Pax Americana

Pentagon's second thoughts on Iraq withdrawal

Is this so surprising?

Reluctant to say it publicly, officials fear a final pullout in December could create a security vacuum, offering an opportunity for power grabs by antagonists in an unresolved and simmering Arab-Kurd dispute, a weakened but still active al-Qaida or even an adventurous neighbor such as Iran.

The U.S. wants to keep perhaps several thousand troops in Iraq, not to engage in combat but to guard against an unraveling of a still-fragile peace.

If we pull out, there definitely would be a power vacuum left behind. Someone needs to stand for liberty. And, there is no other power on Earth that has the moral standing and resources to take this on except for us.
Ancient Rome did the same. And, it worked until they rotted from the inside out—a lesson for today's Progressives to take heed to.

Yet another rogue government: the UN

UN, French fire on Gbagbo residence in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – United Nations and French helicopters fired rockets on strongman Laurent Gbagbo's residence on Sunday in an assault the U.N. said was to retaliate for attacks by his forces on U.N. headquarters and civilians.

Yeah, right. I don't trust anything coming out of the UN.

Residents from nearby neighborhoods reported seeing two U.N. Mi-24 attack helicopters and a French helicopter open fire on the residence, where Gbagbo is holed up in a bunker.

Hope restored

Wis. corrects vote count, gives incumbent big lead

After all the discouraging news from Wisconsin, there is new hope that justice does exist in the world:

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A conservative incumbent surged to a commanding lead in Wisconsin's hotly contested Supreme Court election Thursday, after a predominantly GOP county's clerk announced she had incorrectly entered vote totals in the race seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights law.

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said more than 14,000 votes weren't reported to The Associated Press on Tuesday due to "human error."

"This is not a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found," Nickolaus said. "This is human error, which I apologize for."

The last comment is significant; it being the favorite tactic of the Progressives in overturning the will of the people.

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Update:

Whoa: Prosser Gains 7,381 Votes After Computer Error Is Fixed

The reports of the election results are a bit confusing.

After Tuesday night’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, a computer error in heavily Republican Waukesha County failed to send election results for the entire City of Brookfield to the Associated Press.

The AP is not the final arbitrator of elections. The only concern should be that the correct tally is established and posted with the election officials. Everything else amounts to a sideshow.

A quotable quote

On 'Net Neutrality:

It's really not such a difficult concept to apprehend: When governments acquire regulatory authority over media and communications they are that much closer to being able to control the content and distribution of those media and communications, however benign the rationale for their regulatory authority may seem.

--Patrick Maines in Media & Communications Policy