The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Iraqi Army Captures 10 Insurgents Rescue Hostage

The Iraqi Army led a successful offensive operation here recently, capturing 10 suspected insurgents and rescuing a kidnapped 16-year-old Iraqi boy being held for a $150,000 ransom.

Iraqi Soldiers from 5th Iraqi Army conducted searches, while the U.S. Army�s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, cordoned off several neighborhoods.

Maj. Kalil Malek Ahmad, commander, 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army, said his Soldiers identified insurgents with the help of intelligence sources.

Lt. Col. Morris Goins, commander, 3rd Brigade�s 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, which provided the cordon for the search, said the operation gave the Iraqi Army an opportunity to demonstrate it�s capability to play a primary role in military operations.

�Iraq is a sovereign nation. They have an Iraqi Police department. They have an Iraqi Army,� said Goins, a native of Southern Pines, N.C. �It�s important for them to conduct these operations. They are in the lead and we assist when needed.�

This most recent search for insurgents, which is part of a larger effort, �will help local residents by driving a wedge between the Iraqi people and al Qaeda,� said Goins.

Al Qaeda operatives are attempting to disrupt Coalition Forces and have threatened local residents in the neighborhoods of Khatoon and Mufrek, he said.

Capt. Scott Steele from the U.S. Army�s military training team in Baqubah, and native of Faripault, Minn., said it is important for the Iraqi Army to lead such operations in anticipation of full autonomy.

�If the Iraqis take over, the United States can leave,� he said. �We�re just helping them along so that they can secure their own country by themselves.�

Goins said his unit was presented with some challenges while working with the Iraqis, such as language barriers and differences in communications platforms, but those obstacles were overcome with prior coordination.

�As with any brand new government, you have challenges,� said Goins. �People often think the United States was born yesterday. It�ll take a little while. There�s a lot of promise here. The work is hard but it�s good.�

Iraqi Police, Civilians Display Courage Under Fire

The commander of a U.S. Army brigade that partners with and trains Iraqi soldiers and police in Iraq's Diyala province today praised the recent actions of local security forces and civilians there.

Terrorists in Diyala province continue to try to destabilize the democratic Iraqi government through the use of improvised explosive devices, snipers, kidnappings and threats to innocent Iraqis, Col. David Sutherland, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference from his headquarters in Baqubah, Iraq.

"However, it does not mean that they have won the battle there; in fact, far from it," Sutherland said of the terrorists' efforts in his area of operations.

Iraqi soldiers and police in his area aren't being cowed by the terrorists' actions, Sutherland said. "The Iraqi people are responding with great courage," he said, noting he'd recently witnessed bravery by a detachment of Iraqi police at a checkpoint who came under insurgents' small-arms fire.

"These men were low on ammunition, food and water, but they did not break," Sutherland said of the Iraqi police. "They stood their post, stood their post diligently."

Since assuming responsibility for security operations in Diyala province in early November, Sutherland said, his soldiers have been busy training Iraqi soldiers and police while taking the fight to extremists.

"Second, we are conducting stability and reconstruction operations to help the people of Iraq build a new life and a stable and secure environment," the colonel said.

Sutherland said his troops work closely with Iraqi police and soldiers. "This is a cooperative relationship. Coalition forces provide assistance and planning, logistics and operations, but increasingly, it is the Iraqi security forces that are in the lead," he said.

Diyala province is about the size of Maryland and has an ethnically-mixed population of about 1.5 million people, Sutherland said. The province is so ethically diverse, he said, that it is known as "Little Iraq."

Agriculture is the province's main industry, he said, noting the region's date harvest was up 75 percent from a year earlier, while its rice production jumped 50 percent from a year ago.

Baqubah's open-air markets are open for business, Sutherland said, adding that the provincial government is functioning and doing its work. A notable provincial government program actively seeks to more fully engage the area's various tribal and ethnic groups in the political process. "This sort of initiative is critical to the long-term stability of the province," Sutherland said.

Iraqi security forces are developing new tactics to use against terrorists operating in the province, Sutherland said, while his troops continue to train local police and Iraqi soldiers. "We are dedicated to helping the Iraqi security forces become a professional force that treats people with respect and enforces the rule of law, a force that is non-sectarian, professional and devoted to the safety and security of all Iraqis in the province," Sutherland said.

Developing a multi-ethnic, democratic culture in a land that's only known dictatorship for decades isn't an easy task, and it will take time, the colonel said.

Yet, despite challenges, he said, the 3rd BCT's troops are working hard in Diyala province, teaching Iraqi army and police leaders "how to be good representatives working on behalf of their people."

Soldier Asks Where U.S. Solidarity Has Gone

A soldier in Mosul told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld he was worried because the American people seemed to have lost the combined will they had immediately following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The secretary, who visited Iraq to thank the troops before he steps down from office, allowed that this is true. "In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, the American people came together and were united in their concern about our country," he said.

But in the years since, there have been no big land, sea or air battles that grab the attention of the American people, Rumsfeld said. The battle against a shadowy enemy is much more complex and less familiar than any conflict America has been involved with before, he explained.

He said the United States has also been fortunate that there hasn't been another attack on the scale of Sept. 11 in the country. The farther removed some people get from the events of Sept. 11, the more the cohesion and solidarity the American people felt during that period dissipates, Rumsfeld said.

Part of the reason this feeling has dissipated is because there have been no more attacks in the United States. There have been terror attacks in other parts of the world - Madrid, London, Bali and Russia, to name just a few.

The war on terror, Rumsfeld said, is like the Cold War. During the Cold War, public opinion ebbed and flowed. "Millions of people demonstrated against the United States, not against the Soviet Union," he said. "They acted as if the Soviet Union wasn't one of the most repressive regimes in history. People were granting moral equivalence to the Soviet Union - a vicious dictatorship - in the free countries of Western Europe and the United States. People can drift off."

The same is true today, Rumsfeld said. There are many who believe that governments can negotiate with terrorists or who believe if just left alone, they will somehow leave freedom-loving people alone. But that is not possible, Rumsfeld said. "The dangers today, the lethality of the weapons today, the risks to our country, are real," he said.

A tabletop exercise a few years ago posited a release of smallpox in two airports in the United States. The simulation showed that inside of a year, almost 1 million people would die, Rumsfeld said.

"There are dangers, there are real people out there - as you well know - who will put in place a small number of clerics that will tell everyone how they will live and how they will behave," he said. "And that's not what we're about."

But overall, the United States and its allies weathered the Cold War. The countries stuck together and today the Soviet Union is no more. "Our country would not be here if we didn't have the ability to ride through some ups and downs in respect to opinion and come out the other end having made some right decisions," Rumsfeld said. "I expect the same today."

Gold Star Mom Blasts Kerry's Middle East Trip

By Jim Kouri

A Gold Star Mother is urging American troops to snub Sen. John Kerry during his visit to Iraq.
"I'm asking our men and women in Iraq to not allow themselves to be forced to pose with Kerry during his photo ops,"
said Debra Bastian, who lost her son in Iraq in 2005.

"This man is a disgrace. He should be shunned by those serving in Iraq. He is not their friend. They [the soldiers] should not be forced to pose for pictures with Kerry the way they did when Sen. Hillary Clinton visited Iraq,"
she said.

The Massachusets senator is in the Middle East reportedly to meet with the presidents of Iran and Syria. While visiting Egypt, he also took a number of swipes at President Bush and his Middle East policy.

While in Egypt, critics say Kerry pandered to hatred for Israel in order to score points with the Egyptians.

"Kerry hasn't changed from his days as a anti-war protester who spouted lies against his fellow soldiers,"
said the angry Bastian.

While Kerry's office says he fulfilling his constitutional duty to actively participate in foreign policy, many in Washington believe his trip is meant to hurt the Bush Administration and to increase his sagging poll numbers in another bid for the Democrat Party presidential nomination. To some observers, Kerry Middle East trip is reminiscent of his trip to meet with North Vietnamese officials in Paris in the midst of the Vietnam War.

"Kerry knows he's being ignored with all the buzz about [Sen. Barack] Obama and [Sen.] Hillary Clinton. The last poll showed him garning only 7 percent of likely Democrat voters,"
said political analyst Mike Baker.

"Add Kerry's propensity for denigrating his country during time of war and you have the John Kerry portrayed by the Swift Boat Vets for Truth during his failed presidential campaign,"
he said.

"My son is a true war hero. Kerry claims he's a war hero because of a broken fingernail for which he got a Purple Heart,"
said Bastian.

Bastian and other Gold Star Mothers recently visited Iraq to show their support for US troops. However, the news media ignored their trip and none were interviewed by reporters.

�The American people are shown a skewed picture of the situation in Iraq day after day by the international news media. We felt it was time to allow the families of US troops who died in Iraq to come see the progress being made in Iraq and report it back to the American people,�
said Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward, an organization that helps and supports families of fallen soldiers.

The trip also occured following statements by Senator John Kerry, who suggested U.S. Troops serving in Iraq lack intelligence and are �stuck� there because of their limited abilities.

�I am spitting mad at John Kerry for insulting our troops. Duck and run was his specialty in Viet Nam,�
said Gold Star Mother Deborah Argel.

National Review's Michael Rubin said,
"John Kerry is in Egypt, and is praising Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak�s wisdom. What Kerry is not doing is speaking up for imprisoned dissidents victimized by Mubarak�s crackdown."

"What does he think Egyptians feel when they hear Kerry saying that Bush should have listened more to Mubarak, whose domestic popularity make Bush look like Mr. Universe? Kerry stood up for Mubarak�s 2002 support for Saddam,"
said Rubin.

Most Say Iraq Victory Is Important

The latest IBD/TIPP Poll shows that two of three Americans (66%) believe a U.S. victory in Iraq is important. They also say they are hopeful we can pull it off. Nearly half (48%) believe both � that victory is important and that the U.S. will win.

Consider how a loss in Iraq would:
� Seriously weaken the ability of the U.S. to effectively project American power in the future and influence events in distant yet important lands.

� Spark instability in the Middle East, a region of highly strategic interest to the U.S.

� Equate to a win for Iran, Syria and their proxies who are waging wars on multiple fronts in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel.

� Amount to a win for al-Qaida and underscore a lack of U.S. resolve in the broader global war on terror and the rising threat of Islamofascism.

� Embolden dangerous regimes such as North Korea to invade their neighbors, oppress their detractors and instigate global conflagrations because they will believe America has lost its nerve.

In other words, anything short of an American victory could be seen as a non-starter. To paraphrase President Reagan, we must win and they must lose.

Most Americans understand that victory in Iraq is important. This is certainly the case for Republicans, 91% of whom see no other alternative. Most Independents (61%) see it too. But Democrats (47%) are far less convinced. This shouldn't come as a shock, considering that only 47% of Democrats are hopeful for a U.S. victory vs. 76% of Republicans.

Reasons for the Democratic disconnect run deep:

� Many have been against the Iraq War from the start, and some have supported, in one way or another, the anti-war movement.

� Even with U.S. troops on the ground and in harm's way, support among the Democratic leadership has been halfhearted at best.

� Democrats tend to treat President Bush's foreign policy initiatives the same way they treat domestic issues. Only a few Democratic leaders, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman, recognize what's at stake in Iraq and are willing to cross the party line and work toward victory. Instead, most tend to occupy themselves with investigating past mistakes, which does nothing to ensure victory or boost troop morale.

� Democrats won the midterm election on the idea of "change" and a "new direction," but the leadership has yet to offer a plan for victory in Iraq.

Perhaps most striking of all is that for Democrats the glass has always been half-empty. We didn't hear many kudos coming from them when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein or eliminated Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And, of course, the media tend to accentuate the Democrat point of view.

Given all these reasons, it is understandable why Democrats are not fully on board.
Iran and Syria Not Key To Victory

In contrast to recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, seeking help from Iran and Syria to stabilize Iraq is not viewed as important. The IBD/TIPP Poll found that support for such an approach is lukewarm at best.

Among all Americans, just 46% think getting help from Iran and Syria is a good idea. And, perhaps surprisingly, support does not depend as much as might be expected on who is asked. On this issue, Democrats, Republicans and Independents seem to agree (by 48%, 44% and 48%, respectively) .

Sending More Troops Has Support
But if talking to Iran and Syria is not the way to go, what is? Sending more troops has the support of more than two of five (43%) Americans � not too different from the percentage who support talking with the two regional powers.

But there's a big difference here. Among those who say that victory in Iraq is "important" for the U.S., the number jumps to 57%, compared with just 15% of those who say victory is "not important."

Clearly, among those who recognize the need for an American victory, boosting our current troop levels is much more important than talking with either Iran or Syria. And we see the same approach being favored by those who are hopeful the U.S. can win: 53% vs. just 30% of those who say the U.S. can't win.

Here again, we find that Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 2-to-1 when it comes to support for sending more troops to Iraq. For those who support a U.S. victory and believe we can achieve it, enhancing our forces is more important than seeking the assistance from Tehran or Damascus.

Gradual Withdrawal Preferred
There's also been talk of setting a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq. For the most part, however, Americans see this as a bad idea.

According to our poll, 57% agree that setting a timetable for withdrawal of troops would embolden insurgents and lead to an increase in sectarian violence.

What's more, the folly of this approach seems to be clearer among those who say victory is important (63%) than for those who don't think it's important (46%). It is also clearer to those who are hopeful the U.S. can achieve victory (63% to 47%).

So what should the U.S. do? If you ask the proverbial man on the street, the answers seem clear:

� Withdraw troops in accordance with the conditions on the ground.
� Win in Iraq because the future is at stake.
� Persevere because America is up to the challenge.

Americans have spoken. Will our leaders listen?

Friday, December 15, 2006

Federal Court Rules Against Guantanamo Detainee

Upholding the legality of October's Military Commissions Act, a federal court ruled here yesterday that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, do not have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts.

Judge James Robertson issued a decision and order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissing the habeas corpus case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden who is being held at Guantanamo Bay. Robertson concluded that the Military Commissions Act unambiguously withdraws the right of habeas corpus -- which allows people who are imprisoned to go before a judge and challenge their detention -- from detainees and that this withdrawal is constitutional.

"The Suspension Clause does not guarantee the right to petition for habeas corpus to non-resident enemy aliens captured and detained outside the United States," Robertson wrote in his decision. In other words, Congress may constitutionally deprive these detainees of the writ of habeas corpus.

Defense Department officials said they were pleased with Robertson's ruling, as it removes federal court jurisdiction over Hamdan's case and similar cases. Officials noted that Congress did provide in the Military Commissions Act that detainees may challenge their detention before fair military tribunals with an appeal to the D.C. Circuit, and that is more process than the U.S. has ever provided to enemy combatants in past conflicts.

"We are, of course, pleased with the ... ruling," said Bryan Whitman, DoD spokesman. "We are continuing to implement the provisions of the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress, and we hope to bring individuals before commissions by next summer. There are still facilities that need to be built in order for commissions to proceed, and we're working on that."

Robertson granted Hamdan's first habeas petition in November 2004, and the case made it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in June that President Bush had overstepped his authority in creating the military commissions. In September, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, authorizing military commissions and clarifying the rights of detainees, specifically on the issue of access to courts.

The Military Commissions Act changes the nature of Hamdan's case, Robertson said in his ruling.

"Hamdan is to face a military commission newly designed, because of his efforts, by a Congress that finally stepped up to its responsibility, acting according to guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court," he wrote. "It is difficult to see how continued habeas jurisdiction could make further improvements in his tribunal."

Four Insurgents Captured; Leaders Discuss Security in Iraq

Iraqi and coalition forces captured a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader yesterday and detained three insurgents the previous day. Earlier this week, multinational leaders met in Tikrit to discuss security operations in Iraq.

Special Iraqi army forces with coalition advisors, captured a terrorist leader during a raid yesterday in Fallujah. The suspect had directed sniper, improvised-explosive-device, and car-bomb attacks against Iraqi security forces and helped abduct and kill several Iraqi police officers, military officials said.

The terrorist leader also directed an extensive murder and intimidation campaign and harbored other terrorist fighters. He was a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader in the Anbar province and controlled several insurgent groups.

Minimal damage was done to the objective, and there were no Iraqi civilian or coalition forces casualties, military officials said.

A day earlier, Iraqi and coalition forces detained three suspected insurgents who were conducting an indirect fire attack on Forward Operating Base Gabe and endangering local civilians in Baqubah and destroyed three vehicles..

Coalition forces observed insurgents in a vehicle fleeing from the scene of the indirect-fire attack. The insurgents began driving erratically around the city, firing small arms and machine guns at innocent civilians. The insurgents stopped at an abandoned building, where they cross-loaded weapons and equipment with two other vehicles.

An air weapons team engaged and destroyed two vehicles as they attempted to flee, and the team returned to the abandoned building to destroy the third. Air reconnaissance observed secondary explosions from the first two vehicles. Iraqi and Coalition ground forces searched the abandoned building and detained three suspects. The detainees were taken to a secure location for questioning.

"This is another example of the terrorists' and violent insurgents' disregard for the welfare and safety of all the people of Diyala," said Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and the senior U.S. officer in the Diyala Province. "Their hatred is spread through the streets with no regard for those that respect peace."

Elsewhere, senior Iraqi and coalition force leaders met Dec. 6 at Forward Operating Base Speicher to discuss the way ahead for security in northern Iraq and future operations in Multinational Division North, military officials said. Iraqi army and police commanders from Ninewa, Kirkuk, Salah Ad Din and Diyala provinces met with their coalition counterparts and senior leaders from the Interior and Defense ministries to develop and coordinate plans for future security operations.

"This is a great day for all the leaders in MNDN," Army Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general of operations for Task Force Lightning, said. "The opportunity for leaders from all the provinces in MNDN to discuss their strategy is tremendous. It allows all leaders to take away lessons learned by their counterparts."

The daylong conference strengthened the relationship between the Iraq security force and coalition forces, allowing their leaders to focus on integrating and synchronizing ongoing security operations, military officials said.

"These are difficult and complicated matters that affect millions of Iraqis," Bednarek said. "The dynamics of security and stability in northern Iraq are going to change the future of MNDN. It is in this room where all of these leaders have come together to discuss that future that some hard decisions will have to be made."

More security meetings between Iraq security force and coalition force leaders are expected, military officials said.

Earlier this week, soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's Company A, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment discovered an improvised explosive device south of their patrol base along the bank of the Euphrates River on Dec. 5.

After examining the IED, soldiers searched the surrounding buildings in the area for terrorist suspects linked to the bomb. In the bedroom of a nearby house, soldiers discovered a bag with IED-making materials that matched the device found on the Euphrates bank. The patrol arrested the owner of the house and confiscated the rest of the IED-making materials. The suspect was detained for further questioning.

That same day, soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, discovered a car bomb near Mahmudiyah. The car bomb was composed of 40 57 mm anti-aircraft rounds planted in the doors of a red compact car. An explosive ordnance disposal team detonated the explosives. No one was injured in the incident.

Troops Haven't Lost Faith in Rumsfeld

As he prepares to enter his final week in office, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was greeted warmly here by the men and women in uniform he has led for the past six years.

Rumsfeld paid a surprise visit to servicemembers based in Iraq to thank them for their service. He met with troops on Al Asad Air Base in Anbar province and then with troops here.

In both places, the troops treated him like a rock star. The 74-year-old secretary flew aboard an Air Force C-17 from Washington. He worked through the night aboard the plane, but was still fresh enough to put in a full day speaking to and meeting the troops.

And they responded.

When he arrived to speak at Al Asad, he received a sustained ovation - punctuated by Marine OO-RAHs and Army HOOAHs. There were even a number of Air Force personnel who insisted on yelling "Airpower."

After the speech in Al Asad, hundreds of servicemembers lined up for pictures with Rumsfeld. Many offered support for the secretary who steps down Dec. 18.

"It isn't a military problem out here," said one Marine gunnery sergeant speaking on background. "It's a political problem. No one in this country can challenge us militarily; we'd wipe the floor with them. The Iraqis have to 'cowboy up.'"

Many soldiers and airmen at Balad said that if they have the patience and they haven't lost faith, then the American people shouldn't either.

"This is my second year-long tour," said a convoy commander at Anaconda Logistics Area. "Why am I more patient than someone sitting at home in 'Fort Livingroom?'"

U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents, Seize Numerous Weapons

U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 insurgents and found numerous enemy weapons caches during operations conducted over the past three days, U.S. military officials reported.

Operations today included:

-- Coalition forces detained eight suspects today during operations in Baghdad that sought to put a murder and kidnapping cell out of business, officials said. The cell is believed responsible for murdering Iraqis in the Adhamiyah district, and its leader is allegedly linked to al Qaeda.

-- Iraqi national police and coalition forces teamed today to seize two weapons caches and detain six men suspected of carrying out sectarian murders and emplacing roadside bombs during operations in Baghdad's al-Hadar neighborhood.

-- Special Iraqi army forces, with coalition advisors, today detained four suspects during operations in Baghdad conducted to capture a local insurgent leader implicated in attacks against Iraqi security forces.

-- Iraqi soldiers and police are teaming up today with U.S. troops from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, to conduct a joint sweep of the Adhamiyah section of Baghdad. The operation, dubbed, "Operation Cougar," is designed to provide greater security for residents in the area.

In yesterday's operations:

-- Special Iraqi security forces with coalition advisors captured a suspected leader of an insurgent group operating in and around Baghdad's Sadr City district during an operation yesterday. The captured insurgent allegedly led an illegal group that kidnapped, tortured and killed innocent Iraqi civilians, officials said. The captured insurgent is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least five innocent Iraqi citizens earlier this year.

-- American soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, detained 10 suspects and found a weapons cache in Baghdad yesterday. The soldiers found one grenade launcher with a round, seven AK-47 rifles with 22 loaded magazines, 3,300 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, two loaded sniper rifle magazines, six primers and one roll of wire, a pair of binoculars, and four radios.

-- Iraqi soldiers, with coalition advisors, rounded up five suspected terrorists and seized a weapons cache and some al Qaeda propaganda during an operation near Mahmudiyah yesterday. The Iraqi 6th Division troops and U.S. 10th Mountain Division soldiers raided a small building complex while targeting a suspected bomb-making cell believed responsible for several attacks against U.S. and Iraqi security forces. The cache yielded two AK-47 rifles, a mortar-cleaning kit, a shotgun, and a mortar explosive. Also found were al Qaeda propaganda and some documents indicating future attacks.

-- Iraqi 8th Division soldiers, with coalition advisors, captured an insurgent cell leader in al Kut yesterday. The detainee allegedly ordered attacks against U.S. forces operating in the area, as well as directed the emplacement of roadside bombs.

-- Iraqi and coalition forces discovered an improvised explosive device while on patrol northeast of Baghdad yesterday. Iraqi soldiers followed some suspicious wiring that led into the courtyard of a local mosque, where a bomb was found and disabled.

-- U.S. soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division found an enemy weapons cache containing some anti-aircraft weapons during an operation conducted south of Baghdad yesterday. The cache included a Soviet-made SA-7 "Strella" surface-to-air missile launcher and components of a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The captured weapons were old, deteriorated and seemed to be unusable without significant maintenance, officials said.

-- Iraqi soldiers with the 1st Division, with coalition advisors, conducted a raid near Karmah in Anbar province and captured eight suspected insurgents yesterday. One of the detainees is suspected of having threatened local citizens and of attacking Iraqi police.

-- Iraqi 7th Division soldiers, with coalition advisors, seized two insurgent cell leaders during a raid conducted in Ta'meem near Ramadi yesterday. The seized insurgents are affiliated with al Qaeda, and are suspected of planting IEDs that have been used against coalition and Iraqi security forces operating in the area. Three other suspects also were rounded up in the raid.

In operations Dec. 8:

-- Special Iraqi army forces, with coalition advisors, nabbed a suspected insurgent leader during a raid in Baghdad Dec. 8. The detainee is implicated in several kidnappings and murders of innocent Iraqi citizens, as well as arms trafficking and IED and car bomb attacks against Iraqi security forces.

-- 1st Battalion, 6th Brigade, Iraqi national police and coalition forces seized several enemy weapons caches during an early morning raid in Baghdad's al Doura neighborhood Dec. 8. Local residents tipped off police about the location of the weaponry. Iraqi police found illegal weapons in area homes and in a mosque. Seized contraband included: four assault rifles, one machine gun, 42 mortar rounds, plastic explosives and assorted bomb-making materials.

-- U.S. Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5 killed a group of insurgents who were caught emplacing a roadside bomb in Saqlawiyah, west of Baghdad, Dec. 8. Three insurgents were killed and two vehicles were destroyed. The Marines had watched the insurgents place an IED underneath a tractor-trailer and a large truck.

-- Iraqi soldiers with the 1st Division, with coalition advisors, nabbed two suspected insurgents during a raid in Khalidiyah Dec. 8. The detainees are believed to be responsible for recent IED attacks against Iraqi security forces.

-- Iraqi and U.S. soldiers teamed up to find an IED factory in Baqubah and put it out of business during a Dec. 8 operation. Iraqi soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Iraqi Army, and American troops with the 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, found the factory inside a local residence. The factory contained more than five rocket-propelled grenades, small-arms munitions, 1,000 pounds of fertilizer, blasting caps and timers, fuel containers, several hundred feet of detonation cord, two compressed air tank IEDs, and other bomb-making materials.

'American Heroes' Helping Iraqis Every Day

The situation in Iraq would be much worse "if not for the American heroes that are out on the street every day in Baghdad and across (Iraq)," the commander of combat troops in Iraq said today.

"In the debate over the events happening in Iraq, I think that some people have lost sight of the daily acts of heroism that our servicemembers perform here in the name of service to our nation and to freedom," said Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq. Chiarelli, who gives up command Dec. 14, spoke to reporters in the Pentagon via a satellite connection from Baghdad.

He said he believes Americans see only the negative side of operations in Iraq because coverage of the daily violence -- which he admitted is "much higher than any of us want it to be" -- gets in the way of seeing the progress U.S. servicemembers are making.

"I will tell you that if it were not for the soldiers, the Marines, the sailors and the airmen who look the devil in the eye every single day that they conduct ... mission after mission to go out and, first of all, do their best to keep the sectarian violence down and, second of all, the promotion of a democratic Iraq, things would be a lot worse," Chiarelli said. "I believe that with all my heart."

As an example of a U.S. military member's heroism, Chiarelli told of recently signing a posthumous award for a soldier who threw himself on a grenade to save four other people in his vehicle.

"This is just one example of the daily acts of heroism, courage and selfless service our servicemembers perform for each other and for their Iraqi counterparts," Chiarelli said, adding that he is extremely proud of the service of U.S. military members in Iraq.

"It's hard to leave knowing that much work still needs to be done," he said. "But the performance of these servicemembers on the ground is what has made me feel so honored to have been their commander this last year, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for that opportunity."

20 Terrorists Killed, Weapons Caches Destroyed

Coalition forces killed 20 terrorists this morning while targeting al Qaeda terrorists in the Thar Thar area, military officials reported.

Coalition forces targeted the location based on intelligence reports that indicated associates with links to multiple al Qaeda in Iraq networks were operating in the area.

Ground forces were searching buildings at the targeted location when they began receiving heavy machine-gun fire from one of the buildings. The ground forces returned fire, killing two armed terrorists.

Despite efforts to subdue the remaining armed terrorists, officials said, coalition forces continued to be threatened by enemy fire, causing forces to call in close-air support. A coalition aircraft performed the air strike, resulting in 18 more armed terrorists killed.

During a search of the objective, coalition forces found multiple weapons caches consisting of AK-47s, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-personnel mines, explosives, blasting caps and suicide vests. All these items were destroyed on site.

Coalition forces also found that two of the terrorists killed were women. Al Qaeda in Iraq has both men and women supporting and facilitating their operations, officials said.

U.S. Troop Morale in Iraq High

Even with all the debate in the U.S. over Iraq strategy, morale on the ground here is good, the commander of Multinational Force West said today.

Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer said that retention among Marines based in Iraq is more than 140 percent of the goal. "If they didn't think what they were doing was important, then they wouldn't reenlist," he said during an interview.

He said the situation in Anbar province is difficult, but progress is being made. "It's going to be slow," Zilmer said. "We will be at this for a long time."

The general said he is encouraged by cooperation tribal sheikhs are providing the coalition in the province. Local leaders in and around Ramadi finally had enough of al Qaeda in Iraq violence and intimidation and began cooperating with the U.S. forces in the area. "The sheikhs have a lot of power," Zilmer said. "As soon as they put it out that people should cooperate, we started getting volunteers."

The Iraqi police in Anbar are fairly well-manned, but there are problems recruiting soldiers, Zilmer said. Part of that is because police remain local, while soldiers can get assigned anywhere in the country. Another problem is a requirement that Iraqi soldiers know how to read and write. Many men in Anbar province do not have those skills. "Al Qaeda doesn't have that same requirement," Zilmer said.

The help the sheikhs provide also means more tips coming in to the Iraqi authorities and more cooperation when forces go to neighborhoods, he said. It has also had an effect on the number of attacks in the city. "We hope this cooperation spreads beyond Ramadi," he said. "Success breeds success."

Another bright spot in Anbar is in and around Al Qaim, on the Syrian border. "Last year there were pitched battles in the city," he said. "Now the tribal leaders are cooperating, and the police and army units cooperate with each other and with us."

The people of Al Qaim are giving the Iraqi government a chance to establish order, Zilmer said.

Despite these successes, the province is a huge area to cover. The addition of a Marine amphibious unit has helped tamp down some of the problems, the general said, but what he really needs are more Iraqi forces.

Many of the Marines and soldiers in the region are on their second or third tour, yet their morale is still high. "They come out here and decide they will make a difference," Zilmer said. "And they do. Every day."

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

ISG Plan Could Worsen Iran Nuke Threat

President George W. Bush continues to be concerned over the stability in Iran and its potential to acquire nuclear weapons, and will work to oppose that result even if it means not adopting a recommendation of the new Iraq Study Group report to try diplomacy, according to spokesman Tony Snow.

Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, asked Snow yesterday whether the president agrees with the sentiments of a letter from Sen. John Kyl, R-Az., and former Central Intelligence Agency chief James Woolsey.

"Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and former CIA Director James Woolsey have written the president: 'The Iranian regime is working to acquire nuclear arms and long-range missiles. When combined with Ahmadinejad's repeated threats to wipe Israel off the map and bring about a world without America, we face the prospect that Iran will have the means to carry out their apocalyptic intentions.' � Has the president responded to these two? And does he disagree with their statement?"

"He agrees," said Snow.

"If you've noted in recent months we've made it very clear that we do not believe that Iran should have any nuclear capability," Snow continued. "It does, in fact, have long-range missile capability � and it has tested long-range missiles recently."

The new letter from Kyl and Woolsey cited the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report and its 79 recommendations for policy changes, force redeployments and other changes in Iraq.

"Members of our Council (the bipartisan National Security Advisory Council of the Center for Security Policy) on both sides of the aisle strongly disagree with what is, arguably, the Baker-Hamilton commission's most strategically portentous recommendation," the letter said.

That recommendation, the letter said, is that "the United States should immediately launch a New Diplomatic Offensive to build an international consensus for stability in Iraq and the region."

The letter from Kyl noted that the recommendation includes reaching out to Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria. But he said that would be unwise.

"As the ISG's own report documents, far from being proponents of stability, the Islamic Republic of Iran and its de facto colony, Syria, have gone to great lengths to destabilize the Middle East and, in particular, to prevent Iraq from becoming a free, democratic and peaceful nation," the letter said.

"Islamofascists" from those nations are the ones now killing Americans in Iraq, the letter said.

"At the same time, the Iranian regime is working to acquire nuclear arms and long-range ballistic missiles with which to deliver them. When combined with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeat threats to 'wipe Israel off the map' and bring about 'a world without America,' we face the prospect that, in due course, the mullahs running Iran will have the means to carry out their apocalyptic intentions."

That, the letter suggested, is not good.

The two authors said discussions also would legitimatize an "increasingly dangerous regime" which should be discredited and undermined instead. It also would embolden enemies who believe now "they are sapping our will to resist them."

Such a move also would give Iranian mullahs more time to prepare their weapons of mass destruction, and finally, it would "create the illusion that we are taking useful steps to contend with the threat from Iran � when, in fact, we would not be," the letter said.

"Mr. President, we encourage you to follow your better instincts. By all means, review, assess and, as appropriate, adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and those of the executive branch agencies you have commissioned. We urge you, however, to continue to reject any course of action that would signal that America has become a country that, to quote the scholar Bernard Lewis, is 'harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend,'" the letter said.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Suspicion about imams grows as terror links pile up

The grounded imams incident at the Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport has been a public relations coup for the imams, their supporters and their claims that the group's only suspicious activity was saying evening prayers.

US Airways continues to defend its crew's decision to pull the imams off a plane last month, saying they took the seating configuration used by 9/11 hijackers, requested seat-belt extensions that could be used as weapons and otherwise raised concerns.

Who are the parties involved here, who seem so interested in linking airport security with racial bigotry?

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the imams' legal representative, is an organization that "we know has ties to terrorism," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in 2003. And the Muslim American Society, which is also supporting the imams? It's the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Chicago Tribune, which called it "the world's most influential Islamic fundamentalist group."

How about Omar Shahin, the imams' spokesman and also president of the North American Imams Federation? He is a native of Jordan, who says he became a U.S. citizen in 2003. From 2000 to 2003, Shahin served as president of Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), that city's largest mosque.

The ICT is well known. The mosque has "an extensive history of terror links," according to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, who testified about terrorist financing before the Senate Banking Committee in July 2005.

The Washington Post described these links in a 2002 article. "Tucson was one of the first points of contact in the United States for the jihadist group that evolved into al Qaeda," the Post reported. And the ICT? It held "basically the first cell of al Qaeda in the United States; that is where it all started," said Rita Katz, a terrorism expert quoted by the Post.

ICT members have included high-profile terrorists. Wael Hamza Jelaidan, the mosque's leader in the mid-1980s, was identified by the U.S. government as a " 'co-founder' of al Qaeda and its logistics chief," the Post reported.

Another former member, Wadi Hage, served as Osama bin Laden's personal secretary after leaving Arizona, the Post said, attributing it to government sources. Hage established a bin Laden support network in Arizona and "this network is still in place," Emerson wrote in his book "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S.," citing a 2002 Senate Intelligence Committee Report. In 2001, Hage was convicted of plotting the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The best-known terrorist with apparent (according to the Post and Emerson) connections to the ICT is Hani Hanjour, who piloted the plane that flew into the Pentagon on 9/11. Hanjour took aviation lessons in Tucson in the late 1990s.

Shahin has downplayed the ICT's connections to terrorism. The mosque should not be held accountable for former members who may have engaged in terrorism after they left Arizona, he told the Post in 2002. Al-Qaida nests in America? "All of these, they make it up," he told the Arizona Republic shortly after 9/11.

But dubious activity continued when Shahin became ICT president. For example, the mosque raised thousands of dollars for an Islamic charity called the Holy Land Foundation in 2001, and Shahin served as the charity's Arizona coordinator, according to the Associated Press. Holy Land "collects funds for widows and orphans and needy people," he told the AP.

In December 2001, the Treasury Department froze Holy Land's assets, citing its funding of the terrorist organization Hamas' efforts to recruit suicide bombers.
Shahin also told the Arizona Daily Star in 2001 that he would permit the Global Relief Foundation to raise funds at the ITC. In 2002, the U.S. government froze that organization' s assets because of its support of bin Laden, Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Another incident of interest occurred during Shahin's tenure at ITC. On June 13, 2003, the FBI arrested Muhammad Al-Qudhai'een, who was active at the mosque, and transported him to Virginia to testify as a material witness before a federal grand jury investigating 9/11.

Earlier, the FBI had investigated Al-Qudhai'een' s involvement in a 1999 incident. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Al-Qudhai'een and Hamdan al Shalawi, a fellow Saudi, were removed from an America West flight after engaging in what the flight crew considered suspicious activity. The crew asserted that Al-Qudhai'een had twice attempted to open the plane's cockpit door. After 9/11, FBI agents in Phoenix considered whether the incident had been a "dry run" for the attacks. The 9/11 Commission noted that Al Shalawi had reportedly trained in Afghan terrorist camps in November 2000, learning how to conduct "Khobar Towers"-type bombing attacks.

The America West incident attracted national attention in 1999. In 2000, the two Saudis filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the airline. "What happened to us was based on racial and religious discrimination, " al Shalawi told the Arizona Republic. CAIR hired the Saudis' attorney for them, and urged a boycott of the airline. America West won the lawsuit. Al-Qudhai'een was later deported to Saudi Arabia.
Shahin left ICT in June 2003. Subsequently, he became a fundraiser for KindHearts, another Islamic charity. But the Treasury Department froze KindHearts' assets on Feb. 19, 2006. "KindHearts is the progeny of Holy Land Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, which attempted to mask their support for terrorism behind the facade of charitable giving," according to the Treasury Department.

Shahin has evidently helped raise money for all three of these organizations.
Ten days ago, Shahin expressed ignorance of KindHeart's terrorist connections. "When they shut down, I had no clue what they were doing," he told the Washington Times.

So was the Flying Imams incident an instance of bigotry? Or was it part of a larger script? If so, whose script is it, and what's the final act?

Iran To Have Nukes by 2008

Iran announced over the weekend that it was launching a bomb-scale uranium enrichment program, despite a U.N. Security Council demand that it freeze its nuclear activities.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly told a group of students Saturday that Iran had started the installation of 3,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges at its fuel plant near Natanz, calling it "the first step toward industrial production."

Israeli nuclear experts said that the installation of the 3,000 centrifuge "pilot plant" at Natanz was a key turning plant in Iran's nuclear weapons development.

"The Iranians are calling this a �pilot plant,'" one Israeli analyst noted. "But this isn't a pilot plant; 3,000 centrifuges give them the capability of producing one significant quantity of nuclear fuel per year."

A "significant quantity" (SQ) is the amount of nuclear material needed to manufacture one nuclear device, currently defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as 25 kilograms of uranium, and just 8 kilograms of plutonium.
The Israeli government believes it will take Iran approximately nine months to get the 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz up and running, and another year to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a first bomb.

So far, Iran is right on schedule.

If the Iranians continue to hold to the timeline of their public declarations to the IAEA, they will become a nuclear weapons power by September 2008, just before the next U.S. presidential elections.

But that timeline for Iran's nuclear weapons development is based solely on what Iran has told the IAEA.

"We know that Iran is not telling the full story," an Israeli nuclear expert said . "They are not telling lies, but they are not telling the full story."

"There can be no doubt that Iran has a clandestine, parallel nuclear weapons program," a senior Israeli intelligence official said last week.

Military Meets, Exceeds Recruiting Goals

Though Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday it is having success enlisting new troops. The Navy and Air Force met their recruiting goals last month while the Army and Marine Corps exceeded theirs, the Defense Department announced.

The Army, which is bearing the brunt of the work in Iraq, did the best. It signed up 6,485 new recruits in November compared with its target of 6,150 - meaning 105 percent of its goal.

All the services turned in similar performances in October as well, meaning they so far are meeting their goals for the 2007 budget year that began Oct. 1.

"The services are starting off well," said Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

According to figures released Tuesday by the Pentagon, the Navy signed up 2,887 recruits last month, or 100 percent of its goal; Marines signed up 2,095, or 104 percent of its 2,012 target and the Air Force signed up all 1,877 it was seeking.

The Army also met its goal in the 2006 budget year after missing its target in fiscal year 2005 for the first time since 1999. It added recruiters and offered recruits bonuses to help attract more to the service.

The Army has been recruiting about 80,000 people a year, setting differing monthly goals depending on the time of the year.

Afghan Warlord: GOP Loss a Win for Militants

In a rare video message, Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claims that American troops will be forced out of Afghanistan like the Soviets before them.

The leader of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group also touts the Republican Party defeat in last month's U.S. midterm elections as a victory for militants fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"It seems that every bullet that mujahedeen had fired toward the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan has turned into a vote against Bush," Hekmatyar said in the undated video statement received by Associated Press Television in Pakistan.

"There is no doubt that is a great victory and success for Afghan and Iraqi mujahedeen," he said. "I am convinced that the fate [the] Soviet Union faced is awaiting America as well."

"Very soon we will see that, God willing, American troops will leave Afghanistan and Iraq with their heads bowed down," Hekmatyar said in the video.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Military experts question Iraq pullback proposal

Pulling back American troops into their bases in Iraq will reduce U.S. casualties, but it could also spark a firestorm of unrestrained sectarian violence that will sorely test the loyalties of the Iraqi army.

Military analysts have focused on leaked recommendations that U.S. troops shift from combat to concentrate on supporting and training Iraqi forces, who should do more of the fighting.

Some analysts interviewed ahead of the report's publication cautioned that such a proposal was fraught with peril when viewed against the backdrop of sectarian and insurgent violence that has defied previous U.S. and Iraqi efforts to rein it in.

"The short term will see a drop in (U.S.) casualties. But the military consequence of pulling back will be to cede the initiative to the enemy and to reduce the patrol presence that keeps enemy activity down," said Stephen Biddle of the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

"If we were to withdraw to bases, the intensity of the civil war is going to increase dramatically, " he warned.

While the United Nations estimates that some 120 people die violently every day in Iraq, the fear is the death toll would be far higher if U.S. troops hunkered down in their bases and removed one of the last checks on roving sectarian death squads.

"We should have coalition forces for some months to come while we ramp up training of Iraqi forces. There has to be a phased withdrawal," he said.
Anderson, who was in Iraq this summer to train Iraqi army officers, said the training and support that U.S.-led forces had provided the Iraqis so far was "not what it should be", although those officers he saw were "pretty good".
He said the number of trainers embedded in Iraqi units should also be "increased considerably" . "This gives them some steel and sends a signal they have not been abandoned."

"We can train Iraqis to be better soldiers but it is not proven we can train them to be better Iraqis. They will still be loyal to communities and tribes rather than central government," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute.

"There is too much unjustified optimism that Iraqi forces are tractable and trainable. To date there is little evidence."

While Maliki has pushed Washington to accelerate training of his forces and hand over security control, their ability to fill the security vacuum is questionable, despite efforts by U.S. generals to publicly boost their image.

"Even if you've got an effective military you still have the problem that that amounts to arming one of the two sides in the civil war. And as the death toll rises the military will takes sides among the militias ... and splinter," warned Biddle.

Thompson said much of America's new military strategy in Iraq would depend on how the Bush administration now defined its political goals in Iraq.
"If our goal is to prevent the spread of civil war, then we are not going to be pulling troops out, because the moment we do, the war will grow so ferocious we will stop deploying.

"If our goal is to get out, then we are going to have to accept an even higher level of civil strife. If Americans leave Iraq, it will not be peaceful by anybody's definition."

A Primer: 2008 Republican Candidates

1) Due to his high name recognition and the fawning press that he gets from the mainstream media for trashing other Republicans, Sen. John McCain is currently one of the two frontrunners for the Republican nomination. On the upside, McCain is a Vietnam vet, a true blue fiscal conservative, and he has a lifetime American Conservative Union rating of 83%, which isn�t terrible.

2) The support for Rudy Giuliani amongst many conservatives is rather puzzling. Yes, he's charismatic, did a great job of cleaning up crime when he was mayor of New York, and did a masterful job of holding things together in New York after 9/11. However, Rudy Giuliani is not conservative in the least. In fact, he's so ideologically ambiguous that he has more in common with the Democratic contenders than his Republican counterparts on perhaps a majority of issues.

Rudy Giuliani is pro-abortion, pro-partial birth abortion, soft on gay marriage, pro-gun control, and even once said he was open to endorsing Bill Clinton for President. Speaking of Clinton, Giuliani's former wife accused him of "open and notorious adultery." Is this really a guy that Reagan Republicans would be happy to have as their President?

3) Mitt Romney is an interesting character. Although he is the outgoing governor of the very liberal state of Massachusetts and was named as one of the Top 10 RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) less than a year ago in HUMAN EVENTS, he's not as liberal as he might appear at first glance.

He opposed raising taxes in Massachusetts, balanced the budget, fought gay marriage (although unfortunately, he lost) and has flip flopped on abortion (He now has a pro-life stance). He's even publicly calling himself a �conservative Republican.�

On the other hand, according to recent polls, even if you set aside the debate about how conservative he is or isn't, the "Mormon issue" is starting to look like an insurmountable obstacle to his candidacy. According to Rasmussen Polling, 43% of Americans and 53% of Evangelicals say that they, "wouldn't consider voting for a Mormon candidate." For good or ill, that probably means that Romney is unelectable.

4) Putting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the top tier is probably a bit of a stretch at this point, but after George Allen's untimely political demise, Newt is basically the "conservative choice" by default. That's not to say that Newt doesn't have his charms. Not only is he extremely well informed and conservative, as the author of the Contract with America, he's the closest thing to a flag carrier that Reagan Republicans have.

Unfortunately, Newt is also carrying around some extremely heavy baggage. He has had multiple wives and multiple extra-marital affairs. He's also notorious for hashing out a divorce agreement with his first wife while she was in the hospital recovering from uterine cancer. On top of that, Newt, who was an extremely polarizing figure back in the 1990s, got caught up in a rather silly ethics flap over an advance on a book he wrote. Also, he gave up his leadership position in Congress after his fellow Republicans lost confidence in him back in 1998.

In short, Newt has a checkered past that would probably be revisited in excruciating detail in 2008. On the other hand, Newt's baggage is probably not much heavier than Rudy Giuliani's and Rudy�s numerous personal flaws don�t seem to be curbing anyone's enthusiasm for his candidacy.

5) Although Rep. Tom Tancredo has a significant fan base in the Republican party because of his tough stance on illegal immigration, he hasn't made a name for himself on any other issues and his comments about nuking Mecca and Miami being a "Third World country" indicate that he may not be ready for the big show. Still, even though Tancredo probably can't win the nomination, his endorsement, which would be like the good housekeeping seal of approval on the illegal immigration issue, could turn out to be very important.

6) Duncan Hunter, a congressman from California, is perhaps the most intriguing of the second-tier candidates. Hunter is conservative, charismatic, and tough on illegal immigration. He's also a former Army Ranger, who fought in Vietnam, has a son serving in Iraq, and is the current chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

On the other hand, Hunter is not a free trader, and although he belongs to the fiscally conservative Republican Study Committee, his record on spending issues is fairly pedestrian.

The weakness of the field overall combined with Hunter's foreign policy credibility and tough stand on illegal immigration may give him an opportunity to climb the ladder into the top tier if, and this is a big "if," he can significantly build up his name recognition and convince the base that he's a fiscal conservative.

7) Sam Brownback is a socially conservative senator from Kansas who might have had an outside shot at filling the now vacant "conservative candidate" role had he not been one of the strongest backers of amnesty for illegal aliens in the Senate. As it is, Brownback, who's not especially charismatic and has almost no name recognition, is better known for being in favor of unlimited illegal immigration than anything else. That's not an especially promising way to start a dark horse campaign for the presidency.

8) Mike Huckabee, the former minister and soon-to-be ex-governor of Arkansas has a cheerful personality, has gotten some attention for losing more than 100 pounds, and is, as you'd expect from a former minister, quite socially conservative. However, he doesn't come across as hawkish, fiscally conservative, or tough on illegal immigration. Given that he doesn't have high name recognition either, it's hard to see how Huckabee is going to be able to climb up the ranks.

9) Jim Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia and RNC chairman, has been said to be considering a run at the presidency. Although Gilmore is certainly very conservative and has burnished his national security credentials since he left office, he hasn't been the governor of Virginia for more than five years and he has very little name recognition. Since that's the case, if he decides to run, it seems likely that he will have an extremely difficult time getting any traction.

10) After hearing that Tommy Thompson was the former governor of Wisconsin, you might think that he'd be an interesting dark-horse candidate for the presidency. After all, Wisconsin barely went blue in 2004 and if Thompson could turn it red, along with perhaps Minnesota, which is next door, that would be an additional 20 electoral votes that the GOP could rake in. However, as Bush's Health and Human Services Secretary, Thompson shepherded through the biggest new government boondoggle since the LBJ presidency, the Medicare prescription drug program. That's just not the sort of thing you want to have on your resume when you're running as a Republican nominee for the presidency, especially when the base is particularly grouchy about issues related to fiscal conservatism.

11) Does a moderate, not particularly popular or well known, pro-abortion governor of a liberal state like New York's George Pataki really have a shot to become President? Honestly, probably not.

12) Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is best known for his anti-war stance, his criticism of other Republicans, and for being nearly as despised by conservative bloggers as John McCain. Hagel's chances of being the nominee in 2008 are about the same as those of Richard Nixon -- and Nixon's dead.

The Has-Beens and Just-Might-Be� s -- If They Decide to Run

13) Secretary of State Condi Rice has a surprising amount of grassroots support for a candidate who has never run for office before and if she were to get into the race, she'd probably become a top tier contender. However, the fact that she's a never married woman in her 50s would be a major hindrance (The Democrats would tag her as a lesbian or a weirdo) and as she actually revealed her domestic policies (of which, people know almost nothing at present), it's likely her support would drop significantly.

14) George Bush's replacement as governor of Texas, Rick Perry, is a socially conservative, fiscally conservative candidate from one of the most important states for Republicans. There has been some talk that he wants to be considered as a vice president in 2008, but if Perry were to get into the race, he'd have a good shot of moving right up into the top tier.

15) The current governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, would be an intriguing candidate if he chose to run. Pawlenty is conservative and could likely bring Minnesota and Wisconsin (20 electoral votes) into the GOP column in 2008. Although he has minimal name recognition at present, he would get a long, hard look if he got into the race.

16) Is the time right for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to dip his toes into presidential waters? This quote tells you just about everything you need to know:

"Governor Sanford's reforms have saved South Carolina taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. ... Mark Sanford has made a real difference. He is a true taxpayer hero."
�Citizens Against Government Waste Political Action Committee Chairman Tom Schatz
Sanford would have a real uphill battle to get the nomination, but in a field this weak, he'd be guaranteed to at least get a long, hard look from the base.

17) When does it not make sense for a popular, fiscally conservative governor of an important swing state who is popular with Hispanics not to run for President? The answer to that is when his last name happens to be Bush, as in Jeb Bush. At the moment, Republicans have had enough of the Bush family in the White House and if Jeb wants to have a chance to win, he'll want to wait until at least 2012 at this point.

18) Normally, you'd think that the sitting Vice President would consider a run at the presidency, but Dick Cheney isn't particularly popular, has had heart problems, and has said definitively that he's not going to run.

19) Sen. George Allen was slowly morphing into the "conservative candidate" in the race before he lost to Republican-turned- Democrat Jim Webb in what was perhaps the nastiest political battle in the country. After losing, Allen is out.

20) After the GOP's crushing loss in 2006, Sen. Bill Frist decided not to run for the presidency, which makes sense because, after all, if people think the Republican Senate performed miserably and you were the Senate majority leader, a promotion probably isn�t in the cards.

Terrorists rejoicing over Iraq Survey Group 'plan'

Reaction to Study Group: 'Allah and his angels' responsible, 'era of Islam and of jihad' declared

A high level U.S. commission's recommendations for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq and for dialogue with Iran and Syria proves "Islamic resistance" works and America will ultimately be defeated, according to senior terrorist leaders.

The militants, from the largest Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, welcomed the policies outlined by the Iraq Study Group, which they claim recognizes Islam is the "new giant of the world."

"The report proves that this is the era of Islam and of jihad," said Abu Ayman, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

"[With the Iraq Study Group report], the Americans came to the conclusion that Islam is the new giant of the world and it would be clever to reduce hostilities with this giant. In the Quran the principle of the rotation is clear and according to this principle the end of the Americans and of all non-believers is getting closer," Abu Ayman said.

According to Abu Abdullah, a senior leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, Baker's report is a victory for Islam brought about by "Allah and his angels."

"It is not just a simple victory. It is a great one. The big superpower of the world is defeated by a small group of mujahedeen (fighters). Did you see the mujahedeens' clothes and weapons in comparison with the huge individual military arsenal and supply that was carrying every American soldier?" exclaimed Abu Abdullah, who is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.

Abu Abdullah said following a withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. will be defeated on its own soil.

"America must understand that with anti-American governments in Latin America and with Islam growing and reinforcing, including in the U.S. itself, the next step would be a total defeat on their (American) land, not a relative one like they are facing in Iraq," he said.