The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks today released a trove of classified reports that it said documented at least 109,000 deaths in the Iraq war, more than the United States previously has acknowledged, as well as what it described as cases of torture and other abuses by Iraqi and coalition forces.

Sadly for the wimpy left, this news is not all that Earth shattering. Sadam Hussein has millions of Arab and Persian Muslim deaths on his hands. He killed about 100,000 a year over his bloody reign. And most of the deaths since the US invasion of Iraq were not a result of US actions, but of blood thirsty al Qaeda associates playing to the liberal western media. Most Iraqis died at the hands of Islamo Fascists trying to get headlines with grotesque and spectacular mass killings. Because the liberals in the West are willing to cry for defeat and retreat at the drop of a hat, the Islamo Fascists went on a killing spree that made the sands of Iraq run red. If the left in the West showed even modest solidarity with their governments, the terrorists would not find mass murder a viable political option.

But what is also clearly intended here is a blatant attempt to influence our elections from outside our country. And I have a very simple answer for that – we ignore this for two weeks and deal with it after the upcoming election. As an American I really am repulsed by foreign influence on our decisions. As these liberals whine and complain about US influence disrupting (usually corrupt and deadly) foreign governments, their duplicitous conclusion is to effect our elections from outside. Not going to happen – we don’t need to respond to these mess before the election, no one could process the meaning of all this data in two weeks. So we ignore this outside attempt to manipulate us and we deal with our election decisions before dealing with whatever this traitorous effort to risk the lives and sacrifices of our military.

The battle of darkness and light is still raging in the Middle East. Darkness is using bombs on the peaceful voters:

Iraq’s second parliamentary election since the 2003 invasion has been hit by multiple attacks, with at least 24 people being killed.

Two buildings were destroyed in the capital and dozens of mortars were fired across Baghdad and elsewhere.

The border with Iran was closed, thousands of troops were deployed, and vehicles were banned from roads.

We cannot turn away from this battle. We cannot let the carnage weaken our spine or push us to throw blame at Western Leaders who worked to bring the benefits of Western-like Democracy to war and poverty ravages regions of this planet. The people who assassinated 3,000 in NY, PA and VA on 9-11 are stilling plowing their blood soaked trade. They are still hoping the blood will cause the West to run away from their own values and goals.

They expect liberals to swoon and run.

Instead, we will honor those who braved the carnage, we will stand by the results and the people of Iraq. We will show the world that we did not invest so much of our own blood and treasure in Iraq to run now. We will show that the light is freedom of the individual, and the darkness is the oppression of the many by the mad few.

Their so called jobs stimulus bill was a disaster, racking up massive debts while the federal bureaucracy consumed all the money – resulting in no jobs for the country. The politicians in DC are currently obsessed with passing an  overhaul of our world premiere health care system which nobody wants or supports. And for these fools in DC the natural gas CO2 is a greater threat than terrorism (or whatever dumb name these people prefer to label it).

Yesterday reality came crashing back on us, as al Qaeda once again sent some insane zealot to try and kill hundreds of innocent Americans:

An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke – sending passengers scrambling to subdue a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaida to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.

The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday. Travelers said they smelled smoke, saw a glow, and heard what sounded like firecrackers. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device.
“It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase,” said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. “First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke.”

Smith said one passenger, sitting opposite the man, climbed over passengers, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.

Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Multiple law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, multiple law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.

It seems we may be facing another form of attack. Even without exploding, a high intensity fire on a commuter plane could cause massive casualties. We are going to see new and more intrusive searches – as we should. And we may be seeing the desperate gasp of a movement on the brink. Or we could see the revival of Islamo Facist terrorism. More here.

What bothers me is all of a sudden we are experiencing a new wave of terrorism coming at us since the elections of 2009, each getting way too close to success. Prior to this we had US Army Major Nidal Hasan, who was a clear and present danger to his fellow Americans. Yet the investigation into him by our government was suspiciously shutdown not long after the new administration started taking over the levers of government. An act very much in line with the spoken views of the new Attorney General. That resulted in the massacre of Americans at Ft Hood.

President Obama, Attorney General Holder and Speaker Pelosi have been attacking and threatening those who defend this country from terrorist attack since taking office. There actions have been at best a distraction, at worst a straight jacket that has caused us to lower our guard. These liberal politicians should be supporting our defenders with any and all means available to them, But instead of leading America they have been attempting to dismantle it so they can build a new one in the image they prefer. Their priorities are basically a mess.

Right now this country is not representing the combined will of its people, it is being run by a political machine who probably thinks we could lose a good chunk of our population and be doing mother nature a huge favor (lower the CO2 footprint, lower medical costs, etc). They do not believe terrorism is a threat, or at least as great a threat as the natural gas we all exhale and their own political opponents (they have harsher words for the GOP than al Qaeda).

I suspect al Qaeda sees the ineptitude and lack of will in these distracted fools in DC, and are going to try their best to destabilize them and get them to pull back in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Because right now we are on the brink of crushing the center of Islamo Fascism. Yes, some will scatter and remain to attempt to rebuild the cause. We have neo-Nazis today, we have rabid communists today, we still have isolated despots – all remnants of failed violent oppression. Islamo Fascism can easily go the same route. We can break their back. The question is do the people in DC have the backbone to do so.

It takes time and determination to win wars. Something we have an abundance of – if people jut think about it. We have the technological and training edge, we just need to isolate the enemy and take it out piece by piece. Its how you go about this isolation and destruction which dictates the pace of wars.

Many question why we have been at war with al Qaeda and Islamo Fascist groups such as the Taliban for almost a decade. The answer is obvious if anyone cares to think about it. Here is a picture of Berlin, Germany at the end of World War II (4 years for America, longer for the rest of the world):

This and many other cities were flattened on the road to victory (think Hiroshima and Nagasaki). This is a picture of Baghdad from January 2009:

It could easily be a picture of Kabul Afghanistan or any other region where we have recently freed the masses from bloody dictatorships. The reason for the long war is clear and obvious. We are taking our time so as to not cause unnecessary death and harm to the very people we want to liberate (as we had to do in World War II). We could shorten this modern war by going back to the brutality of the last century. But the price in human carnage for this lazy haste would be brutal.

If humanity is to become a peaceful race living in harmony, someone has to deal with the bloody psychopaths. And since the terrorist have been at war with use for two decades now – seeing as we represent a future were the individual reigns supreme – we have no choice. They are attacking us, we are their chosen target. We cannot go back to pretending these are not serious and dangerous acts of an evil people.

We need to dump the zealots in DC with their liberal agenda and get back to the center, get back to being Americans in a land that respect and thrives off diversity. We don’t need any variations on purity to causes other than the cause of America itself.

Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber — available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet — to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights.

This is definitely right up my ally (Command, Control, Communications and Information, or C3I). In many robotic systems (be they military drones or NASA spacecraft) there are two communications paths. One is the high rate ‘payload’ data downlink (broadcast only from the platform). The other are the command and control links, which can use various and multiple layers of security. That’s as far as I am going to go into these links, but needless to say the command and control links cannot be hacked by a few dollars of radio shack equipment.

This story is all about the video on the payload downlink.

When we have to deal with large amounts of data, as we do with imaging and video, we tend to remove security layers to get more data through the RF pipe. We only do this if there is no risk to the mission or the assets, and there is a huge return on clarity.

In video and imaging increases in resolution = increases in data. As all you digital camera users know, the more mega pixels the better the picture and the more you can blow it up.

Our US drone fleet is fairly young, but it does have its aging queens still in service. The fact only ‘some’ of the drones have this weakness means this can be corrected – and quickly. But to actually take advantage of this video stream you have to know:

1. Where it is coming from: the video probably does not have the necessary ‘telemetry’ transmitted with it, which means the images could be coming from anywhere.
2. When the image was taken – basically not all images need be real time.
3. Be able to act on 1 and 2

The fact is by the time someone could unravel 1 and 2, the information is stale and of no use.

Clearly the first response we can take is to put the security back on the video downlinks, reducing our capability a bit. This means either less clarity or more delay, but nothing drastic.

The reporting by the media on the magic of modern communications is painfully embarrassing. It reminds me of that stupid magical router in last seasons ’24′ – which was incredibly hard to ignore and still get the feeling of pending doom. It was like combining Bugs Bunny with Jack Bower and still trying to make the 24 concept fly.

In this case folks, don’t let the technical ignorance of the media drama queens make you too concerned.

Given the recent news about Ft Hood and the 9-11 trials I went back and realized this rare bit of prescience on my part could use another viewing (with updated commentary in green text). So here it is again, nearly 4 years later:

This 2006 Congressional Democrat Contract With Al Qaeda lays out what the Democrat Party promises to do if they are given majorities in Congress this fall:

On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Democrat majority will immediately pass the following major legislation, aimed at restoring the pre 9-11 mirage of security and world harmony and ending this Administration’s policies for National Security:

• FIRST , we will finally kill the Patriot Act so that no member of Al Qaeda will fear using our libraries to access international websites, access their email, or do basic research on major US installations and population centers. We will guarantee full privacy due anyone who makes it to our shores without question. In addition, we will roll back all provisions that put terrorism on an equal footing with Drug Traffickers and Organized Crime, which we understand greatly insults members of Al Qaeda who consider themselves above drug lords. - Since I wrote this nearly 4 years ago the Democrats have attacked the Patriot Act every year, and are this day sitting on critical extensions to the act which are due to sunset in only a few weeks.
• SECOND , We will enact legislation to release all Al Qaeda members now held in custody in the GITMO Gulag, while providing legal counsel to all who have been unfairly detained during this unfortunate international misunderstanding between Al Qaeda and America. We will ensure all detainees have options for bail and parole so they can continue with their life’s efforts while the legal issues surrounding their detention are worked out. Every ex-detainee will be provided the services of an ACLU lawyer. - Most disturbingly, AG Eric Holder just made this promise a fact. I further predict the US will lose the case because the constitutional rights of the defendants were completely obliterated (since they were actually prisoners of war). To allow KSM to be tried would be to allow US Citizens to be pulled off the streets without warrant, to incarcerate them for years without charge, to interrogate them without being read their rights and without counsel, and to allow harsh interrogation methods to be used. No court in the country would allow these acts to become allowable law enforcement methods. QED, the bastards go free. I did emphasize in bold another promise made good regarding these ‘overseas contingency operations’ and the ‘manmade disasters’ here in the US (formally known as the war on terror and terrorist attacks).
• THIRD , we will pass legislation ensuring that all Al Qaeda members will be free from government monitoring of their phone calls and emails with comrades back home monitored without probable cause. Probable cause will not include the normal desire to call home to friends and family. We see this act as protecting US citizens and Al Qaeda alike from warrantless surveillance. - Sounds like what happened with Major Hasan, doesn’t it. Did Holder and Obama make good on this commitment? How many other Hasans are still out there, unmonitored?
• FOURTH , as part of our revamping of immigration laws, we will ensure Al Qaeda members are treated the same as any other illegal immigrant now in America. We will provide you amnesty, a driver’s license, health care and education support once you are able to sneak past our borders. - Reporting has this one coming early next year
• FIFTH , as with warrantless electronic surveillance and in anticipation of pending civil lawsuits, we plan to pass legislation that bans warrantless searches of person and luggage at airports and other major transportation centers. It makes no sense to allow random searches of travelers if we are going to end targeted surveillance of communications. And we find both actions to be religious profiling and against the common sense norms of all liberal Americans. - While not exactly the same, the case of the Flying Imams and how they successfully sued airport security after their ‘incident’ proves that liberal forces are at work tearing down our security walls, one brick at a time.
• SIXTH , Also, in line with the unfair targeting of Al Qaeda communications and persons travelling, we plan to submit legislation ending the practice of no-fly lists. This practice is biased towards people with common names and has limited the rights to travel of nuns and babies in the past. - Each time there is a false positive on these lists (a sad reality because human systems are never perfect) we hear the outcry. Of course, the alternative is a country wide open to even known terrorists. This one still has a lot of work to be done on it.
• SEVENTH , in an effort to demonstrate our sincere apologies for the actions of President Bush towards Al Qaeda, we plan to return the State of Iraq to the despot dictator of Al Qaeda’s choice by calling for the immediate withdrawal of our military forces to the safety of European soil. We encourage Al Qaeda to do what they please with the Iraqi people. - The best thing about President George Bush is he did not allow this to happen. But the democrats sure as hell tried the year after I wrote the contract. In 2007 they tried by all means to surrender Iraq and stop The Surge which freed Iraq and dealt al Qaeda a serious blow. If anything, this contract item emphasizes the difference between today’s Democrats and the GOP. Their paths into the future could not be more different.
• EIGHTH , we will submit and pass legislation that will mandate any questioning by US agents of Al Qaeda members to (a) be done in the presence of an ACLU lawyer, (b) never last more than 30 minutes, (c) be done indoors, in climate controlled conditions, (d) include an offering of proper food and beverage and (e) require every question to use the word ‘please’.- Another promise being made good by Holder and Obama and Pelosi. The attacks on the US agents who followed their orders and interrogated the terrorists and saved lives as been a crowning liberal achievement with this Congress and this White House. One can only guess what changes have been enacted in how we deal with mass murderers on Jihad against this country and its people.
• NINETH , we promise to immediately begin impeachment of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous enemy, the Imperial President W Bush, and we will promise to not stop our efforts until we have removed this thorn in Al Qaeda’s side – even if we have to make up scandals to get it done. - Another promise which mostly failed, but not for a lack of trying by the far left. And this year we have seen all out attacks on President Bush’s character. If you can’t impeach the man, impeach his reputation and record.

We the undersigned candidates of the Democrat National Party do swear that if elected, and given control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, we will enact the above Contract With Al Qaeda.

Its sad how much of that contract has come true over the years. And even when it did not come true, it is stunning how hard the far left tried to make it happen. This contract is mostly completed, and it seems Obama will trade a failed Afghanistan for a failed Iraq to fulfill the contract. Pathetic.

Mourners carried the coffin a victim who was killed in a suicide bombing the day before on Monday in Baghdad - AP

You can always tell who the enemy is of the Islamo Fascists – they bomb their enemy’s innocent citizens into oblivion (they could never wage an up front war as honorable warriors). From Iraq this week we learned who and what is the current greatest threat to Islamo Fascism:

As the floodwater from broken water mains and sewers drained away, workers continued to hunt for victims amid the wreckage from Sunday’s bomb blasts, recovering still more bodies on Monday as the death toll climbed to as much as 155 — including an uncertain number of children — with more than 500 wounded.

…

The bombs were in a minivan and a water tanker truck and had to pass multiple security checkpoints to reach their targets. Trucks are banned from Baghdad’s streets during daylight hours unless they have special permits issued by the military, and those are checked at every roadblock.

Some truly evil and depraved cowards went to great links to kill Arab Muslims. This is not much different from what is being seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well – bloody attacks on everyday people.

So it is clear who the greatest threat to Islamo Fasists is today- the Muslim Street. The everyday Muslim living in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan is now fodder for the weak kneed liberals in the West.

But being weak kneed liberals makes them irrelevant. Surrender monkeys have no will power to force others to surrender. What is relevant is a whole generation of Muslims across the Middle East to India are rising in opposition to fanatics likeal Qaeda, Hezballah, PLO, etc. That brand of Islam may have been the future of Islam after 9-11, but after 2 terms of President George W Bush it now the Enemy of Islam.

An alliance with the modern western democracies is the future for nations once festering with hate for the West. Now THAT is ‘change’, with a lot of ‘hope’ potential.

Seems the Pakistanis have really soured on their violent Islamo Fascist neighbors in the tribal areas:

MORE than 80 per cent of Pakistanis view the Taleban as a critical threat to the country, a poll released yesterday said.

It marked a major shift in public support behind the government’s campaign against the fundamentalist Muslim militants. The turn in public mood is a boost to the military in its offensive against the insurgency.

Emphasis mine. Right after 9-11, the Taliban and al Qaeda were feared to be THE FUTURE of Islam as many Muslim countries and groups cheered the hit The Great Satan took that fateful day. But after 7 Years of President George W Bush unflinchingly taking the war to the enemy, along with years of massacring Muslims from Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan and dwarfing the human carnage of 9-11, these violent madmen have become THE ENEMY of Islam’s Main Streets. When President Obama continued the Bush policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan it became crystal clear America would not be diverted from bring justice and peace to the region, and allowing moderate forces to Awaken from under the Jack Boot of the terrorists.

We now have the end game beginning what is the largest war since World War II. In Iraq US forces have moved out of the cities to positions from which they can be called on if needed, but Iraq is now celebrating years of democratically run government and there is little sign that the new wave of bombings is turning the moderates into terrorist lovers. Violent radical Muslims killing moderate or innocent Muslims is not going to create a ground swell of hate against the US – just against the Muslims doing the killing. 

Now Pakistan has the people behind its efforts to eradicate the bloody killers in its midst using all force necessary, and they are winning the day:

PAKISTAN CLAIMS it has turned the tide in its battle with Islamist militants and says it has al-Qaeda on the run after a series of government offensives.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said public opinion had turned decisively against the extremists over the last few months, paving the way for the government’s military successes.

“Today, public opinion has converted to such an extent that the local tribes have set up lashkars [militias] to support army operations,” Mr Qureshi said in an interview yesterday in London.

Pakistan has awakened, just as Anbar and the Sunni tribes of Iraq did in 2006-2007. More and more reports are coming out of local tribesman hunting down the extremists:

Tribesmen attacked Taliban hideouts in Kurram Agency, killing 28 Taliban on Wednesday as the intensifying battles prompted them to ask for army troops to help, said a local lawmaker. 

At least seven tribesmen were also killed in the clash in Kurram which was the latest in two weeks of battles between the Taliban and tribesmen there that have killed 141 people – including more than 100 Taliban, said two government officials. 

Pakistan’s North and South Waziristan Agencies (inside the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)) are the last haven of al Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan. As the Pakistanis pincer these hideouts from the South, US forces are crashing in from the North in Afghanistan:

Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military’s new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

The operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan earlier this year by President Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. The Marines, along with an Army brigade that is scheduled to arrive later this summer, plan to push into pockets of the country where NATO forces have not had a presence. In many of those areas, the Taliban have evicted local police and government officials, and taken power.

This is the same kind of strategy used in Anbar and other Sunni Provinces inside Iraq which finally broke the resistance, taking out most of al Qaeda’s fighting forces. We have the noose in place, the bad guys surrounded, and the local people on our side. This could be the year we see the back of the Islamo Fascist movement break, just as we saw Hitler’s fascist state fall in Europe as allied forces overwhelmed them, encircling them on all sides with local support.

The war on terror is definitely looking more and more positive by the month.

At least seven bombs exploded around the country Thursday amid a uptick in violence as American troops prepare to withdraw from Iraqi cities on June 30.

The attacks were widespread, targeting Shiites and Sunnis, civilians, Iraqi security forces, and American soldiers. There were at least five bombs in Baghdad. One, at a bus station, killed two and wounded 30 in the late morning, security officials said, though witnesses at the scene said the toll was higher.

It is no surprise the tottering Iranian regime would also attempt to distract the world from its internal strife by initiating a wave of bombings in nearby Iraq. This will not work, but will only underscore the Awakening of the Muslim Street to the violent evil that is at the heart of radical Islam.

Just like the bombings in Iraq spelled the end of al Qaeda in Iraq, just like the bombings in Pakistan has given the government there the backing of the people to destroy the violent Taliban and al Qaeda enclaves in the tribal areas, the Iranian regime’s violence will turn the Muslim Street (Arab and Persian) against radical Islam. When the bombings start echoing through the Muslim Street it is a good sign the radicals are going for their last ditch strategy before they are completely defeated.

At least 55 people have been killed by a bomb blast in the eastern Sadr City area of Baghdad, say officials.

Iraqi police said the bomb went off in a market place in the predominantly Shia area of the Iraqi capital.

At least 104 people were also reported to have been injured in the blast, one of the worst in Iraq this year.

It comes less than a week before US soldiers pull out of all Iraqi cities in advance of a complete withdrawal by the end of 2011.

…

There has been a recent rise in violence in Iraq, which, correspondents say, shows insurgents are intent on making the country’s security situation appear unstable as the US withdrawal deadline approaches.

On Monday, at least 29 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.

Muslims killing Muslims again. Things must be on the edge of collapse in Iran if they think bombing Arab Muslims in Iraq will save the Iranian Regime from annihilation.  No surprise these bombings seem to originate in areas that were Mahdi Army strongholds, where the Mahdi were the Iranian backed thugs out killing Iraqis in an attempt to force the US to withdrawal in 2007.

All I can say is the Muslim Street is getting another brutal wake up call on what life is like under the jack boot of Islamo Fascists.

The one thing that could turn the world away from threat of Muslim extremism was, sadly, a fight for the heart and soul of Islam. When this happens (as it did in Iraq in Anbar Province, as it did in Afghanistan with the defeat of Taliban rule, as it is happening in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan with a backlash against the remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban) then the extremist Islamists typically over reach and set the fire that consumes them.

It appears that may be happening in Iran, as thugs of the Islamist Iranian Rulers have now opened fire and killed fellow Muslims in the streets of Tehran. There is no way Islam will allow the murder of Muslims. History is replete with extremists attempting to take control of Islam and self destructing in this very manner. 

With democratically free Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan border Iran, it seems the failed and bloody tyranny of modern Islamo Fascism that came to power in the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970′s may possibly heading for defeat at the hands of the moderate Muslim street.

Update: More being reported by Al Jazeera.

Addendum: Don’t ever forget the clash of Arab and Persian cultures. In southern Iraq, when Moqtada al Sadr was trying to create a Shiite backlash against the Iraq-US coalition, he made the fatal mistake of being tied to heavily with his Persian masters in Qom Iraq. The continuing friction between Arab and Persian cultures goes back well before Islam, and is a barrier that cannot be underestimated.

If Iran is now trying to use Arab militia to control the Persian streets of Iran (as some rumors indicate), we may see a repeat of the failure in southern Iraq where Shiite Arabs rejected Persian Shiite control, even if it meant allying with Sunni Arabs in central Iraq. The Persian Shiites will definitely reject Arab Shiite thugs roaming their streets, and will rise up against any Persian government that uses Arabs to try and control Persian society.

Update: More on the protests in Iran  here – tens of thousands reportedly taking to the streets.

Update: First hand reporting on the carnage in the streets of Iran. Yeah, all is well in the land of Ahmedinejad.

Update:

Must see photos, video and reporting at Gateway Pundit. This is not dying down, it is growing rapidly, and the blood in the streets will only feed the uprising.

While the far right melts down before our eyes, I am glad to see the Obama administration redoubling their efforts to bring total and final victory to Iraq. This is not a time for politically myopic hopes that President Obama to fail America and her fallen heroes.  There is simply too much at stake:

April 9 marked the sixth anniversary of Iraqi Liberation Day. Most of us vividly remember the stirring image of Iraqi citizens tearing down the statue of the man who dominated their lives. 

…

 

In February 2004, my son, Spc. Michael Carlson, arrived in the Diyala province of Iraq. During the next 11 months he and his team searched houses, hunted insurgents, and made a difference in the lives of the Iraqi people. I think about him today because I miss him very much.

He gave his life in an overturned Bradley fighting vehicle in a water-filled canal, one week before the first Iraqi elections in January 2005.

I think about what his service to our country meant to him: defending and protecting us. But it goes further than that because Michael had a vision of his life that few young people have, and amazingly he put that vision on paper while in high school. In May 2000, Michael wrote that he “sometimes dreams of being a soldier in a war.” In this war he is ” helping liberate people from oppression.” He wrote the only way that one could live forever “is to live on in those you have affected.” These are prophetic words.

 

This is why politics needs to end at the waterfront. This is why country and sacrifice transcend political parties. This is why true patriots and supporters of our military would gladly sacrifice some political ground so that these kinds of sacrifices do not become wasted lives, but mean something to history.

I will continue to applaud our President went he takes the right steps. And on Iraq, he and his administration are taking the right steps:

US troop numbers in Mosul and Baqubah, in the north of the country, could rise rather than fall over the next year if necessary, General Ray Odierno told The Times in his first interview with a British newspaper since taking over from General David Petraeus in September.

…

Combat troops are due to leave all Iraqi cities by the end of June. Any delay would be a potential setback for President Obama, who has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 as he switches his focus to Afghanistan.

These are tough, unpopular positions. Obama is really irritating his far left base.

President Obama’s new $83.4 billion supplemental war request, which brings the cost of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq to $1 trillion, drew fire Thursday from anti-war North Bay Rep. Lynn Woolsey.

…

Woolsey, D-Petaluma, who co-chairs the Progressive Caucus, had said in an earlier interview that she can’t support raising troop levels. She came out Thursday with this statement:

“As proposed, this funding will do two things – it will prolong our occupation of Iraq through at least the end of 2011 and it will deepen and expand our military presence in Afghanistan indefinitely.

“I cannot support either of these scenarios.

But since the far right has pushed the political center of the country away, Obama can now rely on support from that segment of the population when continuing the policies and approaches of President Bush. All I can do is pray we succeed in Iraq and be worthy off all that sacrificed blood. President Obama is taking the steps to help make that happen. I hope he and we succeed.

While I know most in the military are not in a swoon over our young new President, I do hope the President and our military can develop a bond of respect and mutual success. This is why I part company with those on the far right hoping Obama fails. That kind of short-sighted thinking has horrible repercussions.

We have this President for the next four years (unless he does something horrifically wrong), and we need a symbiotic relationship between his administration and our military. Too many heroic lives in the military are on the line to hope for anything less. Even if it means losing more elections for the GOP. If our brave men and women can risk and sacrifice all for this nation, we can hope the best comes for our President so those sacrifices and risks can be minimized. And if that requires losing some elections, so be it.

The second good news is the maturing view President Obama has on Iraq:

U.S. President Barack Obama, visiting U.S. troops in Iraq, told them on Tuesday that the next 18 months would be critical for their mission in the country. 

“This is going to be a critical period, these next 18 months,” Obama said, referring to the Aug 2010 deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

“You will be critical in terms of us being able to make sure Iraq is stable, that it is not a safe haven for terrorists, and we can start bringing our folks home,” Obama told troops at Camp Victory, the sprawling U.S. military base on the outskirts of Baghdad. 

The White House said that the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, told Obama that even with bombings this week in Iraq, the level of violence in the country is the lowest since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003

Emphasis mine. Sounds just like President Bush – which is why this is great news to the Iraqis, those who fought in Iraq, and the loved ones of those who were killed or injured in Iraq. President Obama is honoring their sacrifice by setting conditions for victory before we begin any efforts to pull back our troops.

A heart felt “Thank You, Mr President” for making this important decision.

Update: While I am applauding the Obama Administration for continuing Bush policies I need to note its efforts to also be consistent on the NSA-FISA front. 

President Barack Obama invoked “state secrets” to prevent a court from reviewing the legality of the National Security Agency’s warantless wiretapping program, moving late Friday to have a lawsuit that challenged the program dismissed.

The move — which holds that information surrounding the massive eavesdropping program should be kept from the public because of its sensitivity — follows an earlier decision in March to block handover of documents relating to the Bush Administration’s decision to spy on a charity. The arguments also mirror the Bush Administration’s efforts to dismiss an earlier suit against AT&T.

Another well earned “Thank You, Mr. President” for not failing by being a far left liberal on some critical matters. Sorry Rush, that’s two non-failures for President Obama, and I am glad to see them given the American lives at stake for each one.

We have beaten al Qaeda and its allied Islamo Fascist forces in Iraq with the help of a newly liberated and democratic Iraqi People. I have said it many times, but it bears repeating. After 9-11 al Qaeda was the future of Islam, infamous for having delivered a massive blow against the Great Satan.

But after a long hard fight in Iraq (as President Bush did claim it would take, forget about any exuberant aides) we have a totally different future to ponder and work for and cherish. al Qaeda and its brutal allies – such as the Mahdi Army (backed by Iran) – were on their heals and losing ground after the first invasion. The Iraqis were voting and starting to change their views of where they wanted to go. So these thugs used the only leadership tool they know – brutal and bloody violence.

al Qaeda went on such a bloody rampage against the Iraqi people – all to get the co-dependent liberal media to post pictures of a winless war (funny how these media allies also are facing extinction) – that they created a historic backlash called ‘The Awakening”. It started in Anbar Province in the fall of 2006, the center capitol of al Qaeda’s promised modern caliphate. In 2007 President Bush beat back the naysayers and wimp-out quitters in Congress – with the help of allies like John McCain, Gen Dave Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker – and we met the The Awakening with The Surge. 

And over time we cleared out the rats nests with the help and support of the Iraqi people, and defeated al Qaeda’s plans for taking over the Middle East. In the end, al Qaeda was not Islam’s future but – to many Arab Muslims – Islam’s greatest enemy. The Great Satan was now ally and protector, while the Islamo Fascists were the new face of Satan.

As the Wall Street Journal notes today, President Obama has (indirectly, so as to not unhinge his liberal supporters) paid homage to the efforts of President Bush, to the point he is willing to protect our hard earned success by providing a reasonable exit strategy:

Though the headlines from the President’s speech mostly focused on his promise to end all U.S. combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010 — and withdraw U.S. forces fully by the end of the following year — there was considerably more to it than that. For starters, Mr. Obama again acknowledged that our forces in Iraq had “succeeded beyond any expectation,” not least his own.

Mr. Obama was also rightly generous in his praise of outgoing U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno, “two of our finest generals.” All three men were Bush appointees, and all were instrumental in devising, advocating and implementing the surge strategy that Mr. Bush pursued amid the derision of his critics, including then-Senator Obama.

President Obama also recognized that Iraqis themselves have made significant political progress, and that “there is renewed cause for hope in Iraq.” That’s a far cry from his message of last July, when he told reporters, after visiting Iraq, that “So far, I think we have not seen the kind of political reconciliation that’s going to bring about long-term stability in Iraq.”

But more important than Mr. Obama’s implicit repudiation of his own positions as a candidate (and the implicit vindication of Mr. Bush’s position, to say nothing of John McCain’s) is his decision to maintain a sizable U.S. military presence in Iraq — in the range of 35,000 to 50,000 troops — past the August 2010 “withdrawal” date. That “transitional force” is roughly the size of the U.S. military presence in South Korea through the Cold War. And its mission, involving training of Iraqi forces, U.S. force protection and “targeted counterterrorism missions,” largely describes what the U.S. is already doing in Iraq.

Most of Iraq’s provinces are under full Iraqi security control, and U.S. forces will be out of all Iraqi cities and towns by this July, as stipulated in the Status of Forces Agreement that the Bush Administration concluded with the Iraqi government last year. By making it clear a sizable U.S. force will remain in Iraq, Mr. Obama is showing a commitment to Iraq’s continued democratic progress and should help deter a revival of ethnic tensions. He’s also making clear the strategic advantage of having a stable U.S. ally in the heart of the Persian Gulf.

The sincerest form of political flattery is to retain the policies of your predecessors with determination and respect. He could have been more blunt in acknowledging his policy salute to Bush (even if he had to be convinced behind closed doors by the Bush policy allies). But I will accept this form of recognition, because it does protect the gains we paid for with our dearest blood. And in the end, that is what is most important.

Samira Ahmed Jassim, 51, is accused of recruiting more than 80 women to become human bombs, including 28 who actually carried out attacks.

She has apparently confessed to helping to organise the rape of young Iraqi women.

She would then play on the shame associated with victims of rape in Iraqi society to convince the women to become suicide bombers as their only means of escape.

This is another example in a long line of horrific acts against Muslims which turned al Qaeda from the future of Islam in 2001 to the enemy of Islam in 2009. This is why you face down evil, so that evil becomes exposed to everyone in its gory detail. This is why appeasement never works, because it elevates evil to an equal partner, instead of shining a light on its inhuman cruelty.

No amount of negotiations from the Obama administration would have exposed this sickness. President Obama must face the fact that pulling out US forces prematurely will only lead to more exploitation of the weak by the evil of our enemies.

But what has me stumped is how stupid you have to be not to note you were wrong and adjust your thinking. And President Obama is trying to pretend he knows about military decisions and processes, when it is clear he doesn’t have the foggiest idea.

Instead of listening to career experts, he is stomping his foot and telling everyone he is the President so therefore he is a genius in all matters (I cannot tell you how many people fall into this diseased mind set when they get to DC – somehow being here in charge of something endows people with super human abilities, at least that is how they see it!). It’s like telling a doctor that you disagree with his diagnosis – and his predictions about what will happen when he follows through with your demand for a frontal lobotomy to treat a cold. Just check out Obama’s pending train wreck with the military:

CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21.

But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn’t convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting. 

Obama’s decision to override Petraeus’s recommendation has not ended the conflict between the president and senior military officers over troop withdrawal, however. There are indications that Petraeus and his allies in the military and the Pentagon, including Gen. Ray Odierno, now the top commander in Iraq, have already begun to try to pressure Obama to change his withdrawal policy. 

A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama’s decision. 

Petraeus was visibly unhappy when he left the Oval Office, according to one of the sources. A White House staffer present at the meeting was quoted by the source as saying, “Petraeus made the mistake of thinking he was still dealing with George Bush instead of with Barack Obama.” 

Emphasis mine. Yeah, George Bush listens to people who are the experts. George Bush was a leader, not a poseur. George Bush understands the military, Obama has seen it in the movies. The pathetic truth is President Obama is trying not to look stupid – so what he really doing is putting thousands of Iraqi and American lives at risk to simply save face over some uninformed campaign promise:

On Wednesday, Mr. Obama visited the Pentagon for the first time since becoming president, and he seemed to be looking for an option that would let him stay true to his campaign promise, at least in theory, without alienating the generals. The White House indicated that Mr. Obama was open to alternatives to his 16-month time frame and emphasized that security was an important factor in his decision.

“We’re no longer involved in a debate about whether, but how and when,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said about a withdrawal from Iraq. “That’s a process the president wants to take seriously.”

He added: “He wants to ensure the safety of our troops as we remove our combat brigades; wants to, as I’ve said repeatedly, provide the responsibility and the opportunity for the Iraqis to do more in governing their own country; and, as I said, to do this in a way that seeks the consultation of all those leaders.”

If Obama was really interested in the safety of our soldiers and the Iraqis he would be listening to the military and the Iraqis! If Obama’s priority was safety first, then he wouldn’t care one bit about a campaign promise.

But President Obama is not prioritizing his decisions that way. His efforts are to withdrawal, to not look like the military klutz we all know he is. He is trying to show he can stand up to that strange and bizarre group called our military.

He is demonstrating once again how far in over his head he is. For God’s sake, the ‘war’ is won, it IS over.  All he has to do is not screw up the exit – and apparently he is incapable of doing that right.