Wednesday, April 7, 2004

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN IRAQ

There is intense fighting in several areas across Iraq.  Some US Marines say that the fighting is more intense than any they faced last year prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein.  Islamic radicals have seized control of at least one city and of a couple of bridges over the Euphrates River.

What's going on?  Is this that civil war the detractors have been warning us about?

You could say that there are two new fronts in Iraq.   As many as 12 U.S. Marines were killed yesterday in intense fighting in the western Iraqi town of Ar-Ramadi.  Coalition officials say the attack was mounted by remnants of Saddam's ousted Baath Party.  The insurgents took heavy casualties. This is on top of what happened last week in Fallujah, where four civilian security guards were killed and mutilated. 

We also have the insurgency being led by a chubby little radical Islamic Cleric named Muqtada al-Sadr. al-Sadr is the son of an Islamic Ayatollah who was murdered by Saddam Hussein.  You would think he would be appreciative of the efforts of the coalition.  Not so.  al-Sadr isn't quite old enough to have earned respect as an Islamic leader ... so he is determined to claim that position through rhetoric and violence.  It was his newspaper that was shut down by coalition forces two weeks ago ... shut down because it was calling for the murder of American civilians and soldiers wherever they could be found. 

So al-Sadr has decided that now is the time for him to send his militia out to drive the Americans from Iraq.  At the present time, al-Sadr is said to be barricaded in his offices in Najaf.  He is surrounded by armed supporters.  Isn't it a good thing when these radicals gather together in one place?  Are these "supporters," really members of Sadr's private army, not vulnerable to a few well placed laser-guided bombs?

If the coalition shows some guts ... and every indication is that it will .. al-Sadr and his militia will be pretty much history in a few days, as will the remnants of the Baathist regime currently making its last stand.

The radical elements in Iran are afraid.  They're there ... and they know much better than most Americans that the war in Iraq has been an incredible success. Most of the country is at peace.  People are going about their business, living in freedom for the first time.  There is more electricity and clean water than there was before the war.  More children are going to school.  Businesses are opening left and right.  There is more health care available to the average Iraqi than there was under Saddam. 

A recent poll shows that Iraqis are overwhelmingly glad Saddam is gone. Oxford Research International reports that that the three most-admired Iraqi officials are all members of the Iraqi Governing Council.  This surely is bad news to the Baathist losers and al-Sadr.  In fact, only one percent of Iraqis say that al-Sadr is the Iraqi leader they most trust.

Seventy-eight percent of Iraqis say that attacks on coalition forces are not acceptable.  And 56% of Iraqis say that their lives are better now then they were under Saddam.

Now this may not get reported in the States.  After all, it isn't exactly good news for Democrats.  But you can bet those who want to disrupt coalition plans and seize control of Iraq for one faction or another know the numbers.  They're getting desperate.  They know that power is scheduled to be handed over to the Iraqi governing council on June 30th, and they don't like that one bit.  The Islamic terrorists want all the power to rule as they see fit, and they aren't the list bit interested in the freedom of speech and freedom of religion guaranteed in the new Iraqi Constitution.  They hate democratic processes. They want it their way, and we're not letting them have it. 

Cut and run?  Pull our troops out now?  Sure ... that would be a wonderful idea, if, that is, you want the entire Middle East to descend into chaos.  America cannot be safe from Islamic terrorism if it does not see this through. 

Some people hate me saying this ... but this is World War IV, my friends.  Fight it over there now, or fight it here later.

AND THIS JUST IN

American Marines are now in Fallujah ... collecting the garbage, so to speak, after last week's attack on four American civilian contractors.  One reporter says that this is a rout for the Marines.  We're told that the bodies of Iraqi insurgents are being stacked like cordwood.  Good.  Let them stay there and rot.  A reminder of what will happen to those who test American resolve.

CONDI WATCH GOES LIVE ON ALL NETWORKS TOMORROW

So just why are all of the major broadcast networks interrupting their precious daytime programming to air the testimony of Bush National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice? They didn't interrupt 'Live with Regis and Kelly' to air the testimony of Clinton's National Security Adviser, nor did they do so for Richard Clarke's supposedly dramatic turn in front of the committee.  So why now? Inquiring minds want to know. 

The liberals in the media hate this woman. The reasons are simple: she is an extremely successful, highly intelligent black woman ('double minority,' as the liberals call it) and she is serving a Republican president.  This doesn't sit well with the liberals and the Democrats, who consider her to be the equivalent of a runaway slave.  The committee and the media is demanding that this woman answer on national television for the Bush administration's 235 days in office prior to 9/11.  They will never demand this of Bill Clinton .. who had eight years.  Here's hoping her testimony blows them all away.  My guess is that by this time next week the leftist media will be dismayed at the outpouring of respect this nation will be showing for Condoleezza Rice.

Oh .. by the way, how long do you think it will be before we get to see a picture of Dr. Rice for once that doesn't show her scowling. Anybody else notice that is all we've been seeing for weeks in the media? 

JEOPARDY CHALLENGE

There's rumors out there about a Jeopardy series featuring the likes of Tim Russert and other network television news personalities.  According to the rumors these hot shot network news types didn't do all that well. 

For some time now I've been pushing the idea of a week-long Jeopardy series featuring radio talk show hosts, syndicated and local.  The series could be sub-titled "After all, they think they know everything."  Now is as good a time as any to promote this idea again.  The winner of the talk show face-off could go up against whoever won the broadcast TV face-off for the "Know-it-all" championship.

HANS BLIX AND THE LIBERAL MEDIA MISS SADDAM

As the war against Islamic terrorism continues in Iraq, with every news story it is becoming more and more clear that the mainstream media sure does miss good 'ole Saddam Hussein. First up? None other than perky Katie Couric, who has been known to give the deposed Iraqi dictator a compliment from time to time.  Apparently, things just aren't the same down at the Today show without Saddam Hussein filling mass graves in Baghdad.

As she was interviewing Democratic Senator Joe Biden and alleged Republican Senator John McCain, she pointed out that while Saddam may have been "deplorable," he at least "kept the Sunnis and the Shiites apart and from killing each other."  What she neglected to mention was that Saddam accomplished this by murdering all the Shiites who dared to rise up against him.

Also weighing in as a founding member of the Saddam fan club was none other than our good friend Hans Blix.  In an interview, he concluded that the costs of removing Saddam Hussein have outweighed the benefits.  Oh really? How about we ask the thousands of people in mass graves in Iraq? Oh wait, they can't answer...Saddam killed them all.  But it gets better...Blix actually also said that the war in Iraq contributed to a destabilization of the Middle East and a move away from democracy in the region. According to him, replacing a brutal dictatorship with a democracy is a move away from democracy.

There's no other way to say this: what an idiot. 

sKERRY IS AT IT AGAIN

In a campaign stop yesterday in Cincinnati, John Kerry once again promised that he would create 10 million more jobs if elected.  He never really says how, except that George Bush wouldn't do it.  Those evil Republicans like people to be out of work, and why, when Kerry takes office, 10 million jobs will automatically flood the market for the single largest economic growth spurt in history! Yeah right...dry that one out and you could fertilize the lawn. 

What's interesting is that no one calls him out on it. He can stand there and say things like he'll create 10 million jobs, or he would fight a war on terrorism that would actually make America safer, and he isn't made to tell how.  All the media does is run to the Bush campaign and make them answer Kerry's challenge. Nice balanced reporting there, fellas. 

Oh..and one other thing. Kerry was heckled by about a dozen protestors clapping flip-flop sandals together. sKerry called them "college Republicans" and said they were rude. 

Poor baby.

DON'T EXPECT DEMOCRATS TO BE UPSET ABOUT THIS

Fox News Channel is reporting that the Pentagon has failed to fix the system that makes is it difficult for deployed American soldiers to vote in the presidential election.  The problem is that 29 states require all absentee ballots to be sent and returned by mail.  No other way.  Military mail doesn't move fast enough to get the ballots to and from our soldiers overseas ... especially in war zones.  The General Accounting Office says that the Pentagon is simply not doing enough to make sure that military members will be able to vote.

Republicans, naturally, are upset.  But listen carefully to see if you hear anything from Democrats.  One of the most disgraceful aspects of the 2000 election was Al Gore's campaign sending hoards or Democratic lawyers into virtually every every voting jurisdiction of Florida with one goal .. one assignment.  They were there to do everything that they possibly could to make sure that votes from men and women serving in the U.S. military did not count in the election.  Can you imagine if Republicans did that?

CHRISTOPHER "TRENT" DODD

This isn't exactly making the ABC, CNN, NBC, or CBS newscasts, so let me share something with you that happened on the floor of the U.S. Senate about five days ago.  West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, "The Lion of the Senate", cast his 17,000th vote.  Senators just love honoring each other whenever an excuse arises, and this vote was no exception.  Senators rose to sing the praises of Robert Byrd.

When it came time for Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd to speak he pulled out all the stops.  To hear Dodd tell it, Robert Byrd was Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln wrapped up in one U.S. Senator.

Byrd is a "man for all seasons."  He said that Byrd would have been right during the formation of this country, and that he would have been "right during the great conflict of civil war in this nation."  Dodd went on to say that he couldn't think of a time in the history of this nation when Robert Byrd wouldn't have been right for the country.

OK, let's review.  Byrd was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.  Following World War II Robert Byrd wrote of his hopes for a rebirth of the Klan in his home state of West Virginia.  In 1964 Byrd participated with fellow Democrats in an effort to filibuster the Civil Rights Act.  Three years ago Byrd used the "N" word repeatedly in a Fox News interview.  A former KKK member filibustering the Civil Rights Act.  Was this a time when Robert Byrd was "right" for America?

Do you remember a year or so ago when another U.S. Senator was delivering similar praise for another Senate war horse?  In case your attention span is running rather short right now, we're talking about Senator Trent Lott and his speech at a birthday celebration for Strom Thurmond.  Lott said that if America had followed Strom Thurmond years ago we wouldn't be in this mess we're in right now.  Dodd said that Byrd, a KKK member, would have been "right" during the civil war, a war viewed by most as a war to free the slaves.

Now just how long did it take after Lott's comments about Thurmond for all hell to break loose.  Two days, thanks for asking. How long has it been now since Christopher Dodd's remarks about Strom Thurmond?  Five days.  Has there been any outrage expressed over Dodd's remarks?  None.  So why not?  Why isn't Senator Chris Dodd taking heat for saying that a former KKK member would have been a dandy leader around the time of the Civil War? 

Oh come on now.  You know the answer, don't you?  Don't play dumb with me.  Trent Lott is a conservative Republican, and he's from the South.  Chris Dodd is a liberal Democrat, a good pal of Ted Kennedy, and he's from the North.  He's from the center of the Washington - New York - Boston liberal stronghold. 

It's all very simple.  If the Democrats call for a war of words and images against Trent Lott the liberal media is more than happy to oblige.  If the Republicans call for a similar reaction against Chris Dodd for his remarks, the media will react with silence.

And we're told there is no liberal bias in the mainstream media.  Sure.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Do you know anything about the Oil for Food scandal?  Why not?  Could it be because the US shows no interest in having that scandal exposed?  Again .. why not?

Dick Morris says Kerry's crash is continuing.  He thinks the election may not be that close at all.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has endorsed a bill in the legislature that would grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. How about a one-way ticket out of the country instead?

John O'Sullivan writes that America's restraint is encouraging Iraqi militants.  He's absolutely right...time to stop worrying about appearances and crack some heads.

Ralph Peters says that we are paying for weakness in Iraq...the Islamic terrorists are starting to smell fear.

Mark Steyn says that Clinton ignored Rwanda until it was too late. And besides, isn't the UN supposed to be handling basket-case states like this?  Bill Clinton admits he failed to respond.

Secretary of State Colin Powell has told Teddy Kennedy to shut up about Iraq. Oh wait...he actually said he should "be a little more restrained."

Tax freedom day comes on April 11th this year...that's the earliest since 1967.  What is tax freedom day? That's the day you've finally worked enough to pay all your taxes.

Jay Bryant writes about the rubbish we are hearing from Senator Kennedy, and he breaks it down.

Thomas Sowell explains how unlike the private sector, the government never has to count the costs of their decisions and policies.

George Will writes that if we are going to free Iraq, then we had better be prepared to follow through and do what it takes.

Walter E. Williams talks about Democrat magicians, and their ability to make things happen that did not. Also some really great points about the war on terrorism. Don't miss this one.

Kathleen Parker talks about Condoleezza Rice and wonders if women's groups will clamor to her defense like they did with Anita Hill.  Linda Chavez also weighs in.

Jonah Goldberg says Richard Clarke makes a good case...for President Bush's re-election.  Also, Clarke's book is apparently filled with profanity, as Terrence Jeffrey explains.

William F. Buckley says the situation right now in Iraq calls for leadership, and President Bush is the right man for the job.

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