News stories and opinions kept quiet
by the mainstream press

Editor's Note:  Even during a war, TV news organizations seem to miss [or actively suppress] a lot of material that pops up on the internet.  Perhaps that is one reason for the steady decline in network TV ratings since the internet became popular as a news source for the average American.  Please be sure to visit The Media Bias Page, where there is even more material you're sure to find interesting.

In general, I've noticed that the Fox News Channel tends to report cheerfully about the great improvements in Iraq, post-Saddam:  People have electricity, schools, the right to vote, and a number of things they didn't have before.  CNN, on the other hand, seems to constantly whine about the casualties, the cost, and the sluggishness of the war.  CNN has an infectious pessimism unmatched by any other "news" source, at least when there's a Republican in the White House.

More examples of spiked news stories can be found here.

Lately there have been a number of terrorist attacks reported as "isolated incidents", and that subject is now covered on this page.

 Commentary:   Occasionally TV news programs feature black and white video clips from a successful operation in Iraq.  You may recall seeing aerial footage of a missile hitting a bridge or a building, right on target.  But the video is always very fuzzy, there's no color, no detail, it's shown in reverse polarity (white = black), and it always looks like night-vision video.  Very obviously the pictures released by the military have been intentionally blurred.  We saw clearer pictures from the Moon in 1969 than we see from Iraq today.  We can see clearer aerial footage of the bombing in World War II than we see from this year's military action.  The first Gulf War, ten years ago, should have been the first war shot in hi-definition TV.  The technology is available, so why does the news media settle for scraps of substandard video when the military could do much better?  Would it jeopardize our ability to win the war if the enemy found out how clearly we can see them?

An American Victory.  The news is not that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities.  The news is that American combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities in victory — rather than in defeat.  Two years ago at this time, few in the foreign-policy establishment considered that outcome possible.

Shoe bomber and friends getting soft treatment in federal prisons.  Regular old U.S. criminals should be so lucky as to enjoy the devoted legal representation that has rallied to the sides of Islamist terrorists convicted of plotting the mass murder of Americans.  Self-styled human rights champions who made the Guantanamo Bay detention center a false symbol of barbarism have turned to easing the ultra-secure domestic imprisonments of fanatic jihadists.

Thoughts on the Hysteria About Afghanistan.  Afghanistan is a messy war, but so far it has been conducted with a minimum loss of American life while achieving some important goals. ... After the initial invasion, the Afghan front was largely inactive for years.  U.S. annual fatalities from 2001 through 2007 (12, 49, 48, 52, 99, 98, 117) averaged about 68.  In comparison, the murder total in Chicago for 2007 was 509.

Guantanamo and the question of terrorist recruitment.  In the next few days, you're going to see an increasingly intense debate on the question of whether the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is a major factor in terrorist recruitment.  In that debate, you're going to hear a name you might not have heard, Matthew Alexander.  And you're going to learn that what you've been told about Guantanamo and terrorist recruitment is not the whole story.

It was not torture, but it saved lives.  CIA agents once played rough with possibly 30 terrorists, and maybe they shouldn't have, but they saved American lives that way.  And if you say no, no, a thousand times no to playing rough in the future, you may be saying yes to thousands of deaths.

CIA Waterboarding Produced Intel That Stopped Attack on Los Angeles.  "Soon, you will know."  That is the ominous statement an uncooperative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, told his Central Intelligence Agency interrogators when they initially asked him, after he had been captured, about additional planned al-Qaida attacks on the United States.  In March 2003, KSM became the third and final terrorist ever waterboarded by the CIA.  The other two were Abu Zubaydah and Rahim Al-Nashiri.  So few were waterboarded because the CIA was so strict in the criteria for deciding when the technique could be used.

Reality Knocks.  Saying unsupported piffle is the stuff of campaigns, but the current occupants of the White House seem unaware of their higher obligation to provide complete and unspun information to the American people.  While they may be determined to throw out whatever hits them as an available political counterattack, neither their own intelligence officials or the previous ones support the view that a single American was harmed because of interrogation tactics.  The available information suggests the contrary is true.

Bush's 'folly' is ending in victory.  'Markets without bombs.  Hummers without guns.  Ice cream after dark.  Busy streets without fear."  So began Terry McCarthy's report from Iraq for ABC's World News Sunday on March 15, one of a series the network aired last week as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary.  A nationwide poll of Iraqis reveals that "60 percent expect things to get better next year — almost three times as many as a year and a half ago," McCarthy continued.

Iraq:  Good News Is No News.  Preoccupied as it was poring over Tom Daschle's tax returns, Washington hardly noticed a near-miracle abroad.  Iraq held provincial elections.  There was no Election Day violence.  Security was handled by Iraqi forces with little U.S. involvement.  A fabulous bazaar of 14,400 candidates representing 400 parties participated, yielding results highly favorable to both Iraq and the United States. ... All this barely pierced the consciousness of official Washington.  After all, it fundamentally contradicts the general establishment/media narrative of Iraq as "fiasco."

The Right Standard for Judging George W. Bush:  Media accounts greatly exaggerate the human cost of the war through the failure to provide an appropriate context in recent history.  While every military death constitutes a profound tragedy for the families of the fallen and the nation at large, the level of sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan has remained remarkably (and blessedly) low when compared to tragic losses under recent "peace-time" presidents.  In fact, measuring the number of annual military deaths (most of them through accidents and illness, rather than combat) since 1980, the toll for the Bush administration remains sharply below the 28 year average.

Iraq death toll plummets.  The number of British and US forces who died in Iraq in 2008 looks likely to be the lowest annual toll since the invasion nearly six years ago, while bombs and gunfire killed far fewer Iraqi civilians than in 2007.

Winning Isn't News.  What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public?  Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Violence in Iraq down sharply.  The level of violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq in recent days from year-ago levels, a U.S. military official in the war-torn country says.  Army Brig. Gen. David G. Perkins, a spokesman for the multinational force in Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad Sunday that over the past week there had been an average of 10 attacks each day.  That, he said, was a 95 percent drop from the 180 attacks per day being experienced last year, American Forces Press Service reported Monday.

Reopen the Statue of Liberty.  The disgraceful and cowardly shuttering of the Statue of Liberty may soon be over.  Lady Liberty may shortly be freed to welcome visitors from New York and around the world to her crown. ... The National Park Service, a unit of the Interior Department, closed the glory in the harbor for security reasons after 9/11.  Today, it stands as America's only national monument that has not been fully restored to the public.

US records lowest monthly death toll in Iraq.  Eleven US soldiers were killed in Iraq in July, the lowest monthly toll since the US-led invasion of 2003, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.

U.S. Combat Casualties Back to All-Time Low in November, Analysis Shows.  U.S. combat casualties in Iraq fell to their lowest level last month, with most of the fatalities concentrated outside of Baghdad in the Ninawa Province along the Syrian border, according to a CNSNews.com analysis of U.S. Defense Department data.

The Most Overlooked News Story of 2008.  Have you noticed lately that mainstream media are giving less attention to the war in Iraq, especially concerning our troops' progress?  Who doesn't recognize by now that we live in a time in which there's little, if any, publishing space for positive military stories about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Cyber Attack Shuts Down Website.  It was [Jill] Metzger's claim, not backed up by any evidence, that she had been abducted and then heroically escaped her captors.  Many media organizations in the U.S. trumpeted this claim. ... If that tale turns out to be false, and there is a lot of reason to doubt it, the military top brass who have been protecting her — and the mainstream media which have refused to investigate the matter — will end up looking like fools or worse.

Obama Can't Be Trusted on National Defense.  [Scroll down slowly]  The desperation that may have led Obama to engage in this gross misconduct stems from his belated recognition of the new reality in Iraq:  The war there is over.  America has won.  It is too late for Obama to surrender, on behalf of his uninformed, misguided, anti-American netroots.  Victory for America in Iraq has meant a disastrous rout for Al Qaeda's terrorists. ... With this smashing victory in hand, American troops are already coming home.  The surge troops have been withdrawn.

Al-Qa'eda's American-born propaganda chief may have died in predator attack.  Months of attacks by unmanned US predator aircraft have caused carnage among the middle ranks of terrorist leaders in the lawless lands along the border with Afghanistan, where al-Qa'eda remains dangerous despite suffering a serious defeat in Iraq.  Their victims have included experienced Arab leaders and, it is now thought, Adam Gadahn, a former heavy-metal fan and so-called "killer computer nerd" originally from California.  Nothing has been heard from him for months, leading intelligence experts to conclude that he may be dead.

How General Petraeus Saved the U.S. Economy:  With oil prices continuing to plunge — and they may have a lot further to go — I've started wondering about this "what if" scenario:  Where would oil prices be today had we abandoned Iraq to civil war and al Qaeda?  What if President Bush had announced on Jan. 10, 2007, that instead of surging U.S. troops under the command of General Patraeus, he was ordering their withdrawal?

General Petraeus Has Not Betrayed U.S..  Here's to General David Petraeus.  He never betrayed us.  Indeed, he saved America's war in Iraq.  Maybe not single-handily, but there is no doubt whatsoever that without General Petraeus' bold move to push for more troops to turn the tide against the insurgents, which has paid off handsomely, America would have been severely weakened both at home and around the world.

Exit Petraeus, Without Fanfare.  General David Petraeus's tenure in Iraq draws to a close at the end of the month, and it's a measure of his success that he is departing to far less political fanfare than when his tour began.  In September 2007, MoveOn.org called him General "Betray-Us," and Hillary Clinton said his claims of progress weren't credible.  Now those critics are silent.

Federal jury acquits ex-Marine in Iraqis' deaths.  Verdict is the first time a civilian jury has weighed in on the law of war.

You heard it here first:  We won the war.  Somebody has to write this.  The United States has won the war in Iraq.  I'm compelled to proclaim victory because, these days, winning wars has become politically incorrect in Western societies.  So much so that some political leaders opposed to the war refuse to recognize the definition of victory or to utter the word.

Show Us The Bodies.  Over and over again, terrorists and their sympathizers claim that every successful American air-strike or raid massacred a wedding party or a family gathering where innocent infants were quietly fondling their Kalashnikovs.  But we never see the bodies.  How do they all disappear?

ABC, CBS, NBC Skip Report of Benchmarks Met in Iraq.  For most of the Iraq war, the national media has suggested to the public that there are two sides of the story on Iraq:  the version painted by President Bush and his spokesmen, and the "reality" that Americans see in the media.  But when things go well in Iraq, do the networks take any steps to acknowledge reality?  Or do they keep a lid on the good news?

Obama, Justice Thomas and Col. West: On Morality.  [Allen] West represents the ideals and the actions of the great majority of our military.  But as usual, the media mob tells us a lot more about their own blinders, than about the reality of war, when they select the headlines.  Lt. Col. West was faced with a supremely difficult moral choice, and unhesitatingly chose the right and painful course.

A Look Back:  What Democrats Were Saying About The Surge.  The enormous improvement in Iraq's security situation caused by the surge has been so undeniable that even the mainstream press has started alternating between ignoring Iraq completely and acknowledging, albeit reluctantly, that the surge has put victory within reach in Iraq.  So with that in mind, it's worth taking the time to look back at what the créme de la créme of the Democratic Party has had to say about the war and the surge over the last few years.

Surge Successful By Any Measure, Pentagon Official Says.  The surge in Iraq has been a success by any measure, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said during a news conference July 23. … The surge has allowed Iraq to make improvements from security, political and economic standpoints, Morrell said.  The last of the five surge brigade combat teams recently left Iraq.

So Much for the 'Looted Sites'.  A recent mission to Iraq headed by top archaeologists from the U.S. and U.K. who specialize in Mesopotamia found that, contrary to received wisdom, southern Iraq's most important historic sites — eight of them — had neither been seriously damaged nor looted after the American invasion.

The New Reality in Iraq.  All of the most important objectives of the surge have been accomplished in Iraq.  The sectarian civil war is ended; al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been dealt a devastating blow; and the Sadrist militia and other Iranian-backed militant groups have been disrupted.  Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has accomplished almost all of the legislative benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration.  More important, it is gaining wider legitimacy among the population.

Is the War Over?  Security incidents, or attacks, are at their lowest level in four years.  Civilian deaths are down by almost 90 percent since General Petraeus' counterinsurgency "surge" strategy went into effect.  High profile attacks, or explosions, are down by 80 percent in the same time period.  American and Iraqi soldiers suffer far fewer casualties than they have for years.

Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda.  American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.  After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda's dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant "last stand" in the northern city of Mosul.  A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

The Editor says...
 That's great news.  Too bad we have to read about this in the British newspapers.

Victory in Anbar?  What victory?  In order to find even minimal coverage of the significant victory our forces in Anbar have wrought this day, Saturday, July 5, you'll have to be quite a lot more specific in your search, which is indeed a travesty for which our mainstream media elites ought to, in my opinion, feel deep shame.

Success in Iraq:  A Media Blackout.  Do we still have troops in Iraq?  Is there still a conflict over there?  If you rely on the so-called mainstream media, you may have difficulty answering those questions these days.  As Iraqi and Coalition forces pile up one success after another, Iraq has magically vanished from the headlines.

Don't mention the war.  How do you know when things are going well for the US and its coalition allies in Iraq?  When you see virtually nothing about it on your television screen or in the papers.

The 550 Tons of Yellowcake:  The recent AP story was not news with respect to the existence of this stockpile in Iraq to those who follow such things closely.  But I'm sure many readers had never been aware of this large stockpile of yellowcake in Iraq at all.  This new AP story, and perhaps my article, helped get that information out.  As Investor's Business Daily more recently put it , "Seems to us this should be big news," but "the mainstream media find it inconveniently contradicts the story they have been telling you for years."

Saddam's Nukes:  It's a little known fact that, after invading Iraq in 2003, the U.S. found massive amounts of uranium yellowcake, the stuff that can be refined into nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel, at a facility in Tuwaitha outside of Baghdad.  In recent weeks, the U.S. secretly has helped the Iraqi government ship it all to Canada, where it was bought by a Canadian company for further processing into nuclear fuel — thus keeping it from potential use by terrorists or unsavory regimes in the region.

President Bush was Right.  If anyone doubts the need to have ousted Saddam, a news release in the past few days should put such doubts to rest.  The report is that the US has sold 550 tons of yellowcake uranium that had been found in Iraq to Cameco, a Canadian company.  The uranium will now be used as fuel and poses no severe risk if properly stored and sealed.

Yellowcake journalism.  [Saddam] Hussein got the yellowcake from somewhere.  He almost certainly got it from Niger, Gabon, South Africa or Namibia, the four African countries with yellowcake mines.  And [Joe] Wilson, who served with the State Department in Baghdad and Gabon, didn't know (or didn't report in his [New York] Times op-ed) that Hussein possessed 550 tons of yellowcake at the time of Mr. Wilson's African junket.

Guest Column:  The silence of 'The Times'.  The power of The New York Times is undeniable — even in an era of declining mainstream media influence.  What its editors choose to report still influences policymaking, as coverage of, or silence about, two recent Gaza-related events underscores.

Iraq could have largest oil reserves in the world.  Iraq dramatically increased the official size of its oil reserves yesterday [5/19/2008] after new data suggested that they could exceed Saudi Arabia's and be the largest in the world.  The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister told The Times that new exploration showed that his country has the world's largest proven oil reserves, with as much as 350 billion barrels.  The figure is triple the country's present proven reserves and exceeds that of Saudi Arabia's estimated 264 billion barrels of oil.

Why Did These Liberals Lie About Weapons of Mass Destruction?  The left has never adequately answered the following question.  If Bush knew there was no WMD, why would he send 150,000 troops into Iraq since his "lie" would be immediately exposed by invading coalition forces and reported by a large contingent of media embedded within those forces?  Liberals also choose to ignore United Nations Resolution 1441, which clearly established that Iraq had WMD.  That resolution was approved unanimously by the UN member nations.

Marine Corps meets 142 percent of recruiting goal.  The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members.  All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said.

Air Combat by Remote Control:  The sniper never knew what hit him. … As the unmanned plane closed in, the infrared camera underneath its nose picked up the muzzle flashes from the window.  The sniper was still firing when the Predator's 100-pound Hellfire missile came through the window and eliminated the threat.  The airman who fired that missile was 8,000 miles away, here at Creech Air Force Base, home of the 432nd air wing.

War on Terror Update:  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 47% of likely voters believe the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror.  Twenty percent (20%) say the terrorists are winning, while 27% say neither.

Progress, Actually.  The word "benchmarks" was scarcely heard last week when [General David] Petraeus and [Ambassador Ryan] Crocker reappeared before Congress.  Crocker testified that the Iraqis have actually met about two-thirds of the benchmarks, including four or five of the six key legislative benchmarks and all of the benchmarks measuring their contribution to their own security.  In reply, the congressmen who insisted on legislating these benchmarks now say benchmarks are a poor way to measure progress in Iraq.

Haditha:  The Collapse of a Liberal Fiction.  You'd hardly know it if you relied on the mainstream media, but the government's case against the Haditha Marines took another body blow last Friday [3/28/2008] that may be the beginning of the end for this whole sorry attempt to severely punish eight heroic United States Marines for doing what they are trained to do.  In a surprise development on the day Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum's court martial was scheduled to begin, all charges against him were dropped without explanation.

Our Enemy's Attrition:  The majority opinion is that the occupation in Iraq has been so bungled that the blowback has ruined American efforts at promoting positive change throughout the Middle East.  Perhaps.  But for all the justifiable criticism of the Iraqi reconstruction, two truths still remain — the United States is taking an enormous toll on jihadists, and despite the terrible cost in blood and treasure, has not given up on a constitutional government in Iraq.

Two ideas to consider about Bush's war and education.  During Bush's presidency, there has been an average of 1,465 deaths in the military per year (through 2006).  Clinton had an average of 954 military deaths per year.  Since Bush has been president, 160 military members have committed suicide per year.  During Clinton's administration, the suicide rate was 190 per year.  During Bush's time, an average of nine service people a year died in non-war related terrorist attacks (attacks on embassies, ships in a non-war zone, etc.).  The average under Clinton was 16 deaths per year.

Cents of perspective:  Every single combat death and injury sustained by our fighting forces is a deep loss.  But those who decry the 4000 military deaths related to the liberation of Iraq as somehow a disproportionate historic disaster do not have much perspective.

Death Blow to Defeatists:  Violence continues to plummet, with attacks throughout Iraq down 60 percent since June and civilian deaths down 75 percent from a year ago.  Iraqis are returning home by the tens of thousands.  The incoming flow of foreign fighters have [sic] been cut in half.  And despite a "surge" of troops, American combat deaths are near all-time monthly lows in Iraq.  This is all wonderful news.

The Surge Worked.  After years of mismanagement of the war, many people had grave doubts about whether success in Iraq was possible.  In Congress, opposition to the surge from antiwar members was swift and severe.  They insisted that Iraq was already "lost," and that there was nothing left to do but accept our defeat and retreat.  In fact, they could not have been more wrong.

Iraq Combat Deaths Down 50 Percent in November.  There have been 24 combat-related deaths in Iraq reported in the current month thus far in comparison with the 48 combat-related deaths reported in the first 28 days of November last year.

Targeted Killing Is Working — So why is the press not reporting it?  Sometimes what the international press does not cover reveals as much about its biases as what it does cover.

Iraq:  al-Qaida 75 Percent Gone.  Iraq's interior ministry spokesman said Saturday that 75 percent of al-Qaida in Iraq's terrorist network had been destroyed this year, but the top American commander in the country said the terror group remained his chief concern.

Top Story Of 2007:  The Surge, The Military, And The Media.  There should be no question what the top story of the year was:  America's counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq, the Democrats' hapless efforts to sabotage it, and the Western mainstream media's stubborn refusal to own up to military progress.

Turnaround in US Combat Casualties Began in June, Analysis Shows.  As has been widely reported, U.S. combat-related casualties in Iraq in 2007 were greater than in 2006, but they peaked in May 2007, just before the troop surge was completed and began a decline in June that continued through the end of the year.

Iraq Casualties in December Down 80 Percent From Year Ago.  Combat-related U.S. casualties in Iraq were 82.9 percent less in December 2007 than they were in December 2006, according to an exclusive Cybercast News Service analysis of Defense Department data.  In December 2006, according to an analysis based on casualty reports released by the Defense Department, 82 U.S. military personnel were killed in Iraq as a result of enemy action.  In December 2007, 14 U.S. military personnel were killed in Iraq as a result of enemy action.

More than 4500 Taliban members defect.  More than 4500 Taliban insurgents have defected since 2005 and up to 4000 others have been killed in action against British and Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan, according to military intelligence sources.

Soldier deaths down in Iraq.  The U.S. military said Friday [12/14/2007] that two American soldiers had died in separate incidents, but despite the latest deaths, December was shaping up to be the safest month for U.S. forces in Iraq since 2004.

U.S. Monthly Death Toll in Iraq Could Be the Lowest in 2 Years.  The monthly toll of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq is on track to being the lowest in nearly two years, with at least 34 troop deaths recorded as of Tuesday [10/30/2007], but the military cautioned it's too early to declare a long-term trend.

Military Deaths Lower Now Than in 1980s.  American soldiers died in higher numbers during some of the peace-time years in the 1980s than in recent years when the military has fought conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a government report on casualty rates.  Further, the number of annual U.S. military deaths for the last three years is just slightly above the average annual death toll in the 1990s.

Iraqi oil exceeds pre-war output.  Iraqi oil production is above the levels seen before the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA said Iraqi crude production is now running at 2.3 million barrels per day, compared with 1.9 million barrels at the start of this year.

Iraq's revival boosted as oil production rises to 2.4m barrels a day.  Oil production in Iraq is at its highest level since the US-led invasion of 2003, reaching 2.4 million barrels a day, thanks largely to improved security measures in the north.  The country's Oil Ministry will shortly invite international oil companies to bid for contracts to help Iraq to boost output at its investment-starved "super-giant" oilfields. Production is expected to pass the prewar level of 2.6 million barrels by the end of the year, and Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi Oil Minister, told The Times that he expected production to reach six million barrels a day within four years.

Let's hear it for good news from Iraq.  The news from Iraq has been so encouraging in recent months that last week even the mainstream media finally sat up and took notice.  Can the Democratic Party be far behind?

How They Did It:  Executing the winning strategy in Iraq.  The surge of operations that American and Iraqi forces began on June 15 has dramatically improved security in Baghdad and throughout Iraq.  U.S. commanders and soldiers have reversed the negative trends of 2006, some of which date back to 2005.  The total number of enemy attacks has fallen for four consecutive months, and has now reached levels last seen before the February 2006 Samarra mosque bombing.

None Dare Call It 'Victory'.  In a "normal" war, this would be cause for national celebration, but this is not a normal war.  Leaders of the Democratic Party are unwilling to celebrate because they have invested all their political capital in the notion that America isn't winning, can't win and must not win. … Broadcast television has mostly ignored the Iraq story in recent weeks.

You Just Can't Win.  No matter how much good news the surge brings or what miracles our troops pull off, congressional Democrats insist we not accept anything short of defeat.  What an insult to those in uniform.

Be Intelligent.  The authors of the NIE assess "with high confidence" that Iran "halted its nuclear weapons program" in 2003 — and that's about all you're likely to hear from administration critics and the mainstream media.  But it is a very small part of a very big picture — and when you look at that picture, the threat is as great as ever.

French and German foreign ministers sing along with an Islamofascist.  If it weren't so dangerous, the naïvité demonstrated by the foreign ministers of France and Germany would be almost touching.  The two grandees have in effect endorsed a violent Islamist.  You haven't read about it in our mainstream media, of course.

Uncommon Criminals:  Under our system of law, "criminal" is the most advantageous designation a terrorist can get.  It comes with all sorts of rights and rules terrorists can exploit:  Miranda, speedy trials, the right to see classified evidence, the benefit of a reasonable doubt, the right to remain silent, etc.  We did not designate al Qaeda "enemy combatants" to elevate their status but to lower it.

When Peaceniks Attack, Journalists Snooze.  Have you heard about the plight of 22-year-old McGuire Air Force Base loadmaster Jonathan Schrieken?  Probably not.  The shooting got no mention in The New York Times — not even a squib in a back section.

Military Deaths Lower Now Than in 1980s.  American soldiers died in higher numbers during some of the peace-time years in the 1980s than in recent years when the military has fought conflicts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a government report on casualty rates. Further, the number of annual U.S. military deaths for the last three years is just slightly above the average annual death toll in the 1990s.

Why Aren't the Top Media Reporting the New Facts about Iraq's WMD?  "The media have a major responsibility now to report the facts about WMD in Iraq," said MRC President Brent Bozell.  "Those facts now refute the 'no WMD' claim, endlessly reported by the media and exploited by political left-wingers anxious to ascribe evil motives to the United States. … The top media have a duty to report on this and not ignore it because it doesn't fit their political agenda."

Serious use for Silly String.  American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.  Before entering a building, troops squirt the plastic goo, which can shoot strands about 10 to 12 feet, across the room.  If it falls to the ground, no trip wires.  If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem.  The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.

Silly String Shipments Stuck in States.  It may sound silly, but it's saving the life of soldiers.  The mother of a South Jersey soldier has been working for months to send silly string to Iraq, but is now having trouble getting it overseas.

Update:
 Soldier's mom finds Silly String shipper.  After months of frustration, a mother of a soldier in Iraq has found someone to ship about 80,000 cans of Silly String to the troops, who use the foamy substance to detect trip wires on bombs.  "I'm just thrilled," said the woman, Marcelle Shriver.  "I couldn't sleep too well this whole weekend thinking about it."

Surprise:  Old media downplay Zarqawi's death.  Before you assume liberals are acting in good faith in casually dismissing the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as "symbolic," don't forget their endless carping about our failure to capture Osama bin Laden.

More about Zarqawi coverage:
 Good news is no news.  It can seem the news is always bad.  If a river isn't flooding you'll never see a journalist reporting live saying, "Things are fine here."  But let that river creep over its banks and you'll suddenly have journalists with full rain gear to update viewers inch-by-inch.  But good news deserves to be news, too.

Gun-toting jihadi was not an angel.  In June 1942, German saboteurs landed on a deserted beach on Long Island, New York, intent on terrorising the US's home front.  They were arrested and tried by a military commission.  The US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that military commission and the penalties (in that case, executions) it ordered.  Last year the US Supreme Court once again upheld military commissions as an appropriate means for trying those captured and charged with breaking the laws of war, specifically in relation to the war on terror.  The court demanded congressional approval.  That has been given.  So that's the law.

Al-Qaeda is 'facing destruction'.  Hundreds of insurgents have been captured or killed as a result of information gleaned from the hunting down of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, it was claimed yesterday [6/15/2006].

McCain literally wants comfort for the enemy.  [U.S. Sen. John] McCain — who obviously loves to see his name in print — cannot seem to stand prosperity within his own political Party. … McCain has opposed coercive interrogation techniques, including sleep deprivation and other non-lethal methods of questioning … [which] is ridiculous because, in the case of the war against Islamic terrorists, these combatants observe no rules.

Libs in Congress, media defeated.  With the extermination of al-Qaeda's number one terrorist in Iraq, there is reason for great celebration, although one would never know it listening to liberals in Congress, the mainstream media and the kook fringe of the left-wing blogosphere.

Vietnam and Iraq:  Myth vs. Reality.  Having now spent nearly as much time in Iraq as I did on my first "tour" of Vietnam in 1968-69, it's readily apparent that the parallels between the two wars are practically non-existent on the battlefield.  In the press and politics — it's a different matter.  The barons of bombast have decided that Iraq equals Vietnam.  Those who make this argument are ignoring some very inconvenient facts.

The American press should count its blessings.  In between breathless condemnations of the Bush administration for stifling its free speech, endless court filings demanding classified and sensitive information from the military and intelligence agencies, and self-pitying media industry confabs bemoaning their hemorrhaging circulations (with the exception of the New York Post), my colleagues in the American media don't have much time to give thanks.

A Case for Guantanamo:  Largely unreported are the increasing cases of Islamic terrorists convicted of crimes in the U.S. under the criminal justice system.  We are all aware of high profile cases such as John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban"; John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the "Beltway Snipers"; and Zacarias Moussaoui, the "Twentieth Hijacker"; but we are less familiar with many, many others that the media chooses to overlook or pay scant attention.

Gitmo-Obsessed Left Shrugs At Mosque Bombings.  Leftists shriek when a GI forgets to don gloves before touching a Koran, but snore when Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other terrorists blast mosques to bits.

Iraq is Less Violent than Washington, D.C..  Despite media coverage purporting to show that escalating violence in Iraq has the country spiraling out of control, civilian death statistics complied by Rep. Steve King, R-IA, indicate that Iraq actually has a lower civilian violent death rate than Washington, D.C., Detroit, Baltimore, Atlanta, St. Louis, and pre-Katrina New Orleans.

The Editor says...
 Ask yourself this question:  What do those six cities have that other cities don't?

Questions linger as cans bite dust.  The disappearance of 600 relatively new and "bombproof" trash cans from downtown streets has left some New Orleanians with a few questions.  The most common question is:  What happened to the old cans, which cost the city $450,000, and can the city put them in my neighborhood?  But there's another interesting query:  How much shorter were the old cans than the ones the city is replacing them with?

Iraq Announces Info From Al-Zarqawi Raid.  Iraq's national security adviser said Thursday [6/15/2006] a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records was seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout, giving the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Media mum on new evidence of Saddam's terror ties.  The White House doesn't believe in re-fighting the decision to go to war, which is painfully logical.  But politics isn't logical.  Neither are Bush's political enemies.  If the President wants people to trust that he made the right call by toppling Saddam, he needs to reiterate everyday what we know:  Saddam was a threat who could no longer be tolerated.  "Blessed July" and Saddam's terror training camps would be as good a place as any to start.

The Real Story Behind Jill Carroll's Release.  The real story that is being avoided is that Jill Carroll read a script at the terrorists' gun point that could just as easily been written by Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Ted Kennedy, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, George Soros, Sen. Russ Feingold, or Michael Moore.

'Jihad Jack' walks free.  The [Australian] Government's "war on terrorism" has suffered an embarrassing setback after Joseph Thomas, dubbed Jihad Jack, walked free after an appeal court quashed his conviction.

The Sixteen Words Were True — Iraq did seek uranium in Niger.  In February 1999, Wissam al-Zahawie left his Vatican office for a few days and paid an official visit to Niger, a country known for absolutely nothing except its vast deposits of uranium ore.

It turns out Bush was right about Iraq's quest for uranium.  As columnist Robert Novak once argued, the burgeoning "Bush lied" mantra was heavily dependent on the uranium claim.  So the liar label was most firmly attached on an issue Bush was right about.  Go figure.

American death toll in Iraq hits a two year low.  U.S. casualties fell to their lowest totals in two years this month as Iraqis increasingly aimed attacks at each other rather than coalition forces, the U.S. military said yesterday [3/30/2006].

Dispelling myths about American soldiers.  Myths abound when it comes to military personnel in the modern American armed forces.  Most are in some way related to recruiting new soldiers, who's fighting, and who's dying.

Feeling the Pain of the Falling Man of 9/11.  The mainstream media in the United States has taken the images of September 11th, 2001 off the television and out of the newspapers.  They say that the images are too disturbing, that they incite a want for revenge rather than allow closure.  But they are wrong to do this. … The people of the United States need to rekindle the flame of emotional anguish about the attacks of September 11th, 2001.  We need to seethe. … Then we need to take definitive action.

Cries for help edited out of 9/11 tapes.  In releasing the 130 calls, city officials edited out the voices of those who sought help.  But the police and fire dispatchers often repeated the callers' words, reflecting the fear and chaos of the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

Subordinating the truth:  As I was watching President Bush's latest news conference, I was again struck by the thought of how different the news climate and public mood would be if the mainstream media (MSM) were truly as unbiased as they pretend to be.

Steak and ale soothe ailing soldiers.  What [Americans] don't hear much about are the quiet events and private meetings that often take place in the Oval Office between President George W. Bush and military families.  Or the Friday-night steak dinners local restaurateurs throw for wounded vets from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Iraq's not-so-good neighbor:  The wild pronouncements of the new Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have gotten sporadic press ever since he called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Libs take credit for Bush's approval climb.  It is amusing to watch liberals try to explain away the recent upswing in President Bush's approval rating, from around 39 percent to 47 percent.  Sure enough, they've figured a way to attribute the turnaround to a validation of their positions rather than his policies.

Report says the Russian government had sources inside U.S. Central Command.  Russia had a military intelligence unit operating in Iraq up through the 2003 U.S. invasion and fall of Baghdad, a Russian analyst said today.  A Pentagon report said Russia provided Saddam Hussein with intelligence on U.S. military movements and plans.

What the captured documents show.  President Bush has made errors, as all humans do, but one thing he has not been guilty of is bad faith.  The same cannot be said of his critics.

More Damning Documents On Saddam.  The Pentagon has obviously been sitting on a treasure trove of paper incriminations against Saddam's regime.  So far, just a minuscule amount of the more than 3,000 hours of tape recordings of Saddam and 48,000 boxes of intelligence documents has been translated and deciphered.  What has come out so far has confirmed Americans' worst fears about Saddam's evil regime.

Saddam's Philippines Terror Connection.  Saddam Hussein's regime provided financial support to Abu Sayyaf, the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law in the Philippines in the late 1990s, according to documents captured in postwar Iraq.

Who's Lying Now?  Those Saddam documents are coming out, and there are strong suggestions — not surprisingly to some of us — that the notion that he had nothing to do with al Qaeda is a myth.

Saddam, Al Qaeda Did Collaborate, Documents Show:  A former Democratic senator and 9/11 commissioner says a recently declassified Iraqi account of a 1995 meeting between Osama bin Laden and a senior Iraqi envoy presents a "significant set of facts," and shows a more detailed collaboration between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

Electro-Magnetic Pulse:  The Biggest Threat No One Talks About.  Scientists and military officials have long known about the dangers of EMP.  In a 1962 test called "Starfish," the U.S. military detonated a nuclear device some 250 miles over Johnston Island in the Pacific.  The EMP wave stretched 700 miles to Hawaii, knocking out street lights.

The EMP Threat:  ElectroMagnetic Pulse Warfare.  Concerns are rising about the threat of an Electro Magnetic Pulse attack, aimed at destroying our electronic guts.  What if our computers and other electronics didn't work?  What if electronic records of your bank account were immobilized?  What would happen to our technology-dependent transportation, financial, and production systems?

Little Congressional Interest in EMP Threat.  Once again, a congressional commission is warning that an electromagnetic pulse attack against the United States could wipe out the nation's electronics-dependent civilization.  And again, hardly anyone is listening.

The EMP Threat:  Imagine you're a terrorist with a single nuclear weapon.  You could wipe out the U.S. city of your choice, or you could decide to destroy the infrastructure of the entire U.S. economy and leave millions of Americans to die of starvation or want of medical care.  The latter scenario is the one envisioned by a long-running commission to assess the threat from electromagnetic pulse, or EMP.

America is Vulnerable to An Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.  Our enemies are well aware of what an EMP attack is, and just what precisely it would do.  The incentive to attack America through EMP is high because the cost to America would be catastrophic.

The Electromagnetic Threat.  EMP comes from the words "Electromagnetic Pulse," which occurs when a high-altitude nuclear detonation produces an immediate flux of gamma rays from the nuclear reactions within the device.  These photons, in turn, produce high-energy free electrons by "compton scattering" at altitudes between (roughly) 20 and 40 km.  These electrons are then trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, giving rise to an oscillating electric current.  This current is asymmetric in general and gives rise to a rapidly rising radiated electromagnetic field called an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).  Because the electrons are trapped essentially simultaneously, a very large electromagnetic source radiates coherently.

Electromagnetic attack:  Thinking the unthinkable.  [Scroll down]  A deliberate EMP attack, however, would be different.  If, for example, an enemy detonated a nuclear weapon carried on a ballistic missile 200 miles or so above Earth, people on the ground might never know an attack occurred.  But if the explosion happened high enough over North America, the blossom of EMP might cover the entire United States.

The Editor says...
 The more I hear about EMP attacks and the perdictions of certain destruction of every electronic device in the country, the more skeptical I become.

U.S. Muslim Gets 30 Years for Plot to Assassinate President Bush.  An American Muslim was sentenced Wednesday [3/29/2006] to 30 years in prison for joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush.

Plot to kill Bush gets a man 30 years.  An American Muslim was sentenced yesterday [3/29/2006] to 30 years in prison for joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush.

The war you can't ignore:  An EMP attack achieved by launching a nuclear-tipped missile from an approaching freighter could potentially kill millions through starvation, disease, and society's collapsing into utter lawlessness.  According to the book, an EMP attack "could kill — indirectly — far more Americans than a nuclear weapon detonated in our most populous city."  An unsettling reality indeed.

The Iraq Story You Haven't Heard.  While Senator Joe Lieberman's (D-CT) statements have been grossly — and deliberately — underreported, they are vital for the future of Iraq.

Not All Negative.  The mainstream media is failing in its reporting on Iraq.  The American people are being fed a steady stream of negative stories about Iraq that in no way represent reality, and even if a positive story is reported it can be hard to spot.

All the news that's fit to ignore:  It's not that Murtha doesn't deserve airtime to voice a point of view many Americans share.  It's that Lieberman surely deserves at least equal time for a point of view that other Americans, as well as most Iraqis, share.

AWOL in the War of Ideas.  "If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other.  Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one.  In practice, 'he that is not with me is against me.'"  It wasn't George Bush who said that.  It was George Orwell.

New York Times Smears Patriots.  A wall of silence by most of the national mainstream media has obscured a Cultural War victory over the forces of "political correctness."  The winners in this David vs. Goliath story are families of 9/11 victims and the heroes and survivors of the police and firefighters who responded to the call after the terrorist planes struck the World Trade Center Towers.

Stumbling ….  Two pivotal, but underreported, developments are overlooked in the escalating political battle over the war in Iraq.  First, no matter how disenchanted Americans have become about the war to establish a strong, stable pro-Western democracy in the heart of the Middle East's terrorist breeding ground, a majority still opposes our pulling out before we have achieved that mission.

Yellow Press Promotes Red Rally.  Ms. Petula Dvorak's Washington Post story about the September 24 "anti-war" rally used a strategy that has been employed in the past by reporters anxious to avoid any mention of how communists run these events.

The Democrats' 9/11 slush fund.  For the past four years, Democrats have ceaselessly attacked Republicans for "exploiting" the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. … But when an investigative reporter exposes Democrats raiding federal homeland security grants and turning 9/11 money into a party slush fund, where, oh where, are all the indignant liberal watchdogs to protest such clear and unconscionable political exploitation?

The news from Iraq that's not fit to print:  What was the most important news out of Iraq last week?  That depends on what you consider "important."

All the news that's fit to omit:  When you read The New York Times (if you still bother to read it), always ask:  What is the Times NOT telling me?  The answers are invariably more compelling — and newsworthy — than what the paper actually deems "fit to print."

The Bomb-blowing Heroes of Iraq:  In a war in which most coalition casualties are caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), no unit is more important than Explosive Ordnance Disposal.  Perhaps that's why Steven Bochco felt obligated to smear them as unreliable in his anti-war, anti-reality TV series "Over There."

Get it over with:  Saddam must die.  After 22 months in captivity, Saddam Hussein went on trial yesterday [10/19/2005] — only to have it postponed to Nov. 28 at the behest of his so-called defence counsel.  A huge error and let's hope it doesn't happen again.

With a Whimper.  The Western media was relatively quiet about the quite amazing news from the recent trifecta in Iraq:  very little violence on election day, Sunni participation, and approval of the constitution.  Those who forecasted that either the Sunnis would boycott, or that the constitution would be — and should be — rejected, stayed mum.

Media Are Blind to Islamic Threat.  The controversy over the handling of the Koran at the U.S. Delta Camp at Guantanamo, which detains Muslim terrorists, reveals an intellectual deficit among some of our academic, media, political and religious elites.  They are missing the most important story at Guantanamo.

Trashing our history:  troops in Iraq.  Back in June, this column pointed out that it is impossible to fight a war without heroism — but that you would never know that from the mainstream media.

Fatality flaw:  The U.S. death rate in Iraq is indeed rising, but some comparisons are still in order.

Chart courtesy of World Magazine, used with permission.
Chart courtesy of World Magazine.  Used with permission.


The Troops in Iraq, By the Numbers.  [Victor] Hanson compares the approximately 1,700 deaths of Americans in Iraq, of which approximately 1,300 were combat deaths, to other wars in American history.  In the battle at Antietam in 1862 in the Civil War, between five and six thousand Americans were killed in one day.  On D-Day, 3,000 Allied troops died, and another 6,000 were wounded.  And in the Battle of the Bulge, approximately 19,000 Americans died and 60,000 more were missing, captured or wounded.  The 1,700 killed in Iraq equals about 60 percent of those who died on September 11, 2001.  These people aren't just numbers, and can't be reduced to that.  But the price we are paying as a country needs to be kept in perspective and reported accurately.

Are They in the Army Now?  The Marines have suffered disproportionate fatalities in the war in Iraq.  They are about 30 percent of all combat deaths, yet make up only 11 percent of current American forces.  But in May the Marines slightly exceeded their recruitment goal.  The Air Force and Navy likewise met 100 percent of their requirements.

The Mother of All Connections.  We know from these IIS documents that beginning in 1992 the former Iraqi regime regarded bin Laden as an Iraqi Intelligence asset.  We know from IIS documents that the former Iraqi regime provided safe haven and financial support to an Iraqi who has admitted to mixing the chemicals for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.  We know from IIS documents that Saddam Hussein agreed to Osama bin Laden's request to broadcast anti-Saudi propaganda on Iraqi state-run television.  We know from IIS documents that a "trusted confidante" of bin Laden stayed for more than two weeks at a posh Baghdad hotel as the guest of the Iraqi Intelligence Service.

Despite Media Blackout, Fallujah Rebuilds.  Fallujah doesn't rival Jamaica as a vacation resort.  But last year at this time it was the epicenter of Iraq terrorism, filled with decapitators and bomb-makers.  If progress can be made there, it can be made anywhere in Iraq.  Don't listen to the "quagmire" crowd.  This war is being won.

Debunking Three Years of Media Lies:  You don't win wars by coddling the enemy.  Let's stop worrying about Cindy Sheehan or mishandled Korans and win the war.  Strength and power is what our enemies understand, so let's show it to them.  And the sooner the better.

Looking the other way.  On August 6, as her 15 minutes of fame was just beginning, Cindy Sheehan used an odd term in a TV interview with Mark Knoller of CBS.  She referred to the foreign insurgents and terrorists in Iraq as "freedom fighters."  Knoller cut those words out of his report, he told me, because he "really wasn't interested."  He should have left them in.  In fact, alarm bells should have rung in his brain.

More about Cindy Sheehan can be found here.

Beware of Strange Men With Rocket Launchers.  Many readers have e-mailed me about a recent report floating on the Internet that reveals military concerns about a suspicious trio of Middle Eastern men who apparently pointed a rocket launcher at low-flying aircraft near Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma earlier this month.  It's authentic.

What's in a Name?  "War on Terror" is Out, "Struggle Against Extremism" is In.  Recently, top officials of the Bush Administration have changed the way that they are talking about terrorism.  They have stopped talking about a "war on terrorism."  Thinking it too narrowly defined, Administration officials now speak of a "struggle against global extremism."  Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld describes America's policies as a "global struggle against the enemies of freedom, the enemies of civilization."

Just the facts please.  Question:  What's the best thing that has happened recently in the so-called war on terror?  Hint No. 1:  It wasn't the White House's decision to re-brand the "war on terror" as the "struggle against violent extremism."  "War" makes "you think of people in uniform as being the solution," said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who, as the head man in uniform, has just opted himself into obsolescence.

The War on Terror:  Year Five.  Like the Madrid bombings of March 11, 2004, which ejected Spain from Iraq, the London terror bombs aim to get Britain out of Iraq and out of its strategic alliance with the United States.  Thus the two chief protagonists in the war, the United States and al Qaeda, are in complete agreement that Iraq is the central front of the global war, and that getting the United States' chief ally out of Iraq would thus be an enormous coup for our enemies.

Jihad Watch Offers Questions for Candidates.  Forty percent of the foreign jihadists fighting against American troops in Iraq come from a putative ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia.  The Kingdom is also one of the world's leading bankrollers of terror.  A Treasury Department official who tracks terror financing, Stuart Levey, recently remarked:  "If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia."

Axis of Irritation.  Sensible Americans understand that, whatever their opinions about the war's origins and execution, leaving Iraq as a failed state would be disastrous.  They also understand that overreaching now would not be a rational response to having underachieved so far.

Why war in Iraq is right for America.  Americans are impatient isolationists at heart.  We don't want to be the world's policemen.  Gaining Iraqis their freedom, as good as it sounds, isn't enough of a justification for war.  China is a dictatorship.  North Korea is a dictatorship.  Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, Pakistan and Egypt are all dictatorships.  We can't overthrow all of those regimes simply to free their citizens.  We have to focus on those regimes that endanger American security.

On the other hand...
 U.S. Blood Is Not Buying a Free Iraq.  Members of the Bush administration have repeatedly told Americans that Iraq is becoming a free and democratic society, but that claim is proving to be false. … In exchange [for American casualties] we see that Iraq, rather than becoming a free, pro-Western society, is falling into the hands of a radical Muslim government aligned with Iran, a terrorist state hostile to the United States.

Islamists are serious; are we?  What are the war aims of the United States in the global conflict that began on Sept. 11, 2001?  No one really knows.  All Americans, including the president and Congress, have simply gone about the job of striking back at those who struck at us, without ever formally debating and deciding who the enemy is and what will constitute victory.

Mainstream media suppress Iraq optimism.  Media coverage on the war is terribly slanted — such that it may threaten our ability to win.

[Anti] military operations:  Buried in all the mainstream media coverage this week … was a little-noted item about reenlistments in the U.S. armed forces exceeding expectations.  USA Today offered some prominence to the story, but it was widely ignored by most of the Fourth Estate.  Perhaps that's because it's a "good news story."

Why I went from undecided to 100% pro-war.  Numerous links to news articles about Saddam's atrocities in Iraq.  (The editor's comments are rated PG; parental discretion advised.)

Lost in translation.  The federal Bureau of Prisons is holding 119 persons with "specific ties" to international Islamist terrorist groups, yet has no full-time Arabic translators or a system to monitor their communications, according to Congressional sources and a whistleblower who now fears retaliation from inmates.

The curse of the language corrupters:  Nearly four years after the September 11 attacks, the White House and the press still use the empty phrase "War on Terror" to describe the global battle against radical Islamist throat-slitters, suicide bombers and hijackers who incinerate children on their way to Disneyland. … How many times have you heard some cable TV talking head or political hack urging us to be on "heightened alert" — without having the courage to spell out exactly what that means?


Guantanamo Bay:
The truth about Guantanamo Bay:  Have there been abuses?  Yes.  But here is the rest of the story — the story that the Islamists and their sympathizers don't want you to hear.

It's Still Club Gitmo.  Of the camps currently in use, none come close to justifying the concerns of the Gitmo's critics, let alone Amnesty International's feverish judgment that it is the "gulag of our time." ... Camp 4 offers a number of diversions, courtesy of American taxpayers.  There is an outdoor basketball court, and a 6,000-book library, from which detainees can check out everything from hobby magazines like Bird Watcher's Digest, to commentaries on Islam, to Agatha Christie thrillers.  The latter come complete with white stickers blocking the author's photo, lest the detainees deem the grande dame of the mystery novel too much of a seductress.

There is No Good Reason to Close Gitmo.  While billions are victim to the regular abuse and tyranny of governments such as those of Sudan and China, much of the world's media and non-profit "human rights" resources focus on the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Not a single person has been killed at the facility since it opened, and yet the drumbeat of criticism grows by the day.

Unilateral self-flagellation:  Upon arrival at Camp Delta [Guantanamo Bay], detainees are issued a blanket, a sheet, two orange jump suits, flip-flops, a foam sleeping pad, two bath towels, a washcloth, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, a prayer rug and a Koran.  They are allowed two 15-minute showers per week; they get recreation time and three culturally sensitive meals per day.  Schedules are respectful of Islamic traditions, prayer calls are broadcast five times a day, and arrows painted on the floors point to Mecca.  Their regular quarters include a flushing toilet, running water and an off-the-floor bed.  Detainees who ask for them are provided with soccer balls, playing cards, chessboards and paperback books.  All of this courtesy of the American taxpayers the detainees have sworn to kill.

Gitmo by any other name is still necessary.  There's a lot I don't understand about the current hysteria over our prison facility at Guantanamo Bay.  At the top of the list is why no one has mentioned Louis Pepe or Mamdouh Mahmud Salim.

Gitmo - if I were a judge.  I, and other Vietnam POWs who suffered real relentless torture, would have loved to be so blessed as to have had to suffer under conditions like those in Gitmo.

On a serious note, Gitmo tactics are far from torture.  Some readers are angry that I made light of the politics surrounding the treatment of suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay.  They're upset that I didn't take it seriously.  OK.  I'll take it seriously, particularly statements by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who compared Guantanamo to Hitler's camps, Stalin's gulags and the Cambodian killing fields of the Khmer Rouge.

Will we defend ourselves?  Recently, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., equated our military's treatment of captured Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorist suspects, held at Guantanamo Bay, with something that would have "been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings."  That statement not only demonstrates ignorance of the horrors committed by the Nazis, Soviets and Pol Pot, but it supplied ammunition for people seeking to destroy us.

Debunking another Gitmo myth.  Every single detainee currently being held at Guantanamo Bay has received a hearing before a military tribunal.  Every one.  As a result of those hearings, more than three dozen Gitmo detainees have been released.  The hearings, called "Combatant Status Review Tribunals," are held before a board of officers, and permit the detainees to contest the facts on which their classification as "enemy combatants" is based.

Where have all the good spines gone?  Perhaps the most emasculating whining in the past couple weeks has come from folks who actually believe Gitmo is a "gulag."  When dealing with the would-be 20th hijacker of 9/11, these folks believe that loud Christina Aguilera music, dripping water, exposure to females, proximity to dogs, and thorough medical care constitute "torture."  Democrat leaders and weak-kneed Republicans are mewling about closing Gitmo altogether.

Conservatives Tout Guantanamo Bay's Cuisine.  Conservatives angered by the frequent calls of congressional Democrats and anti-war activists to close down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, are conducting an unusual counter-attack.  "The Gitmo Cookbook" emphasizes the high quality of life for prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility.

Clinton's latest outrage:  Let's remember who is imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.  About 520 prisoners with links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network.  These are people who support bin Laden.  These are people who kill for bin Laden.  These are people who may have information that can help us catch bin Laden.  These are people who, if given the chance, would conduct attacks on the United States like those directed by bin Laden on September 11, 2001.

Time for unanimous outrage at Durbin.  It's not just that Al Jazeera is gleefully broadcasting Durbin's infernal indictment throughout the Muslim world; it spouts anti-American propaganda every day.  It's that the entire Democratic Party, in effect, is affirming the substance of his charges.  We can't just chalk this up to the usual partisan bickering.  The Democrats' recklessness in permitting such a negative impression of America transcends party politics by light years.

Words have meaning.  In failing to comprehend the consequences of their words and actions, the Fonda-Kerry-Durbin trio serves as an archetype of the far left in misunderstanding the antipathy most Americans feel toward those who aid and abet our enemies.


Death wish:  The real outrage isn't the affront to the "dignity" of suicide terrorists being interrogated and kept alive against their will by our military at Guantanamo; the greater offense is our mainstream media's lack of context for what transpires there — and the apparent disregard for the consequences of such revelations during a time of war.

Female Soldiers Face More Danger in Iraq.  When a roadside bomb in Iraq exploded on Feb. 9, [2005] Army Sgt. Jessica M. Housby became the 21st female soldier killed in action in Iraq.  Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, says the Army is misleading Congress by denying that women in support companies are being placed at the front lines of combat.

Frequently Asked Questions about Women in Combat:  Recent news reports about the unprecedented roles of female soldiers serving in Iraq have generated many inquiries about the issue of women in land combat.  Should female soldiers be assigned to units that engage in direct ground combat, and if not, why not?

No more heroes?  Yes, Virginia, there are still heroes in America, and Sgt. Rafael Peralta was one of them. It's just too bad the media can't recognize them.

The Self-Sacrifice of Sgt. Rafael Peralta:  I saw four Marines firing from the adjoining room when a yellow, foreign-made, oval-shaped grenade bounced into the room, rolling to a stop close to Sgt. Rafael Peralta's nearly lifeless body.  In an act living up to the heroes of the Marine Corps' past, Peralta, in his last fleeting moments of consciousness, reached out and pulled the grenade into his body.  LaBelle fought on Iwo Jima and Anderson in Vietnam, both died saving their fellow Marines by smothering the blast of enemy grenades.

Sgt. Rafael Peralta, American Hero.  You probably don't know Rafael Peralta's name.  If we lived in a country that more fully celebrated the heroics of its men in uniform, you would.  He was a sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment for Operation Dawn, the November offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which had become a haven for terrorists.  What he did on the day of Nov. 15 [2004] was an awe-inspiring act of selfless sacrifice and faithfulness to his fellow Marines.

How Arafat's gunmen suppress the news:  On Sept. 11, 2001, Americans were shocked by footage of Palestinians dancing in the streets to celebrate the terrorist attacks on the United States.  But those scenes disappeared from the airwaves soon after — not because they weren't newsworthy, but because the Palestinian Authority gave orders to suppress them.

 Editor's Note:   You have to wonder... what else is not being reported?  Wait -- I'll answer that.  How about the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7?  No airplane hit that building, yet it collapsed suddenly on the afternoon of September 11, 2001.  We are apparently supposed to forget that it happened, because it hardly made a blip on the news media radar.  More information here.

Duelfer:  "A lot of material left Iraq and went to Syria".  Iraq Survey Group head does not rule out Saddam's transfer of WMD.

Report shows 3,400 Air Violations Since 9/11:  Pilots flew into restricted airspace 3,400 times across the country in the three years following the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a congressional report that says the government needs to better coordinate its response to such violations.

Iraq is Looking Up.  You wouldn't know it from most of the pundits or the evening news broadcasts, but things are looking up in Iraq.  The high-stakes decision to go on the offensive militarily — and politically — over the last couple of weeks has made a big difference.

On Iraq, It's Important To Ask The Right Questions.  If we had not invaded Iraq, Saddam Hussein would still be in power; Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would be in command of an Al-Qaeda army in northern Iraq; the U.N.'s, 17th resolution ordering Saddam to comply or else would have been successfully defied, the largest chemical weapons factory in the Third World, in Libya, would still be humming along with an advanced nuclear weapons plant (both now shut down).

Statements by Iraqi PM at odds with negative media coverage.  While addressing a joint session of Congress Sept. 23, Iraqi interim prime minister Ayad Allawi said simply, "Thank you, America."  "We Iraqis know that Americans have made and continue to make enormous sacrifices to liberate Iraq, to assure Iraq's freedom," Allawi said.  "I have come here to thank you and to promise you that your sacrifices are not in vain."

Pregnant troops leave the war; Central Command not counting.  U.S. Central Command is not tracking the number of troops who must leave the Iraq war theater due to pregnancy, prompting military advocates to charge the Pentagon wants to keep secret what could be an embarrassing statistic.

Columnists' errors, CNN's treason.  A journalistic scandal involving payment of thousands of dollars has received massive attention in the mainstream media.  One concerning the exchange of 30 pieces of silver has not, so far.

Christians Flee "Liberated" Iraq.  Understandably concerned over the fact that the new Iraqi constitution designates Islam the "official religion of the state," Iraqi Christians are "voting with their feet" by preparing the leave their native country.

Oil for Hussein.  As front pages report every bit of bad news on the Iraqi war front in bold type, newspapers are giving precious little ink to what could be the biggest kickback scheme in world history.  Call it:  How Saddam Hussein siphoned $10.1 billion for his regime — thanks to the United Nations.

Media Yawn as Saddam's Torture Victims Thank Bush:  American journalists fascinated with U.S. mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison gave a collective yawn yesterday [5/25/2004] when President Bush played host to seven victims of genuine torture perpetrated by Saddam's Fedahyeen at Abu Ghraib.

What's going on in Iraq:  To hear the media tell it, virtually nothing in Iraq is going right.  Suicide terrorism, Abu Ghraib, sabotaged pipelines, swelling anti-American sentiment — the coverage has been focused on almost all bad news, almost all the time.  Which hardly comes as a surprise.  As an old journalistic rule of thumb puts it, "If it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead."  In most newsrooms, good news is usually no news.

The awful news CNN had to keep to itself:  Over the last dozen years I made 13 trips to Baghdad to keep government permission for CNN's Baghdad bureau and to arrange interviews with Iraqi leaders.  Each time I visited, I became more distressed by what I saw and heard - awful things that could not be reported because doing so would have jeopardized the lives of Iraqis, particularly those on our Baghdad staff.

A Justifable, Necessary and Winnable War.  Before the war, the news media failed to reveal the extent of Saddam Hussein's brutality.  Too many journalists cut a shameful deal with the dictator:  To keep their Baghdad bureaus open and unmolested, they refrained from serious attempts to report Saddam's crimes.

This is History calling — quick, get me Rewrite!  The invasion of Iraq has gone fabulously well, exceeding everyone's expectations — certainly exceeding the doomsday scenarios of liberals.  The Bush-haters' pre-war predictions — hundreds of thousands dead, chemical attacks on our troops, retaliatory terrorist attacks in the United States, an invasion by Turkey, oil facilities in flames and apocalyptic environmental consequences — have proven to be about as accurate as Bill Clinton's "legally accurate" statements about Monica Lewinsky.

Media's Selective Outrage, by the Numbers:  To the casual observer, the situation in Iraq is bleak, the Iraqi people don't really want democracy, and the only worthwhile story is the brutality and intimidation of Iraqi prisoners.  To the “casual observer” of the mainstream media, that is.

Bagram GI says Troops Waited While Hillary Chowed Down.  U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton forced U.S. troops stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to wait for their Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday while she and her entourage arrived late, then cut in line and were served first.

US plans death camp:  The US has floated plans to turn Guantanamo Bay into a death camp, with its own death row and execution chamber.

CNN — the Most Untrusted Name in News

Jessica Lynch:  Modern Myth.  Is this really the way we want to fight our wars, with young mothers coming home in wheelchairs?  (By the way, has anyone noticed how many of our women warriors seem to be single mothers?)

Setting the Record Straight:  The [Jessica Lynch] legend quickly unraveled … after Lynch returned to the States, recuperated from her substantial injuries … and began to speak out about what had really happened.

CNN Charged with "Disinformation Campaign" from Iraq.  A media watchdog group is calling CNN to task for withholding information about the brutal nature of the Saddam Hussein regime in order to keep a bureau open in Baghdad.

Don't be fooled, America is having success against terror.  The moral reality finally burst through the yellowcake fog with the death of the Hussein Brothers, psychopathic torturers who would today be running Iraq if not for the policy enunciated by President Bush in [the] State of the Union address.

Not quite so bad after all.  Remember the dire warnings that went well beyond the gloom to come on the battlefield?  We were undermining the United Nations.  The European community was mobilizing against us.  The Arab Street would ignite.  Et cetera.

Media Won't Report About Pro-U.S. Iraqis:  The media establishment is playing down or ignoring the friendly dealings between U.S. forces and the people of Baghdad.

Terrorists lifting military base IDs?  A noted military analysis and research organization says a rash of Department of Defense vehicle window decals have gone missing from vehicles at bases all over the country, raising concerns that at least some may have been stolen by terrorists.

Major Media Ignores Polls, Rallies Showing Support for War Effort.  Patriotic citizens in the tens of thousands have already attended rallies to support the troops, but the liberal media has demonstrated a preference for ignoring them and instead portraying sparsely attended anti-war rallies as the sentiment of most Americans.

Another Coincidence?  The Bush administration has told us for over a year that there is no known connection between Saddam and Osama.  On the 9/11 attacks, Team Bush has adamantly denied any Iraqi connection — even though there is evidence linking the hijackers to Iraqi agents.  The Bush administration went out of its way a year ago to discredit reports of a link.  Why?  We do not know.

Yes, This Is About Islam:  "This isn't about Islam."  The world's leaders have been repeating this mantra for weeks, partly in the virtuous hope of deterring reprisal attacks on innocent Muslims living in the West, partly because if the United States is to maintain its coalition against terror it can't afford to suggest that Islam and terrorism are in any way related.

Iraq Flashback:  Dems Backed Clinton's Impeachment War.  As Congressional Democrats escalate their attacks on President Bush based on the dubious proposition that he's willing to attack Iraq purely for political advantage in this November's election, it's easy to forget just how supportive they were when President Clinton actually did try to start a war with Saddam Hussein in hopes of quashing his own impeachment.

INS to deport Arab aliens on airliners:  No handcuffs, no police escorts for 6,000 Middle-Easterners living in the U.S. illegally.

FAA memo says hijacker shot passenger on Flight 11:  "One bullet fired," killing 9B occupant, but the agency claims this report was in error.

Friends think Flight 11 Israeli was "executed":  Daniel Lewin, named in FAA shooting memo, was an officer in an elite unit of the Jewish state's military.

Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret:  After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush ordered 100 officials to bunkers away from the Capitol to ensure federal survival.

WTC collapse due to environmentalism?:  Fire, heat weakened asbestos-free steel columns of WTC towers.

Update:
 Asbestos Fireproofing Might Have Prevented World Trade Center Collapse.  In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I suggested in this column on Sept. 14, 2001 that many lives could have been saved if asbestos fireproofing been used in the World Trade Center.  Though controversial at the time, my view has gained in validity since then, according to "Eco-Freaks", a new book by John Berlau.

Bio Threat:  Worse Than You're Told.  I am baffled that in the wake of Sept. 11 the major media, and some government officials, continue to downplay the significance of ongoing events.  The media have given great coverage to such non-issues as racial profiling, Jerry Falwell's comments, how misunderstood Islam is, and other matters that don't deal head-on with the present crisis.  The American people are very reasonable, as long as they have the facts.  But that's not what they are getting from CNN and the rest of the media pack.

Satellites Tell the Truth:  Apparently the satellite imagery is not being released because it does for TWA Flight 800 what it did for the Russian airliner.  It tells the truth that governments want to hide.

Oklahoma City Bombing - Mideast Connection:  Since the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, The New American has published a series of articles detailing the extensive evidence that Middle Eastern terrorist cells were involved with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in that attack.

Americans kept in dark about WMD:  Americans are uninformed and ill-prepared for an attack with weapons of mass destruction, largely because the government is afraid of causing a panic by issuing more high-profile, publicly available information on the subject, say experts.

So Where Were The Black Leaders?:  Within days of the attack Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam vigorously condemned it but I didn't hear anything from Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.  Both men are ordained ministers and Al Sharpton lives in New York.  I would've expected some public words of comfort to the families of the victims from both of them.  Instead in the first days after the attack there was silence.

Tennessee bus crash 'very suspicious':  Calling it “very suspicious,” Rep. Bob Clement, D-Tenn., suggested the hijacking and crash of a Greyhound bus in southern middle Tennessee would require more investigation before any connection to the Sept. 11 Islamic terrorist attacks could be ruled out.

Attacks Against America Are Not Over:  The media are now openly criticizing the President for remaining in Air Force One and not returning immediately to New York or Washington.  The President acted very correctly and very smartly.  As I recall, America has a Constitution.  The President's sole real responsibility is to preserve your Constitutional government — not to hold press conferences.  Obviously, the President and his advisors understood that there was a real possibility of a larger threat — perhaps nuclear — and one the media doesn't want you to know about.

God Bless Our Assassins, Commandos and Bombs.  An Answer to the Hollywood and other leftist types condeming our war on terrorism.

Bin Laden Planning to Attack White House, Indian Military Says:  The Indian military intelligence have claimed to have intercepted a message that Saudi fugitive and international terrorist Osama bin Laden was putting in place a plan to attack the White House some time in the future.  Highly placed sources in the Indian Army said on condition of anonymity that the intercept of a conversation between two supporters of bin Laden indicated that his attack on the United States may not be over yet.

Expert:  Russia Knew in Advance, Encouraged Citizens to Cash Out Dollars:  Russian press accounts and other activities by the Russian government this summer indicate that the Russian knew in advance that something would happen to America, including a "financial attack" against the U.S.  During the past three months, Russian media and officials have encouraged citizens to cash out of U.S. dollars pending an economic collapse there after an "attack."

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