Militants Run to Syria

Omar says:

Eyewitnesses in some volatile areas said that large numbers of militants have fled to Syria to avoid being trapped in the incoming security operations.

According to those witnesses, residents and shopkeepers are no longer concerned about militants whose existence in public used to bring on clashes that put the lives of civilians in danger.

A shopkeeper in al-Karkh [western Baghdad] said that many of them [militants] packed their stuff and headed to Syria to wait and see what the operations are going to be like.

While experts consider this a failure in protecting the plan’s secrecy which might lead to the loss of the surprise factor, they also say it indicates the seriousness and resolve in this plan that is already scaring away the militants.

It seems to me this also indicates the involvement in Syria in all of this. You may not remember, because the press hasn’t said anything about it since then, but it was Syria where long lines of trucks loaded down with equipment were headed less than a week before we invaded Iraq.  Equipment, one presumes, to make weapons of mass destruction.

I said when these plans for surge first came around, that the threat of the surge might be enough to settle a number of scores.  It appears I was correct.

Now, I wonder the political ramifications of a victory there, here at home.  I said it again last night ; the left in this country cannot withstand  an American victory in Iraq.  Since it now seems clear that’s exactly what were headed for, how will this play out,  I wonder, here at home?

Just for laughs, let’s project even further; let’s imagine that the democrats actually attain the White House and retain the Congress.  I consider the chances of that rather small of the moment, but let’s go with this just for laughs.   The Democrats have been swearing up and down that the first thing they were going to do would be withdraw from the area. It’s dangerous I know, to take a Democrat at their word, but again, let’s just run with this.

So following a American victory in Iraq, under George W. Bush, we see the Democrats come along and commit premature withdrawal.  Our “friends”… the ones being chased out just now to Syria… see the vacuum created by our leaving, and show up again, and raise hell with the neighborhood.  More killing, more explosions. How would the Democrats avoid catching blame for that colossal error?

* Yeah, we’re still working on the living room. Bought the paint tonight along with some supplies. A new rug. A new toss rug for the foyer.I think we’ve found the shelving we want, though that part likely won’t be for a few weeks, yet.

* The Flash memory for the Powershot A95 finally showed up. Capacity for over 1000 pictures at the highest resolution the thing will put up. Not too bad. Personally, I can’t wait for it to warm up a bit, so I can put it with the tripod and take a run to the trainyards over at Buffalo…. Frontier yard is a favorite, sitting on old Broadway right at the Sloan line. Here’s a shot of the east end of Frontier yard, right from Broadway at Street level, taken in September of 1995 by Chris Webster. The oncoming train is an eastbound van train… a high priority run. It had just started about a mile back, at Old Broadway after re-crewing… and normally, after a standing start like that these high horsepower jobs are already doing 35 or 40. You can drill it for a closer look, if you like. You can see more of the like at Chris’ fine site.

* It strikes me as interesting, this latest discussion as regards John McCain, and his ever changing position on Iraq, and other matters.  The democrats are all over Mr. McCain, saying he’s been a flip flopping.  Well, it’s true, and I have not trusted them and for some time… Because I thought him more than capable of it.

But what strikes me as the most interesting facet of all of this, is the idea that he has been changing positions in an attempt to mollify the left.  Apparently, he figures they’re going to take him more seriously as a presidential candidate, because he says what they want him to say.  One would think, that he would have learned from the mistakes of George Herbert Walker Bush, in that regard. You remember that one; the no new taxes pledge?  Remember how the Democrats talked him out of that pledge saying that the added income of a tax raising was needful?  Remember how they then turned on him, and beat him over the head with the pledge saying he’d broken it, when all he’d done is what they asked him to do?

Facts are, that such a back-stabbing is invariably what happens when compromise with Democrats is attempted.  McCain is now learning that lesson.  Too bad for him.  But that he had to learn the lesson the hard way, in my view disqualifies him from the office of President, as a Republican.  He clearly doesn’t have the smarts for the job.

* Speaking of the war, I see Insta-Glenn has a video up you want to see.

* I see a Rush Limbaugh is still on the rag about Barbaro. he questions whether not we’ve been talking about the race horse too much.  I think, that he’s missing the point, in this case, however. I think there to be a link between America’s reaction to this story of this racehorse, and the reaction to what Americans are being told about the war on, Iraq, radical Islam, and so on.  Ask yourself; does this race horse story, and the reaction to it, tell us anything about the American spirit, and how it might react to other stimuli?

Barbaro the champion, after his fall, took on the status of a fighter.. fighting back from incredible odds. America always loves a fighter ; someone who will pick himself or herself against incredible odds, and looks to stand a chance to win. it was an uplifting story.

(BBCT to KentuckyDerby.com for the pic)

Applying that thought to the war on terror , is a point that I am amazed that Mr. Limbaugh didn’t pick up on.  Does the reaction to the story of a resource, tell us anything about America’s reaction over time to the war on terror?  Granted, that when you add in influences such as the press the democrats etc., the causes for the swing in changing opinion start getting a little murky.  But there’s a link there… and one I don’t think I’ve got a firm handle on.

Limbaugh suggests, that the left cannot survive an American victory in Iraq.  And he’s right.  So, the question comes, how to harness (pun not intended) the spirit of those reactions, that love of a winner… that have come out so loudly these last two days for Barbaro?

I submit that the person who comes closest to understanding and adjusting to the reality of that spirit stands the best chance of being elected in ’08.

John Hawkins, Right Wing News, says yes!

(H/T photo: Biografiasyvidas )

The Internet works in strange way.  On January 29, Mick Stockinger, Uncorrelated, commented on, “The Height of Irresponsibility:”

When lying is a reflex, its hard to remember what you said, when you said it and why you said it. Hillary Clinton is about to discover that 90s political revisionism doesn’t work so well in the internet age.

Mick’s comments turned out to be a prediction. Rush Limbaugh nails it, “She’s Lying: Hillary ’07 vs. Hillary ’03:” and proves it Basically Mrs. Clinton told Code Pink one story in 2003 and the American public an entirely different story in Iowa this week.

You listen, you decide.  Elections will never be the same.

(H/T photo:  The Smoking Gun )  

 On 25 January,  we commented on a Martin Luther King Day party at Tarleton State University in Texas.   Bithead wrote:

Think about this; What are the students in question imitating? They’re simply imitating what they see in public… in the wake of any NBA team, for example. Or simply, on the street of any large city.

Well it appears that the students at Tarleton State did not bother to apply for patent protection for their party.  Hard to get a good patent attorney when you really need one.

It seems similar themed parties were held at both Clemson, South Carolina,  and  the University of Connecticut.  It may have taken longer for the word to get on these parties because college officials took down the pictures from the Internet.

Could it just be that multiple MLK satire parties were held because the black social condition is so ripe for satire?

What’s up with that land deal, Harry?

A New York Times reporter has been admonished by his superiors after voicing the hope that the U.S. can accomplish its goals in Iraq. Here’s what Times chief military correspondent Michael Gordon said on The Charlie Rose show earlier this month — “As a purely personal view, I think it’s worth it — one last effort for sure to try to get this right, because my personal view is we’ve never really tried to win. We’ve simply been managing our way to defeat. And I think that if it’s done right, I think that there is the chance to accomplish something.”

 Public editor Byron Calame writes that Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman said Gordon “stepped over the line” and “went too far.” Timeswatch.com points out that last summer Times reporter Neil MacFarquhar appeared on the Rose show, and criticized Bush administration practice of sending bombs to the Middle East — saying the policy “erodes and erodes and erodes America’s reputation.” MacFarquhar received no reprimand for his comments.

That’s Fox’s Britt Hume, pointing out the leftist bias I’ve already pointed out twice, today, as regards other matters.

Writing on December 30, I  commended Senator Barbara Boxer:

I commend Senator Boxer for putting patriotism ahead of political correctness and having the courage to risk the wrath of the MSM.   Now if the MSM would just follow Boxer’s lead. Quit evicorating Vigil Goode and start taking a close look at Keith Ellson

Well never fear, Babs is back to normal. “Muslim group, Boxer make up:”

“We have addressed the issues related to this unfortunate and unnecessary incident, and have agreed with Senator Boxer that we should all move forward to build a nation in which people of all faiths work together to promote respect and tolerance,” a statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a release after its meeting Jan. 23 with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

It all sounds well and good to mouth platitudes like respect and tolerance.  Yet Moslems in general and the Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) diplay neither respect nor tolerance.

There is scant reason to show tolerance for a group intent not tolerating you.   It makes no more sense to tolerate CAIR than it would the Klu Klux Klan.  

You must rememer this, respect is not yours to demand, but mine to give.  Indeed respect can only be given.  Otherwise it has no value.   In order to be given respecct, you first must give it.  CAIR shows no respect.   She will get none from me.  What say  you?

(H/T photo:  Moonbattery )?

We hear a lot of hysteria in the press about the American people deserting President Bush. Every time a new poll is released, it is trumpeted as documenting a new low in the President’s approval rating. But these polls follow a variety of methodologies, most of which appear to be flawed, and make it hard to track responses consistently over time. So I think it’s useful to look at Rasmussen Reports, a data set that has been generated using consistent methods by a polling organization with a good track record in recent years.

If we look at President Bush’s approval ratings over the last year, a period of time when his standing has supposedly plummeted, the results are actually rather consistent. In December 2005, Bush’s approval rating stood at 45%, with disapproval at 54%. This was at the end of what Bush described in his State of the Union speech, correctly, as a pretty good year in Iraq. In Rasmussen’s most recent survey, after a year of relentless bad news from Iraq, Bush scores 42% positive and 56% negative–a swing of a mere two to three points.

Admittedly, Bush is up a little from earlier this month, but still, his approval percentage has fluctuated within a fairly narrow range over the last year, never higher than 45% and never lower than 38%. This belies, I think, the common perception of a downward spiral. In fact, as one would expect five to six years into Bush’s presidency, not a lot of people are changing their minds.

That’s John over at Powerline. Of course, he’s quite correct… Why would the leftist press want to paint the picture of a downward spiral that simply doesn’t exist? Why would they ignore the fact that the democrats in Congress both individually and collectively ring up lower numbers than Mr. Bush? It’s not that the facts are hard to find, it’s that they just as soon you didn’t know about them.

I suppose also that one could look at the press reports coming off of the relatively small number of people showing up for last weekend’s Anti-Bush, Anti- America, Anti- war protest in Washington , where in that relatively small batch of people was magnified into the 10 million man march of 2007, and ask the same questions. (You remember the 10 million man march don’t you? Where, a few weeks after we found out that only about 6000 people showed up? )

Mark this well; There is a concerted effort, dear reader, to give the impression that the left has more support than a does in reality. The mainstream media is taking part in that effort , and is to a large degree, driving it. Don’t you think it’s time we asked why?

“A man could make a fortune selling Geritol to these people.”

That was Jack Langer’s reaction upon seeing the fiarly small crowd that showed up to last weekend’s anti-war, Anti-Bush pro-left shouting festival in Washington.

Expecting a healthy turnout of idealistic youths, I was surprised to find that the crowd was comprised predominantly of middle-aged ’60s throwbacks looking to recapture the glory days of the jarring folk music, campus occupations, and general social chaos that accompanied the Vietnam War. When the Raging Grannies showed up, it was hard to distinguish them from the rest of the crowd.

…

Dominated by the ’60s generation as it was, it was unsurprising to see a galaxy of signs and booths invoking the sacred cure-all of nearly every 1960s radical — socialism. “Bush is the symptom, Capitalism is the disease, Socialism is the cure” blared one giant banner. “Defeat US Imperialism. Socialist revolution is the only solution” intoned a pennant by the League for the Revolutionary Party. “Defend China, North Korea, and Vietnam Against Imperialism and Capitalist Counter-Revolution!” was the motto of the Sparticist League. That last slogan I found to be one of the most offensive statements of the day — right up there with one speaker’s invocation of Maureen Dowd as an authoritative social analyst.

They’ve had 30 years of practice. You’d think they’d have gotten better at it. But as Langer says, their story hasn’t changed…

What do the old radicals have left to offer the youth? Socialism. One can understand the attraction of this credo back in the 1960s, when its American adherents only had the millions of victims of the Soviet regime to contradict their assertion that socialism would provide a positive alternative to capitalism.

But now, we know of the atrocities of a whole new set of postwar socialist regimes in China, Cambodia, Romania, and countless other places — including Vietnam — as well as the final collapse of most socialist governments and the turn toward capitalism of nearly all the remaining socialist regimes. Younger activists may have the Iraq War to fight against, but they need something to fight for — and with socialism, their older role models are not offering them anything appealing.

Their problem here is, that the measurement of what is and is not appealing seems to be wanting. Certainly, there are some who are stupid enough to jump headlong into this.  But most young people are going to steer clear of the failures of the past.  At least, those who have actually studied history.

Maybe now we have a better understanding of why it is the government wants to take over the education of our children.  Those failures, and the understanding of them, are a problem for those pursuing the socialist revolution.

More swamp gas was smelled emanating from Mrs. Pelosi’s Swamp:

WASHINGTON -(USA Today)- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and two other prominent Democrats have failed to disclose they are officers of family charities, in violation of a law requiring members of Congress to report non-profit leadership roles.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the fourth-ranking House Democrat, and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana also did not report they serve as family foundation directors, according to financial disclosure reports examined by USA TODAY.

Mrs. Pelosi is not draining her swamp.   She is filling it.

(H/T photo: Kitty LItter ) 

From the Way Back Machine archives, Terry McAuliffe, stooge for Mrs. Clinton:

Their policies are totally different but they are both perceived as very tough,” said Terry McAuliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman. “She is strong on foreign policy. People have got to know you are going to keep them safe

From Mike Glover, Associated Press 

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that President Bush should withdraw all U.S. troops from  before he leaves office, asserting it would be “the height of irresponsibility” to pass the war along to the next commander in chief. [emphasis removed]

From Don Riehl, Riehl World View, “I Resemble That Remark:”

How can someone think they deserve to be President if they’re going to resent inheriting a tough job? If a 9/11 were to happen on her watch, I can just hear the less than Presidential address now – “Frankly, Osama, I really resent this attack. I wanted to work on healthcare!”

From A.J. Strata, Strata-Sphere, Mrs. Clinton, “blundered badly:”

This looks and smells of cowardice. A woman has enough trouble convincing voters she has the backbone to face our problems without going spineless and demanding George Bush make life easier for her before she will step up. Condi Rice would not have made such a blunder. She knows the stakes involved, the choice of winning in Iraq now or having to do it later as part of a World War eminating from the Middle East (if we lose Iraq). And Clinton’s hands are as dirty in this as anyone’s since she voted for the Iraq war. Her claim that 20-20 hindsight would have changed her views is stupid. Who wouldn’t think differently with hindsight?

Would Lady Thatcher complain about inheriting a tough situation?  Did she ever?   I dare say Lady Thatcher was never impugned to be a coward.

More: Jules Crittenden.

Update:  James S. Robbins, NRO, The Corner, on “Hillary’s Demands:”   

Another way to read Hillary Clinton’s demand that the US be out of Iraq by 2009 is that were she President she would not be able to handle it. So she’d rather it just go away.

Jimmy Carter is noted for his honesty. I’m willing to bet that there are a number of Democrats who would wish him to be not quite so honest:

TEL AVIV -WND- Former President Jimmy Carter once complained there were “too many Jews” on the government’s Holocaust Memorial Council, Monroe Freedman, the council’s former executive director, told WND in an exclusive interview.

Freedman, who served on the council during Carter’s term as president, also revealed a noted Holocaust scholar who was a Presbyterian Christian was rejected from the council’s board by Carter’s office because the scholar’s name “sounded too Jewish.”

Freedman, now a professor of law at Hofstra University, was picked by the council’s chairman, author Elie Weisel, to serve as executive director in 1980. The council, created by the Carter White House, went on to establish the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Freedman says he was tasked with creating a board for the council and with making recommendations to the White House on how best to memorialize the Holocaust.

He told WND he sent a memo to Carter’s office containing recommendations for council board members.

He said his memo was returned with a note on the upper right hand corner that stated, “Too many Jews.”

The note, Freedman said, was written in Carter’s handwriting and was initialed by Carter.  

The problem I see here is Carter is revealing the leanings of his fellow Democrats.

Still wonder why I’ve said repeatedly that Jews voting for Democrats have a self-destructive streak?

If Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez deliberately intended to sabotage his nation’s economy, he would be hard-pressed to do anything different from what he is now doing to his country.
It has been widely reported that Mr. Chavez has been increasingly taking control of the oil, telecommunications and energy sectors, as well as the media. What has not been reported is the full extent of the corruption in Venezuela and how this ultimately will destroy the economy.
The financial scandal taking place is far bigger than Enron, and may ultimately even exceed the U.N. “oil-for-food” scandal, the biggest financial disgrace of all time. Venezuela has had a rapidly growing economy for the last few years, due to high oil prices, but the house of cards is about to collapse.

That’s Richard W. Rahn, in an op-ed dated for 1/22.

So it would appear that Hugo Chavez is in serious trouble, even though he doesn’t know it yet.  But Rahn’s outlook is not at all rosy for the short term.

Mr. Chavez and his cronies had already been spending far more than they were taking in before the recent drop in oil prices. Without a big jump back up to $70 a barrel or more for oil, the Venezuelans will be increasingly squeezed, and you can bet the blood from the innocent Venezuelan people will be drained long before those on the take from Mr. Chavez agree to have their looting stopped.

The one point that Mr. Rahn and does not mention is the reaction of the United States when these problems develop.  Possibly his lack of comment has to do with the question of who’s going to be in power here in the United States when those problems finally come home to roost in Venezuela.

I finally managed to break away from painting and so on, to blog.

* I note that James has a story posted where the idea is raised that Americans have too MUCH wealth saved for retirement. After years of being told how Americans aren’t saving nearly enough, this story seems problematic on its face.  As I told James, I can’t help but wonder if this new meme showing up, doesn’t have some connection to the recent change in power in Washington, particularly given the tendency of the party currently in power regards taxing and spending.

* Cosh wails:

It would be kind of useful if weblogs could get together on a single standard for the meaning of “previous” and “next” in links between pages, and better still if webloggers would just stop using those words.

Yeah, well… about that… let’s face it; most of the people that are running blocks these days, simply take the software is designed, and let it go at that.  It’s the rare person indeed that will actually create their own template , and redesign the internal linkages.  I think you may be asking a little much from the average blogger.

On the other hand such standardization would go a long way toward making the 80% of people who don’t read such sites more prone to reading them. I’m not convinced, that any extra valley imposed standards on form and function is ever going to take hold in this environment; the denizens of blogdom are just too independently minded.  Then again, perhaps that’s kind of a self imposed limitation on the number of readers attracted to such sites.

*

Kerry Backs Up Iran’s N. Rights

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Former US presidential nominee John Kerry voiced full support for the Islamic Republic’s right to use civilian nuclear technology on the basis of the rules and regulations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NTP).

Like I said, I don’t think the city is going to be able to keep his mouth shut, even though he’s not running for the office, this time around.  And isn’t it interesting, that when the pressure is off, the true wishes of the democratic party start getting mentioned?

Thank God this moron did not get elected.

‘ll tell ya, folks; the realistic view here is that Iran has been waging secretive war against the United States since 1979.  You remember, Jimmy Carter?

Describing the world’s indifference in the face of the Palestinian crisis as a catastrophe, he asked, “Why should the existence of a nation be ignored and why shouldn’t a legal government like Hamas which has ascended to power through democratic elections be recognized?”

If you have to ask that question, John, you don’t deserve the office you hold, much less than a president.  Do the nation and the world a favor and resign… now.

* Remember the million man march?  Yeah that was the one where a few thousand people showed up….  If that.  It appears the press is being similarly stretchy on its estimates for antiwar protests.  I mean, I know it’s difficult to believe that the press would lie to us about such a thing.  But there it is

* An interesting article today in the Washington Post. The thrust of the article is to dispel the myths surrounding the automobile and it’s supposedly damaging effects. Of note:

Some claim that Europeans have developed an enlightened alternative. Americans return from London and Paris and tell their friends that everyone gets around by transit. But tourists tend to confine themselves to the central cities. Europeans may enjoy top-notch transit and endure gasoline that costs $5 per gallon, but in fact they don’t drive much less than we do. In the United States, automobiles account for about 88 percent of travel. In Europe, the figure is about 78 percent. And Europeans are gaining on us.

Another important point:

Polls often show that Americans think that air quality is deteriorating. Yet air is getting much cleaner. We miss it because, while we see more people and more cars, we easily overlook the success of air-quality legislation and new technologies. In April 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 474 counties in 31 states violated the Clean Air Act. But that doesn’t mean that the air is dirtier. The widely publicized failing air-quality grades were a result of the EPA’s adoption of tougher standards.

Air quality has been improving for a long time. More stringent regulations and better technology have allowed us to achieve what was previously unthinkable: driving more and getting cleaner. Since 1970, driving — total vehicle miles traveled — has increased 155 percent, and yet the EPA reports a dramatic decrease in every major pollutant it measures..

So much for the clueless and ranting and raving about “global warming”