We call this kind of thing "Checks & Balances"!

I am sure many will decry today's vote by the House of Representatives to deny the president authority to continue the war in Libya as a political stunt. However, it is an excellent example to our children of the many Checks and Balances that the founders put into the Constitution to ensure each branch had the ability to limit the power of the others. This is exactly how our government is supposed to work:

- Congress declares War
- Congress funds War
- The President wages War
- The President negotiates a Peace
- Congress ratifies the Peace

It is not this action which is an aberration, but rather the last few military operations where Congress minimized it's involvement. Except in times of national emergency - and even then - we need to maintain a balance of power in our government to ensure our freedoms are protected.

Famous last words, "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."

No really. The Washington Post is reporting that these were the last words of Richard C. Holbrooke, President Obama's chief diplomat in Afghanistan. Our final thoughts tend to be those which have haunted us for some time. Clearly, the inner circle is ready for the war to end. But they can't find a way out, which does not make it appear Osama Bin Laden or the Taliban have won.

It is days like these that I am MOST happy I never chose politics as my career.

Did Korean War II start last night?

There are two potential regional nuclear wars brewing in the world - North Korea vs South Korea, and India vs Pakistan. We had hoped the unthinkable horror of a true nuclear war would act as deterrents to actual war. It appears we may have been wrong. Now the question hangs in the air - will America abandon her ally at this moment of crisis? Or will we all be spared by a sudden outbreak of sanity in North Korea?

North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing one person, setting homes ablaze and triggering an exchange of fire as the South's military went on top alert...The shooting started bushfires at several places in the hills, he told AFP by phone after fleeing the island by ferry for the mainland port of Incheon.
"Frightened villagers rushed to nearby shelters while others were busy running away and crowded the port to escape," Woo said, adding about 1,500-1,700 civilians live on the island.
"When I walked out, the whole village was on fire," another villager was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying. "I'm at the evacuation site with other villagers and I am scared to death."

Windows Virus targetted Iranian Nuke Facilities

It is no longer a thought experiment. The age of Cyber-Warfare has begun. The only question is, who created this thing? The USA, Israel, France, Russia? I'm betting there is a tell-all book already written, waiting for the right moment.

The malware, however, doesn’t just sabotage any frequency converter. It inventories a plant’s network and only springs to life if the plant has at least 33 frequency converter drives made by Fararo Paya in Teheran, Iran, or by the Finland-based Vacon.

Even more specifically, Stuxnet targets only frequency drives from these two companies that are running at high speeds – between 807Hz and 1210Hz. Such high speeds are used only for select applications. Symantec is careful not to say definitively that Stuxnet was targeting a nuclear facility, but notes that “frequency converter drives that output over 600Hz are regulated for export in the United States by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as they can be used for uranium enrichment.”

Iraqi Hackers crack Military Dones

For now, insurgents have only gained access to the video feeds from drones, but it appears that using off-the-shelf hacking tools they have gained valuable intelligence about American military operations in Iraq. This highlights the fact the age of dual-use technology is not just about making better toys available to the rest of us, but also about putting sub-standard security into some of our military hardware. This needs to be rethought before any war with a "real" enemy.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the intercepts could give America's enemies battlefield advantages by removing the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S. surveillance.

U.S. enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan have used off-the-shelf programs to intercept video feeds from Predator unmanned aircraft.
The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the U.S.-led conflicts overseas.

Israel bids goodbye to the Cease Fire

Allegedly in response to repeated rocket attacks from Gaza - though I wonder if it has more to do with the election battle with Netanyahu - Prime Minster Ehud Olmert ordered massive air strikes in the Gaza Strip. The attacks were on Hamas, and included a number of quite specific targets.

Black smoke billowed over Gaza City, where the dead and wounded lay scattered on the ground after more than 30 air strikes destroyed several security compounds, including two where Hamas was hosting graduation ceremonies for new recruits.

Among the dead were the Hamas-appointed police chief, Tawfiq Jabber, the head of Hamas's security and protection unit, and the governor of central Gaza, according to medical workers.

If anyone thought President-Elect Obama would be entering office able to focus on a single crisis, it is time to revise that opinion. Here is hoping Obama's team can handle both a sagging economy, a war in Iraq, and a near-war in Israel all at the same time.

Preeptive War in America - Dead or Alive?

If Barack Obama is the next president, many among us will be assuming that the doctrine of preemptive war (that American can start a war with a terrorist state without being first attacked) is dead. But politicians have a way of adopting any policy - even that of their rivals - if it means getting done what they want done.

I am interested in what Mod-Bloggers think about preemption and whether it remains a viable political philosophy for the future? Has the Iraq War disproven it? Has it proven its effectiveness? Or was it all smoke and mirrors, anyway?

My own opinion was that it was always a bad idea, based on principles that we used to consider un-American. It was a knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 which cooler heads would have rejected in time, if it had not been used immediately to justify the invasion of Iraq. I think the next president would do well to abandon it. But I suspect they will only do so, if Congress works to regain their Constitutional power over declaring and funding wars.

The other side of the Russian/Georgian conflict

A new commenter here at Mod-Blog challenged us to take a different view of the conflict between Russia and Georgia than was common wisdom, so it seemed worthwhile to post a pro-Russian editorial that lays out their case pretty well.

Last Friday, after the world’s leaders had arrived at the Beijing Olympics, Georgian troops launched an all-out assault on the region of South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto independence for more than 16 years. The majority of the region’s population are Russian citizens. Under the terms of the 1992 agreement to which Georgia is a party, they are afforded protection by a small number of Russian peacekeeping soldiers. The ground and air attack resulted in the killing of peacekeepers and the death of an estimated 1,600 civilians...

There can be little surprise, therefore, that Russia responded to this unprovoked assault on its citizens by launching a military incursion into South Ossetia. No country in the world would idly stand by as its citizens are killed and driven from their homes. Russia repeatedly warned Tbilisi that it would protect its citizens by force if necessary, and its actions are entirely consistent with international law, including article 51 of the UN charter on the right of self-defence.

Honestly, I don't find this convincing that Russia is being "proportionate" in its response, even assuming all of this is true. But it does a good job, I think, of laying out Russia's perspective on the action.

In case you missed it, Russia is at war...

...with Georgia, a FSU state, over the fate of a breakaway province. Between the Olympics and the American presidential campaign, not a lot of time is being dedicated to this development on TV, radio, or the internet. But it could be very important, historically.

Deep Thought of the Day: Who Would Jesus Bomb?

Well, I started off my day reading Ward's critique of James Dobson, so why not fan the flames of theology a little more? While driving home from work the other day, I came across an interesting bumper sticker. (Photo is not mine, but looks similar.)



Clever, right? Turns the "What Would Jesus Do?" thing on its head, and makes you consider the apparent irony of a "Christian" nation attacking another country. I respect a good slogan.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it really misses something else about Jesus. Yes, He is the "Prince of Peace" and he raised a hand against no one at his trial. But this is the same Jesus who overturned the moneychangers tables and whipped them out of the Temple. It is the same Jesus who said...

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Matthew 10:34

This Jesus is no pacifist. And in the imagery we see of Him in Revelation, it is even more stark.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
Revelation 19:11-15

Now, I am not saying diplomacy is not generally preferable to combat, or that war is not something to be avoided, when it can. But I am saying that we need to always be careful of our stereotyped, narrow views of Jesus as either the perfect pacifist, the glowering judge, the liberal activist, the conservative avenger, or anything else. He is bigger than our prejudices, and bigger than our assumptions.

So, let the warmongers fear calling for blood in His name, and let the peaceniks fear calling for retreat in His name.

Kosovo declares independence

As Hillary Clinton makes the case for the return of a Clinton presidency, we are seeing echoes of one of the legacies of the first President Clinton. A decade after the end of the war in Bosnia, Kosovo has declared independence from Serbia. So far, the Serbians are angry, but vowing to oppose the move only diplomatically. But in the Powder Keg of Europe, can we ever be sure we are far from war?

Bombing Plot on JFK Airport Foiled

Only a week after John Edwards declared the War on Terror a "bumper sticker", four men have been charged with plotting to blow up jet fuel flowing under New York's Kennedy Airport. Terrorism as a philosophy and methodology is alive and well.

"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," said Roslynn Mauskopf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where the criminal complaint was filed.

The alleged ringleader of the plot, former JFK Airport employee Russell Defreitas, 63, was the only person in U.S. custody. Following his arrest Friday night, Defreitas appeared in Brooklyn federal court Saturday but did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to have a bail hearing next Wednesday.

Two other suspects are in custody in Trinidad. Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana who has served as a member of the Guyanese Parliament and a mayor of the city of Linden, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad.

We need to understand that really the U.S. is fighting two wars. One, a war against Islamic Extremists who wish to subjugate the world under their dark rule. This war is similar to World War II or the Cold War. Two, we are fighting a war to get across to the world that Terrorism is unacceptable as a tool of war. This War is more like the movements to ban chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. If we do not win the first War, our children may live in a world shrouded in the shadow of tyranny. If we do not win the second war, our children may live in a world without certainty or safety, where every person with a gripe feels they have a right to harm others by any means.

Is the Cold War with Iran heating up?

The Guardian (a British publication) is claiming that the ongoing cold war with Iran over their nuclear ambitions is about to flare up into full-heat, as Iran goes all-out to turn Iraq into the stage for a proxy war with America and Britain.

The official said US commanders were bracing for a nationwide, Iranian-orchestrated summer offensive, linking al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents to Tehran's Shia militia allies, that Iran hoped would trigger a political mutiny in Washington and a US retreat. "We expect that al-Qaida and Iran will both attempt to increase the propaganda and increase the violence prior to Petraeus's report in September [when the US commander General David Petraeus will report to Congress on President George Bush's controversial, six-month security "surge" of 30,000 troop reinforcements]," the official said.
"Certainly it [the violence] is going to pick up from their side. There is significant latent capability in Iraq, especially Iranian-sponsored capability. They can turn it up whenever they want. You can see that from the pre-positioning that's been going on and the huge stockpiles of Iranian weapons that we've turned up in the last couple of months. The relationships between Iran and groups like al-Qaida are very fluid," the official said.

I can't imagine anything more dangerous than this kind of brinksmanship from Iran. It would not take much to push Allied forced into a retaliatory strike on Iran - or to taking the leash off of Israel to allow them to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities - which could lead to all-out war. And if America is not very effective at fighting guerilla insurgency, we are quite good at fighting conventional wars with nation-states. Just ask Sadaam Hussein or the Taliban. Unfortunately, wars don't tend to stay localized in the Middle East.

GWB Vetoes War Spending Bill

We caught the president's speech yesterday explaining his reasoning for vetoing the Democratic spending bill for the War in IRaq. Essentially, he gave two reasons: (1) giving a date for withdrawal only telegraphs to the enemy how and when to plan the next attack, and (2) the bill is so laden with pork that in many ways it is less a war spending bill than a homeland appropriations bill. The Democrats in Congress have immediately mobilized to contain the political damage (hardly suprising since they knew this veto was coming) but already seem a but shrill in their feigned shock and outrage.

While I understand the Democratic need to pander to their base, I do not see how they hope to win this one. Do they really want to open themselves to charges of sending the troops into battle with insufficient armor or weapons or ammunition? The commander-in-chief already has them over there, and the Constitution only gives Congress power over the purse. It seems to me that it would be more logical for them to threaten to not vote on any Judicial Appointments or some other priority of the president's until he agrees to concessions, rather than punishing the troops. Well, we shall see.