Matt Margolis

Last weekend I interviewed Richard Miniter, author of the new book, Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror.

Check out the interview at Blogs for Bush

Hello, I’m George and I’ll be sitting in for Matt all week. The style may be a bit different, but it should still make for good reading while he’s off soaking up the sun.

The AP reports that the watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists listed 36 journalists killed in 2003. 13 were killed in Iraq, the rest elsewhere. Iraq had the highest journalist deaths since Algeria in 1995, where 24 jounalists were killed, almost twice as many as in Iraq.

CPJ said it was particularly troubled by the deaths of four journalists in Iraq killed as a result of U.S. military action. It has called on the Pentagon for a public accounting. Three of the four were killed in April, when the buildings they were in came under fire from U.S. forces; the fourth died in August after being shot by U.S. soldiers.

I think we should instead demand an accounting of which side the journalists are on. Obviously, the CPJ is particulary troubled because, well, they were killed by the evil American BushRove fascist hegemonic oligarchy’s vast war machine, gosh darn it!!! Maybe the journalists will learn that putting a big camera on your shoulder and aiming at US troops who face ATGM and RPG attacks is a really stupid move. However, since this is obviously going to be an ongoing problem, it would perhaps be wise to find a way to make journalists clearly distinguishible from combatants. I suggest having them wear a bright yellow conical hat, at least three feet tall, and clearly labeled with the word “DUNCE”.

Of course, we also face the problem of identifying journalists from guerillas, now that guerillas are posing as journalists, or journalists are acting like guerillas, whichever the case may be. As has been reported today in several places, after one of our helicopters was shot down a group of either guerillas or journalists fire on the US troops guarding the crash site.

Soon after, five men “wearing black press jackets with ‘press’ clearly written in English” fired on U.S. paratroopers guarding the crash site, Kimmitt said. He said it was the first time he had heard of assailants in Iraq posing as journalists

I’m not sure whether the guerillas are working harder than the journalists at attacking our forces, with the respective tools, but both need to start believing in the goal of creating a functioning Iraq where people aren’t summarily executed.

[size=18][b]Dead[/b][/size]

So much to talk about today… I’ll write more soon… I’ll leave you with this: This is is a good day!

Unless I change my mind at some later date, this will be the last post in the “War Journal.” Fighting has been over for a while, and even though stablization of Iraq is still underway, the war is essentially over – with an amazing victory of the United States courtesy of our armed forces, the coalition, and our commander-in-chief, George W. Bush.

If news related to war comes up that I feel merits a post within this section of the blog, I may decide to return.

For now, please check all other sections of the blog for new postings.

So here it comes… An al Qaeda terrorist attack in Saudia Arabia is going to be another vice for Democrats to try and criticize the Bush Administration for not doing enough on the War on Terror.

Okay, lets get a few things straight. Most Democrats/liberals were against going into Iraq, and yet, when it is convenient for them, they’ll criticize Bush for “not doing enough” on the War on Terror. Some may even suggest going into Iraq was a diversion of military resources on the War on Terror… which is just as ridiculous. We have an incredibly large military, and we have the manpower to fight a war on several fronts… We’d never be diverting resources – we’d be bringing more in to do another part of the job.

Democrats will with one hand will hinder the President’s efforts in fighting the War on Terror, and with the other they’ll criticize him for not doing enough.

This has been, (and will be) a major attack strategy for the Democratic candidates for President. They’ll take an issue that is important to the American people, one they’ve been extraordinarily weak on, and start pulling an “I can do it better” routine.

In the days ahead, we’ll see them go about their usual ways… looking for ammo where there is none.

Talk about quick. Allegedly, next week President Bush will officially declare the war over.

So some people are asking about the WMDs. Well, the answer to that isn’t a quick one. Lets get one thing straight… Saddam Hussein had more than enough time since Res 1441 to hide, sell, or destroy what he had. It appears from various reports that maybe just days before we started bombing, Saddam had whatever he had left that was around destroyed… Which means he knew we were going in soon, so he had to hide what he could, and destroy the rest, so that if Coalition Forces didn’t stay long (which Saddam thought would happened – the “Black Hawk Down” syndrome) that once they were gone and WMDs were not discovered, that he would win in the Court of Public Opinion against Bush.

Some leftist might say “Well, he destroyed them didn’t he?” Even if some were destroyed days before the war started, all that means is that he thought he could deceive the world, even prevent the war from starting… So regardless, he was in violation of the UN Resolutions, and only destroyed some WMDS at the last second to cover his ass and eventually go back to his old ways – rebuilding his weapons once things calmed down.

But don’t worry, be patient. Don’t let yourself be a victim to Saddam’s game. As the protesters said before “Let the inspections work.” Well, if the UN inspections had to take time, so will those of the Coalition Forces.

Well, everyone, the war is winding down. They’ve been saying that the majors battles have all been fought. A couple aircraft carrier ships (I believe) are coming back. We found 7 POWs. Jessica Lynch is back home. This has been a well planned and carried out war. We’ve captured several key people in the regime – some scientists in fact – who are being grilled now regarding the WMDs Iraq has.

There’s been a lot of talk like “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?” I would not be concerned about the lack of any confirms WMDs at this point. Think about it. Saddam has had not just 12 years to make them, but also plenty of time to hide them. Since Resolution 1441, Saddam has had ample time to hide, camouflage and sell the WMDs he had. I’ve been reading a book on Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and based on the way he’s conducted things in the past, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that he’s intentionally refrained from using WMDs in this war because he knows that the moment he uses them he’s got the entire world against him – so he’s gonna hold off until the last possible second, or never use them at all because Saddam Hussein spends a great amount of his efforts fighting in the court of public opinion – and he’s still fighting a PR battle against the United States.

Of course, that is, if he is still alive.

How sweet are the images…

How awesome are the videos…

Freedom. something Americans take for granted, Iraqis are now able to have a taste of.

They are thanking the United States and President Bush for liberating the country.

Remember the joy and happiness of the Iraqi people today. Remember this is what Bush set out to do. This is was Senator Kerry has basically said should not have happened. Remember this day the next time you see a protester and remind yourself who didn’t want to go into Iraq – and ask why.

Remember this day.