This, that, and Iraq

After the tragic incident in which over 100 Iraqis were killed by an IED, the initial results of the new surge strategy seem to be going well. Moqtada al-Sadr has fled to Iran, and news reports today indicate that the al-Qaeda top dog in Iraq,Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been captured. An aide to al-Masri was killed in the same action, which was conducted by Iraqi troops.
Let's hope for more of the same.

Captain's Quarters has pointed out a story revealing an interesting flip-flop by Hillary Clinton. She announced that President Bush would have to go through Congress in order to attack Iran. Apart from being factually incorrect, Clinton's stance reverses her defense of President Clinton's Bosnian bombing in 2002.

Twenty-six members of Congress later sued the Clinton administration on the grounds that the bombing campaign constituted a violation of the War Powers Act. Mr. Clinton's Justice Department argued at the time that the War Powers Act not only gave the president the authority to drop the bombs on Belgrade — over two congressional votes rejecting a declaration of war on Yugoslavia — but that he was not required to seek congressional approval because Congress had appropriated the funding to launch the air offensive.

Mrs. Clinton defended the Kosovo campaign in a speech on October 10, 2002, before casting her vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. "We and our NATO allies did not depose Mr. Milosevic, who was responsible for more than a quarter of a million people being killed in the 1990s. Instead, by stopping his aggression in Bosnia and Kosovo, and keeping on the tough sanctions, we created the conditions in which his own people threw him out and led to his being in the dock being tried for war crimes as we speak," she said in the 2002 speech. Milosevic died in prison in the Hague in 2006.
(New York Sun)

I'm picking Clinton to take the Democratic Party's presidential nomination over Barack Obama, by the way. Obama is the better candidate in some ways, but some polls are indicating that a majority of blacks are disinclined to vote for him.
That strikes me as a little bit strange, but if that trend holds up then Clinton's savvy at campaigning will probably outweigh her shrill exterior and lack of experience.
Not that Obama is flowing with experience, either.

Update: NBC has backed off of its report that al-Masri was killed. In making this update I took the liberty of fixing an earlier mistake attributable to me, that being the fate of al-Masri's aide. The aide was killed, not captured.

Too late! Iraq, England, Philadelphia, Miami ...

I had my next post planned. Terrorist activity in England cannot be stopped (the U.S. has maintained a military presence there, but radical Islam continues to grow in Great Britain), so it's time to bring our troops home now.

Rush Limbaugh beat me to it, and then some.

On today's show, Limbaugh noted the death rate in Philadephia, using the occasion to call for benchmarks for the largely Democratic leaders and suggested that all federal funds be cut off if those leaders do not hew to the benchmarks.

Then he outdid himself.

Referring to the Super Bowl, Limbaugh said that he supports the Bears, but he wishes they were not playing in the Super Bowl.
Support the Bears! Bring them home now!

Funny stuff, Mr. Limbaugh.

I'm also enjoying the fact that the Democratic presidential candidates are taking swipes at one another on Iraq--at last the Democrats are at the point where they are forced to do something other than criticize Republican policies.

Limbaugh took note of that as well on his program, and made appropriate fun of Senator Joe Biden, who hilariously referred to Barack Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Talk about stumbling out of the blocks! Biden just formally announced his candidacy, and Editor & Publisher is already speculating that the comment will tank his chances of securing the nomination.