For the Record

This is worth quoting in full instead of just linking in my shared items to the right. James Robbins reports:

Today's release of the remaining sections of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on prewar intelligence, and especially the statements of some committee members, are generating some headlines that there were no operational links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. I'd just like to quote from an article on the topic published on NRO in 2003::

Iraq made direct payments to the Philippine-based al Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group. Hamsiraji Sali, an Abu Sayyaf leader on the U.S. most-wanted terrorist list, stated that his gang received about one million pesos (around $20,000) each year from Iraq, for chemicals to make bombs. The link was substantiated immediately after a bombing in Zamboanga City in October 2002 (in which three people were killed including an American Green Beret), when Abu Sayyaf leaders called up the deputy secretary of the Iraqi embassy in Manila, Husham Hussain. Six days later, the cell phone used to call Hussain was employed as the timer on a bomb set to go off near the Philippine military's Southern Command headquarters. Fortunately, the bomb failed to detonate, and the phone yielded various contact numbers, including Hussain's and Sali's. This evidence, coupled with other intelligence the Philippine government would not release, led to Hussain's expulsion in February 2003. In March, ten Iraqi nationals, some with direct links to al Qaeda, were rounded up in the Philippines and deported as undesirable aliens. In addition, two more consulate officials were expelled for spying.

These events were widely reported in the Philippine press at the time. They were not mentioned by the Bush Administration. They don't seem to have made it into the recent Institute for Defense Analysis report on the topic. But they certainly seem to demonstrate substantial, direct links between an al-Qaeda franchise and Saddam's regime.

Me: Just to be clear, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. But they had plenty to do with terrorism. Now they don't. Tell me how that doesn't make America safer.

Truly Epic

I would like to place special emphasis on this article from Michael Yon. My favorite line: After al Qaeda detonated two large bombs in Kurdish towns in the Nineveh province...

...the attacks were not over. Yezidi men grabbed their rifles, and while two more truck bombs rumbled toward Qahtaniya and Jazeera, a hail of Yezidi bullets met them. The defenders who fired the bullets were killed with honor while standing between evil and their people. Two other truck bombs detonated on the outskirts of the villages.

I greatly value the view from people who have been on the ground in Iraq. Michael Yon has done yeoman's work to get the full story of Iraq out, both the good and the bad. It is tragic that we know so little of the valor of American, British, and Iraqi soldiers in Iraq.

Joe Lieberman has it Right

To surrender to al Qaeda in Iraq would be catastrophic.

The officials I met in Baghdad said that 90% of suicide bombings in Iraq today are the work of non-Iraqi, al Qaeda terrorists.

I Consider this Prophetic

Nordlinger reports:

Later in the conference, another regional leader will say to an American, “If you leave Iraq too soon, you may find that you have to come back.”

Harry Reid is a Disgrace

I am very irritated with him right now. Examples here, here, and here. I don't feel like commentating (yes that is a word, or at least it is now), but I am rather irritated. It seems like a guy who has read the Book of Mormon would know the great dangers caused by traitors who seek power. Reid seems to be jumping for joy that war may lead to more Democrat seats in Congress.

I will make a prediction: Some time down the road, we will learn what has really happened in the War on Terror and George W. Bush will be revered as a visionary who did everything possible to fight evil. He has never published his greatest successes because to do so would be to reveal our secrets to the enemy and endanger innocent lives.

Instead we have a fifth column operating here at home. Political power is more important that doing the right thing. When the tide of the war was in our favor, almost everyone - Democrats included - supported the President and the war. Now that things aren't going as well as hoped, everyone jumps ship.

This may well be a war we can't win. But this is a war we MUST fight with everything we have or there will be a huge price to pay.

This is why America is the Greatest Country

I will quote Mark Levin in full:

For so long we've been flooded with stories about our military intended to paint these brave men and women as abusers, torturers, and murderers. I hope John Murtha, Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, Andrew Sullivan, and their like take the time to read the ABC News story below. Our armed forces are made up of magnificent human beings.

Marines Save Iraqi Baby to Honor Fallen Soldier

A Routine Mission Turned Into a Mission to Help Sick Child

Dec. 7, 2006 — - The story of a group of Marines' quest to save a sick baby in war-torn Iraq gives some hope to humanity this holiday season.

At the center of the story is Navy medic Chris Walsh and the 1st Battalion 25th Marines. The Marines were patrolling the streets of Fallujah in June when they faced an enemy attack.

"An IED exploded immediately adjacent to Chris' vehicle, so they all piled out to chase the trigger man," said Capt. Sean Donovan.

But the Marines had a surprise encounter in their pursuit.

"And as they did so, a woman came from one of the houses calling to them that the baby was sick. So they stopped, and Chris came up and looked at the baby," Donovan said. "And this was baby Mariam, and it was immediately clear to him that this baby desperately needed care."

Baby Mariam was just 2 months old and suffering from a rare intestinal abnormality. Under the threat of another attack, Walsh had to make a quick decision.

"Right on the spot, the mission changed from the trigger man to the baby girl," Donovan said.

A routine military mission suddenly became a lifesaving mission for Walsh and those around him.

"The shared willingness to engage this mission was the bravery of the family in bringing her forward," Donovan said.



Visiting Under Cover of Darkness
For the next three months, Walsh and the team made house calls under the cloak of darkness into the dangerous city to help the baby.

They were trying to get baby Mariam stabilized, taking photographs, consulting experts, and trying to get her papers to leave the country for medical care.

Staff Sgt. Ed Ewing led the visits.

"We showed up at all different times of the night," Ewing said. "They never knew when we were coming. We did that purposely to protect us and protect their family."

As months went by, the unit continued its routine patrols. On Sept. 4, tragedy struck when one of their Humvees was hit once again by an IED.

This time three men in the unit were killed — Lance Cpl. Eric Valdepenas; Cpl. Jared Shoemaker; and Walsh, baby Mariam's guardian angel.

For those who survived, saving baby Mariam became a eulogy to their fallen comrade.

"To honor Chris, to honor the other men that died in battalion, we had to go through with the mission and keep fighting," said Father Marc Bishop.



Mission Accomplished
Eventually the Marines won their fight, and baby Mariam was granted permission to leave Iraq.

Dr. Rafael Pieretti from Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital performed the surgery, which took place in October.

"She's doing well," Pieretti said. "She's gained weight. She's socializing more. She has a different life."

On the eve of baby Mariam's arrival, Walsh's mother, Maureen, received a letter from Donovan, telling her the story of a life that was saved because of her son's big heart.

The letter from Donovan read in part: "Although he won't be visible, Chris will be very much on that patrol, the hope for Mariam's very tiny life having arisen from the charity and gallantry of your son."

Recently Maureen Walsh met baby Mariam.

"It made me feel like Chris was there," she said. "He wanted something like this. He wanted to make a difference in somebody's life."

A Must Read

Democrat and Mormon sci-fi writer, Orson Scott Card, gets it.

How do the Islamicist tyrants answer the obvious success and growing appeal of Bush's democracy program?

They kill people, of course.

But they also tell the story, over and over: "America will never stick it out. We'll keep killing Americans till they give up and go away, and then you will answer to us!"

Until they believe that the Islamofascists are never coming into power, many people will remain afraid to commit themselves to democracy.

More Problems in France

The Corner on NRO points out this article about French Muslims.

Scores of youths had attacked seven officers who had tried to arrest a man for not wearing his seat belt while driving. The driver refused to stop and later rammed a police car trying to block his path.

Les Mureaux Mayor Francois Garay criticized aggressive police tactics that left "the people on the ground to pick up the pieces."

This opposition to police action sounds like the opposition to the mission in Iraq: "Don't oppose the criminals (terrorists) or you will make them mad."

Some people just don't get it

Over and over, liberals cry, 'Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11!' Another article I read (it is not worth a link) said that Fox said it over and over until people believed that Saddam was specifically involved in 9-11. I have watched a lot of Fox and no one has ever argued that.

What is inarguable is that Iraq was involved with al-Qaida. (Interesting, isn't it, how liberals who love 'nuance' can't distinguish between 'Iraq helped on 9-11' and 'Iraq was involved in al-Qaida.') Iraq had no specific role in 9-11, but they were a country proven to have gassed thousands and they would have loved to create some 9-11-like event.

Despite the 'Bush lied' garbage, Saddam did TRY to get uranium. He may not have gotten it, but he TRIED to. Had Saddam been successful, we would have two crazies on the verge of nukes by now. Saddam and Mammoud.

The Truth On the Ground

The Truth On the Ground: "Depending on which poll you believe, about 60 percent of Americans think it's time to pull out of Iraq.

How is it, then, that 64 percent of U.S. military officers think we will succeed if we are allowed to continue our work? Why is there such a dramatic divergence between American public opinion and the upbeat assessment of the men and women doing the fighting?"

This major in the Marine Corps points out that civil war would result from troop withdrawal. Other countries which have made progress toward democracy would revert to older ways, and terrorists would have an uncontested staging ground from which to threaten whoever they dislike at the moment.

The stakes are high, so I hope that the public is beginning to get the message. I have seen advertisements for feature stories on two different news networks about winning Iraq.

Bush on Iraq

President Bush spoke today at the Naval Academy on the policy in Iraq. There was also a broader policy manual released here. I remember the Gulf War in 1991 and was always confused about why we left Saddam in power. The only argument I heard was that he was the enemy of our enemy. Saddam was supposed to keep other rogue nations like Iran in check. A lot of good that whole strategy did us. Iraq continued to be a headache until circumstances forced us to invade. Now Iran has or is on the verge of nuclear weapons.

As for the rebuilding of Iraq, it seems to be moving forward nicely. I would call what is happening there nothing short of miraculous. A dictator was toppled. Free elections have been held. A constitution has been drafted. Iraqi security forces are more numerous and more capable, and the reconstruction is progressing. Freedom is always cheaper in the long run than turning a blind eye to dictators and thugs.