CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Working In Saddam's Palace

Between interviews with Rear Admiral Mark I. Fox and dinner at the U.S. Embassy, Academic Elephant posts that it's funny how "old hat" it has become for those working in Saddam's Palace.

I must say there's something truly surreal about sitting here in one of the public rooms of the Hussein palace that is now the American embassy checking emails at an internet station while sipping a Starbuck's-style double iced latte.

You can read the rest of "Greetings from Saddam's Palace" at RedState.

Cheney Rates Higher Than Reid

Yesterday, my RedState colleague AmandaBCarpenter called Senate Majority Reid to task for his reaction to Vice President Dick Cheney accurately pointing out that Reid has been inconsistent on Iraq lately:

"I’m not going to get into a name-calling match with someone who has a 9% approval ratings," Reid said. He then called Cheney the "Administration's chief attack dog."

You can watch the video at the end of the post to see an example of Reid's recent Iraq flip flopping.

Today the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports on a new Harris Poll that finds Vice President Cheney's approval rating is 25 percent, higher than Reid's 22 percent.

The WSJ noted that this was the first time since this polling series began that all of the political figures and institutions included in the survey received negative performance ratings. Speaker Pelosi saw her approval rating fall to 30 percent in April from 38% in February, shortly after she was sworn in.

Here's the link to the Washington Post article about Reid endorsing a cut off of war funding.

Winning Over Journalists

In Iraq, Jeff has posted a marvelous article on how embedded journalists come to appreciate American troops:

It was in the process of performing that mission, of coping with the loss of loved ones, and of just being themselves as American soldiers, that these young men were able to win over the admiration and affection of more than one journalist who had arrived in their midst harboring a less-than-positive opinion of the Iraq war, and of those who were tasked with prosecuting it. [. . .] “No matter what you think of the war, or what has happened here, you cannot be around the soldiers and not be completely affected. They are amazing people, and they represent themselves and the Army better than anyone could ever imagine.” A retired Army officer concurred, telling me that “young troops are some of the best good will ambassadors we've ever produced. It would never occur to one to not tell you what he's really thinking, and they are so earnest” that it is almost impossible not to be won over by them if given enough time.

Read the whole thing. We are truly blessed to have such troops defending us.

Call For Reid To Resign Reverberates

The call for Senate Majority Leader Reid to resign has been picked up in Congress.

Presidential candidate Congressman Duncan Hunter says Reid should step down over the Democrat's "war is lost" remarks:

In my opinion Sen. Reid, having made that statement, which can only have a demoralizing effect on our troops and an effect of encouragement of the adversary, I think it would be appropriate for Sen. Reid to resign his position as the leader of the United States Senate.

When Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe was on "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" radio program Wednesday morning, he was asked if Reid should resign because of his assertion that the Iraq war in "lost." Inhofe replied that Reid should be recalled:

I think it's more serious than that. I think there should be a recall . . . for saying something as un-American as that.

If only Reid's sudden determination to give up the fight in Iraq was a position of principle. Unfortunately, Reid seems guided only by the desire to gain a petty electoral advantage in the 2008 election. The Washington Post quoted Reid saying:

We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war. Senator Schumer has shown me numbers that are compelling and astounding.

Reid was referring to Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Senate Democrats' campaign chief. "You look at the polling numbers of Republican senators, and the war in Iraq is a lead weight attached to their ankles. They know that," Schumer said.

It is beyond shameful for the leader of the Senate Democrats to put partisan political advantage above the interests of the country. Reid should resign, step down or be recalled.

Jeff And Academic Elephant On Contractors

Safely in Baghdad, both Jeff and Academic Elephant have posted some of their initial thoughts about the so-called contractors assisting in the war effort.

From Jeff's "Voices from Iraq: A contractor's perspective:"

Far from being "war profiteers," or any other (ignorant) choice names the left tries to label them with, the vast majority of these contractors are former military folks who are still working in a combat zone to build state infrastructure, to serve the troops who are there, and to do many other jobs - not because they have to, but because they choose to.

[. . .]

The contractors working here in Iraq are unsung heroes of the postwar effort in their own right, and it does them a grave disservice to let the only part of their story, and their opinions, that reaches the public be that which appears in screeds on Daily Kos and other lefty outlets.

From Academic Elephant's "More Thoughts on the Contractors:"

All in all I found them to be a remarkable group of people doing remarkable work. Something else to remember about the contractors is that they, like each and every one of our fellow citizens serving in Iraq, are all volunteers. Maybe they didn't think they'd be headed to Iraq when they joined their companies, but none of them seemed unhappy with their jobs. On the contrary, they seemed to want to be in Iraq this week. Not two years ago or two years hence, but now.

Go read both posts. Jeff and AE's articles are very important pieces on a very under appreciated group. Well done.

The Wall Street Journal On Reid's Lost War

The Wall Street Journal takes Harry Reid to task over his Lost War comment:

We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war. Senator Schumer has shown me numbers that are compelling and astounding.

--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, April 12.

In his speech Monday, Mr. Reid claimed that "nothing has changed" since the surge began taking effect in February. It's true that the car bombings and U.S. casualties continue, and may increase. But such an enemy counterattack was to be expected, aimed as it is directly at the Democrats in Washington. The real test of the surge is whether it can secure enough of the population to win their cooperation and gradually create fewer safe havens for the terrorists.

So far, the surge is meeting that test, even before the additional troops Mr. Bush ordered have been fully deployed. Between February and March sectarian violence declined by 26%, according to Gen. William Caldwell. Security in Baghdad has improved sufficiently to allow the government to shorten its nightly curfew. Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has been politically marginalized, which explains his apparent departure from Iraq and the resignation of his minions from Mr. Maliki's parliamentary coalition -- a sign that moderate Shiites are gaining strength at his expense.

[. . .]

By contrast, Mr. Reid's strategy of withdrawal will only serve to enlarge the security vacuum in which Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents have thrived. That's also true of what an American withdrawal will mean for the broader Middle East. Mr. Reid says that by withdrawing from Iraq we will be better able to take on al Qaeda and a nuclear . But the reality (to use Mr. Reid's new favorite word) is that we are fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, and if we lose there we will only make it harder to prevail in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Countries do not usually win wars by losing their biggest battles.

As for , Mr. Reid's strategy of defeat would guarantee that the radical mullahs of Tehran have more influence in Baghdad than the moderate Shiites of Najaf. It would also make the mullahs even more confident that they can build a bomb with impunity and no fear of any Western response.

Reid's April 12th boast that the Democrat's will gain politically from their efforts to legislate defeat confirms what Reuel Marc Gerecht wrote in his recent article "On Democracy in Iraq:"

Honest Democrats should admit that they are in a predicament: The electoral interests of their party are at odds with the interests of the country in Iraq. If the surge fails, the Democrats stand to gain enormously in 2008. A Republican could try to depict himself as the candidate best able to manage retreat from Mesopotamia, but such a Nixonian approach, given how lamely the Bush administration has handled much of the war, doesn't seem compelling. On the other hand, if the surge works, and the Sunni insurgency and sectarian strife no longer convulse Iraqi society, the odds of Senator John McCain--or another Republican--succeeding George W. Bush go up considerably. The entire Democratic field, however, could end up looking wrong, faint-hearted, and politically reckless.

Sounds about right.

Academic Elephant Makes Progress

Academic Elephant finally makes it to Baghdad. Read her post about the difficulty of traveling from the undisclosed location to Baghdad here.

The Techie Vote

At the New York Sun Politics Blog, Ryan Sager posts that Hillary wins the Apple and Cisco primary, but Obama wins at Adobe, Google, Intel, and Microsoft. Republicans don't even rate:

Contributions listing Google as employer:
Clinton (D): 13
Obama (D): 22
Giuliani (R): 1
Romney (R): 0

Contributions listing Cisco Systems as employer:
Clinton (D): 22
Obama (D): 3
Giuliani (R): 3
Romney (R): 1

Contributions listing Microsoft as employer:
Clinton (D): 10
Obama (D): 18
Giuliani (R): 1
Romney (R): 5

Contributions listing Apple Inc. or Apple Computer as employer:
Clinton (D): 3
Obama (D): 1
Giuliani (R): 0
Romney (R): 1

Contributions listing Intel Corporation as employer:
Clinton (D): 1
Obama (D): 4
Giuliani (R): 0
Romney (R): 2

Contributions listing Adobe Systems as employer:
Clinton (D): 1
Obama (D): 3
Giuliani (R): 0
Romney (R): 1

Jeff Has Arrived In Baghdad's Green Zone

Jeff's 70 1/2 hour trip to Baghdad's Green Zone is complete:

My trip to this point has included a 645am Delta flight from Atlanta to NYC, a bus from Laguardia to JFK, a nine hour wait, a Kuwait Air flight from NYC to Kuwait City, a road trip to an undisclosed installation, 24 hours of processing and waiting for space to come available on a C-130 to Baghdad, then a flight on that C-130 to Baghdad International Airport (my old home for part of 2003), where we arrived in the evening at the section of the airport known as Sather Air Base. Seeing the sign at the entrance to the base brought back memories for me; its namesake, Scott Sather, an Air Force Combat Controller, was a member of my Joint Task Force who was killed in Iraq in April of 2003.

From Sather Air Base, we took a bus to Camp Stryker, where we waited until after 1am to make a blacked-out, kevlar-and- body-armor-wearing run to the Embassy in the Green Zone, escorted by guntrucks, in a 37,000-lb. armored bus (with 18-ply tires) called a "Rhino."

Read the whole thing at RedState.

Jeff also recommends a photo montage produced by Spanish journalists embedded with the 1-4 Cavalry. Like Jeff says, it is worth your time.

Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Ogonowski Seeks Meehan's House Seat

Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Ogonowski, the brother of the American Airlines pilot whose Flight 11 out of Boston was hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists and slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center on Nine-Eleven, is running for Massachusetts Congressman Meehan's seat.

Ogonowski announced his candidacy Tuesday at a memorial to his brother in the town of Dracut.

“I think I’m an individual who can go to Washington and make a difference,” he said. “I would take my Air Force values with me: integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do.”

Ogonowski told the Boston Globe that the Iraq war, taxes, and healthcare are top issues in a long list of national and local concerns. He declined to give an opinion on the war before his retirement:

I still wear the uniform of my country.

Ogonowski plans to retire next month after a 28-year career, which included five years of active duty in the Air Force before he began a career in the Guard. He is a full-time member of the New Hampshire Air National Guard and commands a refueling task force.

Other Republicans who are considering entering the race include Mayor Michael Sullivan of Lawrence and Fred Smerlas of Sudbury, a former National Football League player.

Six Democrats have announced their intention to run. They include Niki Tsongas of Lowell, wife of the late US senator Paul Tsongas; Lowell city councilor Eileen M. Donoghue, a former mayor of the city; state representatives Barry R. Finegold of Andover, James B. Eldridge of Acton, and James R. Miceli of Wilmington; and longtime party activist David O'Brien of Concord.