See previous: 2007.05.06 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

What Mandate? 
Tom Maguire

I was actually reading Frank Rich this morning, which is a clear indicator of the depths to which my morale has sunk, and I stumbled across this claim that the election was a mandate for the cut and run crowd:

Unlike Vietnam, Iraq is not in the past: the war escalates even as all this finger-pointing continues. Very little has changed between the fourth anniversary of “Mission Accomplished” this year and the last. Back then, President Bush cheered an Iraqi “turning point” precipitated by “the emergence of a unity government.” Since then, what’s emerged is more Iraqi disunity and a major leap in the death toll. That’s why Americans voted in November to get out.

This claim that the November election result was a call to disarm has been made elsewhere - I noticed it in a recent Times story and heard it at a recent dinner party, but I can't find links to either one.

But not so fast!  Back before the ballots were cast, the Dem leadership was quite clear in their strategy - their pre-election plan was to refrain from offering a plan on Iraq,  ...

While you're in the neighborhood, don't miss A Babbling Brook Called "Hillary".

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

• French Riots, Right On Cue
• Report: Saudis, US sponsoring covert action against Iran
• Update: How Many Cars Torched? (Media Lies)
• Iraqis vs al Qaeda in Anbar

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French Riots, Right On Cue
Ed Morrissey

After the election of Nicolas Sarkozy, many analysts expected unrest in the banlieus, the Muslim ghettoes that have percolated with unrest for the last several years. Overnight, the French have seen hundreds of cars burnt and hundreds of rioters arrested (via Memeorandum):

French police have arrested a total of 592 people across the country as bands of rioters protested conservative Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential election victory Sunday, French media reported.

The police said a total of 730 vehicles were torched and 28 police officers were injured in violent incidents from Sunday night to Monday morning. Police fought stone-throwing rioters with tear gas, but it was not clear how many rioters were injured, according to Radio France.

Segolene Royal deserves some blame for this. She tried playing the fear card in the week before the runoff that made Sarkozy the new president, and signalled the would-be rioters that the expected response would be chaos and destruction. The French do not need much of a push to demonstrate in passionate terms, and the warning of Royal that Sarkozy's election would lead to riots could also be seen as expert analysis -- but one might think that a person vying for national leadership would have shown more discretion. ...

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Report: Saudis, US sponsoring covert action against Iran
Michael Roston

The governments of Saudi Arabia and the United States are working with other states in the Middle East to sponsor covert action against Iran, according to a report in this month's edition of The Atlantic. The report also suggests that covert attacks may occur against Iran's oil sector.

David Samuels, in a lengthy article on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East, reports that the US is promoting a campaign against Iran that includes covert action. ...

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Update: How Many Cars Torched? (Media Lies)
Charles Johnson (H/T: Michelle Malkin)

Not only did the Associated Press bury their report that 367 cars had been torched in France, now it turns out that the media have been lying about the violence.

Because the actual number of cars destroyed by “youths” last night was 730—about twice the number reported by the AP.

This Reuters article also says 78 policemen were injured by the “youths,” and the violence was much more widespread than we’ve been told: Police hurt in French election violence.

[...]

This comes as no surprise, because French media have openly stated that they will cover up the true extent of the violence. And the French Constitutional Council recently passed a law criminalizing the reporting of acts of violence by anyone other than professional journalists.

See related: "...pour leur dire qu'ils peuvent compter sur notre amitié"

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