Free Republic

THE death of Special Air Service soldier Sergeant Matthew Locke on Thursday in Afghanistan is a terrible reminder that there is rarely such a thing as a war without casualties. Sergeant Locke died fighting a barbaric enemy that seeks not just to take Afghanistan back to the dark ages but to use it as a base from which to destroy us. Worryingly, the death of two Australian soldiers in three weeks is not just a tragic coincidence. Things are not going well in the poorly named war on terror. As Frank Furedi writes in Inquirer today, we have been unable...

How’s the war going? It all depends on who’s talking — or writing. Do you go with the doubters-at-a-distance who’ve been saying the war was lost even before it began? Or with the separate but equally sure experts who’ve been assuring us we’re on the verge of victory — for years now. Do we finally admit all is lost when the next IED or car bomb takes its toll? Not just on the ground but in the spirit. It’s tempting. Enough has been more than enough. And yet not enough for Americans to accept defeat. We’ve been here before. In...

The first thing the members of Congress did before they heard the testimony of General David Petraeus, the Administration's new political point man on the war, was to throw the members of Code Pink out of the room. The Code Pinkers are those obnoxious females wearing their eponymously colored T-shirts with end-the-killing slogans on them. The women of Code Pink are liable to pop up at any solemn public gathering demanding peace at the top of their voices. They are unable to understand that elected officials are better informed and wiser than they are and thus they mistakenly dis people...

I have in this column and other places been more than a little critical of what I regard as our misadventure in Iraq. However, I find MoveOn.org’s mischaracterization of General Petraeus’ recent statement as a “betrayal” of the American people to be at best scandalous, at worst simply left-wing propaganda. Bluntly, military officers in our nation are subject to the instruction and command of legitimate civil authority. However, the General’s report was frank and, I believe, sincere — and it was his opinion, after all. I hope he was correct in many of his assessments. Especially that “Iraqi leaders are...

Sunday, September 30, 2007 It's hard to tell what's more depressing. Is it the fact that MoveOn.org puts a full-page ad in The New York Times essentially calling a distinguished U.S. general a traitor? Or is it the fact that Democrats like Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Earl Blumenauer cannot rise above the muck to condemn this vile attack on a uniformed officer? After all, it's one thing for a left-wing outfit like MoveOn.org to accuse Gen. David Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House" in assessing the success of the surge in Iraq. It's one thing...

Conventional wisdom is hardening around the proposition that Fred Dalton Thompson is too lazy, ill-prepared, tired, old, lackluster, inexperienced, inconsistent and bald to make a successful run for President. Of course, conventional wisdom rarely gets anything right. When it does, it's only by accident. In this case conventional wisdom is not just wrong but comically so. Thompson will win the Republican nomination for two reasons. First, he's a very impressive candidate. Second, there's no realistic alternative. He will win the general election for the same two reasons. Let's start by considering the Thompson's Republican competition. John McCain's candidacy may not...

The MoveOn ad that accused General David Petraeus of possibly traitorous testimony before he even began speaking has alienated the majority of American voters -- and even a plurality among MoveOn's allies believed it harnful to their cause. A new Rasmussen poll shows that 58% of those polled disapprove of the accusatory ad in the New York Times, while only a paltry 23% approve (via Memeorandum): Twenty-three percent (23%) of Americans approve of an ad run in the New York Times “that referred to General Petraeus as General Betray Us.” A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 58% disapproved....

Men at Work, Children at Play September 24, 2007 The Weekly Standard Frederick W. Kagan & William Kristol The telling difference between General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, and their congressional inquisitors. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. --Mark Twain This week, America heard about Iraq from two serious men, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They understand Iraq in all its complexity. They have an astonishing mastery of the details of what's going on in almost every part of the country and an amazing grasp of virtually every...

In light of Osama bin Ladsen's videotaped message to the West (Or was it a press release from DNC Chairman Howard Dean?), one might be given to muse that liberal abhorrence for the President's surveillance of incoming phone calls from known terrorists might ultimately stem from self-interest. Perhaps they simply do not want to be monitored as they share strategies and talking points with the al-Qaida leader. Furthermore, the DNC may decide to keep a copy of the bin Laden tape, which could come in handy during the 2008 campaign season. Just as aspiring politicians feel compelled to pander in...

General David Petraeus, a four-star army general, began his military career protecting America almost 40 years ago. In January 2007, he became the commander of American forces in Iraq. Under his leadership, he has guided the troops through “the surge.” Thanks in part to a recent New York Times/MoveOn.org newspaper ad, the general has become a political punching bag and his integrity called into question. < > FOX News reports and viewers can decide for themselves about this four-star general.

Hillary Clinton has done the last thing I expected, and she’ll regret it in the end. In a previous column, I predicted that Senator Clinton would have a “Sister Souljah� moment. It would be similar to the politically defining moment that energized her husband’s first presidential campaign. In 1992, Bill Clinton attacked a young female rapper for her thoughtless and socially destructive comments. This sent the message he was a moderate Southerner, not a creature of the far left. I thought Senator Clinton would create a similar episode and send the same message. I was wrong. Last week was her...

Despite the progress that Gen. David Petraeus outlined in his much-awaited report on the surge, critics claim little has been accomplished in the four years since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.Democratic leaders who have already declared the war lost continue to criticize Iraq's ruling coalition for a lack of political progress. They also cite impatience of the American public as the primary justification for unilateral withdrawal of all efforts to stabilize and secure Iraq. But one must question the arbitrary deadline of September, imposed by Congress just three months after all troops were put in place for the surge....

For many in Washington, the biggest unanswered question from Army. Gen. David Petraeus’ high-profile, low-satisfaction testimony last week was not about military strategy but about political tactics. Why has the anti-war movement been unable to translate the clear public mandate they claim into any clear change in our government’s Iraq policy? To most war opponents, the blame increasingly lies with the Democratic leadership in Congress, for not taking a hard enough line with President Bush and not fighting to cut off war funding. And their frustration is visibly bubbling over — the provocative group Code Pink, for example, has actually...

If there is a phrase more closely associated with both Hillary and Bill Clinton than "the politics of personal destruction," it does not come to mind. All the others -- "It's the economy, stupid," for instance -- belong to one or the other, but "the politics of personal destruction" is a phrase both Clintons have used repeatedly -- so much so, it seems, that for Hillary it has lost all meaning. When, for instance, Gen. David Petraeus was slimed as "General Betray Us," Hillary Clinton looked the other way. This was the politics of personal expediency. The swipe at Petraeus...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces must maintain the momentum generated by the troop surge in Iraq to defeat terrorists and insurgents, a senior military official in Baghdad said today. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of staff for Multinational Corps Iraq, talked about results of the increase of offensive operations made possible by the troop surge. Anderson spoke during a joint conference with Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. In the wake of Multinational Force Iraq Commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ recommendations to President Bush and testimony before Congress, forces in...

WASHINGTON -- There is no doubt that Gen. David Petraeus won the politically charged slugfest on Capitol Hill last week when he called for the withdrawal of 30,000 troops from Iraq between now and early next year. He won it on his case that, as bad as things are in Iraq, the troop surge of the past six months has made verifiable progress in key battlegrounds now cleansed of terrorists. And he won it by outflanking the Democrats' demands that we begin precipitously pulling all of our forces out now by a specific deadline. There is also no doubt that...

General Petraeus’ testimony on Capitol Hill last week undermined numerous Democratic talking points about the progress of the war and the situation on the ground in Iraq. But through their own behavior before and during the hearings, the Democrats themselves were responsible for exploding one of their most cherished myths: Republicans were the partisans prone to a particularly nasty form of character assassination – that is, challenging the patriotism of those who disagree with them. Democrats have long claimed to be victims of Republican challenges to their love of country. As early as 2003, John Kerry told the Associated Press,...

Muslim terrorist leaders are "thankful" for the efforts of activist and congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan, stating in a new book Sheehan's anti-Iraq war activities and her statements against President Bush "give us hope" the U.S. will change its Mideast policies. "You [Sheehan] give us hope and you show us that there are different Americans than those whom we know," stated Ramadan Adassi, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the West Bank's Anskar Refugee Camp. "This sincere woman says what we've been saying all these last years – Saddam never threatened America or its security. Now Iraq...

He sat absolutely still as members of Congress discussed his credibility and patriotism. His face did not twitch. He did not nod or frown or smile. Not a single muscle moved. He was as impassive as a boot-camp recruit resisting a drill sergeant's provocations. Navigating the political shoals of Washington last week was a challenge unlike any Gen. David Petraeus has faced. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, he was widely regarded as the quintessential military professional, a credible, independent voice who stood above the political fray. *snip* Partisans tried to portray him either as a politicized officer carrying...

The anger and frustration over Iraq that prompted voters to bounce many Republicans from Congress last November was supposed to give Democrats the momentum they needed to end the war. Instead, 10 months after Election Day, many are conflicted and confused about what to do next. Last week's congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker went better than even their supporters could have expected. Blunders by the left clearly worked in their favor. In a somewhat surprising move, the highly decorated four-star general took the brunt of the fire, leaving the more susceptible Crocker, testifying about the...

The gravest charge you can level at a military man, as MoveOn.org essentially did to Gen. Petraeus with its infamous "General Betray Us" ad, is to call him a traitor.But surely close behind in the catalog of calumny is to call a soldier a coward. And that's what Frank Rich did in his [p.p.v.] New York Times column of today.Writes Rich [emphasis added]: General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker could grab an hour of prime television time only by slinking into the safe foxhole of Fox News, where Brit Hume chaperoned them on a gloomy, bunkerlike set before an audience of...

On Thursday night President Bush and Republican presidential candidates Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain asked the American people to set aside their sense of history and common sense. The three Republicans asked the American people to buy into their spin of the facts surrounding the invasion and the current status of the occupation of Iraq. Americans were asked to forget the president's claim that Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attack on this country, that he said he had a plan for Iraq and that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. None of those assertions were true. Prior to...

Kurds fight for freedom on Iran-Iraq border By Betsy Hiel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 16, 2007 QANDIL RANGE, Iraq -- Off a rocky mountain road meandering through creek beds, a small, stone military outpost is hidden near the Iraq-Iran border. Peach, pomegranate and fig trees tremble in the hot breeze. Under a thatched-roof awning, leafy vines cover the outer walls and offer a little relief from the intense sun. A young Iranian guerrilla listens to music on an iPod as his comrades hang Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition belts and walkie-talkies on a beam behind the vines. Amin Karimi, 34, a soft-spoken,...

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/NEWS09/709150332/1001/NEWS Cannot be posted due to copyright issues.

Of all of the reporting that has come from the Iraq war, Mike Yon is in a class all by himself. His E-magazine represents some of the finest writing and most concise reporting that I’ve had the pleasure to read. Today’s email inbox flashed a familiar message that appears when Mike has a new post ready. The email message included an interesting, and blogworthy prediction: Readers of my dispatches have gotten first hand reports of the kinds of positive indicators that General David Petraeus described in his progress report. The atmosphere is changing in Iraq and I’ve been posting dispatches...

Democrats and their liberal brethren are facing a very big problem this week. Having staked a large portion of their political capital on U.S. defeat in Iraq they must now come to grips with the possibility that we might actually win this war. This would be - if not actual disaster, at least a serious setback to their future plans. They rode anti-war sentiment into the Congress with real hopes that the Republicans would continue their losing streak right up to the White House next year. However, Bush and the G.O.P. unexpectedly doubled down and began to win a few....

t is a well known principle from anthropology that someone who can name a person or thing controls that person or thing. To do so, however, requires considerable skill and experience. The name that MoveOn.org applied to General David Petraeus, "General Betray Us," could have come from any grade school's sandbox, and it will no more stick to this distinguished soldier than water will adhere to Teflon. "Eli Parasite," our name for MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser, also is pretty obvious, but we will make it stick by using facts and his track record as the adhesive.Not only did MoveOn.org...

Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda terrorist organization’s second in command after Osama bin Laden, criticized General David Patraeus’ report on the Iraq War as “warmed-over Bush Administration propaganda” that requires “a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the listener.” “President Bush’s strategy in Iraq has failed,” Zawahiri continued. “It is time to change course and withdraw the troops so that the Islamification of the country can proceed with a minimum of bloodshed.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seconded Zawahiri’s take on the General’s report. “It is not a credible report,” Khamenei insisted. “The words of an...

To prepare for General David Petraeus's long-awaited testimony on Iraq to Congress last week, the liberal pressure group MoveOn.org wrote itself into the history books with an anti-Petraeus ad so repulsive ... ~~ SNIP ~~ America's political spectrum a decade or more in the future will be defined by two parties both born of today's GOP after a natural and painless mitosis. There's at least as much distance between a Rudy Giuliani and a Mike Huckabee as there ever was between JFK and Nixon, or even Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower. Americans traditionally like their two opposing parties to differ...

Remember Me By Salena Zito Time punishes war. The war in Iraq is no exception; as each moment passes, public resolve, politics and passion erode its mission. Collectively, many Americans tend to remember the mistakes and politics that led us there, rather than the faces of the men and women who serve and defend us.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2007 – President Bush said today he supports the recommendations on reducing troop levels in Iraq made earlier this week by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq. During his weekly radio address, Bush voiced confidence in Petraeus’ suggestion that U.S. forces reduce their size by 5,700 troops in Iraq by Christmas, and that troop levels could be scaled down from 20 combat brigades to 15 by July. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker presented their report to Congress Sept. 10-11. “I have accepted General Petraeus’ recommendations. And I have...

An Open Letter To Senator Charles Schumer Senator Schumer, I write to you to take vehement exception to a statement you recently made concerning the job our troops are doing in Iraq. Although I'm paraphrasing, you said something to the effect that violence in the Anbar province had gone down in spite of the recent surge of troops we have sent into the area. You said that due to the American forces inability to protect the citizens that the warlords had stepped in and reduced the violence. After hearing your left handed rhetoric for a while, I must say I...

There is no mistaking the influence of MoveOn.org, with its 3.2 million members and powerful fund-raising apparatus, within the Democratic Party. This liberal activist group has come to occupy a prominent seat at the table among the party elite, so much so that Republicans leaped at a chance to hold Democrats and their presidential candidates responsible for MoveOn’s positions after it ran an advertisement attacking the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus. MoveOn, which has raised tens of millions of dollars for Democratic candidates since its inception in 1998, clearly enjoys friendly relations with Democratic Party officials. Its leaders have...

Rudy’s 50-state strategy By Salena Zito Friday, September 14, 2007 CANONSBURG, PA-One day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11th terror attacks Republican presidential nominee Rudy Giuliani zeroed in on the Democratic front-runners – stinging Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama and John Edwards with the sharpest words in the presidential campaign to date. Giuliani is clearly exercising a strategic move to define himself as the Republican front-runner who hopes to cinch the nomination before his GOP rivals gain steam. And he is increasing the volume on the issue Giuliani believes can catapult him to the White House: a do-or-die fight between...

What the General Really Said by: Emmanuel Opati, September 14, 2007 General David H. Petraeus told a congressional committee on Monday that in Iraq “we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level of brigade combat teams by next summer”. The commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq pointed out that objectives of the US military surge there are to a large measure being met. Reporting to the Congress on the situation in Iraq, General Petraeus said that the Coalition and Iraq security forces have made progress in improving security in Iraq with last week having the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2007 – The nation’s top military advisers were “unanimous” in backing the recommendations made to the president by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus on the way forward in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, answers a reporter's question while Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates looks on during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Sept. 14, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Gen. Peter Pace and Defense Secretary...

Following last night’s address to the nation, President Bush and Vice President Cheney each met with troops and Marines today, thanking them for their service and for their continued efforts in the War on Terror. President Bush had lunch with Marines at Quantico, Virginia, and made a brief statement afterwards, in which he reminded Congress to “support our men and women in uniform, and their families, and those who have worn the uniform. “ (Transcript) Vice President Cheney traveled to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he spoke about the war in Iraq (Transcript). He then...

War In Iraq: Years from now, people will look back on last week as truly historic. It began with Gen. David Petraeus' fact-filled account of our success on the ground, and it ended with President Bush making the case, stronger than ever, for finishing the job. Petraeus' detailed report seems particularly damning to those who oppose our mission in Iraq. Clearly, a major change has occurred there. Petraeus' words make it clear al-Qaida is on the run. Yes, he confirmed, we're winning — and he backed up his conclusion with facts. Among them: • "Security incidents" since the surge began...

Romney says Petraeus report what he'd hoped to hear GOP presidential hopeful discusses the issues during a swing through The Woodlands By RENÉE C. LEE 14 September 2007 THE WOODLANDS — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a visit here Thursday said he supports withdrawing some American troops from Iraq beginning next year. The former Massachusetts governor, who was in The Woodlands for a fundraiser, said U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus' recent report on the war in Iraq shows troops have made progress and are slowly moving toward a support role in Iraq. "That's what I hoped I'd hear," Romney...

In the clamor of Democrats assailing President Bush on Iraq, presidential candidate John Edwards has found a way to be heard after Bush addresses the nation Thursday night: He's buying time for a rebuttal. Edwards has bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC, scheduled to air after Bush's 15-minute televised speech from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT. Bush is expected to announce plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by up to 30,000 by next summer, but say that he will condition those and further cuts on continued progress. "Unfortunately, the president is pressing on...

WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton squared off yesterday with her possible challenger for the White House in 2012, General David Petraeus, and came closer than any of her colleagues to calling the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq a liar. Using blunter language than any other Democrat in the last two days, Mrs. Clinton told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief." Referring to the charts General Petraeus brought to the House and Senate this week, Mrs. Clinton said, "Although the charts tell part of the story, I don't think they tell the...

On the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Americans were treated to two starkly contrasting images that speak centuries of difference between the U.S. and its enemies. In Frame One, we see Gen. David H. Petraeus testifying before Congress on the status of the war in Iraq. In Frame Two is Osama bin Laden in a new video -- resplendent in white robes, his beard recently rinsed dark to conceal the gray -- promising that Islam will subjugate the West. One an image of courage, integrity and honor; the other a caricature of manhood. Then there is a third frame....

You remember Mitt Romney's forceful condemnation of the MoveOn ad, don't you? And Fred Thompson's? And John McCain's? No? Well, they're all here. But you don't remember them, do you? You've probably noticed only one GOP candidate's foot-stamping phony outrage at the ad, because, among the Republican candidates, Rudolph Giuliani owns this issue. He's obsessed with it. Here's the latest: Mr. Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, sought -- and received -- space in Friday editions of [The New York Times] for an advertisement in which he praises General Petraeus. Neither the Giuliani campaign nor The Times's advertising department would disclose...

The New York Times in the past has rejected "advocacy" ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as well as from the National Right to Life Committee, despite the fact that both would have qualified for the same "special advocacy, stand by" rates that the radical, left-wing organization MoveOn.org was given for its smear ad of Gen. David Petraeus. MoveOn, which is largely financed by billionaire George Soros, as well as other major financial donors to the Democratic National Committee, was given a $100,000 discount for the ad which called the U.S. commander of armed forces in Iraq a traitor....

DAVID Petraeus is a highly decorated four-star general. He has been designated by the commander-in- chief to lead the young men and women who comprise the great U.S. force of 160,000 soldiers and Marines serving on the battlefields of Iraq, at great danger to themselves and to the officers who lead them. Most soldiers, in pointing out their military honors, will cite the Combat Infantry Badge - which the general wears, as he does those medals awarded to him for personal bravery in combat. Gen. Petraeus has sworn, as do all our military officers, to defend the Constitution of the...

I am constantly amazed that in the ongoing debate over the Iraq War the central question that ought to drive our decision is seldom considered. We focus on the difficulties in staying the course and achieving the mission, but rarely discuss the consequences of abandoning it. This is sheer insanity. Following General David Petraeus' congressional testimony and based on his recommendations, President Bush outlined his plan to reduce troop levels in Iraq to their pre-surge levels by next summer. Quite predictably, Democrats immediately proclaimed their opposition to the plan. In the face of this impressive report and General Petraeus' stellar...

Army General David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker told Congress the President’s surge has started to make political reconciliation possible, but Democrat leadership is unwilling to give the Iraqi government more time and are intensifying calls for withdrawl. Majority Sen. Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce that Democrats would produce amendments to the defense authorization bill next week to “change the course of the war in Iraq� because “the surge has failed to bring the Iraqi government closer to political reconciliation.� Reid would not reveal specifics of the amendments. He would only...

Thursday, September 13, 2007 Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker spent Monday and Tuesday briefing Congress on developments in Iraq since the start of the surge. The hearings took place over two long days before four congressional committees. Members had the chance to ask questions, real and rhetorical, and to instruct Petraeus and Crocker on how things are going. Lots of questions and non-questions. Lots of answers -- often to the same questions asked over and over. Because most Americans have actual lives and cannot spend their days taking in multiple hearings -- or don't have the stomach to...

Sen. Hillary Clinton yesterday found herself positioned firmly to the left of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding that disgusting New York Times/MoveOn "General Betray Us" attack on Gen. David Petraeus' integrity. That's not an enviable position for a woman who's trying to convince the American people that she's fit to be president of the United States. Further complicating her life was the position former Mayor Rudy Giuliani took yesterday on the general, the importance of victory in Iraq and . . . the truth. You couldn't ask for a more stark contrast at this stage in a possible Giuliani-Clinton presidential...

Even before Gen. David Petraeus began his account of the "substantial" progress brought about by the troop increase in Iraq, congressional critics of President Bush's policy had come to the depressing conclusion that the surge has done what the administration needed it to do. It has not won the war. It has not achieved reconciliation at the national level in Iraq. But it has bought more political time in Washington, bringing Bush closer than ever to reaching one of his main objectives: keeping large numbers of troops in Iraq beyond Election Day 2008. Yet if the testimony of Petraeus and...