FYI:

(Source: The Gallup Poll)
[Hotel Tango: Air Force Magazine Daily Report]

I’m going to post select excerpts from this article in today’s The New York Times that I think display the heart of COIN operations and the changes happening in the Sunni-populated areas outside of Baghdad. The article, of course, has some sour notes, but I think the overall conclusion is fairly optimistic.
Capt. Ben Richards had […]

The New York Times:
G.O.P. Support for Iraq Policy Erodes Further
Support among Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq policy eroded further on Thursday as another senior lawmaker, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, broke with the White House just as Congressional Democrats prepared to renew their challenge to the war.
“We cannot continue asking our troops […]

Prior to the ‘04 election, I predicted two paths President Bush might take if he won reelection:

No longer having to face another election to office, he would abandon the base that put him in office and finally pursue a “compassionate conservative,” or, as I was hoping, a moderate path; or
He’d get far worse because he […]

From The Wall Street Journal:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and some allies in the Bush administration are seeking to build bipartisan political support for a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq by moving toward withdrawing significant numbers of troops from Iraq by the end of President Bush’s term.
The complicating factor is how long the administration will […]

I love the reaction Jeff over at The Shape of Days had to the Romney-Pet-Strapped-To-The-Car-Roof story:
You know what? Fuck it. I don’t care if everybody loves Mitt Romney. I don’t care if he’s the literal embodiment of the Second Coming. I don’t care if he cures cancer with his mind, or if he promises to […]

From Ana Marie Cox now at TIME:
[In 1983, current Republican presidential candidate Mitt] Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus’s rather […]

Badgers Forward says we need to vet and then accept former insurgents into Iraqi Forces. It’s the only way to move forward, he says.
CENTCOM reports that unmanned aerial vehicle teams from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade (ACB) have amassed 20,000 flight hours in the skies over Baghdad.
Last, but certainly not least important, Mary Beth Harrell, the […]

A couple of interesting stories for your reading pleasure this Wednesday:

David Axe over at War Is Boring is writing eloquently on his time with Dutch and Australian troops in Afghanistan. Plus, his firsthand accounts are often posted before any major papers pick up the stories. There are a number of posts — at least one […]

Governing.com’s 13th Floor reports on tomorrow’s election of a new mayor for Dallas:
Dallas voters will decide on a new mayor tomorrow, with the choices being businessman Tom Leppert, who the local media has deemed “a pleasant, decent, dedicated, hardworking, perfectly OK guy” and city councilman Ed Oakley, who the local media has deemed “a pleasant, […]