While I certainly appreciate Reuters writing these two stories, I wonder why they did not get wider play in the Credentialed Media. First, from July 12th

Iraq’s combat troops will be almost fully formed by the middle of 2009, according to the senior U.S. Army officer who led the training of Iraqi security forces.

On to July 16

Iraq hopes to have security control of all its provinces by the year-end, the national security adviser said on Wednesday, underscoring the government’s growing confidence in its own forces.

I wonder if the paper of record could step up and tell us these kinds of things, along with the rest of the CM’s. They have done all they can to force a surrender in Iraq, along with their little helpers in the left-o-sphere and, oh yes, the treason lobby in Congress. Now that things are coming to fruition - and, remind me, which presidential candidate wants to just surrender, and which one has been pushing for a complete win? - most of the Credentialed Media has ignored Iraq.

Things continue to progress in Iraq, and you would think a story like this would be important news, but, sadly, none in the Credentialed Media bother to cover it

DIYALA, Iraq – Iraqi women graduated from a security training course at the Alabarrah

Police Station in the Diyala Province of Iraq to become members of the Daughters of Iraq July 13.

One-hundred-and-thirty women attended the course and 70 represented them at the graduation.

Several Iraqi children celebrated the occasion by joyfully belting out the Iraqi National Anthem to a crowd of women ready to assist with the protection of their nation.

“We have seen some courageous, strong women stand up and volunteer for this training to help defend their country,” said Lt. Col. Robert McAleer, commander, Fires Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, as he addressed the crowd of graduates.

The Daughters of Iraq is a sister organization to the Sons of Iraq that seeks to employ more Iraqi women in roles that help provide and improve security for their nation.

Imagine this happening anywhere else in the Muslim world. Imagine this happening just a few short years ago. Imagine it happening under Saddam. No, wait, the women would instead have been targets for rape by Saddam’s goons.

Good thing Obama has always been for The Surge and winning in Iraq

Um, woops?

The percentage of voters who give Congress good or excellent ratings has fallen to single digits for the first time in Rasmussen Reports tracking history. This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category.

Last month, 11% of voters gave the legislature good or excellent ratings. Congress has not received higher than a 15% approval rating since the beginning of 2008.

Remind me who is running the show in the vaunted halls of Congress?

Meanwhile, the latest poll has President Bush at 30% approval.

Let’s jump in the way back machine with Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990’s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.

At the time, it was reported that it was 1.8 metric tons of yellow cake, and 500 tons of non weapons grade uranium.

And today

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

Wait, wait: I thought Saddam had no WMD? WTF?

protein wisdom: Now, before you dull, neocon chickenhawk dupes (whose gullibility encouraged smarter and more discriminating Dem congresspeople to set aside their concerns and their principles and vote us overwhelmingly into a fake war based on the lying lies of lying liars who lied) get to feeling all vindicatey, please note that yellowcake itself — even 550 metric tons of the stuff — is not, without further enrichment, capable of causing anything more than a panic. And Saddam was far too busy writing romance novels and terrorizing Kurds and Marsh Arabs to even dream about further enriching the stuff.

Pandagon (which still has the racist header) says it don’t mean nothing. Why can’t liberals just lose gracefully?

Don Surber: AP: President Bush was right about Saddam Hussein’s pursuit of nuclear weaponry.

Q and O: ….has been safely removed from Iraq - you know, the stuff he supposedly didn’t have and had no interest in acquiring?

Neptunus Lex: Rubbish, of course. Meaningless trivia masquerading as “news”, and only of value to the poor, undereducated and easily led. Who are even now clinging to their religion and guns. Bitterly. Because as everyone who is anyone now knows, there had never been any risk of anything whatsoever untoward coming out of Iraq. Never had been. Saddam only flew kites - secular kites - on workdays, enjoyed spending his evenings puttering about the kitchen and cuddled with puppies on weekends.

Has anyone else noticed that Obama’s campaign seems to resemble the “machine that goes ping” joke from Monty Python’s meaning of life (Stacy is groaning with yet another MP reference ) Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account. In other words, Obama’s stances are all a game, and you never really know where he stands. There’s another quote that stands out, but, I’ll wait to the end

(The Politico) When former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, the progressive Netroots took their affections to Barack Obama, defending him against attack from Hillary Rodham Clinton and others.

But with his support of a government surveillance bill that offers retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies — a bill that he vowed last year to filibuster — the honeymoon has ended.

Disappointed over his position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the online activists feel jilted and betrayed and have taken to questioning his progressive credentials. One prominent blogger, Atrios, has even given him the moniker “Wanker of the Day.”

So, what is his position today?

At a presser today, Obama weighed in again on the FISA cave, and suffice it to say that what he said won’t make opponents any less unhappy about Obama’s position than they were already.

Asked specifically why he’s supporting the current FISA bill when he’d promised months ago to support a filibuster of an earlier version of the bill, Obama suggested flat out that “national security” overrides the question of telecom immunity…

“The bill has changed. So I don’t think the security threats have changed, I think the security threats are similar. My view on FISA has always been that the issue of the phone companies per se is not one that overrides the security interests of the American people.”

Which is sure to make the Nutroots even less happy, as national security is way, way down there on the list of what is important to progressives.

But, wait, he has also kinda thrown some red meat to the Nutroots that he will do away with that provision regarding telecom immunity if he is elected president. But, will that make Progressives happy or sad? Because what you would have would be Obama being an “imperial president” who is “unconstitutionally increasing the power of the Executive,” which they have stated the hate (at least when Bush is president.)

I guess we will have to wait for Obama’s next postion. He didn’t even bother voting during the cloture vote. In the sake of fairness, neither did McCain. However, McCain hasn’t been bloviating about it, and his base is not unhinged about it, either.

Firedoglake: Regular readers of FDL and EmptyWheelwill know that this is security theater and that there is no reason to believe that gutting the 4th amendment will make Americans safer, even if Obama is willing to ignore his oath to uphold the Constitution. This is a sad day, especially for those of us who believed Obama when he said he would support a filibuster against retroactive immunity.

Shakesville: Thanks for standing together and not doing a damn thing to stop the FISA “compromise.” This unity stuff is totally awesome, and I for one can’t wait to see what the Democratic Party caves on next.

The Poor Man Institute:

The Moderate Voice and First Draftare looking at Obama as if he was just the same old politician, and back him for it. Hope! Change!

Crooks and Liars: Obama has fallen on the wrong side of the debate.

Kos Kidz Konglomerate: Not that telco amnesty and national security really have anything to do with each other, or that this FISA bill actually does make us safer. It’s disturbing, to say the least, to see that Senator Obama has adopted the talking points of Steny Hoyer and the right on the issue.

If you want unhinged, dive into the comments sections at the progressive sites. The posts themselves tend to show disappointment. If Obama keeps this kind of stuff up, you can expect them to degenerate to unhinged.

Oh, the other MP quote: Grim Reaper: Shut up, you American. You Americans, all you do is talk, and talk, and say “let me tell you something” and “I just wanna say.”

Perfect for Obama!

They are having meltdowns in Nutroot Land over Obama’s support of the new FISA bill

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) today announced his support for a sweeping intelligence surveillance law that has been heavily denounced by the liberal activists who have fueled the financial engines of his presidential campaign.

In his most substantive break with the Democratic Party’s base since becoming the presumptive nominee, Obama declared he will support the bill when it comes to a Senate vote, likely next week, despite misgivings about legal provisions for telecommunications corporations that cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program of suspected terrorists.

Anyone want to bet that, despite his pledged support, he doesn’t actually vote yea on the bill, instead, he will either vote present or not vote at all? That way, he can always change his mind, talk out of both sides of his mouth, and not have to actually take an official stand.

“Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program,” Obama said in a statement hours after the House approved the legislation 293-129.

Yes, because he did a marvelous job in monitoriting Jeremiah Wright, his associations with Bill Ayers, what his wife was saying on the stump, and the filth on his official website’s community pages.

• Greg Sargent is bummed out.
• Digby is annoyed, because “Nothing is more associated with us than this issue.”
• MyDD is not that surprised that Obama is punting the issue, and, regarding change, “We’ve done our part, now you do yours.” IMPORTANT WRIST SLITTING ALERT to follow.
• Atrios names Obama Wanker Of The Day.
• Liberal Values is “disappointed” but has “hopiness” that Obama might do the right thing, despite the view that Obama is acting like a typical politician.

Sock Puppet, who wrote some books, ya know! writes “Nobody should be fooled by Obama’s vow to work to remove telecom amnesty from this bill.” Don’t worry, Glenn, we won’t be.

He’s also pissed off at Pelosi, Hoyer, Emanual, and every Democrat who pushed the bill and voted for it. Watch out, he might start emailed Sybil-like!

This is interesting, though. There is a project by ACTBLUEPRO-TERRORIST to put some ugly ads into newspapers and such about the bill, and

Placing this as a full-page ad in The Washington Post (at an extremely discounted rate) is also the ideal way to announce the beginning of this campaign to all of them…. (emphasis mine)

So, how does this group get an “extremely discounted rate?” Would a pro-FISA bill group, say, one of the telecom PAC’s, get an extremely discounted rate if they wanted to put a pro-FISA bill ad in the Wash Post?

Sister Toldjah breaks down who the Missiah actually is, based on the reactions of the puppy upper needing Missiah disciples.

To the chagrin of liberals worldwide, the answer would be “yes.” CNS News: IED-Caused Casualties in Iraq Down 89 Percent Since Surge

Deploying more U.S. troops in Iraq has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of U.S. troops being killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in that country.

IED-caused casualties have dropped 89 percent since the surge went full force last June, according to a Cybercast News Service database of Iraq casualties.

IED-caused casualties spiked in the early part of last year as the surge began. In January 2007, the U.S. started deploying an additional 30,000 troops to the country. The surge in forces was completed in mid-June.

Hmm, and which candidate was pushing hard for The Surge even before The Surge was announced?

Which one wants to leave Iraq with a fully completed post war mission, and which one wants to leave before the job is done?

A National Review piece printed at CBS News by Larry Kudlow

The recent spike in oil prices and unemployment is dramatically changing this presidential campaign - virtually overnight. The near $20 jump in oil to $140 a barrel, the unexpected half-point increase in the jobless rate to 5.5 percent (the biggest monthly increase in 20 years), and the resulting 400-point plunge in stocks has created a new campaign issue right before our eyes.

Public worry number one is now oil, jobs, and the economy, with the inflationary woes of the U.S. dollar right underneath. The candidate who can connect with these issues will win in November. But so far neither Obama nor McCain are dealing with the new political reality.

In fact, it’s all about oil right now. The price has doubled over the past year while the economy has slumped.

But here’s an eye opener. Recent polling data from Gallup show the percentage of voters blaming oil companies for skyrocketing gasoline prices has dropped from 34 percent to 20 percent over the past year. At the same time, support for more drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas has increased to 57 percent from 41 percent.

And the candidates remain blind to these shifts.

Kudlow goes on to break down the positions of Obama and McCain. The cap and trade portion he mentions really doesn’t have much to do with drilling, which Obama is completely against (the drilling.) McCain is for offshore drilling and nuclear power, but not drilling in ANWR, which is a shame, but better then anything Democrats are offering. If he would jump on this issue with both feet, he could take a big bite out of Obama, who would not be able to answer, as Obama’s plan is to slap “windfall profits” penalties on American oil companies and raise CAFE standards. That oughta do it!

Then there’s the oil nobody is talking about. The Bakken fields beneath North Dakota, Montana, and Canada hold an estimated 400 billion barrels of oil. In comparison, Saudi Arabia’s biggest field, Gahawar, has an estimated 55 billion barrels, while ANWR has an estimated 10.4 billion barrels.

Hat tip to Mark Perry at the Carpe Diem blog site for these figures. Perry also is reporting a Bureau of Land Management study showing 279 million acres under federal management where oil and gas could potentially be extracted. But more than half of this is totally off limits. Off-shore, where another 86 billion barrels lie in wait, is also restricted. Then there’s liquefied natural gas, oil shale, and the various coal-to-liquid carbon-capture and sequestration technologies that would be priced out of the market by cap-and-trade.

I understand Kudlow’s point, linking the issue in to the 2008 presidential race, but, let’s look at it now. Democrats want to go after the windfall profits of oil companies, ie, penalizing a company for doing well, which will not help lower prices at all, but may cause American oil companies to move their headquarters overseas, taking jobs and lots of tax revenue with them.

Republicans, at least in the House, want to drill. They want to allow new pipelines, nuclear plants, and refineries. Rep Tim Walberg (R-MI) has filed a discharge petition to force a vote in the House for the No More Excuses Energy Act.

We need to use what we have with existing technology to allow us to bridge to future technologies. They just don’t appear overnight, no matter how much the Democrats talk about them.

The NY Times discusses the defeat of 2 bills, one by Democrats, and one by Republicans

A Democratic proposal to impose heavier taxes on big oil companies stalled in the Senate on Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats offered different ideas on how to deal with soaring energy costs.

A bill that would have rolled back some $17 billion in tax breaks on Big Oil and pressured the companies to invest in new energy sources by hitting them with a windfall-profits tax if they did not failed to get enough votes to move forward. Fifty-one senators voted to bring the measure up for consideration, but that was nine short of the number needed under Senate rules. Forty-three senators, most of them Republicans, voted “no.”

The oil-tax proposal was one of two energy-related bills that failed to advance. The other was a proposal to amend the Internal Revenue Code by providing “incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes,” as the measure to promote new energy sources was officially described. The vote to take up that legislation was 50-44, or 10 “yes” votes fewer than necessary.

Well, I don’t understand, quite frankly, what the Republicans were doing with this. They should be pushing for drilling, new nuclear plants, and new refineries, which would give us time to work towards some alternatives without destroying the economy and the American way of life.

The HuffPo uses the AP story with the headline “Republicans block extra taxes on oil companies.” Hmm, can you guess where their sympathies, or, should I say, hatreds, lie? Anyhow, one commenter starts out on a good note, before degenerating into silliness

OK. A windfall profit tax is not a way to help lower oil prices. So find another reason to be pissed off at Republicans. They actually did us a favor this time.

The right way to go about this is by prosecuting of criminals in the oil industry, speculators and members of OPEC for war profiteering, fraud, corruption, price fixing, collusion and international transfer of illegally gotten gains would help to drive away the hogs at the trough.

The bumper crop of pseudo reasons for increases in oil prices is just a cover for the De Beers model applied to oil.

A special prosecutor with a large staff should be appointed and given unlimited access and authority to investigate and prosecute. Then you would see downward pressure on oil prices.

Hey, if it can be shown that the oil companies have violated the law, I’m all for prosecution. But, there needs to be proof, instead of just hatred based on simply left wing hatreds.

How do you lower oil prices? Have either more oil, cut back on usage, or have something else. There is nothing else that is viable. People are not going to cut back, particularly in India and China. So, drill, as John Boehner has been pushing, and is mentioned at the end of the Times article. Pelosi will not allow a vote, though. From Boehner’s RSS

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on a discharge petition filed by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) to force Democratic leaders to schedule a vote on the No More Excuses Energy Act (H.R. 3089), legislation authored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) to increase U.S. energy production and invest in alternative sources of energy:

“The Democratic Majority’s callous indifference as American families and small businesses struggle with $4 per gallon gasoline is both inexcusable and irresponsible. By flatly refusing to schedule votes on the House GOP plan to help reduce fuel costs and achieve energy independence, the Democrats in control of Congress are proving themselves complicit in our nation’s energy crisis, which is growing worse by the day on their watch.

“Where Democrats refuse to lead, Republicans will. Beginning today, House Republicans will offer a series of discharge petitions aimed at forcing the Democratic leadership to schedule several GOP-sponsored bills to increase production of American-made energy, reduce America’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy, harness new alternative energy technologies, and lower gas prices. I thank Rep. Tim Walberg for offering the first discharge petition in this effort – one that seeks to force Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer to schedule Rep. Mac Thornberry’s No More Excuses Energy Act. The Thornberry bill will open new American oil refineries, invest in alternative energy sources, and increase environmentally-safe exploration of untapped oil resources in the United States.

“Rep. Walberg’s discharge petition provides rank-and-file Democrats an important opportunity to back up their rhetoric on gas prices with real action. By joining House Republicans in supporting it, they can send a long-overdue message to the Democratic leadership: American consumers are hurting, and this Congress has a responsibility to act on meaningful legislation aimed to bring down soaring prices at the pump.”

Democrats should stick with feel good legislation, and let those who understand the big issues lead.

CNS News

“The United States has an opportunity to help increase the supply of oil on the market,” thereby easing gasoline prices for hard-working Americans,” President Bush said on Monday.

He reminded Congress that he has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Continental Shelf to domestic oil drilling — something that would “help us through this difficult period.”

Citing concerns about the environment, the Democrat-led Congress has so far refused to go along with domestic oil drilling.

Let’s rewrite that

Citing massive hissy fits from environmentalists who donate massively to Democrats, the Democrat-led Congress has so far refused to help the American People by allowing drilling, building of new nuclear plants and refineries, and anything else that could help ease gas prices.

That’s better. As gas is crossing the $4 mark, we are still awaiting the plan from Nancy Pelosi and The Donkeys. You know, the one they promised when campaigning for the 2006 elections, which, like virtually everything else, they have either ignored or done nothing about. Heck, even the Left is upset with Nancy P. et all for doing nothing, particularly impeachment. How much has it gone up?

“As a result of this dubious milestone, motorists will pay on average $1.67 more per gallon than they were when the 110th Congress began. This represents a 71 percent increase during Nancy Pelosi’s speakership,” said Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Republican Conference.

The price of gas was $1.52 on average in January 2001. In January 2006, it was around $2.33. In January 2007, it was around $2.33. That’s an 81 cent rise. Over 6 years. With gas prices being pretty stagnent for almost a year. And as soon as the Democrats took over, gas prices surged $1.67 in a year and a few months.

Sure, you cannot blame it all on them. Things are happening. The demand for oil, particularly from China and India, continues to surge. Democrats are not fully responsible for the fear and, yes, greed, in the markets who are trading. But, it is the Democrats who have blocked all meaningful attempts to reduce our 60% reliance on foreign oil since the 70’s.

Democrats call Republicans beholden to big business. Well, at least big business helps the American People the majority of the time. Democrats are beholden to special interests who couldn’t give a damn about the American People, just their own narrow viewpoints. And Democrats want to apparently continue the harm to the American People, simply to continue raking in the special interests money.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after AAA reported that the price of gasoline reached $4 per gallon for the first time in history:

“Today marks another dubious day for this Do-Nothing Democratic Congress. On their watch, gas prices have soared to new heights, and by refusing to schedule a vote on a plan to increase American-made energy to help lower gas prices, congressional Democrats are complicit in this unprecedented surge in fuel costs. In the face of $4 per gallon gasoline, it is inexcusable that Democrats in charge of Congress will not take meaningful action to help reduce the pain at the pump on behalf of all consumers – and in the interest of our entire economy.

“House Republicans have put forth a comprehensive plan to help lower gas prices by harnessing new technologies and unlocking America’s natural energy resources in an environmentally-responsible way. Every American has a right to ask: What will it take for the Democrat-controlled Congress to finally take action and help ease the pain of the Pelosi Premium on behalf of struggling families and small businesses? Speaker Pelosi has the power to schedule a vote on our plan to begin breaking America’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy. She should not wait another day to do so.”

Nancy will never allow it to see the light of day. Democrats are all talk, no action.