Greetings from a land of bent and broken things.

Some of you may have noticed I didn't post my own thoughts on yesterday's elections. My reason is simple: it wasn't my day. I watched through tearing eyes. Yes, this old trooper shed a few tears of joy at what had happened. Like the amazing fall of the Berlin wall, the peaceful "revolutions" that freed Eastern Europe, this was another great victory in my lifetime, and one I felt a little bit involved in. This wasn't George Bush's victory, this wasn't America's victory, this certainly wasn't my victory, this was a victory for the people of Iraq and those who love freedom everywhere. I was an observer, a very close observer, but an observer nonetheless.

I liked what I saw.

Now note the header above. The work has just begun. I see bent and broken, scarred and ruined things here every day. Many were damaged years ago. 1991? 2003? In between? After? It's often hard to tell. Many will be fixed in time, others are beyond repair. Now substitute the word "people" for "things" in the preceding and read it again. Meet a group of Iraqi people and one will tell you how grateful he is that we have given him freedom. He will tell you he lived in fear for his life every day under Saddam. His joy is real, and fundamental, and obvious. Then the next will tell you he lost his entire family in the invasion. He's glad Saddam's gone, but he's paid a price that few would be willing to pay were they given the option.

What would you say to him? "Sorry about that. But cheer up, old boy! Other than that you must admit this freedom thing is pretty great, eh?" No - there's nothing that can be said. He may or may not hate the United States, he may blame Saddam for what happened, but here is a man with the rest of his life before him, and he'll live each day without his family.

The greater good, of course, is served. Many Americans died in this endeavor too; such things temper the celebration. I think Iraqi blogger Alaa offers the right perspective:

My condolences to the Great American people for the tragic recent losses of soldiers. The blood of Iraqis and Americans is being shed on the soil of Mesopotamia; a baptism with blood. A baptism of a lasting friendship and alliance, for many years to come, through thick and thin, we shall never forget the brave soldiers fallen while defending our freedom and future.

I'd add our Coalition allies to that sentiment too.

So amidst the triumph, I saw yesterday as a Memorial Day, of a sort, for those many who fell to make it possible. Some might try and use those deaths for their own ends, or to justify their belief that we should never have walked this path. Such people don't believe in heroes. They can't even comprehend this simple fact; no one is more opposed to war than the soldier. He knows the cost and has seen the carnage. But as I wrote at the top of the sidebar long ago: The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior, who prefers to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day he stands fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.

Today we re-build broken things. Grab a hammer or get out of the way.

***********************

I've pondered the larger issues much these past few days. We certainly opened ourselves up to criticism in invading Iraq. After all, regardless of our reason it's certainly easy for those who'd prefer to live in a world without war to condemn our actions. A world without war is certainly desirable, but at this point in history it seems at best a distant utopia. Perhaps some day that time will come, but I'm skeptical, at best, of mankind's potential to rise above such activity in the foreseeable future. I think that's one of the lines that separate many "anti-war" types from those who are more pragmatic about the issue. Those who are familiar with the 80-20 rule (20% of the people cause 80% of the problems) will understand what I'm about to say. I'm certain that though 80% of the population of the world wants to go about their daily business in peace, the other 20% are determined to have it otherwise. Much of the problem with the "anti-war" crowd is they fail to realize that many of their "allies" are actually part of the 20%, while most of us involved in the current War on Terror are actually in the 80% with them. But another version of the 80-20 rule explains this too: 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Thus a small fraction of the real anti war crowd is busy doing the very best they can to try and establish a future world where peace actually has a chance.

In my spare time here I've been reading Neal Stephenson's brilliant epic

(On a recommendation by Glenn Reynolds - thanks Glenn.) Cruising along through the novel yesterday I reached this passage, a conversation between two individuals whose identities I'll leave out for this discussion (hence no spoilers will be found below. Read without fear.) In one of those somewhat rare moments when what I'm reading unexpectedly addresses something I've had on my mind, it conveyed perfectly what I'd been trying to put into words for some time. (And note that this book was published a couple of years before 9/11.)

One character explains to another why he wears a medallion bearing a likeness of the Greek goddess Athena:

"So anyway, you probably learned in elementary school that Athena wears a helmet, carries a shield called Aegis, and is the goddess of war and wisdom, as well as crafts - such as the aforementioned weaving. Kind of an odd combination, to say the least! Especially since Ares was supposed to be the god of war and Hestia the goddess of home economics - why the redundancy? But a lot's been screwed up in translation. See, the kind of wisdom that we associate with old farts like yours truly, and which I'm trying to impart to you here, was called dike by the Greeks. That's not what Athena was the goddess of! She was the goddess of metis, which means cunning or craftiness, and which you'll recall was the name of her mother in one version of the story... So now the connection to crafts becomes obvious - crafts are just the practical application of metis."

"I associate the word 'crafts' with making crappy belts and ashtrays in summer camp."

It's all bad translation. The word that we use today, to mean the same thing, is really technology."

"Okay. Now we're getting somewhere."

"Instead of calling Athena the goddess of war, wisdom and macrame, then, we should say war and technology. And here again we have the problem of an overlap with the jurisdiction of Ares, who's supposed to be the god of war. And let's just say that Ares is a complete asshole. His personal aides are Fear and Terror and sometimes Strife. He is constantly at odds with Athena even though - maybe because - they are nominally the god and goddess of the same thing - war. Heracles, who is one of Athena's human proteges, physically wounds Ares on two occasions, and even strips him of his weapons at one point! You see, the fascinating thing about Ares is that he's completely incompetent... And so it seems to me that Ares really was a god of war as such an entity would be recognized by people who were involved in wars all the time, and had a really clear idea of just how stupid and ugly wars are.

"Whereas Athena is famous for being the backer of Odysseus, who, let's not forget, is the guy who comes up with the idea for the Trojan Horse. Athena guides both Odysseus and Heracles through their struggles, and although both of these guys are excellent fighters, they win most of their battles through cunning or (less pejoratively) metis. And although both of them engage in violence pretty freely (Odysseus likes to call himself 'sacker of cities') it's clear that they are being held up in opposition to the kind of mindless, raging violence associated with Ares and his offspring - Heracles even personally rids the world of a few of Ares psychopathic sons. I mean the records aren't totally clear - it's not like you can go to the Thebes County Courthouse and look up the death certificates on these guys - but it appears that Heracles, backed up by Athena all the way, personally murders at least half of the Hannibal Lecterish offspring of Ares.

"So insofar as Athena is a goddess of war, what really do we mean by that? Note that her most famous weapon is not her sword but her shield Aegis, and Aegis has a gorgon's head on it, so that anyone who attacks her is in serious danger of being turned to stone. She's always described as being calm and majestic, neither of which adjectives anyone ever applied to Ares."

"I don't know, ___. Defensive versus offensive war, maybe?"

"The distinction is overrated... Now in many other mythologies you can find gods that have parallels with Athena. The Norse had Loki. Loki was an inventor-god, but psychologically he had more in common with Ares; he was not only the god of technology but the god of evil too, the closest thing they had to the Devil. Native American has tricksters -creatures full of cunning - like Coyote an Raven in their mythologies, but they didn't have technology yet, and so they hadn't coupled the Trickster with Crafts to generate the hybrid Technologist-god."

..."So, you want me to believe that these gods - which aren't really gods, but it's a nice concise word - all share certain things in common precisely because the external reality that generated them is consistent and universal across cultures."

"That is right, and in the case of the Trickster gods the pattern is that cunning people tend to attain power that un-cunning people don't. And all cultures are fascinated by this. Some of them, like many Native Americans, basically admire it, but never couple it with technological development. Others, like the Norse, hate it and identify it with the Devil."

"Hence the strange love-hate relationship that Americans have with hackers."

"That's right."

"Hackers are always complaining that journalists cast them as bad guys. But you think that this ambivalence is deeper-seated."

"In some cultures. The Vikings - to judge from their mythology - would instinctively hate hackers. But something different happened with the Greeks. The Greeks liked their geeks. That's how we got Athena."

"I'll buy that - but where does the war-goddess thing come in?"

"Let's face it, Randy, we've all known guys like Ares. The pattern of human behavior that caused the internal mental representation of Ares to appear in the minds of the ancient Greeks is very much alive today, in the form of terrorists, serial killers, riots, pogroms, and aggressive tinhorn dictators who turn out to be military incompetents. And yet for all their stupidity and incompetence, people like that can conquer and control large chunks of the world if they are not resisted. . . . Who is going to fight them off, Randy?

"I'm afraid you're going to say we are."

"Sometimes it might be other Ares-worshippers, as when Iran and Iraq went to war and no one cared who won. But if Ares-worshippers aren't going to end up running the whole world, somebody needs to do violence to them. This isn't very nice, but it's a fact: civilization requires an Aegis. And the only way to fight the bastards off in the end is through intelligence. Cunning. Metis

"Tactical cunning, like Odysseus and the Trojan horse, or - "

"Both that, and technological cunning. From time to time there is a battle that is out-and-out won by new technology - like longbows at Crecy. For most of history those battles happen only every few centuries - you have the chariot, the compound bow, gunpowder, ironclad ships, and so on. But something happens around , say, the time that the Monitor, which the Northerners believe to be the only ironclad warship on earth, just happens to run into the Merrimack, of which the Southerners believe exactly the same thing, and they pound the hell out of each other for hours and hours. That's as good a point as any to identify as the moment when a spectacular rise in military technology takes off - it's the elbow in the exponential curve. Now it takes the world's essentially conservative military establishments a few decades to really comprehend what has happened, but by the time we're in the thick of the Second World War, it's accepted by everyone who doesn't have his head completely up his ass that the war?s going to be won by whichever side has the best technology. So on the German side alone we've got rockets, jet aircraft, nerve gas, wire-guided missiles. And on the Allied side we've got three vast efforts that put basically every top-level hacker, nerd, and geek to work; the code-breaking thing, which as you know gave rise to the digital computer; the Manhattan Project, which gave us nuclear weapons; and the Radiation Lab, which gave us the modern electronics industry. Do you know why we won the Second World War?"

"I think you just told me."

"Because we built better stuff than the Germans?"

"Isn't that what you just said?"

"But why did we build better stuff?

"I guess I'm not competent to answer. I haven't studied that period well enough."

Well, the short answer is that we won because the Germans worshipped Ares and we worshipped Athena."

<...>

"Ares always reemerges from the chaos. It will never go away. Athenian civilization defends itself from the forces of Ares with metis, or technology. Technology is built on science... science flourishes where art and free speech flourish."

"Sounds teleological. Free countries get better science, hence superior military power, hence get to defend their freedoms. You're proclaiming a sort of Manifest Destiny here."

"Well, someone's got to do it."

"Aren't we beyond that sort of thing now?"

"I know you're just saying that to infuriate me. Sometimes Ares gets chained up in a barrel for a few years, but he never goes away. The next time he emerges the conflict is going to revolve around bio-, micro-, and nanotechnology. Who's going to win?"

Who indeed? Take this simple test in your home country: Complain endlessly about the fact that you don't have free speech. If no one shoots you or locks you in jail, you have free speech. If people call you an idiot, they have free speech too.

And your nation is probably Athenian, and you can complain about it to your heart's content.

Update! Tragedy Amid Success

This developing tragedy might be tomorrow's headline.

The British transport troops from all the Coalition nations.

Update: An Islamic militant group claimed on Monday that it had shot down a British C-130 military transport plane north of Baghdad.

UPDATE!Jazeera Tape Appears to Show UK Plane Hit in Iraq

Why am I not surprised that Jazeera has this on tape?

Run, But You Can't Hide

Video of the rocket attack on the US Embassy is here.

Those responsible for the attack have been captured.

BAGHDAD, Iraq ? Seven insurgents responsible for the Jan. 29 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy were captured by Task Force Baghdad troops approximately one hour after launching their attack.

Following the 8 p.m. attack on the embassy, the men fled the scene of the rocket launch, but were tracked to a residence in southeastern Baghdad. Task Force Baghdad ground troops descended on the home, detaining all seven suspects.

?This was a great example of quick reaction on the part of some superb cavalry troopers,? said Brig. Gen. Michael Jones, assistant division commander for the 1st Cavalry Division and Task Force Baghdad. ?It?s one more example to the insurgents that Iraqi and Multi-National Forces will hunt down those responsible for these acts of terrorism.?

Leading up to the election, Jones said the troops in his task force and the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad are prepared to meet the challenge of security a free election in the Iraqi capital.

?We?re doing all we can, as are all the Iraqi security forces, to make Baghdad as safe as possible so its citizens can vote in this historic election,? Jones said.

The seven captured suspects are being held for further questioning.

UPDATE!

to Marine Needs Life Saving Liver Transplant

U.S. Marine received a new liver Sunday! Doctors said the procedure went well, said Sgt. Jennie Haskamp, spokeswoman at Twentynine Palms, where LeBleu was stationed. He was in critical condition late Sunday.

How Low?

Via the indespensible Corner

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interior minister said Monday that insurgents used a handicapped child as one of the suicide bombers who launched attacks on election day.

Falah al-Naqib told reporters in Baghdad that 38 attacks were carried out on polling stations in Iraq on Sunday and that one of the suicide bombings was carried out by a disabled child.

"A handicapped child was used to carry out a suicide attack on a polling site," al-Naqib said. "This is an indication of what horrific actions they are carrying out."

He gave no other details about the attack, but police at the scene of one the Baghdad blasts said the bomber appeared to have Down's Syndrome.

Words fail me.

Prologue to Bad Weather

Think you know when global warming began? The Diplomad was present at the creation.

I, on the other hand, witnessed the spread of the disease through the United States. More on that story later.

Operation Morale

Via Email:

Hi there!

I am a faithful reader of your blog, and recently discovered something that I thought might interest you and your readers...

As a board member for the Enlisted Spouse Association for my husband's ship, I was recently forwarded this link, OPERATION MORALE , with an invitation to set up a page for our ship. This site was set up by a Navy wife who was concerned that our deployed sailors may be feeling forgotten or left out of a lot of the "Support Our Troops" programs. They provide support for the deployed by sending letters, small care packages, and have support pages for the deployed and some for the familes here in the states. The packages are just for the sailors and marines aboard ships.

As a relatively new effort, I know that not very many people have heard about this effort yet, and thought you might be interested.

Thanks!

Lisa Bragg

Thank You, Lisa. We certainly do not want to forget our troops at sea, I'll be adding it to my sidebar.

Arthur's Mail

Dear Mr & Mrs Greyhawk

What a fantastic day for Iraq!

Here's the last two weeks' worth of positive developments in Iraq, including the most comprehensive and up-to-date round-up of the campaign and the election day news:

Chrenkoff

Opinion Journal


Thanks for helping to balance the picture.

Best regards

Arthur Chrenkoff

Hawks Don't Talk About Iraq

Matthew Yglesias:

Looks reasonably successful so far, no mass casualties, turnout low only in a few trouble spots. It's time to prepare for three weeks of gloating from the hawks before they realize that nothing has really changed and they return to previous hawk practice of not mentioning Iraq.

Not sure which "hawks" aren't mentioning Iraq, but we 'Hawks do occasionally discuss it here.

Republican Retreat

Heh:

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va., Jan. 29 - Republican members of the House and Senate turned their attention to the politics of changing the tax code and the lessons of President Bush's campaign on Saturday, the second day of a party retreat here.

<...>

In another presentation, Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of "blogging," explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

Indeed.

Memo to Next Democratic Presidential Candidate

When you're turn comes to be George Soros' bitch, don't screw it up. "Yes master. No master." That's all you need do.

Feedback for C-SPAN

Michael Totten says:

As most of you already know, Friends of Democracy and Spirit of America are filming a live Iraqi election coverage TV show on C-SPAN Sunday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. (That's 11:00 to 1:00 for you late-sleeping laggards on the West Coast.)

<...>

Part of what we want to do is solicit feedback from readers of the site. I am going to sift through that feedback and read some of it (live and on camera) to our guests and panelists. We have a pretty good lineup. It includes: Christopher Hitchens, author and journalist; Ahman Al Rikaby, former Director of Radio Free Iraq and current Director of Iraq's Radio Dijla; Entifadh Qanbar, Special Envoy from the Iraqi National Alliance; Ghassan Atiyyah, Director of the Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy; Hassan Mneimneh, Director of the Iraq Memory Foundation; and Jim Hake, Founder and CEO of Spirit of America.

And you can get involved too. Click here.

One Picture

One word.

Iraq Speaks

How can I offer my comments on this day when there are so many poets in the cradle of civilization? Let's hear them first:

Ali

This was my way to stand against those who humiliated me, my family and my friends. It was my way of saying," You're history and you don't scare me anymore". It was my way to scream in the face of all tyrants, not just Saddam and his Ba'athists and tell them, "I don't want to be your, or anyone's slave. You have kept me in your jail all my life but you never owned my soul". It was my way of finally facing my fears and finding my courage and my humanity again.

<...>

I entered the school and the supervisors showed me the way to were I should vote. They and the ING guys were so polite and gentle. I cast my vote and got out, not in a rush at all. This is my Eid and I felt like a king walking in his own kingdom. I saw the same look of confidence and satisfaction in the eyes of all people I met. As I left one of the gurads said to me as he handed me back my cellular phone,"God bless you and your beloved ones. We don't know how to thank you. Please excuse any inconvinience on our part. We wish we didn't have to search you or limit your freedom. You are heroes" I was struck with surprise and felt ashamed. This man was risking his life all these hours in what has become the utmost target for all terrorists in Iraq and yet he's apologizing and calling us heroes. I thanked him back and told him that he and his comrads are the true heroes and that we can never be grateful enough for their services.

<...>

A'ash Al Iraq, A'ashat America, A'ash Al Tahaluf. (Long live Iraq, long live America and long live the coalition)

Mohammed and Omar

I still recall the first group of comments that came to this blog 14 months ago when many of the readers asked "The Model?"… "Model for what?"
Take a look today to meet the model of courage and human desire to achieve freedom; people walking across the fire to cast their votes.

<...>

I walked forward to my station, cast my vote and then headed to the box, where I wanted to stand as long as I could, then I moved to mark my finger with ink, I dipped it deep as if I was poking the eyes of all the world's tyrants.

They also report that since the streets of Baghdad are emptied - and a soccer game broke out! These are not people living in fear!

Hammorabi

Today only we may announce the victory! Today we hit back in the heart of the terrorists and the tyrants! Today is the day in which the souls of our martyrs comforted! Today those who were killed in Iraq or wounded among our friends from the USA and other allies, who helped us to reach this day, are with us again to inscribe their names with Gold for ever!

Today we challenged the killers and terrorists and foot on them with our shoes!

<...>

On the top of our privileged today are those who were killed in their way for voting. Their names should be perpetuated for ever! Their names should be written in Gold in Al-Fordos Square in Baghdad!

Our thanks go to George W Bush who will enter the history as the leader of the freedom and democracy in the recent history! He and his people are our friends for ever!

At this moment the voting closed and we will see the results then!

God bless Iraq and America.

Alaa

I bow in respect and awe to the men and women of our people who, armed only with faith and hope are going to the polls under the very real threats of being blown to pieces. These are the real braves; not the miserable creatures of hate who are attacking one of the noblest things that has ever happened to us. Have you ever seen anything like this? Iraq will be O.K. with so many brave people, it will certainly O.K.; I can say no more just now; I am just filled with pride and moved beyond words. People are turning up not only under the present threat to polling stations but also under future threats to themselves and their families; yet they are coming, and keep coming. Behold the Iraqi people; now you know their true metal. We shall never forget the meanness of these bas…s. After this is over there will be no let up, they must be wiped out. It is our duty and the duty of every decent human to make sure this vermin is no more and that no more innocent decent people are victimized.

My condolences to the Great American people for the tragic recent losses of soldiers. The blood of Iraqis and Americans is being shed on the soil of Mesopotamia; a baptism with blood. A baptism of a lasting friendship and alliance, for many years to come, through thick and thin, we shall never forget the brave soldiers fallen while defending our freedom and future.

This is a very hurried message, while we are witnessing something quite extraordinary. I myself have voted and so did members of my family. Thank God for giving us the chance.

Najma, (who's too young to vote)

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates. Gore Vidal

And:

Vote: the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.
Ambrose Bierce

And:

We'd all like to vote for the best man but he's never a candidate.
Kin Hubbard

I wonder why wise men didn't like voting! Search for quotes encouraging us to vote.. They're very few! But the one telling us not to vote are too many that I had to choose which one to put here..

Wow, I guess convincing my self that I'm not guilty is working after all.. But I won't blow it up in the Iraqi faces. For those who can vote, Go And Vote..

I think that Najma's countrymen have given the quotes she was looking for. Children of free men for years to come will hear these words and know that civilization took yet another giant step forward in the land of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Election Violence?

Odd story from Dilnareen at Kurdistan Bloggers Union:

And now for the weirdest story yet, in Holland a bunch of kurds hired a bus to take them to voting center, they all dressed in Kurdish clothes waving Kurdish flags and even packed enough dolma to feed an army. Anyway out of all ppl that could get annoyed by this, it was some islamist morrocans who came and fought with them. Honestly huh? How did that happen. And whats weird is that its morroco, in the middle east they're kinda considered too liberal, but the morrocans in europe are a totally different story.

Haven't found any media coverage of this.

Because Zarqawi Said To

Citizens in Spain, who's elections were decided by a terrorist attack, protest the Iraqi elections.

Hey...

Is it my imagination, or
has Scott Ott taken the gloves off?

Update: This says it all.

Found In the Punchbowl

The New York Times

Nearly 22 months after American troops captured Baghdad, lighting a fire of enthusiasm for the freedoms Iraqis had craved so long, it is a measure of how much has gone wrong that Iraqis committed to Western-style democratic ideals can differ so sharply over the best way to secure them. Much of the problem is that the elections are being held under the dominion of the United States.

Many Iraqis, interviews in recent months have shown, do not accept that fundamental choices about the shape of their future political system should be made by a foreign power, particularly one they regard as a harbinger of secular, materialistic values far removed from the Muslim world's.

But questions over the election go far beyond the American stewardship, to issues that touch on whether it was ever wise or realistic to think that Jeffersonian-style democracy, with its elaborate checks on power and guarantees for minority rights, could be implanted, at least so rapidly, in a country and a region that has little experience with anything but winner-take-all politics.

Sorry guys, wrong again.

More from the Punchbowl

Kos on the eve of the elections:

This war is long past lost. Time to pack it in, and save the lives of our men and women in uniform that will otherwise face a barrage of bullets and RPG rounds during their extended stay in the desert.

Heh.

Lots of precictions of election failure on Kos' main page yesterday. This guy's planning a sports blog - but he always backs the wrong team.

Around Iraq & Around the World

Iraqis around Iraq and around the world blog about this day of freedom.
All pics are via Iraq of Tomorrow of the voting process taking place. They are randomly placed.

Iraqi leaders

Radio Blogger has many photos and commentary on Iraqi polls in El Toro, California with a cameo appearance of fellow blogger and Radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt

Hugh and Iraqi voter Via RadioBlogger

Iraqi blogger Husayn of Democracy in Iraq has cast his ballot and shares his experience on his blog Democracy in Iraq. Congratulations Husayn.

Voted

Ali Fadhil of Free Iraq express his thoughts

I'll race even the sun to the voting centre, my Ka'aba and my Mecca. I'm so excited and so happy that I can't even feel the fear I thought I would have at this time.

Fayrouz, an Iraqi in Dallas is on a journey to the polls, as well in the states and is keeping up with the updates of the election in Iraq

Election Dancing

Abbas Kadhim of *Calling It Like It Is has some answers to questions asked about the election.

Lady Bird of Baghdad Dweller is on her way to the polls and she would like an explanation from Time Magazine.

Iraqi policeman helps blind woman to polls

Sam at Hammorabi has been waiting a long, long time for this historic day.

Tears of Joy

Ahmed of Life in Baghdad asks the ultimate question: “To vote or not to vote?”

But what if everyone thinks like me, Which means no one will vote and the elections will fail. Then I should vote to prevent that. But will my decision really have to do with that of any other? The answer is no (I forgot what this case is called in the probability theory – I think it was that my decision and that of any other is mutually exclusive). If this is the case, then I can ‘not vote’ since this will not affect the decision of others, and being one person whose decision ‘not to vote’ will not affect the whole process, then it’s safer not to vote. Problem solved. Unfortunately, I am still not convinced :(

Did he vote or not find out here

Hear are some Photos via Cigars in the Sand of the polls and votings lines forming just a few hours into this election day.

Dilnareen of Kurdistan Bloggers Union KBU voted and explains what the ink on the finger is really about

Happy Day

Whos' to be the first to vote is decided over at Neurotic Iraqi Wife's blog and says the ink is a mark of freedom.

You were the first registrant, you cant be the first voter as well". I kept pushing him,lol (can u imagine the scene). Two grown ups fighting for who to be first in line, then out of the blue,a young polling staff member said I wanna be first. <...> Most of all, EYES were exhausted searching in the massive crowds for the marked fingers, frowning if they dont see that mark, The Mark of Freedom......

women vote

Friends of Democracy will air live Iraqi election coverage on C-SPAN Sunday, January 30, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. The show will be professionally produced in Washington D.C.'s National Geographic studio, and will include a studio audience. The event will also be live-blogged here on this page.
If you don't receive C-SPAN in your area, you can watch the program on their live Web cast

Update
Iraq the Model have return from the booths and are blogging on their experience.

We had all kinds of feelings in our minds while we were on our way to the ballot box except one feeling that never came to us, that was fear.
We could smell pride in the atmosphere this morning; everyone we saw was holding up his blue tipped finger with broad smiles on the faces while walking out of the center.
<...>
It was hard for us to leave the center but we were happy because we were sure that we will stand here in front of the box again and again and again. Today, there's no voice louder than that of freedom.

So far a 72% turnout but expected to be higher.

Marine Needs Life Saving Liver Transplant

From the LA Times

Four and a half months after returning from the battlefields of Iraq, Lance Cpl. Christopher R. LeBleu lies in a hospital bed in Loma Linda, hooked up to machines and monitors working to keep him alive.

LeBleu, 22, stepped off a transport plane in September, lucky to have survived seven months in Fallouja and other treacherous corners of Iraq. Twenty soldiers from his battalion based in Twentynine Palms have died in that country.

A month after returning to California, LeBleu decided it was time to get on with life, and he married his hometown sweetheart.

But now LeBleu, a native of Lake Charles, La., is in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center after a mysterious ailment shut down his liver. Doctors say he needs a liver transplant.

A partial liver from a living donor won't help; LeBleu needs an entire organ from a deceased donor, doctors say. Without one, he may only live a few more days, they say.

LeBleu returned Sept. 9 from Iraq where he was a rifleman, conducting operations in Fallouja and provinces near the Syrian border. In October, he married Melany.

Complaining of fatigue, he visited his doctor in December and learned of his condition.

"This came real suddenly," said Marine spokesman Gunnery Sgt. Arnold Patterson.

Dr. Donald J. Hillebrand, director of liver transplants at Loma Linda University Medical Center, said doctors have yet to determine the cause of LeBleu's liver failure. He said it is likely that the Marine is suffering from a form of hepatitis. "Whether or not this is related to his time in Iraq is not clear," he said.

Hillebrand and Marines at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center were scrambling Friday to get the word out about LeBleu's condition in the hope that more people will register to donate organs, thus increasing the chances that a donor with LeBleu's blood type ? O-positive ? can be found.

But finding a donor will not be easy. Nearly 4,000 people in California are currently waiting for liver transplants, about 900 of whom have been waiting five years or more, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to matching donors and patients.

Nationwide, an average of five people awaiting liver transplants die each day, Hillebrand said.

"We need to get him transplanted soon for this to be a happy ending," he said.

No contact information was provided.

UPDATE! U.S. Marine received a new liver Sunday! Doctors said the procedure went well, said Sgt. Jennie Haskamp, spokeswoman at Twentynine Palms, where LeBleu was stationed. He was in critical condition late Sunday.

Silence and Noise

Hugh Hewitt notes the silence of the left wing lambs blogs on the Iraqi elections. As I've said, it will be hard for those who've spoken against us every step of the way to celebrate victory, and in the clear-cut case of democracy in Iraq they can't actually oppose it out loud. The result? Roaring silence.

At the height of the tsunami crisis I actually began working on a post to point out how the disaster had united blogs on the left and right, but I had to abandon it because although I assumed the lefty bloggers would be encouraging donations to relief efforts as avidly as the center-right blogs were they actually had nothing to say on the topic. While most center-right blogs were noting the big bucks that Amazon was raising for relief, (and encouraging more) Atrios was busy announcing he was switching from Amazon to Barnes and Noble because BuyBlue.com said that B&N gave more to Democratic candidates.

Of course, he was also knocking Bush for giving so little to the cause. (This when the immediate US response was only 35 million.)

Since it's Fun with Atrios day, go read this Instapundit post, which leads to Atrios declaring Glenn the "Wanker of the Day" and linking to this "rebuttal" from a blog called MaxSpeak, You Listen. (And once again, you must read the comments to Atrios post to get the full Eschaton experience.)

Note that the original Instapundit post included links and comments to those who disagreed with his point - as he usually does when such are available. Glenn's initial post read to me like a lament about what the left could be, or once was, not an attack, and I think he was expressing regret at what it's become. There are many of us in the blogosphere who know exactly what he means - those who once considered themselves Democrats and/or somewhat left of center - see Roger L Simon for an obvious example - and note my use of "us". Max's response offers nothing in the way of refuting Reynold's original comments, and Atrios' endorsement of it speaks for itself. All this, of course, simply reinforces the professor's point.

Speaking of Roger and left wing vitriol, see this.

Disclaimer: Glenn Reynolds linked the front page of Mudville today, after I wrote this piece but before I posted it. I mention this to point out that this post is not a response to that link, and the link from Instapundit should certainly not be seen as an endorsement of this post.

In the mail

Greetings,

Great news! We've just received confirmation that C-SPAN is planning to
cover Spirit of America's Iraq election event this Sunday from 2pm to
4pm Eastern (11am to 1pm Pacific). Please watch. Your support has
made this possible. Please forward this message far and wide and
encourage people to tune in.

Iraq's elections are an historic event. This broadcast will provide a
unique, more complete picture of the elections with ground-level news
and views from the Iraqi people. You will get much more than the
typical focus on violence and terrorism. We'll have reports, photos
and video from all corners of Iraq. The broadcast event is described
more here:

You can see reports and photos now here:
And, during the show on Sunday,
we will be publishing the discussion here
and asking for your comments.
Please visit the site and tell us what you think.

If you'd like to attend and be part of our live studio audience, please
RSVP to this message. We only have a limited number of seats (35)
available. The event is at the National Geographic studio at 1145
17th St NW - Washington, DC 20036. If you RSVP and receive
confirmation from us, please arrive no later than 1.30 or you won't
get into the studio.

All the best,
Jim Hake and the Spirit of America team
staff@spiritofamerica.net
www.spiritofamerica.net

UN-Hinged

We reported earlier this week on the UN's "top elections official" Carina Perelli's condemnation of apparent US military involvement in promoting the Iraq elections.

Now, however, the United Nations has begun back-pedaling:

The United Nations is backing away from its criticism of the U.S. troops' "get-out-the-vote" effort in Iraq, criticism the Pentagon apparently agreed with.

Carina Perelli, who has been organizing U.N. assistance for Sunday's election in Iraq, said on Wednesday that U.S. soldiers "have been extremely, I would say, over enthusiastic in trying to help out with this election."

In response to a reporter's question about American troops' distribution of informational leaflets, she added, "We have been basically saying that they should try to minimize their participation because this is an Iraqi process."

Miss Perelli indicated that she and fellow U.N. elections officer Carlos Valenzuela who has been in Iraq for months, have been "begging" U.S. officials to lower the military's profile during the campaign period.

But yesterday, U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said that Miss Perelli "misspoke," and said "she did not intend to criticize the military's profile."

For those who missed it, here's the actual quote from Perelli as reported by The Washington Post:

Informed by a reporter that U.S. soldiers have distributed voting material in recent weeks, Perelli said: "I'm glad that you reported it, because I'm going to be screaming on the phone in two minutes."

Back to our current story:

Miss Okabe said yesterday that U.S. officials had not complained to the United Nations about the remarks, nor had there been pressure to rescind them.

Asked why the organization would publicly contradict one of its respected technical experts if there had not been a complaint, Miss Okabe said the statement, issued Wednesday evening, spoke for itself.

In other words, Perelli said it, and Okabe "UNsaid" it. So there.

The story gives no indication if Ms Perelli is resting or under professional medical care, though some have noted that bizarre behavior is running rampant among many employees of that august body.

A bit of chest pounding follows:

The United Nations has printed 21 million ballots for Sunday's election.

I didn't even know they had printing presses.

Nearly 150,000 Iraqis have been trained as poll workers, and additional election monitors will be present representing a variety of political parties.

The story is unclear on if the UN is claiming to have conducted that training. This, however, is a rather concrete statement:

Kieran Prendergast, the U.N. chief political adviser, said that despite its efforts in Iraq, the United Nations would not be certifying the legitimacy of the elections.

(Emphasis added.)

In conclusion: today the UN has retracted it's criticism of the US assisting in the Iraqi elections which it won't certify as legitimate.

World peace and harmony are just around the corner, to be sure.

Update: More unhinged behavior! The UN is advertising on the Mudville Gazette ! (See side bar.)

One

The Big Day looms. Or is it just another day?

Here's group of folks who predict failure and illegitimacy, but what the story really tells us is that there is still apparently a demand for ignorance masked as news.

Here's a quote from the NY Times on-line teaser to a story:

Shiite Faction Ready to Shun Sunday's Election in Iraq

A radical cleric's refusal to endorse the election foreshadowed a less than overwhelming voter turnout in Iraq.

Foreshadowed? Has the election happened? Here's the actual quote from the story:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 28 - Less than 48 hours before nationwide elections here, Nasir al-Saedy, one of the city's most popular Shiite clerics, stood before a crowd of 20,000 Iraqis and uttered not a single word about the vote.

Sheik Saedy spoke of faith, humility and the power of God. But about Sunday's elections, the first here in more than 30 years, nothing.

For the throngs of Iraqis who had come to Al Mohsen Mosque to listen, the sheik's silence came through loud and clear.

And it foreshadowed a less than overwhelming voter turnout in many parts of Iraq.

On consideration, the line can not be refuted. Certainly many areas will not be overwhelmed with voters. But what signal is the Times sending here? And not to play linguistic games, but might foreshadows be the more appropriate form?

Another story from the AP:

With crucial national elections only two days away, Iraqi officials announced the arrests of three more purported lieutenants of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the Jordanian terror mastermind's military adviser and chief of operations in Baghdad.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told reporters that U.S. and Iraqi authorities were closing in on al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq who is believed responsible for many of the car-bombings, kidnappings and decapitations of foreigners in Iraq.

The arrested al-Zarqawi associates included Salah Suleiman al-Loheibi, the head of his group's Baghdad operation, who met with al-Zarqawi more than 40 times over three months, said Qassim Dawoud, a top security adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Dawoud said Ali Hamad Yassin al-Issawi, another associate, was also captured. Dawoud said the two arrests took place in mid-January but gave few details.

Also captured was al-Zarqawi's military adviser, a 31-year-old Iraqi named Anad Mohammed Qais, 31, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh.

"We are getting close to finishing off al-Zarqawi and we will get rid of him," Saleh said.

Seems like a fine bit of reporting - who what where when which why how - unfortunately the paragraphs above were separated and buried in a story headlined Insurgents Warn Iraqis Not to Vote. In fact, you must wade through a lot of doom and gloom before getting to the paragraphs describing just who was captured - they come at the very bottom of a long article that includes these paragraphs too:

Despite Saleh's assurances, al-Zarqawi's group posted a new Web message Friday warning Iraqis that they could get hit by shelling or other attacks if they approach polling stations, which it called "the centers of atheism and of vice."

"We have warned you, so don't blame us. You have only yourselves to blame," it said.

<...>

In the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, residents said the rebels decapitated six Iraqis from the majority Shiite community Friday. Shiites, who comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, are expected to turn out in large numbers for the election in hopes of gaining power after generations of suppression by minority Shiites.

<...>

Insurgents, meanwhile, stepped up their own attacks, killing the five American soldiers in three separate strikes in northern, western and southern Baghdad, according to the U.S. command. More than 1,411 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since fighting began in March 2003.

American troops and insurgents exchanged fire on a major Baghdad thoroughfare. The crackle of gunfire could be heard over the noon call to prayer. U.S. fighter jets thundered through the skies over Baghdad throughout the morning in a show of force against the militants.

Those measures, however, have not been enough to stop the violence. A suicide car bomber exploded his vehicle Friday in Baghdad's Doura neighborhood, killing four Iraqi policemen. Hours later, another car bomb exploded on the neighborhood's main road, damaging a school where voters are to cast ballots Sunday. No one was hurt.

Elsewhere, insurgents hit designated polling centers in at least six major cities across the country. Gunmen attacked a school to be used as a polling station in Kirkuk, killing one policeman, officials said.

Bombs blasted three more schools designated as polling sites in the city of Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. A mortar shell landed on a house close to a school believed to be used as polling site in Ramadi, wounding two women and two children, a hospital doctor said.

"We have warned you, so don't blame us. You have only yourselves to blame," it said. Interesting logic there. Of course, the "it" that the report was referring to was a "message", and not the messenger. Let's not de-humanize the foe. "A mortar shell landed on a house close to a school believed to be used as polling site in Ramadi, wounding two women and two children, a hospital doctor said." AP refrained from using the phrase an increasingly bold and sophisticated insurgency in this report.

I've discussed this style of reporting before, burying the good news from Iraq in layers of bad and calling it a "round-up." This could be called "balanced" reporting, but though you'll often see bad news without mention of good, you'll never see good news presented in any other format - from major media outlets, that is.

Odd that among all this weekend's stories of insurgent bombs that almost hit their target (or that "detonated near polling places", if you prefer) these sorts of stories are overlooked:

Alpha Company, 1-112 Infantry, a National Guard company based out of the Pittsburgh area, and Soldiers from the 201st Iraqi Army Battalion established a hasty traffic control point Jan. 22 north of Tikrit, in the area called Kadasia, and swiftly apprehended two insurgents.

The Soldiers operating the traffic control point identified the suspected vehicle as it approached their position, slowed the vehicle and instructed the passengers to get out of the car. The occupants of the vehicle, one of whom was an Iraqi National Police officer, were found in possession of a 120-millimeter artillery round wired as an improvised explosive device.

The Explosive Ordinance Disposal team arrived on site and destroyed the device. Through questioning, the insurgents revealed their plan to place the explosive device at an elections polling site in the area.

The intelligence developed by the Tikrit Joint Coordination Center increases the Iraqi Security Forces? ability to react to actionable intelligence and thwart insurgents schemes to disrupt Iraqi elections.

Yawn.

*****************************

"I am tired of hearing the crap, the whole, well, 'We are barely hanging on, we're losing, the insurgency is growing.' All that. We are doing fine. It's just a small, a small amount of people out there causing the problems. I mean, it is a small number, and we?re killing them."

--Marine Sgt Kevin Lewis, to Dan Rather during his recent visit to Iraq

*****************************

Truth is, no one really knows what's going to happen in Iraq tomorrow. (A few "insurgents" might have a "plan", of course, but others plan too.) If asked, I'd say that this forecast seems a bit more realistic than most I've seen. (Go look, I'll wait.)

And by the way, this will have more of an impact on voter turn out than Zarqawi could hope to. After all, bad weather kept over a quarter-million Democrats from voting in Ohio last year, and thus was God's chosen allowed to continue his reign. Let's call it the Inshallah factor then, and tomorrow looks fine.

The NY Times does not have a forecast available.

*****************************

Without a doubt the story from Iraq is a compelling one. And a fundamental example of good vs evil. Those who'd offer excuses or moral equivalency lectures in response to insurgents beheading Iraqis or disemboweling aid workers, mortaring homes or striking at schools with car bombs have clearly chosen sides. Don't blame us if we kill you, you have only yourselves to blame, cries an "insurgent" - and around the world certain heads nod.

Still others might recall this quote from a recent movie:

"A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!"

Aragorn, of course, from The Return of the King. There have been numerous superficial comparisons made between current events and the Lord of the Rings, and the appearance of the movie at this point in history was certainly fortuitous. Successful films reflect the times, and though no one knew at the time these films were being made exactly what the world situation would be upon their release they've meshed amazingly well. Gandalf's response to Frodo's lament that "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." seemed extraordinarily fit for 2001: "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work, Frodo, than the will of evil.

Or the next year, as the US prepared to go into Iraq, Grima dismissed Gandalf as a warmonger in the court of Theoden. Later, Theoden: I will not risk open war. Aragorn: Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not. Later still: Aragorn: You have some skill with a blade. Eowyn: The women of this country learned long ago, those without swords can still die upon them.

In spite of the chillingly accurate applicability, it's not the superficial and obvious comparisons that make the real connection to modern events; it's the underlying theme of the books that rings true. For Tolkien's story was much larger, much grander than the trilogy, after all. That tale was of but one battle in an ongoing war, and references to the larger theme gave the books a depth that most imitators lack. Tolkein had fleshed out that larger history before he began his sequel to The Hobbit, it was in fact his true life's work. And that grand story was of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and that's why the books sell today and why the movies have an appeal to a worldwide audience unmatched by anything else. Tolkein tapped into something fundamental that dwells within us all, the conflict of the positive and the negative, of darkness and light, good and evil that struggles in each soul, as it does in the world at large. And that is why the words of the characters have a resonance with us today.

I harbor no illusions about what we're doing, and I certainly don't imagine myself as a warrior at the gates of Mordor. But tomorrow is yet another skirmish in the real world war, the one I've personally been involved in for 20 years now. I'll predict a victory for the good guys.

After all, there are other forces at work, Frodo, than what you read in the papers.

Wish I'd Said That

John Podhoretz:

...Sunni Muslims, who were the dominant force in Saddam Hussein's regime, constitute 20 percent of Iraq's population. And yet the argument is seriously made that a Sunni boycott will invalidate the election results.

If white South Africans had refused to participate in that nation's first-ever free elections back in 1994, nobody on earth would have argued that their lack of participation invalidated the election results.

Now, it will certainly be tragic if Sunnis who wish to vote are forcibly prevented from doing so by the terrorists in their midst. But those Sunnis' best chance to secure their freedom to vote at a later date will emerge from a viable result in Sunday's elections.

In case you need something for water cooler/dinner table conversations, this one should pretty much resolve that particular debate.

The "Pentagon's" Gay Policy

This letter to the editor of the NY Times offers a pretty effective message:

Re "The Price of Homophobia" (editorial, Jan. 20):

Whatever the pros and cons of "don't ask, don't tell" (full disclosure: I am a principal architect of the policy), your editorial is wrong in accusing the Pentagon of "hiding from reality."

In fact, the gay ban is authorized by a 1993 Congressional law signed by the president. Any change in the status of homosexuals in the military requires Congressional action.

Your editorial implies that the military should disobey the law. Who is hiding from reality?

Charles Moskos , Santa Monica, Calif., Jan. 20, 2005

Ouch. Look before you leap, as the wise man said.

Two

I?m Greyhawk?s daughter, and I will be celebrating my birthday today without my dad. I remember when I was reading my dad?s On Leaving post. I had just gotten done fighting back the tears after we dropped my dad off. Then mum told us that dad left us a goodbye message. Once again I could feel the tears swell up in my eyes. That?s was me he was holding in his arms; which just makes it even cooler to hear this band singing a song based on that night.

I had these small worries in the back of my mind that I didn?t want to grow and haunt me. So I thought as positive as possible, and tried not to think about the dangers. I would think instead of how happy I?d be when he came home. Sometimes it?s hard when you hear news like I did yesterday about a helicopter crashing that killed 31 men. A sudden fear struck me that my dad could have been on that helicopter. I feel proud to say that my dad is in Iraq serving our country and helping Iraq become a free nation.

I don?t know much about the voting situation in Iraq right now, but I did some research. Right now I am learning U.S. history. I just read a section in my book talking about George Washington and how he set the limits of an American President. Being the first president, many people look back on him and use his ideas. America was lucky to get such a leader as the first president. Voting wasn?t exactly perfect then but obviously it has improved a great deal. What happened in Iraq to set such a bad way of ruling a country? Why do so many people continue to support the ways of Saddam when in this life style everyone is living in fear? Perhaps those people are getting a special benefit such as safety from being sniped by someone. But if people could vote and get a new leader who will make their country safe for everyone then why not just do this?

In two days this election will finally happen. But why must they still fear this freedom? I think it?s wonderful that these people are finally getting the rights they deserve. I also learned in my history class that it took 150 years before women could vote in America. This opportunity is available to the women of Iraq today, that puts them one step ahead of America's first elections already. Who knows if this election will be a perfect election? What?s stopping a terrorist from shooting one of the candidates or voters? But, we must not give up.

Now, what really irks me is how so many people are saying, ?oh well, uh, Bush is doing a bad job and so are the troops. They haven?t even found these weapons of mass destruction?. Well look now STUPID! Iraq is having a free election! People just aren?t seeing how big of an achievement this really is. Iraq is finally on the road to being a better place.

I shall end my post with this simple summary. It?s gonna be dangerous and people will be risking their lives, but freedom isn?t free.

Littlest Notgreyatallhawk

More from Americans in Iraq

I Should Have Stayed Home...
Featurring TJ and BC, who describe themselves:

Welcome to the latest Iraq blog! Your hosts are two Americans working in Baghdad - in what capacity we'd rather not say.

Our professional focus is on the security of the country, and while we'll definitely be staying inside the lines of what's ok to talk about, we hope that we can bring some fresh insight into the development of Iraq, the politics behind it (on both sides - US and Iraqi) and the success (or other) of the counterinsurgency effort.

Their entire archive can be viewd here, and you'll find it more than worth your time. These guys work up close with the Iraqis, and get around a lot more than just about anyone in this country.

Ryan blogs at Cigars in the Sand:

Farmer by genetics, Lawyer by training, currently "vacationing" in Iraq and advising the Iraqi government on border security issues. Before moving to Baghdad, I served in the White House as Deputy Counsel for the Homeland Security Council. I can be reached at opusxryanathotmaildotcom.

Ryan gets around quite a bit too. Lots of must-read stuff.

There's always great stuff at The Questing Cat
And the best stories of combat ops in Fallujah come from Red Six

All these guys are doing more exciting stuff than I am. Don't miss 'em.

By the way, I provided a long list of deployed MilBloggers this past Christmas. A few of them are home now, and you'll find some great stories on readjusting to "the World" from blogs like In Iraq for 365. (Guess it's day 366+ for him now.)

Dog Bites Man

A story you won't catch in your major daily:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division?s 2nd ?Commando? Brigade Combat Team prevented an apparent kidnapping of eight Iraqis Jan. 26 in western Baghdad.

During a patrol in Baghdad?s Khadamiyah district, the Soldiers noticed a suspicious vehicle about 8:30 p.m. They stopped the vehicle and found three Iraqis bound and gagged.

They detained five suspects in possession of four pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle and a sub-machine gun outfitted with a silencer.

The kidnap victims included a sheik and an administrator from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.

No shots were fired. The suspects detained are being held for further questioning.

Not sure about the math, but sounds like a job well done.

Ukraine Update

You'll find this on page 13 of yesterday's Washington Times:

KRAKOW, Poland ? Ukraine will consult Iraq's government and coalition allies before withdrawing its troops from Iraq, President Viktor Yushchenko said yesterday in comments that appeared to soften his position.

Mr. Yushchenko's predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, ordered officials on Jan. 10 to bring home 1,600 Ukrainian troops in Iraq in the first half of this year after eight were killed in an explosion the previous day.

Not sure why it didn't get the coverage his predecessor's now-pointless announcement of a pull-out did. Had President Yushchenko spoken a little louder, they might have heard him in London, where today's Financial Times had this report:

LONDON -- Even as US forces struggle to stabilise Iraq during the tense election period, they may soon face another challenge following Sunday's vote: the determination of several coalition members to withdraw thousands of troops from the region.

Several allied countries, many of them eastern European, which were part of the original "New Europe" group backing the Iraqi war have said they will either completely withdraw or substantially reduce their forces in Iraq after the January 30 elections.

The largest reduction is expected to come from Ukraine, which has 1,600 troops in Iraq, making it the sixth-largest contingent. Earlier this month, outgoing President Leonid Kuchma ordered the defence ministry to draw up plans to begin a complete withdrawal by the middle of the year after eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an explosion.

The move has been backed by incoming President Viktor Yushchenko, who campaigned on a promise to bring the troops home. "The withdrawal of the Ukrainian peacekeeping force is one of our priorities," said a statement by Mr Yushchenko's political organisation. He was planning to address it soon after taking office last weekend.

Guess they don't have a Warsaw bureau.

More Blogs in the Media

Hindrocket to appear on Al Franken's show, Friday around 12:45 central time. Wish I could listen in, but my radio options are limited here and sadly al-Jazeera radio recently dropped Franken for being too extreme. (/snark)

Diagnosis Before Cure

Thomas Sowell (Hat tip to commenter H cujas for the link.):

THERE ARE still people in the mainstream media who profess bewilderment that they are accused of being biased. But you need to look no further than reporting on the war in Iraq to see the bias staring you in the face, day after day, on the front page of The New York Times and in much of the rest of the media.

If a battle ends with Americans killing a hundred guerrillas and terrorists, while sustaining 10 fatalities, that is an American victory. But not in the mainstream media. The headline is more likely to read: "Ten More Americans Killed in Iraq."

If you'd like to see a blatant example of what he's talking about, look here. But that's just one sort of approach to slanting the news from Iraq. Others range from sandwiching any good news with layers of bad, and outright lies.

One of these days I'll provide a catalog of examples of the various methods used to produce a story that hews to the "quagmire" theme. Sowell's piece is a step in the right direction, he's diagnosed a disease that many deny exists at all. But don't expect any of the afflicted to take the cure - that denial stage is simply too strong.

Kos n' Barbie

Barbie Boxer drops one into The Toilet

I can't thank all of you enough -- the Daily Kos community, and the blogosphere as a whole -- for all of your effective work during the recent debate over Condoleezza Rice's nomination. Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.

More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition and stood together to demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice. It was truly an overwhelming response -- much more than I could have anticipated. You helped to get our message out to millions of Americans -- I couldn't have done it without you.

Wow - almost a hundred thousand supporters joined her attack. She's right about getting the message to millions of Americans though. Nice work by her, Kos, and West Virginia's Grand Kleagle.

In counterpoint, Smash has an email from America?s Secretary of State.

Update:

Since I'm in the mood for it, lets keep looking at Kos:

Yeah yeah, this is navel gazing, but blogging isn't a phenomenon limited to the political realm. I believe sports blogging will be the next "Big Thing", which is why I've started a company in that realm (details coming soon).

Predictions: Kos will start a football blog called "Baseball Sucks" and a baseball blog called "Football Sucks". And if he does for sport what he did for the Dean campaign, you'd better record the upcoming Superbowl, because it's going to be the last.

Another update to Kos post:

More results for the Kleagles here.

Cornered

Blogger Stefan Sharkansky will be guest posting (or "cornering", if you prefer) at The Corner. A great idea. His first "Cornering" is here.

Seems The Corner has been linking into blogs a bit more deeply lately too. Now if only they would start a blogroll...

Singularly Effective, Swift, and Muscular

From somewhere in the bowels of he United Nations building in New York City Carina Perelli, the UN's "top elections official", announces that she is about to start screaming:

"The U.S. military have been extremely, I would say, overenthusiastic in trying to help out with this election," she told reporters. "And we have been basically saying that they should try to minimize their participation, because this is an Iraqi process."

Informed by a reporter that U.S. soldiers have distributed voting material in recent weeks, Perelli said: "I'm glad that you reported it, because I'm going to be screaming on the phone in two minutes."

She's responding to reports that Soldiers are distributing material promoting the elections. I wonder exactly who might be on the other end of the line?

The NY Times provides additional quotes:

The United Nations said Wednesday that it had fulfilled its mission of providing expert assistance in setting up Sunday's election in Iraq, adding that it was now up to the Iraqi people to give the vote legitimacy by going to the polls.

"We have done everythi