Democrats Should Probably Listen to the Iraqis

That's exactly what they accused President Bush of not doing, listening to the commanders on the ground and not having an effective withdrawal strategy. My how the times have changed. Today the Democrats are ignoring the commanders on the ground with the Surge being a strong success in decreasing the amount of attacks in Iraq. They are also ignoring the wishes of the Iraqis are are threatening a disastrous uber fast withdrawal that will lead to genocide. Well, today, the Iraqi Foreign Minister sounded off on why it is vitally important to Iraqis, in terms of security and in terms of reconciliation, why the Democrats cut and run plan would result in complete and utter disaster for the people of Iraq. Here's some choice quotes:

He noted, though, that the Iraqis still managed to establish a government and ratify a constitution after regaining sovereignty in June 2004, and that Iraqis enjoy freedoms that were absent under nearly three decades of Saddam's brutal rule.

"These past five years, I think, were full of hopes and promises but also of tears and blood ... and we've gone through a very, very difficult transformation," Zebari said. "What we the Iraqis have achieved over the last five years since liberation has been remarkable."

.....

He was optimistic that the threats to pull out were empty campaign rhetoric.

"We are in an election season, and many candidates will say things that appeal to the public. But when the real national interests of the United States, of the nation, confront them, I think they have to make hard decisions," Zebari said of the candidates.

"I think now American interests in this part of the world are as important as they were in Germany during the World War so it will not be easy for any administration, Republican or Democrat, just to wash off their hands and walk away," he said. "There is a certain responsibility, an international and moral responsibility, to help the people of Iraq to reach a stable form of governance."

He's completely right of course. In fact, he acknowledges that all sides, including the US, made mistakes but that in order to achieve stability and save the lives of scores, as well as for both nation's foreign policies and national securities, success is vital. He's absolutely right. It's a shame the left can't acknowledge this or even listen to the Iraqi government's wish. Even now, Hillary is out trying to score more cheap leftist points by attacking Blackwater and private contractors who provide the security for the highest level ambassadors and political visitors to Iraq. It's important to note that not a single person under the protection of Blackwater has died while under their guard. The left always neglects that fact and constantly attacks them. The fact is Blackwater has made some mistakes, but really, who hasn't. They have provided security in areas which has allowed the military to shift forces elsewhere, which has had a positive effect as well. The fact is, it is of the utmost importance that we succeed in Iraq, for the interests of this nation and the interests of the Iraqis. It's funny how the media fails to use Japan as the model for what we are trying to do in Iraq, but that's exactly how this should be approached. We owe it to the Iraqis to get them on their own feet, and that takes time. We committed to go to war, and we must be committed to helping rebuild that nation and care for the people of Iraq in the interim.

-Caomhin

Blackwater to be Subject of IRS Investigation?

At least if Henry Waxman gets his wish. His main beef is over the classification of some of the security workers who are classified as contractors. It seems pretty petty for Waxman to go out and direct an investigation against Blackwater for a total of about $50 million over the last 9 years when I'm sure there are much, much more tax evasive companies out there. It never fails that when the Democrats need to hit on talking points they will go after companies that they continually demonize, Blackwater being but just one of them. Keep in mind that the security that Blackwater provides utilized by the highest ranking diplomats visiting Iraq. If Waxman really wants to set up an investigation in order to shore up the financial status of the government, perhaps he should pursue the earmark ban with a little more gusto. $50 million dollars over 9 years is chump change compared to pork that his Democratic cohorts have used for kickbacks to their financiers at the cost of the American tax payer. Regardless of their argument, it is questionable at best if Blackwater did indeed do anything to purposely avoid taxes or is the subject of a Liberal witch hunt, but the pilfering of the American tax dollars by Democrats funneling pork back to their buddies is a matter of public record and included in the various bills that have been passed over the years.

-Caomhin

Blackwater Defends Themselves from New York Times' Viscious Dog

The AP headline is, of course, much different than the headline I have here, instead going with their continued villianization of a security firm that protects the lives of most dignitaries and congressmen and congresswomen who visit Iraq. Their version appears as: "New York Times in Iraq: 'Blackwater Shot Our Dog.'" Here's the account of the attack:

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the dog had attacked one of Blackwater's bomb-sniffer dogs while a security team was sweeping the compound for explosives.

"The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs. When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company's K-9 and himself," she said in an e-mail to Reuters.

I love dogs, I really do. In fact, I called for stiff punishments of Michael Vick and his dog murdering friends along the same lines as PETA, something that happens about as often as universal planetary alignment. In this case, however, the situation is a bit different. If the NY Times' dog attacks a highly trained bomb sniffing dog, something critical in Iraq in order to save human lives, the guard had little choice other than to shoot the dog if he felt that the dog was going to kill or seriously injure the K-9 officer. You may be thinking that the bomb sniffing dog should have been able to maul the NY Times' dog, but it may not have been trained for police service other than to smell out IEDs that kill, injure, and maim. If the NY Times dog latched onto the bomb sniffing dog and the guard couldn't pull them apart, he did the right thing if that dog can save human lives. Of course, you can expect to hear more stories like this in the near future, and you can almost sense a MSM headline along the lines of "Blackwater Fails to Give Reporters Lobster Dinner" and other nonsense coming in the near future.

-Caomhin

Harry Reid's Selfish Waste of Tax Payer Money

"Which example am I going to cite here," is probably what you're asking yourself, but the one I'm going to highlight here is the debacle of Reid's Liberal special interests taking precedence over the evidence in regards to the California Wildfires. Reid, as most Lefties are, is totally consumed with Global Warming so much so to the point that it goes back and forth with President Bush as reasons for anything that occurs. The stubbing of toe, a headache, etc.

When the fires starting, the Senate Majority Leader (ugh) made his move to say that the wildfires were the result of Global Warming (which is based on junk science as it is). Well, it turns out that's not the case at all. However, he was and still is, calling for Congressional investigations, which will start on Thursday:

On Tuesday the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming announced a hearing:

“A Spark Neglected: Wildfires and Global Warming,” it labeled the proceedings scheduled for Thursday.

“Select committee to examine link between changing climate, frequency and intensity of wildfires,” the description continued.

A committee spokesman said the hearing “was prompted by the wildfires out West and the view of some scientists that the increasing size, frequency and intensity of these fires is affected adversely by global warming.” A panel of scientists will testify.

Pure waste of tax payer funds for multiple reasons. First, notice the nifty little headline, "A Spark Neglected". That's actually pretty funny that they would put a title like that on a Congressional study. Stupid. A select committee (gee I wonder if the people selected will have a bias in favor of Global Warming since they are for sure to be on the payrolls of companies that benefit from products that sell 'carbon-credits' and other ridiculous items) will examine the link between the climate, frequency and intensity of wildfires. The findings are going to be that "the drought conditions in California lead to the wildfires and these were caused by global warming, and manbearpig must be stopped, so we are asking everyone to move to a major city and abandon your cars and stop heating your houses." It's asinine. Maybe if they weren't so tree huggingly weird out in California they'd thin the forests out a bit, maybe put some more firebreaks in the forests/woods. But none the less.

What makes this a giant waste of time for anyone not in the snake oil/global warming business is that the cause has been found. Arson, of course, caused by a boy playing with matches. Think the committee will even once mention that a kid with matches started the fires? Not a chance. Can't blame anyone but who or what they want to be the cause so they can make the money off of it, by promoting fear to a gutless Left Wing base. You'll remember the drunken "I was assaulted...oh wait, I was hammered" Randi Rhodes went so far as to accuse Blackwater of starting the fires out in California to feed her hapless colony of moonbats. These people are morons. Global Warming, President Bush, Blackwater, none of them had anything to do with the fires. The fires were caused by arson and spread rapidly due to over regulation of the forestry system in a far left state where they are still arguing amongst their eco-warriors why wind farms (which kill birds) should be scrapped completely even though it lowers the use of fossil fuels (which they say causes global warming). He's pushing this hearing through despite knowing that the fires were started by arson in order push forward an agenda that will make a person profit for him and so that no one questions his decision to blame global warming the second the fires started. Not only do I question their patriotism, I question their sanity.

-Caomhin