"The Times" of London on victory in Iraq:

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda's dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant "last stand" in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion's Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans' 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects. The group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.

Last Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed to a large explosion today. Even in the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of explosives.

American and Iraqi leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside to the south.

Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, who has also led a crackdown on the Shi'ite Mahdi Army in Basra and Baghdad in recent months, claimed yesterday that his government had "defeated" terrorism. "They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it," Maliki said. "But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them."

Source

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Brookes News Update

Krugman's bigotry vs the Bush tax cuts: It's time the Republicans accepted the grim fact that they are now at war on all fronts. Professor Krugman's vicious and dishonest attacks on the president's tax cuts is a bitter example of this reality
Expect Democrats to try and delegitimise a Bush victory: The Democrats have spent 8 years trying to destroy the legitimate Government of the United States. They have bullied, lied, cheated and along with their media pals, have given moral and political support al Qaeda. The word for this behaviour is treason
The Obama Left: Obama's extreme leftwing mentors makes him a strange political candidate. His deep links to those who wish to destroy America have yet to be fully publicized. One thing is for sure: there is no way the corrupt media will expose Obama's support for a bunch of America-haters
Green fanatics v. the facts of economic growth: Rabid 'conservationists' have to a certain degree successfully implanted in the public mind the idea that the capitalism is the environment's number one enemy; that without the wise intervention politicians capitalism will ruthlessly plunder the planet and exhaust its natural resources. Bulldust
Carbon tax:The farm lobbies abandon farmers: A carbon tax will wreak havoc on food production. Nevertheless, under pressure from the greens and a desire to increase government revenue politicians are preparing to impose a savage tax on agriculture
Global Warming: A New 'Revolution'?: It's become a matter of near-religious faith that we should spend whatever is needed to curb global warming. A new study suggests that the amounts needed will be staggering
Is American law now determined by one man as in a science fiction drama?: Recent history is replete with judicial action overturning the will of a majority of voters and citizens in our country. When the judiciary has the power to impose their social views on the public regarding how people should act and think, then the constitutional prescription of three equal branches of government is meaningless

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ELSEWHERE



Uranium stockpile removed from Iraq in secret US mission: "The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" [NOT as yummy as the example above] - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions. What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad"

Obama's "Spiritual Journey": Where's Jeremiah Wright?: "The Washington Post has a lengthy story on Obama's current account of his faith journey. The story, strangely, leaves unexamined the role of Pastor Wright in Obama's spiritual journey. How can a story allegedly about Obama's religious beliefs not discuss in depth the influence of Jeremiah Wright, which is detailed in Obama's memoir, Dreams of My Father? It cannot, of course, and it is not a serious story as a result. It is a certain that Obama wants to airbrush Pastor Wright and his views from the candidate's biography, but ought the nation's leading paper cooperate in the exercise?"

Iran's Most Famous Political Dissident Escapes to United States!: "Ahmed Batebi has escaped to the U.S. The brave Iranian student activist who was sentenced to death and who was severely tortured for years in the notorious Evin Prison in Iran has arrived safely in the United States. During a break from prison, Batebi fled Iran traveling through Iraq and Austria and finally arriving in Washington DC."

McCain will win with a little help from his Friends: "Veteran friends that is. For real vets there is no other choice to honor the sacrifices made so far and to keep boots on the ground until the job is done. Yesterday and throughout the weekend Vets for Freedom, a huge organization of Iraq War vets is launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign. I told you that General Clark's lame and unnecessary slander of McCain would fire up the military base of his supporters. Wake up America has more about this campaign"

I have put a few more interesting articles up on my Paralipomena blog again recently.

For more postings from me, see OBAMA WATCH, TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL and EYE ON BRITAIN.

List of backup or "mirror" sites here or here -- for readers in China or for everyone when blogspot is "down" or failing to update. Email me here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here or here or here

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The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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