Donald Sensing speculates about what Bush didn’t say. Like him, I hope that there’s a lot of it. But I’ve been hoping that for years. It was the reason that I supported removing Saddam.

Donald Sensing speculates about what Bush didn’t say. Like him, I hope that there’s a lot of it. But I’ve been hoping that for years. It was the reason that I supported removing Saddam.

As with much of what the president announced this past week, why weren’t we doing things like this months, or years ago?

U.S. officials tell CBS News that American forces have begun an aggressive and mostly secret ground campaign against networks of Iranians that had been operating with virtual impunity inside Iraq.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress on Friday that Iranians are now on the target list.

Is the administration finally waking up from its apparent delusions that we aren’t and haven’t been at war with the mullah-run government of Iran for decades?

Strategy Page says yes:

The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 would appear to have been a plus for al Qaeda, as Saddam Hussein, and his Baath Party, had long been an enemy of Islamic radicalism. But Saddam got religion after his defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. During the 1990s, Saddam became a major supporter of Islam, building many mosques and proclaiming himself a major defender of the faith. Al Qaeda was wary of this, but did enter into negotiations with Saddam. After all, Saddam and al Qaeda shared a hatred for the West, and especially the United States. A major fear was that Saddam would provide a refuge for al Qaeda, and supply them with chemical or nuclear weapons (if not a bomb, then radioactive material.) The fighting in Iraq is basically between the Sunni Arab minority, assisted by al Qaeda, against the majority Kurds and Shia Arabs. While much is made about Iraq becoming a “school for terrorists,” few of the “graduates” have shown up anywhere else, pulling off successful attacks. On the other hand, many known Islamic terrorists have gone to Iraq, and gotten themselves killed or captured. So Iraq has to be seen as a net loss for al Qaeda.

I’m feeling a little better about Bush’s plan now. Syria and Iran have denounced it. A lot of these statements sound like the current Democrat talking points, in fact. Of course, many of its domestic critics will probably think that this buttresses their own criticisms.

If my opinions about the war were the same as the enemy’s (or at least those stated by the enemy), I’d rethink them. But I guess the problem is that they don’t think that Tehran or Damascus are the enemy. For them, the enemy lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I agree with Derb’s take on the speech:

So-o-o-o:

You know, I’m a lot less concerned with whether or not we have an exit strategy, as I am with making sure that the enemy doesn’t:

…the devastation left behind by our gunships is only part of a very big U.S. win:

* Thanks to resolute military action by Ethiopia’s government (quietly backed by Washington), the terror regime in Mogadishu crumbled overnight – collapsing the lie that extremist Islam is on the march to an inevitable victory.

* The speed of the Ethiopian advance cornered hundreds of hardcore Islamist fighters in a forlorn backwater, where they can be killed out of sight of their media defenders. And be killed they will.

* Islamist outrages and subversion inspired unprecedented cooperation between moderate Somalis, Ethiopians, Kenyans and Americans.

For its part, the Kenyan government grew sick of Somalia exporting hatred, weapons and terror. Now Kenyan troops have sealed their border so al Qaeda’s agents can’t escape.

The guy who masterminded the east Africa embassy bombings was killed in Somalia. Though it would have been better to capture and grill him. Probably Anonymous Moron in my comments section is in mourning.

Hey, it’s no worse than the perverse fantasies he harbors about me…

[Update]

And here’s some news about some more good terrorists in Afghanistan:

Bungling Taliban fanatics have blown themselves to pieces trying to set a booby-trap near a British base in the Afghan desert.

Little was left of the three-man terror cell after the huge blast near Camp Price. Marines from J Company, 4 2 Commando, are among 250 British troops at the base.

Commanding officer Major Ewen Murchison, from Bearsden, Glasgow, said: “It was what we would describe as an own-goal.”

May they continue to bungle.

An oldie (from 2003–Edward Said has died since) but a goodie, but one I’d never noticed or linked to before; a long but fascinating read from a former Berkeley leftist, and why he turned his back on his once comrades, over Israel:

On my last day, I was able to drive across the entire Golan Heights, past the partly destroyed Israeli post at Kfar Nafakh and then on to the farthest point of the Israeli counterattack. I passed the charred wrecks of dozens of Syrian and Israeli tanks, and the smell of burning flesh still hung in the air. I only came to a stop at an Israeli military police roadblock at the western edge of the Golan Heights. There was a tourist observation deck nearby, outfitted with telescopes. Peering through one, I could see Damascus clearly on the horizon.

After the initial Syrian successes of the battle

In response to Karl Hallowell’s question in this post, what does he think this means?

Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Tuesday that many international terrorists had been killed, injured or captured in the fighting in Somalia.

Meles Zenawi was quoted by the French newspaper Le Monde as saying that suspected terrorists from Britain were among them.

“Many international terrorists are dead in Somalia,” Meles was quoted as saying.

“Photographs have been taken and passports from different countries have been collected. The Kenyans are holding Eritrean and Canadian passport holders. We have injured people coming from Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan, the United Kingdom.”

Let’s keep it coming.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s an analysis of the situation, with a description of the role of US Special Forces. Those are the kind of boots on the ground we need, with a lot more boots on the ground from regional allies. This was the key to overthrowing the Taliban as well. Unfortunately, it’s not clear who our regional allies in overthrowing the mullahs would be.