USA Today...

It's not often that I even read a USA Today. Their coverage lacks the depth that I like in a newspaper, and their slant is obvious.

However, in today's edition, Ralph Peters writes this opinion piece which makes the case that we are not in a "Battle of Ideas", but rather in a war "over religion and ethnicity" (something which I've long thought).

Further, Peters notes that a "hearts and minds" approach will not work. The insurgency we face can be put down, but it will take bloodletting. As I've worried about earlier, I'm afraid that we won't be willing to spill serious blood until we've been bloodied first. It may take the loss of much of a major American city before we're willing to take down enough of the Islamic faith that they call off their jihad.

A good day...

Got some small chores done around the house today.
We had wonderful weather here today...mid-60's with clear skies. I got away to an IDPA match.
Got a haircut (which I needed badly).
Got out to a 50th birthday celebration for a friend.

I certainly could have done more, but all-in-all it was a nice day.

Make no mistake...

Iran is our enemy.

America's Bush's Defeat...

I've made this point (h/t Glenn) to the lefties on that other Forum a couple of times, but their BDS has them impervious to logic.

We're in a war here folks. The Islamofacists, represented by the 19 9/11 hijackers, killed the rich and the poor; white, black, brown and yellow; Christian, Jew and Muslim; Democrat and Republican alike. Whatever our differences, our enemies saw us as enough alike that they did not discriminate. The killed because they are fighting our freedom.

Sadly, the Democrats cannot see that the war is not just about defeating Bush. It is about defeating those who define themselves as our enemies.

"God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Lifted from Bill at INDCJournal.

Escalation...

I've written at least three posts recently (starting here) making the point that we've escalated things in Iraq. We're not letting Iran get away with any of their mischief. Mookie is thought to have been run out of town. I've speculated a couple of places here that we may be looking to provoke, or, at least will not turn away from a new Gulf of Tonkin.

After the start of the new offensive (or perhaps in reaction to the recent, and disturbing loss of helicopters), here is evidence that we've upped the ante.

Obama vs. Howard...

The Democrats have, for many years and without apology, advocated policies that can be summed up by the following...

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.

Case in point. (h/t Cowboy Blob)

[They do this, coincidentally, without letting us know who said this.]

A dustup was begun between Barak Obama and John Howard after Howard's statement that...

"If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

Obama's reply?

...If the Australian prime minister was "ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq," he needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war.

"Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," Obama said.

But what about that "each according to his ability" line? Do we mean it or not?

"...We won’t make that mistake again. ...."

Somewhere the other day I saw a brief clip of an interview with Robert Gates after his meetings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The money quote...

“After the Soviets left [Afghanistan], the US made a mistake,” said Mr Gates. “We neglected Afghanistan and extremism took control of that country, and the US paid a price for that on September 11, 2001. We won’t make that mistake again."

Substitute "Iraq" for "Afghanistan" in the above, and make the appropriate changes to the tenses of the verbs, and you get why we're not leaving Iraq.

Ever.

If you're not now convinced of the wisdom or necessity of staying in Iraq, you had better find a way to get used to it. Most Democrat politicians are pandering their way into positions that support, in one way or another, a retreat (or "redeployment" if you buy into it) from Iraq. But just because the D's now can do nothing except run against everything that Bush has done, doesn't mean that they will leave Iraq. Whichever D gets elected (God forbid), they'll find a way to stay in Iraq. Retreat ain't gonna happen. It is the same mistake Gates spoke of.

A Semi-Sabbatical...

For the short- to middle-term, I think I'm going to cut back on posting here. In the short-term, I've got a large painting project that I'm behind on, the taxes to do for ourselves as well as for the three kids, recurrent approaching, and the normal stuff that just piles up.

On top of that, Dad has cancer, and for the middle-term, I'll be travelling to see him as often as I can. I get the feeling that he doesn't have a long-term.

What...

...he said. ("He" meaning John, of course.)