| May 7, 2007 Edition |
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Don't Abandon UsWashington PostHoshyar Zebari Last weekend a traffic jam several miles long snaked out of the Mansour district in western Baghdad. The delay stemmed not from a car bomb closing the road but from a queue to enter the city's central amusement park. The line became so long some families left their cars and walked to enjoy picnics, fairground rides and soccer, the Iraqi national obsession. Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening. The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at markets. These days you are as likely to hear complaints about traffic congestion as about the security situation. Across Baghdad there is a cacophony of sirens from ambulances, firefighters and police providing public services. You cannot even escape the curse of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars. These small but significant snippets of normality are overshadowed by acts of gross violence, which fuel the opinion of some that Iraq is in a downward spiral. The Iraqi people are indeed suffering tremendous hardships and making grave sacrifices -- but daily life goes on for 7 million Baghdadis struggling to take back their capital and country. Today, at an international summit on the future of Iraq in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, my government will ask the international community to maintain its engagement in our country to help us achieve our goals of security and stability. We recognize that our request conflicts with a plethora of voices decrying the situation in Iraq and those in the British and American publics who seek an expeditious withdrawal from a war they claim is all but lost. Full Story |
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| QUOTE OF THE WEEK |
| " I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. " John Adams |
| PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES, EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS |
The Next Mideast War?Time MagazineDavid Makovsky The scathing interim report issued this week by an Israeli panel that reviewed the decisions leading to the country's war with Hezbollah last summer may spell doom for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's leadership. Calls for his resignation have mounted even within his own party. However, the real story is that the causes of last year's war still exist -- and may spark another conflagration. The first underlying issue is the failure to enforce U.N. resolutions. Israel resorted to military action last July largely because the United Nations and the international community did nothing to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 (passed in 2004) or Resolution 1680 (passed in 2006), which made clear that Hezbollah should disband and be disarmed. Israel was left to fend for itself after Hezbollah crossed a U.N.-demarcated line, killed three soldiers and kidnapped two soldiers it still has not released. The end of the war led to the passage of Security Council Resolution 1701, which deployed thousands of U.N. peacekeepers to southern Lebanon. The presence of such forces there has constrained Hezbollah, even though the peacekeepers have not attempted to disarm Hezbollah fighters. However, a key provision of the resolution -- an international embargo to prevent weaponry from entering Lebanon -- has not been met. Just two weeks ago the Security Council voiced concern that this resolution has not been implemented fully. It has been widely reported that arms from Syria are being smuggled into Lebanon, and Israeli officials say that Hezbollah is hiding Syrian-manufactured 220mm rockets just beyond the jurisdiction of the peacekeepers but within range of northern Israel. There is open speculation in Israel and Lebanon about the possibility of the conflict resuming this summer. Full Story The Dems' Dirty Game in the Middle EastWeekly StandardLee Smith WITH THE DEMOCRATS pushing so hard for withdrawal from Iraq, the party seems unaware that they may be making the job much harder for themselves should they get the chance to govern again someday. After all, the United States has many vital strategic interests in the region, and it is not obvious how a plan no more elaborate than bringing our troops home from Iraq will protect, for instance, the free flow of affordable Persian Gulf oil. The Democrats are playing a dirty game in the Middle East, where, just like Arab regimes, they are using proxies to wage war--except their war is against the Bush administration. Iraq is one venue, and Syria another. A few weeks ago, the Syrian-born American businessman, Ibrahim Suleiman returned from the Knesset, announcing that an Israeli-Syrian deal is possible within six months, even though many observers are not sure the self-appointed peace delegate actually represents anyone. Still, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah has reported that Suleiman is the brother of Bajhat Suleiman, a security officer whose name has popped up repeatedly in the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Full Story The Case for the Strong ExecutiveWall Street JournalHarvey C. Mansfield Complaints against the "imperial presidency" are back in vogue. With a view to President Bush, the late Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. expanded and reissued the book of the same name he wrote against Richard Nixon, and Bush critics have taken up the phrase in a chorus. In response John Yoo and Richard Posner (and others) have defended the war powers of the president. This is not the first time that a strong executive has been attacked and defended, and it will not be the last. Our Constitution, as long as it continues, will suffer this debate--I would say, give rise to it, preside over and encourage it. Though I want to defend the strong executive, I mainly intend to step back from that defense to show why the debate between the strong executive and its adversary, the rule of law, is necessary, good and--under the Constitution--never-ending. In other circumstances I could see myself defending the rule of law. Americans are fortunate to have a Constitution that accommodates different circumstances. Its flexibility keeps it in its original form and spirit a "living constitution," ready for change, and open to new necessities and opportunities. The "living constitution" conceived by the Progressives actually makes it a prisoner of ongoing events and perceived trends. To explain the constitutional debate between the strong executive and the rule of law I will concentrate on its sources in political philosophy and, for greater clarity, ignore the constitutional law emerging from it. Full Story |
| BREAKING NEWS FOR THE PROFESSIONAL |
Putin not able to track all nukesWashington TimesBill Gertz Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Bush he could not account for all of Moscow's nuclear weapons at the same time al Qaeda was seeking to purchase three Russian nuclear devices on the black market, former CIA Director George J. Tenet said. In his new book, Mr. Tenet states that shortly after the September 11 attacks, Mr. Bush briefed Mr. Putin about a Pakistani nongovernmental group, Umma Tameer-e-Nau. The group, whose members included extremist nuclear scientists, was helping the Taliban and al Qaeda develop nuclear arms. The president "asked Putin point blank if Russia could account for all of its [nuclear] material," he states in his book, "At the Center of the Storm." "Choosing his words carefully, the Russian president said he was confident he could account for everything -- under his watch," Mr. Tenet stated, noting that the deliberately ambiguous response tended to confirm reports of nuclear smuggling shortly after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Full Story Why Congress Should Embrace the SurgeNew York TImes Op-edOwen West WHEN the civilian hierarchy fails them, soldiers tend to seek solace in Clausewitz's observation that war is an extension of politics. But in 2005 and 2006 the reverse was true in Iraq: the battle churned in place, steadily eroding the administration's credibility and America's psyche, while most politicians stood on the sidelines, content to hurl insults at one another until the battlefield offered a clear political course. What was most remarkable, however, was the military's inability to grab the reins and articulate a realistic war plan for Iraq. At home, recruiting, supply and deployment crises were solved; but in Iraq the generals continued to offer assessments of the fight that were as obviously inaccurate as those trumpeted by the politicians. The goal was to put Iraqi forces in the lead, but as a consequence, large-scale battlefield adaptation was scarce. Full Story Horn hotbedArmed Forces JournalPeter Brookes Since the early 1990s, the Horn of Africa - the descriptive name for the East African countries of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan - has been considered by many a major source of Islamic terrorism, radicalism and political instability. Unfortunately, that conclusion is accurate. In 1993, 18 American GIs on a humanitarian stabilization mission, dubbed Operation Restore Hope, were killed by Somali militants (with suspected al-Qaida ties) during a bloody engagement in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. This ultimately led to a 1994 American withdrawal that some terrorists still cite as proof that the almighty Uncle Sam is nothing but a "paper tiger" - complete with a weak stomach for casualties. Full Story Congress and Iraq: Declaring DefeatNew York PostPeter Brookes EARLY this week, Congress will finally deliver on the president's request for emergency war spending for Iraq and Afghanistan - after more than 80 days (yes, 80 days) of needless dithering with our national security. But the supplemental spending bill is not only plump with $20 billion in "pork" projects (support to salmon fisheries, beet farmers, etc.), it also includes a completely arbitrary timetable for surrender in . . . er, I mean, withdrawal from Iraq. Sure, Congress has the constitutional power to declare "war," but since when does it have the right to declare "defeat"? The lawmakers' effort to micromanage the Iraq war is nothing less than shameful - a cheap stunt to score political points. It's much more about the elections in 2008 than our national security in 2007. Full Story China's SubmarinesReal Clear PoliticsRichard Halloran An American military intelligence officer, asked some years ago how far the Chinese could project their military power, answered only half-jokingly: "About as far as their army can walk." That is changing rapidly today as China's leaders fuel the budgets of the Peoples Liberation Army, which comprises all of their armed forces. Says a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the think tank in New York, China is driven both by "a clear operational objective," which is to take Taiwan, the island Beijing claims, and "a clear strategic objective," which is to be a modern power. China's military priorities are four: the navy, in which submarines take first place; the air force of jet fighters and long range bombers; space, not only threatening US and other satellites but putting up their own; and what the Chinese call the Second Artillery, their land-based nuclear weapons including 1000 missiles aimed at Taiwan. Full Story |
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Afghanistan: Anti-U.S. Sentiment on the RiseNewsweekSami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau The shopkeepers glower as an American military patrol rumbles past the village bazaar at Afghany, some 80 miles northeast of Kabul. Mohammad Qayam and Ghul Jan are still seething about the precision U.S. airstrike in early March that hit their friend Mirwais's home, less than a mile away. They and other neighbors pulled nine broken corpses from the ruins: Mirwais's grandfather, father, mother, wife and five small children. Mirwais himself and his 7-year-old son were away seeing relatives, the men say; now he has fled into the mountains. Although local officials accuse Mirwais of belonging to the Taliban, his neighbors say he was only a farmer. "We hate the Americans so much now, we don't want to see their faces," says Jan. "They're no different from the Russians." Most Afghans cheered the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and they appreciate the ways U.S. assistance has improved their lives since then: reopening schools, building roads and bridges, bringing electricity to remote villages. Full Story Middle East: 'They Are All Enemies'NewsweekKevin Peraino In 1997, a team of Mossad hitmen broke into a house in Amman, Jordan, where Khaled Meshal was sleeping. The agents smeared a lethal poison onto the Hamas leader's neck. But when the operation was exposed, Israel's then prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was forced to provide the antidote. Now, 10 years later, Meshal could face his old nemesis again. Last week, after an Israeli commission ruled that current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was guilty of "serious failure[s]" in prosecuting last summer's war in Lebanon, some in Olmert's Kadima Party called for his resignation. According to polls, more than two thirds of Israelis believe Olmert should quit, and a plurality say they would choose the hawkish Netanyahu to replace him. In a rare interview with an American news organization, the Damascus-based Meshal, Hamas's most powerful figure, spoke with NEWSWEEK's Kevin Peraino about the war report and the chances for peace. Excerpts: Full Story For Iraqi Soldiers, A Medical MorassWashington PostKarin Brulliard Mohammed Mizher Massen was a different man on the morning of Feb. 21. His muscles filled out his Iraqi army uniform. His posture radiated the confidence of a soldier who had helped capture insurgents. And his heart swelled: In a few hours, after his unit finished its shift guarding a Baghdad construction project, he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Then the bomb in a cooking oil can on the roadside blew up, shredding his left leg and marking him with a constellation of shrapnel. Now 1st Sgt. Massen, 22, is a one-legged man whose brothers carry him from his bed, where he has dreams of loud explosions, to his computer, where he researches prosthetic legs. He spends his $460 monthly soldier's salary on the $3,400 in medical expenses that he has accrued. Full Story The Trouble With Benchmarks in IraqTime MagazineTony Karon Now that they each have registered their respective positions about tying Iraq war funding to a withdrawal timetable, congressional Democrats and President Bush are seeking a workable compromise. The most likely deal appears to be to make continued U.S. commitment in Iraq conditional on the Iraqi government meeting certain political "benchmarks." But there's no reason to believe Iraqi leaders will take a new set of benchmarks any more seriously than they have taken Washington's political exhortations until now. The benchmarks, in fact, are already well known to the Iraqi leadership, because the U.S. has spent the past year cajoling the Iraqis over them - reaching out to the Sunnis by reopening talks on the constitution, passing a new oil law guaranteeing an equitable sharing of revenues across the regions, reversing most of the purge of former Baathists from political life and government employment, and dismantling sectarian Shi'ite militias. Full Story U.S. Examines Iraq Battlefield EthicsTime MagazineA new Pentagon survey of troops in Iraq found that only 40 percent of Marines and 55 percent of Army soldiers would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian. In the first internal military study of battlefield ethics in Iraq, officials said Friday they also found that only a third of Marines and roughly half of soldiers said they believed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity. The study also found that long and repeated deployments were increasing troop mental health problems. And it showed that more than 40 percent of Marines and soldiers said torture should be allowed to save the lives of troops. The study was the fourth since 2003. Previous studies were more generally aimed at assessing the mental health and well-being of forces deployed in the war. In the latest study, a mental health team visited Iraq last fall and surveyed troops, health care providers and chaplains. Full Story |
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| FRANKS REVIEW |
Tactical Equipment Evaluation"Fanny" Packs: Off-Duty Bags For Your PistolBack in my younger (skinnier) days hiding a gun off-duty was fairly easy. I could wear it on my belt under a loose hanging t-shirt and all was cool. Then I discovered belly-bands and they proved convenient for carry but not easy to access. In the mid-90s I finally broke down and bought a "fanny" pack. Since that time I've carried my pistol in the same variety of ways, but as summer is coming and I know the shorts and t-shirts will be my primary off-duty wear, the assortment of fanny packs that I have will get more use. In this weeks review I'm going to take a look at that assortment, the strengths and weaknesses of each (as I see them) and make some recommendations for what you should be looking for at a minimum in such a carry option.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/holsters+/gunbags.htm Recreational Equipment ReviewWalther P22 .22lr PistolAlmost two years ago, when I first came into possession of it, I did a brief review of this pistol. I had purchased it for the purpose of teaching my children basic marksmanship with a handgun and to develop their mechanical skills. In particular, at that time, my seven year old had small hands and needed a weapon with little recoil that would be fun for him to shoot. My youngest daughter, 14 at that time, also had fairly small hands but wanted to learn how to shoot. So, since the time I purchased the pistol nearly two years ago, we've put a whole lot of .22lr ammo through it. This is a more thorough review of the weapon and how it has performed for us.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/recevals/huntfish/waltherp22.htm r/t
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| CHAPLAINS CORNER |
PLANS...Someone recently said to me, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans."My week has been full. My plans for today were full. I even went to sleep early Friday night so that I could get it all done on Saturday... About 0200 this morning I heard this awful noise. I could not seem to identify it. It was loud and annoying.... It was the telephone by my bed! Then I could not find it... even though it has been in the same location for years. Finally the fog cleared and I found the phone. The dispatcher said, "I am sorry but we have called others and they were not available. We have a death case and the officer is requesting a chaplain." I could not think of but one response..." I will get dressed and call you for the details." As I was half way through dressing my mind became very clear and I thought of someone else that they could have called but I was not going to stop and cause them more delay so I finished dressing and responded. The man was only 52 years old. He was a retired local police administrator. It had taken so long to find a chaplain that I was not there long until the transport people arrived... Just enough time to introduce myself and say a prayer with the family... And fall in love with one of the prettiest, friendliest little girls that I have met in a very long time. She had very big, expressive eyes and was sucking a pacifier. By the time I left the location we had become friends and she was showing me all of her gathered treasures. I shall never forget that child from early this morning just as I will never forget the little lost guy that I found last week. Life... It sometimes gets in our way and messes up our plans. A crisis strikes a family... A son tries to revive his father with CPR... There is no success... Fire and Rescue units arrive... The professionals get no success... Death is pronounced... Police are there... It becomes an Unattended Death Case... Basic investigation must be done... Friends gather to support the family... And a chaplain is called to respond. The early morning call interrupted my plans with needs of higher demand. A family in need must be attended to in a tragic situation. Sleep is lost... Plans are changed... Exhaustion sets in because of the high stress - high demand situation and insufficient rest. Schedules are shredded and plans must be adaptable or sometimes even forgotten. Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2007/article/050707chaplain.htm
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