Below the fold:

• Lieberman slaps Reid: "We should not surrender in the face of barbarism"
• Sunni sheikhs in Anbar form anti-jihadi political party
• The Axis Of Embarrassment (Updated ... BS?)
• Democrats wage Information Warfare against U.S. forces
• Haditha Prosecution Acknowledges Weak Case

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Fairy Harry
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

Cornering Harry

It occurs to me that Senator Harry,
Sounds not like a boxer but something more airy;
Soft-spoken, slender, thin as a Reid,
Methinks hitten Harry might politically bleed.
Bullshit he’s a boxer, that’s strictly PR,
To make him look tough, a political star.
So do tell us, Senator, tough man about town,
How many toughs have you ever knocked down?  ...

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Lieberman slaps Reid:
"We should not surrender in the face of barbarism"
Michelle Malkin

Statement from Sen. Joe Lieberman:

WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today made the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comment that the Iraq War is "lost:"

"This week witnessed horrific terrorist attacks by Islamist extremists in Iraq, killing hundreds of innocent civilians and leading Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to declare that the war is 'lost.'

With all due respect, I strongly disagree. Senator Reid's statement is not based on military facts on the ground in Iraq and does not advance our cause there.

Al Qaeda's strategy for victory in Iraq is clear. They are trying to murder as many innocent civilians as possible in an effort to reignite sectarian fighting and drive us to retreat from Iraq.

The question now before us is whether we respond to these terrorist attacks by running away as Al Qaeda hopes - abandoning the future of Iraq, the Middle East, and ultimately our own security to the very same people responsible for this week's atrocities - or whether we stand united to fight them.

This is exactly the wrong time to conclude that we have lost the war in Iraq, or that our new strategy has failed. Instead, we should provide General Petraeus and his troops with the time and the resources to succeed. We should not surrender in the face of barbarism."

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Now, get a load of Reid's response to Lieberman. Make sure you are not drinking or eating anything. And if you have high blood pressure, do not read any further: ...

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Sunni sheikhs in Anbar form anti-jihadi political party
Allahpundit

It’s not often you get undiluted good news from Iraq. Enjoy it.

A group of Sunni tribal leaders in beleaguered Al Anbar province said Thursday that it intended to form a national party to oppose insurgents such as Al Qaeda in Iraq and reengage with Iraq’s political process.

The announcement came after 200 sheiks said to represent 50 tribes met here and agreed to form a provincial sheiks council and hold the first convention in May of their new party, called Iraq Awakening. Sheiks from three other provinces will attend, organizers said.

The driving force behind the new party, Sheik Abdul-Sattar abu Risha, said in an interview that the tribal leaders would be pushing a slate of candidates in Al Anbar provincial elections later this year, as well as in the next round of national parliamentary balloting, scheduled for 2009.

One purpose of the party, Sattar said, is to promote a better image of American-led forces “to the Iraqis here.” He added that the tribes also would participate in a U.S.-backed effort to reestablish a court system in Ramadi, the provincial capital.

American KIAs in Anbar as a total percentage of American KIAs in country have dropped from 45% between December to February to 12% from February to April. Combat deaths are way up in Baghdad over the same period, though, due no doubt in part to the fact that jihadis are trying to spoil the surge in the capital but surely also because Anbar has become increasingly hostile terrain for them. And not just because of the sheikhs, either: ...

Ed Morrissey comments:

The Los Angeles Times reports that the security situation in Anbar has shown real improvement. Some of that improvement comes from the efforts of the local tribes, but that wouldn't be possible if the US hadn't started its new strategy of clearing and holding territory and establishing credibility in its commitment. The Marines that have boosted their numbers in Anbar have made believers out of the locals.

Now the sheikhs have given their blessings to recruitment for the Iraqi Army, which has up to now been a mainly Shi'ite force. The Sunni recruits will help to balance the security forces and bolster that group's credibility in Iraq as a whole. It's the only way that Iraq in the long run can hold itself together.

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The Axis Of Embarrassment (Updated ... BS?)
Ed Morrissey

See update below -- not very credible.

Bloggers today have been linking to an article in The Spectator, a well-regarded British magazine, written by Daily Mail columnist Melanie Philips regarding Iraqi WMDs. According to the man assigned to look for them, the WMDs were there -- before the Bush Administration apparently botched security at the sites and his classified reports went missing. Meet David Garbautz, who served as an Air Force agent in Special Investigations for 12 years before his most important assignment: ...

Ed's skeptical, Allah's skeptical, I guess I'd better be too.

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Democrats wage Information Warfare against U.S. forces
Doug Ross (H/T: Lorie Byrd)

In Military Review, Lt. Col. Timothy Thomas (Ret.) lists strategems of information warfare (IW), which include:

Direct [enemy] commanders' thinking and force them to make errors by attacking cognitive and belief systems.
* Generate heavy psychological pressure by using intimidation to signal inevitable [enemy loss] concentrating forces and coordinating information networks [such as mainstream media].
* Hide reality by creating a fictitious reality.
* Mislead the enemy by pretending to follow his wishes.

These strategies are designed to force cognitive errors in the enemy and create a multidimensional threat with which the enemy must contend...

Let's take each in turn and determine whether the Democrats and their public relations arm -- the mainstream media (MSM) -- qualify.

Direct [enemy] commanders' thinking and force them to make errors by attacking cognitive and belief systems: In declaring the war 'lost', Democrat Harry Reid has attacked U.S. commanders' belief systems. Reid has plainly stated that commanders are waging a pointless war and -- in the words of military blogger COB -- has thereby placed a very real stake in the ground:

If Senator Reid, based on the information that the Senate Majority Leader has, has determined that this war is lost; there is nothing left to do but come home. The way I see it, if you were to vote for anything less; you would be personally liable for any future wounded or God-Forbid dead soldiers...

...You, a person in high authority in the US government, have made a definitive statement that an action is occurring with no redeeming value. Said action is causing harm and death to US citizens. You have the unique power to stop said action and thusly stop the harm...

Generate heavy psychological pressure by using intimidation to signal inevitable [enemy loss] concentrating forces and coordinating information networks [such as mainstream media]: The mainstream media has, for the last several years, rallied around the meme that "Iraq is Vietnam" and various calls for retreat and surrender (see Murtha, Reid, et. al.). ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, PBS, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and other major print and broadcast outlets have studiously ignored the facts surrounding the Iraq War and the rise of global Islamofascism. Instead, the MSM has called attention to car bombings and -- by historical standards -- a very low death rate among U.S. forces. ...

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Haditha Prosecution Acknowledges Weak Case
Bruce Kesler

Of course, the prosecutors of the Haditha Marines wouldn’t put it that way, but their actions reveal the weakness of their case. One knowledgeable participant in military law calls the prosecutors wide-scale granting of immunity unprecedented and indicative.

Aside from the immunity granted to one of the previously charged Marines, discussed here, and previously here and here with respect to the entire case, it’s now been revealed that another 7 Marines have been granted immunity.

A legal expert said by giving so many people immunity, prosecutors are taking a "conservative" approach to the case.

"These are legitimate moves by the prosecutor, who is very cautious," said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center.

In other words, the prosecutors are trying to bolster their weak evidence.

The local newspapers to Camp Pendleton add information missing from the Washington Post treatment.

The San Diego Union Tribune adds:

However, not all the Haditha immunity deals are guaranteed to boost the prosecution's chances. The testimony of Lt. William T. Kallop, the sole officer at the killing scene, could support defendants' contention that they were following lawful orders.