National Security Strategy

Here is the whole Bush Doctrine document (PDF file) from the White House. This may be more important than any other foreign policy document since President Truman’s NSC 68 (1947) in which we announced to the world that we would help free peoples maintain their freedom and independence from aggressive movements. Put it away for later use if you cannot read it now.

And here is the complete British Government Assessment on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction capabilities (PDF file). Among other things, the study makes clear that: Iraq continues to produce chemical and biological agents; some chemical/biological weapons will be able to be used 45 minutes after the order is given; command and control arrangements are in place for the use of such weapons; they are trying to build a nuclear weapon; and they have mobile laboratories for military use. The list goes on. That should be enough. It looks to be an impressive report.

Politics

This Washington Post news story explained a few days ago why Bush was able to rout the Democrats on Iraq. The hedgehog has many tricks.

And then the Post runs this news story (after the Gore talk) explaining how messed up the Democratic Party is on this issue. Shame.

And here is Gore’s speech from Monday on Iraq. This proves that he is an unprincipled opportunist and a fool. Just a few months ago he was all in favor of getting rid of Saddam—now he sees political opportunity in saying the opposite. He also claimed that we have not been successful in going after those who attacked us. Thank God we are rid of a knave. His turn to the left and to idiocy is now complete. "Spit upon him whilst I say he lies, and lies, and lies." (Shakespeare, Richard II.) But I am too gentle. Michael Kelly has a devastating analysis of the speech.

Roll Call has an informative article on how the Demos in the House are moving towards an alternative resolution on Iraq, and what a bind they find themselves in. This is worth looking at. Note especially that Jerrold Nadler argued that the party should put out some kind of language in order to "dispel the general perception that Democrats are 'weak on national security' and to answer the question, 'Where are the Democrats?'"

Do you ever wonder why Jews continue to vote Democratic? It used to be argued, in part, that one of the historical reasons is that the foreign policy of Democratic administrations tended to be more pro-Israel than that of Republican administrations. But arguably the Bush White House is more pro-Israel than any other administration in history. Here is a Gallup Poll on the issue and it shows some movement toward the GOP, after 9/11. It is a little complicated, but worth a look.

If you want to know why the Democrats have laid down in front of Bush on his Iraq policy, you need go no further than to see this CNN/Gallup Poll. Notice that the poll shows that more people think that the Demos are using this for political reasons than the reverse, and note that even women now approve of Bush’s Iraq policy. There are 18 questions, all worth reading.

A new Ipson-Reid/Cook Poll shows that the GOP is in a good position for the mid-term elections. Note especially that the GOP has a large lead among the young, especially young males.

The normally gentle David Broder really slams the Demos for not having anything interesting to say on the two big issues: tax cuts and Iraq. They have abandoned principle for short-term tactics, he says. This is not only wrong but it will hurt them in the upcoming elections.

And here is ABC News’ "US Senate Race Ratings." There are four Democratic seats in play (New Jersey, Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota) and four Republican (Arkansas, Colorado, New Hampshire, Texas), according to them. That is about right. The Democrats have admitted that their most problematic seat, for now, is Torricelli’s in New Jersey.

Allison Hayward has a couple nice pieces on campaign finance reform related matters. One is on the free speech issue of "electioneering" communications to be prohibited, and the other is on a Second Circuit case that misses the point (Landell v. Sorrell).

David Brooks writes on demographic changes and how they will affect our politics. He takes his information from William H. Frey (University of Michigan, Population Studies Center). Very interesting. Read Brooks first, then go to the Frey site.

Iraq and Other Bad Guys

This is Thomas E. Ricks’ new story from the Washington Post (Sept. 22) on the Pentagon war plans. My sense (I’m guessing) is that this is a serious and revealing article. It seems that plans call for very, very intense attacks that would be radically different from the Gulf War "invasion." We will not attack the military (except a few units) but will, in effect, tell them to stay where they are. If they don’t, we’ll kill them.

We will take out Saddam and those closest to him, of course. We will not go after ordinary infrastructure targets, bridges, etc., and also minimize civilian casualties. The air campaign and the ground campaign (most special ops guys) will take place simultaneously. They are planning, in effect, to attack a government, rather than a country. And, of course, as I have been saying, we are going in with a maximum of a fifth of what we needed in the Gulf War (max of 100,000). And the whole thing will be done as quickly as possible. This seems right to me. Rumsfeld, of course, thinks this is a terrible article, that is, it is leaked by someone who shouldn’t have. Maybe. This is worth reading and keeping.

This is a very clear analysis of the unilateral-multilateral issue that the left uses in trying to beat up on Bush’s cowboy ways. It is from London.

This news story outlines at least the minimum support the US is getting from Arab countries on our Iraq policy.

This is by the editor of the Arab edition of Newsweek claiming that the overthrow of Saddam will be great shock therapy for the Arab states and that they will be forced to start paying attention to reforming themselves from within since they will be able to less effectively use their age-old argument that the "external threat" is most important. In short, they must change and reform.

And this is from David Brooks on the peace-left and their view (foggy) of the upcoming war on Iraq.

This is an interview with Pierre Hassner on the French reaction to Bush’s UN speech and our view of Iraq. Thoughtful.

Just to remind you that other problems exists in the world, here is a short note on the war going on in the Ivory Coast, including French involvement. It is informative.

Michael Ledeen reminds us that the real foe is Middle Eastern tyranny.

Intelligence/National Security

This is an interesting article on the site, GlobalSecurity.org, and how it has affected intelligence gathering and the publication of some things that perhaps shouldn’t be published. Note the references in the article to other sites of interest. GlobalSecurity gained notoriety as a result of publishing some satellite photos that showed that Iraq has been rebuilding some things they weren’t supposed to rebuild. This is the link to GlobalSecurity.org. Note the photos of the Tuwaitha Nuclear Center in Iraq. And these are their shots of the U.S. military facility at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar that caused a stir when published a few weeks ago. You might want to prowl around the site.

Peggy Noonan writes a beautiful piece on Eunice Stone and the three Muslim men issue that closed down part of a Florida highway. It is a reflection on sensibilities, Southern, Muslim, and otherwise.

This is a good article on why the criminal law is insufficient to deal with those who would destroy us. Victoria Toensing was in the Justice Department under Reagan.

And Andrew Sullivan has a nice piece on the Blair/Bush alliance from the London Times.

Science (Fiction?)

Here is something weird. A German outfit is reporting that they can make an alumina oxide ceramic sheet that reveals 50% light (like glass) and is three times stronger than steel. I guess this will have some interesting uses (visors, tank windows, etc.).

How many fans does it take to start a Mexican Wave at a football game? It took a Hungarian scientist to figure it out: 25 fans are enough. This is the actual article for you mathematicians (you need to log in to get the whole article). I, of course, don’t really understand it. But, then, I have better things to do. You might not.

Why do most mothers cradle their babies on the left? Here is what some psychologists are arguing: the right side of the female brain is specialized for interpreting faces and emotions. I say this explains why men approach women on their right.

Here are some lovely photos of an ICBM over the San Fernando Valley, just after stage separation.

What should you do with stress? Ignore it. I knew this study would eventually be made. This can save us thousands in psychotherapy bills.

Etcetera

This is Dave Barry on the government attacks on tobacco smokers (and companies). It is both true and hilarious.

And here is the oldest woman in America (113 year old) claiming that she has lived so long because she was never married; "she never had to worry about the headache of men." She might have been a bit more poetic: "There’s no trust, No faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, All forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers. Ah, where’s my man? Give me some aqua vitae: these griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old." (Romeo and Juliet)

The President of Harvard notices anti-Semitism at Harvard.

And there are some positive changes afoot at Columbia University, it would seem, according to this student article.