New Attitude, New Media, New Strategy, Whatever!

According to DebkaFile.com (a bunch of spooks, so they say), Saddam's execution, media-botched or otherwise, was part of the overall "new and improved" Bush strategy for Iraq, the strategy that keeps threatening a full media-reveal of troop escalation and stuff like that. Says DebkaFile:

It (the strategy? execution? Debka can be a little vague) hinged on the cooperation of two key national religious figures: the most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and the Sunni cleric with the most influence on the Sunni Arab insurgency and the Baath, Sheik Hares al-Dari, head of the Sunna Scholars Council. The plan as conceived by the US president is not contingent on engaging either Iran or Syria.

In full here.

Wonder what God told Pat Robertson about this latest development? And did She mention exactly how many more American lives will be needed to fuel the power-grab for Islamic clerics? Ahhh... the mind of God. And W. Talk about your infinite mysteries...

More about this fascinating "way beyond media" site here.

Was Saddam Lynched?

And why we should give a damn. From uberbadass, Christopher Hitchens, writing for Slate (not Booze) dot com:

How could it have come to this? Did U.S. officials know that the designated "executioners" would be the unwashed goons of Muqtada Sadr's "Mahdi Army"—the same sort of thugs who killed Abdul Majid al-Khoei in Najaf just after the liberation and who indulge in extra-judicial murder of Iraqis every night and day? Did our envoys and representatives ask for any sort of assurances before turning over a prisoner who was being held under the Geneva Conventions?

Full story here.

Best News I've Heard All Year

Hey, Michelle Malkin's goin' to Iraq! Hell yeah! Excellent news. Now set her down outside the Green Zone, roll cams, and put it out on YouTube. What a holiday gift to the lefty blogosphere. Thanks, Eason! From IraqSlogger:

Some of you have asked what's up with IraqSlogger's invitation to send Michelle Malkin to Iraq. It was a serious invitation, she accepted it, she asked if I'd also pay for her to take along Curt of the Flopping Aces blog, I said yes, and now we're working to arrange the trip.

Full story here.

I could so kick her righty ass. Bad. Hell, I could kick most of these blogosphere whimps and whiners, with my eyes closed. After all, I was the generation that de-segregated the South Carolina public school system. Say it with me, the South Carolina public, countryidiotass backwater school system. Talk about kids being the unintended victims of (adult) stupid legislation and good intentions. Jeez... least I know how to beat the crap out of someone if I need to, about the only useful bit of education to come out of that little endeavor if you ask me, which of course, no one did.

The Soldier's Thanksgiving POV

Here's an email note (to his mom, Julie) from a step-cousin, Stefan Sturkie (above photo) of Columbia, S.C., now serving in Iraq. It needs no further set-up:

I didn't even really realize it was Thanksgiving today until I received an email from Nigel (Stefan's brother) this morning. It got me to thinking, and all this time that I get to spend in war has made me a lot more thankful than in the past.

I'm thankful to be alive. Thankful that I don't have to worry about people killing my family because they see a different face for God. Thankful that I have all my limbs. Thankful that my wife and children aren't mourning because I was the one to be killed. Thankful for the time that I had with some of my friends before they were taken from me. Thankful for my wife and kids (even though the kids can be trying at times), and thousands of other little things.

I really hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving, and please think of all those that can't be with the ones that they love. Even if you don't agree with the choices that our leaders make, all the people in the military deserve the support and prayers of the public for sacrificing their time and sometimes their lives so that you can live unaware of the atrocities that happen in the world.

My love and happy holidays,

P.S. Sorry if this is a little morbid, it's been a rather trying 3 months.

MY UNSOLICITED REPLY: Stefan, I'd like to say we at home are at least thinking of you and your fellow soldiers and your bravery, courage, sacrifice and strength, and no doubt some are, and of course your own family members are. But you gotta remember, it's the holiday season over here and that's when Americans do what they do best - shop.

A bad-vibe thought that encompasses this nasty little war, the one that could take your life, or any kind of thought that's, like, uh, "too negative" could easily get in the way of, like, buying things.

Here's more from my friend Doug on this issue, and from a dude at the NYT. Keep your own karma cool. The reality here is that very few are going to do it for you. Know that some are praying and thinking for you, especially since you've sent this note.

Please respond here in the Comments section if you possibly can. The more people hear your POV and your thoughts, the more our karma, our thoughts, whatever we have to give, can be re-directed to where it should be.

You ARE in our thoughts, even if all we really have to look forward to is National Blog Drunk Day!
(Little) Grayson

My Pig. My Friend.

This ain't no MySpace bullshit. No CBGBs. (That closed anyway.) This medic in Iraq is 22. Here's an excerpt from his story:

Petty Officer Kirby began to list the schools he had attended to be ready for this moment. Some he had paid for himself, he said, to be extra-prepared.

In one course, an advanced trauma treatment program he had taken before deploying, he said, the instructors gave each corpsman an anesthetized pig.

"The idea is to work with live tissue," he said. "You get a pig and you keep it alive. And every time I did something to help him, they would wound him again. So you see what shock does, and what happens when more wounds are received by a wounded creature."

"My pig?" he said. "They shot him twice in the face with a 9-millimeter pistol, and then six times with an AK-47 and then twice with a 12-gauge shotgun. And then he was set on fire."

"I kept him alive for 15 hours," he said. "That was my pig."

"That was my pig," he said.

He paused. "Smith is my friend."

He looked at his bloody hands. "You got some water?" he said. "I want some water. I just want to wash my wedding band."

Full NYT story by C.J. Chivers here.

Hitting Home

I'm sorry, this picture by Doug Mills and shamelessly stolen from the NYT, made me cry today; I, too, have a six-year old girl. What a horror October has been. This war, and the pain it inflicts, belongs to all of us. Full story here.

Feminists Line Up To Blow Ted

Awww shucks. And I just wanted to be a damn good blogger. But now, we might get to rule the world! Sure, I'd do Ted -- for this priceless gem alone:

Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world. ... It would be a much kinder, gentler, more intelligently run world. The men have had millions of years where we've been running things. We've screwed it up hopelessly. Let's give it to the women.

Full mouthiness here.