2007.09.10 Politics and National Defense Roundup
Contributed by Bill Faith
Vietnam Memorial Wall Defaced This Weekend
Free Republic. H/T: William Page
Mrs. Trooprally called me this evening to tell me that she and her husband, as well as Concretebob, saw damage along almost the entire length of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. They found this damage this morning, when they walked through the area before participating in the September 11th Freedom Walk.
Concretebob was told by a National Park Service employee that the damage was done on Friday night. There was no police report taken or written about the vandalism, apparently. And the damage was still very much there today.
Here are a few of the photos that Mrs. Trooprally took this morning...
***
Rob Bluey has more: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Vandalized
Support the mission, oppose the surrender lobby
Michelle Malkin
Okay, people. The Code Pinkos got their turn. Now, it’s your turn to be heard. This is the petition of the Victory Caucus. Make your voice count:
Army Checkmates The New Republic
Last month Pajamas Media published an in-depth report on the scandal surrounding the “Baghdad Diarist” articles by Scott Thomas Beauchamp in The New Republic.
Now PJM’s Bob Owens interviews Major John Cross, who led the U.S. Army’s investigation into Private Beauchamp’s shocking claims. Even more shocking is what Cross reveals below: Among other findings, there is no credible evidence that TNR made any attempt at fact checking prior to publishing the articles. Furthermore, not one of the soldiers interviewed under oath in the investigation corroborated Beauchamp’s story. ...
Related:
Listen To The General
Iraq Is More Than Politics
Ralph Peters
September 10, 2007 -- ONE of the many disgraceful things about Washington is that it really doesn't matter what Gen. David Petraeus says in his testimony this week.
Minds are already made up. Senators and activists will listen only for a "Gotcha!" opportunity. Staffers have already formulated the sound bites and written the statements denouncing any progress in Iraq as meaningless.
Politically terrified by positive developments in Iraq, Democrats are trying to explain them away preemptively. Premature Iraqulator Sen. Charles Schumer even resorted to outright lies last week. ....
Sleep Well: Coastline Security “Seriously Flawed”
See-Dubya
One of the depressing things about “homeland security” broadly defined is that it’s so elusive. If we choke off a threat at one point, our enemies will start probing for another weakness. Even if we do manage to build a fence on the border and get the visa process and airline security into reasonable shape, jihadists are going to look around for another place to get in and attack us. The logical place is the coastline. ...
Anbar Awakens Part I: The Battle of Ramadi
Michael J. Totten
RAMADI, IRAQ – After spending some time in and around Baghdad with the United States military I visited the city of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s notoriously convulsive and violent Anbar Province, and breathed an unlikely sigh of relief. Only a few months ago Ramadi was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It was another “Fallujah,” and certainly the most dangerous place in Iraq. Today, to the astonishment of everyone – especially the United States Army and Marines – it is perhaps the safest city in all of Iraq outside of Kurdistan. ...
Has MoveOn Betrayed the Democratic Party?
The meaning of the “General Betray Us” ad.
By Byron York
With its full-page “General Betray Us?” ad in the New York Times, MoveOn.org has once again put itself at the forefront of the antiwar movement. And if past patterns are any guide, a number of Democrats are embarrassed, and even angered, by MoveOn’s actions but are afraid to reveal the true extent of their feelings. MoveOn simply has too much fundraising clout — and a fear-inducing inclination to attack Democrats who stray from the MoveOn line — for many in the party to take it on.
*** Will Democrats Denounce MoveOn?
by Pete Hegseth
Today - as General David Petraeus provides his Iraq assessment to Congress-the anti-war group, MoveOn.org, is running a full - page advertisement in the New York Times with the headline: General Petraeus or General Betray us? Cooking the books for the White House.
Let's be clear: MoveOn.org is suggesting that General Petraeus has 'betrayed' his country. This is disgusting. To attack as a traitor an American general commanding forces in war, because his ‘on the ground' experience does not align with MoveOn.org's political objectives, is utterly shameful. It shows contempt for America's military leadership, as well as for the troops who have confidence in him, as our fellow soldiers in Iraq certainly do. ...
Related:
Quick hits:
Listening to Petraeus
The president had the courage to change course on Iraq. Does Congress?
By John McCain and Joe Lieberman
Today, Gen. David Petraeus--commander of our forces in Iraq--returns to Washington to report on the war in Iraq and the new counterinsurgency strategy he has been implementing there. We hope that opponents of the war in Congress will listen carefully to the evidence that the U.S. military is at last making real and significant progress in its offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq. ...
Whatever the shortcomings of our friends in Iraq, they are no excuse for us to retreat from our enemies like al Qaeda and Iran, who pose a mortal threat to our vital national interests. We must understand that today in Iraq we are fighting and defeating the same terrorist network that attacked on 9/11. As al Qaeda in Iraq continues to be hunted down and rooted out, and the Iraqi Army continues to improve, the U.S. footprint will no doubt adjust. But these adjustments should be left to the discretion of Gen. Petraeus, not forced on our troops by politicians in Washington with a 6,000-mile congressional screwdriver, and, perhaps, an eye on the 2008 election.
The Bush administration clung for too long to a flawed strategy in this war, despite growing evidence of its failure. Now advocates of withdrawal risk making the exact same mistake, by refusing to re-examine their own conviction that Gen. Petraeus's strategy cannot succeed and that the war is "lost," despite rising evidence to the contrary.
The Bush administration finally had the courage to change course in Iraq earlier this year. After hearing from Gen. Petraeus today, we hope congressional opponents of the war will do the same.
Do read the whole thing.
Don’t Ask Me What I Think about the Petraeus Report
Ask the battalion commanders.
By Michael Yon
Weeks ago, as the deadline for General David Petraeus’s progress report on the war loomed, journalists were already asking me what I thought of it. Then, as now, I do not know what to think of the report since it is not yet published. Even this coming week, after listening to the general’s testimony before Congress, I will have to read the report and transcripts numerous times, sleep on the information, and reflect on it in light of my own observations of the situation in Iraq. The outcome of the war in Iraq, and to some extent the greater War on Terror, will largely depend upon our decisions today. The outcome is too important for quick words. Many will try to be the first to report on the report, and their reports likely will be the most unreliable. ...
Anti-war leaders stymied, frustrated
Mike Allen
A well-known anti-war leader has gone public with the transcript of a private conference call that shows peace activists are exasperated with the Democratic congressional leadership and at a loss for a long-term strategy.
The Aug. 29 call highlights divisions in the Democratic Party that Republicans are gearing up to try to exploit as Congress debates its response to the report on Iraq this week by Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. ...
|
