By Dawn's Early Light

Survey Around the Globe

I had been travelling over the last week on business that kept me occupied for a good deal of the waking day.  To add to the frustration of being busy, I had very little internet access and, upon returning home on December 2nd, felt the effects of an energy-sapping cold, my second within a month.

So as I wade back into real news and commentary from around the globe, let me share with you my findings.  Regular blogging will resume shortly.  Thanks for your patience.

Publius Pundit Reports on Empty Venzuelan Polling Stations

"What if they gave an election and nobody came? - Live Report from Venezuela".  A.M. Mora y Leon reports:

"They returned to the boring ministers attempting to explain away the false election, saying it was rainy - and make feeble efforts to rally the Chavez faithful. Because the way things look now in Caracas, not even the Chavistas can stand Chavez.

This is a disaster for his fake revolution and the renewed beginnings of Venezuela´s real revolution. Through their brave silence, Hugo Chavez can no longer perpetrate the fiction that he is the democratically elected leader of Venezuela. He is a fraud and a dictator and has got to go."

The Historically Shifting Armenia

Curzon of The Coming Anarchy has a well-done post on the historical boundaries of Armenia, using NASA satellite imagery.  An excellent example of culture vs. geography.

The People of Hong Kong Protest for Democracy

Simon brings this interesting and important post direct from Hong Kong "Hong Kong Democracy March".  He writes:

"Crowd inflation is already creeping in. The cops have upped the number to 63,000, the organisers are pushing 250,000. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and here's the reality: it doesn't matter. Crowd numbers are a distraction. Whatever the true number, a significant number of people spent their Sunday afternoon saying "we're mad as hell and want to vote." So far the best Donald Tsang can say is "I've got the message" and he will "perfect" his package, but will his deeds match his words? Now The Don has to do something."

Did you know? - Leprosy Alive and Killing in the World

Willisms brings the story about Leprosy which is still killing in Africa.  Read some interesting facts about this biblical desease.

The Great Game 2

"The New 'Great Game': The Plans for the 'Stans" is another fine link from Steve Schippert at ThreatsWatch. For those interested in the Central Asia and Oil, follow the link.

Enjoy.

Note to Readers - Will Return Dec 2-3

I have been traveling for work-related reasons this week, which has affected my ability to blog.

However, regarding Bush's Plan for Victory in Iraq, I recommend the WSJ Opinion editorial 'Complete Victory'.

Additionally, ThreatsWatch links directly to the National Security Council's Plan with this post.

See you soon...

Bill Roggio Reports from the Front

Bill Roggio, reporting for his new ThreatsWatch site, took a ride with the "4th Mobile Assault Platoon, call sign Jackal 4, for a zero-dark-thirty patrol" in Husayabah, Iraq.

Also, don't miss his analysis from the day prior on the success the Marines are having near the Syrian border working alongside the Iraqi soldiers.  The Iraqi soldiers, besides adding more forces, are helping the Marines in another tactical way.  Read "Steel Curtain Unmasked" to see how.

Potpourri Great Reads

I have been caught up with work today and am not at my sharpest due to a decent cold.  However, I did get the opportunity to read some great articles and commentary today that I would like to share with you.

GWoT - Fortitude and Caution

Marvin Hutchens at ThreatsWatch writes an exceptional commentary that puts the recent Beltway debate on the war in Iraq in the proper context.

"To those who believe our departure from Iraq on any terms other than the successful establishment of a stable and secure Iraq – capable of defending its people and interests against internal and external enemies – I would offer caution. Caution your words against their unexpected adoption by our enemies, caution your hearts against the forgetfulness of hours passed, and by all means caution your aspirations.

The fortitude required to check that which we are most assured of equals the fortitude to hold such positions at all."

Why Google Is Brilliant

This article is the best analysis I have read of Google's long term strategic planning and why it is closer to a "Wal-Mart" in success than a "Microsoft".

"The same follows for the rumor that Google, as a dark fiber buyer, will turn itself into some kind of super ISP. Won't happen. And WHY it won't happen is because ISPs are lousy businesses and building one as anything more than an experiment (as they are doing in San Francisco with wireless) would only hurt Google's earnings.

So why buy-up all that fiber, then?

The probable answer lies in one of Google's underground parking garages in Mountain View. There, in a secret area off-limits even to regular GoogleFolk, is a shipping container. But it isn't just any shipping container. This shipping container is a prototype data center. Google hired a pair of very bright industrial designers to figure out how to cram the greatest number of CPUs, the most storage, memory and power support into a 20- or 40-foot box. We're talking about 5000 Opteron processors and 3.5 petabytes of disk storage that can be dropped-off overnight by a tractor-trailer rig. The idea is to plant one of these puppies anywhere Google owns access to fiber, basically turning the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid."

Logical Thinking

tdaxp with its trademark graphs, charts and flow diagrams writes a well resourced post "Globalization is Water: The Magic Cloud"

China bids on former Howard Air Force Base in Panama

Cheat-Seeking Missiles calls the US State Department (which wasn't following the sale to the Chinese and gets a response).

"The State Department's Panama Desk and its embassy in Panama City are both watching Friday's sale of mothballed Howard Airforce Base with concern ... but not too much concern.

'We don't see an air strip as a possibility, and neither does our embassy. If it were, it would be a concern,' Greg Schiffer of State's Panama Desk told me today.

He acknowledged that redevelopment plans for the property could include its use for air transport purposes, but 'not as a military base.'"

Enjoy!

Al-Zarqawi Killed?

Reader Larwynn sent me earlier today a link to several news stories about a possible shoot-out or explosion with US forces in Mosul that killed 8 terrorists.  There is some hope that one of those killed is Al Qaeda's Iraqi head, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Here are two MSM articles concerning that, one from ABC News and the other from the Guardian Unlimited. 

Bill Roggio, who is now in Kuwait, on his way to Iraq, reports on ThreatsWatch about the rumors and tracksback to a story he wrote on possible successors if he is indeed killed.

Keep following ThreatsWatch for the latest breaking news in Iraq and in the Global War on Terror.

Threats Watch Goes Live!

ThreatsWatch LLC goes Live!

Bill Roggio, formerly of The Fourth Rail, Steve Schippert of The Word Unheard, and Marvin Hutchens of Little Red Blog have formed together to create ThreatsWatch.org.  Founded by three veterans of the US armed services, ThreatsWatch's goal is encapsulated below:

"To best stand against these threats to life and liberty, a well informed and educated public is a necessity. To achieve a well informed and educated public, we believe that the press must be supported and further aided, rather than ignored, to bring clear and concise information to the forefront of the public's attention. Additionally, the observations of national security professionals must be delivered in a form more palatable to the average reader. For the open source community of non-professional advocates of security awareness, whose insights are often in finding the buried value in professional analysis, and for the public at large, the volume and variety of data before them is often at odds with their desire to understand."

ThreatsWatch has the content of the The Fourth Rail from Bill Roggio along with increased coverage of other national security issues.  The website focuses on the following:

• Overview page with the following links
  • NewsBrief - Covering the globe with links to top articles about world events
  • Commentary - Editorial commentary from TWs principals
  • InBrief - Look for Bill Roggio's posts from Iraq in December here along with top commentary on how the GWoT is progressing
  • PrincipalAnalysis - Steve Schippert launches this section with a fisking of a Washington Post article on foreign insurgents in Iraq.
  • Multimedia - The collection of Flash presentations from The Fourth Rail along with new visual content.
  • RapidRecon - Quick reaction to world events with links to other blogger/news pieces.

Check it out. 

Fox News on GodBlogCon 2005

Kudos to Fox News for carrying this AP story on GodBlogCon 2005 [DEL posts on here and here].  The first ever convention of Christian bloggers was held last month at Biola University.  The Fox News story is fair and balanced from this blogger's perspective.

"Many bloggers are now writing about religious oppression, poverty and world hunger, instead of hot-button issues such as abortion, homosexuality and assisted suicide, said the Rev. Andrew Jackson, a seminary professor and pastor at the Word of Grace Church in Mesa, Ariz.

'With blogging you tend to break out of those circles and you see other points of view,' Carter said. 'There's a bigger world out there than gay marriage and abortion.'

At one well-attended workshop — 'When Non-Christians Read Your Blog' — Biola University professor Timothy Muehlhoff (search) gave instructions on writing about faith without alienating nonbelievers.

He stressed that God blogging has the potential to be a "train wreck" because done wrong it can reinforce stereotypes of evangelical Christians as angry and close-minded "pit bulls of the culture wars.'

'As Christians today we are embroiled in the argument culture and we have forgotten this one thing: Blessed are the peacemakers,' he said. 'Wouldn't it be nice if we could say we brought a level of civility back to the conversation?'"

There is more to Christianity online than the typical Main Stream Media debates.  The SCBA is a great example of the diverse opinions and areas of interests to a group of Christian bloggers.  There is a tremendous amount of collegiality and civility among Christian bloggers that I have experienced online.  It is a wonderful, growing community. 

I am looking foward to meeting more Christian bloggers at GodBlogCon 2006!

Bill Roggio's Interview with Col. Davis (Part II)

Bill Roggio again has another excellent must-read interview with Col. Stephen Davis, Commander of Marine Regimental Combat Team - 2, on Operating Steel Curtain.  The interview is good not only from the comments and analysis provided by Col. Davis but also the probing and knowledgable questions asked by Mr. Roggio.  An earlier interview with Col. Davis can be found here.

Here is just one nugget from the exchange on the Iraqi army:

"Bill: Last time we spoke, we discussed the morale of the Americans serving under your command. Can you give us a feel for the morale of the Iraqi troops?

Col Davis: The morale of the Iraqi troops is high. We are very fortunate to work with these soldiers and to watch them grow. The 2nd Brigade, 7th Division of the Iraqi Army is operating in the Hit/Haditha region, and the 1st Brigade, 1st Division is operating out west on the Syrian border. One of the battalions was engaged in Fallujah and Ramadi. There are some tough and battle hardened soldiers in these units. I am fortunate to have these two brigades directly under my command.

I dine nightly with [Iraqi Army] Colonel Razak, and we discuss the progress of the Iraqi troops and their ability to conduct combat operations. These units operating out here have good morale and show a high degree of proficiency in combat. They are in need of logistics assistance from us. These guys fight hard; I’ve lost six Iraqi soldiers since they have been operating out here.

The Iraqi troops are extremely helpful when it comes to identifying insurgents and al Qaeda. For example, outside of the displaced persons camp set up for citizens of Husaybah, Iraqi troops of the 1/1 picked two Saudis and a Qatari out of the crowd who were dressed as women, then engaged and killed all three. This is but one example of their proficiency."

I highly recommend the post to you.  While you are there, consider donating to Mr. Roggio's December trip "in country" to Iraq as he will be with the Marines of RCT-2.

Bloggers Beware of NationsMaster

Dan over at tdaxp is being threatened with legal action for writing a couple of posts on the poor service and over-billing he has experienced by NationMaster, a statistical software service. 

He is truly getting squeezed by a company that appears to conduct business in bad faith.  If this is how they treat customers, I would never consider using them. 

However, it is an example of how companies that have a litigious nature can attempt to squeeze the little guy.  While the First Amendment clearly protects Dan, in my opinion, on this case, they use the intimidation of hefty legal fees for a court battle to get their way.  Shame on this type of corporate behavior.

For a detailed analysis of the correspondence between NationMaster's rep John Steinmetz and Dan, take a look at NationMaster Watch.  While you are at it, add a comment to Dan's site and give him your support.  If you blog, please track back to his post and give him your support.  The more bloggers who support Dan, the better protected we all are when someone uses these dishonest techniques against us.

Update: Current posts on NationsMaster courtesy of tdaxp (Nov. 8, 2005):

• Aaron
• Coming Anarchy
• Dawn's Early Light
• I Hate Linux I
• I Hate Linux II
• Jim River Report I
• Jim River Report II
• Jim River Report III
• Junk Politics
• Ryne McClaren
• SimonWorld I
• SimonWorld II
• tdaxp I
• tdaxp II
• tdaxp III
• tdaxp IV
• tdaxp V
• The Metropolis Times
• ZenPundit

Bill Roggio's Interview with Col. Davis

Bill Roggio, who is planning on going to Iraq to report firsthand on the Marines' efforts in the Anbar Province in Western Iraq, conducted an insightful interview with Colonel Stephen W. Davis, Commander of Marine Regimental Combat Team - 2.

There are many excellent nuggets in the interview, but Col. Davis' focus on seeing the big picture in waging the fight against the insurgents is clear.

"Saddam never controlled this region of Iraq. It is very tribal and fiercely independent. He sent in the army to kill and intimidate the population. He established two tribes in the region: the Salmanis and the Karabilah tribes, to further his goals and counterbalance existing dominating tribes. The Iraqis out west, particularly in Haditha, are well educated and are able to provide for their own needs. They have operated this way for centuries and can do so again with the proper security environment. We have a simple equation we use out here:

Presence = Security = Stability = the environment for self governance.

Our goal is to enfranchise the Iraqi security forces and allow them to provide for the security in the region and improve the lives of the Iraqi people. We will continue to conduct civil/military affairs operations to improve the lives of the Iraqi people. In Haditha, we are rebuilding the hospital the jihadis attacked with a car bomb and then used as a base of operation. We are working to enhance schools and other services vital to the people. We will continue to maintain a presence until the Iraqi Army is capable of standing on its own."

I highly recommend the article.

Please help Bill Roggio raise the $25,000 he needs to travel to Iraq and expand on his first-rate coverage of the men and women fighting the war and the global perspective of how the war for Iraq is progressing against the backdrop on the Global War on Terror.  Follow the link in the upper right.  For an updated list of Bill's needs for the trip, click here.  The list includes:

• Bullet proof vest with Level 4 API plates
• Tactical backpack
• Cold weather sleeping bag
• Rough weather/terrain computer
• Video camera
• Digital camera
• Extra batteries
• Audio recording device

It is a worthy cause supporting a man I know personally, who is a first-rate gentleman and brilliant thinker.  If you are inclined to and able to help (even just $15 will make a difference) please contribute.