Fallujah

The Christian Science Monitor published an article this morning about "new tactics" being used in the insurgent haven of Fallujah.

These probably aren't new tactics, it is just that our troops have finally run into the literal bomb making factory in Iraq. Perhaps many insurgents escaped into Mosul or other cities in Iraq, but we've found their toys, and it is not easy to recreate this base.

It was not widely being reported, but insurgents, who flocked to Iraq from points abroad prior to the war, have been gearing up for this battle for nearly two years. And guess what: they are losing. I would not be surprised to see US troops fight several very difficult battles very similar to this over the coming months.

And by the way, according the the above refereced article, troops found a suitcase full of sarin nerve agent. You may recall sarin as the nerve agent released into the Japanese subway system about ten years ago. About a teaspoon full killed many Japanese citizens.

Finally, if you are looking for some of the best reporting out there, the Christian Science monitor is it. I believe it reports some very interesting stories without much of the slant we have become accustomed to. You can follow these stories for free at www.csmonitor.com.

60 Mintues

This weekend, Mike Scheuer, the author of Imperial Hubris, is making his first non-anonymous interview since quitting the CIA yesterday. If you get the opportunity, I highly suggest you watch this.

It will certainly be biased toward his particular point of view (not necessarily right or wrong), but this is a man who knows quite a bit about Osama bin Laden. Certainly worth the price of admission.

Just Finished Reading Imperial Hubris, by Anonymous

I would consider this a "must read" for anyone interested on how we will eliminate the vagaries of international Islamic insurgencies.

The main points:

Al Qaeda and their bretheren are attacking us for reasons other than democracy, but mostly for:

1) Installing troops in the middle east
2) Supporting despot regimes, such as Saudi Arabia
3) Unyielding support for Israel
4) Support of regimes attacking other Muslims, including the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians in Chechnya, & the Chinese in Xinjiang
5) The invasion of Iraq & Afghanistan

To learn more, read the book.

The New DNC Chair

Word is that the next chairperson will be either Donna Brazille (Gore's 2000 campaign manager and the woman who, knowing President Reagan was on his deathbed, blasted his policies toward the poor), Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa (my favorite because his name is quite interchangeable with other sacks), and Howard Dean, the man of the scream.

God help them. Are they trying to lose the next Presidential election already?

David Brooks and Nicholas Kristof

Both NY Times columnists wrote great pieces regarding the Presidential election. I suggest you take a look at them.

In short, they argued that the election was not one of reliousity versus atheism. It is about communicating your message and the extremist shifts of the parties.

As a conservative (self-proclaimed) libertarian, the Liberal elite problems I see are:

- Liberals view conservatives as ignorant (major issue)
- Liberals are looking to make people less religious (because religious people are ignorant)
- The judicial branch of government must usurp the democratic authority of the people when they are being too ignorant
- People only vote with their pocket books or their values (conservatives only vote with their pocket books and liberals only vote with higher principles in mind)
- Liberals are progressive; the correlary, of course, is that conservatives are regressive.

Europe is even worse the the Liberal elite. This is becuase they have graduated from Liberalism to Socialism. Conservative Americans view this as very dangerous. The further left Europe moves, the more totalitarian it becomes. We conservatives don't want totalitarianism. We fought it for 40 years against the Bolsheviks in Russia. Communism is evil. Those who disagree are most likely the "enlightened liberals," who secretly pine for complete totalitarianism here at home.

"Most of the country is socially liberal"

The above quote came from one of my colleagues recently. I told him that I disagreed and that most of the country is pretty conservative. It was mostly the West Coast and New England that are liberal.

He didn't believe me. Until today. After 11 states around the country voted that gay marriage should not be permitted (including Oregon), he now believes differently. Not that I agree with social conversatism (i actually voted against an ammendment prohibiting gay marriage), it is just not accurate.

Everything I needed to know......

I learned on Tradesports.com. This was a great website, which allowed me to project President George W Bush the winner in yesterday's election. In fact, I even projected that Bush would win 286 electoral votes (282 if Colorado's election was split).

Now, enough gloating. The candidate for whom I voted received just over 400,000 votes nationwide. Not bad. More than the 2000 election, but significantly less than what it could be.

Maybe next time. In the meantime, I had no better feeling than watching France cry (yes cry) as it became apparent that Senator Kerry was losing the election. All I can say is that if France thinks we as Americans care what they think about our country, they are far more guilty of hubris than anthing we could possibly display.