How the Left Betrayed my Country - Iraq

This article by Naseer Flayih Hasan has gravitas. Heft. Power. Emotion. Read the whole thing. Hat tip: Power Line.

Before the last war, we Iraqis spent decades cut off from the outside world. Not only did the Baathist regime prevent us from traveling during the Iran-Iraq conflict and the period of the sanctions, but they punished anyone possessing satellite television. And of course, internet access was strictly limited. Because of our isolation, most of us had little idea or sense about life beyond our borders. We did believe, however, that democracy and human rights were important factors in Western civilization. So it came as a shock to us when millions of people began demonstrating across the world against America’s build-up to the invasion of our country. We supposed the protests were by people who had no idea about the terrible atrocities that the regime had inflicted upon us for decades. We assumed that once they learned what had happened in Iraq, they would change their minds, or modify their opposition to the war... ...We came to understand how these "humanitarians" experienced a sort of pleasure when terrorists or former remnants of the regime created destruction in Iraq—just so they could feel that they were right, and the Americans wrong! Worse, we realized it was hopeless to make them grasp our feelings. We believed—and still believe--that America’s removal of the regime opened a new way for democracy. At the same time, we have no illusions that the U.S. came to Iraq on a white horse to save our people. We understand this war is all about national interests, and that America’s interests are mainly about defeating terrorism... ...I have become disillusioned, at least with the Leftists I met in Iraq. So noble in their rhetoric, they looked to the stars, yet ignored what was happening around them, caring only about what was inside their minds. So glorious in their ideals, their thoughts were inflexible and their deeds unnecessary, even harmful. In the end, they proved to me how dogma and fanaticism had transform peace activists into—lifeless peace "statues."

How the Left Betrayed my Country - Iraq

Iraqis Undeterred By Violence

Power Line:

We've said before that, with few exceptions, those who want to postpone the elections in Iraq are those who would prefer that they never take place at all. Haider Ajina adds further support for that view with this translation of poll results that appeared in the Iraqi Arabic newspaper Alsabaah this morning. The poll was of 4,974 Iraqis living in and around Baghdad: Will the security problems cause you to? Not come out and vote the day of elections = 18.3% Come out and vote the day of elections = 78.3% No opinion = 3.4% Do you support military action against the terrorists? Yes = 87.7 % No = 11.1% Don’t Know = 1.2% My guess is that the turnout in Iraq at the end of the month will exceed what we normally get in a Presidential election here in the U.S. If the terrorists aren't deterring the Iraqis, why should they deter us?

Power Line: Iraqis Undeterred By Violence

DEBKAfile: Saddam Hussein Speaks

The Israeli strategy and intelligence site Debka had an interesting, second-hand interview with Saddam Hussein based upon conversations with one of his attorneys. Topics covered included the ex-dictator's health; complaints about his American guards and the Red Cross; and his impressions of the war and postwar insurgency. Granted, it's hearsay, but worth reading nonetheless.



For me, the most interesting segment came at the end.

...When Duleimi [ed: his attorney] informed him that five million Iranians infiltrated Iraq in advance of the January 30 elections to register as voters, Saddam retorted: "This is nothing new as far as the Persian traitors are concerned. We always knew they wanted to grab southern Iraq and that this was the objective of the Badr Brigades. Now the Americans are discovering this for themselves." But, he added, in any case, the Americans and Allawi will not succeed in bringing the elections off. They will fail, he declared. Finally, the former Iraqi president said: “I fear for Syria. I warned Bashar Assad that the Americans had not only targeted Iraq, but Syria too.” DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Saddam Hussein touched inadvertently on the most burning issue between the Bush administration and Iraq’s interim prime minister Iyad Alawi. Ever since the December 21 suicide attack on the US forward base in Mosul, when 22 Americans were killed, Allawi has been urging Washington to launch attacks from Iraq on points in Syria – singling out military locations known to intelligence as bases used to assist and train terrorists preparatory to their infiltration of Iraq. The Iraqi prime minister believes that without military action against Syria, three key goals will remain out of reach: 1. A general election on January 30 orderly enough to be a success. 2. An effective deterrent to Tehran’s meddling in Iraq. 3. Victory in the war against the guerrillas. Sunday, January 2, US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage arrives in Damascus with a final warning from Washington. The Syrian ruler will be informed that the administration is closer than ever before to acceding to Allawi’s demand.

DEBKAfile: Saddam Hussein Speaks

Half the Story

In propagandizing the "Iraq = Vietnam" meme, some in the mainstream press have forgotten one teensy, tiny detail. Our side (we'll call them the good guys) are fighting for a Democratic government against extremist, suicidal Islamofascists who would like nothing better than to kill Americans (and for that matter, anyone who is not their co-religionist), either here or abroad. Nothing to do with the situation is similar to that in Vietnam, and the sooner the MSM picks up on that fact, the better for everyone. You'd think their arthritic circulation numbers would have provided the hint.

Haider Ajina sent us this translation of an article that appeared today in the Iraqi Arabic newspaper Nahrain: A press release by the Iraqi ministry of defense. 1. At 1 am Iraqi National Guard (ING), the Mahmudih division, arrested 217 individuals suspected of being terrorists and confiscated a large cache of light and heavy caliber weapons and ammunition. 2. At 2 am the same ING division arrested Hatem Alzobaae, a suspected terrorist cell leader. 3. At 2:30 am ING in Hillah arrested the terrorist Ali Mehsan Ghnajar. In his possession were 19 grenades, three 28mm mortars. 4. At 4 am, based on a tip that he had returned from Syria, the criminal Ali Latief was arrested by the ING. Four men who are part of his cell were also arrested. 5. At 4 am 10 terrorists were arrested after returning from Mosul by the ING Mahmudiah division. 6. At 4 am ING raided the Hai Alaskari area based on a tip. As a result of the raid the ING arrested 10 terrorists one of which resisted and was wounded and arrested. 7. At 4 am terrorists attacked the Hadbaa police station and were repelled with 2 terrorists killed and their weapons confiscated. 8. At 5 am ING started a security clean sweep of Bab Shams. They confiscated a large number of hand grenades and mortar weapons and rounds. Haider adds these comments: I keep seeing more and more of this type of terrorist cleansing activity. What is more interesting is that the Iraqi National Guard is more and more active in these arrests. I have also noticed that more and more actions based on tips are being reported. Check your local newspaper tomorrow morning and see whether these successes by the Iraqi National Guard have been reported. Then ask yourself whether any successful terrorist attack, whether via car bomb, attack on a police station, kidnapping, or whatever, has ever gone unreported in your local paper. Then ask your local paper why half of the story is missing.

Powerline: Half the Story

Of Car Bombs and Spectrometers

There's something that's been eating away at me regarding the security situation in Iraq. Too many good people are being killed or maimed by car bombs in Iraq. I'm definitely no physicist, but doesn't it seem feasible to position spectrometer-based sensors on major intersections in the Sunni triangle to detect these fascists?



Heck, maybe this already exists. But, if so, it would be good to hear about some successful interceptions (or, as I like to call them, "premature detonations") of car bombers.



Use the Comments feature, below, if you have an idea why this is so difficult to achieve.

Fave Blog Moment '04: Hugh Hewitt, Calm in the Storm

This is probably a bit esoteric, but one of my favorite blog moments was election day. Specifically, when the exit polls were pointing towards a stunning Kerry victory.



What the heck was happening? How could that be?



More than anyone else, Hugh Hewitt provided the calming rally point first; marshalling the forces of good through his insistence that the exit poll data was bogus.



The facts rolled in and PoliPundit and others provided the quantitative basis for disputing the polls.



On that day, Hewitt, PoliPundit, and others demonstrated the mettle that only true leaders possess. The calming influence they exerted may very well have turned the tide in Ohio.



I'll explain the picture... I simply did a Google image search for "Hewitt" and that's what I came up with. Odds are that's Jennifer Love and not Hugh.

Whither Old Media?

PoliPundit has the answer.



In a nutshell: catastrophic losses in readership for newspapers. And the demographic trends must truly be frightening. Younger readers are ignoring newspapers in ever greater numbers.



Where are readers turning? You know the answer as well as I. Blogs.



Study: Blog creation, readership jumped in ’04