February 17, 2007
Feb 17 01:11 Dems' Overplaying Their Hand? Feb 17 04:47 More Good News From Iraq Feb 17 11:30 Reid Heading For a Meltdown? Feb 17 16:44 A Case For Treason Feb 17 23:12 A New Season, a New Blog
Prior Months: Jan
Prior Years: 2006
Dems' Overplaying Their Hand?
Following today's vote in the House, the 'conventional wisdom' of the Beltway Left is that Nancy Pelosi and John Murtha have the President on the run. That's why it's best to ignore the Beltway Left's CW. As an encore to their timid rebuke of the President's surge, Murtha, Pelosi and Company are planning more shenanigans:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her close adviser, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA), are devising a strategy to tie Bush's hands by placing conditions on future funding for the war, such as requiring any units sent to Iraq to meet certain standards for training, equipment and rest between deployments. Because those conditions might be hard to meet, they could slowly constrict Bush's ability to keep up troop levels.Following this path will put Democrats in the unenviable position of (a) defending the undercutting the military while the surge troops are in harm's way; (b) defending a clarified anti-war, pro-defeat position on the biggest issue of our generation and (c) being called to the carpet for violating the Constitution.
The check and balance to President Bush's ability to wage a war that Congress has authorized is defunding it. Numerous courts have ruled that Congress can't micromanage the war, which Murtha's legislation will clearly do. Following the smaller-than-expected defection of the WFR's and the steadfastness of the Senate against defeatist resolutions, President Bush has more than ample support for challenging Democrats who want to tie his hands.
It can't hurt that the news from Iraq is good either. Sadr's flight, along with his top assistants, to Iran when the going got tough won't help his standing in Sadr City and other militia strongholds.
Also, Sam Johnson's speech provides the President with this lethal ammunition:
Since the President announced his new plan for Iraq last month, there has been steady progress. He changed the rules of engagement and removed political protections.I'd be surprised if President Bush doesn't take great solace in having an ally like Sam Johnson in this fight. In fact, I'm surprised that Democrats want to challenge President Bush following Rep. Johnson's speech. The Washington Post is right in pointing this out:
There are reports we wounded the number two of Al Qaeda and killed his deputy. Yes, Al Qaeda operates in Iraq. It's alleged that top radical jihadist Al-Sadr has fled Iraq, maybe to Iran. And Iraq's closed its borders with Iran and Syria. The President changed course and offered a new plan,we are making progress. We must seize the opportunity to move forward, not stifle future success.
But yesterday's vote signaled peril for the Democratic congressional leadership as well. Despite deep Republican discontent with the course of the war, Democrats were unable to persuade more than 17 members of the president's party to register that dissatisfaction with their votes. If Democratic leaders could not build a broader bipartisan coalition for a symbolic vote, it may prove much harder to attract Republican support for proposals to limit Bush's options in Iraq.That's my take on things, too. What's likely turned the tide is the creation of the Victory Caucus. Following the start of the Victory Caucus, estimates of GOP defections started shrinking rapidly to the point where only 17 WFR's voted for the defeatists' resolution. (By the way, I strongly urge pro-victory Republicans to join the Victory Caucus. )
Many Democratic strategists remain allergic to repeating the finale of the Vietnam War, when Congress voted to cut funds for the South Vietnamese government and the nation fell to the North in 1975. For years afterward, Democrats have struggled to shed the image of being soft on defense, which is why they were so eager to bring along more Republicans yesterday.It's a little late to worry about the 'weak on defense' label. While this resolution didn't have the power of law, people are smart enough to know that this resolution said exactly what the Democrats believed. Future attempts to restrict the President's ability to wage war, especially in light of the positive news from Iraq, will be seen as the Democrats being the 'Defeatist' Party.
One thing that should be said in all of this is the role that liberal special interest groups played in forcing Democrats into these resolutions and binding legislation. The reality is that John Murtha's legislation is simply the product of the Pacifist Left's wishes. Groups like Code Pink, UFPJ and MoveForward.org sat down with John Murtha, now their most willing ally, and told him what to put into their resolution.
It's time that conservatives started telling the nation that Democrats aren't serious about defeating the terrorists because the Pacifist Left won't let them. There's a reason why Joe Lieberman is the only Democrat to stand up to them. The others can't afford to cross these defeatists because they're the campaign workers and contributors.
Posted Saturday, February 17, 2007 11:00 AM
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More Good News From Iraq
The AP's Pamela Hess is reporting some good news from al-Anbar Province. Rest assured that Democrats will deny that anything has happened and that the Agenda Media won't mention a word about this but it's still there. Here's what Ms. Hess is reporting:
Sunni tribes in troubled Anbar province have begun working closely with U.S. and government forces, contributing nearly 2,400 men to the police department and 1,600 to a newly organized tribal security force, authorities say. U.S. troops are training and equipping the new tribal forces, which are called Emergency Response Units (ERUs), and are charged with defending the areas where they live, according to the local U.S. commander.The key section of this news is where Hess reports that Ramadi's tribes have reversed their loyalties since last June. Nothing breeds more success amongst Arabs than winning. It isn't coincidental that this shift started when al-Zarqawi was killed.
By a U.S. count, 12 of the Ramadi area's 21 tribes are cooperating in the security effort, six are considered neutral, and three are actively hostile. That is almost the reverse of the tribal posture last June, when three were cooperative and 12 were hostile. For nearly four years, the tribes around Ramadi survived by playing both sides, working with U.S. forces when it suited them, while at the same time helping or tolerating Sunni insurgent groups and al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist organization once led by Jordanian Abu Musab Zarqawi.
If this information ever gets out, Democratic presidential hopefuls will have tricky terrain to travel to the election. This explains why they're ignoring the facts on the ground. They have to hope that things don't go well because their election chances get bleaker with each success from Iraq. Here's another important factor in the turnaround:
Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has also turned its intimidation tactics on the tribal leaders, kidnapped and killed Sheik Khalid of the Albu Ali Jassim tribe and left his body where it could not be found, preventing the family from burying him within 24 hours as prescribed by Muslim tradition.When AQI started killing sheiks, that made things personal to the tribes. that's why these tribes are "working closely with U.S....forces" while "contributing nearly 2,400 men to the police department and 1,600 to a newly organized tribal security force." That's a huge show of commitment to improving security in Anbar Province.
"Al Qaeda overplayed its hand," Col. MacFarland said at his headquarters, a dusty base on the west side of Ramadi. At a meeting that month, several sheiks drew up an 11-point declaration vowing to fight al Qaeda, within the rule of law, and declaring solidarity with coalition and government security forces. It is a movement referred to by the tribes as "the Awakening."
Al Qaeda "assassinated a lot of the sheiks," said Sheik Ahmed Abureeshah, 41, whose brother, Sheik Sitar, is the driving force behind the initiative. "They killed my father. They killed three of my brothers. They killed 14 other sheiks from different tribes...."Then we met the sheiks of the tribe one after one, and we decided that we must put our hands together and fight to defeat these criminals."
I suspect that Zarqawi's death turned the tribes away from AQI and that AQI's assassinations of the sheiks turned the tribes towards the US military. The tribes' contributions to their tribes' security forces is visible proof that they plan on keeping AQI's presence to a minimum, which has long term implications for Iraq's security situation.
The bottom line is that we're seeing improvements almost weekly, which is making the Democrats' hopes of making the case that we can't win in Iraq a steep uphill climb. Nothing could cheer me more than that thought.
Posted Saturday, February 17, 2007 4:49 AM
Comment 1 by Merrell Crumley at 17-Feb-07 08:43 AM
My prayers are with our men and women who put their lives on the line for what is right. Thanks for all current, past and future personnel who are standing up for the RIGHT of all people to govern themselves. Thanks to REP JOHNSON and others who stand up and will be counted.
Reid Heading For a Meltdown?
As I noted yesterday, Harry Reid will attempt to get a vote on the House resolution this morning. He won't succeed because Mitch McConnell has the votes to filibuster any attempt to debate that resolution. They won't let it come to a vote unless Reid agrees to debate the Gregg Resolution, too, something that Reid can't let happen because the Gregg Resolution (a) will get more votes than the Dems' resolution and (b) is pro-victory and opposed to defunding the war. Despite those facts, here's what the AP's David Espo is reporting:
Moving quickly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV), set a test vote for Saturday on an identical measure, and several presidential contenders in both parties rearranged their weekend campaign schedules to be present.Restlessness or not, they'll deny Reid his vote because they plan on forcing him into a vote on both resolutions or nothing at all. The fact is that they're forcing Reid into a major meltdown. I'm predicting right now that he'll stomp his feet and throw a major tantrum when he's denied. While Reid loses it, Mitch McConnell will calmly step to another microphone and tell the world that he'll let cloture pass once Reid settles down and agrees to debate and vote on both resolutions.
Republican senators said in advance they would deny Democrats the 60 votes needed to advance the resolution, adding they would insist on equal treatment for a GOP-drafted alternative that opposes any reduction in funds for the troops. Even so there were signs of Republican restlessness on the issue. Only two members of the GOP rank and file sided with Democrats on an earlier procedural vote; the total figured to be higher this time.
Most of the Beltway punditry are saying that Pelosi, Murtha and Company have stuck a finger in President Bush's eye and that Pelosi's bunch is riding high. That conventional wisdom is dead wrong. They're opening themselves up to charges of micromanaging the war by trying to be too cute by half. They're about to get sliced and diced by the Right Blogosphere.
Warning to Defeatocrats: Keep this up and it could get real ugly real quick.
Posted Saturday, February 17, 2007 11:32 AM
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A Case For Treason
Ralph Peters has written a column that makes the case that the House Resolution is treasonous. Here's what he said:
PROVIDING aid and comfort to the enemy in wartime is treason. It's not "just politics." It's treason. And signaling our enemies that Congress wants them to win isn't "supporting our troops."Col. Peters, No one in their right mind thinks that Democrats have a conscience beyond a desire for acquiring and increasing power. The thought that they care about victory was refuted long ago. It's time to expose the Democrats' agenda. Here's a glimpse into their strategy:
The "nonbinding resolution" telling the world that we intend to surrender to terrorism and abandon Iraq may be the most disgraceful congressional action since the Democratic Party united to defend slavery. The vote was a huge morale booster for al Qaeda, for Iraq's Sunni insurgents, and for the worst of the Shia militias. The message Congress just sent to them all was, "Hold on, we'll stop the surge, we're going to leave and you can slaughter the innocent with our blessing."
We've reached a low point in the history of our government when a substantial number of legislators would welcome an American defeat in Iraq for domestic political advantage. Yes, some members voted their conscience. But does anyone believe they were in the majority?
Mr. Murtha has a different idea. He would stop the surge by crudely hamstringing the ability of military commanders to deploy troops. In an interview carried Thursday by the Web site MoveCongress.org, Mr. Murtha said he would attach language to a war funding bill that would prohibit the redeployment of units that have been at home for less than a year, stop the extension of tours beyond 12 months, and prohibit units from shipping out if they do not train with all of their equipment. His aim, he made clear, is not to improve readiness but to "stop the surge." So why not straightforwardly strip the money out of the appropriations bill, an action Congress is clearly empowered to take, rather than try to micromanage the Army in a way that may be unconstitutional? Because, Mr. Murtha said, it will deflect accusations that he is trying to do what he is trying to do. "What we are saying will be very hard to find fault with," he said.In other words, Murtha wants to implement a defeatist policy that he won't take responsibility for. That's my definition of sleaze and cowardice. The man needs to be fired in November 2008. He's a danger to our soldiers. His legislation would strip troops in the middle of battle. Shame on him for betraying our soldiers and sentencing our Iraqi allies to life under al-Qa'ida's rule.
Posted Saturday, February 17, 2007 4:45 PM
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A New Season, a New Blog
LaVelle E. Neal, the Strib's beat writer for the Twins, has just started posting to his Spring Training blog.
LaVelle is one of the best reporters that the Strib has. He gets the information out & he's one of the most knowledgeable baseball men around. He's only made a few posts but I suspect that he'll be posting more often once the workouts begin. Trust me when I say that you'll want to bookmark his blog.
Which brings me to the topic of this post. Spring training begins tomorrow & the Twins are AL Central champions. In the past, that wasn't that impressive of a deal. This time it's a very big deal. The AL Central is easily the best division in baseball with the ChiSox, Twins & Detroit all capable of winning it all.
I've been a Twins fan since I went to my first game at Metropolitan Stadium in August, 1966. My dad & my uncle took me to see them play Baltimore. The Twins won that day 11-4 on the strength of a 9 run 8th inning rally.
Last season was a dream come true season for a fan like me. The season got off to a rocky start to say the least. Justin Morneau wasn't hitting within 30 points of his weight. Juan Castro and Tony Batista were disastrous from an energy standpoint. Francisco Liriano was pitching out of the bullpen.
The season suddenly changed when Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett took over for Castro and Batista, Liriano was inserted into the rotation, Jason Tyner took over for the injured Shannon Stewart and Justin started ripping the cover off the ball.
After that, it was a magical season, capped with an improbable, impossible really, comeback to clinch the division title when Detroit lost in extra innings. It'd be wrong for fans to expect that magic to be back this season but there's no reason for the fans to not pile into the Metrodome in numbers to watch the funnest team in baseball to watch play their hearts out.
After all, this Twins team has the best hitter in baseball in Joe Mauer, the most dominant pitcher in Johann 'Cytana' Santana and the AL MVP Justin Morneau. They also have The Piranhas, Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Nick Punto and Luis Castillo.
Most importantly, winter is finished now that spring training is here. What a glorious thing to behold.
Posted Saturday, February 17, 2007 11:12 PM
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