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The gravest charge you can level at a military man, as MoveOn.org essentially did to Gen. Petraeus with its infamous "General Betray Us" ad, is to call him a traitor.But surely close behind in the catalog of calumny is to call a soldier a coward. And that's what Frank Rich did in his [p.p.v.] New York Times column of today.Writes Rich [emphasis added]: General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker could grab an hour of prime television time only by slinking into the safe foxhole of Fox News, where Brit Hume chaperoned them on a gloomy, bunkerlike set before an audience of...

On Thursday night President Bush and Republican presidential candidates Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain asked the American people to set aside their sense of history and common sense. The three Republicans asked the American people to buy into their spin of the facts surrounding the invasion and the current status of the occupation of Iraq. Americans were asked to forget the president's claim that Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attack on this country, that he said he had a plan for Iraq and that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. None of those assertions were true. Prior to...

Kurds fight for freedom on Iran-Iraq border By Betsy Hiel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 16, 2007 QANDIL RANGE, Iraq -- Off a rocky mountain road meandering through creek beds, a small, stone military outpost is hidden near the Iraq-Iran border. Peach, pomegranate and fig trees tremble in the hot breeze. Under a thatched-roof awning, leafy vines cover the outer walls and offer a little relief from the intense sun. A young Iranian guerrilla listens to music on an iPod as his comrades hang Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition belts and walkie-talkies on a beam behind the vines. Amin Karimi, 34, a soft-spoken,...

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Of all of the reporting that has come from the Iraq war, Mike Yon is in a class all by himself. His E-magazine represents some of the finest writing and most concise reporting that I’ve had the pleasure to read. Today’s email inbox flashed a familiar message that appears when Mike has a new post ready. The email message included an interesting, and blogworthy prediction: Readers of my dispatches have gotten first hand reports of the kinds of positive indicators that General David Petraeus described in his progress report. The atmosphere is changing in Iraq and I’ve been posting dispatches...

Democrats and their liberal brethren are facing a very big problem this week. Having staked a large portion of their political capital on U.S. defeat in Iraq they must now come to grips with the possibility that we might actually win this war. This would be - if not actual disaster, at least a serious setback to their future plans. They rode anti-war sentiment into the Congress with real hopes that the Republicans would continue their losing streak right up to the White House next year. However, Bush and the G.O.P. unexpectedly doubled down and began to win a few....

t is a well known principle from anthropology that someone who can name a person or thing controls that person or thing. To do so, however, requires considerable skill and experience. The name that MoveOn.org applied to General David Petraeus, "General Betray Us," could have come from any grade school's sandbox, and it will no more stick to this distinguished soldier than water will adhere to Teflon. "Eli Parasite," our name for MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser, also is pretty obvious, but we will make it stick by using facts and his track record as the adhesive.Not only did MoveOn.org...

Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda terrorist organization’s second in command after Osama bin Laden, criticized General David Patraeus’ report on the Iraq War as “warmed-over Bush Administration propaganda” that requires “a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the listener.” “President Bush’s strategy in Iraq has failed,” Zawahiri continued. “It is time to change course and withdraw the troops so that the Islamification of the country can proceed with a minimum of bloodshed.” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seconded Zawahiri’s take on the General’s report. “It is not a credible report,” Khamenei insisted. “The words of an...

To prepare for General David Petraeus's long-awaited testimony on Iraq to Congress last week, the liberal pressure group MoveOn.org wrote itself into the history books with an anti-Petraeus ad so repulsive ... ~~ SNIP ~~ America's political spectrum a decade or more in the future will be defined by two parties both born of today's GOP after a natural and painless mitosis. There's at least as much distance between a Rudy Giuliani and a Mike Huckabee as there ever was between JFK and Nixon, or even Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower. Americans traditionally like their two opposing parties to differ...

Remember Me By Salena Zito Time punishes war. The war in Iraq is no exception; as each moment passes, public resolve, politics and passion erode its mission. Collectively, many Americans tend to remember the mistakes and politics that led us there, rather than the faces of the men and women who serve and defend us.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2007 – President Bush said today he supports the recommendations on reducing troop levels in Iraq made earlier this week by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq. During his weekly radio address, Bush voiced confidence in Petraeus’ suggestion that U.S. forces reduce their size by 5,700 troops in Iraq by Christmas, and that troop levels could be scaled down from 20 combat brigades to 15 by July. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker presented their report to Congress Sept. 10-11. “I have accepted General Petraeus’ recommendations. And I have...

An Open Letter To Senator Charles Schumer Senator Schumer, I write to you to take vehement exception to a statement you recently made concerning the job our troops are doing in Iraq. Although I'm paraphrasing, you said something to the effect that violence in the Anbar province had gone down in spite of the recent surge of troops we have sent into the area. You said that due to the American forces inability to protect the citizens that the warlords had stepped in and reduced the violence. After hearing your left handed rhetoric for a while, I must say I...

There is no mistaking the influence of MoveOn.org, with its 3.2 million members and powerful fund-raising apparatus, within the Democratic Party. This liberal activist group has come to occupy a prominent seat at the table among the party elite, so much so that Republicans leaped at a chance to hold Democrats and their presidential candidates responsible for MoveOn’s positions after it ran an advertisement attacking the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus. MoveOn, which has raised tens of millions of dollars for Democratic candidates since its inception in 1998, clearly enjoys friendly relations with Democratic Party officials. Its leaders have...

Rudy’s 50-state strategy By Salena Zito Friday, September 14, 2007 CANONSBURG, PA-One day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11th terror attacks Republican presidential nominee Rudy Giuliani zeroed in on the Democratic front-runners – stinging Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama and John Edwards with the sharpest words in the presidential campaign to date. Giuliani is clearly exercising a strategic move to define himself as the Republican front-runner who hopes to cinch the nomination before his GOP rivals gain steam. And he is increasing the volume on the issue Giuliani believes can catapult him to the White House: a do-or-die fight between...

What the General Really Said by: Emmanuel Opati, September 14, 2007 General David H. Petraeus told a congressional committee on Monday that in Iraq “we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level of brigade combat teams by next summer”. The commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq pointed out that objectives of the US military surge there are to a large measure being met. Reporting to the Congress on the situation in Iraq, General Petraeus said that the Coalition and Iraq security forces have made progress in improving security in Iraq with last week having the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2007 – The nation’s top military advisers were “unanimous” in backing the recommendations made to the president by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus on the way forward in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, answers a reporter's question while Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates looks on during a press briefing at the Pentagon, Sept. 14, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Gen. Peter Pace and Defense Secretary...

Following last night’s address to the nation, President Bush and Vice President Cheney each met with troops and Marines today, thanking them for their service and for their continued efforts in the War on Terror. President Bush had lunch with Marines at Quantico, Virginia, and made a brief statement afterwards, in which he reminded Congress to “support our men and women in uniform, and their families, and those who have worn the uniform. “ (Transcript) Vice President Cheney traveled to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he spoke about the war in Iraq (Transcript). He then...

War In Iraq: Years from now, people will look back on last week as truly historic. It began with Gen. David Petraeus' fact-filled account of our success on the ground, and it ended with President Bush making the case, stronger than ever, for finishing the job. Petraeus' detailed report seems particularly damning to those who oppose our mission in Iraq. Clearly, a major change has occurred there. Petraeus' words make it clear al-Qaida is on the run. Yes, he confirmed, we're winning — and he backed up his conclusion with facts. Among them: • "Security incidents" since the surge began...

Romney says Petraeus report what he'd hoped to hear GOP presidential hopeful discusses the issues during a swing through The Woodlands By RENÉE C. LEE 14 September 2007 THE WOODLANDS — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during a visit here Thursday said he supports withdrawing some American troops from Iraq beginning next year. The former Massachusetts governor, who was in The Woodlands for a fundraiser, said U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus' recent report on the war in Iraq shows troops have made progress and are slowly moving toward a support role in Iraq. "That's what I hoped I'd hear," Romney...

In the clamor of Democrats assailing President Bush on Iraq, presidential candidate John Edwards has found a way to be heard after Bush addresses the nation Thursday night: He's buying time for a rebuttal. Edwards has bought two minutes of air time on MSNBC, scheduled to air after Bush's 15-minute televised speech from the White House at 9 p.m. EDT. Bush is expected to announce plans to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq by up to 30,000 by next summer, but say that he will condition those and further cuts on continued progress. "Unfortunately, the president is pressing on...