Chirac’s stance continues to generate ‘results’ as is noted in this report from the Daily Telegraph:

Here’s an extract:

“Street protests against American and British military action in Iraq have escalated into attacks by Muslim youths on Jewish demonstrators, sparking fears of a new wave of anti-Semitism across France. The French government was forced to appeal for calm after protesters, some of them carrying pictures of Saddam Hussein, burnt the Israeli flag and turned on Jewish students, attacking one of them with an iron bar, during a series of anti-war rallies. Officials fear that anti-war sentiment, supported by President Jacques Chirac, may be running out of control and could ignite widespread violence. Banners at recent demonstrations have shown the Star of David intertwined with a Nazi swastika, while protesters shouted "Vive Chirac! Stop the Jews".”

To their credit, some members of the government have condemned this sort of behavior. One, apparently, has not:

“President Chirac, whose bitter opposition to the United States-led military offensive in Iraq has won him almost universal support in France, has remained silent on the attacks…”

There’s a review in today’s New York Times of ‘Terror and Liberalism’, a new book by Paul Berman that sets out to put Islamic fundamentalism into the correct totalitarian context.

As the reviewer notes:

“By putting the war on terror in this totalitarian context, Mr. Berman shows that while the differences between many of these movements are profound, so are the similarities. The totalitarian model makes it clear, too, that much of the recent discussion about the root causes of terror is as distorted as the arguments of those who once argued that the root causes of German Fascist or Soviet Communist terror were in the aggressive behavior of the democracies or even the subversive presence of the Jews. Mr. Berman's also suggests that as totalitarianism has taken on liberalism, liberalism has often too-readily succumbed, seeking to treat even its enemies as reasonable when they were not.”

Too true.

Signs of a new irregular enemy, or the perception of one, were to be seen yesterday afternoon at a position held by the marine's 5th regiment as they waited for the order to go forward. Troops captured a man alleged to be a Sudanese "jihadist" - one who had come to Iraq to fight against the US on religious grounds.

The man, looking frightened and with his hands bound behind his back, was driven away for interrogation on the bonnet of a Humvee. Marines on the scene gave few details but said he was one of two "jihadists" they had captured.

Any overlap of the invasion of Iraq and America's proclaimed war on terror would be a disturbing development, whether it was real or in the minds of the invaders.

Since I can't believe we don't have that hotel located to the nearest millimeter... I'm betting that a more accurate description would be, "Explosion 100 meters from the Palestine Hotel."

Increasingly, every time I see this mis-Information Minister in Bagdhad, I am reminded of the closing scene of "Animal House" when the Delta House has taken over the downtown area and Kevin Bacon, playing the ROTC officer, in stark contrast to the chaos going on around him keeps screaming "All is well! All is well!"

Showing footage of what David Kay thinks is a chemical weapon dispersing canister. It has Russian writing on it.

Time magazine runs a piece on great war blogs and blogs during wartime. No mention of the Corner again. They ask for suggestions of other good blogs. Maybe you could drop them a line?

Those who predicted that the Iraqi army would surrender, that the Iraqi population would welcome the coalition with open arms and that the Iraqi leadership would collapse were wrong. Unfortunately, the "effects-based" strategy embraced by the Pentagon was based on these conditions. What has transpired is a case of arrogance resulting from ignorance of the enemy.

The Iraqis, thanks to the Al Bakr Institute, have not made that mistake. And today we are paying the price.

"U.S. Tanks Come Under Fire During Three-Hour Incursion
By PATRICK E. TYLER"
You might think that the Iraqis made the incursion and surprised the US. But read the story: US tanks made it to center Baghdad and BIG NEWS were fired upon. Shouldn't the headline be: US Reaches central Baghdad Despite Resistance in 3Hour Incursion?

From a reader:

Jonah,
As a used to be occasional turned fanatic NRO reader, I have a confession to make. What does NRODT mean? Whatever it is I know it MUST be great as I see references to it constantly in The Corner. If you will please clarify what this is exactly, I am sure that I will participate, consume, purchase etc.

Many thanks,

[Name Withheld]
(A.K.A. Sheepishly Asking Question Guy)

It stands for National Review On Dead Tree. Why it caught on is a mystery.

On the question of civilian casualties, you will tell me that allied forces have not targeted at any time the Iraqi civilians?

PRIME MINISTER:

Absolutely not. Now two things I would say to you on that. The first is I would just ask people to be really cautious of these reports. Those Baghdad street market bombs for example, we are sure that the first one is not coalition forces. We are still trying to check out the second one. Yet I understand when people see the carnage and the bloodshed they feel very angry about it. But I ask people not to treat these reports as correct until they are actually proven. And the second thing is to realise yes there will be innocent civilians that are killed, but we have done everything we possibly can to minimise them, and as I say measure that against the things that people don't see, the inside of Saddam's prisons, the Shia Muslims driven from their homeland, those in the north persecuted and killed, had chemical weapons used against them. All I ask is that people have a sense of balance, and I think you will find that for most people in Iraq, and this is a judgement that will be made later, life will be better.

"I don't think I'm going way out on a limb here to assume that somewhere in that block's long line of drivers near Lake Ronkonkoma waiting for their five free gallons, were a few who weren't really that gung ho about the war but just stuck a flag in their windshield wiper to get the gasoline gratis. Unintentional or not, that's purchased patriotism. And as we are reminded every time we hear about Iraqi human shields and forced suicide bombers, purchased patriotism is one of the things we're fighting against."

An amendment to provide that none of the funds made available in the bill for reconstruction efforts in Iraq may be used to procure goods or services from any entity that includes information on a response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) that indicates that such entity is organized under the laws of France, Germany, the Russian Federation, or Syria.

From a reader:

You've given me an opening with your juxtapositioning of journalists and doctors and lawyers. I am a lawyer. I was required to complete a lengthy education and to pass a rigorous exam in order to become one. I am licensed to practice law, and if I break the ethical rules of my profession, I will be severely disciplined, and even disbarred (that is, I lose my license and thus my livelihood). Along with that responsibility, I have the power to defend my clients in certain extraordinary ways, such as refusing to give testimony where the attorney-client privilege applies and my client exercises it.

Journalists claim a version of this right and many others (for example, the right to be flown around war zones by the Pentagon and to photograph, but not help, the wounded), but if a journalist violates the journalists code of ethics, he faces nothing more than a media handwringing session, which may HELP his career (see Geraldo). All rights, no duties -- the sanctimoniousness (yes, it is a word) is breathtaking.

Rick, as I'm sure you know, it was Kipling who wrote the epitaph that is carved on the graves of unidentified British WWI dead, "A Soldier of the Great War - Known Unto God". His own son, John, was killed in that war, something that led Kipling to write the heart-breaking "Have You News of My Boy Jack":

"Have you news of my boy Jack?"
Not this tide.
"When d'you think that he'll come back?"
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.
"Has any one else had word of him?"
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

"Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?"
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind -
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide.

From a reader:

Uh, I think the Hypocratic Oath is what Tom Daschle, Jesse Jackson et al subscribe to. You're thinking of the Hippocratic Oath.

Here it is. As Fozzy Bear used to say, wack wacka wacka.

....Some hailed Wolf Blitzer's decision to put down his microphone and join the firefighters in putting out the flames before they could ignite the fuel truck and kill hundreds of orphans.

But Bob Steele, director of the ethics program at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, said he was uncomfortable with Blitzer's situation, now that the rescue operation is over.

"I'm hoping and trusting that he and CNN set some thresholds,'' Steele said. "I think it's problematic if this is a role that he's going to be playing on any kind of frequent basis. I don't think he should be reporting on it if he's also a participant. He can't bring appropriate journalistic independence and detachment to a story."

I didn't know him at all. I only talked to him on the phone a couple times during the Lewinsky scandal. But if he wasn't the journalist I admired most in Washington, he had to be close. Virtually, overnight he made The Atlantic and The New Republic amazing, must-read magazines. In college, I read his war reportage from the first Gulf War religiously.

Howard Kurtz' obit says Kelly was a conservative and I suppose that's right. But I never really saw him as one. Rather, I always perceived him as an old style blue collar Democrat whose B.S. detector pushed him to the right on specific issues. Whatever, his columns were tough as nails, but he always explained where he was coming from. In that I've always seen him as a role model -- there's nothing wrong with hitting the other guy hard as long as you provide a rationale for doing so and are willing to take your lumps in return. But Kelly was also an intellectually gifted man with a profound sense of decency, or at least that's the impression I always got from his work.

Of course, Kelly is not the only American to die in Iraq and the fact that Kelly's death is so heartbreaking for many of us in the journalism business is a sobering reminder, for me at least, of the real pain caused by every death in this war. Without taking anything away from the reality of those tragedies, I find the loss of Michael Kelly particularly painful because while I consider everybody in uniform to be a hero, Kelly was a real hero of mine. He was one of the really good guys, he believed in the rightness of what America is doing and in the goodness of America in general and he wasn't afraid to say so. His passing is a terrible, terrible loss.

The only current references that would indicate he survived would be references to events that were UNFORESEEABLE two weeks ago. An Apache being shot down does not fit into this category. Tragic as it was, it was quite foreseeable that an Apache helicopter would be shot down at some point, since we have huge numbers of Apaches and they operate on the front lines.

The FOX News military expert has just expressed skepticism as well. The reporter made some kind of patronizing "I know more about this than you do, General" saying that the Apache comment would have had to have been a "very lucky guess." But that's the point -- it would not have been a lucky guess. They just wait until it happens and then they play the tape.

On the day the US troops first enter Baghdad proper, the Iraqis could release a tape of Saddam saying "The invaders have entered our capital today, but we will defeat them..." ...will that [prove] that Saddam is alive on that day?

Another great article from the Master is up on National Post of Canada. Here is a quote: “If the media's version of SARS -- Snotty Anti-Rumsfeld Syndrome -- has any merit, it ought surely to be of universal application. When the last five Baathists have fled Iraq and are living on welfare in Sarnia, Eric Margolis will still be assuring us that it's all part of a brilliant Saddamite strategy that has exposed the allied victory for the sham it is. Would it not be possible to apply this "healthy skepticism" towards officialdom a little more broadly? Right now the Anglo-American war's going brilliantly, the Canadian home front's a disaster: Toronto's hospitals are more overstretched than Baghdad's, and our national carrier is in worse shape than the Iraqi Air Force. Yet mysteriously the Canadian media insist it's the U.S. Government that's complacent and inept.”

Marines find intelligence bonanza.

Another piece on the Iraqi lawyer who tipped-off our guys about Pfc. Lynch, at great risk.

Could be used as a super-base.

AP NEWS ALERT 6:43 AM:

NEAR BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops find "suspicious site" with thousands of boxes of white powder, chemical warfare documents and nerve agent antidote south of Baghdad, U.S. officer says.

From Air Power guy:

This, sadly, was all too common a prank during the Vietnam conflict. It happened to our neighbor, whose F-105 pilot husband was shot down over North Vietnam.

People need to understand how this works...

This kind of notification is done in person, by a uniformed officer, who may be accompanied by a chaplain, nurse or both. Fortunately, the low casualty rate makes this more feasible (I almost used the word "easier" but that certainly isn't the right choice). Most of us have been on call for that duty in our careers (and you always are if you're a commander and you can be there yourself).

Whoever did that underscores the depths to which too many in this country will stoop to get even when decisions are made and things happen in America that they disagree with. It is repugnant, but it happens and will probably happen again, sad to say. I firmly believe there's a special place in Hell for people like that.

From a reader:

The whole thing would become moot if you just became a Mormon. Interesting fusion of Catholic and Jewish theology, and we can eat bacon without guilt.

I've always thought you'd make a great Mormon bishop.

From a reader:

Jonah,

The Iraqi Minister of information's pronouncements remind me of a line in Eric Frank Russell's novel Wasp:

"For months we have been making triumphant retreats before a demoralized enemy who is advancing in utter disorder."

Jew.

From a Father (the Catholic kind):

Dear Jonah,
I have been reading you faithfully [pun intended] and detect no anti-Catholicism whatsoever. Your critiques of my co-religionists are articulate, concise, and true. Buchanan, Moran, et al., are deserving of much harsher correction than you have offered. Keep up the excellent work. The author of the column criticizing you and other Neo-conservatives wants to stir up Catholics against you. The fact of the matter is that he would appear to be promoting some other ancient prejudice, trying to replace the hyphen with a space in "Judeo-Christian," if you ask me. Please carry on in the best tradition of Mr. Buckley with all your fellow NR and NRO writers, especially K-Lo and Derbyshire and Rod Dreher. As we Papists frequently say in Latin: Non illegitimi carborundum est.
Semper fi,

[name withheld]

For the record, my response to that silliness before was intended to communicate the fact I don't take that Ravotti guy very seriously. A few people wrote me very nice notes to say "Don't let him get you down...." Thanks, but it's really no biggie. But I also got a few emails like this which bug me:

I enjoy the corner but I think your response was weak. This is coming from someone who doesn't like Buchanan and thinks he's nuts

First, much of the criticism of Buchanan was that the people he chose to criticize were Jewish (Perle, Wolfowitz, etc). Rivotti points out that the people you criticized happened to be Catholic (Novak, Matthews, Moran and Buchanan)

Then you go on a personal tirade about how well you get along with Catholics and how you married one etc. Fine, but couldn't the same argument hold true for Buchanan? I'm sure he has plenty of Jewish friends. It's the old "Some of my best friends are ..." line.

Where did he say that you don't like Catholics? If it's wrong for Buchanan to single out Jews, it's wrong for you to single out Catholics.

So, let me just do this very quickly:

1) I was joking around.
2) The emailer and Ravotti claim I singled-out Catholics. I didn't. Ravotti cherry-picked the Catholics I criticized and then said "aha Goldberg's attacking Catholics." It's dishonest argumentation and....
3) Not true. I believe that Moran is a Methodist and I don't believe Michael Kinsley is Catholic either. But even if everybody I've ever criticized is a Catholic...
4) It doesn't matter because I have never suggested, hinted, implied, winked, or even thought that their positions derive from being Catholic. It didn't occur to me until I saw this joker's column -- which is why I thought it was so funny. Meanwhile...
5) Buchanan and Moran implicitly and explicitly suggested that Jewishness is the issue with their opponents. In other words, it is wrong to single-out Jews, or Catholics. I've done neither. This Ravotti guy did both.

At what point can we run breaking news headlines announcing there are no explosions in Baghdad?

We're not going to make too much of a habit out of this. But another reader sent me a request I couldn't help him with (because Cosmo is too good a dog to require the aid of how-to books). And since he named his dog "Captain America" (a good Marvel character, by the way) I thought maybe you guys could help him out. He's given me permission to publish his email address.
Here's the request:

Jonah, I have just resuced a terrier mix pupy (8 wks. old) from the pound. I'm 35 with four kids (11, 6, 3, & 1), who have been pleading with me to find a family dog - and we finally found the right one. With the war going on, and with my giant collection of Marvel comics from my childhood, I managed to have the kids name the dog after my favorite superhero - Captain America. People's reactions are uniformally positive. However, I need a dog lover's help - and have an offer for you. I am blessed with a wife as conservative as me, and by the the constantly thought provoking articles on NRO and NRODT. I am not blessed with an intimate knowledge of dog training. Can you please recommend the best sites, books, methods, authorities etc., for housebreaking, training, etc.? My survey of authorities has yielded contradictory results, and I just don't have any frame of reference (e.g., rolled up newspaper vs. doggie treat reinforcement). In exchange for any info. you can give, I offer my experience as a new, and recurring, dad in your efforts with your new baby. If you are already punchy with unsolicited advice, no problem. But if you need a "new baby guy," I'd love to help. Thanks for any assistance, and God bless the folks at NRO and NRODT.

Brian

I don't want to risk any US soldiers lives for a photo-op, but wouldn't it be awesome if we could get troops inside that briefing room during one of this joker's tirades.

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Minister of Information: "We have the criminal Zionist oil gang on the run! The mercenaries are being destroyed. Victory is at hand for the glorious nation of Iraq and our supreme leader Saddam Hu---"

Sgt. Williams, US Special Forces: Excuse me sir, you're going to have to come with me.

al-Sahhaf: What? Get out of here! I am speaking to the media!

Williams: I'm afraid not sir. Say goodbye.

al-Sahhaf: Lying infidel! People of the world I ask you! Do you believe me or your lying eyes?"

Williams: Sir, seriously. Shut your pie hole or we'll be forced to shut it for you.

al-Sahhaf: Okay....[whispering] could I get one of those ready-to-eat meals?

That must be where they store all the nail clippers they confiscate.

A reader writes:

Does this mean I now have to go to confession? You see I signed up for NRODT due to your well disguised anti-Catholic columns. As the usher for 5 o'clock mass at St. Louise, I hang my head. Shame on me.

According to ABC News. Still unclear when curbside check-in will resume.

NYT's Dexter Filkins is at the tip of the spear heading into Baghdad. He says the Iraqis are ecstatic about the liberation of Iraq. And, hey, on that note. If anyone knows of good quotes snickering at the idea, please send them my way.

A reader writes:

Jonah, Interestingly enough, the Times originally got it right. In this analysis from the 28th, the quote is correct. I remember the misquote from the 26th or the 27th, because I wrote an e-mail to a relative on the 27th mentioning how the quote didn't "ring clear" to me, coming as it did from our chief ground commander during hostilities. I can't remember the source, but I think it was the Washington Post. I wondered in my e-mail if it was not some sort of disinformation trap designed to draw the Iraqis out. Given the qualifier "A BIT", it is much easier to understand. However, we are now left with the mystery of how the New York Times came to run the much more inflammatory (and erroneous) version on it's front page on April 1st after having reported it correctly three days previously.

Left-wing "peace" activist Tom Cahill, fresh from weeks of acting as a so-called "human shield," expresses his 40 years of building "rage" at the United States on CNN. And who said all the angry white male haters were on the right? Best line of wackiness, paraphrasing: "I didn't see much evidence of a dictatorship there, except lots of military and lots of pictures of Saddam Hussein

This guy doesn't like me. In wh