Warmed Over Cold Warrior

It's only February 27, but you can see the March 6, 2006 cover and table of contents of TIME Magazine here. The Theme is Iraq at the Breaking Point; the cover shows rioters with a large photo poster sign of Muqtada al Sadr; the contents include 3 articles ranging from muderous rage and US powerlessness to Muqtada as our savior.

Good job from Time; they've gone from a too-late to be interesting overblown Cheny bashing issue to a too-late to reflect the facts on the ground Bush-Iraq bashing issue. Do we have a trend here? Besides an anti-US government lack of balance? How about too late to reflect current facts and interests?

Yesterday, I posted what the Iraq and Arab Media were reporting about the Mosque bombing situation - it was more concerning than catastrophic and noted the talks and agreements being made by Irag political and religious leaders. Also yesterday, as a timely counterpoint to TIME's photos of rioters, you could see photos of peace demonstrators on the Gateway Pundit: Unity Protests Break Out in Basra, Mosul, Hillah, Al Kut, Karbala .... and learn that: "Many Iraqi cities witnessed large demonstrations after Friday prayers (yesterday). These demonstrations were calling for national unity, not being pulled into civil war after attacks on Sunni mosques as retaliation to the bombing of the samara Shiite shrine."

The Gateway Pundit post cites large numbers of demonstrators (over 15,000 at Amarah alone ) at each of several cities in Iraq; and even in London. If the numbers are accurate, there would have been a great many more peace demonstrators than rioters in the streets of Iraq. Why wouldn't that be a big story for a big magazine to emphasize? One of GP's photos shows Iraqi marchers with a big poster of al Sistani who is the top Shia cleric. Why wouldn't that make a good magazine cover ?

Why indeed? Perhaps it's just the old media "if it bleeds; it leads" attitude. Perhaps TIME prefers "Rage" to "Peace". Or perhaps, the media bias against this administation is too strong to permit a positive pro-America slant on the Iraq war interfere with it's mood setting for the November elections. I do hope that is not the reason; this war is for America's security. War is always tough, uncertain and often unclearly perceived. But Victory in Iraq is a win-win for both American security and Iraqi freedom. If our news media can't get behind that goal and support it in the information conflict being waged for the mind and will of the American public, then the very least the media could do is to be balanced in it's reportage and imagery.

Some of the best balanced and timely reporting is being done by Bill Roggio who has returned from his self-deployed embedded tour in Iraq. His post today provides a timely contast to TIME and, if you check his blog regularly, you get quick updates as the situation changes.

From todays, The Fourth Rail: Iraq “Civil War” Sitrep II: "It is quite difficult at this point in time to sort out the 'day to day' insurgency related violence from the violence related to the destruction of the dome of the Golden Mosque in Samarra. ...
The fighting in Baghdad's Doura district is the heaviest, with 15 killed and 45 wounded during mortar exchanges. Journalists/blogger Christopher Albritton, who is living in Baghdad, was extremely negative about the prospects on February 25th ... and was predicting an all out collapse of the government and full blown civil war. ..... Today, Mr. Allbritton backtracks (“Well, maybe I spoke too soon.”) and reports the Iraqi Security Forces along with Coalition air support are engaging in Doura."

By the way, Doura is a dangerous place populated by Sunni and Shiai residents and serving as the primary locale for al Qaeda fighters in Baghdad. From Mr. Albritton's web site, I note that he writes for TIME Magazine, among others, and he makes his anti- Bush, anti-Iraq government bias obvious in his site postings (e.g. in 2004, he predicted the government would collapse and that Sadr was extremely popular and would be victorious). That didn't happen; but the TIME cover show a poster-picture of Sadr. Hmm.. Wonder if TIME used his reporting and if so whether they balanced it with other views?

As a reference point on balance, Roggio's Sitrep II post cites / links five specific nows sources as well as a collection of posts on Iraqi intra- faction, or Red-on-Red fighting ,between insurgents, tribes and al-Qaeda. Roggio also reminds us that "oversimplification of Shiite and Sunni relations is a big source of misinformation in the press."; and concludes with "The sectarian devides exist, and have existed for hundreds of years, and should not be oversimplified or confused with a civil war." An important distinction for a balanced view of the fighting in Iraq.

It's helpful to get different perspectives on major controversial events, so I'll just provide a long excerpt from this 26 February summary of Iraqi and Arabic media coverage. Compiled daily by the State Department, this issue, available at The Weekly Standard , offers a contrast between Iraq's media coverage of the mosque bombing and Non-Iraqi coverage.
It notes that :
"The Iraqi media continues to be focused on pushing national unity and the idea that the government is in control and taking action. The pan-Arab media has offered a grimmer picture, but still not as dark as its Western counterparts, who continue to push the message that civil war in Iraq is just around the corner."

The Executive Summary states:
"Overnight broadcast news was slow and focused mainly on repeating early evening stories, such as Al Sadr meeting with Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) officials, the attack on the funeral procession of the slain Al Arabiya journalists, and the extension of the curfew. Details regarding the meeting at the Iraqi prime minister’s house of leading Iraqi figures did emerge, and it appears it was a productive gathering for building national unity.

Curfew. Al Iraqiya reported throughout the night that the vehicular curfew had been extended in Baghdad from 6 am to 6 pm on Sunday, and that no vehicles are allowed to enter Baghdad during this time. Meanwhile, Al Sharqiya mentioned that Iraq has postponed the purchase of 1.5 million tons of wheat because of the curfew.

Iraqi Leaders Meet. Al Iraqiya provided live coverage of a meeting at Prime Minister Al Jaafari’s residence between Iraqi government officials, Iraqi politicians, and leading clerics from all groups. The meeting lasted three hours, and the participants discussed how to ensure the current situation does not worsen into sectarian strife. The gathering finished with a joint prayer in which all participated.

Al Sadr And AMS. Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya reported that Muqtadah Al Sadr and his supporters met with AMS leadership to absolve the Sadrist movement of any connection with attacks on Sunnis or Sunni mosques. The two sides held a joint press conference in which they blamed the “occupation” for the country’s current problems and called for a timetable for when the occupation would withdraw from Iraq. The meeting ended with a joint prayer.

US Ambassador Says Risk Of War Diminished. Al Jazeera reported Ambassador Khalilzad said during a lengthy interview (not sure with whom) given on Saturday that there is still danger in Iraq, but the risk of war has been greatly diminished. He also added that America is ready to help Iraq in any manner and that Iraq’s failures are America’s failures too.

Miscellanous. Al Fourat aired many protest images, and concentrated heavily on the female presence in the demonstrations, something our nightly monitor said was rare, as women are not normally seen in such processions with men. Meanwhile, Al Arabiya continued to focus heavy coverage on the death of its three journalists and their 25 February funeral procession that was attacked."

It's an interesting summary. There are differences in emphasis among the reports, but the tone is factual and fairly upbeat. I've seen other reports mention the agreement by al-Sadr and the AMS to be nice to each other and bury the hatchet in our backs. But this summary goes a bit further by citing the motive "to absolve the Sadrist movement". That reinforces the insight that Muqtada al Sadr ( and possibly his Iran mentors) has concluded that the al Qaeda "civil war" gambit, if that was what it was, has failed.

My Deja Vu moment came when I read this editorial by William F. Buckley Jr. on Iraq , in which the influential conservative thinker and founder of the National Review delivers his judgement on the Iraq war. He begins with the assertion: "One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed." And concludes with this advice to the Bush administration: "different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgment of defeat."

Coming 38 years to the month later, Buckley's pronouncement sounds remarkably similiar in tone, reasoning and timing to Walter Cronkite's pronouncement after the Tet Offensive.

The Tet Offensive was launched in February 1968. The immediate and obvious result was a series of horrific photo and TV news reports of Viet Cong (VC) incursions and initial successes, followed by hard fighting. The real military outcome was the literal decimation of the Viet Cong , which ceased to be a viable fighting force, at relatively light losses to US and South Vietnam forces. Even so, Walter Cronkite , the so called "most trusted newsman", announced to his large American audience that America had lost the war. He was dead wrong about the facts on the ground, but, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, became right when anti-war pressure and publicity over the next years built to a failure of national will. This was the outcome that Gen. Giap was hoping for when he sacrificed the VC cadre. Finally, Congress voted to cut all funding and to abandon South Vietnam to its fate.

The rest was a sad damaging history; reflected in the millions of murdered or displaced citizens of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and also in America's loss of national purpose and resolve in the conduct of world affairs. The fall of Saigon was followed four years later by the Iranian revolution, the loss of our Embassy and the lengthy captivity of its staff. The anti-American Islamic theocracy that rose to power then is now a key participant in the Islamist terror campaign being waged in Iraq and worldwide.

In February of 2006, that campaign has generated global rioting, ostensibly about cartoons, to both arouse Muslims to support the Islamist cause and to intimidate other Muslims and the West into a posture of non-opposition and acquiessence. The great gambit, ala Tet '68, is the bombing of the al-Askari shrine, the Golden Mosque, to incite Shia - Sunni animosity into an Iraqi civil war. The bombing was followed by a series of random or instigated Shia retaliation attacks against Sunni mosques. About a hundred Iraqis were reported killed in a few days; fatwas and political statements were issued; tensions rose and remain high. Considerable media hysteria was published along with more serious media and political concerns focused on the question of whether a real civil war will ensue.

In this context of uncertainty, Buckley declares "defeat", just as Cronkite did 38 years ago. And just as then, Buckley is dead wrong about the facts on the ground. But is his pronouncement an accurate prophecy of an impending collapse of national will?

I hope not. One can draw lots of analogies to Vietnam in '68. But reasoning from (the similarities in) analogy leads to mind rot according to Marvin Minsky, who felt that insight could be obtained only by focusing on the differences. There are a lot of differences between the two situations. Most obvious are the disparate scale of forces involved - both in numbers and casualty counts; the overwhelming US military superiority with a fraction of the troops; the absence of any nuclear power providing cover to the enemy; a clearly different Americam mindset about national security after 9/11; and equally important in a contest for wills, the presence today of instant news analysis and wide dissemination over the internet by blogs as well as traditional news media.

It seems to me that the situation, while not resolved, is turning optimistic and there's a good chance that this al-Qaeda gambit will turn badly against them. We will see.

In the meantime, for more in depth assessments, some good sources include:
* This Publius Pundit Blog for the politics behind the shrine attack;
* This Victor Davis Hanson article which concludes "After visiting the country, I think we can and will win,";
* The excellent series of reports by Bill Roggio on his Fourth Rail blog. His latestIraq "Civil War" Sitrep provides insights on the role of Iran's favorite Iraqi Shia cleric, the devious Moqtada al Sadr and concludes "Four days after the destruction of the dome of the Golden Mosque, the threat of an all out civil war in Iraq seems to have abated."
* Finally, Ed Morrissey has a great discussion of the Buckley op-ed and the difference between Bush and Conservatives in his Captain's Quarters blog.

There are lot's of calls for Muslims to speak out against Islamist terror politics; so there should be considerable attention given to those who do. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be much in the mainstream media.

That makes it a rare treat to read Nancy Smith's OpinionJournal Article about a courageous Muslim with an important and timely message : "Yenny Wahid ... is on what may be the world's most difficult mission right now: She's a prominent Muslim (and a woman at that) who speaks out against terror and the hijacking of her religion by ideologues who twist it to their own political ends."

The Message:
"The main goal of ideologues like Osama bin Laden is to topple the governments of Muslim countries, including, most famously, the Wahabi royal regime of Saudi Arabia. But the real strategic plum, Ms. Wahid says, would be her native Indonesia and its 220 million citizens--with the largest Muslim population on earth.
"We are the ultimate target," she told me in Washington during a trip to the U.S. earlier this month. "The real battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims is happening in Indonesia, not anywhere else. And that's why the world should focus on Indonesia and help.""

In addition to being the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesians have been quite calm and moderate during the recent Islamist orchestration of "protests". As Ms. Smith puts it: "While there have been demonstrations there over the Danish cartoons that lampooned the prophet Muhammad, they have generally involved only few hundred people. By contrast, Ms. Wahid points out, a December rally she helped organize under the banner of "Islam for Peace" attracted some 12,000 marchers.

At the head of that crowd, riding in a wheelchair alongside Ms. Wahid, was her father, Abdurrahman Wahid, the respected and beloved Islamic scholar who headed Indonesia's largest Muslim cultural organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), before becoming the first president of newly democratic Indonesia from 1999 to 2001. In a seminal article for this newspaper--"Right Islam vs. Wrong Islam"--Mr. Wahid wrote on Dec. 30 that "a terrible danger threatens humanity" in the form of "an extreme and perverse ideology" that grossly distorts the true meaning of the religion. He called on fellow Muslims to end the "complicity of silence" about terrorism and other acts of intolerance which characterize the radicals' behavior."

The Warning Signs - economic frustration and extremist preaching :
Poverty and a lack of education make millions of Indonesians desperate, and easy, targets, Ms. Wahid says. "After the fall of Suharto, people expected democracy would solve all their problems. But of course it takes a long time for things to fall into their right places, and people are not patient. They want a quick answer. So there is this sense of democracy-fatigue in Indonesia. And my fear is if people are willing to entertain the idea of Islam, and an Islamic state, as an alternative solution to governing, because they are so frustrated by the level of corruption . . . we'd be in big trouble.

Ms. Wahid believes, that Indonesia's mosques have become a potent trouble zone. "The market for these preachers is quite limited, and you get to be the top preacher by being the preacher with a sexy message. A sexy message can be very inflammatory: 'Christians are the ones that created all these problems for you guys--kill them!' Friday prayer is an obligation for men, so it has become a very effective medium to propagandize with preachings that are just very, very hateful toward non-Muslims."

A Better Path to Indonesia's future:
Ms. Wahid is doing what she can to help a new generation follow in her father's footsteps, through the Wahid Foundation. It involves "trying to . . . identify these young leaders, young clerics with same-minded beliefs, and connect them with one another and provide them with something, a house, so that they can come out and speak. An army of able, dedicated young men who can talk in a unified message of tolerant and peaceful Islam."

That's an ambitious project, and Ms. Wahid says Indonesia cannot prepare for the future without help. It needs foreign investors "willing to take the risk," and more contact with the West on every level--including contact as rudimentary as instruction in English that will enable people to pull themselves out of poverty. The Wahid Foundation, for instance, has a program that tries to arrange micro-loans in rural communities.

I think this is a sound message and a good approach. Perhaps we could divert some of the Foriegn Aid Billions we are spending on Egypt, Palestine and a few other countries that seem to lack the interest to help us as much. The diverted funds could be leveraged greatly if used to guarantee or insure private investment in Indonesia.

No, I'm not going to select nominees for such a profile; but Ann Coulter defines concisely the profile template with devastating humor in her HUMAN EVENTS Column:
"Needless to say, the Treason Times won't show the cartoons that have incited mass rioting around the globe. At least The New York Times has a good excuse: It's too busy printing national security secrets that will get Americans killed. Its pages are already brimming with classified information about our techniques for spying on terrorists here in America -- no room for newsworthy cartoons! The Pentagon Papers and a top-secret surveillance program are one thing; cartoons that irritate Muslims are quite another.

Two days after the Times editorial page justified its decision not to reprint the cartoons as 'a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols, especially since the cartoons are so easy to describe in words,' the Times ran a photo of the Virgin Mary covered in cutouts from pornographic magazines and cow dung -- which I seem to have just described using a handful of common words! Gee, that was easy!"

Link to the column for some bipartisan bashing by Ann; and you'll find the 12 cartoons at the bottom.

I've been outspokenly critical of the mainsteam media's reportage on America's war against Islamist terrorists. These reporters and pundits often seem to be rooting for the other side and getting professional applause and recognition for their behavior. That view is confirmed by noting two winners of the recent George Polk award.

But that's standard fare. The real news - and it's good - is the tale of a non-winner - a reporter who declined to damage his country just to make a flashy deadline. There are no media awards for that, but David Martin of CBS deserves one.

His Profile in Courage is quoted from the current issue of Window on The Week:

"Long Island University announced the 2005 winners of the George Polk awards for journalism, and the criterion appeared to be whether a journalist’s work had compromised national security. Winners included Dana Priest of the Washington Post — whose reporting exposed the existence of covert CIA interrogation centers in Europe — and Brian Ross of ABC News, whose reporting revealed even more details about those facilities. Given that such journalism is routinely rewarded, CBS News correspondent David Martin deserves all the more praise for declining to air a story on improvised explosive devices after the U.S. military told him it contained information that could help Iraqi insurgents make their attacks more deadly. “When I killed the story . . . it was 5:30 — an hour to air — and I left the Evening News broadcast without a lead story which they had been counting on all day,” he wrote on CBS News Public Eye. “Not a good career move.” Sadly, that observation is right."

This editorial in today's New York Times opines that: "If the Bush administration is wondering why the Pakistani Army has been losing the war against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the northwestern frontier, it may want to look south. Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has increasingly been diverting his armed forces to quell a growing insurgency in Baluchistan, the gas-rich province that borders Iran and the Arabian Sea."

It goes on to urge that Baluchistan be given more autonomy ( as reward for insurgency?); and concludes on the whining note that America's image is"damaged when American-supplied Cobra helicopters and F-16's attack civilians in Baluchistan. That's no way to win the hearts and minds of anyone."

Well, that's a typical NYT theme in this global war - surrender without knowledge of the enemy or the terrain . So let's get a better picture of the enemy and terrain, starting with real situation in Pakistan.

This Asia Times Online article provides a quick introduction to the complexities of internal power politics in Pakistan, where Muslims are contending among themselves. You can begin to see the inteplay between local-tribal power politics , the use (by al Qaeda and others) of a religious call for Sharia to instigate revolution among muslims, and how these factors play into a delicate balance between us and our muslim allies, uncommitted muslims, and the Militant Islamists. From the article:

"Low-profile government-sponsored rallies to condemn publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed have swiftly escalated into a campaign directed against Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf. ...( becoming a movement) to enforce Prophet Mohammed's way of life, or sharia law, on to society. .... (setting) a deadline of March 23 to depose Musharraf, but there are clear signals that within a matter of weeks the military regime could have further lost some of its grip on power."

Continuing the theme : "It is an open secret that the government encouraged and sponsored rallies ostensibly against the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The aim was to send a message to the West of the dangers of extremism in Pakistan, and that it could only be contained by the military dictatorship.
This scheme has badly backfired, which the government was quick to realize. After a few rallies in Punjab, for example, the administration imposed the so-called Section 144 across the province and in the federal capital, under which all public gatherings were banned."

"On Friday, the opposition parties called for countrywide demonstrations, and on Sunday they called for a rally in Lahore, even though protests have been banned there.
More protests have been scheduled for next month. ......The situation is fast coming to a head. "

With that background, it easy to see why Bill Roggio calls his link-rich summary of these events - Local Jihad, Global Jihad: "Pakistan continues its tortured role as an ally of the West and enabler of Islamist terror. Pakistani courts have sentenced to death eleven members of al-Qaeda linked Jundallah (which actively operating in Waziristan and, per the BBC, may now be operating in the Palestinian territories).
Strategy Page reports Pakistani television “showed three men, in the tribal areas on the Afghan border, being beheaded for opposing Taliban and al Qaeda operations...” Meanwhile, Islamist mobs riot while the Pakistani government attempts to suppress the protests. " (NB, no mention of "Islamist" mobs in that NYT editorial - hard to fight a war with blinders on.)

While Pakistan continues to try to keep a lid on the Islamist angst, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s deputy commander, mocks president Musharraf, and claims he escaped four separate attacks while in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ... Zawahiri taunts Musharraf and issues another threat; "Your American masters are fleeing from Iraq and Afghanistan. So, await a day of accounting for the Muslim blood you have spilt."

For me, that quote says a lot about the Global Jihad too. The enemy is waging war on many fronts, including campaigns of violent confrontation and intimidation against muslims to unite them under their ideological leadership and against Western institutions and media to silence them and keep us unaware of their intentions. Remember that Zawahiri quote whenever you hear someone advocate for a quick (or a Timetable for) withdrawel of our troops from Iraq.

The rest of Bill Roggio's analysis of Pakistan is very insightful :
"In the Asia Times, Olivier Immig reviews Husain Haqqani’s Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military, and neatly sums up how Pakistan’s power brokers have sought to obtain and maintain their power:

In Between Mosque and Military Haqqani instantaneously makes it clear that all military Pakistani leaders, and there have been quite a number of them since 1947, from the early days of Pakistan"s inception to the present have relied on the same ideological framework in ruling their country. This so-called "tripod" consists of: maintaining the territorial integrity of Pakistan through a strong, dominant military presence in all state affairs by continued confrontational politics versus India; maintaining the ideological "unity" of the country by promoting an Islamist nationalist ideology; and heavy reliance on continuing US economic and military support by serving as the "West's eastern anchor" in South Asia.

While this solution has worked while the primary adversaries of Pakistan were nation-states, the advent of a global society has thrown this policy into turmoil. The policies of promoting of “an Islamist nationalist ideology” and the “heavy reliance on continuing US economic and military support” are now at odds, and Pakistan is increasingly finding it difficult to maintain the balance of power. The Islamists the Pakistani government succors has thrown in its lot with al-Qaeda and now wishes to overthrow the regime, as the assassination attempts on Musharraf and his generals, the support for Islamist terrorists in Waziristan and the stoking of the fires of the Muhammed cartoons demonstrates.

In the world of globalization, there is no such thing as an Islamist nationalist ideology. al-Qaeda has cleverly co-opted local Islamist groups and infused them with the ideology of global jihad. Pakistan’s ruling class has yet to grasp this reality, or if they have, is currently powerless to address the situation."

Oh, just a Global Jihad strategy note - Pakistan has nuclear weapons and missiles.

Ever wonder why we seem to get a one-sided picture of the world - and especially of the Iraq war - from most of the mainstram media ( MSM - big newspapers, magazines and TV nets)? The MSM seems to offer lots of daily counts of bombings and expressions of gloom but little or no good news about Iraq or the Bush Administration's policies.

Michael Barone discusses two very interesting news stories that did not make the traditional or mainstream media but did get a good airing in the new media of blogs. First, is this letter (please link it; it's worth the read) from the mayor of Tal Afar thanking the 3rd Army Cavalry Regiment for liberating his city. Second, is former Vice President Gore's extraordinary speech attacking US MidEast policy delivered to the Jidda Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.

In this Barone Blog post , he raises and answers the question: "Why do the mainstream media ignore such interesting stories? A long time ago, David Broder, in his book Behind the Front Page, explained that reporters tend to look for the story where they think it is. Time is limited, resources are limited, and so like an intelligent hockey player you go to where you think the puck is headed. And where you think the puck is headed depends on how you think the world works, where you think history is headed.

The mainstream media think we are in a quagmire in Iraq—the same quagmire, they think, as in Vietnam. (Wrongly, I think, on Vietnam, as I discussed in a previous post.) The letter from the mayor of Tal Afar doesn't fit within this meme, so it doesn't appear. The mainstream media think that the Democrats are offering thoughtful and intelligent criticism of the obviously wacky and harmful policies of the Bush administration. Gore's obviously wacky denunciation of 'terrible abuses' and his apology for our (belated) tightening of visa requirements on Saudis does not fit within this meme, so it doesn't appear. At least not in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times, or Boston Globe, according to Hugh Hewitt."

I think that says it well. Biased reporting is reflected in selective non-reportage as much as in the writing that does get printed. One option is to read more blogs or to visit a few that summarize items. For the latter treatment on Iraq news, try the Mudville Gazette which has postings from our troops there. They also carry a daily and a weekly summary of newsworthy items.

This good news from Iraq comes via 'self-embeded blogger' Michael J. Totten , whose blog has some great photos of norhtern Iraq and the development going on there. Check or scroll along to see his post (& photos) on the 'Dream City' . The Kurds are taking full advantage of their freedom, developing their land and economy, and protecting themselves with no need for US troops. Yes, I know there is no Kurdistan on the map; it's Totten's way of expressing the essence of Kurdish freedom and self-reliance in their provinces of northern Iraq.

Here's a sample of what to expect :"Iraqi Kurdistan is more pro-American than America. People there refer to George W. Bush as “Hajji Bush” (meaning he made the Muslim pilgrimage, the hajj, to Mecca), an incredibly high honor for a Christian from Texas whom most people hate. Bill Clinton may have been America’s first “black” president. But people in at least one part of the world say Bush is the first “Muslim” president. Weird and amazing, but true.


Thomas Friedman once described Poland as “a geopolitical spa,” a great place to visit if you’re tired of reactionary anti-Americanism. Iraqi Kurdistan may be a better “spa” than even Poland.


UPDATE: I wasn’t as clear above as I should have been. At least one liberal reader (in the comments) was put off by what I wrote about George W. Bush and Kurdish pro-Americanism.


Kurds aren’t Republicans. Not once did anyone say “I thank George W. Bush for freeing us from Saddam.” Thanks were always given to America as a whole. I never heard a single disparaging remark about the Democratic Party, John Kerry, etc.


Anyway, Kurdish pro-Americanism goes way beyond mere thanks for getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Kurdish people think like Americans in ways that surprised me again and again. Admiration for American values and culture is ubiquitous in that region. Even the Islamists I met were weirdly pro-American in some ways ."

Translating from Iranian sources, MEMRI reports that: "The spiritual leaders of the ultra-conservatives [in Iran] have accepted the use of nuclear weapons as lawful in the eyes of shari'a. Mohsen Gharavian, a disciple of [Ayatollah] Mesbah Yazdi [who is Iranian President Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor], has spoken for the first time of using nuclear weapons as a counter-measure. He stated that 'in terms of shari'a, it all depends on the goal.""

And that: "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad managed, in a very short time, to get the world to forget all about bin Laden. Now all eyes are on the Islamic Republic, and everyone is talking about the danger it [poses]. Two weeks ago, the strategy of assaulting [foreign] embassies was formed as well. America regards Iran and Syria as being behind the recent violent incidents, including the setting fire to embassies in Islamic countries."

The second item shows how highly Iran values the 'mantle of bin Laden' as the public face of militant Islamist leadership, which the author feels Ahmadinejad has captured for Iran. Whether bin laden lives as a man is not really relevant; his image lives and the Iranians want to use it to legitimatize their role as the Supreme Islamist Leader (Caesar is dead; Hail Caesar).

The first item is the first mention of a fatwa allowing the use of nuclear weapons, which was forbiden under sharia law. This fatwa, in combination with Iran's restarting uranium enrichment and demanding France apologize for its nuclear posturing, is seen by some as evidence that Iran has obtained a nuclear device and may test fire it on as soon as this spring.

Michael Ledeen is exceptionally well-informed on Mid-East issues and his latest assessment on Iran covers these issues from the perspective of Iran's view of the West and their intentions. It is not optimistic and makes more urgent his call for "faster, please".

Update from Power Line: "FIfteen thousand people turned out in Hyde Park today to protest the Danish cartoons. They were bused in from all over England, which highlights the fact that we are not dealing here with spontaneous outbreaks of indignation, but with a coordinated campaign that is kept going because many Muslim leaders believe it advances their interests"

Sometimes, pictures speak far more clearly than words. This is my favorite pair from the 17 February 2006 Protest Rally in NY City, NY.

No confusion about this agenda!


Check out the whole photoset slide show at Cartoon Danish Protest - Flickr .

The folks at the 'Islamic Thinkers Society' sure are witty; those little swastikas on the American and Iraeli flags are so clever!

This News Article reports on current riots: " (from) JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Hundreds of Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad tried to storm the U.S. Embassy on Sunday, smashing the windows of a guard post but failing to push through the gates. Several people were injured.

Pakistani security forces, meanwhile, sealed off the capital of Islamabad to block a planned mass demonstration and fired tear gas and gunshots to chase off protesters. In Turkey, tens of thousands gathered in Istanbul chanting slogans against Denmark, Israel and the United States."

One rioter is quoted : "We are fighting America fiercely this time," he said. "And we also are fighting Denmark."

It also notes that, in Pakistan, "police put up roadblocks around Islamabad to keep people from entering the capital for a planned mass protest called by a coalition of six hard-line Islamic parties," Just in case you doubted who is orchestrating what.

These Islamic parties are also opposed to the current US-friendly Pakistan government and pose a real threat of revolution in that Muslim country. By the way, Pakistan just tested a new short range (200km) surface to surface missile, believed capable of carrying a nuclear payload. It complements their existing medium and longer range missile; and, of course, Pakistan has a nuclear arsenal. The stakes are high in this game and an Islamist take-over of Pakistan would be a serious problem; as would Iran getting its own nuclear arsenal.

My earlier posts provide some context (and good links) on the riots. They can be found here:
1) Orchestrated Spontaneity for Cartoon War ?
2) Information Warfare produces Real Riots
3) Cartoons, Nukes & Sun Tzu, Jihadist?
4) Real Tough Talk , and finally, discussing some of Ralph Peters thinking,
5) Darwin and Islamist Suicide Bombers.

Today, this is the center BIG Headline item in the DRUDGE REPORT : "This just in! Both TIME and NEWSWEEK are planning covers of Cheney for high impact on newsstands Monday, with each magazine rolling out top staff bylines and thousands of words on the hunting incident" ....
"magazine's editor Mark Whitaker defends his decision to push for another week of Cheney-Shooting coverage: "because of what it says about the mysterious world of the most powerful vice president of recent times."

Or as Drudge puts it more aptly: "what it says about the timing and state of print publications in the slick-click age of information and news cycles."

The same Drudge Report also cites ,in smaller headlining, 12 deaths in Nigeria due to 'cartoon' riots; continued protests in Pakistan; and Muslims assaulting the US Embassy in Indonesia. But no indication that TIME or NEWSWEEK found a second lethal week of Islamist orchestrated global violence noteworthy.

Just another example of Old Media priorities: hope for a "Hit"against the US Administration; give a pass to our real global opponents. Perhaps these media moguls view this as just pushing their political views; but these misplaced priorities foster the very image of American discontent and weakness that our GWOT enemies are seeking to create and leverage.

After a 9 month hiatus, I restarted an old blog with the intent of "posting more on local rural aspects". Instead , five of my first six posts were about the "cartoon war" and Islamist Militancy. That record reveals my primary current interest and motivates this new blog.

I believe we are in a serious global war with Miltant Islamists and have been for a long time. We are a uniquely powerful nation that vastly prefers peace to war. That national strength and character has induced us to ignore a plethora of the enemy's statements and hostile actions over the last three decades. With the attacks of September 11, 2001, the enemy's hostile intentions and our vulnerabilities can no longer be ignored.

Since then, we have had an amazing string of military and geo-political victories and, equally amazingly, we are on the brink of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

The danger comes not from enemy military action but from loss of our national will and determination. The struggle for the national will is being conducted in the realm of information by American citizens and political partisans. It is not just an internal struggle; it is also the primary information battlefield chosen by our enemy in the hope of achieving its global objectives. The enemy wages information war by leveraging our freedom of speech and the partisan biases of much of our traditional media. They are smart to do so; it is their best hope.

America's military forces can not be defeated; America's will to fight can and has been overcome - most dramatically so in Vietnam. As then, now again, the traditional (or main stream) media and some political partisans cry "Defeat! Withdraw!"; and, wittingly or not, by their actions abet the enemy's goals. This is most obvious in the media's war reportage emphasizing the negative and avoiding the positive.

The antidote is to publish more of the good news as a counter-balance in this information war. Newsworthy facts are being reported from soldiers in the field and on the new media of blogs. Broadly disseminating that news and providing positive commentary on events and issues can help us wage and win this war.

Now that's a worthy challenge for a cold warrior who's grown too old to fight but not to talk and , perhaps, to persuade.