Denzel 'da man!

I confess to having a nearly irresistable urge to skip reading anything that involves a Hollywood star — the probability is just too high that the story will involve outrageously inappropriate behavior by someone who is adored by millions (and who makes millions). These stories infuriate me.

But here's a story I'm glad I decided to read: Denzel Washington (an actor whose work I've long admired) just doing a little bit to to help our soldiers. Way to go, Denzel! From Gateway Pundit:

Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC (Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas) the other day. This is where soldiers that have been evac'd from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially burn victims.

They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot.

The truth

Another excellent column by Claudia Rosett, posted up on OpinionJournal. The start (but don't miss the rest!):

A friend was wondering the other day what frontiers are left to explore, now that scientists have pretty much mapped the planet. The answer, I'd suggest, lies less in the stars than along the frontiers of human freedom--which over the past few decades have been edging out dictatorships from Asia to Latin America to Eastern Europe. Today, sped along by President's Bush's bold move two years ago to break the despotic gridlock of the Middle East by overthrowing Saddam Hussein, that same push for freedom has arrived at the region's palace gates.

Though Saddam has been the only Middle Eastern tyrant so far to fall, there is no question that in the politics of that region a shift is under way. It seems that even in a part of the world the West has long written off as the turf of dictators, oil and not much more, people want freedom. The removal of Saddam is reverberating far beyond Iraq. In recent months the message has become ever clearer, from the astounding election turnout in Iraq, to the demonstrations for democracy in Lebanon, to dissidents raising their voices in Syria, to public demands for pluralism in Egypt--as well as the continuing democratic foment in Iran.

In all this, no where has the clamor for liberty and accountable government been more acute than in Lebanon, a nation that during the last century boasted democratic institutions before there were mutilated by war, then smothered by Syria's occupying forces. And in recent weeks, in their struggle for freedom, the Lebanese people have voiced a vital demand, one that deserves far more attention than even the considerable amount it has already received. They have been telling it in English to the world press, and writing it in Arabic in white-and-black signs across their country, on walls, billboards and banners.

They are demanding, simply: "The Truth."

Defining victory

From AustinBay Blog, an answer from "a senior military officer":

The extremists that brought terror to our shores are intent on achieving – by force of arms - a xenophobic and repressive state based on a skewed understanding of Islam. They desire a future for the Muslim world that looks like something out of the seventh century with an extremist and intolerant interpretation of Islam. Their future-world would be a much larger version of the backward and authoritarian regime in Taliban-led Afghanistan, with no scope for liberty, basic women’s rights, or the freedom of religion. Such a future runs counter to basic concepts of freedom and human dignity, and is not what the vast majority of Muslims want for their children or grandchildren. The extremist-terrorists, however, are clever in hiding their ultimate goals. Their campaign plan is to mask their objectives while playing on unfounded, but deep-seeded fears in the Islamic world about the west via an intimidated news media, and with help from co-opted financial, educational and weapons smuggling organizations across with regional and global scope.

Our counter to the extremist plan is to apply unrelenting military pressure on the leadership and terrorists operatives that spearhead the ideology, while simultaneously applying the western financial, diplomatic, educational and social skills necessary to help Islamic states build effective governance that cares for people’s needs, allows them political participation, and dampens the appetite for violent action against perceived repression. This battle between moderation and extremism requires all nations to engage in the struggle – pressuring terrorist networks, and helping the governments of the Islamic world to succeed for their people.

The whole thing is worth reading, if for no other reason than as an object lesson in the danger of stereotyping "military thinking". I hope we have a lot of officers of this caliber. In my brief career in the U.S. Navy (many moons ago), I saw little evidence of intelligent life in the officers I knew (as an enlisted man), so this was of interest to me on several levels...

President Talbani

From Iraq the Model, some commentary:

This morning marked another turning point in the history of Iraq when the elected Iraqi National Assembly publicly elected and approved the new president of Iraq and his new deputies.

I personally welcome the decision of choosing Mr. Talbani for this position because this step proves again that Iraqis are willing and working hard to bridge the gap between the different components of the Iraqi nation and to overcome the differences and disputes among them.

This new formation of presidency in Iraq will certainly strengthen the unity of this nation and it prove again that Iraq is a home for all Iraqis; not only the Arabs, not only the She'at or any other single race or sect.

Looks to me like a big milestone on President Bush's strategy of spreading democracy. Celebrate!

Quote for the day

If you lose the power to laugh, you lose the power to think.

   Clarence S. Darrow