The Cool Blue Blog

The bi-partisan hold on transparency

S. 2590 is titled Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
According to the summary, it's purpose is to direct

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure the existence and operation of a single updated searchable database website accessible by the public at no cost, that includes for each entity receiving federal funding: (1) the amount of federal funds received in each of the last 10 fiscal years; (2) an itemized breakdown of each transaction; (3) the entity's location and primary location of performance; and (4) a unique identifier for the entity and its parent entity.

Introduced by Senator Corbin, it garnered 29 cosponsors including Senators Obama, McCain, Santorum, Clinton, Frist, and Boxer.

But there are those who don't want thir pork to be so transparent to the public. Someone placed an anonymous "hold" on the bill, preventing it from making any further legislative progress. Cox news reported

In an ironic twist, legislation that would open up the murky world of government contracting to public scrutiny has been derailed by a secret parliamentary maneuver. An unidentified senator placed a "secret hold" on legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year. The database would bring transparency to federal spending and be as simple to use as conducting a Google search.

The measure had been unanimously passed in a voice vote last month by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It was on the fast track for floor action before Congress recessed Aug. 4 when someone put a hold on the measure.

Now the bill is in political limbo. Under Senate rules, unless the senator who placed the hold decides to lift it, the bill will not be brought up for a vote.

When this was uncovered, the cry went out among the blogosphere to discover who had put the hold. The folks at porkbusters had people call their Senators and have them declare on way or another, whether or not they placed the hold, and if so why.

It took a while, but the concerted effort smoked out the culprit

The identity of the blogosphere's "secret senator" has been revealed.

CNN has confirmed that Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has placed a hold on a bill that would require the government to publish online a database of federal spending.

"He does have a hold on the bill," Stevens' spokesperson Aaron Saunders told CNN. "At the time he placed the hold he notified Sen. [Tom] Coburn and his staff and identified several questions we had with the bill. Two weeks ago Sen. Coburn named Stevens as having a hold on the bill, so we don't consider it a secret."

So it is revealed that Mr "Bridge to Nowhere" is the guy.

But, was he the only one?

According to Porkbuster Mark Tapscott

On Aug. 29, Coburn staff is told by Frist leadership staff that at least one Democrat senator has placed an anonymous hold on the bill.

But who?

More transparency in government spending is essential to subvert both corruption in government and responsible management of government funds.

The pressure is on and the porkbusters are on the case.

UPDATE: Senator Byrd admits he was the Senate Democrat who placed a hold on the porkbuster legislation

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd admits that he placed a “secret hold” on legislation that would make uncovering the Byzantine world of federal contracting as easy as typing a Google search.

Tom Gavin, spokesperson for Byrd, confirmed to Cox Newspapers that the senator placed the hold on legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., before voting on the measure.

Byrd joins Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, for holding up the bill right before Congress left town on August 4....

Byrd has released his hold, now that there “has been time to better understand the legislation,” Gavin said.

The bipartisan “secret hold” surprised everyone on Capitol Hill because the measure has the support from heavy hitters of both political parties, including Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

No real surprise given that both Byrd and Stevens were the top two porkers in Congress.

For the record

Vermont's lone Representative, Socialist Bernie Sanders is running for an open Senate seat. His challenger is self-made millionaire Rich Tarrant. Mr Tarrant has been getting pretty aggressive in recent weeks, holding Rep Sanders record up to the voters for scrutiny with both television ads and a web site dedicated to the Sanders legacy.

One ad claims that

Sanders has voted against the Amber Alert program, and harsher sentences to punish repeat child molesters.

When we go to the web site, we see that the reference is to bill S-151 which passed the House 400-25 and claims that Democrats voted for the bill 175-23. Searching the Library of Congress Thomas archive, we find indeed that this information is accurate. Rep Sanders voted against the Amber Alert bill along with folks like John "Downing Street Memos" Conyers, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich and Rep "Baghdad" Jim McDermott.

This being Vermont, such company may be cheered.

As a point of reference, the Senate voted for the bill 98-0. Had Bernie been Senator, that would have been 98-1 ('cause you just know he would have showed up to vote)

However, it seems that Rep Sanders all of a sudden doesn't like the scrutiny of his record being carried out by his opponent.

“It’s not just that it crossed a line, but I have spent my entire career fighting for kids and when you suggest that Bernie Sanders is soft on child predators and child molesters, that’s just beyond the pale,” said Sanders. “This is also cumulative, and they have been distorting my record on other issues, and virtually everything these guys are saying are based on absolute misrepresentation of my record.”

Not only has this driven him to referring to himself in the third person, but he also gets upset when you question him too closely about it. Local News reporter Stewart Ledbetter cornered the Representative in an on-air interview

Ledbetter was asking Sanders about a charge leveled at the incumbent congressman from Vermont by his election opponent for U.S. Senate, the wealthy, advertising-conscious Rich Tarrant. Tarrant had claimed in television ads that Sanders had voted in a tiny minority against a bill to increase penalties for sex offenders. Sanders initially noted that the bill was 47 pages long and contained certain provisions he regarded as unconstitutional. The bill had to be voted on as a whole, and, as a whole was unacceptable. But, as Ledbetter pressed for specifics, Sanders became more and more annoyed at the line of questioning and soon abruptly walked off the set of the interview in a huff.

The problem with this, of course, is that Vermont has a large Socialist Progressive voting block and Bernie is the original Angry Young Man even if he is getting a bit long in the tooth. This is the first time that I've seen an opponent aggressively attacking his record.

If Vermont doesn't reject Sanders in November, after his record has been pointed out so directly, then it pretty well means that he's going to be Senator for as long as he wants to be because pro-criminal Socialists are what Vermonters want.

But that's Democracy too.

Shifting blame

Ghazi Hamad is 41-year-old newspaper editor who has been an active member of Hamas for nearly 25 years. He spent five of those years in an Israeli jail for supporting the group's armed struggle against Israeli occupation and the very existence of the Israeli state. He is also head of the Islamic Salvation party. The party was formed in the mid-1990s and is considered the unofficial political wing of Hamas, made up of members with a more pragmatic view than the Hamas rank and file.

When the elections were held in Palestine, he became the spokesman for the new Hamas government. Now he is speaking out against the crime and corruption which is the daily experience of those who live in Gaza. But, strikingly, he is not blaming Israel.

"After the withdrawal from Gaza, we hoped for a bright future, we thought that this year we will reap the fruits of our sacrifices. But I ask myself today – why did the occupation return to Gaza. The occupation – wise men and commentators will say – is responsible. I am not defending the occupation, but I want to stop at our mistakes, which we are accustomed to blame on others."

He describes the situation he sees

“The Gaza Strip is in the grip of anarchy and Palestinians must stop blaming Israel for all their problems"

"When you walk in the streets of Gaza City, you cannot but close your eyes because of what you see there: unimaginable chaos, careless policemen, young men carrying guns and strutting with pride and families receiving condolences for their dead in the middle of the street."

Hamad said the "culture of life" that prevailed in the Strip has since been replaced with a nightmare. "Life became a nightmare and an intolerable burden," he said. "Today I ask myself a daring and frightening question: 'Why did the occupation return to Gaza?' The normal reply: 'The occupation is the reason.'"

One of the things that characterizes America is its penchant for self-criticism and self-analysis, often doing this in a very public way. Perhaps, this is starting to rub off on some in the Middle East; more evidence of cultural hegemony.

"We're always afraid to talk about our mistakes," he added. "We're used to blaming our mistakes on others. What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, transgression on public lands and unorganized traffic and the occupation? We are still trapped by the mentality of conspiracy theories - one that has limited our capability to think."

Taking responsibility for problems you have the power to correct is a useful first step. We can only hope this is a trend in the right direction.

The big push

The LA Times is reporting that the latest push to secure Baghdad his been successful, at least in these, the early stages

An ambitious military sweep appears to be dramatically reducing Baghdad's homicide rate, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday — even as violence nationwide killed at least 80 people, including six U.S. soldiers in and around the capital.

Last month, the Baghdad morgue received more than 1,800 bodies, a record high. This month, the morgue is on track to receive less than a quarter of that.

This is an operation that while involving thousands of new US troops relocated from elsewhere in Iraq, is lead by Iraqi forces.

Iraqi security forces, supported by Soldiers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad, expanded their combined security effort into the northeast Baghdad neighborhood of Adhamiyah on Sunday in support of Operation Together Forward.

The combined operations are led by the 1st Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, and 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, supported by Iraqi National Police from the 1st Brigade, 1st National Police Division, and Soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

The operations are designed to reduce the level of murders, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorism and sectarian violence in northern Baghdad, as well as to reinforce the Iraqi government’s control in the city.

The combined forces will secure the  district by conducting a cordon and search of the entire area and all of its  buildings.

Many, it seems, are happy for the new security measures.

“People are very interested (and respond) well to what we are doing, giving us information and displaying a positive attitude towards us,” said Sgt. Shane Weaver, infantryman, 1st Plt., Co. C. “They seem happy to see us on the ground.”

“It’s great to have the IA along,” added 2nd Lt. Michael Williams, platoon leader, 2nd Plt., Co. C. “They do a good job and the residents like to see them out here as well.”

“We’re making the area safe from terrorists,” said Habib, an Iraqi army soldier, through the aid of an interpreter.

Meanwhile they continue to go after the Iranian-supported forces of Moqtada al-Sadr

Two dozen Iraqi soldiers were killed in fierce street fighting with Shi'ite militiamen in the city of Diwaniya on Monday in some of the bloodiest clashes yet among rival factions in Shi'ite southern Iraq.

One can only hope the successes will continue. Especially with regards to taking aprt al-Sadr's crew.

Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan

The Way Cool Wife and I drove down to Pittsfield, Mass in the Berkshires to see the Bob Dylan show at Wahconah Park, home of the minor league Pittsfield Mets. The current leg of the Never-Ending Tour is being staged in minor league ball parks throughout the country including a stop at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY on September 2nd.

The linup for all the "Ballpark" shows includes Elana James and the Continental Two (plus one), Junior Brown, and Jimmie Vaughan

First up was "fiddle" player Elana James and she smoked through a set of Bluegrass, Texas Swing and Jazz with an energy that could have lit the stadium. She has a sweet voice, is cute as a bug and can steal the Devil's fiddle from Charlie Daniels. The highlight of her set was a driving "Orange Blossom Special" that left everyone exhausted except Ms James herself: she was quite ready for more. She's a rare talent that literally radiates from the  stage. If things are  even half right with the world, she is going to be a huge talent.

Next up was guitarist extrordinare, Junior Brown. With his tall frame, gravelly bass voice that is a cross between Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash, and his unique hybrid electric/steel guitar, Brown was a real crowd pleaser, and the audience loved his off-beat humorous lyrics (especially well received was "My Wife Thinks Your Dead") and stunning guitar work. He lived up to his reputation and its great to see he hasn't dropped a beat over the years.

These bands took up little stage-space and the setup I was checking out before the show, it turned out, was for Jimmie Vaughan's band. I was especially admiring the pure white B3 Hammond with the similarly ivory colored Leslie's (two of 'em). When Jimmie hit the stage, I discovered what they were for: keyboard player Bob Willis who joined Jimmie's Tilt-a-Whirl band six years ago, a few years after I last saw Vaughan perform live. Bob also uses his B3 to supply the bass lines for the band with a special lower keyboard. But I gotta say, there is simply nothing like a B3 with Leslies in a blues band. Jimmie and the Tilt-a-Whirls had the crowd up on their feet and bogeying.

After Jimmie, the roadies cleared the stage and loaded Bob's set. Now I've seen Bob Dylan in concert maybe 15 or 20 times over the years since I first saw him play with The Band back in 1973 and he's always different. And for the past 15 years or so he's been constantly reworking his classics for stage performance to keep them fresh. But even so, his shows have usually been a mix of rock and folk. And he has always had an acoustic set in the middle. This show was different even from that.

The first thing I noticed was the introduction For as long as I've been going to Dylan shows he's been introduced with something like, "Ladies ands Gentlemen. Please welcome to the stage Columbia recording artist, Boooooob Dylan." This time, there was a short biography:

Next up...the poet laurette of rock'n'roll, the voice of the promise of the 60's counter-culture, the guy who forced folk into bed with rock, who donned make-up in the 70's and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse, who emerged to find Jesus, was written off as a has-been by the end of the 80's, and who suddenly shifted gears, releasing some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late 90's...Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan.

"Substance abuse"? Now that's different given how private the man is.

The next unusual thing I noticed was that the band was wearing "uniforms", like an R&B revue: all were dressed in maroon suits with black piping and black, bowler-style hats. Bob himself was dressed in back suit with a white shirt. And many of his songs were retooled with an R&B feels.

The other thing was that Bob always played guitar in the past. In fact, in the last few shows I saw before this one, Bob was even trying his hand at playing lead. Not so good. This show, he didn't play guitar at all. Instead, he played keyboards the whole show. And there was no acoustic set at all.

The set list was as follows

1.	Cat's In The Well
2.	You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
3.	Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
4.	Just Like A Woman
5.	Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
6.	Million Miles
7.	Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
8.	Desolation Row
9.	I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
10.	Cold Irons Bound
11.	I Shall Be Released
12.	Summer Days
	(encore)
13.	Like A Rolling Stone
14.	Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

No preview of the new album, Modern Times, due out this Tuesday. The highlights of the show to me were the two Time Out of Mind tunes Million Miles and Cold Irons Bound. Both were tight and had great atmosphere but Cold Irons Bound was awesomely dramatic. Summer Days from the Love and Theft album was great rockin' romp that excellent in execution.

Like a Rolling Stone also rocked, but that's been that way forever. And the effect where the lights are turned on the crowd whenever Bob sings "how does it feel" has been unchanged since the first time I saw him and the crowd loves it.

Rainy Day Women ended the show on a rocking high note.

One other song of note was Just Like a Woman. It was tenderly sung and after every verse, Bob would hold back the phrase "just like a woman" and let the crowd sing it in meter while he would rush it at the end. The effect was just great.

Bob's voice was clear, strong, and, when not rushing lyrics, articulate. But his voice does show the wear of his 65 years. Dylan's voice is an acquired taste for sure, but to me it's always been his dynamics and phrasing that made him a great singer, and these remain intact to this day.

All in all, Bob's "Ballpark" tour, or at the very least this show that I saw in Pittsfield, is a great entertainment value for your fifty bucks.

Dark Matter

For years scientists have struggled with the fact that based on current knowledge, there isn't enough matter in the universe to hold it together. Specifically, the rotation speed of many observed galaxies is too high for the amount of matter that they contain, and should, as a result, fly apart. But instead, they remain cohesive. As a result of this observation, two theories arose: one says that our understanding of gravity is flawed and the other speculates Dark Matter.

One group of scientists speculate that you can account for current state of the universe by speculating that gravity becomes stronger the futher away from a body of mass you get and also is stronger in weak fields. The model for this theory is called Modified Newtonian Dynamics. But this has been hard to reconcile with general relativity.

The other group speculates that the majority of matter in the universe does not interact with electromatgnetic radiation in the same way as ordinary matter does and therefore is undetectable by direct observation. This type of matter has been dubbed Dark Matter.

But if you can't detect the matter, how is it science? Science, as you may recall from my criticism of Intelligent Design, can only consist of theories that can be tested. So how does one go about finding Dark Matter?

Well Dark Matter may not be able to be seen but, according to the theory, it must have a gravitational effect or there would be no need to speculate its existence in the first place.

Recently astronomers cleverly observed the collision of two galaxies to observe the effects of Dark Matter and as a result claim to have the proof that the pervasive substance exists

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and the Magellan optical telescopes were used to observe the violent collision between two large galaxy clusters 3 billion light years away. The force of the collision separated the dark and luminous matter, allowing a clear identification. Although scientists are yet to determine what form this mysterious dark matter may take, the observations are strong evidence that most of the matter in the universe is dark (Astrophysical J. and Astrophysical J. Letters to be published).

It is clear that these new observations make it more difficult to justify continued work on modified gravitation theories.

“Regardless of how one modifies gravity, it should still generally point to where most of the mass is,” says Maxim Markevitch at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was involved in the research. “If the only matter in this cluster was visible matter, the mass map would approximately follow the interstellar gas map. Instead, we found most of the mass elsewhere, exactly where if it were dominated by collisionless dark matter.”

Behind these observations lies a remarkable bullet-shaped cloud of hot gas produced by the collision of two clusters. As they cross at 10 million miles per hour, the luminous matter in each interacts with the other and slows down. But the dark matter does not interact at all, passing right through without disruption. This causes the dark matter to sail ahead, separating each cluster into two components: dark matter in the lead and luminous matter lagging behind.

To detect this separation, researchers compared x-ray images of the luminous matter with measurements of the cluster's total mass through gravitational lensing. This involves the observation of the distortion of light from background galaxies by the cluster's gravity -- the greater the distortion, the more massive the cluster. The team discovered four separate clumps of matter: two large clumps of dark matter speeding away from the collision, and two smaller clumps of luminous matter trailing behind, proving two types of matter exist.

The results have captured the imagination of the cosmology community. “This is an exciting discovery -- dark matter is not merely a trick of the light,” says Robert Caldwell, who is a cosmologist at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire. “This result helps confirm we're on the right track in trying to solve the mystery of dark matter.”

This observation is winning scientists over to the Dark (Matter) side

"I don't think there is any other way to work around it," said Marusa Bradac, one of the study's authors and a researcher at Stanford's Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. "This is the clear-cut example where we do see there is something else in the system."

The bullet cluster formed when two different groupings of galaxies passed through each other. As the two galaxy clusters collided, the visible gas—which constitutes regular matter—slowed down as a result of frictional forces. But dark matter, which gives off no light or heat, is not subject to these same forces and would not have slowed down during the collision. The researchers hypothesized that if the colliding galaxy clusters contained dark matter, the visible and invisible matter would have separated as the dark matter traveled more rapidly past the collision site.

When the scientists measured the mass after the collision, they found that much of the bullet cluster's mass lay beyond the observable gas, where they had predicted the dark matter would be.

"Because normal and dark matter usually are closely intertwined in galaxies and clusters, it has always been difficult to distinguish unambiguously between the dark matter and the modified gravity paradigms," Maxim Markevitch, a Harvard University astronomer and another of the study's coauthors, wrote in an email. "This is the first time when dark matter and normal matter have been seen separated in space, and the reason is the energetic cluster collision."

Still skeptics remain

Mordehai Milgrom, the man who originally proposed Modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) as an alternative to dark matter, said that just because the researchers didn't see all the matter they measured doesn't mean dark matter had to be present.

"Everyone knows there is still a lot of normal matter out there that we have yet to detect," he said via email. "While this is also 'dark,' it is not what we call the 'dark matter,' which people say has to be there. So it is definitely not a proof of the dark matter paradigm."

The new study's authors say their paper is not an attempt to disprove MOND, but insist that their results point directly to dark matter.

Science is best when debate is vigorous.

A mandate clear as mud

It looks like the EU may finally be stepping up to the plate with regards to sending "peacekeeping" troops to Lebanon. It simply astounds me that the area of the world that is most supportive of the UN as international arbiter is having so much trouble living up to the commitments pledged by that organization.

And France. I mean can be said about France. First, they were hot to lead the effort, originally pledging 15,000. Then, when privately threated by Syria that they could experience a "repeat of 1983", they backed off, sending only 200 troops.

The official explaination, though, is not unreasonable

Chirac defended his initial reluctance to send a big UN contingent, saying he would have been attacked as a "mad dog" had he authorised higher numbers without first gaining clear assurances about their mission and right to self-defence.

There is no doubt that this is a problem. I mean not even the U.N.’s mediator in the Middle East, Norwegian Terje Roed-Larsen knows what the UN force is going to do. An interview with NPRs Robert Siegel went like this

Siegel:  Ambassador Larsen, it seems as though the Europeans are very reluctant to commit troops to a peacekeeping force until they know there’s a truce; and the Israelis seem reluctant to commit to a complete truce until they know that Lebanon’s borders are secured; and the Lebanese seem to be unable to secure their borders without the help of some international force. It sounds like you’re in a pickle.

Larsen: Yeah. There is a dilemma, as you are pointing out. The concerns of some potential troop contributors are legitimate, because unless there are proper political underpinnings for any truce - and of course this also goes for Lebanon - there will be a vulnerable security situation....

SIEGEL: Would you expect peacekeepers to go in, the new UNIFIL force, to go in and actively look for, say, Hezbollah arms caches still in the south or would they be more passive and leave that sort of thing either to the Lebanese army or someone else?

Mr. LARSEN: Of course, I mean, if this force saw that there was a breach, a violation of the resolution, it would have to be reported immediately.

Of course it would be reported immediately. But would they do anything about it? Before the current adventure, UNIFIL was on station reporting all manner of violations by Hizbollah. For 12 years. But no one did anything about it. As a result, Hizbollah build sophisticated underground command and control centers, trained troops in the military way, acquired sophisticated communications equipment as well as shore-to-ship missles and ground-toground rockets.

But everything was dutifully reported to the UN.

SIEGEL: Well, before I let you go I’m going to ask you to just say something for people who follow the news and wonder whether we’re on the slippery slope toward a resumption of fighting in southern Lebanon, if not a larger regional conflict, to say something encouraging that you’ve heard over the past week of negotiations in the Middle East.

Mr. LARSEN: I think first and foremost what is encouraging, is that there is a real and serious effort by the government of Lebanon in order to secure its border and to deploy troops in the south so that the government of Lebanon is capable of exercising authority over all its territory with the goal of having one government, one gun, and one law in that country, and not having guns in the hands of a variety of militias. This is encouraging.

I don't know about you, but what would encourage me is if the Europeans got serious and vowed that they would do what it takes to enforce UN resolution 1557 and 1701.

There should be no ambiguity about the mandate of the UN force in Lebanon: disarm Hizbollah and prevent their resupply from Iran and Syria.

Is that so hard to state?

But the fact is Europe, and especially France is not serious.

"My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions — 15,000 for a reinforced UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) — was a figure that was quite excessive," [Chirac] said in Paris.

Of course. Disarming Hizbollah should be a walk in the park. Look at how easy Israel had it.

NOT!

What? Are these people blind? Hizboallh is a well-trained proxy Army. You will need a serious force to enforce UN mandates.

But of course, the UN is not a serious organization and why it is that anyone...anyone... thinks they are is a complete mystery to me.

EU president Finland, which will chair the talks in Brussels, said the bloc's credibility was at stake and that it must show it can deploy rapidly to protect a fragile truce.

When pigs fly, Mr President.

When pigs fly.

Peace Province

In Babil, uniting for peace

Thursday, 24 August 2006

By Cpl. Michael Molinaro
2nd BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div.

FOB KALSU — “He who kills a person without reason is like he who kills all humanity.” – from the Holy Koran.

Seeking a unified province free from terrorism and factional violence, leaders of Iraqi groups in Babil came together Aug. 20 in al-Hillah to reconcile and denounce the attacks that have plagued the country.

Iraqi security forces leadership, representatives of the Iraqi national government, local government officials, civic leaders, tribal sheiks and religious leaders joined together at the Iraqi Police academy convention hall to map out a strategic plan to shape a peaceful future for Babil.

“This was Iraqi generated, Iraqi led,” said Col. John Tully, commander, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, an invited guest of the ISF leadership. “They are clearly trying to come to grips with the issues their society is facing.”

The meeting was orchestrated by Maj. Gen. Qais Hamza, Babil provincial police chief, to bring representatives of every facet of Babil culture to the conference and provide them a forum to speak. It was hoped the meeting would signify the commencement of a new era in the region and the beginning of the end of terrorism in southern Iraq, said a sheik in attendance.

“We have Sunnis, Shia, women, children – that is a miracle in this day and age,” he said. “Everybody knows what needs to be done, but General Qais is the person who decided that it was time to quit talking and start acting.”

The idea sprung from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s 24-point national reconciliation initiative outlined to the Iraqi National Council of Representatives in June. Sectarian violence has plagued Iraq for much of the year, and leaders of Babil said they wanted to lead the rest of the nation in heeding Maliki’s words.

The meeting kicked off with children from the area singing the Iraqi national anthem and reading from the Holy Koran. Those in attendance took turns speaking on the situation in Iraq and Babil and offered suggestions on how to unify the region.

   

“There is no winner in war,” said Aeman Alkhafaji. “Everybody is a loser.”

Speaking on behalf of a women’s rights group, Alkhafaji said sectarian violence is destroying the greatest part of Iraqi culture – the family.

When the man of the house dies, there is no one to provide for the family, no backbone present to steer the children to their future, said Alkhafaji. When a woman is killed, it crushes the family dynamic and children lose the comforting, tender side of the family.

“A woman without her man is like land without water,” she said. “And a man without his woman is like a ship without sail.”

Numerous Sunni and Shia tribal leaders spoke to the congregation and offered their hand to one another, promising to not let the trouble witnessed in Baghdad infiltrate their region.

“We are not Sunni or Shiite, Kurdish or Christians,” one sheik said. “We are Iraqis, and we intend to secure Iraq. The people who are fighting the old regime and each other are the same people that have lived together for over a thousand years and have drank from these two rivers.”

As the day wore on, Qais presented a draft reconciliation agreement for consideration.

The last paragraph read: “We have sworn this oath; we accept the promise of the Provincial Government to provide security for all citizens without regard to their sect, ethnicity or political party affiliation and to work toward inclusive, representative government unencumbered by bias and disenfranchisement.”

Qais then challenged the more than 500 in attendance to sign the oath, pledging to exert every effort to make Babil the place all of Iraq strives to be. A large reproduction of the document was placed by the door as the crowd exited.

Everyone signed it.

   

“Let Babil be the example for the freedom and the mixture that we have in Iraq,” said Col. Abbas, al-Hillah police chief.

Smiles and kind words were abundant as the participants headed home. More work is left to be done, but the initiative Qais introduced seemed to have struck a chord with a people fed up with violence and instability.

“It was very uplifting,” said Tully. “In this society, when you get that many Sunni and Shia sheiks to support a plan, there is a chance for success.

“If Babil can keep people like Gen. Qais in leadership positions, it will be the most progressive and truly democratic province of the southern provinces in Iraq.”

Choosing sides

A little over a week ago, German police found two suitcase bombs planted on trains.

The identical suitcase bombs were fitted with timers set to go off 10 minutes before the trains arrived in Dortmund and Koblenz.

The bombs failed to detonate because of a construction flaw, but there was no doubt that the intent was to kill large numbers of people. Because they did not explode, police got their first clue as to who was behind the plot. Evidence that was supposed to be destroyed in the explosion was preserved for investigators.

A note written in Arabic, a telephone number in Lebanon, and packets of starch with labels in Arabic and English were found alongside the devices.

Last Sunday, police arrested one man in connection with the attempted mass murder and today they arrested another.

The second fugitive suspect in failed bomb attacks on two German trains last month has been arrested in Lebanon after he turned himself in, according to Germany's federal prosecutor general's office.

The 19-year-old Lebanese student turned himself in to the police in Tripoli, Germany's federal prosecutor's office confirmed on Thursday.

Identified by police as Jihad Hamad earlier this week, the suspect is believed to have planted bombs on two German trains last month. He stands accused of membership in a terrorist organization as well as large-scale attempted murder and an attempt to detonate explosives.

The whole experience has shocked the German public.

The planned attack here stunned Germans who thought the country's vehement opposition to the Iraq war would insulate it from becoming a terror target almost five years after the attacks on Washington and New York.

The typical European response, which is shared by many in the US, is that if you just don't bother the maniacs they will leave you alone.

Hello? McFly? Look around you. Bad guys are fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq because they believe Democracy to be a corruption of God's (Allah's) will. In Lebanon, Iran is attempting to subvert Democracy by using the Hezbollah war to seal political power there.

Islamists believe that they should be ascendant because they are following God's true word. They believe that Democracies are a corruption of God's word. They also believe that many Muslims aren't really Muslims, especially if the live in and participate in Democracy.

We in the West, including Germany, are...wait for it...Democracies.

If we don't find a way to face and defeat their ideology, they will face and defeat ours. No amount of appeasement or disengagement will protect you.

You can use the logic of relativism all you want, but eventually you will have to choose sides; their ideology our ours.

If you don't choose, you might be in a position where someone will choose for you.

And if it's them, you won't be choosing anymore.

Update: Tim Blair (via Instapundit) reinforces my argument:

Abu Bakir Bashir—spiritual counsel to the Bali bombers, who’ve recently gone cold on the whole martyrdom concept—explains things to slow-learning liberals:

The principles of Islam cannot be altered and and there is no democracy in Islam or nonsense like ‘democratic Islam’. Democracy is shirik (unbelief) and haram. Here we do not compromise. Those who claim to be Muslims and do not support Shariah one hundred per cent are all munafik and kafirs, they are out of Islam. No need to discuss with these people, they are not part of the ummat anymore.

There is no need to listen to public opinion: kafirs, apostates, liberals, atheists - they are all non-believers …

Baghdad rising

Since July when the US and Iraqi governments decided to reallocate resources to Baghdad, things have been improving, something that seems to have escaped the notice of most of the US media. But they noticed in Japan

The level of violence in Baghdad has fallen sharply since July thanks to troop reinforcements and the new government's efforts to reconcile warring Shi'ites and Sunnis, Iraq's national security adviser said on Tuesday....

"The surge was only until mid-July," he said. "The number of attacks is down from mid-July by 45 percent and extra-judicial murders ... are down 35 percent since mid-July. We're there, we're definitely on the mend."

Washington has poured thousands of troop reinforcements into Baghdad in recent weeks, after surging violence frustrated plans to start withdrawing some forces before the end of the year.

The DOD relates what's been going on

This past week, Iraqi and Coalition forces concentrated on four major Baghdad hot spots – mostly in the western part of the city – in an effort to reduce the number of murders, kidnappings, assassinations and car bombs in those areas.  Operations in the al-Doura neighborhood of southern Baghdad continued to build on the improved security established over the past two weeks. 

The operations in western Baghdad are led by the Soldiers from the 6th Iraqi Army Division and policemen from the 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, supported by Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team and 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Approximately 6,000 additional Iraqi Security Forces were sent to the Multi-National Division - Baghdad area of operations in support of Operation Together Forward, as well as approximately 3,500 Soldiers of 172nd SBCT, and 2,000 Soldiers from the 2nd BCT.

According to the Coalition commander responsible for operations in Baghdad, the concept essentially calls on Coalition and Iraqi forces to cordon off an area and search each street, house by house.

Maj. Gen. James Thurman, commander of Multi-National Division - Baghdad, this week said he is optimistic about what he has seen since operations to quell sectarian violence started.

“Security in Baghdad is the top priority for everyone working in Operation Together Forward,” added Col. Robert Scurlock, commander of the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. “Iraqi security forces and Coalition forces are working side by side every day to increase security in Baghdad and help the Iraqi people return to a more normal domestic life.”

Operations in the capital city have not only been successful in the security arena, but also in terms of developing relationships between the Iraqi people and Iraqi security forces, added Col. Michael Beech, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Caldwell added that the most significant developments are less easily measured.

“What really matters is the number of businesses that reopened and will remain open, the refurbished stalls … in the marketplace there,” said the general. “The drainage has improved. The rubbish is removed. And of course, like we’d all like to see, the number of children that you can see during their summer break out riding their bikes and playing in the streets.”

One of the reasons that this is necessary is that this has been a media war from the git go as Bill Roggio points out

Baghdad is the political center of Iraq, as well as the focal point for the foreign media, which plays a large roll in influencing international opinion on Iraq. The legitimacy of the Iraqi government is at stake, as is the potential for support of America at risk.

But just as important to the new government as well as the insurgency is the political effect of the government not being seen as weak

The legitimacy of the Iraqi government is at stake, as is the potential for support of America at risk. Prime Minister Maliki's reconciliation program, which has attracted interest from many Sunni insurgent groups, including two large factions, is also in jeopardy. The longer the sectarian violence goes uncontrolled, the greater the chance for the Sunni insurgent groups to give up on the program.

And while progress is being made, the DoD warns that the battle is far from over

“Abating the extremists in the capital will neither be easy nor rapid,” Multi-National Force - Iraq spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV said this week of progress in the capital city. “Challenges will ensue, but efforts will march forward block by block.”