JOHN MCCAIN:

America’s mission in Iraq is too important to fail. Given the stakes, we cannot launch this “generational commitment” to changing the Middle East on the cheap. The administration should level with the American people about the cost and commitment required to transform Iraq.

Americans must understand how important this mission is and be prepared to sacrifice to achieve it. Without an intensive campaign now to explain what is at stake and absent the necessary political and financial commitment, we raise the potential for a defeat that will deal a lasting blow to American interests and freedom’s progress.

Having liberated Iraq, we must demonstrate the tangible benefits of occupation, which the Iraqi silent majority will tolerate if it successfully delivers services, law and order and a transition to Iraqi rule. The danger is that our failure to improve daily life, security, and Iraqis’ participation in their own governance will erode their patience and fuel insurrection.

We do not have time to spare. If we do not meaningfully improve services and security in Iraq over the next few months, it may be too late. We will risk an irreversible loss of Iraqi confidence and reinforce the efforts of extremists who seek our defeat and threaten Iraq’s democratic future.

This isn’t news to the blogosphere, of course, but it’s nice to see that both John McCain and Howard Dean get it. That substantially shrinks the cut-and-run constituency, I’d imagine. McCain is, of course, right about the importance of what’s going on in Iraq. What’s frustrating is that the reporting from there is simultaneously biased and incomplete, for reasons already elaborated all over the blogosphere. But that’s a real disservice, given the importance of the situation.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

You link to McCain’s speech sounding the call for openness about the cost, in time and money, of the war on terror. Then you say this is no news to the blogosphere. Is it your belief that Bush has failed to get this message across? Is the blogosphere really so savvy that it’s the only group of people who can understand the president’s message? I know I’ve heard him mention many times that it will take years and billions. I also know that I’ve heard liberal pundits pretending that, far from having said that, Bush has instead said it will be quick and cheap. It’s dishonest for McCain to speechify as if that was actually the case.

What I found interesting was the commitment to staying the course, not the sniping at the Administration. I agree that Bush has made plain (at least to those who actually listen to the speeches) that this will be a long and expensive struggle. It’s interesting to note, though, that to the extent Bush’s critics are moved to go after him on these grounds, they’re forced into a position of hawkishnes.

LOOKING BACKWARD: Bruce Hill has a conversation with a descendant. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

IS CALIFORNIA THE NEW EUROPE? This raises troubling issues.

UPDATE: Los Angeles reader D. Spangler emails:

Actually, Glenn, I think California is on a fast-track to becoming the “old Europe.” And therein lies the problem … and why I am counting the days until I can make my escape from this place!

Good point. Say, perhaps Davis should build a wall to keep them in. . . . Most were educated at state expense — it’s not fair for them to take their expertise elsewhere!

THIS COULD BE A BOMBSHELL:

When questioning stalled, according to Posner, cia men flew Zubaydah to an Afghan complex fitted out as a fake Saudi jail chamber, where “two Arab-Americans, now with Special Forces,” pretending to be Saudi inquisitors, used drugs and threats to scare him into more confessions.

Yet when Zubaydah was confronted by the false Saudis, writes Posner, “his reaction was not fear, but utter relief.” Happy to see them, he reeled off telephone numbers for a senior member of the royal family who would, said Zubaydah, “tell you what to do.” The man at the other end would be Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a Westernized nephew of King Fahd’s and a publisher better known as a racehorse owner. His horse War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby in 2002. To the amazement of the U.S., the numbers proved valid. When the fake inquisitors accused Zubaydah of lying, he responded with a 10-minute monologue laying out the Saudi-Pakistani-bin Laden triangle.

Zubaydah, writes Posner, said the Saudi connection ran through Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom’s longtime intelligence chief. Zubaydah said bin Laden “personally” told him of a 1991 meeting at which Turki agreed to let bin Laden leave Saudi Arabia and to provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom. The Pakistani contact, high-ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir, entered the equation, Zubaydah said, at a 1996 meeting in Pakistan also attended by Zubaydah. Bin Laden struck a deal with Mir, then in the military but tied closely to Islamists in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (isi), to get protection, arms and supplies for al-Qaeda. Zubaydah told interrogators bin Laden said the arrangement was “blessed by the Saudis.”

As I’ve said before, they’re not our friends. Assuming that it’s true, this would seem to support that.

UPDATE: Hmm. This is interesting, too:

Paramilitary forces on the Pakistani border with Afghanistan have arrested an Iraqi national suspected of links to the shadowy al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, a senior security official said on Sunday.

Hmm. Meanwhile Tim Blair asks:

By the way, where are all the Western protests about foreign forces invading Iraq in order to kill innocent Iraqi civilians?

Missing in action, as usual.

UPDATE: Fred Pruitt has some incisive comments over at Rantburg.

MORE: There’s this report from Pakistan:

Pakistan’s army confirmed yesterday that several officers have been arrested on suspicion of being linked to Islamic extremist groups.

The move will raise renewed fears that the security organs of Pakistan, a nuclear power and important Western ally in the war on terrorism, have been infiltrated by allies of the former Taliban regime and Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan is almost important a source of Islamist fundamentalism as Saudi Arabia.

A NICE TOUCH: I mentioned liking the new Simpsons Third Season DVD earlier — but here’s something I like about it that’s relevant to all sorts of other things: the DVD menu design.

The temptation in setting up DVDs is to create fancy, creative menus. (And it’s a temptation I’m aware of now that I can author ’em myself). And those are cool and impressive for about 30 seconds after you open the DVD, after which they’re usually a pain.

The new Simpsons’ release has a selection that basically lets you play each disc from beginning to end, like a video tape, without having to deal with menus. That’s a great idea, and all DVDs should have that option, easy to implement and up front. Or maybe all DVD players should have it.

MICKEY KAUS is all over the Bustamante / MEChA story:

Is the L.A. Times a) “objectively’ reporting on a campaign controversy or b) bending over backwards to exonerate Latino activists, either out of political correctness, or because it’s terrified of alienating a large group of potential readers, or as part of its near-monolithic Bustamante-boosting coverage? You make the call! … Would the Times show similar tolerance for, say, an anti-bilingual site that reprinted a document containing the slogan, “For Anglos, Everything. For non-Anglos, Nothing”?”

But that’s different, because, well, it just is, okay?

JOHN SCALZI has figured out that Wi-Fi at home is a huge productivity booster:

At the moment, I’m writing this in Athena’s room, on the floor the computer propped up on my lap; Athena is behind me on her bed making up a Powerpuff adventure. Three weeks ago I would have to be in my office to type this and Athena would be coming in about every six seconds to ask me something or to ask me to do something or whatever, which means I would actually have a difficult time getting work done when she was around; now she’s happy to let me work because I have proximity to her. . . .

Interestingly, this also works with Krissy; she’s more content to let me do work if I’m in line of sight. There’s a real psychological difference between being in the office all the time, away from the family while I’m doing work, and being in the room, doing work while the family is doing stuff around me.

Being in the room on wireless is more like reading a book, which nobody minds; being in your office is more like work.

TACITUS IS TRACKING CRUZ BUSTAMANTE’S DODGES regarding the MEChA story.

The mainstream media have largely ignored this, making very clear that there’s a serious double-standard where racist organizations are concerned.

THIS IS INTERESTING: A reader from Iraq emails that the U.S. authorities are distributing leaflets offering rewards for turning in saboteurs. Apparently, some Iraqis have added a sticker reading as follows (translated):

Iraq is for Iraqis

Arab national should leave Iraq

If they don’t they will bear the consequences

The Iraqi people won’t tolerate their remaining here.

Gee, you think this mosque-bombing stuff could be backfiring?

MORE UNILATERALISM:

Eleven years after France signed the Maastricht Treaty it has decided it has had enough of its obligations. The straitjacket of the stability pact, which paved the way for the euro, is bound too tight for an economic downturn, it has told Brussels.

So instead of suffering for the common European good, President Chirac has decided to bust out, to let his deficits soar and try to spend his way to an economic recovery.

It is hard to know what lesson Sweden is to draw from this as it prepares to vote on Sept 14 on whether to start using the euro. Is every country that uses the single currency allowed to behave like this?

Of course not. Only those indispensable nations at the center of the Empire Union.

ED DRISCOLL OFFERS A DELIGHTFUL APPRECIATION OF LES PAUL, over at BlogCritics.

TOM MAGUIRE HAS THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET COVERED:

OK, dream ticket – Dean-Clark? The fiscally responsible / socially irresponsible Governor, the General, two guys that gun nuts could love – why not?

Well, it beats Kucinich-Sharpton! Meanwhile David Adesnik has more over at Oxblog, where he’s winning praise from Kevin Drum for his vivid prose.

UPDATE: Jim Henley thinks that libertarians might bolt the Republican party for the right Democratic ticket. He may be right. Bush hasn’t exactly stood for small government — and yeah, I know, there’s a war on, but the war, ironically, is where the big-spending tendencies seem to be most restrained — and while he hasn’t been any worse than Clinton on civil liberties other than gun rights, he hasn’t been much better, and the gun-rights talk has mostly been just that, talk.

I’M NOT SURE THAT I WOULD HAVE MADE THIS CONNECTION, but Josh Claybourn writes that Mel Gibson’s movie proves that the motion picture industry is heading in the same direction as the record industry.

MORE BILL O’REILLY NONSENSE ABOUT THE INTERNET: O’Reilly seems awfully worried about Internet accusations. Even true ones.

THE BA’ATH / AL QAEDA CONNECTION is looking pretty strong:

NAJAF, Iraq – Iraqi police have arrested four men in connection with the bombing of Iraq (news – web sites)’s holiest Shiite Muslim shrine, and all have links to al-Qaida, a senior police official told The Associated Press on Saturday. . . .

The police official said the men arrested after the attack claimed the recent bombings were designed to keep Iraq in a state of chaos so that police and American forces would be unable to focus attention on the country’s porous borders, across which suspected foreign fighters are said to be infiltrating.

The four men arrived in Najaf three days before the bombing and were staying with a friend who did not know their intentions, the official said.

American officials believe militants from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran are infiltrating Iraq to attack Western interests.

Meanwhile, it appears that it’s not just the Blogosphere that is suspicious of Al Jazeera activities in Iraq:

A defence official in Washington, who asked not to be named, said two people who had identified themselves as journalists working for Al Jazeera had been detained.

He said an investigation was underway as to why they were in the area and whether they were really journalists.

“They had videotape of the attack, and tape of a possible earlier attack,” the official said.

“An investigation will determine whether they were journalists and were legitimately covering the news.”

Given Al Jazeera’s friendly relations with — and outright spying for — Saddam, it wouldn’t be surprising to find terrorists or agents of hostile Arab governments operating under Al Jazeera cover.

UPDATE: Tacitus has a number of observations on the mosque bombing.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Maybe I should have just said “Advantage: Adragna.” Meanwhile Tom Maguire has noticed a Rumsfeld comment on “flypaper.”

JEFF JARVIS:

The anti-Fox craze also reveals (pardon my standard screed here) an essential snobbiness to the left these days. The left used to be the people’s cause, the Democratic party the people’s party. But with the age of disapproving, PC snips, the left became a culture of snobs. Labor ties aside, they look down upon the mall masses. And that’s why they don’t understand the popularity of Fox and its balls-out opinions. That’s why theirs has become a smaller movement.

Indeed.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON WRITES that an American success in Iraq will threaten a lot of people. “Most nations and institutions will see themselves as losers should we succeed.”

That’s okay. We see them as losers already!

And speaking of losers, Mark Steyn writes that the secret to success in Iraq is keeping the UN out. That’s the secret of success in most things. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Peter Ingemi expands on Hanson’s point:

Here is my theory:

Our Islamist friends know (as the CSA did in 64′) that they won’t be able to beat us in the field and what they are doing in Iraq is only postponing the day of reckoning.

In addition the Saudis, Syrians, Iranians, North Koreans know that if there is a Bush 2nd term that it will be the end of their way of life.

Islamists have already declared Bush the world’s greatest foe of Islam. Unless Lieberman wins the nomination these people will POUR money into the campaign. And if HILLARY runs expect even more cash in that direction.

These people know it is their best shot to stop us, so watch the money roll in.

Just my theory. Cynical isn’t it?

Yep. But a reason for enterprising journalists and bloggers to pay close attention to campaign donors.

Robert Dean has more thoughts: “What a sad commentary on the state of humanity at the dawn of the Third Millenium, that creating freedom and prosperity in a formerly oppressed nation should evoke such widespread opposition.”

UPDATE: But this is encouraging. Plenty of people do want to see Iraq free and prosperous.

WANT TO SPICE UP YOUR BLOG SELECTION? Check out the selection of Indian blogs featured at this week’s Blog Mela. If you’re reading the same old blogs day in and day out, drop by — you may find some new blogs worth bookmarking.

ROBERT TAGORDA WONDERS if Cruz Bustamante isn’t using the MEChA issue to energize Latino voters.

Hmm. Makes the parallel to race-baiting Southern politicians of previous generations all the stronger, doesn’t it? Bustamante may indeed be trying to use racism in an effort to win election. The question is, why are the Democrats going along? The answer, I guess, is that they care more about winning than they do about racism.

UPDATE: Charles Austin makes a Vietnam analogy.

DAVID ADESNIK IS DEFENDING HOWARD DEAN FROM THE LIBERAL MEDIA. No, really.

I spoke the other night with a friend in Nashville who’s quite well-wired in Democratic circles. He thinks that Dean is likely to win the nomination, and that he can give Bush a tough ride in the election. He may be right.

AMERICA WON: Heh. (More here, via The Corner).

ROD DREHER WONDERS why the media are more interested in Arnold’s 25-year-old consensual sex than with Cruz Bustamante’s present-day embrace of an openly racist organization.

MOSQUE BOMBING: Hmm. I wonder if any Al Jazeera people were around?

ARNOLD KLING HAS SOME THOUGHTS on the need for diversity training in academia.

WINDS OF CHANGE OFFERS THE TRENT TELENKO I-TOLD-YOU-SO ROUNDUP on the Air Force Academy scandals, which look to be quite bad.

I was out there to give a speech something over ten years ago, and the place seemed very nice. Maybe it was, then, or maybe the problems just didn’t show. The challenge will be to clean house without crippling the place.

The lesson is — and should be — that it’s a lot easier to deal with these problems early on than to let them fester and then clean up the resulting mess.