Good News in Iraq: Attack Levels Lowest Since 2003

Good News in Iraq:
NOVEMBER ATTACKS IN IRAQ LOWEST Since 2003

---

It's Good News When Even Good News isn't News Anymore


Outside of a few high-profile bombings targeted at public confidence, attacks in November fell to their lowest monthly level since the Iraq war began.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander here, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for a spate of bombings that has killed nearly 50 people in Baghdad and elsewhere since Monday. The blasts took place despite an 80 percent drop in attacks nationwide since March, Austin said.

At least 33 people were killed and dozens wounded in multiple bombings Monday against Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and Mosul. Another 15 died in blasts Tuesday in the northern cities of Mosul and Tal Afar and in the southern city of Iskandariyah.

One civilian was killed and five were wounded Wednesday when a magnetic bomb attached to a minibus went off as the vehicle was carrying Education Ministry employees to work in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Good news from Iraq was first sporadic, but has now become a constant over the last six months.

So much so that good news from Iraq is no longer much news at all.


by Mondo Frazier
image: dbkp file

Culture: Lots of Iraqi Good News, Few Idiots of the Week

Culture Watch vol. 36
Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
October 13, 2008

God is still smiling.

---

No, Shirley, the world hasn't melted down. Despite the media insistence that the US is once again facing an unprecedented crisis, there remains much to celebrate.

Yes, the US seems to have started down the path of socialism. The good news is, Americans are starting to realize this. And they're starting to protest. Polls are showing that a vast majority of the American people are, once again, at odds with the political and media elites. They are against the recent bailouts of Wall Street. And even though a new global poll found of 17 countries found a huge preference for Obama to be our next president in 16 of those countries, the same poll showed America still preferred McCain.

As the media focus on all the problems of the world, almost unnoticed, is the fact that there is still plenty of:

GOOD NEWS


Remember Iraq? Not too long ago it was problem number one for the American people. Lo and behold, Iraq is now doing very nicely. The Iraqi stock exchange is booming. Last month, the general index increased 40%. Year to date, Iraq's fledgling stock exchange has increased 25%, due to improved security.


Remember Sadr City? Until 6 months ago, Sadr City was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the Iraq war. Today, schools are back in session. As we reported last week, Baghdad is in the process of being turned into a vacation hotspot. Can we say 'Mission Accomplished' yet?

It looks like Iraq thinks so. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister has told Britain that their combat forces are no longer necessary to maintain security. Go on home, he says.


Our military services, including their reserve components, have all met their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008. I guess our military is doing fine, despite what the media would have us believe.

With the war on terror increasingly including Afghanistan, the word is, we're kicking butt there, too. Taliban fighters suffered one of their heaviest defeats on Sunday when scores were killed in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. Its getting so terrorists can't find a safe haven anywhere these days.




Other terror nations, like Iran, are starting to feel the crunch of lowered gas prices, with oil prices plunging as we speak. This is bad news for the bad guys. Lower oil prices are cutting into their terror budgets in a big way. Who knows, pretty soon these countries may not be able to afford all those one way tickets to martyr's paradise.

For Americans, however, its good news indeed. The national average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gas fell 35.03 cents to $3.3079 a gallon on October 10 from $3.6582 two weeks earlier.

Despite the financial crisis that has left America and other highly ranked nations facing market meltdown, the US has again topped a widely-watched index ranking country competitiveness.
Meanwhile there is also good news in the
CULTURE WAR:

The left suffered a devastating defeat as the Supreme Court refused to grant a new trial to one of their icons, convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. I guess Mumia will have to be content to be the left's new martyr. And he didn't even have to blow himself up. Just shoot a cop. Go figure.

In California, the words 'bride' and 'groom' have been reinstated on all marriage license applications, replacing the androgynous 'applicant A,' and 'applicant B.' Hey, its a start.
In Arizona, Americans now have the right to sport 'choose life' license plates. A small but important victory, achieved only after a long legal fight.

A McDonalds executive who had been on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has stepped down following a successful boycott of McDonalds.

A little noticed news item has huge ramifications for our floundering political system. In Indiana, two challengers for a congressional seat have agreed to be hooked up to lie detectors during a debate. The incumbent's party dismissed the idea as 'bizarre,' which indicates to me that they have the most to hide. Here's hoping this becomes a trend.


More good news - RightBias could not find enough idiots this week to publish a separate list. You'll have to be content with just one:
IDIOT OF THE WEEK AWARD:

Bureaucrats in Switzerland win first place this week. Apparently, geneticists in Switzerland must now conduct their research on genetically modified rice, corn and apples 'without trampling on a plant's dignity.' Which begs the question, "How does one humiliate an apple?" Inquiring minds want to know.

In these chaotic times, I hope you all remember that there's plenty of good news out there. America has survived far worse things than venal politicians and amoral rent seekers.


Till next Monday, keep smiling,


by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com

Culture Watch may be reprinted, with attribution to RightBias.com

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Bush Will Resist Defeatist Democrats

In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq.

Five years later, President Bush strongly signaled Wednesday that he won't order troop withdrawals beyond what's already been planned.

The president refuses to "jeopardize the hard-fought gains" of the past year.

As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington, the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of a war that has cost nearly 4,000 U.S. lives and roughly $500 billion. The president's address was part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and next month's report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. That report will be the basis for Bush's first troop-level decision in seven months.

"The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated," Bush said.

What did Bush have to say to those who "still call for retreat"?

Read rest of "Bush Speech: Will Resist Democrats Who Call for Retreat".

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Source: Bush Speech: Will Resist Democrats Who Call for Retreat
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Soldier Wins Million Dollars in Lotto, Then Prepares for Third Tour in Iraq

Sometimes, karma's on crack.

Sgt. Wayne Leyde first completed two tours of duty in Iraq, then won $1 million on a scratch-and-win lottery ticket on Tuesday.

Now, he's ready for a third tour.

The lucky soldier, a 26-year-old Washington National Guard member, insists he's still going to volunteer to return to Iraq for his third tour of duty.

He also said that he won't spend any of the money until he returns from Iraq.

That Leyde even bought the ticket was a lucky break.

"I decided to walk into a local Zip Trip. I got a Coke and beef jerky and walked up to the counter and thought I'd pick up a few scratch tickets and try my luck. I was on my way out when the lady said, 'Do you have a lucky scratch coin?'

"I said 'no, you gave me a dime and nickel back.'"

"She said 'no, try this,'" handing Leyde a penny. "On my way home I started scratching tickets. They were losers. I'm thinking, boy, that lady didn't know what she was talking about."

The fact that Leyde hit the jackpot with the lotto doesn't make any difference on whether he returns to Iraq a third time or not.

"It was a commitment I made about three months ago. I'm going to stick to it," Leyde said about his decision.

The sergeant says rents have gone sky high where he and his parents live in the Mount Spokane area of Washington and that, for now, he's not going to spend any of the money.

"For right now, I'm going to hold off [spending] and let reality sink back to earth. This is a true blessing. I'm going to turn it around and see if I can bless other people with this," Leyde said.

Sometimes, the Good Guys win.

Or hit the lotto for $1 million.

by Mondoreb
image: ABC
Source: Lucky Soldier Wins $1 million in Lottery



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Harry Reid Going for Daily Double on Wrong Iraqi War Predictions

"It will be years - not in my time - before a woman will become Prime Minister."
- Margaret Thatcher, 1974

"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face not Gary Cooper."
--Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

"$100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft."
--IBM, 1982

"The American colonies have little stomach for revolution."
--King George III in 1773

"The surge hasn't accomplished its goals... We're involved, still, in an intractable civil war."
--Harry Reid, Senate Democrat Leader on the Iraq War optimism.

"We've lost"
--Harry Reid, Senate Democrat Leader on the Iraq War.

Reid's going for a two-fer on Iraq.

by Mondoreb
[images:sixers4guidos & llamabutchers]

Sources:

The Politico: Reid Pushes Back on Iraq Optimism
World's Worst Predictions



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Jailed AP Photographer Bilal Hussien: Friend Or Foe?

The Associated Press is reporting that one of their own, photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been in U.S. custody since April, 2006, is being turned over to the Iraqi courts.

NEW YORK - The U.S. military says it will turn over an award-winning Associated Press photographer to an Iraqi court, accusing him of having links to terrorist groups.

The military is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented, and an AP attorney on Monday strongly protested the decision, calling the U.S. military plans a "sham of due process." The journalist, Bilal Hussein, has already been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months.

Source - Associated Press

There's the story of Bilal Hussein's plight and another story, one of American news organization's defense of using "locals" such as Bilal Hussein to "report" the news during a war which involves the United States.

Bilal Hussein, award-winning photographer for the Associated Press, native of Fallujah, Iraq, has highlighted the controversy of using persons who may or may not be sympathetic to the United States military's actions in Iraq. Who may or may not be part of the "insurgency" whom the United States is currently fighting. The jury's still out on Bilal because the U.S. military has held Bilal in custody since April of 2006. It wasn't until September of that same year that the Associated Press reported on Bilal's plight.

U.S. military holds AP photographer in Iraq 5 months without charges

By ROBERT TANNER
AP National Writer

The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.

Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen, was being held for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. AP executives said the news cooperative's review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.

Hussein, 35, is a native of Fallujah who began work for the AP in September 2004. He photographed events in Fallujah and Ramadi until he was detained on April 12 of this year.

Source - Associated Press - US Plans Case Against AP Photographer

Pentagon defends its detention of Associated Press photographer

The Associated Press

Published: September 18, 2006

NEW YORK The Pentagon defended on Monday its months-long detention of an Associated Press photographer in Iraq, asserting that it has authority to imprison him indefinitely without charges because it believes he had improper ties to insurgents.
But journalism organizations said that covering all sides in the Iraq war sometimes requires contacts with insurgents. They called on the Pentagon to either bring charges against photographer Bilal Hussein so he can defend himself, or release him.
Hussein, an Iraqi photographer employed by the AP, was captured in Ramadi on April 12 of this year. AP executives, who worked on his case behind the scenes for five months, on Sunday made a public call for the military to transfer him to Iraq's criminal justice system or release him.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Monday that the military has not changed its position.

"All indications that I have received are that Hussein's detainment indicates that he has strong ties with known insurgents and that he was doing things, involved in activities, that were well outside the scope of what you would expect a journalist to be doing," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. He refused to provide any details.

Source - International Herald Tribune

Who is Bilal Hussein?

The majority of the Associated Press' information about Bilal has been that he is a native of Fallujah and that he began to work for the AP in September of 2004.

Since the AP didn't supply much in the way of info on who Bilal is we decided to dig a little deeper:

From the Washington Post: A Journalist In Limbo

The headline, "a journalist in limbo" is fairly disingenuous. Balil was hired as a photographer stringer, not a full fledged journalist. The use of "journalist" gives Balil, "instant cachet."

Bilal Hussein is part of the latest generation of Associated Press hires in the Middle East. He was a shopkeeper in Fallujah, selling mobile phones and computers. Although he had a degree from the Baghdad Institute of Technology, it was the best opportunity available in the fractured Iraqi economy.

AP first hired him as a translator and driver. He proved smart and trustworthy, and was already comfortable with the phones, laptops and cameras that are tools of the journalist's trade. Within months, he was taking professional-quality pictures, including one of insurgents engaged with coalition forces that was part of AP's Pulitzer Prize-winning photography entry last year.

Source - In Iraq, A Journalist In Limbo

"He (Bilal) proved smart and trustworthy"

What measures did the Associated Press undertake to ensure that Bilal was indeed, trustworthy?

In the same piece WAPO defends the use of hiring "locals" to get the news:

U.S. journalists are severely limited in their ability to move safely, make themselves understood and develop sources in such areas. AP has learned to overcome those limitations, using techniques honed over decades of covering sectarian confrontation and bloodshed in the Middle East.

It has long been AP practice to hire and train local people in the agency's permanent international bureaus. Many become highly skilled career journalists who remain with the Associated Press for decades. Several are second-generation staffers. Their work has never been more important to the Associated Press and the global audience that relies on our reporting.

Without their access and insight into what is happening in their countries and communities, our understanding of the history being made there every day would be shallow and one-dimensional. It would also be far more vulnerable to control and spin by "official" sources.

Note WAPO's reference to "official" sources who "control" and "spin" the news, inferring an adversarial relationship with the U.S. government military. The War in Iraq has never been officially "sanctioned" by the MSM.

The defense of using "locals" in a war zone raises the question: Are American news organizations putting American military lives in jeopardy in their "zeal" to report "both sides" fairly?

Would American news organizations, during World War II--using the same rationale as today--hired "local" Germans as reporters?

The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. "He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces," according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.

"The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities," Gardner wrote to AP International Editor John Daniszewski.

Source - Associated Press

The Associated Press has stood by Bilal. If the Iraqi courts put forth evidence that Bilal was in collusion with or was an insurgent, will the AP and other news org's address the issue of using these so-called journalists and/or photographers?

Recently Reuters had to admit that photographs submitted by another "local," a photographer in Lebanon during last year's conflict with Israel, had been manipulated.

Reuters admits altering Beirut photo

Reuters withdraws photograph of Beirut after Air Force attack after US blogs, photographers point out 'blatant evidence of manipulation.' Reuters' head of PR says in response, 'Reuters has suspended photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to photograph.' Photographer who sent altered image is same Reuters photographer behind many of images from Qana, which have also been subject of suspicions for being staged.

Source - YNet News - Reuters Admits Altering Beirut Photo

One of the "blogs" mentioned in the Reuters' photo fisking was Charles Johnson's "Little Green Footballs".

This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop “clone” tool to add more smoke to the image. (Hat tip: Mike.)

It’s so incredibly obvious, it reminds me of the faked CBS memos. Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. There’s really no question about it.

Source - Little Green Footballs - Reuters Altering Photos From Beirut?

The issue of Bilal and others held by the United States military for an indeterminate amount of time without representation nor charges leveled needs to be addressed. The other issue of the news media playing Devil's Advocate in its role of reporting the "news" in Iraq also needs to be addressed.

It would have been interesting to see what guidelines in hiring "locals" the MSM would of used had it given its "Official Seal Of Approval" to the war in Iraq.

Source - Associated Press - US Plans Case Against AP Photographer
By LBG



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After Blackwater: New ADS Ray Gun For Iraq May Be Ready Next Year

by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn

In the aftermath of Blackwater, non-lethal crowd control is an issue that commanders in Iraq very much have on their minds. They may soon have a new weapon to use as early as next year. It's not a science fiction weapon, but one that's been in the making for the last decade.

There's been some buzz over the last year or so about the deployment of the new weapon with a military-sounding name, the Active Denial System. It may be ready as soon as next year for use in Iraq.

More from the Houston Chronicle:

There's no doubt this oversized ray gun can deliver the heat. The question is, how soon can the weapon, which neither kills nor maims, be delivered to Iraq?

At a rain-soaked demonstration of the crowd-dispersal tool here Thursday, military officials said one could be deployed early next year. But others still need to be built and undergo more testing before being shipped, a slow-going process at odds with urgent demands from U.S. commanders for the device.

What the troops may see as needless delays, Pentagon officials view as necessary steps toward fielding a weapon never used before in combat. The device, known as the Active Denial System, uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets soldiers break up unruly crowds without guns.

That means fewer civilian casualties, a key ingredient to success in Iraq.

"We've been perfecting the art of the lethal since Cain and Abel," said Marine Corps Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the Defense Department's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

The goal now, he said, is to provide U.S. troops in hostile environments with a way to respond that is more potent than shouting but less final than shooting. To do so in a package that is safe, mobile and sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of combat shouldn't be rushed.

"We don't want to hand the operating forces a science project," Hymes said.

Commanders always like to have more options at their disposal and this would give them one more option. After Blackwater, crowd control in Iraq without fatalities, is an important issue. Let's hope troops in Iraq have it soon. And let's hope it's more than a science project.

A little background on the Active Denial System from Wikipedia:

The ADS works by directing electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of 95 GHz[4] toward the subjects. The waves excite water molecules in the epidermis to around 55 °C (130 degrees Fahrenheit), causing an intensely painful burning sensation. While not actually burning the skin, the burning sensation is similar to that of a light bulb being pressed against the skin.[4] The focused beam can be directed at targets at a range of just under half a kilometer, or 500 yards[5]. The device can penetrate thick clothing, although not walls[5]. There is no indication on the feasibility of electromagnetically shielding a person from its effects with a wire mesh or Faraday cage, in a similar manner that a microwave oven prevents radiation escaping. As the beam excites the water molecules in the skin, water bearing materials such as wet clothing/towels, wet pastes/gels, vegetables or meat could effectively absorb the energy, although the military claims that wearing wet clothing actually intensifies the effect.

[photo:Wikipedia]



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Even Closer to the Brink: The New York Times Syndrome

[image:gisarah]
by Mondoreb

UPDATE:

The Turks move troops toward the border to deal with the PKK out of Iraq. This is a problem, but you just knew how the New York Times, ever the optimist, would handle the story.
1-It was Bush's fault; 2-The news out of Iraq is terrible; and, 3-It was Bush's fault. All that in the lead paragraph and then a bit of concern over what it all might mean.

The news out of Iraq just keeps getting worse. Now Turkey is threatening to send troops across the border to wipe out Kurdish rebel bases, after guerrillas killed at least a dozen Turkish soldiers. This latest crisis should have come as no surprise. But it is one more widely predicted problem the Bush administration failed to plan for before its misguided invasion — and one more problem it urgently needs to deal with as part of a swift and orderly exit from Iraq.

Wake Up America makes a good point about the Times' rigid adherence to their political agenda and their bottom line.

Previously we showed how the second biggest shareholder in the NYT dumped all their shares, we showed graphs of the last 2 and 5 yrs, showing their advertisers and readership going down the proverbial toilet as well as their paid service Times Select making so little they had to start offering it for free.

It is not only how they report the news or their refusal to report any news that doesn't fit their political agenda, but their lousy writers in the opinion section aka editorials.

Their subscribers and ex-readers have already voted on the Times' methods; perhaps the Time's stockholders are now doing the same.

This reporting of every problem as a fault of President Bush is one sign of the Times. Maybe it's a sort of NY Times Syndrome. On the subject of Iraq, the Times would spin the sudden discovery of an Iraqi Fountain of Youth into an insidious Bush plot to rid the world of old people.
Back to Front Page.

From CNN:General Petraeus aka "Bush's stooge"Details Iranian Weapons in Iraq"

[photo: Arabspc]
by Mondoreb

"Bush's stooge" and top U.S. general in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus talked to CNN's Jim Clancy earlier today and detailed the catalog of weapons that Iran is providing to forces fighting U.S. troops--that's Sunni and Shi'ite militias and the insurgents, not the Democrat Congressional leadership.

From CNN:
...Petraeus added, there was "no question" that Iranian arms were ending up in the hands of the Iraqi militias and there was "no debate" that six Iranians detained by the U.S. military in northern Iraq are Iranian Quds force members, the Iranian unit accused by the United States of training and arming insurgents.

Iran is serving as the LL Bean of Iraqi militia armaments; supplying the instruments of death for use against U.S. troops.

"There's no question, absolutely no question that Iran is providing advanced RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], RPG 29s," Petraeus said.

"It has provided some shoulder-fired, Stinger-like air-defense missiles. It has provided the explosively formed projectiles and it has provided 244 mm rockets, in addition to mortars, mortar rounds and other small-arms ammunition."

The "Bush's stooge" label hung on Petraeus that was mentioned earlier? Credit Bill Maher, the Left's most lovable loser.

Additional reaction is provided by The Prairie Pundit:

The Iranian weapons issue gives a good example of how Iran lies. The proof that the weapons are Iranian is irrefutable. The weapons still have the Iranian manufacturing labels on them. Yet Iran still claims to not be responsible for them. Then there are the Iranian officers who have been captured who are responsible for bringing in the weapons, that Iran also denies. The fact is that Iran's word is no good when it comes to weapons smuggling and assistance to terrorism. This is why any negotiated agreement with Iran would be of little value.

Iran lies? Sounds a little like the Code Pink's favorite stooge, Bill Maher.





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How Far Did General PetraeusMove the Debate on War?THE DEFEATIST CORNER DEMOCRATS HAVE PAINTED THEMSELVES INTO

by Mondoreb

From the Captain's Quarters:

How far has General David Petraeus moved the debate on Iraq? His testimony on the surge, and the effects of the surge itself, has made it much more difficult for Democrats to argue for withdrawal and defeat. In fact, at last night's debate, the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination couldn't even commit to a withdrawal.

Slowly, like a noose tightening around their necks, the leading Democratic candidates are starting to realize something: while the War in Iraq is not popular, a large percentage of American adults realize it was necessary.

The constant Democrat pandering to the Huffington Post and TheDailyKOS crowd is not without it's consequences. Come November next year Americans will cast ballots on a President. Many of those voters will vote on the person they feel can defend the country best in a time of war. Looking over the entire Democrat line-up does nothing to inspire those voters who consider national defense a key to their vote.

Regardless of what the Nutroots, the Mainstream Media and the Democratic candidates shovel out onto the news compost, a majority of Americans seem to liken the War in Iraq to cleaning out a hornets' nest in the garage: an unpleasant task, but it has to be done. And forget anyone else coming over to your garage to do it for you.

The Democrat Debate last night provided evidence of the dilemma the Dems have charged into. None now guaranteed a speedy withdrawal. TheDailyKOSsacks must have been spazzing out in suburban basements all across America. The 'Mad Pakistani Bomber', B. Hussein Obama: "I think it's hard to project four years from now," (from Yahoo News.


Perhaps the Democrats paused over this week's Rasmussen Poll which found that only 28% supported the abhorent MoveOn.org ad on "General Betray Us". 58% disapproved. Maybe Congressional Dems might want to rethink their disgusting attempts at turning the Petraeus Report hearings into one long Democrat Party election soundbite.

The Petraeus Report hearings will make an election commercial all right. Just not the one that opportunistic, defeatist Democrat Party pols thought they were getting.


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Cox & Forkum

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Bill Richardson at HuffPo: WHEN WAR ADS ARE ABOUT KILLERS,ONLY KILLERS WILL HAVE WAR ADS--or Something Like That

[above: Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson answers a question about how many U.S. troops support his candidacy.]
by Mondoreb

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson was out among the people when he came to a realization: If only he were in charge, HE'd figure out the absolute quickest way to lose the Iraqi War. At least that's the spin he puts on his wide-eyed article over at the Huffington Post earlier today.

Two days ago the Senate had a chance to help get more of our soldiers home for longer periods of time -- but the measure failed. Yesterday they had a chance to set a timeline to start withdrawing troops -- but that failed too. And today, another measure that would've required a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq failed. Three chances to make a difference, lost. But instead of continuing to push on the most important issue facing our country right now, yesterday Congress spent their time debating and condemning a newspaper ad by an anti-war group.

Richardson apparently doesn't think there's anything wrong with groups calling the general in charge of Iraq "General Be Tray Us". U.S. commitments abroad? Forget it. American prestige in an area of the world that places a value on such things? A mere inconvenience.

Let's get some perspective here -- ads don't kill people -- wars kill people. And it is long past time to end this war.

Like Dorothy in Oz, Richardson wants the troops home. Any way possible. Even if he has to use a giant hot-air balloon and bring them all back to Kansas.

Full retreat backwards and damn the torpedoes!

It's a wonderful world that the Democratic presidential contenders inhabit: it's all warm and fuzzy, actions have no consequence, and the Jihadi lions will lay down with the Leftist lambs. Like a modern day Moses, Richardson is pleading: Let my troops go!

But sadly, there is a price to pay for a country tucking it's tail and running--even if it's the strongest in the world. Bill Richardson won't likely have to pay that price, but American companies, Americans abroad and Americans at home will. The Jihadis will soon follow the last troops out of Iraq to U.S. soil. But that's another day, another HuffPo article for Richardson.

The world does not conform to Bill Richardson's creamy, dreamy worldview. The world's a dangerous place.
No matter how many times he closes his eyes, clicks his heels and says, "I want the troops home."
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