Updated from the top. Please treat this as a blog-within-a-blog, come back often, and scroll down till you hit something you saw on your last visit.

• Dems Invite Muslim Brotherhood to Speak to Congress
• Bureau of Disinformation
• Baghdad Report: Bombs and A Bridge Too Near
• Suicide bomber infiltrates Iraqi parliament, kills three; Update: MP’s bodyguard, wider plot suspected; Update: Bomb video added
• Three Lawmakers Killed in Bomb Attack on Iraq's Parliament Building
• The troops in Fallujah speak
• Explosion In Green Zone Kills Two
• McCain Unbound
• Congressman Proudly Claims Syria Trip 'Led To Embarrassment'
• Enmity Begins at Home
• "Fighting Back Was Not an Option" Revisited

***

Dems Invite Muslim Brotherhood to Speak to Congress
Charles Johnson

The MEMRI Blog has a translated report from Egyptian daily Al-Masryoon that Democrats have invited the Muslim Brotherhood to visit the United States and speak to Congress.

It just keeps getting worse; even though it’s a report from Egypt, I have little doubt that it’s accurate. Not only are they setting up their own shadow government, and pandering to the worst dictatorships on the planet, the Democrats are now openly inviting virulent enemies of Western civilization into our country. ...

Kim Priestap, Allahpundit and RBT have more.

***

Bureau of Disinformation 

Click the pic to read the blog post that goes with it.

***

Baghdad Report: Bombs and A Bridge Too Near
This morning Baghdad lost one of its historic icons when the terrorists blew up the Sarrafiya Bridge.
By Omar Fadhil

This morning Baghdad lost one of its historic icons when the terrorists blew up the Sarrafiya Bridge. This was an attack on both a vital infrastructure of the city and our morale, let alone the innocent lives that were lost in this vicious attack. What we lost today was not just a bridge, it was a piece of the Baghdad history.

Jisr al-Hadeed (“the iron bridge”), as many Baghdadis like to call it, was the first fixed bridge to be built over the Tigris as a gift from the British to the Iraqi people back in the 1940s.

I have many beautiful memories of Jisr al-Hadeed; memories of how many times I sat in that coffee shop and stared at the glittering reflections of its lights on the water, of how many evenings I sat under it with friends. When we were young and couldn’t drink at home, the Nazla (the river bank immediately under the bridge) was one of our favorite spots. Once there we’d drink cold beers in hot summer nights, with the sound of the slow and small waves of the Tigris as our music. ...

Everyone I talked to today was more saddened by the bridge attack than the explosion at the parliament building that killed two of its members. They all seemed to agree that if there’s anyone to blamed for that it’s the members of parliament themselves. Parliament members are famous for complaining about ‘security measures’ in the Green Zone being “insulting” to them and to Iraq’s sovereignty. They didn’t want their vehicles and guards to be searched. This is the result. ...

***

Suicide bomber infiltrates Iraqi parliament, kills three; Update: MP’s bodyguard, wider plot suspected; Update: Bomb video added
Allahpundit

Totally demoralizing, which of course was the point. They’re not sure yet what caused it, but:

One politician said the attack was carried by a suicide bomber.

“I am standing now at the site of the explosion and looking at the severed legs of the person who carried out the operation,” he said…

Dozens of people were injured - some critically - as the blast tore through a cafeteria while lawmakers were eating lunch.

Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, was killed, according to the leader of the party, Saleh al-Mutlaq. A Shia MP also died.

They had a hot tip something was up, too, because security was using bomb-sniffing dogs at the entrance to the building, which apparently rarely happens.

What they’re trying to do here, very clearly, is show the surge isn’t working by demonstrating that even the safest part of the city is more vulnerable than it’s been. That’s why they’ve been focusing more on the Green Zone in the past few weeks. It started with the rocket attack during Maliki’s presser with Ban Ki-Moon, then another rocket attack killed an American soldier, then they found two suicide vests somewhere in the area. The fact that the bomber attacked in the cafeteria instead of the main assembly hall, where he could have done a lot more damage, makes me think he was probably a menial employee, not someone in an MP’s security detail (although I wouldn’t be surprised if I was wrong). Assuming they did a diligent job with the dogs as people were coming in, it also means the bomb was hidden somewhere in the building before the doors opened this morning.

The irony? Iraqi government officials complained last week that they were tired of unnecessary searches inside the Green Zone.

***

Three Lawmakers Killed in Bomb Attack on Iraq's Parliament Building 

BAGHDAD —  A suspected homicide bomber detonated himself inside the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people -- including three lawmakers -- in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone, the American military spokesman said.

The blast in the parliament building came hours after a homicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed in that attack.

Security guards sealed off the parliament building, allowing no one — including lawmakers — to enter or leave. Iraqi officials said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt in the blast. Iraqi officials said 30 people were wounded.

The bombings came amid a two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support.

President Bush was briefed on the parliament blast, and White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the multinational forces will be taking steps to strengthen security and make sure that such an attack doesn't happen again. ...

***

Hat tip: Michelle

***

Explosion In Green Zone Kills Two
Ed Morrissey

This will bode ill for supporters of the war in Iraq. An apparent suicide bombing has killed two members of the Iraqi parliament within the Green Zone as they ate in the Assembly's cafeteria:

A bomb exploded in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified Green Zone Thursday, killing at least two lawmakers and wounding 10 other people.

The blast in the parliament building came hours after a suicide truck bomb blew up on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.

The bomb in parliament went off in a cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, media reports said. In addition to the two dead, state television said at least 10 people were wounded. ...

According to initial reports, the bomber may have made it through Iraqi security force checkpoints. One Iraqi parliamentarian reported seeing the severed legs of the suspected bomber in the hallway outside the cafeteria, and decried the security provided by the Maliki government. This comes less than two weeks after the US Army discovered suicide vests within the Green Zone, which means that this attack has probably been planned for quite a while.

The indiscriminate nature of the attack suggests, as Khalaf al-Ilyan told Iraqi reporters afterwards, that the bombers were less concerned about faction and ideology in their target than in attacking representative government altogether.  ...

Pajamas Media is tracking the story here. (Hat tip: Michelle)

***

McCain Unbound
John Hinderaker

Earlier today, John McCain delivered a speech on the Iraq war at Virginia Military Institute. It was an excellent, hard-hitting speech. You can read it all here; these are a few key paragraphs:

After my first visit to Iraq in 2003, I argued for more troops. I took issue with statements characterizing the insurgency as a few 'dead-enders' or being in its 'last throes.' I criticized the search and destroy strategy and argued for a counter-insurgency approach that separated the reconcilable population from the irreconcilable. That is the course now followed by General Petraeus, and the brave Americans and coalition troops he has the honor to command.

It is the right strategy. General Petraeus literally wrote the book on counter insurgency. He is a determined, resourceful and bold commander. Our troops, many of whom have served multiple tours in Iraq, are performing with great skill and bravery. But the hour is late and, despite the developments I just described, we should have no illusion that success is certain. But having been a critic of the way this war was fought and a proponent of the very strategy now being followed, it is my obligation to encourage Americans to give it a chance to succeed. To do otherwise would be contrary to the interests of my country and dishonorable.

McCain was unsparing in his criticisms of Congressional Democrats: ...

***

Congressman Proudly Claims Syria Trip 'Led To Embarrassment'
Steve Schippert

Enough. It is time to lay the hammer down and put an end to what has been referred to even by the Washington Post as the ‘shadow presidency’. Regardless of what carefully chosen words have been used thus far by participants in explaining their mission in visiting with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, Congressman Tom Lantos makes their end-game abundantly clear in an interview he gave to Assad’s regime-controlled Syrian Arab News Agency. But, with teeth fully clenched, this is not a game, nor is it an election campaign tour. Brace yourself for the text in full.

Washington, (SANA)- Democratic Member of the US. House of Representatives and Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affaires Tom Lantos has underlined that Syria vehemently believes in the dialogue in its relations with the US and in dealing with the issues. In an interview on Tuesday, Lantos described the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Damascus as important to open dialogue channels with it as saying: “The visit expressed in a marvelous way interests of the US, that led to embarrassment of the current US administration which has closed doors for dialogue with Syria.”

Any questions? But Lantos continues…

“President Bashar al-Assad strongly encourages the continuation of the Syrian-American dialogue,” Lantos added.

Well, you bet Assad “strongly encourages the continuation of the Syrian-American (read: American Congressional) dialogue.” Lantos, Pelosi and all others from both sides of the aisle are a gold mine for the state sponsor of terrorism. But wait, there’s more…

Lantos expressed desire to visit Damascus once more and that he will not comply with the policy of the US President George W. Bush regarding it. [All emphasis added.]

Again, any questions? This is an interview with Assad’s media organ. Before grinding my teeth to powder, two points that must be considered in the context of the above and the current global conflict at hand. ...

***

Enmity Begins at Home
James Taranto

After the smashing success of their Syrian jaunt, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Tom Lantos are
considering another trip--"to open a dialogue with Iran," the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

"Speaking just for myself, I would be ready to get on a plane tomorrow morning, because however objectionable, unfair and inaccurate many of (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's) statements are, it is important that we have a dialogue with him,'' Lantos said. "Speaking for myself, I'm ready to go--and knowing the speaker, I think that she might be.''

Still, the Democrats have their limits. The Chronicle reports that there is one world leader with whom congressional Democrats are unwilling to hold an unconditional dialogue:

President Bush, raising the political stakes in his fight with Congress over the war in Iraq, made Democratic leaders an offer they could and did refuse--come to the White House to accept his demand for continued, unfettered funding of the war.

"We can discuss the way forward on a bill that is a clean bill: a bill that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal, and without handcuffing our generals on the ground," the president said of the fight over the emergency war spending legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in San Francisco, forcefully rejected Bush's invitation--as had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada several hours earlier at a Capitol appearance.

"What the president invited us to do is to come to his office so that we could accept, without any discussion, the bill that he wants," Pelosi said. "That's not worthy of the concerns of the American people. And I join with Sen. Reid in rejecting an invitation of that kind. . . ."

Meanwhile at the Puffington Host, John Kerry* defends Pelosi's junket to Syria: ...

***

"Fighting Back Was Not an Option" Revisited
Posted by Dean Barnett

Colonel Austin Bay and I were planning a very civil blog feud on the nature of the British naval surrender that led to the appalling spectacle in Iran. Unfortunately, there’s not enough distance between us to have any real virtual hair-pulling. Still, what differences do exist between us are worth exploring.

We both think the soldiers acquitted themselves disgracefully after their abduction. Austin aptly calls the events in Tehran a “moral disgrace.” Our only dispute centers on the soldiers’ conduct during their actual abduction. I wrote (in so many words) that their subsequent declaration that “fighting back was not an option” was ludicrous. My suggestion was that they should have fought back, and that going meekly into Iranian custody paved the way for the ensuing national disgrace.

Austin, who knows a lot more about such thing than I do, disagreed, writing:

[...]

I’m hardly in a position to take issue with Austin’s tactical assessment. The one bone I would pick here is whether the Iranians would have had the nerve to actually slaughter the British troops. I think there’s ample room for doubt on that score.

On Easter Sunday, Frank J. of IMAO.us posted a letter from one of America’s own guests of the Ayatollah from 1979 -1981. Frank’s correspondent is a Marine, and his whole letter is must reading. I found the following bit particularly relevant to mine and Austin’s conversation: ...

***

In case you missed a day:

• 2007.04.11 Islamism Delenda Est // Dem Perfidy Roundup
  • War Czar
  • The Taliban Offensive: Red On Red
  • Iraq in the Balance
  • A Citizen Journalist In Fallujah
  • McCain: I Blame Rumsfeld For Iraq
  • Where Do Nancy Pelosi's Loyalties Lie?
  • Pelosi Diplomacy: Legitimizing Terrorism
  • Gates: Army tours extended by three months
  • Video: Angry Gates unloads on Pentagon leaker
  • I'm sorry for selling my story, says Iran hostage Mr Bean
  • British servicemen unload on littlest sailor, a.k.a. “Mr. Bean";
    Update: Video of Mr. Bean impersonation added!
  • Iraqi insurgents being trained in Iran, U.S. says
  • al Qaeda attack in Algiers