"Attention, attention, attention, there has been an indirect fire attack," says a pleasant woman's voice, as if announcing the 8:20 Southwest flight into BWI instead of a potentially deadly rocket or mortar attack.

... residents here are known as "Fobbits," residents of a Forward Operating Base or FOB. They resemble the hobbits of fiction, reluctant to venture far from their comfortable and familiar burrows.

"Biggest threat here is gaining weight," huffed a beefy airman.

Once a week the command opens an Iraqi bazaar where real Iraqis come to sell souvenirs and crafts. A large sign outside proclaims "No Bargaining," thus prohibiting the social interaction integral to a Middle East marketplace.

Down at the cement factory, operations are supervised by a demonstrative young Turkish woman who favors skin-tight jeans, cowboy boots and strategically tight white blouses. Soldiers try to find an excuse to drop by.

... rising powers ... are creating a strategically tight market for the rest of the world.

"I'd like to think I'm a strategically tight player, but I'm going to keep people guessing, at least for a while."

... those kind of strategically tight and faded jeans that made men glad to be alive.

Having ascended to the pop stratosphere with a Top 40 anthem and strategically tight, white underwear, Wahlberg legitimized his pop-icon status by appearing in one of the best American films of the last 10 years.

A Day in the Life of a Fobbit

Earlier this week, the Justice Department announced a major bust. After a six-month undercover sting investigation, it charged nine people with violating the Neutrality Act, which bars Americans from plotting to topple foreign governments recognized by the US. The men, members of the Southeast Asian Hmong minority, allegedly envisioned a massive military operation, laying plans to ship surface-to-air missiles, rockets, mines, and guns to Laos to equip rebels there.

The alleged mastermind? Vang Pao, a 77-year-old refugee from Laos who for decades has been flamboyantly raising money to fund Hmong rebels -- and winning the admiration of American conservatives.

But in the post 9/11 era, Washington finds it can no longer tolerate guerrillas in America's midst.

Guerrillas in our midst

I was an Arabic translator. After joining the Navy in 2003, I attended the Defense Language Institute, graduated in the top 10 percent of my class and then spent two years giving our troops the critical translation services they desperately needed. I was ready to serve in Iraq.

But I never got to. In March, I was ousted from the Navy under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which mandates dismissal if a service member is found to be gay.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Translate

What the world needs is an open, confident America.

Fareed Zakaria's latest piece is getting lots of buzz.

How to Restore America's Place in the World

Over the years I've pointed you to several articles by Mark Danner.

Last month he gave the commencement speech at Berkeley.

When my assistant greeted me, a number of weeks ago, with the news that I had been invited to deliver the commencement address to the Department of Rhetoric, I thought it was a bad joke. There is a sense, I’m afraid, that being invited to deliver The Speech to students of Rhetoric is akin to being asked out for a romantic evening by a porn star: Whatever prospect you might have of pleasure is inevitably dampened by performance anxiety — the suspicion that your efforts, however enthusiastic, will inevitably be judged according to stern professional standards. A daunting prospect.

The only course, in both cases, is surely to plunge boldly ahead.

Words in a Time of War

Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental and annual appropriations for military operations in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

DOD’s reported annual costs for GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2 billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $98.4 billion in fiscal year 2006.

So far in fiscal year 2007, Congress has provided DOD with $70 billion in annual appropriations for GWOT.

To continue its GWOT operations, DOD has requested an additional $93.4 billion in supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 2007 and $141.7 billion in appropriations for fiscal year 2008.

The United States’ commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued investment of significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal challenge.

Do you think al Qaeda has a GAO? How do they manage without one?

Global War on Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense

The death is not al-Masri. What makes this guy a 'figure' is that he was involved in "hiding" and "moving" Jill Carroll.

General Caldwell said there may not be any Mr. Baghdadi.

Competing claims seemed to arise from repeated recoveries of the same body.

I am oddly compelled to quote Shakespeare:

Enter ABRAHAM and BALTHASAR.

ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

SAMPSON
I do bite my thumb, sir.

ABRAHAM
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

SAMPSON
[Aside to GREGORY] Is the law of our side, if I say ay?

GREGORY
No.

SAMPSON
No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.

I would also accept references to Monty Python and Reno 911!.

Qaeda Figure in Iraq Is Killed, US Military Says

By rushing into Iraq instead of finishing off the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Washington has unwittingly helped its enemies: al Qaeda has more bases, more partners, and more followers today than it did on the eve of 9/11. Now the group is working to set up networks in the Middle East and Africa -- and may even try to lure the United States into a war with Iran. Washington must focus on attacking al Qaeda's leaders and ideas and altering the local conditions in which they thrive.

Al Qaeda Strikes Back

Experts think this is a nonevent, regardless of its truth.

The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was killed Tuesday in an internal fight between insurgents north of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

See also:

"Clearly taking a major terrorist off the battlefield is an important thing and if we can confirm it, if this did happen, without question it would be a significant and positive development," Crocker said. "That said, I would not expect it to in any way bring to end Al Qaeda's activities in Iraq. We saw the organization adjust to the death of Zarqawi.

"My sense is that it is a now a very decentralized terrorist effort, so while removing its current head would be a good and positive thing, I think we have to expect that we will need to continue dealing with further Al Qaeda attacks."

Do you know, or are you guessing?

Asked again to confirm Masri was dead, Mr Bolani said: “If he has not been killed today, he will be killed tomorrow.”

I get the impression that by "today" and "tomorrow", he did not mean specifically "May 1, 2007" and "May 2, 2007".

Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq reportedly killed

About 1,000 sock monkeys are preparing to deploy to the Middle East with the mission of reminding servicemembers that the American public still supports them.

Thank you, sock monkeys!

Read the news article.

Sock Monkey Ministries, Inc.