Politics Blog

This man:

In his testimony, Mr. Wolfowitz ticked off several reasons why he believed a much smaller coalition peacekeeping force than General Shinseki envisioned would be sufficient to police and rebuild postwar Iraq. He said there was no history of ethnic strife in Iraq, as there was in Bosnia or Kosovo. He said Iraqi civilians would welcome an American-led liberation force that “stayed as long as necessary but left as soon as possible,” but would oppose a long-term occupation force. And he said that nations that oppose war with Iraq would likely sign up to help rebuild it. “I would expect that even countries like France will have a strong interest in assisting Iraq in reconstruction,” Mr. Wolfowitz said. He added that many Iraqi expatriates would likely return home to help.

May finally get the door:

A WORLD Bank panel today accused bank president Paul Wolfowitz of breaking bank rules in arranging a hefty compensation package for his girlfriend. The bank’s executive board will decide tomorrow if Mr Wolfowitz can continue as president.
Mr Wolfowitz’s actions have caused a “crisis in the leadership” at the institution, according to a report released today.

The special panel recommended that the full 24-member board determine tomorrow whether Mr Wolfowitz “will be able to provide the leadership” to ensure that the bank achieve its mission of fighting poverty around the world.

I hope the door hits him on the way out.

— Oak Leaf

On May 4, 2007, a key readiness report was released by the Office of the Surgeon General. It had many key findings andrecommendations.

General Petraeus reacted to the report:

The top U.S. commander in Iraq admonished his troops regarding the results of an Army survey that found that many U.S military personnel there are willing to tolerate some torture of suspects and unwilling to report abuse by comrades.

“This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we – not our enemies – occupy the moral high ground,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus wrote in an open letter dated May 10 and posted on a military Web site.

Even though he was extremely concerned about the findings he did nothing about the recommendations but he did send a letter to the troops.

General Petraeus is attempting to win the hearts and minds of the Iraq people which is a difficult task to accomplish. If that is ones goal, he is expressing the correct concern in his letter.

A letter however, will not cause the behavior that he would like to change to change, the Surgeon General knows this and had recommendations specified to meet this.

I know that there is a segment of the population that is saying we have to “win in Iraq.” Other than I do not know what “win in Iraq’ is because we already won, I do understand the emotion of wanting to “win.” You want to “win against the IRS when you do your taxes.” You want “the team to win.” You want to “win the ebay bid.”

If you want to “win” in Iraq you have to ensure that American Soldiers/Marines are in a position to “win.” Only fresh and rested troops can accomplish the difficult task of winning hearts and minds in Iraq.

— Oak Leaf

There was a lot of genuflecting over the recent French elections, but did many in America simply base their conclusions on labels and not actual programs? One of the bloggers at Wizbang discovered the following:

French presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy said that if elected he would contemplate pulling France’s troops out of Afghanistan.

Outlining his stance on key foreign policy issues yesterday, he also denounced the United States’ refusal to cap carbon emissions and proposed taxing imports from China because it too has refused to limit greenhouse gases.

Just because you hear someone outside the United States described as politically right or conservative do not expect them to be Conservative “American Style.”

— Oak Leaf

Giuliani had the option of simply not discussing life issues, or when asked about them simply answered that he would nominate Judges in the mold of Scalia/Thomas. The following immediately came into my mind when he decided to “come out” on the issue:

“It’s the moment of truth for conservatives,” says one of the Christian conservative activists. “Either social conservatives rally to stop a Giuliani nomination and victory for him in November 2008 or our issues – abortion, same-sex marriage, the preservation of the family – are permanently off the Republican Party agenda.”

I was desperately trying to be for him, until I became against him.

A Guiliani nomination means the National GOP will mirror the NJ GOP.
(No offense to fellow blogger AJ Spraxx who is doing his absolute damn best in NJ.)

— Oak Leaf

Foreign al Qaeda in Iraq:

It is estimated that there are only about 750 to 1,000 al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Foreign al Qaeda in Germany:

“There are 300 to 500 people who are suspected to be part of al Qaeda cells in Germany,” said Col. Andrew Pratt (Ret.) of the George Marshall Center in Germany.

And I thought they were all being attracted to Iraq like it was fly paper?

UPDATE: (9:00 PM) Unfortunately there are many people that have no idea the difference between the group “al Qaeda in Iraq” and simply “al Qaeda” in Iraq. Oh well, it reminds me of Democrats that do not know the difference between Sunni and Shia or when Hannity does “man on the street” and no one can name the Vice President. “Al Qaeda in Iraq” has as much to do with “al Qaeda” in Iraq as the National Rifle Association has to do with the National Republican Committee. They both start with “National” and the second word starts with “R.”

— Oak Leaf

First, what is going on:

President Bush announced his intention to seek reintroduction of LOSTfor ratification to a small group of trusted Republican grass-roots organizers last week – an announcement that was met with horror and scorn.

Bad sign number one, without even having to read the treaty, is who is lining up against it (this should give any Conservative tremendous pause):

Eagle Forum leader Phyllis Schlafly, Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney, Leadership Institute President Morton Blackwell, Free Congress Foundation founder Paul Weyrich and leaders of the Heritage Foundation were quick to denounce the idea in forceful terms, calling on their members to begin lobbying the White House immediately.

And yes there are going to be many that will say it must be conservative because Bush is behind it and he is a Republican after all.

— Oak Leaf

Like father, like son:

President George W. Bush today ordered government agencies to begin regulatory steps to curb tailpipe emissions and urged Congress to enact legislation to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil.

“We’re taking action,’’ Bush said in a statement from the White House Rose Garden. He said the first steps toward rules “will make our economy stronger, our environment cleaner and our nation more secure for generations to come.’’

The more time you spend in Washington, the easier big government is to accept. The Republican party I became a part of no longer exists.

— The Ace

Just when many were falling for the lure that “civil union laws are OK because that will protect the traditional definition of marriage” we get this:

Eight gay couples are challenging the state law that prohibits them from marrying.

and

They have chosen not to have a civil union and are waiting for marriage.

This is what happens when you take the conservative out of conservatives. I came ever so close to falling for it.

— Oak Leaf

They were against it:

On April 18, Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Automobile Workers, vowed he would fight the sale, declaring a private investor would “strip and flip” the company to earn a quick profit.

Until they were for it:

So many were as surprised as anyone today to learn that the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management had their leaders’ support.

No different than any politician.

This is knid of like the mess with the Union Pension Plans and Retiree Health Care Plans. Over the years, the Union Officials winked and nodded with the management when fat benefits were promised but never funded. Oh, just like Social Security, back to no different than any politician.

UPDATE: It looks like the way the deal was structured that Daimler “paid” to have Chrysler taken off its hands:

In a complex transaction, Daimler will actually receive 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion), but it will retain Chrysler’s debts, leading to a net cash outflow.

Chrysler Group will retain its obligations for pensions and healthcare costs and be renamed Chrysler Holding. The bulk of the money contributed by Cerberus will be splitbetween Chrysler Corporation, overseeing the production of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, will get $5 billion, and Chrysler Financial Services, which provides financial services for these vehicles in the NAFTA region, will get $1.1 billion.

— Oak Leaf

Coming to a Scholastic Book Fair in your local Public Government School:

That’s why we wrote our book, The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. It’s for girls like you and yes, boys, too. The more people who understand global warming, the better chance we have at bringing about change – change as individuals and change as a country. Change means accepting the fact that the way we are living is causing huge damage to our planet.

hat tip Drudge

— Oak Leaf