About that raid
Scott Johnson
The Sunday Times (London) reports that Israeli Air Force destroyed a cache of nuclear material in its September 6 raid on Syria. The story combines unnamed "Israeli sources" with a statement by "an expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid," quoted in yesterday's Washington Post. It's the most comprehensive report on the raid to date, but it's still not clear what happened.
Read the whole thing, and do follow the link. The thing I find most fascinating about this whole affair is that if Israel can overfly Turkey to bomb eastern Syria they can overfly Turkey to bomb Iran. If W doesn't pull his head out of his ass and do what needs done, soon, they may have to. It's 1939, people. Are the Jews on their own again?
IAF reportedly hit NKorean nuke facility
David Horovitz
Amid reports in the American media that the alleged Israeli raid into Syria 10 days ago targeted a North Korean-Syrian nuclear facility, John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN, told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend that "simple logic" suggested North Korea and Iran could have outsourced nuclear development "to a country that is not under suspicion" - namely Syria. Tellingly, he added: "Why would North Korea protest an Israeli strike on Syria?"
Bolton suggested that Syria, which he said has long sought a range of weapons of mass destruction, might have agreed to provide "facilities for uranium enrichment" on its territory for two allied countries which are being closely watched for nuclear development. ...
McCain: Bush Was Unrealistic About War
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Saturday that voters are frustrated with the war in Iraq because of the Bush administration's unrealistic projections early in the conflict.
Quick hits:
Men at Work, Children at Play
The telling difference between General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, and their congressional inquisitors.
by Frederick W. Kagan and William Kristol
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
--Mark Twain
This week, America heard about Iraq from two serious men, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They understand Iraq in all its complexity. They have an astonishing mastery of the details of what's going on in almost every part of the country and an amazing grasp of virtually every aspect of a complex war, a multilayered society, and a new and fluid polity. They have clearly thought about the policy options before us with a seriousness appropriate to individuals who, every day, exercise considerable authority and bear great responsibilities. Last week, they were able, despite the comparative shallowness and guile of their questioners, to explain the choices we face with clarity and honesty at a critical moment in our nation's history.
The congressional critics provided quite a contrast with Petraeus and Crocker. If the general and the ambassador were men at work, the congressmen and senators were--with a few notable exceptions--children at play. They spoke almost entirely in generalizations--often months, sometimes years, out of date. They used selective quotations and cherry-picked facts to play "gotcha." They offered no meaningful proposals of their own. Petraeus and Crocker live and breathe Iraq, dealing with life-and-death problems seven days a week. Congress bloviates Tuesday through Thursday. That's one of the reasons to listen to the general and the ambassador rather than the congressional pontificators. ...
Wasit's Shiia May Be 'Turning' Like Anbar's Sunnis
W. Thomas Smith Jr.
More bad news for the anti-Petraeus crowd:
American commanders in southern Iraq say Shiite sheiks are showing interest in joining forces with the U.S. military against extremists, in much the same way that Sunni clansmen in the western part of the country have worked with American forces against al-Qaida. ...
Iranian Arms Destined for Taliban Seized in Afghanistan,
Officials Say
'Large' Shipment Said to Include Armor-Piercing Bombs
Robin Wright, Washington Post Staff Writer
An Iranian arms shipment destined for the Taliban was intercepted Sept. 6 by the international force in Afghanistan in what appears to be an escalating flow of weaponry between the two former enemies, according to officials from countries in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
The shipment included armor-piercing bombs known as explosively formed projectiles, the sources said, which have been especially deadly when used as roadside bombs against foreign troops in Iraq. The NATO-led force interdicted two smaller shipments of similar weapons from Iran into southern Helmand province April 11 and May 3.
"It's not the fact that it's qualitatively different, but this was a large shipment which got people's attention," a U.S. official in Washington said of the most recent interception. ...
Defeat at Any Price
Why Petraeus's testimony was a nightmare for the Democrats.
by David Gelernter
To prepare for General David Petraeus's long-awaited testimony on Iraq to Congress last week, the liberal pressure group MoveOn.org wrote itself into the history books with an anti-Petraeus ad so repulsive it ranked with Lyndon Johnson's infamous 1964 TV spot in the campaign against Barry Goldwater: A little girl picking flowers dissolved into a mushroom cloud, and then the screen went black. (Evidently by voting for Goldwater, you expressed your support for nuclear holocaust.) But gleeful Republicans who are certain that MoveOn has finally tipped its hand and shown America what the left is all about should remember that Johnson won that election, in a landslide. Because MoveOn headlined its ugly ad with an ugly rhyme ("General Betray Us"), it will stick in the public mind. But it is just possible that the public will invite MoveOn to take their ad and ShoveIt. ...
The Arizona senator told reporters he was pleased with Gen. David Petraeus' testimony before Congress this past week because it "did not present this totally rosy scenario. That's why Americans are frustrated today."
He blamed "different administration officials" for that. "It's all the president's responsibility," McCain said, but those reporting to him were also responsible.
Earlier in the day, McCain was critical of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying his failings "frustrated and saddened" the American people. ...
