The Cool Blue Blog

Some new blogs

A brand now blog is born. Cold Beverage has a post called If Iraqis could vote on Tuesday

Well, it's official. If those newly liberated citizens FIGHTING FOR THEIR FREEDOM in Iraq were allowed to vote in the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, Kerry would win Sadr City!

Horserace is an interesting blog with insight into polls and campaigns

In general, what I would like all my readers to do is to begin thinking like social scientists, not like journalists. Journalists look at a result and just report it. They do not take the time to consider how the result was produced. They are generally unskeptical. If you get a source with "credibility" who says X, Y and Z -- well that is good enough for the journalist. Social scientists do not do that (at least, the good ones do not). They are skeptical of every result until the method of that result has been understood and evaluated. Journalists on Fox will yim-yammer all day about this poll, about how the "race is getting (GASP!) even (GASP! GASP! GASP!) closer" without even looking at the method. The Fox journalist figures, "Opinion Dynamics knows what it is doing. Let's run with this!" But, if you are interested in reporting the truth, this is exceedingly unwise. St. Paul in 1 Thessalonians exhorts us to "test everything. Hold on to the good." Now, he was speaking of more weighty matters than sampling Republicans, Independents and men over the weekend, but the logic applies here as well!

And finally, the new blog, Far From Home, written from the front lines in Iraq is described by it's author as

a place for Deployed Soldiers and their Family and Friends...and of course anyone interested. There are forums, an adopt a soldier list and a place to add more to the list. There is a public image album anyone can upload to, and also private albums.

Check them out.

In the best Liberal tradition

Senator Kerry is careful to make the distinction between the War on Terror and the War in Iraq.

He does this because polls show that the electorate makes such a distinction. They are behind the War on Terror, but divided about the wisdom of invading Iraq.

To me the War on Terror and the War in Iraq are the same. And the reason I say this is that if we assume that all we had done was go after the terrorist base in Afghanistan, and even further assume that we captured or killed Osama bin Laden, I do not believe that we would have solved the problem.

True, in the world-view in which Senator Kerry lives, this would have been a perfect law-enforcement solution even if it didn't involve courts: someone perpetrated a crime on the US; the perpetrators lived outside the US; the US military pursued the perpetrators and killed them. Justice is served.

But to me, this is not the end. There would still be Islamic fascists who hate the US. There would still be state supporters of these people. And their goals of bringing down the heathen West and replacing that godless civilization with a truly Quranic one.

There is no doubt that Kerry's approach is to react and not be proactive.

To be proactive, you have to change the equation. You have not changed anything by simply taking out the perpetrators.

To change the equation, you must deal with the state supporters of terrorism. But simply killing these states would not serve the goal for scores of political and economic reasons.

To colonize these states as France, England and the Dutch had done in the past creates more problems than it solves.

Transforming these states into Democracies has a hope of a long term solution. And Iraq was a good place to start to sow these seeds.

There was a time, there was a strain of Liberalism, where this would have been embraced. Where the idea of promoting Liberal Democracies to replace autocratic and despotic regimes would have been seen as the inherent core of Liberalism. It is this very line of thinking that persueded us to help South Korea and Vietnam. To oppose the Soviets both overtly and covertly around the world. One could even argue it was the basis of President Carter's misguided foreign policy.

There was a time, there was a strain of Conservatism where this would be opposed. Where the idea of using American forces for anything but self defense of American soil was a misuse of power. And had this view prevailed, the US would not have been involved with attempting to keep a brutal Communist regime from overunning South Vietnam. And would also have prevented us from liberating Europe during WWII.

But those liberals are gone. It is a stretch to say they have been replaced by old-time Conservatives simply because their foreign policy with regards to the use of US military power is similar. Todays "liberals" are seeded with neo-marxists who simply want to see the US destroyed. The West as well. Because they want Capitalism defeated. So, to a great extent, they collaborate with America's enemies even if those enemies have a completely different world view from that of the neo-marxists. They simply figure that when the Islamists manage to defeat the West, the neo-Marxists will deal with them.

These people are not pacifists and those who are, are simply dupes. In the grand history of Communism, dupes have always outnumbered the "true believers".

In this day and age, it is hard to convince people that I am a Liberal. But I am.

And I believe that the President is pursueing a foreign policy that is in the best tradition of Liberalism; spreading Democracy for a more secure world.

It may not work.

But it surely won't work if we do not pursue the goal vigorously.

And the fact is, there is no indication that Senator Kerry would pursue this goal with vigor and conviction.

We have to remember the perpetrators of 911 were not Afghans. They were mostly Saudi's.

And it is true that Iraq was not our only enemy in the region.

Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt to name the prominant ones, are just as much our enemy as Iraq was. But if we are successful and show resolve in Iraq, there is a better chance that the others will fall as Libya has; without a shot.

The Presidential campaign has given our enemies hope that our resolve will waver. There is no doubt that they want us to fail. If this were not true, they would simply lay down their arms in Iraq and let the elections happen and the US would go away. But they can not do that because a free Iraq is a defeat to their strategic goals. There simply can be no disputing this analysis in my mind.

And there is no doubt that if we are successful, US' actions today will be viewed by history as one of the greatest achievements in human history.

One can not say the same for what Kerry advocates.

Liberalism can change the world; conservatism can only maintain the status quo.

And the status quo is not only dangerous to the citizens of the US, but is a terrible condition for humans as a whole.

You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I sure as hell ain't the only one.

Operation Tiger Cub

TF 1-77 conducts OPERATION TIGER CUB

BALAD, Iraq - The children laughed and cheered as the green U.S. Army Humvees and HEMTTs (heavy cargo trucks) pulled up to the Al Bouhitry Primary School in the village of Al Rwashid, located 3 kilometers north-west of Balad on Thursday, October 14th. The children were told by their teachers that they would be receiving a visit from Soldiers from the Steel Tigers of Task Force 1-77 this afternoon, and to the children of the area, American Soldiers always mean goodies. The children were not disappointed.

After the vehicles arrived, the Soldiers began to download boxes upon boxes of school supplies to be passed around to the kids. Soldiers from Task Force 1-77, part of the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany, carried the boxes into the classrooms of the small Primary School and passed out the supplies to the 200 students from the poor agricultural area. This has been an all too common occurrence this week, as the Steel Tigers have been conducting the culminating event of OPERTATION TIGER CUB throughout their area of operations, centered around the city of Balad, located about 45 miles north of Baghdad.

Daily Dish

Historian Paul Johnson says Kerry must be stopped.

Walter Cronkite thinks Karl Rove coordinated with The Bearded One to release the Fahrenheit 911 Redux video.

Iran's parliament unanimously says "Screw you Europe and the US".

US picks up lost AU peacekeepers and flys them to Darfur

The Black Watch arrives on station in the Sunni triangle

Unrest in Liberia

Democrat who claimed he was exercising his "political expression" by attempting to run down Florida Republicans including Katherine Harris with his Cadillac pleads not guilty.

Michigan woman is surprised to learn that Islamists in Iraq are telling people they killed her.

Romainian man discovers he married the wrong twin

The pork knuckles, sauerkraut and beer diet.

"I'm telling you for the third time; stop having sex in the shopping center!"

Carter and the cost of weakness

It's been almost 25 years since the American embassy in Tehran was stormed resulting in the prolonged capture of Americans by Islamists.

The Arab News has an interesting recounting of those events

The 1979 embassy attack came at a time that the administration of President Jimmy Carter was trying to prop up the new Khomeinist regime in Tehran. Carter had decided to support Khomeini in the context of the so-called “Green Belt” strategy developed by his National Security Advisor Zbigniew Bzrezinski.

Bzrezinski figured that the Islamists had more in common with the US than they did with the godless Soviets, or godless dictators so they encouraged Islamists.

When the Islamic revolution started in Iran, the Carter administration saw it as the confirmation of its assumption that only Islamists could master enough popular support to provide an alternative to both the existing despotic regimes and the pro-Soviet leftist movements.

Bzrezinski arranges a meeting between himself and Mehdi Bazargan, Ayatollah Khomeini's first prime minister in Morocco. On the table was an Iranian-US alliance to hedge against the Soviets. The proposal was generally well recieved, but

The embassy raid came just days after the Bzrezinski-Bazargan meeting in Morocco and, by all accounts, took Khomeini by surprise. It is now clear that leftist groups opposed to rapprochement with the US had inspired the raid.

Khomeini saw the incident as a leftist ploy to undermine his authority. He was also concerned about the possibility of the US taking strong military and political action against his still fragile regime. Deciding to hedge his bets, the ayatollah played a double game for several days, waiting to gauge American reaction.

According to his late son Ahmad, who had been asked to coordinate with the embassy-raiders, the ayatollah feared “thunder and lightning” from Washington. But what came, instead, was a series of bland statements by Carter and his aides pleading for the release of the hostages on humanitarian ground.

Carter’s envoy to the UN, a certain Andrew Young, described Khomeini as “a Twentieth Century saint”, and begged the ayatollah to show “magnanimity and compassion.”

Carter went further by sending a letter to Khomeini. Written in longhand, it was an appeal from “one believer to a man of God.” Carter’s syrupy prose must have amused Khomeini who preferred a minimalist style with such phrases as “we shall cut off America’s hands.”

As days passed, with the American diplomats paraded in front of television cameras blindfolded and threatened with execution, it became increasingly clear that there would be no “thunder and lightning” from Washington. By the end of the first week of the drama, that was to last for 444 days and ended the day Ronald Reagan entered the White House, Khomeini’s view of the United States had changed.

Ahmad Khomeini’s memoirs echo the surprise that his father, the ayatollah, showed, as the Carter administration behaved “like a headless chicken.”

It has often been said that a kind word and a gun is better received than a kind word alone.

And it is quite true that during the campaign season, our enemies have received mixed signals about our resolve. From my point of view, the only way to remedy this situation is to reelect George Bush because we know he has resolve and we know that regardless of the mistakes he has made, he has the country's best interests at heart.

For 22 years the United States, under presidents from both parties, behaved in exactly the way that Khomeini predicted. It took countless successive blows, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, without decisive retaliation. That attitude invited, indeed encouraged, more attacks. The 9/11 tragedy was the denouement of the Nov. 4 attack on the US Embassy in Tehran.

And most imporatantly, by decisively sending Bush back to the White House, we will not appear to have lost our resolve.

We will have affirmed it.

Goodwill mission in Ad Dujayl

Goodwill mission in Ad Dujayl

AD DUJAYL, Iraq- On October 12, 2004, the soldiers from the Headquarters Platoon of A Company, 2-108th Infantry embarked on a goodwill mission to various locations throughout the city of Ad Dujayl.

The first stop was the water treatment plant to check on the continuing progress to bring clean water to this 90,000-person city. While the majority of the patrol pulled security along main street, Capt. Heintz met with the local security guard to ensure the site was secure and to make their presence felt in the event any hostile forces were lingering in the area.

They then moved on to the local hospital located right in downtown Ad Dujayl on Main Street. Working with the Battalion Surgeon, Col. Russell Zelman, they delivered much needed medical supplies to this small but vital health care facility for the citizens in the city. Just a few months earlier Col. Zelman was able to secure a grant to put a neo-natal care unit into this critical facility, enhancing the image of coalition forces while providing a vital and much needed medical service to the families of Ad Dujayl.

Assisting at the hospital are soldiers from Company D, 203rd Iraqi National Guard Battalion. They help deliver medical supplies, which they may need to use while doing their jobs in defending their city.

The last stop was a local school for boys. They received many boxes of notepads, pens, pencils, book bags and various other school supplies that were sent by Soldiers families and friends back home. (Story by 1st Sgt Joseph W. Herald, 2-108 Infantry)

Daily Dish

Bin Laden proposes terms for our surrender. Powerline has a roundup of reactions to the bin Laden tape and some thoughts about the keys points made on it. The fact that two al Qaeda videos appeared in the same week is troubling, but when you consider that their main man in Iraq is about to be dismantled, it's not so surprising. Regardless, even if they do plan an election day strike, it would do well for us all to remember that if Afghans can take to the polls under threat from al Qaeda and the Taliban, we can hardly do less; unless of course we really are the decadent society the Islamic fascists think we are.

Captain Ed notes that Kerry lets it slip that he lied about releasing his service records. Someone tell the AP Meanwhile, Sgt Hook notes that John Kerry thought Clinton was the Wrong President when he wouldn't take action against Saddam. Of course times are different now; Kerry's political fortunes are at stake.

Rocco Buttiglione will resign as EUs justice and security chief.

Feeble attempts to halt the certification of elections in Afghanistan are not going to work. Things have gone too far.

The Danish "Revolutionary Group" publicly makes a donation of $8,500 to Columbias largest Marxist revolutionary group, FARC.

NAACP decides to make public an IRS investigation of the group just before the election. They claim they're not playing politics. Of course, if they hadn't said anything, no one would have known. "The IRS does not disclose its investigations, but the NAACP scheduled a news conference for today on the subject.

"Asked why he waited three weeks to announce the probe, five days before the election, Bond said he had to first inform his board of directors about the action." The fact that it was the NAACP that revealed the information, not the IRS, is missing from most reports including this one from the Washington Post.

Scottish town pardons executed "witches"

Snoop Dog to cover "Riders on the Storm"

Swedish study links tooth loss to memory loss.

Dog calls 911 and opens door for rescue workers.

An inappropriate parade float.

He is not having an affair with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky

Satanists celebrate a win

Lady Godiva arrested.

Fall in Vermont

Click for a larger image.

Another Michael Moore Fan

Looks to me like Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 has made it to bin Laden's cave:

Bin Laden suggested Bush was slow to react to the Sept. 11 attacks, giving the hijackers more time than they expected. At the time of the attacks, the president was listening to schoolchildren in Florida reading a book.

"It never occurred to us that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would leave 50,000 of his citizens in the two towers to face these horrors alone," he said, referring to the number of people who worked at the World Trade Center.

"It appeared to him (Bush) that a little girl's talk about her goat and its butting was more important than the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers. That gave us three times the required time to carry out the operations, thank God," he said.

Nice to know that Moore appeals to all the wrong people including Hizbollah and the Mullahs in Iran. I wonder if bin Laden paid for his copy.

Well one thing's for sure, bin Laden is no Fan of Bush.

Do we know more now?

After watching the Pentagon briefing on the al Qaqaa story, a number of things seem clear.

1) The Pentagon did not ignore the site.

2) It is unlikely that the materials being discussed were there on April 13th when Maj. Austin Pearson took out 250 tons of ordinance from the site. Maj. Pearson claimed he saw no IAEA seals on the materials he removed though he did note that some of the materials were "plastic explosives." So if they weren't there on April 13th, and US forces were all over the area from the time the al Qaqaa facility was attacked by the 3rd ID, there is little chance that the material was removed in the interim given the amount of men and equipment needed to remove the 250 tons the Maj. removed on April 13th.

3) It is very unlikely that the ABC video taken on April 18th was photographing the al Qaqaa site under discussion. Maj Pearson said his orders were to remove all ordinance in the facility that was easily accessible. He also said he didn't see any material with IAEA seals. Again, this was on April 13th. He said he accomplished his mission. He admitted that ordinance remained, but it was not easily accessible. The ABC video shows easily accesible material with IAEA seals on April 18th. As a result, it can not be the same facility.

4) It is increasingly likely that if the materials under discussion were ever there to begin with (which is in doubt it seems) they were removed before US troops ever got there. Aerial photos show activity that included trucks near this facility before the war. The 2nd Brigade of the 3rd ID ecountered armed resistance at the facility when they first got there on April 3rd. The 3rd ID was in control of the area after that. Maj Pearson didn't see the material when he got there on April 13th. And even if he is wrong about that (since he claimed he wasn't specifically looking for IAEA seals), then the material wasn't ignored but was in fact destroyed.

5) A big deal is being made about material that amounts to 1/1,000 th of what was in Iraq.

6) The New York Times, CBS and subsequently Kerry have no idea what they are talking about, but continue to blame Bush and the Armed Forces anyway; for obvious political purposes.

Captain Ed has been doing some great research on this story and you should take a gander here, here, and here.

Lie to me and tell me everything is all right
Lie to me and tell me that you’ll stay here tonight
Tell me that you’ll never leave,
and I’ll just try to make believe
that everything you tell me is true

Lie to me, go ahead and lie to me

-Jonny Lang