Video: Michelle talks Iraq with John Gibson on “The Big Story”; Update: U.S. task force hunting Iranian networks in Iraq
posted at 6:00 pm on January 18, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Before I give you the vid I’m going to give you a snippet from the latest Fox News poll, which leads nicely into the boss’s point about supporting the mission. You can thank my eagle-eyed pal Dean Barnett for catching it.
Dean points to the no’s and don’t knows in the first question but I think the answers to the second are just as interesting, particularly the spread among Democrats themselves. Now, here’s MM.
Hitting the wires at just around the time she was chatting with Gibby was this piece from our pals at the AP: “Mahdi Army Expressing Siege Mentality.” I think the guys they interviewed are feeding them a load of crap that’s part of the ruse I mentioned this morning, but hope springs eternal.
Mahdi Army fighters said Thursday they were under siege in their Sadr City stronghold as U.S. and Iraqi troops killed or seized key commanders in pinpoint nighttime raids. Two commanders of the Shiite militia said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stopped protecting the group under pressure from Washington and threats from Sunni Muslim Arab governments….
The midlevel Mahdi Army commanders, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the group operates in secret, said at least five top commanders of similar standing were captured or killed in recent months, including one snatched in a night raid from his Sadr City hide-out on Tuesday. They refused to name him.
Two other key officials at the top of the organization were killed in raids last month…
The third commander, who also spoke anonymously to protect his identity, said U.S.-led raiding parties were now also engaged in massive sweeps, having rounded up what he said was every male old enough to carry a gun in south Baghdad’s Um al-Maalef neighborhood Tuesday night…
The Mahdi Army commanders said they were increasingly concerned about improved U.S. intelligence that has allowed the Americans to successfully target key figures in the militia.
“We’re no longer using cell phones except in emergencies. Some of our top commanders have not been home (in Sadr City) for a year because they fear capture,” one of the commanders said.
The AP speculates that al-Maliki finally had a “change of heart” when he met with Bush in November. Really? A month before he ordered Sadrists in ski masks to hang Saddam on the Sunni Eid?
Update: Here’s a shrewd analysis of Maliki’s “give us guns and you can go home” offer from the Times of London.
Update: If you missed Michelle’s Flickr page of Iraq photos, now’s your chance.
Update: Via Captain Ed, U.S. News and World Report gets a scoop:
The U.S. military has launched a special operations task force to break up Iranian influence in Iraq, according to U.S. News sources. The special operations mission, known as Task Force 16, was created late last year to target Iranians trafficking arms and training Shiite militia forces. The operation is modeled on Task Force 15, a clandestine cadre of Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force soldiers, and CIA operatives with a mission to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives and Baathist insurgents in Iraq.
Task Force 15 killed al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, last June.
The new classified directive is part of an escalation of military countermeasures against Iran, authorized by President Bush, to strike back at what military officials describe as a widespread web of Iranian influence in Iraq that includes providing weapons, training, and money to Shiite militias.
If the Mahdi army’s climbdown is for real, it might be partly at Iran’s behest. Why give the U.S. any more justification to pull up the roots Iran has planted in Iraq?
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Thanks a lot Maliki. Be careful what you wish for. The dhimmicrats are prepared to grant your wish.
Buck Turgidson on January 18, 2007 at 6:31 PM
Allah, question 16, and especially 17 on that poll are noteworthy as well – #17 asks about funding for the current troop levels. Check out the answers.
SisterToldjah on January 18, 2007 at 6:33 PM
From a purely political perspective:
42% of independents think most Democrats want to lose the war. That is a political bomb waiting to go off.
From a non-politcal perspective:
It is totally outrageous that 34% of Democrats actually hope we lose.
Resolute on January 18, 2007 at 7:17 PM
I don’t care much for polls but the numbers Resolute mentioned caught my eye as well. Seems, like in the Viet Nam days, the weak kneed democraps just like to give up, quit. Maybe there should be an article in Psychology Today about that… Profile in Courage???
Zorro on January 18, 2007 at 7:25 PM
I assume those who want the mission to fail still support the troops. They just despise their Commander in Chief and prefer defeat to victory. If only we had Bubba back, winning would be great!
BTW, is it just me, or does Michelle look absolutely stunning today?
Pablo on January 18, 2007 at 7:44 PM
Man, wouldn’t it have been funny if MM said “f’ck off” instead of “bug off” at that one point? If she was totally deadpan and didn’t break character? Heh.
Enrique on January 18, 2007 at 7:49 PM
Pelosi backed down earlier today from the always-unlikely “funding cut-off” threat, so that takes away the Ungrateful Iraqi PM’s option, and reduces his blackmail opportunities
The Dems keep tip-toeing up to the edge of cliffs, then dance away at the last minute. Hopefully one day soon they’ll Get Stupid, and take a dive
Janos Hunyadi on January 18, 2007 at 7:52 PM
To be honest, I thought she looked even better in cammies without the heavy makeup. But my personal tastes have always gone toward the natural look.
I just realized that her kids’ classmates can say “your mother wears army boots”, and they can say “yeah, and a helmet and body armor, too!”
I noticed she’s saying ‘Muh-LICK-ee’…. Is there a subtle dig there, or did she pick that up from the way the people in Baghdad pronounce it?
The Monster on January 18, 2007 at 7:56 PM
Could it be that the pronunciation of his name is the principal reason why Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made those controversial and unflattering remarks aimed at the Bush administration? I have a sneaking suspicion that President Bush just might be referring to him (at least in private) as My-Lackey. If I was Michelle, I’d distance myself from THAT pronunciation too.
CyberCipher on January 18, 2007 at 9:01 PM
Which ‘ism’ is important to address?
Many blogs and opinion articles have provided the opinion that critics of the surge either have ‘Bush derangement syndrome’ or want America to lose to hasten the country’s return to humility. The poll hear reflects this opinion.
Another reason, in my opinion, is that the careers of many on the left are focused—and this may reflect well on many—on addressing other kinds ‘isms”: , civil liberties, anti-capitalism, poverty, health insurance for all, global warming-ism, etc. Since 9/11 they are angry that we are devoting so much attention to ‘terrorism’ or ‘militant extremism’, rather than their pet ‘isms.’
I myself get a substantial amount of my salary from grants; much from the President’s HIV/AIDS initiative (PEPFAR). I think I understand the psychological need of many on the left to get back to our ‘holiday from history’ of the 90s and focus on the their ‘isms.’ Let’s pretend that there is no danger from leaving Iraq; that there is no ism fight there at all—it’s only sectarian . Let’s pretend that ism is only a reaction to America’s aggression and therefore if we just stop all will be well. Let us pretend that ism is a fleeting danger and that therefore the administration’s surveillance efforts are a greater threat (‘civil libertyism’).
I believe we are facing the great ideological struggle of our time. That among the many ‘isms’, militant or muslim extremism is the most important to address. Many on the left resent this and therefore chose to minimize it and any difficult efforts to address it (such as the surge).
Still-a-Neocon
stillaneocon on January 18, 2007 at 10:05 PM
Where is that “The Drifter” dude????????
PinkyBigglesworth on January 18, 2007 at 11:51 PM
I sense that the pendulum is going to swing back in 2008.
Here’s why:
34% of the Democrats want America’s current effort to not succeed in Iraq. That is a HUGE percentage of American citizens of one party to want America to LOSE a war. Calling them “Copperheads” barely scratches the surface.
42% of the Independents RECOGNIZE this, while 63% of the same group of Independents WANT the surge to succeed.
Pelosi and Reid (and that clown Biden) are dancin’ trying to look “principled” about cutting and running, while at the same time pretending to support the troops by not cutting their funding.
By 2008, there won’t be any doubt of where the Democratic Party leadership stands in the eyes of most Americans. You can only be a whore to the brain-damaged ligature masturbators of DU and DKOS for so long before the lipstick gets smeared and the party dress becomes permanently stained.
When that happens, not even Rahm Emmanuel can turn it around in 2008.
georgej on January 19, 2007 at 3:21 AM
Seems like we’re always takin’ out the number 2’s and 3’s. Get Mookie! If we can make Zarqawi dead, we can at least arrest FatBoyBadTeeth.
SeALs, Delta Force and CIA paramilitary (and the always unmentioned A.F. combat controllers) we have the best of the best over there. Untie their hands, and let them do their thing. It sounds like they have been somewhat but until we get Mookie I will believe their hands are tied to some extent. If we really wanted him, he’d be dead or in Saddam’s prison cell.
Tony737 on January 19, 2007 at 11:47 AM
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