May 15 2007
Fly By 05/15/07
All day meetings so posting will be sadly light today. So a Fly By is in order! BTW – we will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary this week on Friday – so an early thanks to everyone who has helped this site grow to the success it is today (a special thanks to LJStrata who does all the magic behind the curtain!).
Contrary to the media reports ‘sectarian violence’ is not the source of most of the violence. The violence is being caused by Islamo Fascists trying to ignite sectarian violence. But it might surprise Americans to find some violence is purely within sects – like what is occurring in the Shia dominated South:
In the latest development of a turf war that has all the ingredients of a gangster movie set in 1920s Chicago, rivals of the provincial governor fell one vote short of voting him out of office last month but have pledged to keep up the standoff.
Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, is more or less free of the car bombs and the violence between Shias and Sunni Arabs raging in central Iraq, but it has descended into a chaos of its own. Sporadic militia battles, endemic corruption and death threats now scar the once tranquil port.
I think this turf war will end once control is established and the national government is able to get its breath
But the new dynamic at play continues to be the split between the Sunnis and al Qaeda:
Most observers agree that the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, particularly in the western province of Anbar, is splintering. The ruptures have allowed Iraq’s Shiite-dominated central government and U.S. military forces to make some new friends and allies who can aid in the continuing fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates in Iraq and against old Baathist stalwarts.
…
The splits “matter immensely,” said Samir Shakir Mahmoud Sumaidy, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, who offered one of the more optimistic assessments of the developments. The government is working hard to split the insurgent groups, he said. “I’m sure there will be more splits to come…. This is a process that is gradual.”
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, recently back from Iraq, said, “There are unmistakable signs that [the splintering] is happening.” Optimism over the Sunni splits “is not frippery or [just] positive thinking,” he said. But he pointed out that it could be all for naught if Al Qaeda’s spectacular bomb attacks against Shiites provoke Shiite militias into launching an all-out civil war against Sunni communities.
There is a little more news here on how the Brits are working with Sunnis to progress the shift in the Sunni community.
What I find interesting is the ripples Iraq is causing in the region. For example, in Bahrain the relationship between Shia and Sunni is being reassessed, and the internet is leading the way:
Bahrain Online’s political role grew from its inception in the late nineties in concert with the growth in Bahrain’s internet infrastructure and the cementing of oppositional voices through satellite television. Although always a critic of the authoritarian tendencies within the government, Ali Abdulemam did not found the site as a vehicle for opposition but as a space for Bahrainis of all political persuasions to comment openly on political developments.
The most interesting news of the day is the ‘civil war’ in Palestine, signalling more splits. Have a great day!
More on the battle in Basra here:
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/rattlesnake.htm
Bombshell from the flyover
In yet another revelation of the sinister and corrupt practices of the Department of Justice , testimony today revealed:
Let me repeat: something was going forward that was illegal
There is nothing illegal about the NSA terrorist surveillance program.
There is; however, something else, illegal going on.
Comey is just lying about the whole story.
Well, geeze, Lurker – I guess you know more about the law than the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee;
Yeah, who am I going to believe – Arlen Spector of some fool blogger?
Or some paid operative?
SS is just baiting us.
But if Chuck Shummer or Pat Leahy suggested something was wrong at the DOJ, I would be worried.
You guys just don’t get it do you? This is the smoking gun. TITLE 50 > CHAPTER 36 > SUBCHAPTER I > § 1809 says
SS IS ATTEMPTING TO MISLEADING. He completely leaves out the most important part. Which is where Arlen Spector says it was NOT illegal. SS’s attempt is par for the course so I must correct him.
Here is the transcript per FireDogLake
AS Did Gonzales try to pressure you?
AS Did you have other discussions?
JC Yessir: the Vice President, Mr. Addington, disagreed with the conclusion. I don’t remember any other WH officials telling me they disagreed.
AS Did VP, ADD threaten you.
JC Nossir.
AS So all these people disagreed with you. Why would you consider resigning? You were acting AG. They could fire you if they wanted. Why consider resigning.
JC Not because of the way I was treated. I didn’t think I could stay when they went ahead and did something that I did not believe could be certified. A key fact is that they went ahead and did it without my signature and without the DOJ’s approval.
AS Was the program recertified without the approval of Acting AG? So it went forward illegally?
JC Question of interpretation.
AS It was going forward illegally.
JC I’m not presidential scholar. If a determination was found that said it was lawful, then I was bound by it. I believed I couldn’t stay if it went ahead without our approval.
AS If the program went forward without your certification, it’s illegal, how could you contest that?
JC It’s my understanding the DOJ approval was not necessary, but it was customary. It wasn’t going forward in violation of any statutory requirement, as far as I knew.
AS Didn’t you feel it necessary to find out if there was a statute that required your signature.
JC I’m quite certain that there was no statutory requirement. I didn’t know and still don’t know the requirement for the DOJ approval.
AS IT’S NOT ILLEGAL. IT’S NOT ILLEGAL VIOLATING CUSTOM. WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION DID WAS NOT ILLEGAL.
JC I couldn’t find a basis for the requirement.
SS – I expect you to believe Arlen Spector when he says it was NOT illegal. As you did write this earlier .
Yeah, who am I going to believe – Arlen Spector of some fool blogger?
(I capitalized the part where Spector say it is not illegal)
What SS was cherry picking again???? No way!!! Come on he is the most reliable source for information on the web. heh what a schmuck
Ordi – you idiot – the illegality does not have anything to do with the AG signature. With our without the signature, a warrantless wiretap is illegal – by statute. But the Bush Adminsitration CLAIMED that a signature by the AG was the OK by which their proceeding without obtaining warrants was made palatable. Now – it turns out that for a two week period – they did not have the authorization they claimed they had.
Let me repeat for the thick-witted: A warrantless wiretap – by statute – is illegal without a warrant. And the testimony today confirms that warrantless wiretaps were had – even without an opinion from the AG that is was somehow “okay”.
Specter is attempting to put the best face on it he can by saying that while proceeding without the AG signature was not illegal. And that’s true – the illegal part was proceeding. Period.
SS
You sure would never win a congeniality contest. LOL
Your opinion of my intellect or my person means nothing to me.
Unlike you, I have never attempted to insult you. I know my arguments stand without the added puerile attempt at an insult.
My post was in DIRECT response to your post that ended with this:
Let me repeat: something was going forward that was illegal.
My post merely added the entire conversation, it clarified the conversation you attempted to cherry-picking part of to bolster your misleading, inaccurate and false conclusion.
Your cherry-picking of that conversation proves you know that your argument can not stand on its own without deception.
ALL of the Senator’s words prove you are wrong and his words do not suit your little game of deception you disregard his words.
As note ,
I have not believe Arlen Specter in the past two years. I wouldn’t believe Arlen…not for one bit.
Making Sense of Comey
Scaulen, Ordi, Merlin, etc., Powerline provides a far better summary than this soothie guy did.
Nothing absolutely wrong with the NSA terrorist surveillance program.