Monthly Archives: July 2007

July 22, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Front-runner , no; serious contender, yes

Mitt Romney’s campaign is claiming that Romney is now the front-runner for the Republican nomination, according to the Washington Post. A memo by Alex Gage, Romney’s senior strategist, cites Romney’s strength in the early primary states and Giuliani’s slippage in the national polls of about 2 to 3 percentage points per month. I know this isn’t a normal election cylce, but it’s difficult to condider a candidate running fourth nationally »
July 22, 2007 — John Hinderaker

What’s Deteriorating?

The Associated Press reports on the capture of two weapons smugglers in Iraq, near the Iranian border: U.S. troops on Sunday detained two suspected weapons smugglers who may be linked to Iran’s elite Quds force, the military said, as Washington presses allegations that Tehran is supporting violence in Iraq despite plans for new bilateral talks on the issue. The suspects and a number of weapons were seized during a raid »
July 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Keeping the flying imams airborne

Friday’s excellent Investors Business Daily editorial on the Democrats’ burial of the John Doe bill warrants attention: “Democrats are trying to find any technical excuse to keep immunity out of the language of the bill to protect citizens, who in good faith, report suspicious activity to police,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “I don’t see how you can have a homeland security bill without protecting people who come forward to »
July 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

The Browning of Britain, part 3

The Sunday (London) Times carries Sarah Baxter’s column summarizing her interview with John Bolton. Given the column’s venue, the focus is on Great Britain: »
July 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Our hometown heroes come home, part 2

There is no word in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on the festivities that greeted the return of the Minnesota National Guardsmen from Iraq in Owatonna yesterday. To fill the vacuum, reader Jim Snyder has kindly provided us this report as well as the photo display that can be viewed here. To comment on this post, go here. »
July 22, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Hostages then and now

The government of Iran is holding four American citizens as alleged spies. The charges are absurd. They have roughly as much merit as the charges made by the Iranians in connection with the seizure of the American embassy and the taking of American hostages in 1979 by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his friends. There is a certain continuity between Iranian policy then and now. In his column today, Mark Steyn discusses »
July 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Will the “empire” strike back

Former Bush administration official Michael Gerson makes the case for tougher action against Syria. Although Syria is not the primary outside player causing trouble in Iraq, it’s in the top two. As Gerson notes: Syria’s Baathist regime provides a base of operations for its Iraqi Baathist comrades involved in the Sunni insurgency. Suicide bombers from Saudi Arabia and North Africa arrive by plane in Damascus, and, with the help of »
July 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Tough stuff

According to the Jerusalem Post, The Israel Project has received letters from the leading Democratic presidential contenders about the Iranian nuclear threat and what to do about. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards all professed concern about the prospect of a nuclear Iran. Here’s Clinton, who as usual phrases things in terms of what we “must not” do: We cannot permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons. We »
July 21, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

A new era begins

All eyes were on the glamorous former English Premier League soccer mainstay, and man of many hairdos, tonight in Los Angeles as the LA Galaxy took on Chelsea. And former Evertonian Abel Xavier didn’t disappoint, anchoring his new club, the Galaxy, and nearly scoring a superb goal against the English giants. What about the Brit with the singer wife? He played ten minutes and got in three or four non-descript »
July 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Our hometown heroes come home

The Minnesota National Guard unit that served an extended tour in Iraq is now back home. As I understand it, the soldiers have returned over the past few weeks with the last group arriving today. You won’t find a report anywhere else like that provided to us by reader Jim Snyder, who was on the scene in Owatonna, Minnesota: Just thought you would like to know, my wife, my daughter »
July 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

A word from Laura Armstrong

It’s been too long since we last heard from Laura Armstrong. Laura is the daughter of the legendary Vietnam War hero Roger (“Black Bart”) Bartholomew, and a hero in her own right as far as we at Power Line are concerned. As such, she is particularly well situated to comment on my take on Dean Barnett’s Weekly Standard cover story “The 9/11 generation.” Laura writes: I read with interest your »
July 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Franklin Foer talks

Howard Kurtz devotes an excellent column to the controversy over “Shock trooops” by the pseudonymous “Scott Thomas” in the current issue of the New Republic. Kurtz reports: “The Standard raises some important questions about the piece, and we’re investigating them,” New Republic Editor Franklin Foer said yesterday. “I’ve been in touch with several members of the author’s unit who corroborate the details under question. And the author has provided compelling »
July 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Recognizing the 9/11 generation

The new issue of the Weekly Standard features three cover stories, each of which warrants your attention: “The 9/11 generation,” by Dean Barnett, “Tough Americans,” by Michael Fumento, and Bill Kristol’s editorial, “They don’t really support the troops.” Each of these pieces is thought-provoking and powerful. I want to draw special attention to Dean Barnett’s article. It takes up a subject which has been much on my mind — Dean »
July 21, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Hear Lt. Hegseth on the Northern Alliance

Later this morning, at 11:15 central (12:15 eastern), we’ll be talking with Lt. Pete Hegseth of Vets For Freedom about his trip to Washington last week. Lt. Hegseth and his comrades met with Senators and were invited to the White House. They gave a press conference that was, I believe, attended by only one Democrat, Joe Lieberman. We’re looking forward to debriefing Pete about his experiences in the political arena, »
July 21, 2007 — John Hinderaker

A Grim Assessment By the Associated Press

The Associated Press reported this morning on current operations in Iraq, describing a number of successes in which insurgents were captured or killed. But at the AP, good news never comes unalloyed. The AP adds this commentary: U.S. military officials also have been signaling for weeks that improvements in Iraqi security forces had not lived up to expectations »
July 21, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Kinder, Gentler Treatment of Terrorist Detainees

The long-festering issue of how far the CIA can go in questioning terrorist detainees has been resolved, for now at least, with a new executive order that authorizes resumption of the use of some “severe interrogation methods” by the agency, while at the same time accepting the State Department’s definition of »
July 21, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Such a lovely murderer

A friend has forwarded us the following message: [Last month] the New York Times carried a review of a film called “Hot House” that goes inside Israeli prisons and examines the lives of Palestinian prisoners. We’re not recommending the film or the review. But we do want to share our feelings with you about the beaming female face that adorns the article [below]. The film is produced by HBO. So »