“Are They Going To Leave Us Again?”

Contrary to the beliefs of the seagull commenters that swoop in here every now and then, I am not a ideologically driven supporter of all things pertaining to President Bush. Actually, an objective reader would have to admit hat I have had my disagreements with Bush, most notably over the illegal immigration issue. Bush gave an interview to the Washington Post today. A couple of the statements he made are more important than the rest, I thing:

The enemy wants to know whether or not the United States has the will to stay engaged in this ideological struggle. They don't believe we do. That's what they say. And I believe that's what they believe.

The third group of people I speak to are the Iraqis. They wonder whether the United States has got the will to help them achieve their objectives. That's what they wonder. The leaders I have talked to wonder whether or not — what the elections mean, or what the Baker-Hamilton commission means, or what changing [former defense] secretary [Donald H.] Rumsfeld means — that's what they wonder. But in the back of their mind, they're saying, "Are they going to leave us again?" And that's an important question for them to have answered, because in order to make difficult choices and to take risk for peace, they're going to have to be assured that they'll get support. This is a group of people that have had their hopes dashed in the past.

And that is the rub that I have pointed out over and over. If the left forces a withdrawal, there will be a bloodbath in Iraq. And the blood will be on the people who push that withdrawal agenda.

UPDATE: It's always predictable when Daou Report links. Here is the comment policy. It is enforced.

Palestinians Agree To Another Ceasefire

Not with Israel. But between their own warring factions.

Abbas, speaking to journalists, said that "from 11:00 pm (2100 GMT), there will be a return to complete calm that will allow us to return to our business and to take care of our people."

The agreement "will be applied in Gaza to put an end to the armed presence, to shooting and to chaotic military deployments."

Prime minister Ismail Haniya later confirmed the ceasefire.

"We have an agreement, which we welcome, and we insisted in the presence of the head of the (Jeddah-based) Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, that it be respected," Haniyeh told a news conference.

"Interior ministry services will oversee the implementation of this agreement tonight and we hope that our people will wake up tomorrow and find a better situation so that we can settle the current crisis," he added.

Abbas said the deal had been hammered out "after contacts with friendly countries and friendly leaders, such as (Jordanian) King Abudullah II."

Officials in Amman had announced earlier that the king had phoned Abbas and offered to host a meeting between him and the Hamas premier to defuse the crisis.

Only a few minor deaths are expected before the next ceasefire. No more than 100 or so. Palestinian ceasefires traditionally have left out the "cease" part when informing the populace of the agreement. But the media reliably informs us of each one.

Worst. Death. Ever.

Close on the heels of my post about the worst job ever, that of sewage diver, comes this story. This is possibly the worst way to end you life that I have heard of. Crashing your airplane into a sewage vat. A full one.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Three Japanese men died when their small plane crashed into a tank full of raw sewage in California, an employee at the flight school that operated the aircraft said on Tuesday…..

…..The three died on Monday when their twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air crashed into a sewage tank at a wastewater treatment plant in the farm town of Gilroy, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the crash with the National which is investigating the crash with the National Transportation Safety Board.

You know, I generally hope for a trifecta with certain types of news. This time, not so much.

You know, I generally hope for a trifecta with certain types of news. This time, not so much.

Free Speech

I posted about a letter sent by US Senators Olympia Snowe and John Rockefeller to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson making pretty thinly veiled threats against the company for daring to fund a teeny little think tank that dares to question the imparted wisdom of the true believers in man being the prime mover behind global warming.

Today, I had noticed that Lord Monckton, more properly the Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, had written a rather strongly worded response to the Senators but had not had a chance to dig up links. (I apologize that blogging has been a bit different than usual around here. I am still having quite a lot of trouble with attacks on the site). But I think this is an important letter that should get a bit of exposure.

To: The Honourable Senator Olympia Snowe (Republican, Maine)

The Honourable Senator John D. Rockefeller (Democrat, West Virginia)

Madame, Sir,

Uphold Free Speech About Climate Change Or Resign

The US Constitution guarantees the right of free speech. It is inappropriate for elected Senators such as yourselves to suggest that any person should refrain from exercising that right, as you have done in your letter of October 27 to the CEO of ExxonMobil. That great corporation has exercised its right of free speech – and with good reason – in openly providing support for scientists and groups that dare to question how much the increased concentration of CO2 in the air may warm the world. You must honour the Constitution, withdraw your letter and apologize to ExxonMobil, or resign as Senators.

Do read the whole thing, it is a very proper, very British slap at the threats that I am very ashamed two American Senators would make.

I Have To Agree With Greg

Greg Tinti over at The Political Pit Bull does a great post slamming the innuendo that has begun circulating about Barack Obama's middle name. I agree with him wholeheartedly.

For about a week now, I've been hearing and reading all over the place that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. And to put it as plainly as I possibly can, I don't give a crap. I don't care if his middle name is Hussein. I don't care if it's Osama or even bin Laden. Hell, his name could be Barack Princess Consuela Bananahammock Obama for all I care.

The obvious implication that some are trying to infer is that Obama has some connection or affinity towards radical Islam. And while plenty of people are happy to make the inference, no one has yet pointed out one thing Obama has ever done in his private or public life that has shown that he is sympathetic to jihadism. Period.

Look, this is not constructive and not at all helpful to the political debate in the United States right now. There is also no indication that Barack Obama is anything but a somewhat under-experienced politician from Illinois. I'd rather see people not go down this road at all. Give it a rest people.

UPDATE: Others: Blogs of War, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Debbie Schlussel, (Note: I have agreed with Debbie Schlussel in the past on something or other, but disagree with her this time.) Also, a public thank you for some kind email words of support Sister Toldjah provided when this site was really getting hammered with DDOS/Spam attacks. They were much appreciated.

UPDATE: Others: Liberal Values, Baldilocks, Rick Moran, (Who points out the obvious here – some folks are completely missing the common thread on many of the blogs linking Schlussel – we disagree with her.)

Bush To Increase Military

President Bush will go ahead on recommendations from top military officers and ask for an increase in the active duty branches of the military. Since at least part of the reason that the military is stretched is because of overzealous cuts in the service during the 90s, this action is probably overdue.

President Bush said today that he plans to expand the size of the U.S. military to meet the challenges of a long-term global war against terrorists, a response to warnings that sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the armed forces to near the breaking point.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush said he has instructed newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces. The president gave no estimates about how many troops may be added but indicated that he agreed with suggestions in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the current military is stretched too thin to cope with the demands placed on it.

….

The Army has already temporarily increased its size from 482,000 active-duty soldiers in 2001 to 507,000 today and soon to 512,000. But the Army wants to make that 30,000-soldier increase permanent and then grow an additional 7,000 soldiers or more per year. The Army estimates that every 10,000 additional soldiers will cost about $1.2 billion a year.

I know they really should look at active duty logistics support while they are looking into this. The reserves and guard units provide an awful lot of those services under the current organization. That is at least part of the reason for the burden on those branches. These changes would take years to accomplish, incidentally. They will be of no short-term value.

Worst. Job. Ever.

If you've ever sen the show on the Discovery cable network, Dirty Jobs, you know that the host, Mike Rowe, has done some truly awful jobs. I've seen one episode where he went down in sewer tunnels and was patching mortar. He had to clear most of the cockroaches out of the way before slapping the mortar in place. That was a really dirty job. But it is a vacation compared to this one:

Sewage diver.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Julio Cesar Cu wanted to be an oceanographer but instead he swims through foul-smelling sewage in underground tunnels where the occasional dead body bobs beside excrement and car parts.

Paid just $400 (203 pounds) a month to de-clog the miles of sewage tunnels running beneath the Mexican capital, diver Cu comes across the nastiest of flotsam.

"The oddest have been dead animals, animal heads, dead people," he said. "Unfortunately a lot of bodies end up here."

Cu's job is to prevent blockages in tunnels of up to 20-feet (6-metre) wide that could cause sewage to flood onto city streets. "Once, we fished out car parts which I think would have fit together to make a whole car," he said.

You have to hand it to him, he actually likes his job. I mean most people would consider that certifiable behavior.

Swiss Snake

The Swiss, pioneers of expensive chocolate, numbered bank accounts and yodeling are also famed (or defamed, depending on your point of view) for the invention of "Swiss Steak". This is a way to prepare a slab of meat off a cow's rear end, normally tough as leather. The chef (one need not actually be Swiss to do this, incidentally), takes a large heavy mallet and beats the living heck out of the innocent slab of beef. This is also known as "cubing", though nobody actually understands why. Then the pulverized meat is tossed into a skillet with chunks of tomato and sliced bell peppers and whatever else is handy. The usually inedible result is Swiss Steak. But there is apparently a campaign to replace the pounded slab-o-cow with something more tender.

Snake.

GENEVA (AFP) – Swiss zoologists have more than a few hungry mouths to feed this Christmas after a female giant anaconda gave birth to 40 babies, a tropical gardens institution said.

The snakes were born on December 2 at the Papiliorama tropical gardens in the small town of Kerzers in western Switzerland…..

….The mother weighs around 80 kilograms (176 pounds) and is more than six metres (20 feet) long, while the new arrivals are already 70 centimetres (28 inches) long and "a lot sturdier than the previous ones," Papiliorama said.

Sturdier snakes will take the beating better.

Abdullah, Olmert Meet In Jordan

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a surprise visit to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah. The snap trip was made at Abdullah's invitation. No details have been released about the meeting as yet, other than it occurred. Jordan's king has been pressing Washington to do more to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Frankly, him taking some of the initiative himself is a very good way to get things moving again.

AMMAN, Jordan – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a surprise visit to Jordan Tuesday for talks with King Abdullah II on ways to revive Mideast peacemaking.

The palace also said Abdullah was offering to host a meeting in Jordan to help resolve Palestinian infighting between the Hamas and Fatah movements. As the statement was issued, the two groups waged fierce gunbattles in Gaza City.

Olmert's visit came in response to an invitation by Abdullah, who is eager to see Israel resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, a senior palace official said.

In Jerusalem, Olmert's office confirmed the meeting, saying the leaders discussed the Palestinian crisis and larger regional issues.

The U.S.-allied monarch has said a return to Arab-Israeli negotiations is vital to curb rising extremism in the Middle East, fueled by the conflict in Iraq. Abdullah has called on Washington to do more on reviving the peace process, which is stalled amid the Palestinian crisis.

The palace official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Olmert's visit, said the two leaders met for two hours and the Israeli then returned home.

Some of the more moderate – or at least less extremist – states in the region need to get themselves involved. Looking to Washington to do it all is not going to work out for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the continuous attempts by European governments to undermine the US at every turn. You can't have it both ways; asking the US to solve every problem while actively trying to limit US influence. If the regional governments do not start being part of the solution, they are going to have an awfully big problem on their hands when Iran begins expanding a new Persian Empire.

The Assault On Free Speech

Mark Tapscott, writing in the Examiner, takes a look at legislation likely to be introduced by Nancy Pelosi when she takes the gavel as Speaker. It is not at all pretty. In what is nothing more than an outright attempt to gag citizens and keep them from criticizing elected officials, the legislation is an outright all-out assault on free speech. Everyone, left, right or center should be very worried about this.

WASHINGTON – Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has cooked up with Public Citizen’s Joan Claybrook a “lobbying reform” that actually protects rich special interests and activists millionaires while clamping new shackles on citizens’ First Amendment rights to petition Congress and speak their minds.

Pelosi tried earlier this year to move H.R. 4682, the “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2006,” which is now cited by Public Citizen’s Web site as the vehicle it is helping the incoming speaker to craft for the new Congress. The proposal Claybrook is helping craft for introduction early in 2007 is expected to be essentially the same bill Pelosi put forth this year.

That is bad news for the First Amendment and for preserving the kind of healthy, open debate that is essential to holding politicians, bureaucrats and special interests to account for their conduct of the public business.

The key provision of the 2006 bill was its redefinition of grassroots lobbying to include small citizens groups whose messages about Congress and public policy issues are directed toward the general public, according to attorneys for the Free Speech Coalition.

All informational and educational materials produced by such groups would have to be registered and reported on a quarterly basis. Failure to report would result in severe civil penalties (likely followed soon by criminal penalties as well).

Tapscott points out that this is an extension of the McCain-Feingold abomination. He's right. The assault began in earnest with that monstrous piece of legislation. But what this newest one will bring should concern everyone. This is a method of putting a Congressional boot down on anyone trying to get a message out that Congress does not like.

Britain Develops Inhuman Weapon

The monsters. They have unleashed the ultimate evil on the world. This is like some bad 1950s horror movie where bugs or animals grow to monstrous proportions. Only this is all too terrifyingly real. And it involves vegetables. The most evil minds in Britain had to have worked on this.

Britain has perfected the giant Brussels Sprout.

They may not be every child's favourite vegetable but brussels sprouts are, usually, small enough to gulp down with a quick shudder.

Not this one, however. Weighing nearly one and a half pounds, this supersize veg is 50 times heavier than the average sprout.

It was discovered by market gardener Carol Farley, of Culm Valley Organics, Uffculme, Devon, growing alongside its normal- size siblings. Mrs Farley, 41, said yesterday: "We've got over an acre of sprout plants growing which is thousands of plants and this one sprout was growing in the middle on a stalk.

It was so amazing to see it. We've been growing vegetables here for nine years and we've never had anything like this before.

"We use plenty of farmyard manure to fertilise the plants. Maybe that's the secret." The farm is run by a team which includes Mrs Farley and her husband Gary, 43, and Gary's brother Neil, 35, and his wife Susie.

Me, I'd be checking where that farmyard manure comes from. (They have a picture of it – it's huge. And evil.)

UPDATE: This may resemble the British ultimate weapon, but it isn't. Nobody is actually quite sure what it is although there is suspicion it may be petrified whale puke. We do not plan or participating in any taste tests, though. For either. Ever.

Stylish, Yet Deadly

A Japanese woman was the victim of the Animal Uprising™'s latest terror tactic. She went shopping for a new pair of jeans. Being a smart consumer, she decided to try them on there in the store.

Whereupon, the scorpion hiding inside the jeans pounced on her.

The woman from the southern island chain of Okinawa needed a five-day stay at a hospital after the venomous sting on her thigh, the local health and welfare center said Tuesday.

"She was stung when she tried on the pair of jeans at a clothing store," said an official at the center in Nago city. "The store says it's believed to be a Chinese bark scorpion."

Although a sting by a Chinese bark scorpion is not lethal, a person's life could be at risk due to the shock, he said.

Authorities said that the store sent representative to China to try to figure out how this happened. *Snort* All they have to do is read Blue Crab Boulevard and they'd know. This was a deliberate commando operation by the scorpion squadron of the Animal Uprising™. We strongly urge all shoppers to do what we do. Beat the prospective jeans against a handy nearby column in the store before trying them on. The nice store security people will be very understanding when you explain what you're doing. Really. You hardly ever get arrested.

Now What?

Anne Applebaum looks at the European reaction to the Iraq Study Group report and asks: What happens after the gloating ends? For years now the elites in Europe and the left have been attacking the US over the war in Iraq. But what are the alternatives? What will Europe do to help address not just Iraq issues but world issues without the US?

BERLIN — On the day James Baker's Iraq report was published, I gritted my teeth and waited for the well-earned, long-awaited, Franco-German "Old Europe" gloat to begin. I didn't wait long. "America Faces Up to the Iraq Disaster" read a headline in Der Spiegel. In the patronizing tones of a senior doctor, Le Monde diagnosed the "political feverishness" gripping Washington in Baker's wake. Suddeutsche Zeitung said the report "stripped Bush of his authority," although Le Figaro opined that nothing Baker proposed could improve the "catastrophic state" of Iraq anyway.

And then, for two weeks . . . silence. If there are politicians, academics or journalists anywhere in Germany and France who have better ideas about how to improve the catastrophic state of Iraq, they aren't speaking very loudly. There is no question that America's credibility has been undermined by the Iraq war, in "Old Europe" as everywhere else. There is no question that America's reputation for competence has been destroyed. But that doesn't mean there are dozens of eager candidates, or even one eager candidate, clamoring to replace us.

She points out that in that silence, reality is beginning to sink in over in Europe. What can they do if the US withdrawal – which is all the Baker plan is – precipitates the bloodbath that every, single, thinking person knows will occur. What about having a dreadfully destabilized Middle East much closer to Europe's front doors? Even the Europeans realize that their diplomacy is failing utterly to contain, or even slow down, Iran's nuclear ambitions. The years and years of undermining the US at every turn are going to reap dividends for Europe all right. Just maybe not the ones they really want.

Nor is there anybody here, of any stature, who believes that Europe — for all its recent economic improvement, for all its trading power and for all its dislike of American foreign policy — is going to replace the United States anytime soon. Germany is about to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union, and therefore Germany is discussing E.U. integration policy, E.U. immigration policy and E.U. economics. Germany is not discussing how the European Union will take on a leading military and diplomatic role in the Middle East. And not even Germany wants any of the other potential world powers — Russia, say, or China — to replace the United States in the role of dominant superpower.

In this weird reality, there is a very narrow sliver of hope: Maybe now the Germans, and even the French, will finally come to realize that there is no alternative to the transatlantic partnership, no better international military organization than NATO, no real "role" for any of us outside the Western alliance — even if only because all the alternatives are worse. Maybe the Old Europeans will find inspiration to support and contribute further to the alliance, diplomatically and ideologically if not militarily. Maybe the United States will come to the same realization, too.

The only real alternatives for Europe and the West itself is a strong and unified stance. The constant blocking and haranguing of the US by Europe is already providing opportunities for a resurgent Russia, organized more like a crime syndicate than a normal government, to feel emboldened. In spite of the Russian government's ostensible involvement in attempts to stop the Iranian Manhattan Project, they are going to go ahead with nuclear fuel sales to Tehran. Despite Europe's supposed backing of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, the French are drawing down their troops and the Germans are debating whether they should stay. So what are the alternatives to American power? What are the alternatives to depending on America to shoulder the defense burden of Europe which European governments have counted on for years?

Now what, Europe? Now what?