Blog Round Up: Marginally Intelligent Edition

1. From FireDogLake, Come Saturday Morning: Iraq — Still Broken After All These Years:

The supporters of the war, from the Bush White House to Sen. John McCain, tout the surge as the magic solution. But the surge, which primarily deployed 30,000 troops in and around Baghdad, did little to thwart the sectarian violence. The decline in attacks began only when we bought off the Sunni Arabs. U.S. commanders in the bleak fall of 2006 had little choice. It was that or defeat. The steady rise in U.S. casualties, the massive car bombs that tore apart city squares in Baghdad and left hundreds dead, the brutal ethnic cleansing that was creating independent ethnic enclaves beyond our control throughout Iraq, the death squads that carried out mass executions and a central government that was as corrupt as it was impotent signaled catastrophic failure.

2. 15 Year-Old Palestinian Boy Beaten Unconscious by Israeli Prison Guards Becomes Latest Suicide Bomber:

Fifteen year-old Mohammed Salem Al-Harbawi from Hebron is a case in point. According to the Defense for Children International, he was arrested in the beginning of July of 2003 and taken to Atzion detention centre. Like many other prisoners, the report continues, Al-Harbawi was visited by a lawyer, but was unable to see or communicate with his family:

The unhygienic conditions in this centre mean that most inmates, including Mohammad, have contracted skin diseases, including boils. By July 28, 2003, Mohammed was affected so badly that he was taken for hospital treatment. After the doctor had examined him, Israeli border guards took him back to the prison. On the way, the guards stopped the jeep and started to attack him inside the vehicle. The five guards beat him to such an extent that he lost consciousness.

I stumbled over this report of his stay in prison when I Googled Al-Harbawi’s name. Last Monday, now a child of 20, he blew himself up, along with Lyubov Razdolskaya, 73, in the streets of Dimona…

3. Russia’s Presidential Election – the Candidates

Four men are vying for the top job – Putin’s Poodle, the Neo-Communist, Mad Vlad, and the liberal Masonic Grandmaster who likes to blog.

4. Hillary’s “Old Politics” Campaign Ad Quickly Shot Down By Obama:

Following their 17% defeat in Wisconsin, there was wide speculation about what campaign tactics Hillary would use to try to win Texas and Ohio on March 4th. Some insider reports suggested that Clintons’ recognized that while they needed to fight on, there was a line they should not cross because they didn’t want to do irreparable damage to Obama as a Democratic nominee nor damage their own legacy. That line was national security/fitness to be commander in chief.

Apparently, they’ve tossed such caution aside with this new campaign ad that caters to viewers’ fears. The implication of the ad is that if Obama were elected, he wouldn’t keep your children safe. Only Hillary would.

5. Also See: Who Put the ‘Gau’ in Gaucho? A (Forged) Map of Nazi South America, Meditation can boost your gray matter, 25 years murder-free in ‘Gun Town USA:Crime rate plummeted after law required firearms for residents, Parties and Prostitutes, and Bush names terrorist sympathizer as new ambassador to Nicaragua.