OBAMA NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME WATCH

By Charles Johnson

“We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there.”

— Barack Obama  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

ARE THE WHEELS COMING OFF FOR OBAMA?

By Ed Morrissey

The primary campaign has turned into a very long dance for Barack Obama, who seems determined to prove at every opportunity that he has two left feet. In New Hampshire, Obama told a crowd that the US military effort consists mainly of "air raiding villages and killing civilians" -- which his tone-deaf campaign confirmed moments later to reporters (via The Corner):

Obama defended his push to prosecute a tougher military effort to root out al-Qaida on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which drew criticism from primary rivals for sounding too bellicose.

“Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there,’’ Obama said.

Campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin said Obama was not endorsing the current Bush policy, which consists solely of air raids and bombing of civilians.

The NATO troops in Afghanistan would beg to differ. They don't have a policy of bombing civilians, and the ground troops play a very important role in defending Afghanistan's villages from the depravities of Taliban control. Perhaps Obama can explain his analysis of military strategy and tactics to the ground troops that get wounded in these battles -- or to the families of the dead soldiers who died holding ground against the radical Islamists.

In fact, as posited by the Obama campaign, such a strategy would amount to war crimes. This sounds perilously close to the same kind of accusations that Vietnam War veterans faced when they came back from their service -- that they indiscriminately wiped out villages, killing women, children, and babies. And Obama offers this as a defense of his previous pronouncement that he would invade Pakistan as a positive step, presumably as an improvement on indiscriminate attacks on villages in Afghanistan.

Obama started this primary campaign looking like a man with a future in the Democratic Party. His asinine pronouncements on military affairs and foreign policy now make him look like someone drowning in two feet of water. Besides having a nice voice and a pleasant disposition, the man has nothing to offer. He's an empty suit, a man who doesn't engage his brain before activating his jaw.

Another part of his speech provides an example. He claims that he will settle the Iraq War by having Saudi Arabia and China occupy Iraq. How exactly will the US convince China to send troops to Iraq -- and why would the Iraqis want the Chinese there at all? Why would we want to put Chinese troops in the center of the Middle East, with all of the critical energy interests we have there? And while some Sunni Iraqis might consider Saudi troops as allies, the majority Shi'ites will see it as another Sunni attempt to dominate them. They would almost certainly appeal to Teheran for troops, and the regional war would flash into existence.

Does Obama think before making these statements? Does he think at all? He's not just blowing his chances in this election, but he's making an argument for his long-term exclusion from any position with foreign policy or military issues under his control.

THE AP'S 'FACT' CHECK

By Ed Morrissey

The Associated Press issued a pretentious "fact check" to counter the so-called "spin" around Barack Obama's statement earlier today that the Bush policy in Afghanistan was to bomb villages and civilians. His campaign confirmed Obama's analysis of the Bush policy, which Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said consisted "solely of air raids and bombing of civilians."

Here's the AP' Nedra Pickler and her version of a fact check:

A check of the facts shows that Western forces have been killing civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents have been killing civilians.

The U.S. and NATO say they don't have civilian casualty figures, but The Associated Press has been keeping count based on figures from Afghan and international officials. Tracking civilian deaths is a difficult task because they often occur in remote and dangerous areas that are difficult to reach and verify.

Well, no one said civilians had not gotten killed. No one disputes that collateral damage occurs in war. The American military (and NATO as well) try to minimize that collateral damage where possible -- because to kill civilians indiscriminately would be a war crime.

Besides, Obama and his campaign didn't just say that civilians had been killed in Afghanistan. He claimed that it was Bush policy to kill civilians and that his strategy consisted "solely of air raids and bombing of civilians." What's the best way to fact-check that statement?

How about seeing whether ground forces have been deployed in Afghanistan? That seems to be a rather good indicator as to whether the strategy solely relies on dropping bombs indiscriminately on civilians -- and as it turns out, the data is easy to find. The Congressional Research Office did a breakout of deployed American forces in Afghanistan. It shows that of the roughly 22,000 American troops in the country, only 3100 come from the Air Force. Over 17,000 come from the Army. You know -- ground troops.

Say ... doesn't Barack Obama belong to Congress?

And didn't the AP used to be a news agency?

UPDATE: Jim Geraghty does a little fact-checking, too.

WHY THE ETHICS BILL IS A JOKE

By Ed Morrissey

How bad is the ethics bill that the Democrats just pushed through Congress? Even lobbyists have started to point out its loopholes to the Washington Post. Under the new rules, Representatives and Senators will no longer be able to accept free meals -- unless the lobbyist also provides money for their re-election at the meal. No, I'm not kidding:

Activists on the reform side of the lobbying debate have been celebrating that Congress finally got around to passing an ethics bill. The question is: Should voters celebrate as well?

Paul A. Miller, a former president of the American League of Lobbyists, thinks the hoorahs should be muted, and he has a point. The legislation bars lobbyists from providing meals and gifts to lawmakers, a provision long sought by the advocates of change as a way to keep well-heeled interests from buying their way into the hearts of decision-makers.

But Miller and others point out that the ban is full of loopholes. The largest of the gaps, Miller said, could end up worsening the public's perception that lawmakers are for sale. ...

"Lobbyists will move lunches and dinners to the campaign side of things," Miller predicts. "They will increasingly get members of Congress for an hour or so to give them a campaign check; that's a better deal for the lobbyists and will also make it more likely for corruption to happen."

We have heard that the new bill keeps lawmakers from accepting free meals from lobbyists, as though a free $40 steak has been the root of all corruption on Capitol Hill, but it doesn't even do that much. There are over 20 exceptions to the food and gift bans in the bill. For instance, lobbyists can still fund trips to "well-attended" events, such as charity golf tournaments and receptions, or events where the lawmaker plays a ceremonial role. They can't give tickets to sporting events, but that changes if the Congressman tosses out the first pitch.

So let's recap. Lobbyists can't buy a meal unless it's part of a fundraiser, which means that the previous $40 steak can be legalized now by providing a $10,000 check to tenderize it. Lawmakers can't accept gifts to sporting events unless the lobbyists can make sure they get all sorts of attention from the crowd, preferably during election season. Lobbyists can't buy a round of golf for a Senator, but that changes if the round of golf comes at a charity function where lots of press usually attend.

Wow -- what a sacrifice our Congress has made for themselves in this ethics bill! No wonder lobbyists object to it. All Congress has done is to increase their prices, not take them off the market. In a way, it makes it even more easier for the richest interests to buy a Congressman and keep the hoi polloi from shopping at the Capitol Hill outlet store.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

UPDATE II and BUMP: The Influence Peddler looks at the politics of a possible veto. Congressional leadership apparently thinks one will be forthcoming, but I rather doubt it, for a couple of reasons. IP notes the overwhelming majorities in both chambers that passed this wretched bill, and flipping the necessary 14 votes in the Senate would be very, very iffy. Bush will want to use his remaining political capital to veto actual budget bills, considering the spending spree Democrats have been considering.

Also, the executive traditionally doesn't interfere with legislative rulemaking. Bush might not like the ethics reforms in the bill, but they don't apply to the executive, and on a separation-of-powers argument, would be disinclined to interfere with Congress shooting itself in the foot.  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Phantom Strike and Lightning Hammer

By Bill Roggio

Yesterday, Multinational Forces Iraq announced the start of two major operations--Phantom Strike and Lightning Hammer. Operation Phantom Strike “consists of simultaneous operations throughout Iraq focused on pursuing remaining AQI terrorists and Iranian-supported extremist elements,” while Operation Lightning Hammer is directed at al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups that escaped Baqubah and are organizing north of the city in the Diyala River Valley. These operations are the continuation of the Baghdad Security Plan and Phantom Thunder, the operations in Baghdad and the Belts that established a security presence in areas from which Iraqi and Coalition forces were absent throughout 2006.

Firing teams "Gunny" and "Storm" from the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field
Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division fire an
M109A6 Paladin, a self-propelled howitzer, into the Diyala River Valley
in support of Operation Lightning Hammer.

In a response to Lightning Hammer, al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to disrupt Coalition supply lines. A suicide bomber detonated a fuel tanker on the Thiraa Dijla Bridge in Taji. At least ten civilians were killed and six wounded in the attack, with an unknown number of people missing in the water. The bridge, which was heavily damaged, spans a canal and serves as a vital link from Taji to Diyala province, as well as from Baghdad to Mosul. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been using Taji as a staging point.

While the full scope of Lightning Hammer, which consists of elements of two Iraqi divisions, four U.S. infantry brigades and a U.S. combat air brigade, has yet to be determined, the operations against al Qaeda and the Shia terror cells have picked up the pace over the past week.

Attacking the Iranian-Backed Shia terror cells

The announcement for Operation Phantom Strike made clear that the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army, as well as the Qods Force-created Special Groups terror cells, are major targets. Since the announcement of Phantom Strike, Iraqi and U.S. troops have hit these Iranian-backed groups especially hard in Baghdad and Najaf, the two strongholds of Muqtada al Sadr and his Mahdi Army.

Coalition forces killed four "rogue Jaysh-al-Mahdi" (Mahdi Army) operatives and captured eight more during a raid inside Sadr City. Multinational Forces Iraq has made its position explicit--killing Mahdi fighters is as good as capturing them. "The purpose of the raid was to capture or kill an extremist militant and his operatives," the press release stated. The cell has attacked both Coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. "These militants are also known to have ties to illicit materials smuggled from Iran that have been used in extra-judicial killings." No Coalition forces were killed or wounded during the attack, despite taking small arms fire and being on the receiving end of two IEDs.

On August 13, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured 12 Mahdi Army operatives during "synchronized intelligence driven operations" in Baghdad. Iraqi troops captured a brigade commander, battalion commander, two company commanders and one leader of an extra-judicial killing cell, along with seven other Mahdi operatives. "The brigade commander is responsible for five groups under his control," Multinational Forces Iraq stated. "Reports indicate that he transports IEDs from Iran into Iraq and recently ordered an IED attack that caused the death of two U.S. Soldiers. The suspect also reportedly ordered his JAM members to set up illegal checkpoints to hunt down and assassinate Sunni citizens." Also on August 13, Coalition forces captured "a key financier of Special Groups terrorists" during a raid in the Bayaa district in Western Baghdad.

On August 12, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Special Operations Forces conducted a series of raids in Najaf and Baghdad. The Najaf raid, led by the 8th Iraqi Army Division and U.S. Special Forces, resulted in the capture of a "a high-value rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi special groups facilitator." The facilitator "operates the Amin Allah Cultural and Humanitarian Establishment in An Najaf and allegedly funnels humanitarian funds through the establishment in order to coordinate rogue JAM activities," and used the money "for recruiting foreign fighters, training rogue JAM operatives in lethal attack tactics and trafficking illegal weapons from Iran." He has organized over 200 Mahdi fighters, and is believed to be behind the assassination of several government officials, including the Kufa police chief in 2004. The raid in Baghdad resulted in the capture of a Mahdi Army platoon leader and five cell members.

Attacking Al Qaeda in Iraq

As the Shia terror cells are targeted, Coalition and Iraqi security forces maintain the pressure on al Qaeda's network throughout Iraq. Seventeen al Qaeda operatives were captured during raids in Tikrit and Mosul on August 12 and 13. An al Qaeda in Iraq medical doctor who also provided logistical support to the terrorists was captured in Baghdad on August 12. Iraqi and U.S. soldiers rescued six hostages and captured five al Qaeda operatives during a raid on an "al Qaeda prison" in Mosul on August 13. Sixteen more al Qaeda operatives were captured during raids in Baqubah, Taji, western Baghdad, and Balad on August 14.

The aggressive pace of operations since January has resulted in an explosion in the prison population. There are currently 42,000 detainees in Iraqi and Multinational Forces Iraq custody. Of those detained, 2,760 are foreigner fighters as of August 8. This number includes over 800 Iranians.  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

'THIS IS THE NEWS THE WORLD DOESN'T HEAR'

By Ed Morrissey

Der Spiegel has reflected and led overwhelming German opposition to the war in Iraq practically from the moment of the invasion in 2003. They have often featured George Bush on their cover in unflattering pictures and with negative headlines such as "Power and Lies", an issue last year in which they declared Iraq lost. However, they finally sent their own reporter for an in-depth tour of Iraq, and the magazine realizes that the world media has missed the story (via Medienkritik):

Since June, Ramadi residents have only known the war from televison. Indeed, US military officials at the Baghdad headquarters of Operation Iraqi Freedom often have trouble believing their eyes when they read the reports coming in from their units in Ramadi these days. Exploded car bombs: zero. Detonated roadside bombs: zero. Rocket fire: zero. Grenade fire: zero. Shots from rifles and pistols: zero. Weapons caches discovered: dozens. Terrorists arrested: many.

Ramadi is an irritating contradiction of almost everything the world thinks it knows about Iraq -- it is proof that the US military is more successful than the world wants to believe. Ramadi demonstrates that large parts of Iraq -- not just Anbar Province, but also many other rural areas along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers -- are essentially pacified today. This is news the world doesn't hear: Ramadi, long a hotbed of unrest, a city that once formed the southwestern tip of the notorious "Sunni Triangle," is now telling a different story, a story of Americans who came here as liberators, became hated occupiers and are now the protectors of Iraqi reconstruction.

Not all is sweetness and light in this lengthy, multi-part dispatch. Parts of Baghdad are worse than one might imagine, Ullrich Fichtner writes, and one can sense the civil war that awaits when outside authority disappears. Other parts of the capital have improved in ways that exceed expectations, but both have this in common: only the Americans could keep the lid on Baghdad long enough to keep war from exploding in the city.

In the rest of the country, Fichtner sees progress. We moved from being hated occupiers to protectors when we finally started doing something to improve the situation on the ground. The Iraqis had seen us as arbitrary authority unwilling to risk anything to save them from both themselves and the terrorists. The new strategy of aggressive tactics and engagement with the enemy has impressed them and won the allegiance of ordinary Iraqis -- and has taken the pressures off that otherwise could have been channeled into sectarian conflict.

Fichtner also reports that the "greatest enemies of success in Iraq" come from Iran and Syria. Iran supplies the terrorists with money and arms, and Syria allows them to infiltrate through their shared border with Iraq. How does the military know about Iranian involvement? It's not exactly a case for Sherlock Holmes. Some of the mines and grenades found in Iraq by Americans in arms caches still have the original packaging from their manufacturers in Iran.

Der Spiegel has its eyes open now. Perhaps the rest of the world will follow. Be sure to read the entire article; I started last night and it's well worth the time. Jules Crittenden has some excellent thoughts about the failure of media to do its job in Iraq.  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

AHMADINEJAD: ISLAM MUST RULE THE WORLD

By Charles Johnson

Iran’s designated madman president said today that the only salvation for mankind is the rule of Islam.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Tuesday that rule of Islam on mankind is the only way for salvation of human beings.

“There is no truth on earth but monotheism and following tenets of Islam and there is no way for salvation of mankind but rule of Islam over mankind,” said Ahmadinejad in a meeting with Afghan Sunni and Shiite ulama at Iranian Embassy in Kabul.

President Ahmadinejad said nations are today distancing themselves from culture of materialism and selfishness and look for a new way for their prosperity, that is the path of Islam. He said that the world is on verge of a great upheaval and ulama at this juncture shoulder a heavy responsibility that is introducing genuine Islam as it is.

“Nations today have no haven but religion,” the Iranian president announced, cautioning Muslim nations against enemies’ divisive plots. He said, “All of us have the duty to resist the enemy by closing our ranks.”

HAMAS CHILD STAR: 'EVERY PALESTINIAN HOPES TO BE A MARTYR'

By Charles Johnson

A profile of the creepy 11-year old zombie girl who hosts the Hamas TV show Tomorrow’s Pioneers, one of the most depraved Islamist propaganda efforts in the world today: Hamas TV’s child star says she’s ready for martyrdom.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Saraa Barhoum picked at the buttons on her pink bellbottom jeans as she twisted on a chair inside the bustling new Hamas television headquarters. The afternoon light bounced off the sparkly outlines of butterflies on her frilly top, and a colorful hijab framed her 11-year-old face.

Saraa wants to be a doctor. If she can’t, the young star of Hamas television’s best-known children’s show said, she’d be proud to become a martyr. Saraa says little Jewish girls should be forced from their homes in Israel so that Palestinians can return to their land.

With the show’s producer helpfully offering written tips during an interview, Saraa didn’t get into how she hopes to die for her cause, be it suicide bombing, fighting the Israeli military or some other way. She carefully sidestepped any suggestion that she’s subtly calling for the destruction of Israel .

“Israel says that we are terrorists,” Saraa said minutes before an interview with her was interrupted by an errant Israeli airstrike that slammed into an apartment building on the adjacent block. “But they are the ones that must stop their attacks against us and our kids.”

Saraa is the sweet face of “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” a weekly, hour-long Hamas television children’s show best known for bringing the world a militant Mickey Mouse look-alike and then having him killed off by an Israeli interrogator. ...

“A lot of people in Palestine have died as martyrs, and lots of Palestinians hope to be martyrs,” Saraa said of Farfour’s demise. “This is one of the ends.”

Asked if she hoped one day to be a martyr, Saraa instinctively nodded her head. “Of course,” Saraa said. “It’s something to be proud of. Every Palestinian citizen hopes to be a martyr.”

Saraa helps deliver similar messages to Palestinian children from a Hamas TV set filled with colorful numbers and pictures of kittens. During the show, Saraa fields calls from Palestinian children who warble songs about Islam, liberating Jerusalem and finding answers in the barrel of a machine gun.

Previously at LGF:
Video: Hamas Kids’ TV Host Abuses Animals
Video: Killer Bee Replaces Death Cult Mickey
Death Cult Mickey Beatdown
More Islamic Supremacism from Death Cult Mickey
YouTube Deletes Hamas Mickey Mouse  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

SHE'S GOT 2 MILLION LITTLE SECRETS

By Ed Morrissey

The Clinton Presidential Library holds an estimated two million documents relating to Hillary Clinton's activities as First Lady -- a record on which she has explicitly based her campaign for the presidency. She has a page dedicated to it on her campaign web site. Her mantra, "strength and experience", rests on her tenure in the White House.

So why won't the Clinton library open these records to the public? The Los Angeles Times reports that the presidential library won't release them until after the 2008 election. At Heading Right, I note the contradiction of a candidate running on a record she won't publicly release, even though other First Ladies have been more forthcoming with their papers.  Tuesday, August 14, 2007

BAGGAGE

From AP: Clinton a drag? Dems fear her negatives.

Looking past the presidential nomination fight, Democratic leaders quietly fret that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom.

They say the former first lady may be too polarizing for much of the country. She could jeopardize the party's standing with independent voters and give Republicans who otherwise might stay home on Election Day a reason to vote, they worry.

In more than 40 interviews, Democratic candidates, consultants and party chairs from every region pointed to internal polls that give Clinton strikingly high unfavorable ratings in places with key congressional and state races.

"I'm not sure it would be fatal in Indiana, but she would be a drag" on many candidates, said Democratic state Rep. Dave Crooks of Washington, Ind. ...

The chairman of a Midwest state party called Clinton a nightmare for congressional and state legislative candidates.

A Democratic congressman from the West, locked in a close re-election fight, said Clinton is the Democratic candidate most likely to cost him his seat.

A strategist with close ties to leaders in Congress said Democratic Senate candidates in competitive races would be strongly urged to distance themselves from Clinton.

"The argument with Hillary right now in some of these red states is she's so damn unpopular," said Andy Arnold, chairman of the Greenville, S.C., Democratic Party. "I think Hillary is someone who could drive folks on the other side out to vote who otherwise wouldn't."

"Republicans are upset with their candidates," Arnold added, "but she will make up for that by essentially scaring folks to the polls." ...

The problem is her political baggage: A whopping 49 percent of the public says they have an unfavorable view of Clinton compared to 47 percent who say they hold her in high regard, according to a Gallup Poll survey Aug. 3-5. ...

Her baggage is heaviest in those states. Private polling conducted in Colorado, for example, shows that Clinton's negative rating is 16 percentage points higher than her favorability score.  Monday, August 13, 2007

SCOTTISH SHARI'A WATCH

By Charles Johnson

Doctors and health workers in Scotland have been banned from eating lunch at their desks during the Ramadan fast.

Willful blindness has now become standard practice in cases like this; the officials who instituted the ban openly admit they did it out of fear, even while parroting the usual tolerance-speak.

DOCTORS and health workers have been banned from eating lunch at their desks - in case it offends their Muslim colleagues.

Health chiefs believe the sight of food will upset Muslim workers when they are celebrating the religious festival Ramadan. The lunch trolley is also to be wheeled out of bounds as the 30-day fast begins next month. ...

The new guidance comes in the wake of the failed terror attacks on Glasgow and the death of suspect Kafeel Ahmed, 27. Health chiefs in Lothian and Glasgow will give all employees time off to pray and to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.

But Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as Lothian NHS boards also issued the advice, warning workers not to take working lunches, and said all vending machines should be removed from areas where Muslims work.

Behind this latest one-way gesture of appeasement: another Islamic advocacy group.

The guidance, which was sent round many organisations, was produced by Glasgow consultancy Meem, which advises on Muslim issues and counts the Scottish Parliament among its clients.

Na’eem Raza, a senior consultant with the firm, said he was thrilled that the health boards had formally adopted the guidance.

He added: “The idea is to get faith in the workplace out in the open. In the current climate, people need to understand where communities are coming from and what people are feeling. After the Glasgow attack this is very important. This is about educating people and making them more aware and more confident when dealing with issues surrounding the Muslim community. People have stopped talking over the garden fence and we need to break down the barriers so that people can talk comfortably to each other. It would never stir up resentment. Faith is an important issue. Why not have guidance on all of the issues that affect us, including different faiths?”

Health chiefs defended their use of the guidance and said it was important to promote a positive and tolerant culture at work.

DUTCH CATHOLIC BISHOP: CHRISTIANS SHOULD PRAY TO ALLAH

By Charles Johnson

The Roman Catholic bishop of Breda in the Netherlands wants Christians to start praying to Allah.

To promote healing and tolerance.

The Bishop of Breda, Tiny Muskens, wants people to start calling God Allah. He says the Netherlands should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world: Christian and Muslim Arabs use the words God and Allah interchangeably.

Speaking on the Dutch TV programme Network on Monday evening, Bishop Muskens says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions. ...

More than 30 years ago Bishop Muskens worked in Indonesia and, there, God was called Allah, even in Catholic churches. The Dutch should learn to get on spontaneously with different cultures, religions and behaviour patterns:

“Someone like me has prayed to Allah yang maha kuasa (Almighty God) for eight years in Indonesia and other priests for 20 or 30 years. In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can’t we start doing that together?” ...

Bishop Muskens proposal will undoubtedly receive a warm welcome from the Islamic community in the Netherlands.

Undoubtedly.  Tuesday, August 14, 2007