While I would prefer not to speak ill of the dead, it is hard to find the good in someone who claimed to influence opinion and culture while holding the views that follow below.

'An early and passionate opponent of the Vietnam War, Sontag was both admired and reviled for her political convictions. In a 1967 Partisan Review symposium, she wrote that "America was founded on a genocide, on the unquestioned assumption of the right of white Europeans to exterminate a resident, technologically backward, colored population in order to take over the continent."

In her rage and gloom and growing despair, she concluded that "the truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, Balanchine ballets, et al., don't redeem what this particular civilization has wrought upon the world. The white race is the cancer of human history; it is the white race and it alone — its ideologies and inventions — which eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, which has upset the ecological balance of the planet, which now threatens the very existence of life itself."

Considering herself neither a journalist nor an activist, Sontag felt an obligation as "a citizen of the American empire" to accept an invitation to visit Hanoi at the height of the American bombing campaign in May 1968. A two-week visit resulted in a fervent essay seeking to understand Vietnamese resistance to American power.

Critics excoriated her for what they regarded as a naive sentimentalization of Vietnamese communism. Author Paul Hollander, for one, called Sontag a "political pilgrim," bent on denigrating Western liberal pluralism in favor of venerating foreign revolutions.

That same year, Sontag also visited Cuba, after which she wrote an essay for Ramparts magazine calling for a sympathetic understanding of the Cuban Revolution. Two years later, however, she joined Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and other writers in publicly protesting the regime's harsh treatment of Heberto Padilla, one of the country's leading poets. She also denounced dictator Fidel Castro's punitive policies toward homosexuals.

Ever the iconoclast, Sontag had a knack for annoying both the right and the left. In 1982, in a meeting in Town Hall in New York to protest the suppression of Solidarity in Poland, she declared that communism was fascism with a human face. She was unsparing in her criticism of much of the left's refusal to take seriously the exiles and dissidents and murdered victims of Stalin's terror and the tyranny communism imposed wherever it had triumphed.

Ten years later, almost alone among American intellectuals, she would called for vigorous Western — and American — intervention in the Balkans to halt the siege of Sarajevo and to stop Serbian aggression in Bosnia and Kosovo. Her solidarity with the citizens of Sarajevo prompted her to make more than a dozen trips to the besieged city.

Then in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sontag offered a bold and singular perspective in the New Yorker. "Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a 'cowardly' attack on 'civilization' or 'liberty' or 'humanity' or 'the free world' but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?" She added, "In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): Whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaughter, they were not cowards."

She was pilloried by bloggers and pundits, who accused her of anti-Americanism.

Sontag had never been so public as she became over the next three years, publishing steadily, speaking constantly and receiving numerous international awards, including Israel's Jerusalem Prize, Spain's Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and Germany's Friedenspreis (Peace Prize). Upon accepting the prize from Jerusalem's mayor, Ehud Olmert, Sontag said of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians: "I believe the doctrine of collective responsibility as a rationale for collective punishments [is] never justified, militarily or ethically. And I mean of course the disproportionate use of firepower against civilians."'

Newsday.com: Author Susan Sontag Dies

Thanks to Instapundit, here's a link to an excellent piece on the new face of Marxism: a movement that depends on uneducated masses to become "useful idiots" and the symbols for liberal mythology like the nobility of the "indigenous peoples" of the earth.The Diplomad: Not Your Father's Marxism . . .

Someone should ask the Principal of this pathetic excuse for an educational instituition the name of the "Holiday" that the party was celebrating. And the Democrats wonder why they are rejected again and again by traditional values voters. Hampton Union Local News: Boy in a Santa suit asked to quit dance

If Kyoto was about idealistic goals and overblown predictions of doom--like the Y2K scare--then the aftermath of the Buenos Aires Climate Change Conference may be marked by a return to more reasonable approaches that don't require global agreement on apocalyptic industrial retrenchment for minimal gain. In short, a rejection of EU-backed policies in favor of technology-based solutions enforced by bilateral agreements--led by the U.S., Italy, China and other pro-growth Asian countries. Tech Central Station: The Kyoto Protocol is Dead

Oh, sure. NOW they tell us!! Times Online UK: Laptops used on the lap may be bad for more than a man's eyesight.

The "Dem" in question is that scurrilous, uncouth cad, Terry McAuliffe. What he said isn't shocking so much--given his past performances--as it is amazing that he can still find reporters willing to listen and print what he says. He's the most spectacularly ineffective head of the DNC ever. UPI: Dem uses Pearl Harbor to slam GOP

With all his ability and his superb resume, you'd think he would aspire to something far beyond Roger Ebert's job. Film critic Powell pans formulaic James Bond plots

Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Opinion / Op-ed / An election day secret

An interesting twist on why the President won, and the daunting problem facing the Democratic Party. Boston.com / News / Boston Globe: An election day secret

All the pundits were wrong. Washington is the Florida of 2004. Sound Politics: Full state hand job here we come!

If hand counts are more accurate than machine counts, then why aren't hand counts used in the first place? Why have machine readable ballots at all? The answer, of course, is that hand recounts aren't more accurate. They introduce errors, and opportunities for fraud.

This fiasco now comes down to litigation--the Democrats will try to get rejected ballots reinstated--and who has the most and best qualified observers during the recount process.

Update: Here's a story from the Seattle Times that has a little more detail.

I don't know, but I'm willing to bet, that many of the election officials that the Democrats are calling incompetent in their lawsuit are themselves Democrats, as was the case in Florida in 2000. What a mess.

This is so, so wrong. Wizbang shows an ass getting his lit.

Stop the presses. Barry Bonds is busted for 'roids. BONDS' TESTIMONY / Giants star told grand jury he used clear substance, cream provided by trainer Greg Anderson, but believed they were flaxseed oil and arthritis balm

Apparently, my old home town TV station--WMAZ in Macon, GA--broadcast the penultimate Ken Jennings episode on "Jeopardy!" last week. A station engineer accidentally played one of the show's tapes out of order. He'll take game show records for $2.5 million

By the way, the call letters "WMAZ" originally stood for "Watch Macon Achieve Zenith".

A story that won't make the front page of any newspaper in America. Mount St. Helens is [Washington] State's Top Polluter

The Unnecessary Nuisance on the Hudson begins to take steps toward reform of the Security Council.The New York Times: U.N. Calls for an Updated Council

Old Europe discovers that China wants their lunch money, and every other meal as well. Telegraph: EU spells out trade threat from China

Throwing pickled animals at police in a police station(!) in order to recover other pickled animals confiscated during a domestic disturbance call that included the discovery of Cannabis plants on the premises. Wrong on so many levels, in so many ways. STUFF from New Zealand

A Maureen Dowd column that I can finally support--at least, her brother Kevin's contribution. The New York Times> Maureen Dowd: Blood Is Thicker Than Gravy

The Democrats are leaving no knives in the drawer in their post-election navel-gazing. In this column, Susan Estrich leaves no ketchup unspilled. Creators.com: Rehabilitation for Teresa Heinz Kerry

Poor Babs. She's still in denial, still believes that "Bush Knew!" What's worse, she still thinks that Richard Clarke is a credible source. Sad Babs; Babs sad... Barbra Streisand

Americans have many things to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day. Unfortunately, the United Nations is not one of them. Belmont Club: The United Nations

Update: more details on UN crimes in the name of peacekeeping in the Christian Science Monitor, courtesy of Betsy's Page.

How brave those Pilgrims truly were, and how lucky we are that they successfully overcame their fears and a host of obstacles that opposed them. Here is a short recap of the events of 1620 AD. OpinionJournal - Featured Article

More Presidential proclamations of the National Day of Thanksgiving: Washington, Lincoln, and Bush. New York Post Online Edition

Capitalism triumphs early as the Pilgrims progress towards the republic we love today. A Holiday Tradition: The Real Story of Thanksgiving

I heard this read on the radio today, and I thought it would be useful to publish for anyone interested in knowing how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

George Washington's first Thanksgiving Proclamation: General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

No governor yet, but we have a two-time winner. Apparently the Democrats will force a hand recount of their stronghold, King County (Seattle). If enough votes are found to change the winner, then the state would be forced to hand recount the entire state result. Thus, Washington could have no governor until after Christmas. Perhaps the anthem for this mess should be "No Sleep 'till Brooklyn!" The Seattle Times: Local News: Rossi wins in recount of governor's race

Dave Niehaus needs your support to win the Ford Frick award and join the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Read the nice tribute to Dave that follows. ESPN.com: Page 2 - Seattle's grand slam voice



Now, click here to vote for Dave.

Thankfully, more new technology is coming on line to save lives in Iraq from IEDs detonated by remote control. The terrorists use garage door openers, car alarms and even cell phones as remote detonators. Defense Tech: MORE ON WARLOCK'S TRICKS

Perhaps Walter Cronkite will cite this study in his NIMBY defense of his coastal view from his seafront property. Windmills may cause meteorological changes

A great ship named for a very great man, and a personal hero of mine. USS Winston S. Churchill

This policy shift makes sense. Someone finally realized that procurement simply takes too long, and that soldiers and commanders in the field should have the ability to act and ask for forgiveness later, or in the case of body armor, act and be repaid later. Defense Tech: PAYBACK, FINALLY, FOR ARMOR BUYS

I'm no fan of slow play, but a four hour round might be a world's record at this course. Yahoo! News: Distance no handicap for Aussie plan to build world's largest golf course



The Yahoo! News caption for the photo above reads, "In this handout photo taken 12 November 2004 shows the white sand dunes of Nullarbor National Park that will soon be the backdrop to the world's largest golf course spanning 1,400 kms along the desert highway. Authorities have unveiled plans to build one hole at each of the 18 towns and petrol stations dotted along the Eyre Highway, to be collectively known as Nullarbor Links. Motorists will stop at each petrol station, play a hole, then drive some 100kms to the next teeing off point.(AFP/Goldfields Tourism-HO/File)"

Just as homelessness was rediscovered under President Bush's watch, global warming histeria has increased as well. Or is that global warming research grant histeria? Investor's Business Daily: Bipolar Disorder

After watching the near riot that accompanied today's burial of Arafat the murderer, inspiration to UBL and his contemporaries, I noticed that a certain someone was apparently not present at the "ceremony". Of course, she has a lifetime income in Ter-ray-sa's league to spend back in Paris now. So many salons to visit, so many chocolates to eat... Jerusalem Post: Mrs. AraFAT gets her payday; Palestinians continue raggedy existence

Not Mary Mapes, but an interesting rapid fire decision to fire a news producer for interrupting a fiction crime drama. Broadcasting & Cable: CBS fires producer for preempting final five minutes of CSI: NY

Watching CNN International’s coverage of Arafat’s funeral was like watching a bizarro world rendition of the Reagan funeral. The commentator, the now thickened ultra lefty Christiane Amanpour, narrated an out of step undisciplined horse drawn cortege while using words like “statesman” to describe the old murderer. The Palestinian spokeswoman continues to blame Israel for their woes before the casket reached the Egyptian C-130 that would take the body to Ramallah for internment. The discussion of Palestinian elections without a Palestinian government added to the other worldly atmosphere of the event. Clearly the coverage didn’t belong on CNN; it should have been on Cartoon Network.

Then:



Now:

While he had no message, he had a crazy wife and some very strange outfits that he wore in his equally strange hobby photo ops. The New Republic Online: Bad Message

And no, I didn't mean this couple

Strap him up in a Full Metal Jacket, or maybe go R. Lee Ermey on him. New York Post Online: VINCENT D'Onofrio a D'Offrio with Criminal Intent...his co-stars, that is

Arafat, the old monster, is dead. He scammed untold millions--if not billions--in aid from the west into private accounts. He kept his wife in a life of Heinz-scale luxury in France while denying his countrymen hospitals, schools, and investment in an economy for the Palestinian demi-state. If his people truly saw what he had done, they would denounce him as one of the greatest demagogues the world has ever known. Statement by the President

Happy 229th to the USMC! Ooo-rah! Semper Fi! Power Line: Honoring the few

The red gets redder.

The President did better, actually, everywhere in '04 than in '00.

Take that, Zogby! 7-Eleven: "7-Election outcome reflects current actual election results"

This cracks me up:


Read the whole thing.

Butt-face, rendered nicely. HOG ON ICE: Infan-Tile

This is my favorite quote by Thomas Jefferson, "That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves."Thomas Jefferson Quotes - The Quotations Page

Barbra "Babs" Streisand, on the other hand, likes this one she found and published as part of a rant on her...blog. It is part of a letter Jefferson wrote to John Taylor Philadelphia on June 4, 1798. She conveniently ignores the entire thrust of the letter, which advises Philadelphia to stay the course--continue the struggle for independence from England as a united republic composed of the original 13 colonies. Jefferson writes, "But who can say what would be the evils of a scission, and when & where they would end? Better keep together as we are, hawl off from Europe as soon as we can, & from all attachments to any portions of it. And if we feel their power just sufficiently to hoop us together, it will be the happiest situation in which we can exist."

Perhaps all those Hollywood and media types who are screeching about secession from the U.S. can read Jefferson's advice and just--stifle themselves.

"Solar sails" have been popular concepts in science fiction for years. Finally, a solar sail experiment is in the works that may lead to the use of the technique in future missions to Mars.

"Love is stronger than hate", says Michael Barone of U. S. News & World Report. That may very well be the story of the 2004 Presidential election. USNews.com: Republican turnout makes for a 51 percent nation (11/15/04)

The Corner on National Review Online

The Corner opines on watering down good whiskey--it's a good thing, if the water is of quality. The Corner on National Review Online

The final electoral vote count: President Bush, 286; Senator Kerry, 252

Little Green Footballs has more, including the complete county by county map shown below.

Instapundit alerts us that the popular vote tally now exceeds 4 million votes in the President's favor, and that Iowa and New Mexico are officially part of Bush Country. The Electoral College totals are 286 for the President, 253 for Kerry. Yahoo! News - Elections

THE MESOPOTAMIAN

Salaam, a courageous Iraqi blogger, says, "All those who have been following my blog from the start should know how I feel towards El Bush, the Avenger, the Lion-Heart and I cannot hide my happiness for this outcome, purely from a personal feeling of gratitude for what he has done for us, despite all the pain and hardships that we suffered and still do." THE MESOPOTAMIAN

Bush Country

USATODAY.com: County map of the vote



Churchill said, speaking to the British on VE Day in May 1945: "We may permit ourselves a brief period of jubilation."

Well done, Mr. President, well done.

The first country that came into crisis with the U.S. speaks out just before the election--and speaks ill of the U.S. Made in China? Not in my house.

The MEMRI TV project translation of UBL's latest tape threatens individual states with terror attacks if they vote for the President. Yigal Carmon on Osama bin Laden & Election 2004 on National Review Online

This, coupled with the N.Y. Post's publication of additional material not shown on Arab TV that contains more threats, attacks on the President, and complaints about the effectiveness of the coalition's efforts against Al Qaeda, remove any question that UBL wants to affect the U. S. election.

The Kerry campaign doesn't want you to see the "director's cut" of the UBL tape. New York Post Online Edition: Full Tape an Osama A Woe Show

After finishing my post on the the war on terror and the election below, along comes Cliff May in National Review Online's The Corner to make some very important points of his own that I agree with. The Corner on National Review Online

JustOneMinute has an excellent recap of NYTrogate here.

After listening to the evolution of NYTrogate all week, including Mr. Kerry's willingness to jump aboard and echo the criticisms that the NYT and CBS have leveled in their coverage, while continuing to hear the Kerry campaign's insistence that UBL was allowed to escape in Tora Bora despite General Franks insistent declaration that UBL wasn't even necessarily there at the time, I'm convinced that Kerry and perhaps Democrats in general don't know or have forgotten what the job of Commander in Chief entails. It's as though Kerry is running to be "Major in Chief", or to channel LBJ's failed Napoleonic attempts to run the Vietnam war from his sandbox in the White House.

I believe that the President has won the hearts of our soldiers precisely because he does not second guess tactical decisions in the theater of operations, and supports those who've made them. The administration has undertaken investigations into mistakes in handling prisoners and Halliburton, and those responsible have been held to account. While war is the ultimate political act, it is never a winning strategy to politicize the acts of the soldiers on the ground. It has been said, and rightly so, that all of the second guessing that has taken place about Iraq and Afghanistan would have rendered us powerless had the same press and pundit "coverage" happened during WWII. Terrible "mistakes" were made, at the cost of many more dead and injured than we have suffered in Iraq. Those mistakes could not have been avoided by more oversight by a man whose combat experience was as a Lt. (Jg.) aboard a river boat full of enlisted men and probably at least one petty officer more experienced than the Lieutenant who kept him from his most egregious mistakes--leaving aside the charges made by the Swift Boat Vets.

Mr. Kerry and his followers in and out of the MSM refuse to acknowledge any of the good that is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, even when it is easily found in the pages of, say, the Wall Street Journal, the blogs of Iraqis who are living their country's transformation or here. They somehow believe that they can overcome the lack of trust that most Americans have for Mr. Kerry's pacifist vacillations by alternately talking tough and criticizing decisions that are far below the Presidential or Cabinet levels. Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld have spoken their discovery of the atrophy of operational practice and protocols in the Defense Department upon their arrival in 2001. Secretary Rumsfeld has embarked upon a transformation effort that is designed to recast our forces, moving the active duty head count around so that more troops--more fighting troops, not REMFs--would be available for deployment, and so that their skills would better match the mission requirements at different stages of a conflict. Mr. Kerry does not speak to this with his Lt. (Jg.) credentials. Instead, he promises 40,000 more troops, and a doubling of our Special Forces. The former may or may not be the right thing to do, but it does not address the problem that the Secretary describes and that we see on TV daily: we are in a civil affairs/government infrastructure rebuilding and pacification/reconstruction effort in much of the country while at the same time using traditional forces to defeat the insurgency in a small region around Fallujah. A new group of 40,000 troops would relieve the latter, perhaps, but not the former. As for the doubling of Special Forces, the former SEAL at Froggy Ruminations has written knowledgeably and eloquently about how difficult that can be. These are special people; of all applicants for SEAL slots, typically only 3% succeed in graduating and joining that most elite of Special Forces. The other Special Forces groups are equally challenging in their mental and physical tests, and selective. It might require 600,000 male applicants over the course of a decade to raise the total number of Special Forces war fighters to 40,000 from ~20,000 today--assuming that we can retain most of the forces that we have now.

If the War on Terror and Iraq are the most important issues in this election as the polls say, then voters have but one choice to make. They must re-elect the President. Mr. Kerry has shown nothing in his record and nothing in his pronouncements in his campaign that establishes that he is in fact competent to lead without attempting to micro-manage the military as well as vacillating in his decisions. A Senator can afford to be deliberative and blow with the wind; his is but one voice and one vote among one hundred. A Mayor of a large city or a Governor must make decisions that affect thousands by his hand alone, and must hire, manage and lead a staff across a broad expanse of disciplines and crises. A sitting President has seen a far broader set of challenges than any Governor ever has. I believe that neither political party can afford to nominate candidates with such a breathtaking lack of operational experience and management ability in the future. More than any of Mr. Kerry's failings, I believe that those skills are his greatest weaknesses. The country cannot afford to attempt to train Mr. Kerry; to convert him from a man for all sides of an issue to a man driven to succeed in an approach he communicates in the same way every day. After 9/11, the world is once again a very dangerous place. UBL's appearance on video this week shows that he believes that Mr. Kerry may just be the man to give Al Qaeda the break it wants to regroup and reform. Mr. Bush will continue to press forward, relentlessly, implacably, just as those brave souls who endured hardships in the founding of our nation, throughout its many trials in war and peace. Mr. Bush is a real American, not a polished patrician. He is just what we need our President to be, right now.

I agree with the Powerline boys who host this image, this is a great picture of the President.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Hendrick family and their many friends in and out of NASCAR. I hope that the Hendrick stable of cars does well in the remaining races this season as a tribute to those who lost their lives so tragically. ESPN.com - Grieving Gordon's 'never been so inspired' to win

Instapundit points to a very scary set of creatures indeed. Korla Pundit: Infamous Monsters of Filmland

Bin Laden apparently appears, and speaks of contemporaneous events, albeit bizarrely. Towers in Lebanon? I look forward to reading a full translation without the "presenter's" comments on Memri.org at some point. DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2004?

Update: I haven't seen a transcript on Memri.org yet, but here's a slightly more complete version.

A couple of thoughts:
1) It's interesting to see some of the references to woolly thinking from Michael Moore; e.g., the President reading "My Pet Goat" to FL school children after the attack began.
2) As others have noted, this is the second tape from Al Qaeda this week. This could either be a very bad sign--an indication of an upcoming attack--or a sign that they wish to influence the election through rhetoric since they've been unable to attack us directly since 9/11.
3) It can't be good for Kerry to see UBL adopt leftist tenets in his speech.

Or, aspiring but unsuccessful logician speaks out on playground diplomacy. ThePittsburghChannel.com - News - Heinz Kerry Criticizes 'Neanderthal' Attacks On Husband

INDC Journal has another excellent roundup of the latest news as well as some from the past that collectively add context to the tale of NYTrogate.

Update: Wizbang has some very useful additional information here.

Well, hmmmpf, if you're going to believe THEM! They're the Pentagon! What do they know?! DefenseLINK News: Officials Say Chances of Enemy Ordnance Move Nearly Nil

An amazing article, well researched, and well sourced. Saddam Hussein's Philanthropy of Terror - by Deroy Murdock

And on a night when we could clearly see "the dark side of the moon", too. ESPN.com - MLB/FALLCLASSIC - Caple: 86'd forever

National Review Online's excellent blog, The Corner, reminds us of this story. CNN.com - Russian convoy fired on in Iraq - Apr. 6, 2003

Here's the full version of the Washington Times story on Iraqi arms smuggling aided by Russian special operators referenced below.

Another reason why Kerry should switch from the New York Times for his inspiration to this:

ABC News: Discrepancy Found in Explosives Amounts

This story is interesting (text shown below because the original site is very busy).

I like the quote in this article "Achalov wouldn't say why Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Akhmed decorated the two, telling the Russian Internet newspaper Gazeta.ru, which ran a photograph of the two in the Iraqi capital, only: 'We didn't fly to Baghdad to drink coffee.' "

Here's a related article in the Russian paper with photos of the Russians and Iraqis.

Apparently, among the topics that the Generals were able to advise the Iraqis on is a technique called maskirovska, or "smoke screen"/deception/camouflage.

They were confident in the plan that they helped Saddam develop, but Iraq's quick defeat unsettled Russia and made them doubt their standard military doctrine could stand up to America.

The AP gets around to admitting that the Iraqi Survey Group didn't find any IAEA seals at the site when they searched in May, 2003 in the final paragraph of the AP story here.
_________________________________________________________________

Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein’s weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.

John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

"The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Mr. Shaw said. "Their main job was to shred all evidence of any of the contractual arrangements they had with the Iraqis. The others were transportation units."

Mr. Shaw, who was in charge of cataloguing the tons of conventional arms provided to Iraq by foreign suppliers, said he recently obtained reliable information on the arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services that have detailed knowledge of the Russian-Iraqi weapons collaboration.

Most of Saddam’s most powerful arms were systematically separated from other arms like mortars, bombs and rockets, and sent to Syria and Lebanon, and possibly to Iran, he said.
The Russian involvement in helping disperse Saddam’s weapons, including some 380 tons of RDX and HMX is still being investigated, Mr. Shaw said.

All I can say is, what he said. LILEKS (James) The Bleat

The rowback on NYTrogate begins, albeit slowly. The New York Times: Missing Explosives: No Check of Bunker, Unit Commander Says

The Questing Cat

If you ever thought about giving Kerry a pass for "voting for the $87 billion before voting against it", remember this. The Questing Cat: The Combat Life Saver 10.21.04

NYTrogate, a scandal with three players: the NYT, CBS "60 Minutes" (not them again!), and the Kerry campaign. Excellent posts here Say Anything: The Iraq Explosives Non-Story and here Captains Quarters as well as in The Drudge Report.

Update: to see some cool pictures of ordinance destruction in Iraq, click here and for a little more info from the Washington Times, click here.

Wow! Curt Schilling may have absorbed some of Ted Williams' spirit, courage and determination. Actually, I think that it was in Curt all along. FOXSports.com - Schilling makes medical history for Game 2

The Drudge Report points to a fascinating non-interview with John Kerry--why didn't he show? Was he worried that his canned answers wouldn't fit the script? Bob Woodward attempted to ask Kerry these questions about Iraq (washingtonpost.com)

What in the world is going on in my home town? Let the record show that if my Mom had been called to a classroom, and a ruckus erupted with her and a teacher, they'd still be wiping the walls with the teacher's sorry stain. And when my Dad arrived...well, you wouldn't like my Dad when he got angry...Yahoo! News - Teacher Jailed After Brawl With Parent

Who says Kerry has settled on a position. Once a flipper, always a flopper. Now he's in favor of the Patriot Act, but says it needs to be tougher!Yahoo! News: Kerry Supports Anti-Terror Act, Shifting Stance

The mighty hunter bags a bird, or does he?DRUDGE REPORT: Pool report on Kerry's hunting trip in OH

An update on the Kyoto Treaty. USATODAY.com: Russian economic woes may lead to Kyoto ratification.

What an egomaniac. Clinton wants to become U.N. Secretary General?

Big G, the hardest working lizard in show business! MSNBC: Godzilla gets star on Walk of Fame

As Ter-RAY-sa has shown today, having money doesn't mean you have anything to say that's worth listening to. Dinesh D'Souza on George Soros on National Review Online

Nanotechnology is becoming more interesting by the day. Grazing the Nanograss: Computerworld

Without John Heinz, she'd have made an excellent waitress at Denny's. Wacky Ter-RAY-sa opens mouth and inserts pedicured foot again. USATODAY.com: The real running mates

Arafat, the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Iranian terrorists, readers of the UK-based Guardian, and now this. Kerry was right; he has lots of support from foreigners. ABC News: Cubans Push for Kerry Win in Florida

Many, including myself, have debunked the left's insistence that Depleted Uranium is inherently dangerous--other than when fired from a weapon. A just-published Pentagon study confirms the position I and many others hold. This article in the New York Times reports on the Pentagon study, but mistakenly states that "Depleted uranium is a byproduct of nuclear weapons production." Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the enrichment of uranium, irrespective of the purpose for the enrichment. See this article from the USGS site.

This says it all, and says it very well to boot. GeorgeWBush.com: President Bush Committed to Fighting Terrorist Threat

Kerry's legislative record is, shall we say, modest. The Volokh Conspiracy quotes FactCheck.org on Kerry's record

Tom Friedman warns of a trifecta of baby boomers whose approach cannot be ignored forever. The New York Times: 'Oops. I Told the Truth.'

Qualities' by David Freddoso

The latest swift boat and POW vets ad shows a very large group of decorated vets who oppose Kerry. The most decorated living vet of all is among them; the one with the big blue ribbon that only Congress can issue. This is his story. HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE: America's Most Highly Decorated Living Veteran Calls Kerry 'a Man of Benedict Arnold Qualities'

Victor Davis Hanson on Election 2004 on National Review Online

One of Victor Davis Hanson's best columns takes a look at the world through sharply focused, clear lensed glasses. Victor Davis Hanson on Election 2004 on National Review Online

This post makes an interesting case that Hillary Clinton had a role in the decline of U.S. vaccine development and manufacturing. Let's Fly Under the Bridge: Hillary Make You Sick?

Those unintended consequences get you every time, especially when you don't understand economics and the rational behavior of businesses (those that want to survive, that is).

Update: The Weekly Standard places blame at the feet of trial lawyers without mentioning Hillary.

Ann Althouse points to an explanation on the guaranteed failure of a policy that calls for nationwide re-importation of Canadian drugs that should be obvious to anyone without an agenda. Althouse: NYT confesses that Canada is no panacea for high drug prices

PoliPundit points to a great David Brooks column in the Times. The New York Times: Debate, Declaim, Debacle

Nine gin-soaked white raisins a day keeps arthritis away? Well, after 8 days, you'll have eaten 72. Some interpretations of the Koran say that the reward in heaven is not 72 virgins, but 72 white raisins. Probably not gin-soaked, though. Heinz Kerry pitches health care

Daniel Drezner's angst over his vote leads one of his readers to provide an excellent unmasking of a Kerry foreign policy. danieldrezner.com: About that p-value

NightLine catches river fever after trying to find credible Vietnamese witnesses to corroborate Kerry's Silver Star saga. JustOneMinute: Nightline Goes To Vietnam

Our domestic papers haven't covered the UN Oil-for-Food scandal that thoroughly, but others are doing a good job of searching for nuggets from the Duelfer report. Scotsman.com: Saddam bankrolled Palestinian terrorists

Hat tip: Captain's Quarters

This fascinating article may shed some light on why Kerry received a third citation for at least one of his medals. Mystery Surrounds Kerry's Navy Discharge, says The New York Sun

Hat tip: Instapundit

Now that John Edwards has demagogued stem cell research into a panacea that will make the crippled walk again, it's useful to understand exactly what the state of the art in stem cell research is.

The following is a brief article from the AMA that answers much of the common FAQ.

This AMA article contains a much more detailed review.

Here are two good resources on stem cell research and activities underway today here and here from the NIH.

Update: Forget all that techy stuff. Just check out Lileks' take. Money quote: "I could talk about John Edwards’ comments on stem-cell research, but really it’s very simple. Stem cells will be injected into the bloodstream, where they will act like Star Wars Midichloridans, and help the quadrapalegic to use the Force and stand erect."

Which OS are You?

Hey, the Germans offer a glimmer of hope to Kerry after all. FT.com: Germany in rethink on Iraq force deployment

Redstate.org points to an article on an attack on two electrical transmission towers over the weekend. JS Online: Bolts taken from towers, police say

The always interesting Lileks combines parenting with an excellent screed on Kerry's mindset. LILEKS (James) The Bleat

Kerry's comments in a New York Times Magazine article out today are ridiculous, and as such are ridiculed far and wide in the blogosphere. No one points out the silliness of Kerry's comments any better than Hugh Hewitt. Hugh Hewitt: terror as a nuisance?

The man from Macon, Mississippi who escaped from Iraqi terrorists found a renewed faith and love for life. The Clarion-Ledger: Thomas Hamill's new book and renewed life

More wonderful news and images from Afghanistan

The Politburo Diktat: Puppet Election Update

WMD stockpile found? Well, not according to the ever higher bar set by the MSM. NewsMax.com: Saddam's 500 tons of Uranium

It's a great day; here's proof.

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Now that John Major has been handily returned to office, Kerry's sister can go find some other people to annoy.

This was by far the best of the two debates. President Bush showed up, and did very well. Kerry did well, but not as well as in the first debate. The pundits are divided as to who won.

Some conservative pundits moan that the President let some softballs hit the glove, instead of knocking them out of the park. That may be, but that doesn’t mean that the facts aren’t there for everyone to see.

Kerry voted against Gulf War I. He voted against a war during the run up to which the UN authorized the use of force, the sitting President assembled a coalition of Arabs and others to either fight, provide basing, allowed military over flight rights or other support, or just financial contributions. In Gulf War II, Kerry knew that Saddam had done what it had done in Kuwait, to the Kurds, to the Marsh Arabs. He had violated over a dozen UN resolutions. He fired missiles at coalition aircraft almost every day. He gave speeches (that can be read on Memri.org) in praise of his scientists who worked on weapons of mass destruction. His government mislead the UN weapons inspectors, providing old, misleading information to them, and no proof of the final disposition of the weapons of mass destruction that we know that he had because of inspections earlier in the ‘90s.

After the war, Kerry now knows that Saddam acted as a “weapon of mass corruption” to the UN and some of our traditional allies (thanks to the Duelfer report). His efforts lead to the loosening of the sanctions and restrictions on his conduct. He kept scientists and engineers who worked on his WMD program hidden, and on his payroll, so that they could resume their work in full some day. He murdered hundreds of thousands of his own citizens. He paid bounties to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. He provided sites for terrorist training camps, and safe haven to some of the leaders of terrorist organizations. His government met with Al Qaeda representatives on numerous occasions. He commissioned paintings of his grinning visage against images of the burning Twin Towers, associating himself with their destruction. He attempted to buy an entire missile assembly line from North Korea. He bought weapons and spare parts from many countries (see the CIA report) that were proscribed. French Roland missiles shot down an A-10 in Iraq in ’03. Some of those missiles were sold to Iraq just months before the war began. Two M1 A1 tanks—almost indestructible—were knocked out by Russian Katyusha rockets. In the addition to the UN and the intelligence agencies of nearly every major nation, Saddam had the Presidents of Egypt and Jordan convinced that he had WMD—even his own generals believed it.

In Seattle, we’ve seen incidents where policemen have shot suspects who were believed to be armed and dangerous, but may not have been after the fact. No policeman can allow someone to brandish a weapon without taking steps to disarm him, one way or another. Saddam did everything he could to convince his enemies that he had such weapons to act as a deterrent and as a means of feeding his egomaniacal desire for preeminence in the region, especially vis a vis Iran. In the end, Saddam relied on his bribes of UN staff and Security Council members to protect him from the coalition. His calculation failed.

After 9/11, no reasonable leader would allow an enemy nation-state to threaten the US or its national interests. Since the end of Gulf War 1, Iraq has been at a state of war with the US and the coalition. The onus was on Saddam to prove that Iraq had complied with the terms of surrender that ended Gulf War 1. Saddam saw Al Qaeda treat the US as a paper tiger throughout the 90s (see Somalia, the Cole, and World Trade Center 1), and saw that the West could be bought off. The Iraqi limits on Oil-for-Food exports increased from under $500 million annually to over $2.5 billion within the decade of the ‘90s. The press continued to collaborate by showing images of malnourished Iraqi families living in squalor. Iraqi sympathizers called on the UN to end the sanctions so that this “outrage” could be ended. Saddam gambled that his supporters among the bribed and useful fools would be able to restrain the US and its coalition. He was wrong.

Kerry tries to paint a different picture. His comments on David Letterman's show indicate that Saddam might now be running Iraq today if Kerry had been elected President in 2000. He tries to move to the President’s right on Tora Bora, on adding two new divisions to the Army, on doubling our Special Forces, while not dismissing a whispering campaign about a new draft, a “back door draft” that affects Reservists, and strain on the National Guard that he claims are mistakes by the President. The President has firmly disavowed a new draft, but hasn’t put down Kerry’s charges on Tora Bora as firmly as he could. Perhaps that is because there is more to the story than we know today. Perhaps the collection of teeth, bones and fingernails that the Special Forces found in the Tora Bora caves contain some that were once UBL’s. Perhaps our leaders believe that we should not give the terrorists a martyr to avenge. Someday, we shall see.

Kerry’s record as a Lt. (jg.) is not enough to mark him as a great military strategist. No one has shown that the President has overruled his Pentagon officers like President Johnson did to affect the conduct of the war. Kerry seems to say that he would do just that.

I think that the President gave as good as he got on the domestic portion of the debate. On the foreign policy portion, he has ammo that he hasn’t used yet. I sincerely hope that he hasn’t waited too long.

Update: read this and this to see how consistent the President has been on Iraq. The second link contains the five (5) demands that the President made of Iraq in order to comply with the world and avoid going to war.

A man with a penchant for understatement says, "They're (the sanctions are) often better than nothing," said Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who is writing a book on the United Nations. The New York Times: U.S. Report Says Hussein Bought Arms With Ease

George Gilder has taken his lumps after the stock market bubble burst, but he shows that he still has an acute understanding of national economic policy--good and bad--in this editorial on the WSJ Online.WSJ.com - America's New Jingoes

Money quote: "The U.S. today stands at a crossroads. The key economic issue confronting the next president is whether to embrace the policies of decline and sclerosis that afflict old Europe and have left generations of young people unemployed; or whether to enlist with Asia in the supply-side policies of dynamism and growth that have brought more human beings out of poverty than any other regimes in world history.

It should be an easy choice. The American left once displayed a real concern for poor people, but today they exhibit merely a morbid envy of the rich. Once they supported American engagement in the world. Today, they retreat to a timorous parochialism. Now it is President Bush who shows compassion for the world's poor and confidence rather than timidity before the forces of global capitalism. It is Mr. Bush who is embracing Asian dynamism rather than Eurosclerosis. For America, that is the winning side."

Paul Bremer sets the record straight in the New York Times. The New York Times: What I Really Said About Iraq

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker must feel like he's being used to make a bunch of crooks look good. His "investigation" appears to be going nowhere. Meanwhile, the newly released Duelfer report has already blown the lid off of U.N. corruption and complicity with Saddam's schemes. Congress is calling on the U.N. to release its records. We shall see how the rest of the media covers this aspect of the story, or whether they repeat the "no WMD stockpile" story from the days of the release of the Kay report. Claudia Rosett on Duelfer Report on National Review Online

This post at the excellent Kerry Spot at National Review Online was extremely illuminating for me. We now know that Kerry is a failure at rallying allies to a cause. He failed because his disrespects the contributions and sacrifices of the members of the coalition countries supporting us in Iraq. He failed because he does not see that French and German national interests and internal politics are aligned against the US' national interests.

Glenn Reynolds says it best.

Ace of Spades points to an excellent article that points out how a past President was once criticized by a General on the conduct of warfare. Davids Medienkritik: Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time?

Gee...mobile balloon inflation? Maybe a mobile brewery? Nah, couldn't be one of those mobile bioweapon labs that Secretary Powell described in '03? Could it? WorldNetDaily: Is this one of Saddam's mobile bio-weapons labs?

The coalition of the coerced and the bribed won't contain Kerry's favorite parts of "the world". Kerry says Franco-German troops unlikely - The Washington Times

Since it was "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time", I guess that he doesn't have an answer to his own question, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" for the French and Germans.

I wonder if Kerry will begin to say that he'll bring in members of the Arab League to take over for us. Riiiiight. The Iraqis would love that...sure they would.

Here's a link to a transcript of last night's smackdown. FOXNews.com - You Decide 2004 - Transcript & Video: VP Debate

"You hear all that and you can understand why somebody would make a face." President Bush gives a fantastic speech this morning. washingtonpost.com: Text: Bush's Speech in Pennsylvania

The star of "Caddyshack", one of the funniest sports movies of all time, gets all the respects he's due at last. ESPN.com - GEN - Last respect: Rodney Dangerfield dead at 82

One of the best roundups of tonight's smackdown that I've seen. Pejmanesque: THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

"Eeeeuuuuurrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!! Lurch like cookie, too!

Another one of Kerry's "real man" stories comes in for some debunking. Power Line: The Deer Hunter

"Senator Gone" meets his daddy. The Daily Recycler: Zing!

Some say that the President doesn't speak about the UN Oil-for-Food scandal because we need to maintain a relationship with France, Germany and Russia. It's important to learn about the scandal so that we can understand the motivations of these countries in the run up to the war. Roger Simon has done an excellent job following developments in this scandal. Roger L. Simon: The Subject About Which Kerry Dare Not Ever Speak

The very good Captain's Quarters blog points to a disturbing story on Iran's work on long range missile to complement its nuclear arsenal. Yahoo! News: Iran Says Its Missiles Can Now Reach 1,250 Miles

Iran's efforts to obtain long range missile technology and nuclear weapons are a gathering threat to the stability of the Middle East and the world economy. Kerry's proposals--echoing the approach taken by the Clinton Administration to attempt to appease North Korea--have been treated as reasonable by the MSM, when in fact the Iranians appear to be laughing at them.

As I said here, Iran has ample natural gas and oil reserves for power production. Iran's pretense that its nuclear program is aimed at satisfying its domestic electricity needs fools only those willing to be fooled, those who profoundly wish for a return to a September 10 world. While no one wants to see the escalation of dangerous tensions in the world, we cannot pretend to solve problems by papering over them.

The Democrats and their MSM allies want the public to believe that the Bush Doctrine has been shelved. In fact, the recent developments in Iran and North Korea make it clear that the Bush Doctrine is more important than ever.

Update: Read WindsofChange for an excellent take on Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He may still be the greatest pilot that there ever was. Godspeed. Blogs of War: Astronaut Gordon Cooper 1927-2004

I was up way too early--or way too late--this morning and caught part of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's appearance on Fox & Friends. The Governor responded to a question from E. D. Hill (I think) about French rebuffs of proposals made by candidate Kerry (Senator in name only).

The Governor said that we could entice France and Germany to help in Iraq by restoring oil contracts that were in place with the Saddam regime. I can't recall any further comments he may have made, but I think that this one is enough to cause concern.

Kerry has spoken about the "levers" he could use to engage more of our "allies". He calls the President's coalition in Iraq the "coerced and the bribed". I guess that we know see that bribery is a lever that Kerry is willing to use.

Saddam's Iraq was involved in a massive oil-for-food scandal that was a weapon of mass corruption--the UN, France, Russia and others were all tainted by the scandal. Kerry wants to overrule the fledgling government of Iraq's ability to make new contracts based on its own national interest by forcing it to re-enter oil deals it had made with supporters of the repressive regime. And this is a good thing?

Michel Barnier, the French foreign minister, said two weeks ago that France, which has tense relations with interim prime minister Iyad Allawi, had no plans to send troops "either now or later". Gert Weisskirchen, member of parliament and foreign policy expert for Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party, said in an interview, "I cannot imagine that there will be any change in our decision not to send troops, whoever becomes president."

What other levers does Kerry think that he has to entice the French and Germans? More appeals to their commercial interests--their oil interests in other countries? Here's another example of the kinds of levers France responds to and makes use of in its own interests.

No more blood for oil, Monsieur Chirac!

Kerry's opening act at a Cleveland Baptist church today.



Well, OK, that's scary. At least a couple of these women seem to know to keep their eye on such shifty characters.



Well, Stanley, what do you have you to say for yourself?

The two articles immediately below remind me of how much Johnson and Kerry seem to approach warfare alike. Vietnam was the first conflict that offered near real-time communication with the field. Johnson could obtain very fresh information, and with it, issue orders that never would have been possible in Roosevelt's or Truman's day. Johnson thought by starting and halting bombing operations the North Vietnamese understood that he was sending messages. It is apparent today that the North Vietnamese saw his moves as signs of weakness to be exploited, and opportunities to rearm, to propagandize the population of North and South Vietnam alike to hearten the former and demoralize the latter.

When Kerry talks about how he would have managed Tora Bora, he sounds Johnsonian. He sounds like a man who, based on his vast experience as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade), he would make tactical decisions on the conduct of war on the ground. General Franks, meet General Kerry.

I believe that our Afghanistan campaign was successful precisely because we learned from the mistakes that the British and the Soviets made. We did not commit hundreds of thousands of troops and aircraft to the theater. We did not have to support a huge supply line across thousands of miles of terrain to reach the unforgiving land-locked terrain of eastern Afghanistan. We followed successful Special Forces doctrine and trained the indigenous population to fight for themselves. We used our technological advantages in conjunction with air power to provide close air support, often using B-52 and B-1B bombers as effective as massed artillery.

I believe that these things were possible because President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld demanded unconventional thinking, but left the execution of the war plan to the officers and men on the ground. I worry that Kerry would try to over manage Iraq--as well as the next challenge--and make manners worse as Johnson did.

Here's another article on the Vietnam War that takes the US government to task for many mistakes before, during and after the war. The Lessons of Vietnam: "The Christmas bombings of 1972 should have taken place in 1965, before we had filled the Hanoi Hilton with aviators shot down while carrying out the absurd strategy of giving signals..."

This article on the USAF's operation Linebacker II, written in 1997, is as true today as it was then. Here's a quote from the article: "In December 1972, 25 years ago next month, the intransigence of the tough and resilient North Vietnamese foe finally exposed the total failure of gradualist war policies set in motion years before by President Lyndon B. Johnson."

Unilateral disarmament

Kerry is trying to have it both ways.

He says that he is committed to winning in Iraq (during the debate)--except when he doesn't (the big speech on a Monday shortly before the debate).
He says that the President's DOE is wrong to do research on smaller nuclear weapons designed to be bunker busters. He says he'll cancel the program immediately because it sends the wrong message to countries that are trying to produce nuclear weapons--Iran and North Korea. Apparently we are in violation of the "do as I say, do as I do" rule.

Kerry also claimed that the program costs "hundreds of millions of dollars." The actual costs are less than forty million--much of our research is done on supercomputers that simulate the detonation without ever actually building and testing a bomb.

The President's program is right. The mullahs of Iran and the pot-bellied dictator of North Korea have shown that they aren't deterred by words. They apparently believed that the US was a paper tiger during the Clinton Administration, just as Iran showed the world that the Carter Administration foreign policy was. They thought that the US was physically incapable of and politically unwilling to use conventional force to act on its national interests, preferring to intercede in symbolic fashion without risking casualties.

That changed after 9/11. The victory in Afghanistan was shocking: sudden, overwhelming defeat where the British and the Soviets had failed in Afghanistan, using Special Forces, airpower, and indigenous troops with help from Pakistan and other non-traditional US allies. In Iraq, victory seemed certain, but the warnings that Saddam had and would use WMD were ominously issued by Arab leaders in Egypt and Jordan to General Franks beforehand. Chattering class "experts" cautioned against massive US casualties and civilian deaths. Many believed Saddam's propaganda that his army could rival the west's best, and that his troops were loyal. All those pre-war predictions and more were disproven.

Libya looked at the President's determination, and unilaterally surrendered its WMD program, allowing us to display it in Tennessee. Pakistan cooperated with our proliferation investigation, and the A. Q. Khan network that supplied nuclear weapons technology to third world states was rolled up. Initially, the Iranian mullahs and North Korea appeared willing to negotiate the demolition of their programs.

That has changed now. US political news reaches Pyongyang and Tehran. Instead of dismantling their programs, the political calculus in these capitals appears to be that their programs are symbols of strength against the uncertainty of the UN and the west, and that the existence of these programs weakens the President's chance for reelection. They see that Kerry will be bound to pass a "global test" before taking military action. They also believe that the US conventional force structure would not allow another invasion like Iraq.

Both North Korea and Iran have missile programs that, depending on the heat of the rhetoric of the day, may one day carry nuclear weapons, and may one day reach US allies and even the US Pacific coast. See http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTICBM.HTM Iran is a customer of North Korea's, and apparently is attempting to obtain long range missile technology from Russia if it can get it.
Attacking the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea will be difficult. Iran has placed its nuclear program in populated centers, at least in some cases. See http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/nuke-fac.htm and http://cns.miis.edu/research/iran/nucsites.htm North Korea has also attempted to disperse and hide its nuclear facilities. See http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/nuke.htm and http://www.nti.org/db/profiles/dprk/nuc/fac/research/NKN_F_ynrcen_GO.html

Both have also seen the effects of US airpower on Saddam's ability to control his army, and are designing their own command and control emplacements to reduce their vulnerability to an aerial attack. See http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/facility/c3i.htm for an overview of Korea's approach, and http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm. Note that Iran's facility at Natanz may be buried deep enough and hardened enough to resist almost any conventional bunker buster weapon.

That brings us back to the question of bunker buster weapons. The US has a program to evaluate the capabilities and usage of several approaches to the use of nuclear weapons for this purpose against those of conventional weapons to produce something called the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/rnep.htm Although Senators Fienstein and Kennedy opposed the program on the Senate floor, it was successfully defended http://domenici.senate.gov/legislation/record.cfm?id=224732 and passed.

No one can say that the "RNEP" can be used without causing fallout and unacceptable collateral damage. One fact is certain: if concepts like the RNEP are not studied, we are almost certain to be "self-deterred". Our existing nuclear arsenal is made up of weapons that are frankly too big to be used, and probably doesn't intimidate either North Korea or Iran from continuing their research into and possible construction of a small quantity of nuclear weapons. It may be possible for one or both of those members of the Axis of Evil to reconstitute the equivalent of the A. Q. Khan network--perhaps with the addition of actual complete weapons for sale.

Diplomacy is by far the preferred way to deal with North Korea and Iran. However, there must be a credible threat of force that the US can make to protect its vital interests. The range of options should not be arbitrarily limited, although the political opposition to a nuclear first strike would be extremely difficult to overcome without a far higher burden of proof than existed for Iraq or Afghanistan. Still, most Americans do not wish to see us sit by and allow the tools of nuclear blackmail to fall into the wrong hands without having the tools in hand to oppose them. The President can argue that a conventional attack on one or both Axis members could be met with a nuclear response from the Axis simply because they could repel a US attack conventionally, and that a nuclear showdown with the US over our national interests may happen sooner than later. Perhaps demands for the withdrawal of all coalition forces from Iraq, or demands for the removal of US forces from Japan and South Korea.

The RNEP or an effective conventional equivalent that would work as a "surgical strike tool" to remove North Korean or Iranian nuclear weapons, missiles, manufacturing sites, and command & control facilities without a full-scale invasion would be a major deterrent to the Axis. Having that option may serve as a stabilizing influence on negotiations--the Axis would know that the US and its allies could attack to remove their nuclear and missile infrastructure successfully should the Axis attempt to use such weapons or blackmail the US with their us.

We should not unilaterally disarm and remove the President's--or a future President's--ability to counter threats from the Axis. Such a move would be reckless, and would ignore the proven effectiveness of the so-called "MAD" deterrence that served to keep the Cold War from turning hot for decades. Only one who advocated a "Nuclear Freeze" in the 1980s would advocate a self-defeating move before the fact, in effect destabilizing the balance of power between the Axis and the free world.

Nice to see one of my favorite warplanes all Photoshopped up and ready to drop some 30mm DU candy on Islamofascists everywhere. Evil pundit of doom!: Top Bun

I draw the line at changing the key line in the Air Force hymn to "Nothing can stop the US Hare Force"!

Fox News has done some fine reporting on the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. The UN has taken exception to parts of its latest report. Here's a response from Fox News with links to the original reports and the UN's response to them. FOX News Responds to U.N. Comments

Scroll down about 1/4 of the page to read the Department of Energy's report on Iran's natural gas reserves. Essentially, Iran's reserves are second only to Russia's in the world.

Why would any sane person believe that Iran needs nuclear reactors to produce electricity? Natural gas-fired power plants are nearly as clean, and certainly safe to operate.

The Kerry-Edwards proposal for dealing with Iran seems very similar to the "agreed framework" that the Clinton Administration signed with North Korea.

Why on earth would we ever enter into an agreement with Iran to provide nuclear reactor fuel?

The post-debate flash Gallup poll has good news for Kerry, but favors the President overall. USA Today flash Gallup poll

Pumpkin alert.

I once dated a woman with ample...assets whose ancestry was Portugese. She was quite a bit smarter than the women in this story. Telegraph of the UK

C-BS propagates a moonbat-created rumor. HR 161 is authored and co-sponsored by Democrats in the House, including Rangel and McDermott. RatherBiased.com | News | CBS Promotes Draft Hoax

Sorry, "Leon", but this is not your best side.

James Taranto discovers that Kerry is channeling Walter from "The Big Lebowski". OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today

Jimmuh Cartah decides to lead the moonbat parade this year.

I'm not in favor of a poll tax or anything like it. I do believe that the country deserves to have its future decided by citizens who know how to vote, at least. BBC NEWS: Carter fears Florida vote trouble

Ah, the ability of seismologists to couch alarming news in carefully worded warnings. Apparently, "there's an increased likelihood of a hazardous event at Mount St. Helens due to recent changes in the mountain's seismic activity". komo news: St. Helens Quakes Could Lead To 'Hazardous Event'

Another example of the campaign that can't shoot straight, even when the questions are softballs. (hat tip: InstaPundit) The New York Times: No Assault Rifle for Kerry, After All

Update: the invaluable Michelle fisks the story and the Kerry campaign thoroughly.

As Wilfred Brimley might say, "The First Amendment don't say that!" The NYT claims protection that doesn't exist. The New York Times (editorial): A Leak Probe Gone Awry

Portentous speculation in such serious tones about Rather's demise. Hey, CBS! Stick a fork in him. He's done. The New York Times: CBS Tries to Clear Up Signals on Future of 'Evening News'

A very interesting account of a onetime Kerry supporter's change of heart. Althouse: How Kerry Lost Me

Agnew had plenty of faults, but somewhere out there, he may be laughing at the comeuppance of the "nattering nabobs". The Weekly Standard: Dan Rather's Day of Reckoning

The Maryville, TN Daily Times comes through again.



Dolly Parton recreates her pose on the new nose art decorating a KC-135E air refueling tanker Friday at McGhee Tyson Air Base as base commander Col. Timothy Dearing looks on. Photo by Wes Hope, but Col. Dearing is undoubtedly a lot happier.


More here.

This creature puts the "pale" in paleontology. Long-necked sea monster resurfaces after 230 million years

Ed Morrisey Jr. is not only the man who swore George Bush into the Texas Air National Guard, he still praises him now and manages to spank Jimmy Carter in the same interview with his hometown paper. thedailytimes.com: Man who swore Bush into Air Guard speaks out

So many interesting connections between Saddam and nuclear weapons experts or suppliers.
Ramanna: the Indian Saddam wanted so badly - The Times of India

I hope that this is made available somehow, either on TV or DVD. ABCNEWS.com : 'Lost' Episode of 'Honeymooners' Found

I look forward to reading this book. The Australian: Iraqi scientist buried nuke documents in garden [September 24, 2004]

If this turns out to be true, then all that I can say is, "Sausage, meet grinder." Burkett vs. CBS vs. Lockhart vs. Kerry campaign vs. DNC in a death match. I'll bring the popcorn. INDC Journal: Burkett Turns on Kerry Campaign, Dan Rather

Everything old is new again. Back at Raychem, we used to laugh about how much the bandwidth of an airplane full of 6250 bpi tape exceeded that of any network. Though the medium has changed, the statement holds up. The New York Times: From Storage, a New Fashion

Poor Kerry. Even his own hometown rag is losing faith in him, and giving him poor advice to boot. Boston Globe: The ghost following Kerry

I guess we should consider the source before taking this too seriously. Scotsman News: Sweet Discovery at Centre of Milky Way

I'm sure that the NEA, the WEA, and the Kerry campaign are proud of this glaring example of hypocrisy. Public schools no place for teachers' kids - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - September 22, 2004

CBS News, are you that smart? ProfessorBainbridge.com: CBS Names Independent Panel

Another example of Kerry's desperation--telling deliberate lies. Betsy's Page outs the origin of the bill in an e-mail sent to college students concerning HR 163 which was introduced by prominent Democrats like Charlie Rangel, Jim McDermott, John Conyers, and John Lewis. Yahoo! News: Kerry Says Draft Likely to Return Under Bush

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war," says retired TexANG Col. Walter Staudt. The Herald-Zeitung

Well, this is going to be hard to explain to Dad, the deputy sheriff At 205 MPH, Speed Thrills - September 24, 2004

This completely blows. USA NETWORK: Monk--Monk News

I definitely enjoyed this comparison of clarity versus nuance, and whether complexity automatically guarantees greater intelligence.

One of the best parts deals with nuclear waste disposal policy:

"Bush, though, is the complex one on Nevada's Yucca Mountain. That's where the federal government has agreed to deposit nuclear waste.

Kerry wants to drop Yucca. He says transporting the waste from nuclear plants to the site could be dangerous and that the site might not be absolutely safe. Has he considered that nuclear wastes have been safely and carefully transported in this nation for decades without incident? Does he realize that wherever the wastes are sent, they will have to be transported? Is he aware that the wastes pose many times the danger in the 39 states where they now reside than they would in an underground site that has been studied for 20 years, and that it might well take another 20 years to find another site that comes close to being as sound?"

William Safire reminds us that Rathergate may involve criminal acts, and that CBS and its corporate parent owe us an investigation and an explanation The New York Times: First, Find the Forger

And as Drudge reports, it's going to involve a court on some level, if only on a libel charge.

Russ Meyer, the man who brought us such landmark movies as "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!", passed away.

He also brought us this one

Nice editorial on Rathergate from my old hometown paper. Macon Telegraph: Ignoring the basic rules

The 60 Minutes Sunday crew disassociates themselves from Rathergate:

"I think it is safe to say that the overwhelming feeling among correspondents and producers on the Sunday program is that we would not have made the same mistakes," correspondent Steve Kroft said. He added: "It's hard to know at this point exactly what went wrong, because the Wednesday show is an entirely separate broadcast with entirely different people, and brand-new management. But something clearly went wrong with the process."

The Boston Globe reports on CBS' foibles, but not its own. Boston Globe: CBS says it's sorry for story on Bush

The USA Today reports today that Bill Burkett claims his source was Lucy Ramirez of Houston. The story indicates that she hasn't yet been reached. If she exists, what connection does she have to the players in this drama? USATODAY: CBS backs off Guard story

Just when you think that CBS black eye can't turn any more ugly, something like this turns up. USATODAY: CBS arranged for meeting with Lockhart

Well! CBS producer Mary Mapes called Joe Lockhart to ask him to call Bill Burkett. "She basically said there's a guy who is being helpful on the story who wants to talk to you," Lockhart said, adding that it was common knowledge that CBS was working on a story raising questions about Bush's Guard service. Mapes told him there were some records "that might move the story forward. She didn't tell me what they said."

Well, well, well.

Yahoo! News - Kerry Aide Talked to Retired Guard Officer

Indeed, at CBS News the question is, "Where was everybody's judgment on that last day?" The New York Times: CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say

Headline on the Drudge Report: "CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say."

Drudge goes on to say that "After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a 60 MINUTES report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night, the NEW YORK TIMES is reporting in Monday runs. Developing... "

Dandy Don, clear your throat and get ready to sing.

One wonders whether the Kerry campaign will continue to let his family campaign for him after this gaffe down under.

A snippy Dan Rather returns to Dallas, and is captured for a comment by Fox News (hat tip: Johnny Dollar) 'Do You Feel Like You Were Duped?'

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Via Instapundit, this could be considered the "abridged" version of Unfit for Command. Admiral Roy Hoffman on the grand deception by John Kerry

This is a surprising outgrowth of Rathergate. I didn't hear Maloney's broadcast, although I live in the Seattle area. I wonder if Mary Mapes did? AP Wire | 09/18/2004 | Host Says Rather Criticism Got Him Fired

Does Robert Fisk earn a royalty every time the technique that bears his name hits the mark? Perhaps he develops a well deserved headache like this guy gets--and frankly, gives--from those annoying dot com loan commercials.

Antimedia at Media Lies fisks the LA Times here.

CBS continues to flail about, now repeating the tinfoil hat brigade's baseless claim that because "Buckhead" posted his guess that the now discredited Bush documents were in fact forgeries, and that the Republicans are somehow behind it all. CBS News: Bush Guard Docs Flap Marches On

I'd say that CBS' "story" resembles the plot of a Bugs Bunny cartoon except that I believe it would insult Bugs Bunny. Why, it's shocking, shocking I say to learn that REPUBLICANS post comments on REPUBLICAN WEBSITES. Oh, what a scandal!

CBS forgets to mention that experts it hired--but did not listen to--raised questions about the documents before the story aired. http://www.dailyrecycler.com/blog/2004/09/hey-hey-hey-goodbye.html

The invaluable Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs passes along the judgment of a former IBM Selectric Composer expert on the capability and facility of that machine for the task of producing the forged documents. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12694_Composer_Theory_in_Advanced_State_of_Decomposition

CBS' chief remaining "document expert", Mrs. Knox, said that she used an Olivetti machine. I'm still waiting for a news organization to establish the types of machines in use by the TexANG during that period and their capabilities. We can already guess that the answer won't make Dan Rather very happy.