Bin Laden warns against Iraq unity government

It undermines the establishment of an Islamic state:

Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining tribal councils fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government, in a new Internet audiotape on Saturday.

"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said in the tape.

He denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, a tribal force fighting al-Qaida in western Iraq, who was killed.

Christmas in Iraq

Let's pray that this continues:

Thousands of Iraqi Christians made their way to church through checkpoints and streets lined with blast walls, many drawing hope from a lull in violence to celebrate Christmas Mass in numbers unthinkable a year ago.

Death is never far in Iraq—two separate suicide bombings north of Baghdad killed at least 35 people and wounded scores more. But the number of attacks has fallen dramatically in the past few months—the U.S. military says by 60 percent since June.

"We did not celebrate last year, but this year we have security and we feel better," said Rasha Ghaban, one of many women at the small Church of the Holy Family in Karradah, a mainly Shiite district in downtown Baghdad where many Christians live. "We hope our future will be better, God willing."

[...]

Muslim clerics—both Sunni and Shiite—also attended the service in a sign of unity.

"May Iraq be safe every year, and may our Christian brothers be safe every year," Shiite cleric Hadi al-Jazail told AP Television News outside the church. "We came to celebrate with them and to reassure them."

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Merry Christmas to our troops!

Thank you for your sacrifice and your desire to service and protect this country.

“Long Live the Islamic State”

An al Qaeda torture chamber uncovered in Iraq.

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Time's Person of the Year...

Is not Petraeus! He came up with the plans to turn the war around and he spent the last year doing so and yet they couldn't take the step to acknowledge that. Unbelievable! Their liberal bias yet again stops them from making the obvious choice. Too bad, it continues to make their award irrelevant because you know that the real newsmakers do not have a shot.

Senate passes Iraq funding with no strings

A victory for Bush:

The Senate voted Tuesday to provide $70 billion for U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, handing a victory to President Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill.

The 70-25 roll call paved the way for the Senate to pass a $555 billion omnibus appropriations bill combining the war funding with the budgets for 14 Cabinet agencies.

Bush was ready to sign the bill, assuming the war funding clears the House on Wednesday. Democrats again failed to win votes to force removal of U.S. troops or set a nonbinding target to remove most troops by the end of next year.

``Even those of us who have disagreed on this war have always agreed on one thing: Troops in the field will not be left without the resources they need,'' said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The year-end budget deal between the Democratic-controlled Congress and Bush ended months of battling and disappointed GOP purists who complained the bill spends too much money and contains about 9,000 pet projects sought by members of Congress.

[...]

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington-based watchdog group that opposes so-called pork barrel projects, counted 8,983 such ``earmarks'' worth $7.4 billion. These hometown pet projects include economic development grants, aid to local transit and police departments and clean water projects, among many others.

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Ed Rollins might want to talk to his candidate about Reagan's eleventh commandment

Huckabee, who has admitted he doesn't know what he's talking about, criticized Bush's foreign policy. He sounds just like the left:

Mike Huckabee, who has joked about his lack of foreign policy experience, is criticizing the Bush administration's efforts, denouncing a go-it-alone "arrogant bunker mentality" and questioning decisions on Iraq.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor now running for the Republican presidential nomination, lays out a policy plan that is long on optimism but short on details in the January-February issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, which is published by the Council on Foreign Relations. A copy of his article was released Friday.

"American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out," Huckabee said. "The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognize that the United States' main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists."

In one specific criticism, Huckabee said Bush did not send enough troops to invade Iraq. And he accused the president of marginalizing Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, who said at the outset of the war that it might take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to control Iraq after the invasion. "I would have met with Shinseki privately and carefully weighed his advice," Huckabee said.

[...]

Separately, Huckabee also named Republican political strategist Ed Rollins as his national campaign chairman. Rollins was national campaign director for Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election.

Romney had the same take:

Mitt Romney accused Republican presidential rival Mike Huckabee of "running from the wrong party" for criticizing President Bush's foreign policy as an "arrogant bunker mentality."

Romney defended Bush against Huckabee's charge, which the former Arkansas governor leveled in the January-February issue of the respected journal Foreign Affairs.

"I can't believe he'd say that," Romney said to a gathering of about 100 supporters in a restaurant here. "I had to look again—did this come from Barack Obama or from Hillary Clinton? Did it come from John Edwards? No, it was Governor Huckabee."

It's clear to me that Huckabee is the most anti-Reagan candidate in the pack.

Congress gives Bush Iraq funds without timeline

I'm surprised they didn't fight this some more. I commend them for finally doing their job:

The Democratic-led Congress authorized more Iraq war spending on Friday, sending President George W. Bush a defense bill requiring no change in strategy after failing again to impose a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals.

The defense policy bill, approved 90-3 by the U.S. Senate, also expanded the size of the U.S. Army and set conditions on the Bush administration's plan to build a missile defense system in Europe.

The measure already had passed the House of Representatives and now goes to Bush, who is expected to sign it into law. It authorizes Pentagon programs expected to cost $506.9 billion during fiscal 2008, which began in October.

NBC rejects ad thanking the troops for their service

Because of the inclusion of Freedom's Watch's website address:

NBC has nixed holiday advertisements meant to thank troops for serving overseas in opposition to the inclusion of a non-profit's Web address

The ads, paid for by the non-profit Freedom's Watch, are a simple thank you, the group says, with people shown paying gratitude to members of the military and the final frame showing the group's Web address, www.freedomswatch.org.

[...]

NBC is refusing to air the ads as long as the address is included, according to an e-mail exchange between NBC and the group, which Freedom's Watch provided to FOX News.

"Per my previous email, the www.freedomswatch.org website will have to be redacted from the commercials for approval. This comes from Alan Wurtzel and Rick Cotton," according to one of the notes.

Wurtzel is president of research at NBC. Rick Cotton is general counsel for NBC Universal.

What a shame they won't make an exception to their policy for these ads because they really are quite lovely. See for yourself:

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House Democrat on Iraq: "There is no question that the security situation has improved,"

Another Democrat notices that the military can actually do the job they are tasked to do. Shocking!

Rep. Earl Pomeroy says he saw significant security improvements in Iraq during his fifth trip to the country, but said much more is needed.

"I've never felt more hopeful about the success of the effort than coming back from this trip," Pomeroy, D-N.D., told reporters on Wednesday. "At the same time, we need to transition this now, so the United States no longer carries the principal combat and security functions."

[...]

He said he saw significant improvements since his last trip in July 2006. For the first time, he said, he and his congressional traveling companions were allowed out of the secure Green Zone in Baghdad.

[...]

Pomeroy said he believes the administration is not doing enough to end the war. He has voted with fellow Democrats several times this year to establish timetables for withdrawal from the country.

If the surge is working, then why not let the military determine when to leave instead of the defacto defunding that the cowards in the Democrat leadership are doing now.

Senior al-Qaeda leader killed in Iraq

A Syrian al-Qaeda leader! What? They have real al-Qaeda in Iraq not just Iraqis pretending to be al-Qaeda? Who knew? Certainly not Reid or Pelosi (according to their rhetoric):

The regions around Samarra and Tarmiyah in Salahadin province continues to be a flashpoint for raids against senior al Qaeda operatives and propaganda cells. US forces have confirmed killing a senior Syrian al Qaeda leader near the city, and another media cell was dismantled in the city. As the US targets al Qaeda's media operations, al Furqan released two new products over the past several days, including a tape by Abu Omar al Baghdadi.

Meanwhile, it looks like they al-Qaeda is targeting members of Awakening Councils:

In highlights of the speech, Baghdadi announces the formation of a new brigade, “Al Siddiq Brigades” to fight every “apostate and traitor”, and additionally announces an attack that will end on ... January 29, 2008. ... This attack involves bombings aimed at the “apostates” and members of Awakening Councils."

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Pelosi: let them eat cake

Well, that's what it sounded like to me:

On Thursday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, said he and the White House Iraq coordinator Gen. Douglas Lute discussed a compromise in which Congress would provide additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan if the administration accepted readiness standards for the troops sent into battle and a ban on the use of torture.

The Democrats' part of the compromise would be to extend the time period in which they would demand that troops be withdrawn from Iraq, Murtha said.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi showed no sign of accepting such a compromise and said the Democratic Congress would not pass a war funding bill other than the one that had already passed the House.

How long do you think her resolve will last once Bush and the military start publishing the layoffs and what the troops have to do without because of the lack of funds? She's got too many seats in red districts to gamble that the Democrats won't be portrayed as trying to undermine the success of the surge by playing politics. She may even have a mutiny of the more moderate Democrats.

Not only is she undermining the war in Iraq, she's cut off further funding for Afghanistan. How is that a winning position? I really don't think it's a great idea for the Democrats to be perceived as being on the side of the enemy.

TNR finally admits that the Beauchamp stories were crap!

Fog of War BDS! (Get ready for a long read, it's ten pages long!)

Now, if you were the publisher of this magazine wouldn't you start asking yourself the question, "Why can't these guys get it right?" This is what, the third time shoddy editing has missed a lying reporter. I think that it would behoove the publisher to send them to fact check training so that they could follow up on some of the more obvious lies. (Listen, if bloggers could find out that he was lying, why couldn't trained professionals?)

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Jack Murtha acknowledges that the surge is working

Bwahahahahahahahaha:

U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy.

"I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president's decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves."

Violence has dropped significantly in recent months, but Mr. Murtha said he was most encouraged by changes in the once-volatile Anbar province, where locals have started working closely with U.S. forces to isolate insurgents linked to Al Qaeda.

Here's a blast from the past where he's caught on tape video saying that the progress was an "illusion" (btw, while you're there check out the bunny snuff film -- I think it went on too long).

But of course the borg would never allow him to get away with that:

War critic Rep. John Murtha on Friday clarified an earlier statement that seemingly expressed optimism about President Bush's plan that increased troops in Iraq. Murtha emphasized that he still thinks the war should end.

After making a trip to Iraq last week, Murtha, D-Pa., told reporters Thursday, "I think the surge is working." But he said that was just one element and the United States was still failing diplomatically in the country.

I guess the public isn't interested in propaganda

DePalma's movie bombs.

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Democrats: It would be folly not to acknowledge the gains in Iraq

So say the advisers to Obama and Clinton. I wonder if Reid would agree? And if it would be folly not to acknowledge the gains, why not give the troops the money they need to continue the good job that they are doing?

As violence declines in Baghdad, the leading Democratic presidential candidates are undertaking a new and challenging balancing act on Iraq: acknowledging that success, trying to shift the focus to the lack of political progress there, and highlighting more domestic concerns like health care and the economy.

Advisers to Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama say that the candidates have watched security conditions improve after the troop escalation in Iraq and concluded that it would be folly not to acknowledge those gains. At the same time, they are arguing that American casualties are still too high, that a quick withdrawal is the only way to end the war and that the so-called surge in additional troops has not paid off in political progress in Iraq.

But the changing situation suggests for the first time that the politics of the war could shift in the general election next year, particularly if the gains continue. While the Democratic candidates are continuing to assail the war — a popular position with many of the party’s primary voters — they run the risk that Republicans will use those critiques to attack the party’s nominee in the election as defeatist and lacking faith in the American military.

[...]

“If Iraq looks at least partly salvageable, it will be important to explain as a candidate how you would salvage it — how you would get our troops out and not lose the war. The Democrats need to be very careful with what they say and not hem themselves in.”

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Risk? Not hem themselves in? Are they nuts, it's too late for that. They own defeat, it belongs to them. Of course the Republicans have soundbite after soundbite of the Democrats attacking Petraeus, suggesting that we had already lost the war and that the surge would not work. If the Republicans don't use all that ammunition, they deserve to lose the presidency. They should hammer it into the public psyche that the Democrats don't trust our military to do it's job and that they would rather have political victory and power than have military victory.

As we all know this war could take a down turn as it did today in the pet market in Baghdad but that shouldn't stop us from moving forward, knowing that our military understands the fight better than our politicians.

Sunni insurgent turns to Americans in the middle of a gun battle

Here's a back story of what happened when one of the Sunni insurgent leaders turned on al-Qaeda in May:

He hailed the car carrying the feared leader of Al Qaeda in the neighborhood, a man known as the White Lion, on one of Amariyah's main streets. "We want you to stop destroying our neighborhood," he told the man.

"Do you know who you are talking to?" said the White Lion, getting out of his car. "I am Al Qaeda. I will destroy even your own houses!"

He pulled out his pistol and shot at Abul Abed. The gun jammed. He reloaded and fired again. Again, the gun jammed.

By this time, Abul Abed said, he had pulled his own gun. He fired once, killing the White Lion.

"I walked over to him, stepped on his hand and took his gun," Abul Abed, which is a nom de guerre, said at his new, pink-painted headquarters in a renovated school in Amariyah, as an American Army captain seated in the corner nodded his head in affirmation of the account. "And then the fight started."

It was the beginning of the end for Al Qaeda in Amariyah. The next day, a firefight erupted. Al Qaeda fighters closed in on Abul Abed. Most of the 150 men who had joined him fled. Holed up in a mosque with fewer than a dozen supporters, Abul Abed thought the end was near.

"The blue carpet was soaked red with blood," he recalled. Then the imam of the mosque called in American help.

A friendship was born.

[...]

'Americans are our protectors'

Abul Abed said the Sunni revolution has gone too far for that.

"Americans are our protectors and saviors," he said.

The real enemy of Iraq, he says, now is Iran. He pulled out his mobile phone to show pictures he has saved of the bodies of his four brothers, who were kidnapped and murdered in 2005 by what he suspects was a Shiite death squad with ties to Iran. One of them had a nail driven into his head. Another was missing a hand.

"Even animals wouldn't do that," he said, his face darkening. "Iran is so deeply infiltrated in Iraq, the problem here still cannot be solved. Iran wants to demolish us. If the Americans leave, then you can count Iraq as a second Tehran."

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French prosecutors throw out Rumsfeld torture case

Maybe if they keep trying, they'll find a country that will prosecute him:

The Paris prosecutors' office has dismissed a suit against Donald Rumsfeld accusing the former U.S. defense secretary of torture, human rights groups who brought the case said on Friday.

The plaintiffs, who included the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), said Rumsfeld had authorized interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses.

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Supplemental Bill Needed to Fund Anti-IED Effort, Director Says

The military can thank Reid for it's shortage. I'm the sure the enemy appreciates his efforts.

If Congress does not come through with a supplemental bill President Bush will sign, money for defeating the largest killers of American personnel in the war on terror will run out Dec. 1, a senior official said here today.

Retired Army Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs, director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, told Pentagon reporters that the organization will have to stop funding new initiatives and just maintain operations.

“We’re out of (funding) new stuff now; we’re going to have trouble sustaining current contracts after the first of December,” Meigs said.

The anti-IED organization needs the funding to sustain operations and to pay for equipment fielded but not yet turned over to the services for funding, Meigs said. For example, he said, his organization funds the Guardian man-portable jammer, the contractors to service it, and the training in the system.

The organization tests new projects, ideas, ways of doing business and equipment against IEDs. If they prove effective, the organization is nimble enough to quickly can get the equipment to the hands of servicemembers. Meigs said the organization has enough money “to keep the lights on” through April. The organization is funded via supplemental spending bills.

“What I can’t fund today will not go into the field next summer or next fall,” Meigs said. “It’ll be delayed by the amount of time we wait for funding.”

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How will the left spin the victory in Iraq...

That is clearly unfolding before our eyes? After trying to stop Bush from sending extra troops, trying to pull all troops except for the ones who would stay on their bases and occasionally fight al-Qaeda and denying them the funds to fight the war not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan as well, how can they claim that they had any part in this victory? You know they'll find a way, just read the comments to this post to see just how they'll try to spin it.

The US military accomplished their job despite the dereliction of duty by Congress and the besmirching of Petraeus and his plan. They'll try to spin it but we all know the truth because we have witnessed the actions of the Democrats as they have fought very hard for an entire year to end this war. Thankfully, the Republicans in the Senate were able to defeat their attempts to surrender in Iraq and that allowed Petraeus the ability to fight the war and for the military to train enough Iraqis to takeover when they eventually leave (as has been the plan since this war began).

So, spin away you lefties! It won't do you any good, nobody's buying it