4-27-2009

Bill Roggio: The US military broke up an Iranian-backed terror cell associated with Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army during a raid in Al Kut in central Iraq. Iraqi officials are claiming the US military conducted the raid without approval.

Haaretz Service: An Iranian vessel laden with weapons bound for the Gaza Strip was torpedoed off the coast of Sudan last week, allegedly by Israeli or American forces operating in the area, the Egyptian newspaper El-Aosboa reported on Sunday.

Ed Morrissey: As I predicted, Clinton and Barack Obama got this backwards. The Palestinian problem is being stoked by Iran, not the other way around. Iran is behind the rise of Hamas and their coup d’etat in Gaza, which has effectively split the Palestinian proto-state into two entities.

From the I’ll believe it’s a crisis when they start acting like it is file: “It is deeply unattractive to have somebody lecturing you on climate change when they are one of the greatest emitters of carbon themselves. When you couple Prince Charles’s private jets with Prince Andrew’s helicopters, you cannot help but think that the Royal Family is part of the carbon problem rather than part of the carbon solution.”

WSJ: The ACLU may think that humiliating the U.S. and indicting the Bush Administration are more important than protecting American interests. American soldiers and diplomats may have a different view.

Steve Schippert (The Tank): …the exodus of good men and women from a military under assault from its own administration is likely to begin as service commitments come to an end. Retention just took a hit, as officers and NCO’s alike begin to understand that they have been left in the wind. Recruiting just got more difficult…The Warrior will begin to question precisely what it is that he risks all to defend. And when faced with the fact that he may remain undefended in doing so, his risk expands and the once-booming clarion call to service reduces to distant whispers.

LCDD: Johnson declined to say whether she voted for Obama. But she said she ignored his tax plans until her husband, who handles real estate and construction for the schools, mentioned it one day. “I’ve since talked to my accountant,” she said. “And, oh, my gosh!”

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