The Other Three Thousand

On February 21, 2005, before all of his unit had arrived in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Stone and his advance party of California National Guard soldiers stopped to help another group of soldiers after a Humvee accident in downtown Baghdad. Stone shepherded the other unit's dazed troops into a proper security perimeter and called in a helicopter for the injured. But as the chopper landed, an insurgent detonated a hidden roadside bomb that shredded nine men. Stone ran back and forth, braving sniper fire, to grab first-aid supplies. Then, as a second medevac helicopter arrived and the survivors braced for another blast -- a common tactic of Iraqi insurgents -- Stone curled himself around a badly wounded friend, covering the soldier with his own body. "If it goes off, you're going to be OK," Stone told him. "Hug your wife and kids, and don't ever forget me."

Newspeak

The WaPo has a great new term for surrender in Iraq: "Alternatives centered around pulling out troops".

In context:

"We recognize that many members of Congress are skeptical," Bush said in his radio address yesterday, adding: "Members of Congress have a right to express their views, and express them forcefully. But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible."

Many Democrats, in fact, have proposed alternatives centered around pulling out troops, an idea Bush flatly rejects.

Bad Link...

...in an earlier post, since corrected. But it's a bit down there now, and this is a must-read.

Set Your Coffee Down...

...before reading the quote below.

Saddam Hussein's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Saddam-era Revolutionary Court, have been hanged. Originally convicted along with Saddam, apparently they were originally scheduled to swing with him, too.

But

A lawyer for the two men told The Associated Press recently that they were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day Saddam was executed.

Issam Ghazawi, a member of Saddam's defense team for the past two years, said he met individually with Ibrahim and al-Bandar recently, and that Ibrahim told him they were escorted from their cells and told they were also going to be executed.

"The Americans took me and al-Bandar from our cells on the same day of Saddam's execution to an office inside the prison at 1 a.m. They asked us to collect our belongings because they intend to execute us at dawn," Ibrahim reportedly said.

He said the two men were also told to write their wills.

Al-Bandar and Ibrahim were taken back to their prison cells nearly nine hours later, according to Ghazawi.

"Their execution should be commuted under such circumstances because of the psychological pain they endured as they waited to hang," he said.

Update:

The official video of hanging of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants screened for reporters Monday showed the former leader's half brother lying headless below the gallows, his severed head several yards away. The video shows Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, being hanged side by side.

They wore red prison jumpsuits. As they reached the gallows, black hoods were put on their heads and five masked men surrounded them.

After the trap doors opened, al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope. Ibrahim's body was lying on the floor, chest down, his severed head resting several yards away...

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations.

They still don't know if Jeff Ake's alive or not.

Jawa reports:

His business is failing. His wife may have to sell the house. There is no insurance, because they still don't know if Jeff Ake's alive or not. It wasn't exactly Halliburton; smaller businesses can't do much when the boss is kidnapped and disappeared.

They need some help.

The New York Times Surrenders

From today's editorial:

It was surreal how disconnected President Bush was the other night, both from Iraq’s horrifying reality and America’s anguish over this unnecessary, mismanaged and now unwinnable war.

Not exactly new or surprising, but I don't even think the NYT has stated it so succinctly. Stand firm Grey Lady, stand firm. And lest you nattering nabobs of NYT negativity think nary a new solution is proposed, we have the much-vaunted international conference:

Mr. Bush should reinforce that message by convening a conference of all of Iraq’s neighbors to discuss how they can help stabilize Iraq — and what they can do to contain the wider chaos should it come.

I've got that warm fuzzy feeling, myself.

Port Protection- the old way

A ship with horns? What is it doing?

Old fashioned port protection, as set out here.

Update: A modern technique.

Iran on Inuaguration Day

Human Events - Jan 1981

It was remarked that their release was a gift from President Carter, which it was, in a way, but it was also a gift from Reagan to himself, since Reagan's own tough stance on the hostage issue had almost certainly caused the mullahs in Iran to feel they had better make a quick deal with the outgoing Administration. The joke going around the Capitol was: "What’s flat and glows?" The answer: "Iran on Inauguration Day." The joke was apparently not lost on the Iranians.

I think the Iranians have forgotten.

Re: Compare and Contrast

I've noticed the resurgence of the term "warbloggers" (a term in no way related to milbloggers, btw) in the Leftist discussion of Jamil Hussein. It's rather quaint and absolutely outdated - until Rosen and others started tossing it around again I hadn't seen it used since 2003. (See here and here.) "Back in the day" it applied to bloggers of every political persuasion who wrote about the post-9/11 world, and separated them from the pure diarist or tech-blogger or celebrity-gosip-blogger or whatever. It fell into disuse because it was an utterly inaccurate descriptor - even Welch's "farewell" came a couple years after the term had all but faded from memory of anyone not involved in the gestation. I doubt anyone who first found the blogosphere in 2004 or later had ever even seen the term. But now it appears again. Are Rosen and his sort trying to pretend they are far out of touch with the blogosphere while simultaneously responding to every rumble from its depths?