An echo in the wilderness. A democrat speaks common sense about Iraq. Really!

Let's face it. The democratic (socialist) party has long ago been hi jacked by the lunatic fringe. Those left wing utopian screamers, that hate all things conservative, make any wallacite look hawkish by comparison. I give a big tip 'o the hat to Senator Joseph Lieberman for having big brass ones and letting the truth be proclaimed loud and clear:

Our Troops Must Stay!
America can't abandon 27 million Iraqis to 10,000 terrorists.

Published Tuesday, November 29, 2005 in the WSJ, his commentary lets the world know that there is still a voice of reason in the democratic (socialist) party.
"It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority." - Joe Lieberman

Merry Christmas. Your house is on fire.

Not really, but this is a cool exhibition of 'over-the-top' house decoration. Someone has waaaaay too much time on their hands. (Windows media player required. High speed connection recommended)

Ok. Now you're just being obnoxious.

Don't blink or you'll miss it: Eight Sunni Arabs arrested in alleged plot to kill judge.

I'm not one who puts much stock in conspiracy theories or one who constantly gives a nervous glance backward in an attempt to watch out for 'them', so this next observation is merely a comment on human nature.
Have you ever noticed that the news stories coming out of Iraq (or most anywhere) that shed a positive light on things rarely see prolonged exposure or follow up? They are relegated to their obligatory 15 minutes of daylight and then disappear.
This story, written in Baghdad by Bassem Mrou for the Scotsman, is a good example. A big tip 'o the hat must go to the police in Kirkuk who thwarted this plot to kill the investigating judge, a man named Raed Juhi. It was he who prepared the case against Saddam Hussein. According to Colonel Anwar Qadir, a police commander in the city of Kirkuk, one of Saddam's chief rats, Izzat al-Douri, a former top deputy, was behind the plot.

I think this is big news and worthy of some fanfare.
But human nature being what it is, most people yawn at good news and look for titillation elsewhere. Like the mob that stops to stare at a car wreck, we are a fickle creatures and demand that our news shock and awe our senses with wretchedness or outrage or its just not worth more than a scant glance. People are so strange.

And speaking of strange, Saddam's trial has been postponed again after being briefly restarted from the previous 40 day delay. This postponement is until Dec. 5 so the defense can get some new lawyers since the some of the last bunch was assassinated or fled after being wounded.
I'm confused.
Isn't it the Sunni radical's from Saddam's former Sunni dominated regime that are doing this killing of the lawyers who are trying to defend Saddam from the new, democratically elected Iraqi government trying to give Saddam a fair trial followed by a first class hanging? It appears these radical Sunnis have no love for lawyers or the new government.
I'll give 'em a pass on the former.

A little joy from that 'other' war: Afganistan

"The frail girl with haunted eyes arrived at a U.S. military base near Kabul weighing scarcely 35 pounds, sluggish and prone to alarming episodes of bluish skin if she so much as walked briskly.
Born with a malformed heart that left her body starved of oxygen, Basira Jan’s future amid Afghanistan’s unforgiving poverty seemed bleak – until Indiana National Guardsmen touched by her plight vowed to get the youngster help."
That is how Rick Callahan of the Associated Press began his story about the plight of Basira Jan and the intercession of the Indiana Guardsmen stationed in Afganistan.
With the help of Gift of Life International, this little girl and her family have a new start on life. Since 1974, the Gift of Life organization has helped over 4,000 children from all over the world receive much needed medical care.
And these Indiana Guardsmen were more than happy to provide a little joy in Afganistan; that 'other' war.

From the yapping lap dog department

Writing from Damascus, Albert Aji has an article published in The Scotsman Online detailing Syria's cooperation with the U.N.'s investigation into the death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. This is a sharp reversal from Syria's earlier outrage at the U.N.'s insistence that it co-operate with an international inquiry into the killing of the former Lebanese prime minister.
Not that any of this will amount to a lap dog's squeeze. There aren't too many individuals or nations that quake in their boots when the U.N. rides into town to take names and, and...... and, write more resolutions. As expected, most all involved will have to scrub extra hard to remove the rat filth now that George Galloway has given his dubious praise to this international murder investigation.
Yapping lap dogs are annoying, but rats are deemed a public health hazard.