SADDAM GOES COURT-SHOPPING; THE CLOCK TICKS

By Michelle Malkin

In the U.S.:

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein on Friday made a last-minute appeal to an American court to avert execution in Iraq, asking a judge to block his transfer from U.S. custody to the hands of Iraqi officials.

Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for an emergency restraining order aimed at stopping the U.S. government from relinquishing custody of the condemned former Iraqi leader to Iraqi officials, a spokeswoman for a federal court in Washington D.C. said.

The documents were being processed and were not immediately made public. The Justice Department had not yet responded to the request.

More:

The appeal is being heard by Clinton appointee Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Allah notes an AP report saying Saddam will be dead by 10pm Eastern tonight.

MORE PROOF OF BUSH'S FAILED ECONOMIC POLICIES

Check out this headline:

DOW HITS 12,500 FOR FIRST TIME…

Chalk this up as more proof of President Bush’s failed economic policies, especially his tax cuts. What a disaster he’s been for businesses and retirement accounts. NOT!!!

THE END IS NEARING

That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn from this AFP article.

Iraq was preparing for the rapid execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, with the US-backed government eager to bring his chapter in the country’s bloody history to an end.
Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli said Saddam’s death sentence for crimes against humanity, upheld by an Iraqi appeal court on Tuesday, would be rubber stamped by the presidency and the prison service would hang him.

It’s time that Iraq rid themselves of Saddam. That said, Saddam’s execution won’t cure the violence inside Iraq. That won’t subside until Moqtada al-Sadr is marginalized or exterminated & until Iran’s influence is eliminated. Exterminating al-Sadr is definitely doable in the short term but eliminating Iran’s influence will be a much more difficult project.

One thing that might happen as part of Saddam’s execution is that it might tamp down the Sunni-initiated violence. That might happen independent of what al-Sadr’s militias do.

Tension was boiling up further south in the holy city of Najaf after an American soldier killed a senior ally of Sadr during a raid on his house. Sadr supporters and local police told AFP that US and Iraqi soldiers had stormed the family home of Sahib al-Ameri, the president of a pro-Sadr political foundation in the holy city of Najaf, and shot him dead.

Let’s hope that Sadr gets the message that American troops aren’t waiting on Maliki’s blessing with regards to Sadr. This is a clear message to Sadr that he isn’t immune to American attacks. He can’t depend on Maliki protecting him anymore.

LONELY, I'M MR. LONELY

By Michelle Malkin

I linked to this photo of lonely John Kerry spurned by the troops in Iraq last night via Power Line, but the photo is going viral and it's worth re-posting as a stand-alone.

Thank radio talk show host Scott Hennen for sharing the image. He tells Power Line he'll be talking more about the picture and the story behind it during his guest stint for Sean Hannity today and tomorrow. More background at Ben of Mesopotamia's blog:

On Saturday night, a colleague emailed me and told me to bring my camera, as Senator Kerry was scheduled to give a press conference here in the Palace. At 2100, he entered a conference room wearing his leather flight jacket. Unfortunately, there was no media there, except for the enlisted soldiers from AFTN (Armed Forces Television Network) who had to be there. His aide looked around, saw that this just wasn't happening, and quickly escorted Kerry out before I could take a picture.

Finally, the next morning, Senator Kerry ate chow at the Dining Facility. Normally when a Senator/Representative visits, he is joined by a contingent of soldiers/Marines/airmen from his home state. Despite the fact that the MP unit responsible for Green Zone security is an Army Reserve unit from Massachusetts, not a single soldier went to sit with him. (By contrast, Bill O'Reilly, host of that terrible shoutfest on Fox, had over 400 soldiers waiting in line to meet him on Saturday).

Blackfive has more on Kerry's visit.

Bryan Preston sums it up: "I've never seen a snubbing so richly deserved."

I'm sure the Wall Street Journal will call this another of the blogosphere's "second-order distractions." But the troops think it's newsworthy and snort-worthy. And so do I.

Words have consequences.

***

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal blog-bashers, you really must read/listen to Hugh Hewitt's interview with--and schooling of--WSJ journalism expert, Joseph Rago. It's simply brilliant. Almost as good as the Joel Stein interview.

GERALD FORS, RIP

By Michelle Malkin

***update: Dec 27 756am Eastern Bush speaks...Ford "was a true gentleman who reflected the best in America's character...he commanded the respect and earned the good will of all who had the privilege of knowing him...for a nation that needed healing and an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most...we mourn the loss of such a leader...May God bless Gerald Ford."

Fox News reporting...

Statement from Betty Ford: "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, has passed away..."

President Ford was 93. Here's his official White House bio. Here's the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum page.

Columnist Martin Schram penned an appreciation of Ford last month:

Ford became America's 38th president and, most importantly, America's first never-elected president & the only person whose name never even appeared on a presidential ballot before taking the presidential oath. While his presidency was just two years and five months long, it was no mere historical blip. He was uniquely suited for the challenge he inherited & calming the nation after the implosion of a presidency, vice presidency and administration of criminals.

When Vice President Spiro Agnew was proven to be a crook and resigned, President Richard Nixon appointed Ford as veep. Nixon, already trapped in his Watergate web of lies and deceits, figured that the lightly regarded Ford would be insurance against his own impeachment. (It was neither Nixon's first nor worst miscalculation.)

Just eight months later, Nixon resigned, fleeing sure impeachment and conviction; and Ford became president. In his presidency, Ford traveled to China and to a U.S.-Soviet strategic arms summit in Vladivostok. South Vietnam collapsed on his watch. And, of course, he pardoned Nixon. But Ford may have met his greatest challenge and performed his greatest service to the nation on Aug. 9, 1974, the day he took the oath of office.

In his inaugural address in the East Room, President Ford famously told a shaken nation: "My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works . . ." In his speech, he also spoke a line that I've always liked best & because, in its simplicity, it summed up all that was wrong with the Nixon White House and all that would be needed to make things right: "I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together . . ." It was true that day and it is every bit as true today. It is why we always will appreciate Jerry Ford.

Scouring wires...here's an AP dispatch:

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife said. He was 93.

Details on his death Tuesday were not immediately available.

Ford had been fitted in August at the Mayo Clinic with an implantable cardiac pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat after he had been admitted to a Colorado Clini days earlier for tests.

In January 2006, he was hospitalized for 12 days in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for pneumonia. Then in July, Ford spent a few days in Colorado's Vail Valley Medical Center because of shortness of breath.

Ford became the nation's oldest living former president after the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004.

From the Ford library and museum website:

President Ford's Favorites

Hobby: stamp collecting
Breakfast: orange juice, melon, English muffins, and tea with lemon
Food: pot roast and red cabbage (for recipes see The White House Family Cookbook by Henry Haller (New York: Random House, 1987, pp. 176-179)
Dessert: butter pecan ice cream
Hymn: The Navy Hymn - "Eternal Father Strong to Save"
Drink: coffee, iced tea
Color: red
Participatory Sport: golf, tennis, skiing, swimming
Sports Figure: Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers
Parlor Game: bridge
Flower: apple blossom, azalea
Dance: ballroom
Music: jazz, swing
Book: non-fiction contemporary history
Weather: sunshine on golf course, snow on ski slopes
Place to Visit: Vail, Colorado
Time of Day, Season: dawn, all seasons
Hero: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Most Unforgettable Moment: Noon, August 9, 1974.
Most Valued Advice: "That which comes from my wife."
Memberships: American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, 33rd Degree Mason

Flashback: Photos of the two failed assassination attempts against Ford...

A CNN commentator says President Ford will be buried at the Ford library and museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan after funeral/memorial services in California, D.C., and lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

Here's President Bush's statement.

Paul Mirengoff: "My favorite Ford moment came in his 1975 state of the union address when he declared, "the state of the union is not good." Do you think we'll ever hear another president make a statement like that when his party has controlled the White House for an extended period?"

IRANIANS CAUGHT WITH HANDS IN IRAQ'S BUSINESS

Let’s hope that this NY Times article gets people’s attentions as to what the stakes are in Iraq.

The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington.

The Bush administration made no public announcement of the politically delicate seizure of the Iranians, though in response to specific questions the White House confirmed Sunday that the Iranians were in custody.

Gordon D. Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. The two had papers showing that they were accredited to work in Iraq, and he said they were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued, and he said, “We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees.”

Earlier, I talked about Iran built and supplied IED’s to al-Sadr’s Mahdi militia. Now the NY Times is reporting that Iran is supplying them with military advisers. To make matters worse, Gateway Pundit is reporting this

Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat who is considering a run for the White House, argued in a column in an Iowa newspaper Sunday for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Sen. Dodd and Sen. Kerry met with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on December 20. Earlier, Sen. Kerry met with U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq. In other words, these wimpy senators were talking about getting out of Iraq while the news was circulating that Iran was interfering in another nation’s affairs. The last I looked, that doesn’t fit the definition of a civil war. Instead, that’s an act of war. Syria is merely Iran’s puppet.

The bottom line is that Sens. Dodd and Kerry are telling Syria that they don’t need to stop letting terrorists into Iraq and that Iran can keep working to undercut the legitimately elected Iraqi government. In short, they’re pulling an April Glaspie.

In short, it’s time we told these dimwitted and wimpy Democrats to shut up until they pay attention to reality and pay attention to doing what’s best for U.S. national security.