Tag: Iraq
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Reasons for Republicans to be Thankful
Jennifer Rubin offers some Thanksgiving cheer at Pajamas Media. I don’t agree with every word of her post, but I love these parts: First, President-elect Barack Obama won by assuring voters he would pursue tax cuts, victory in Afghanistan, prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and go “line by line†through the federal budget to […]
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The Perils of Blogging
Like many (most?) bloggers, I crave a bigger audience, and I thought I had found a gambit that might tempt James Taranto to link to me from his “Best of the Web Today.” Yesterday’s BotWT included one of his “Wannabe Pundit” items, quoting a journalist taking a pot shot at the Bush Administration in the […]
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Bush Derangement Syndrome and the Surge
Peter Wehner, writing in Commentary, does the best job I have seen of chronicling the sordid history of liberal opposition to the surge. For paragraph after relentless paragraph he replays the mockery from the left, from before the surge even started until long after its success was clear. Anti-surge rhetoric died down only when even […]
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A McCain Voter Contemplates an Obama Presidency
I was going to write a poignant, insightful post about why this McCain voter is undismayed by the prospect of an Obama victory, but Peggy Noonan beat me to it. Saves me a few pixels, I suppose. An excerpt: A great moment: When the press was hitting hard on the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old […]
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In Praise of Milbloggers, and of the Iraqi Air Force
“Ask any of these three brand-new pilots if the Surge worked.” (Photo Credit: TheDonovan.com) The financial crisis has sucked all of the oxygen out of the news media, but it’s good to remember that there’s a war going on — and going well. From a “DV” (distinguished visitor, not otherwise identified) at the first graduation […]
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McCain’s Town Hall "Advantage"
Before the debate, we heard a lot about how good McCain is in a town hall format. There wasn’t much evidence of that last night. Time’s Swampland does a good job of explaining why: In the classic McCain town hall, differences of opinion are expressed, and McCain works to build a conversation, so that everyone […]
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So THAT’S Why He Picked Her – What a Speaker!
I take back everything I said or hinted or even thought about Sarah Palin being a drag on the ticket. She did several things she had to do in her speech tonight: She established that her record of actual office-holding achievement compares very favorably with Obama’s. (Obama’s achievement of winning his party’s nomination for president […]
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Five Stages of Adjusting to Palin
As a socially liberal McCain supporter living in one of the bluest towns in a blue state, I’ve learned how to reconcile myself to various aspects of his candidacy. The most glaring example is abortion rights, where I think McCain is on the wrong side of the issue. But for me the issues that trump […]
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Senator Biden’s Odd Notions of Right and Wrong
Joe Biden’s acceptance speech last night was well-delivered and powerful. The only part that raised my hackles was the Iraq section, with the thrice repeated “John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right.” At the time I thought it bothered me simply because I continue to support the decision to overthrow Saddam. But on inspecting […]
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A Military Perspective on the Anbar Awakening
A fascinating 20-minute video from MilBlogs TV describes how American forces cooperated with and supported the early stages of the Anbar Awakening, a key factor in the turnaround in Iraq. It’s not a completely happy tale — the American captain and the local sheik who played central roles in the cooperative effort both were ultimately […]