Dennis Sanders at Donklephant on the surge, escalation augmentation. Dennis believes, like I do, that Iraq is most likely lost. He continues to argue that the U.S. needs “to keep the contagion from spreading.”
The always fascinating Michael J. Totten at Winds of Change with, yet another, piece of original reporting. He visited “the besieged Christian community of Ain Ebel.” He writes: “For decades the people in this village have been caught between the anvils of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Hezbollah on one side, and the hammer of the Israeli Defense Forces on the other.”
However, the “residents are implacably hostile to Hezbollah and always have been. This was not a place where the Party of God could dig in, build bunkers, and store weapons.”
Steve Clemons asked “former CIA and Bush administration National Security Council senior official Flynt Leverett for a quick summary of his thoughts on President Bush’s Address to the Nation.” The real news according to Leverett: the way Bush talked about Iran, not Iraq.
PatHMV at Stubborn Facts. This time on the U.S. raid of the Iranian “consulate” in Iraq. Sure to spark some debate. Patrick’s view: firstly, the Iraqis said that “the facility had not yet been granted consular status”, secondly, talking about hypocrisy (or hutzpah as Dave Schuler called it in the comment section at SF). As always with the guys and gals from Stubborn Facts, a good read.
Libby Spencer on Peggy Noonan. It ain’t nice.
