I'm Dizzy

Will it ever end?

There are people who could clear this up, and I have to admit - I want to know the real story. Not sure why, but I do.

Hey Look

I've got another column up over at Townhall.com. One where I use lots of important sounding military phrases and words like "paradigm."

I wanted to title it "IRAN IS TEH SUXOR!!!!!" but Mary Katharine wouldn't let me. She also spell-checked the hell out of it....did you guys know there was an "h" in dinghy? Seriously.

Cross Posted at Home Base.

Made in Iraq

In case you missed it, my Navy buddy Patrick Lasswell is traveling with Michael Totten in Iraqi Kurdistan. In his latest report, from Suliamaniya, Lasswell and Totten discover a high-tech Iraqi water bottling plant, complete with robots.

Last week I spotted something amazing, formed into the base of my water bottle was a bold announcement: the bottle was made in Iraq... We got in touch with our fixer and he arranged things so that a few days after noticing the imprint, we were standing next to the machine making them and the man who got things working in Iraq, Salar Fakhri. The factory Salar built was unremarkable to me at first because everything seemed perfectly in order. Then I remembered that my personal standard for factories is my experience at Intel circuit board and computer production plants in Oregon. Salar has brought high technology standards to Iraq. People moved around the machinery in lab smocks taking care to keep the line moving smoothly. There was no yelling over the equipment noise, no frantic action to avert disaster at the last minute, no hint of grime on the equipment, and nothing to suggest that this was anything but a modern industrial plant.

Read the rest.

Re:Re: Ware Video

Security is 90% Illusion. I religiously renew my drivers license on the prescribed date...even though I've only ever been stopped by a policeman twice in my life. The fine for driving without a license is a lot less then 30 years of renewal fees.

Things like presence patrols...high Government officials glad handing in markets etc. add to that illusion. The illusion of security actually creates securty.

The "Broken Window" theory of law enforcement says that if you enforce "J-Walking" and "Littering"...other crime will drop as well.

It does...as it creates the illusion of Security. The Illusion os security creates real security, as people will volunteer more information to the police when they feel secure. How many police/troops would one need...if all the citizens regularly phoned into the police and gave them the address of bad people? "Officer...that thug you were looking for...3 houses down."

Everything AlQueda does is to detroy that illusion. I'm all for an open and free press...but let's understand the cost...everytime CNN does an "All is Lost Broadcast"...that is beamed into millions of Iraqi homes....who then conclude that it is unsafe to co-operate with the police....the job gets harder.

One More Chance

If you missed Robert Stokely's interview this afternoon with Andrea Shea-King, you missed a lot. It was riveting to listen to Robert introduce us to his son, talk about the grieving/coping process and how Gold Star Families support one another.

Photo of Robert and Andrea taken in the studio today:

Robert's interview was so compelling that Andrea held him over for two segments. But, if you missed it, you have a chance to hear it at approximately 10:05 EST when Robert's portion of the broadcast will be replayed. Click here to listen. Don't jump out after the first segment because Robert stays on for two more.

Someone in the chat room, where there wasn't a dry eye, commented on why we have to hear from Cindy Sheehan so much, but people like Robert Stokely are brushed under the rug by the mainstream media. Indeed.

Rare Ware Video

Unnamed sources have provided this blog with some out takes:

Update: Actual video of the McCain Baghdad presser here. (Via Instapundit) No support whatsoever for the Drudge story.

Now back to the two comments Ware did make that tell a different story. The first was from the Wolf Blitzer interview that began the story, Ware's characterization of congressional Iraq withdrawal demands as "artificial deadlines that are going to get vetoed by the president" that "even if they were to pass through the legislative process, would only serve al Qaeda and Iran, America's enemies"

The second, from the actual Soledad O'Brien interview in which Ware said McCain's ability to walk armored and under guard in Baghdad wasn't "a sign of the real progress of the surge which the senators should be talking about."

That's the real story - but both interviewers let the comments slide without asking the obvious followup questions in favor of the more sensationalist angles.

Which validates McCain's actual central point - not that he can stroll through a Baghdad market, but that the media won't tell you the real story.