BLOGGING WILL BE LIGHT AGAIN TODAY, but there’s lots of cool stuff elsewhere in the Blogosphere. Steven Den Beste has been on something of a roll of late, and The Command Post continues to bring you the latest minute-by-minute war news so that I don’t have to. Oxblog and Samizdata bring a trans-Atlantic perspective (and it’s later there, so they’ve had more time to post). And Bill Quick and Tim Blair have lots of posts, too.

UPDATE: Here’s more debunking of the claim on IndyMedia that the statue-toppling was staged.

And read this Mark Steyn column where he de-spins the (revised, new) doom-spinners. Excerpt:

1) “Iraq’s slide into violent anarchy” (Guardian, April 11). Say what you like about Saddam, but he ran a tight ship and you didn’t have to nail down your nest of tables: since the Brits took over, Basra’s property crime is heading in an alarmingly Cheltenhamesque direction. MBITRW (Meanwhile Back In The Real World): A year from now, Basra will have a lower crime rate than most London boroughs. . . .

10) America is already losing the peace. MBITRW: In a year’s time, Iraq will be, at a bare minimum, the least badly governed state in the Arab world and, at best, pleasant, civilised and thriving. In short: not a bad three weeks’ work.

Read the rest.

Oh, and read Matt Welch on the Cuban journalist show-trials — and the deafening silence (or worse) from some quarters in response. Is there a thug anywhere that the left will criticize these days?

HERE’S AN INTERESTING REPORT:

In the densely populated northeastern slum area of Saddam City, U.S. Marines pulled back to allow local people to hunt “mujahideen” volunteer fighters holed up in the area.

“The locals said they wanted to take charge of Saddam City and we said: ‘Roger that’,” Lieutenant-Colonel Lew Craparotta, commander of a Marine unit that moved back from the fringes of the suburb, told Reuters.

Local leaders told U.S. officers that non-Iraqi Arab fighters were still a threat in the mainly Shi’ite district.

“It’s much easier for them to identify the enemy than for us. We really can’t tell who is who,” Craparotta said.

The U.S. withdrawal will allow local men to carry weapons openly, set up checkpoints and cordon off areas where they suspect the Arab volunteer fighters are hiding.

Craparotta said it was not clear how many “third country nationals,” as the U.S. describes them, were in Saddam City.

Iraq has said thousands of volunteers from across the Arab world came to the country to help fight the U.S.-led invasion.

Local militia and the “mujahideen” fought fiercely through Friday night until after dawn, with the sound of sustained small arms and heavy machinegun fire suggesting substantial clashes between the two groups. U.S. forces were not involved.

I almost feel sorry for the guys who set off to “defend” the Iraqis, only to find themselves first scorned, and now hunted down and killed, by the very people they thought they were protecting. Kind of a post-Vietnam irony here, isn’t there? Not that I expect Robert Fisk to get it.

Sadly, the story doesn’t really shed much light on the how-armed-are-Iraqis question, though it seems as if these locals are arming themselves from looted Saddamite arsenals:

Baghdad is saturated with weapons, so both the militia and the Arab volunteer fighters have easy access to large arms and ammunition caches.

But that’s not the point of the story, so it’s hard to be sure.

JIM BENNETT LOOKS AT THE ROOT CAUSES OF ANTI-AMERICANISM:

However, it is worth considering the possibility that the root source of anti-Americanism in the world lies in the deep-rooted anti-modern tradition of Continental Europe.

Just as the Baathist movement lately of Iraq and still in power in Syria is a localized variant of European fascism, the broader anti-Americanism currently fashionable on all continents comes ultimately from what some have called the Industrial Counter-Revolution. This is a comprehensive category for the various reactions in Europe against the program of the Industrial and Democratic Revolutions, or liberalism in the classical sense — individualism, free markets, and technological and social progress.

Yep. They’re not just exporting inferior weapons and military strategies, but bad politics, too. Bennett, however, echoes one of my longstanding worries about Europe:

In considering the Holocaust, most attention has been given to its direct victims, as is appropriate. However, we must also consider that it was a form of self-administered lobotomy for Continental European culture.

It would not be surprising if the twin anti-modernist themes of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, now rapidly coalescing into a single nasty mess visible in many of the pro-Saddam demonstrations of the past year, become once again the predominant political-cultural theme in Western Continental Europe, overwhelming the decent and positive forces there that had previously prevailed.

This is a disturbing possibility, and I don’t see any easy answer for it. How do you reverse a lobotomy?

STILL MORE SUPPORT FOR THE DEN BESTE THEORY:

The french government insists that it has strictly enforced a tight embargo imposed on Saddam Hussein’s regime by the United Nations in 1990. But Saddam never lost his taste for French weapons or luxury goods. And evidence found by U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq suggests that—despite U.N. sanctions—the dictator continued to receive an abundant supply of both until very recently. . . .

U.S. forces discovered 51 Roland-2 missiles, made by a partnership of French and German arms manufacturers, in two military compounds at Baghdad International Airport. One of the missiles he examined was labeled 05-11 KND 2002, which he took to mean that the missile was manufactured last year. The charred remains of a more modern Roland-3 launcher was found just down the road from the arms cache. According to a mortar specialist with the same unit, radios used by many Iraqi military trucks brandished MADE IN FRANCE labels and looked brand new. RPG night sights stamped with the number 2002 and French labels also turned up.

The French? Violating United Nations sanctions? Why it’s almost as if the United Nations were merely a joke or something.

UPDATE: Here’s more from The New York Times:

The data reveals that firms in Germany and France outstripped all others in selling the most important thing — specialized chemical-industry equipment that is particularly useful for producing poison gas. Without this equipment, none of the other imports would have been of much use.

And click the link on the right to see an interesting graphic about where this stuff came from. This, bear in mind, is what is publicly known. I suspect that there’s a lot more that we’ll find out, and that it’s one of the things France and Germany were hoping to keep quiet.

UPDATE: Here’s more from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Baghdad — A Moscow-based organization was training Iraqi intelligence agents as recently as last September — at the same time Russia was resisting the Bush administration’s push for a tough stand against Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraqi documents discovered by The Chronicle show.

The documents found Thursday and Friday in a Baghdad office of the Mukhabarat, the Iraqi secret police, indicate that at least five agents graduated Sept. 15 from a two-week course in surveillance and eavesdropping techniques, according to certificates issued to the Iraqi agents by the “Special Training Center” in Moscow.

The Russian government, which has expressed intense disagreement with the U. S.-led war on Iraq, has repeatedly denied giving any military or security assistance to the Hussein regime. Any such aid would violate U.N. sanctions that have severely limited trade, military and other relations with Iraq since 1991.

So much for the “let sanctions work” argument, I guess. Here’s more:

In late March, the Moscow newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that Russian intelligence agents were holding daily meetings with Iraqis, possibly with the intent of gaining control of the Mukhabarat archives if Saddam Hussein’s regime fell.

The newspaper said the archives could be highly valuable to Russia in three major areas: in protecting Russian interests in a postwar Iraq; in determining the extent to which Hussein’s regime may have financed Russian political parties and movements; and in providing Russia access to intelligence that Iraqi agents conducted in other countries.

The close relationship between the two countries is largely economic. Iraq and Russia are major trading partners, and Russia has billions of dollars tied up in deals with Iraqi businesses — including debts Iraq has owed to the Russians since the Soviet era.

I wouldn’t count on collecting, if I were the Russians. (Via The Command Post).

Perry DeHavilland, meanwhile, observes that:

What is a surprise is that Vladimir Putin has shown that not only is the Russian state still the enemy, its leaders are not nearly as smart as I had given them credit for, given they have been caught having given active support to the Ba’athists even to the extent of acting as an employment agency for assassins on their behalf.

To have squandered such a large pool of political capital and good will by continuously passing intelligence and weapons to the Iraqis right up to the start of the war is utter madness. Did the Russians think any outcome was possible in the long run other than an Allied victory over the Ba’athist regime? And surely once that fact is grasped, how could they think that news of their treachery would not eventually come to light?

What possible benefit could the Russian state gain from this move? Is this going to make honouring Russian contracts with the fallen Ba’athist regime more likely or less likely in US dominated post-war Iraq? Were they hoping Putin’s good buddy Tony Blair would pressure the Americans into a softer line regarding Russian economic interests in Iraq? If so, I wonder how Blair feels about his private diplomatic conversations being relayed to the Iraqis by the Russian intelligence services.

It is a terrible thing to live in a world filled with enemies, but if Vladimir Putin, Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussain are the measure of our foes then at least we can comfort ourselves that we are facing opponents who are not just weak, they are self-deluded and quite frankly stupid.

For the stupidity of our enemies, we must always be grateful. I suspect, however, that Putin was being badly advised on the likely outcome of the war by these incompetent Russian generals who thought that the United States couldn’t win, except perhaps by carpet-bombing. Of course, that just makes Putin foolish for listening to them, when he should have known better.

DeHavilland has more comments here. And Jeff Jarvis is unimpressed with the Germans.

HERE’S MORE on how what is appropriately called that “wretched RAVE Act” passed Congress.

As I’ve said repeatedly, the legislation is a disgrace, and everyone associated with it should apologize and resign in disgrace.

Not that anything like that will happen. But that’s what should happen.

MICKEY KAUS on Castro’s executions:

Castro has celebrated the arrival of Yoko Ono and N.Y. media bigs by starting to execute people after quick trials. … The condemned were hijackers of ferry boats who were trying to get to the U.S., not mere dissidents. Still … Nobody was hurt in the attempted hijacking. … If these people were executed in the U.S. after such rudimentary procedures– the hijacking was only nine days ago! — Steve Earle would be writing heartbreaking songs about them. (And don’t the French march in the streets when those ugly Americans talk about executing convicted murderers after years of appeals?) … For a defense of the hijackers by a relative, see this Miami Herald story. … Hope Yoko and Company have a nice meal at Fidel’s plantation! Don’t spoil dessert by mentioning any of this unpleasant business!

Mickey forgets the first rule: no act is too unspeakable, so long as the hand that performs it isn’t American, or friendly to America.

VIA OXBLOG, here’s a list of readings on reconstructing Iraq.

I JUST GOT AN EMAIL FROM ROD RODDENBERRY, who is afraid that my earlier post in which I said that “he hopes to interview some Klingons in Iraq (no, really) once things settle down,” might be misinterpreted as some sort of anti-Iraqi slur.

In the mythology of Star Trek, Klingons have been portrayed as animalistic and barbaric in behavior. Although placed a societal status equal to that of humans, the difference in ethnicity between Humanity and Klingons is often perceived as less evolved and thus inferior to Humans. The implication inaccurately suggests that I consider people from Iraq to be equivalent to Klingons.

I guess I was unclear. I just assumed that everyone would read that as referring to the Klingonophile variety of Trek fans, who dress as Klingons, speak Klingon, etc., but to be clear, that’s what he meant, not some slur on Iraqis.

I TOOK THE DAY OFF, but Jeff Jarvis has been blogging up a storm. Go read it.

THIS IS CNN:

Did you see any of this reported on CNN? Of course not. Because that would have endangered something the media prizes above everything else, including truth: access. In two decades the mainstream media has degenerated from impartial collectors and arbiters of what was news – in other words, reporters – to skulking curs, haunting the tables of potentates and movie stars and begging for scraps. No wonder they get kicked all the time.

Ouch.

REPORTS ON INDYMEDIA SAY THE STATUE-TOPPLING VIDEO WAS STAGED: Josh Chafetz goes to the photos and says the IndyMedia claims are bogus.

HERE’S MORE EVIDENCE FOR THE DEN BESTE THEORY that France, Russia and Germany tried to block war to conceal the extent of their support for Saddam:

Top secret documents obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein’s regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders.

Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for “hits” in the West and details of arms deals to neighbouring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to “obtain” visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa’eda leader.

The documents detailing the extent of the links between Russia and Saddam were obtained from the heavily bombed headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service in Baghdad yesterday.

I wouldn’t take this to the bank just yet, but it’s consistent with other things that we’ve heard. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Then there’s France.

ANOTHER UPDATE: And there’s this:

Last week it was disclosed that two retired three-star generals — Vladislav Achalov (a former paratrooper and specialist in urban warfare) and Igor Maltsev (a specialist in air defense) — visited Baghdad recently and were awarded medals by Hussein. The awards were handed out by Iraqi Defense Minister Sultan Khashim Akhmed.

It was reported that the retired generals helped Hussein prepare a war plan to defeat the Americans. Achalov confirmed he was in Baghdad just before the war and received medals from Hussein for services rendered. He also told journalists that the defense of Baghdad was well organized, U.S. tanks would be burned if they enter the city and U.S. infantry would be slaughtered. According to Achalov, the only way the allies could ever take Baghdad and other Iraqi cities was to raze them to the ground by carpet bombing.

I think we should be advertising that Saddam had Russian weapons and electronics (remember the GPS-jammers destroyed by GPS bombs?) and Russian military advice, too! We might even suggest, in a low-key sort of way, that those contributed to our swift victory.

Meanwhile, the article reports, the rapid US success is making Russians ask why their military hasn’t done better in Chechnya. Er, see the above paragraph. . . .

MOVING THE GOAL POSTS — a long, long way: Now the peace movement is worried about the impact of fast food on Iraqis.

THE LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SHOOTING IS NOW OFFICIALLY TERRORISM. Uh, thanks for noticing, guys.

Here’s my column from last July. And here are some further reflections on homeland security.

I’M BACK: We had an idyllic picnic beside the lake at Cherokee Boulevard. The InstaDaughter made and packed a picnic dinner all by herself. It was very nice, the weather was perfect, and, well, it was the kind of day that I ought to have more of.

LIGHT BLOGGING: Various other responsibilities have been beckoning. Back later. In the meantime, you can read Dan Kennedy’s comments on CNN and Iraq. And Mike Campbell points to an interesting story on Iraq and UN inspection teams. And sheesh, of course I can take some time off, when even Moxie is warblogging. . . .

WELL, THE ANTIWAR CELEBRITIES AREN’T DOING MUCH, but Greg Beato lists some lefty groups that are actually raising money to help with Iraqi relief and reconstruction.

No action from Sean Penn on this front, though he may be otherwise occupied for a while.

(Here’s a blog that seems to be covering the Sean Penn affair steadily).

WHAT DID CNN KNOW, AND WHEN DID IT KNOW IT? The New Republic is asking.

I’ll have more up over at GlennReynolds.com shortly, too.

UPDATE: It’s up, now. Also, Rand Simberg is wondering why we should trust CNN’s reporting from Damascus or, well, lots of other places. And Tony Adragna wonders if it isn’t really a case of “Ritterism.” Ouch. But this suggested motto isn’t much kinder: “We had to suppress the news in order to cover it.” That kind of sums up how a lot of things have changed in 30 years, actually.

JIM GLASSMAN IS SAVAGING CNN over its Saddam suck-up.

MORE ON CNN: Reader Sage McLaughlin sends this, which echoes a lot of other email I’ve gotten:

You say that we really ought to give Jordan credit for his honesty at this point, now that the danger is passed. Maybe so. But that’s what he really, really wants you to do. That’s what he is, in fact, begging you to do, with a huge assist from the editorial staff of the NYT.

My opinion: Today’s piece was the most shamelessly transparent piece of corporate ass-covering I have ever seen in my life. The point of the article was to plead for understanding, to make the case that CNN had no choice, to hold the organization up as a heroic defender of the rights of its staffers, and to otherwise deflect what he knows is going to be widespread and damning criticism, now that the truth can no longer be concealed.

The really moral thing to do, obviously, would have been to pull out of Iraq years ago, instead of allowing Iraqis on CNN’s payroll to be tortured so that they could maintain the status symbol of “access” to the regime. This is nothing more than an attempt to preempt the likely damage to CNN’s reputation caused by the (accurate) perception that they have been complicit in Hussein’s enslavement of the Iraqi people since at least 1991.

And judging by the presumption of good faith you’re somehow able to lend him, it’s working beautifully.

You know, I think this is right.

TOMORROW NIGHT IS YURI’S NIGHT, celebrating Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering flight into outer space. Rand Simberg (scroll down a bit) has lots of information on how to celebrate, and where.

JOE BIDEN’S DUMB ANTI-RAVE BILL has passed both houses of Congress. Biden — and everyone else involved with this lousy piece of legislation — should be doubly ashamed: first for being associated with such a crappy bill, and second for sneaking it through without hearings and attaching it to an unrelated piece of feelgood legislation.

“FOR SUCH AN ADVANCED SPECIES, THEY SURE KNOW HOW TO RUB IT IN.” — Marge Simpson

Yeah, there has been a lot of pro-war gloating. And I guess that Dawn Olsen’s cautionary advice about gloating is appropriate. So maybe we shouldn’t rub in just how wrong, and morally corrupt the antiwar case was. Maybe we should rise above the temptation to point out that claims of a “quagmire” were wrong — again! — how efforts at moral equivalence were obscenely wrong — again! — how the antiwar folks are still, far too often, trying to move the goalposts rather than admit their error — again — and how an awful lot of the very same people who spoke lugubriously about “civilian casualties” now seem almost disappointed that there weren’t more — again — and how many people who spoke darkly about the Arab Street and citizens rising up against American “liberators” were proven wrong — again — as the liberators were seen as just that by the people they were liberating. And I suppose we shouldn’t stress so much that the antiwar folks were really just defending the interests of French oil companies and Russian arms-deal creditors. It’s probably a bad idea to keep rubbing that point in over and over again.

Nah.

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald links this post in the — as usual — deluded notion that it proves his point. I’ve responded here.

MICKEY KAUS has more on the Eason Jordan Journalistic Enron, as well as a novel theory on why celebrities like to suck up to Castro.

EUGENE VOLOKH has a keen observation on vibrators and double standards.