Okay, I’m busy packing for a weekend journey to “scenic” Lubbock, Texas, to watch my Aggies square off on the gridiron against my fiancee’s Tech Red Raiders. I’m not expecting a good game, but it has become an annual trip for us, be it Lubbock or dear ol’ College Station.
And now the news and views.
The good news from Iraq is not fit to print
No question: If you think that defeating Islamofascism, extending liberty, and transforming the Middle East are important, it’s safe to say you saw the ratification of the new constitution as the Iraqi news story of the week [emphasis in original].
But that isn’t how the mainstream media saw it.
Consider The Washington Post. On the morning after the results of the Iraqi referendum were announced, the Post’s front page was dominated by a photograph, stretched across four columns, of three daughters at the funeral of their father, Lieutenant Colonel Leon James II, who had died from injuries suffered during a Sept. 26 bombing in Baghdad. Two accompanying stories, both above the fold, were headlined ”Military Has Lost 2,000 in Iraq” and ”Bigger, Stronger, Homemade Bombs Now to Blame for Half of US Deaths.” A nearby graphic — ”The Toll” — divided the 2,000 deaths by type of military service — active duty, National Guard, and Reserves.
I’ve said it before and, unfortunately, I’m quite certain I’ll have to say it again — our media’s handling of this war absolutely disgusts me. Oh, I’m not just talking about the Iraqi theater, though that has certainly been the lowlight of their performance, but also their coverage dating back to the opening of the Afghan campaign (a theater now seemingly all but forgotten in their eyes). I’ll again quote Power Line‘s Paul Mirengoff, who blogged the following:
Have you ever read a history of war that focused almost entirely on casualty figures (with an occasional torture story and grieving parent thrown in), to the exclusion of any real discussion of tactics, operations, and actual battles? I haven’t. But that’s what our self-proclaimed “rough drafters†of history are serving up with respect to Iraq.
It’s almost become a cliche, but I honestly feel we could not have successfully prosecuted World War II with today’s media.
Chertoff says US wants to “gain control” of borders
President George W. Bush’s domestic security chief vowed on Wednesday to “gain control” of U.S. borders, prompting ridicule from immigration control activists who have taken the matter into their own hands.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration aims to improve ways to keep illegal migrants out and to deport those already in the United States.
“Simply stated, our goal is to gain control of our borders,” Chertoff said in a speech organized by the Houston Forum, a nonprofit educational group.
“I define control to mean that we will have an extremely high probability of detecting, responding to and interdicting illegal crossings of our borders.”
I’ll wait until I actually see something of substance. Our borders have been far too freakin’ porous for far, far too long.
Crisis as Paris burns for another night
France’s government was under mounting pressure yesterday to regain control of the situation around Paris as youths opened fire on police and set 300 cars ablaze in overnight rioting in what is now a week of serious disorder.
Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, held a series of crisis meetings yesterday amid increasing criticism of the government for its failure to control the escalating violence which began last Thursday in the northern suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois after two teenagers of North African origin were electrocuted in an electricity sub-station. The violence has since spread to at least 20 impoverished suburbs around the capital.
I expect this matter to calm soon. That said, I don’t expect the actual problem to go away. This story is an excellent example of why: note the subdued description of the rioters and the troublesome neighborhoods. It isn’t until the 21st of 24 paragraphs until one can find the only mention of the religion involved. Of course, I’m talking about Islam.
Al-Qaida Claims Downing of U.S. Helicopter
Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Thursday it shot down a U.S. attack helicopter that crashed, killing two Marines, and a U.S. general said witnesses saw the aircraft take ground fire and break up in the air.
The AH-1W Super Cobra crashed Wednesday near Ramadi during daylong fighting in the insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad. In addition to the two crewmen, an American lieutenant died when a bomb exploded as he was rushing to the crash site.
Another U.S. soldier died Thursday in a roadside bombing northeast of Baghdad, the military said.
My best wishes to the families of the troops involved.
A nuclear surge to follow Iran’s diplomatic purge
Iran announced yesterday that it was removing 40 ambassadors from their posts abroad and indicated a further hardening of the regime’s policies by preparing a new phase in its nuclear programme.
A day after The Times revealed that senior envoys were being purged from Iran’s diplomatic service, Manoucher Mottaki, the Foreign Minister, told the parliament in Tehran that “the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire†by March 20. He described the drastic changes, affecting nearly half of Iran’s foreign posts, as normal and insisted that many envoys were close to retirement.
His assurances failed to silence critics, both in Iran and abroad, who insisted that key envoys were being dismissed because they were moderates closely identified with the reformist policies of previous administrations.
As Iran shifts back towards the hard line in its efforts to thrust itself into the leadership of the Islamic world, they run the risk of solidifying opposition other than the U.S. and Israel. After seeing trouble within their own borders and hearing the all-too-familiar threats, threats that ring out in an echo of the 1930s, some eyes in continental Europe seem to be opening to a growing danger.
Assassination probe finds a trail of suspects
It reads like a spy novel, laying out an elaborate web of phone calls, surveillance and even a fake assassin intended to throw investigators off the trail.
The United Nations report on the Feb. 14 assassination of former Leba-nese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri details months of plotting by top Syrian and Lebanese security officials.
The report, which was released Oct. 20, implicates about a dozen men who are now the focus of the U.N. investigation.
In the coming weeks, the fate of these men could provoke a showdown between Syria and the international community. Armed with the chilling 54-page report, the United States, France and Britain lobbied for a U.N. resolution that threatened Syria with sanctions unless it cooperates fully with the U.N. probe.
The resolution, which was unanimously approved by the Security Council on Monday, requires Syria to detain any Syrian official or civilian deemed by U.N. investigators as a suspect in Hariri’s killing.
This story could be dangerous. Still, it could also be grab-the-popcorn entertaining as Syria finds itself suddenly struggling like a fish on a hook.