Jules Crittenden has a review of all the current news from Iraq.
Hattip: Instapundit
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Friday, February 16, 2007
Roundup of Good News and Bad News from Iraq
Good News from Iraq
Stratagypage reports that al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Shia militias are both in disarray as the Battle for Baghdad begins.
Democrats, the Constitution and Iraq
A Washington Post article today outlines the strategy of the anti-war left to force an ignominius retreat from Iraq while at the same time not defunding the military. To this end, Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha intend to try and hamstring the President’s ability to send troops to Iraq and to restrict his ability to extend tours of duty in Iraq. Further, Speaker Pelosi has claimed that the President cannot use any force against Iran without first seeking the authorization of Congress. While this last issue is a close one, involving not only the Constitution, the War Powers Act of 1973, and how these provisions have been treated historically (i.e., Presidents have authorized numerous acts of force without first seeking Congressional authorization and an a declaration of war), the other actions would seem to likely run afoul of the constitution.
While Congress certainly has the power to fund the military and to say whether land forces may be committed to war against another nation, it is the President who has the executive power of command over the day to day activities of the forces. Specifically, The United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8 provides that the "Congress shall have power to . . declare war . . .; to raise and support Armies . . .;to make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land . . forces. . . . Article II, Section 2 provides that "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States . . . ."
Since the Congress has already authorized the use of force in Iraq, it would seem that, at the least the current plans of Pelosi and Murtha to hamstring the President would infringe on the power of the President to command the military. As an aside, it should be noted that the sham non-binding resolutions of Congress condemning the surge in Iraq are a criticism of command decisions of the President. Thus, were the Congress to pass a law stating that the President could not authorize the surge, it would be an unconsitutional restriction on Presidential authority. In any event, it would appear that we are heading towards a constitutional crisis in the very near future brought on by overreaching liberals.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Iran vs the Arab States
Amir Taheri discusses the Iranian strategy to export its revolution in light of perceived U.S. weakness and how other Arab states are taking effective action counter Iran.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Austrian Sniper Rifles Supplied to Iran Being Used Against US
David Kaspar at Medienkritik reports: "Just another reason for the Americans to thank the European "friends" in the Austrian government. High-powered 50 caliber rifles sold to Iran "to fight drug smugglers" by the Austrian firm Steyr-Mannlicher are now killing US troops in Iraq, and the Austrian government expressly approved the sale in 2005 despite U.S. protests, describing the deal as "unimpeachable."
Update: The WSJ has picked up on this.
So here is the state of our public discourse: American military officials
present prima facie evidence of Iranian weapons implicated in killing 170 U.S.
soldiers and wounding 600 more, and Washington's main concern is not for the GIs
but in refighting the last intelligence war.
Read the whole story.
Why isn't this in the U.S. papers?
AlJazeera has published an article on a recent speech from al Qaeda's no. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the tape, Zawahiri asks the Democrats to speed the removal of troops from Iraq and councils the current governments of Iraq and Afghanistan that they "must face their inevitable fate, and face up to the inescapable facts. America ... is about to depart and abandon them, just as it abandoned their like in Vietnam."
Update: Powerline has the actual video tape of the speech and provides an insightful analysis.
To the Rear, March . . .
Congressman Jack Murtha appeared on NPR today and outlined the next step of the Democrats in Congress to end U.S. military involvment in Iraq. His plan is to place into the supplemental appropriations bill -- upcoming in March -- a law tha would strip commanders of their authority to extend the tour of duty for units in Iraq, evidently irregardless of the ground situation, and to establish a criteria limiting when a unit can be deployed into Iraq based on training and equipment readiness. Additionally, he wants to close down Guantanamo Bay.
Update: Politico has an article on the strategy of House Democrats to assure defeat in Iraq
Hattip: Powerline
First Step Towards Retreat from Iraq
The Hill has a balanced article on the machinations of Senator Harry Reid, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and company to pass the non-binding resolution criticizing the "surge" in Iraq. They are proclaiming this as a "first step" to the euphamistic "new direction in Iraq."
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