Worth Noting
U.S. Ahead of Moscow Treaty Schedule in Reducing Its Nuclear Arsenal
The United States is more than two years ahead of the schedule set under the Moscow Treaty in reducing the number of its nuclear warheads operationally deployed on strategic missiles and bombers, according to congressional and administration sources.
There are fewer than 2,200 deployed warheads, the goal originally set to be reached by Dec. 31, 2012.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021203497.html
Nondisclosure Cited in Iraq Casualties Study
In a highly unusual rebuke, the American Association for Public Opinion Research said this morning that the author of a widely debated survey on "excess deaths" in Iraq had violated its code of professional ethics by refusing to disclose details of his work.
In an eight-month investigation, Gilbert Burnham, a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, "repeatedly refused to make public essential facts about his research on civilian deaths in Iraq," AAPOR said in a statement.
READ ARTICLE:http://www.abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/story?id=6799754&page=1
Charles Krauthammer on Obama's interview with Al-Arabiya
Conciliatory, but also apologetic and defensive, I thought needlessly. We heard him say that he we shouldn't paint Islam with a broad-brush. Who does? That's a straw man. Did the Bush administration do so?
Obama said "My job is to communicate from the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives."
Well, where is the American heartland which is arguing otherwise?
Look, if he wants — dare say, "I have Muslim relatives," as he did in the interview, "and I lived in an Muslim land," as he did in the interview, "and thus I have a special appreciation of Islam," that's OK.
But somehow he is implying that somehow the Obama era is a break with the American past. Somehow it is undoing a disrespect of Islam that had somehow occurred under the previous administration.
One week after 9/11, the president of the United States, George Bush, showed up in the Islamic center in Washington and declared Islam is peace and extended a hand of tolerance and generosity. There were no anti-Muslim riots in America. There was a spirit of generosity and tolerance.
And, in fact, over the last 20 years, the United States has been engaged in exactly five military engagements in the world, two in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, all of them liberating Islamic peoples.
Departure Ceremony for President George W. Bush
Family, friends, and former staff gathered at Andrews Air Force Base for a Departure Ceremony honoring former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.
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‘Campaign architect’ Karl Rove speaks to students about Gitmo, presidential legacy
Karl Rove, one-time Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush, spoke to a jam-packed Storer Auditorium at the University of Miami Thursday night.
After a brief opening speech, Rove transformed the event into an open forum during which audience members could ask him a question or engage him in a debate.
The “campaign architect,” as he is commonly called, built a case against President Barack Obama’s order to close Guantanamo, an overseas CIA detention center where terrorists and other “enemy combatants” are held. Obama’s order could enable terrorists to be tried in U.S. courts, to be given undeserved rights afforded American citizens and could cause damaging long-term effects, Rove said.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.themiamihurricane.com/2009/01/24/campaign-architect-karl-rove-speaks-to-students-about-gitmo-presidential-legacy/
Bush is a Book Lover: Reading Selections from the Contest
I've received several emails in response to my December 26 WSJ Op-Ed, "Bush is a Book Lover," asking for a list of the books President Bush and I read during our book competition or, failing that, some recommendations of volumes I particularly enjoyed. While the President's complete reading list is not available now, I suspect it will be made public at sometime in the future at a time of the President's choosing. As for my list, I feel a little uncomfortable sharing it in its entirety and picking favorites is like choosing between children.
So, here are some recommendations.
Opponents of GSE Reform
In my January 8 WSJ Op-Ed I wrote about President Bush's efforts to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and quoted several Democrats who spoke critically of the regulatory powers being sought by the Bush Administration.
The following is a sampling of critical statements from opponents of GSE reform, including the quotes cited in my Op-Ed.
Bush launches post-presidential office
President Bush is naming a high-powered staff to launch him on a productive post-presidency that, at least at first, will be busy behind the scenes and quiet on the surface.
The Office of George W. Bush will be in Dallas, near his presidential library at Southern Methodist University.
The president plans to write a book, give speeches, help build his presidential library and start a “freedom institute” to prolong his legacy, with a special emphasis on his “freedom agenda” of promoting democracy for the Middle East.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17440.html
Bush's Better World
If you asked Americans to list President Bush's foreign policy and national security accomplishments, you'd likely get some laughs - surely some snarky comments. Perhaps, at best, a short list.
But, in truth, there are a number of great successes. So as the Bush administration gets ready to exit the national and world stage in the coming days, it's time to give credit where credit's due.
READ ARTICLE: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01112009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/bushs_better_world_149578.htm