Gates Seeks to Build on Positive Momentum in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates talked with Iraqi leaders and U.S. commanders here today to explore ways to maintain momentum built in recent months and continue to build on it.
[snip]
The secretary emphasized that, while weakened, terrorists in Iraq haven’t been beaten, and he cited a migration of terrorists to other parts of the country now experiencing an up-tick in violence. Among them is the northern city of Mosul, which he visited today.
[snip]
Thomas shared Gates’ assessment of the “real growth of the Iraqi security forces” and said the challenge now is to continue their development to the point where they can operate independently, without U.S. assistance.
[snip]
In fact, he reported progress in bringing down the overall troop number in Iraq from its current 166,000. The first units not to be replaced returned home in September, and 1st Brigade Combat Team will begin redeploying this month, he said.

[i.e., we already are withdrawing troops - but as success allows]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48327

The Media: Bad Intelligence with No Confidence

[snip]
The media dangerously ignore the rest of the report, which indicates that Iran remains in the process of doing everything required to develop every aspect of their nuclear program save weapons, to which they can return on a dime whenever they wish. The MSM also disregard the July 2007 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee of Thomas Fingar, one of the co-authors of the latest NIE, which was wholly contradictory of the new downgraded danger assessment.

"Iran is continuing to pursue uranium enrichment and has shown more interest in protracting negotiations and working to delay and diminish the impact of UNSC sanctions than in reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution.

"We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons--despite its international obligations and international pressure. This is a grave concern to the other countries in the region whose security would be threatened should Iran acquire nuclear weapons."

This is all extraordinarily perilous. The world is not a sandbox in which all the little children play nicely, save for the American bully. The naïve notion the media broadcast that we could all just get along were it not for us throwing our weight around is a stone around our necks that hinders our ascendance both here and abroad.

As exhibited last week, when their righteous preening led to Bush-as-Pinocchio headlines in Tehran and smiles all around from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad and his Mullah bosses.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seton-motley/2007/12/05/media-very-selective-when-they-choose-believe-nie

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

DITHERING DIPLOMATS

SENIOR officials of the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany met last Friday in London to discuss Iran's nuclear-weapons program. Once again, they failed to agree on meaningful sanctions against Iran, leaving the mullahs free to pursue their deadly policy.
[snip]
This pattern of failed diplomacy has gone on for over four years, starting with the efforts of Britain, France and Germany ("the EU-3") to talk Iran out of its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the EU-3's fascination with negotiations lost sight of the ultimate objective - preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons - and became an end in itself. For the EU-3, the process became more important than the substance, especially the unstated but obvious EU-3 agenda of dealing with a proliferation threat their way, rather than the 'American way'.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11062007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/dithering_diplomats_959824.htm?page=0

The March of Governments - and Those Who Will Oppose Them

LONDON -- The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute and other free-market Washington think tanks are known to many Americans. What isn't generally understood is that there has been an explosion of free-market think tanks around the world that are increasingly challenging the conventional view that government is the solution to society's problems. (Snip) In 1997, the Stockholm Network had five members; it now boasts more than 130 affiliated groups, stretching from Iceland to Armenia.

[Many paid attention to the lessons taught during the last century - the challenge is in their getting 'air time'.]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110010969

[meanwhile. in America...]

Scientists Send Letter to UN: Headed in entirely wrong direction

If a former vice president with absolutely no formal scientific training in climatology or meteorology makes a statement about the world coming to an end due to rising temperatures, media will fawn over him like teenyboppers in the presence of Elvis Presley.

Yet, if more than 100 scientists from around the world send a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations urging him and his organization to stop wasting time, resources, and money fighting a futile climate change battle, crickets will be heard in newsrooms around the country.

Yet, such was the case when scientists from around the planet signed their names to the following letter sent to Ban Ki-moon Thursday as nations were meeting in Bali to discuss preposterous and economically damaging ideas to address global warming:

[the subject line of which reads: "Re: UN climate conference taking the World in entirely the wrong direction" - read it > http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/reprint/open_letter_to_un.html, or if you're skeptical re: skepticism, start with the list of signatories - it's impressive > http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=164004.]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/12/14/scientists-send-letter-un-give-futile-climate-change-battle#comments

WaPo Ignores Republican Criticism of Lack of Drilling in Energy Bill

Washington Post staffers Jonathan Weisman and Steven Mufson gave readers of the December 7 paper an article on a "comprehensive [?] energy bill" that passed the House of Representatives without delving into Republican criticism that the bill lacks any provision to produce or procure more energy domestically, such as from interior and off-shore natural gas and oil reserves.

Weisman and Mufson noted in the lede that the bill will raise "fuel-efficiency standards" and "require increased use of renewable energy sources", but chose to share none of House Minority Leader John Boehner that the measure is a "no-energy" bill because it doesn't open any new U.S. acreage to oil and natural gas drilling, and will only raise, not lower, energy costs.

In the Washington Post front pager, not once do the words "drilling" or "natural gas" occur.

[the story is as 'comprehensive' as the bill - meanwhile, while we wait for the corn to grow, Saudi Arabia and Iran spend their petro dollars on what?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2007/12/07/wapo-ignores-republican-criticism-lack-drilling-energy-bill

Greens Gone Wild and Jobs Gone, period...

California

In the latest installment of “Greens Gone Wild,” the governor’s appointees on the Air Resources Board have voted to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions in the state to a maximum level of 427 million metric tons by 2020.

Since numbers like that have very little meaning without a reference point, consider this for perspective: Californians currently emit 500 million metric tons. That means that the economy will need to cut 73 million metric tons from its current level of emissions and then hold at that level until today’s kindergarteners are in college.

I don’t believe this figure includes exhaling, however. Thirty seven million Californians breathing produce an additional 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year (at 2.2 pounds per person per day). Just a drop in the bucket compared to the 2.4 billion metric tons that 6.6 billion human beings exhale annually worldwide.

But since they’re presumably not telling Californians to actually hold their breaths, one way of reaching the brave new world is to convince people not to drive cars. According to the ARB, an average car produces about 28 pounds of carbon dioxide per day, so the ARB target can be reached by removing just 15.4 million passenger cars from service. California only has 24 million passenger cars to take off the road in the first place, but the goal can be easily met if just two out of every three Californians quit driving. This will require some enforcement activity, of course, especially to keep former car owners from cheating by substituting ox carts.

“Now the rubber is hitting the road,” said an ecstatic Karen Douglas, the director of California Climate Initiative for Environmental Defense. And it won’t be long before the economy is hitting the skids and something else hits the fan.

No need to worry about jobs, though. The Air Resources Board is hiring.

http://www.carepublic.com/blog.html?blog_id=209&frompage=latestblog&domain=tom_mcclintock

Falling cow smashes van near Manson

A Chelan County fire chief says a couple were lucky they weren't killed by a cow that fell off a cliff and smashed their minivan. District 5 Chief Arnold Baker says they missed being killed by a matter of inches Sunday as they drove on Highway 150 near Manson. The 600-pound cow fell about 200 feet and landed on the hood of the minivan carrying Charles Everson Jr. and his wife Linda of Westland, Mich.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Falling_Cow.html

Moscow Suspends Cold War Weapons Treaty

Moscow officially ended its adherence to a key Cold War treaty that sets limits on the number of soldiers and weapons stationed in Europe. Officials in Moscow said on Wednesday, Dec. 12, that there are no plans to build up their military forces after they suspended participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty but added the move was necessary to protect Russia's national security.

[So how many years will need to pass before it's politically acceptable to admit the cold war is back on? How many more after that before we react to counter it?]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3000904,00.html

Commanders Tell Gates Iraq Policy Working, Urge Vigilance

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Field commanders deployed throughout Iraq gathered here today to tell Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates firsthand that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is working and to urge vigilance in seeing it through.
[snip]


But asked if there was one central message the commanders delivered, Simock said they’re confident the strategy in Iraq is showing results and don’t want to give up too soon.

“We’re winning; there is no doubt,” Simcock said. “I wanted to make sure we are winning here on the ground.”

He said he’s seen a 180-degree turnaround in his own area of operations around Fallujah during the last six months.

Army Col. Jon Lehr, commander of 2nd Infantry Divison’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Camp Taji, shared Simcock’s assessment, but said the commanders shared another important message with Gates.

“The tactical purpose of the surge is working,” he said. “Now we need to stay and finish the job. It ain’t done yet.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48329

Army Civilians Could Receive Furlough Notices by Christmas

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2007 – Some Army civilian employees may get layoff notices before Christmas, because $178 billion in emergency funds have not yet been approved to continue the war on terror, a senior Defense Department official said today.
[snip]
“Anyone who thinks that this is not a serious situation is simply misinformed or is ignoring the facts. We have tried to be as matter of fact as we can on this, but the reality is that we are using our program budget for FY 08 … to fund our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Whitman said.

If funding continues to be delayed, it could affect as many as 200,000 civilian employees and contractors, DoD officials reported earlier.

“In mid-February, the Army will run out of all of their O&M funding for the entire year, because they will have spent it on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. That will require some fairly significant and harsh actions by the department, specifically the Army. And the Marine Corps is only about a month behind them,” Whitman said.

Military installations soon will have to shut down operations and furlough civilian employees, terminate contracts, and move into what Whitman called a “warm” status.

“Facts are the facts. We’re trying to keep people as well informed as we can, but anybody that thinks that we have sufficient funding to go beyond what we have stated is just either misinformed or electing not to examine the facts,” he said.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48313

'Changing border will be dangerous'

The defense establishment is fiercely opposed to a United Nations initiative to redraw Israel's border with Lebanon and ultimately revoke Israeli sovereignty over the Shaba Farms. A UN cartographer is expected to visit the Shaba Farms, also known as Mount Dov, in the coming weeks, sent by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to review the current border route along the 25-square-kilometer area located between Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
[betrayed again: it's elevated land, previously used to shell Israel]
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502427231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

UK cancer survival rate lowest in Europe

Cancer survival rates in Britain are among the lowest in Europe, according to the most comprehensive analysis of the issue yet produced. England is on a par with Poland despite the NHS spending three times more on health care. Survival rates are based on the number of patients who are alive five years after diagnosis and researchers found that England was the fifth worst in a league of 22 countries. Experts blamed late diagnosis and long waiting lists.
[Europe's oldest socialized healthcare system]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=ALDQAFHLW3BERQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/08/21/ncancer121.xml