipped sufficient cover to continue supporting the war. The Democrats had no choice, the legend goes, but to wait until 2009, in the hopes that things would be different under a Democratic president. Rather than use the vast power they had to end the war, Democrats devoted their energy to making sure that "anti-war activism" became synonymous with "electing Democrats." Capitalizing on America's desire to end the war, they hijacked the anti-war movement itself, filling the ranks of peace groups with loyal party hacks.
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POPSSend Berkeley A Demand For Apology To U.S.Troops >>>>PLEASE SIGN LETTER OF PROTEST AGAINST ANTI-MILITARY RESOLUTIONS<<< To: The City Council, Mayor and City Manager of Berkeley, California We, the undersigned, do register our complete outrage with the City of Berkeley for the recent resolutions that criticized our Marines, as part of an effort to harass the Marine Recruiting Center and chase all vestiges of the United States military outside of the city of Berkeley, California.
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POPS E-Mail Your Congress Person To Support Iraq Afghanistan Vets PublishingImagesParametersMeta InfoLink to Menu Sergeant Brian Horn from LaPlata, Maryland, was an Army Infantry Soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Kirkuk area of Iraq when he started the idea of AnySoldier to help care for his soldiers. He agreed to distribute packages that came to him with "Attn: Any Soldier" in the address to the soldiers who were not getting mail. Sgt. Horn is no longer in Iraq but AnySoldier.com continues. Due to overwhelming requests, on 1 January 2004 their effort was expanded to include any member, of any of the Armed Services in harms way. Any Soldier� now has thousands of Contacts helping the majority of the deployed troops. Troops' Charities | Print | Email Send Letters, Gifts, and Packages to Troops Overseas Help Troops With Traumatic Brain Injury Help Troops Get the Supplies They Need Help Troops Stay in Touch with Their Families and Friends Support Military Families in Need Send Letters, Gifts, and Packages to Troops
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POPSVeteran Sgt. Pepper's 2005 Home Totally Demolished "Fortunately, once again, his family can claim victory — they survived unhurt!" Late Wednesday afternoon, a man I consider a friend who has his own remarkable story of triumph over tragedy (he, too, was severely wounded in Iraq) e-mailed me. He works for the Wounded Warrior Project has been in touch with Sgt. Pepper — no small feat, since phones have been knocked out and families are scattered. My friend managed to patch together pieces of the sergeant's story, which has been retold to me. A remarkable attitude, I thought, from someone who has already lived through so much.
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POPS Intelligence Chief Warns of Rising Qaeda Threat "Al Qaeda remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States," Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing more than six years after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Mr. McConnell said that fewer than 100 Al Qaeda terrorists have moved from Iraq to establish cells in other countries as the American military clamps down on their activities, and the organization "may deploy resources to mount attacks outside the country." Mr. McConnell said while the level of violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since last year, it is going to be years before Iraq is stable. "It is not going to be over in a year. It's going to be a long time to bring it to closure," he said. The Al Qaeda network in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan has suffered setbacks, but he said the group poses a persistent and growing danger.
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POPSAnn Coulter To Campaign For Hillary Clinton:::And Here's Why Is a pro-abortion socialist-in-everything-but-name Hillary Clinton administration preferable to a McCain administration? Coulter: McCain's record is as bad and liberal as Hillary's. But her badness is expressed when she's seeking Democrats' votes. If McCain were in front of Democrats he'd sound like Herbert Marcuse. And don't tell me McCain is better on the war. Campaigning in front of Code Pink types, Hillary has repeatedly said she will hit terrorists hard, and hedged her bets (thereby losing votes) on whether she'd execute a quick pullout from Iraq. This probably makes her as tough as McCain, especially since he's busy sniffling into his handkerchief about the tragedy of Guantanamo. As to the domestic commie stuff Hillary peddles, I think she'll do a lot less damage than McCain, because he would co-opt Republican congressmen. They would fight Hillary. We're imperiled by both of them � but I think Hilary presents fewer risks.
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POPSCross-Border Chases From Iraq O.K., 2005 U.S. Document Says Wikileaks, a Web site that encourages posting of leaked materials, says its goal in disclosing secret documents is to reveal "unethical behavior" by governments and corporations. It has previously posted the United States military's manual for operating its prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; a military assessment of a 2004 attack in Falluja; and lists of American military equipment in Iraq. The American military command in Baghdad on Sunday sharply criticized the group's decision to post the document.
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POPS Sore Winner "I don't change my positions depending on what year it is or what office I'm seeking" In the California debate, he was forced to admit that he no longer supports the immigration legislation he himself proposed last year. He was asked, would you vote for the bill if it came to the floor? "No, I would not, because we know what the situation is today. The people want the border secured first." Oh. So McCain has changed his position? While we're on the subject of political flexibility, let's recall that McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts (thought they were too nice to the rich) but now wishes to make them permanent. It's no crime to change one's views and it would certainly be welcome if McCain were to reexamine a few more of his positions; for example, on detainee interrogations, drug reimportation from Canada or Supreme Court picks. He could stand a little refresher course on Economics 101, particularly about where the wealth of this nation comes from. (Hint: Not from senators.
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POPS McCain's Dishonest Attacks And Desperate Tactics In Florida Romney has said that he agrees with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, that U.S. troops could move to more of an oversight role in 2008. Romney aides labeled McCain's charge "stunningly false," while McCain aides portrayed his Iraq comments as part of a broader effort in the coming days to question Romney's leadership, foreign policy experience and judgment. McCain also sought to rebut Romney's criticisms in an unusual fashion: he dispatched high-profile surrogates to talk with the press corps traveling with the former governor. Among them: former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift. She boarded the Romney press bus to repeat similar criticisms to reporters.
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