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 Iraq's Not Over Yet: There's Still Time for the Obama Administration to Blow It The U.S. military has made great headway in Iraq, and we are seeing the country make major strides toward self-sufficiency. But there's a lot of hard work ahead, and the Obama administration must keep its focus on supporting the fragile government and fighting the Iranian-backed militias who want to spread their Islamist agenda. As the White House recoils from months of bad news pouring out of Afghanistan, topped by the sacking of Gen. Stanley McChrystal and replacing him with Gen. David Petraus, there is actually good news to report from Iraq. In a special August report from Bill Roggio, "Iraq's Not Over Yet," readers get the good news from Iraq, the progress our military is making, the way forward and the warning signs we cannot afford to miss.  Here's an excerpt: The United States' plan for the transition of security to Iraqi forces and drawdown of American troops in country to 50,000, which was crafted by the Bush administration and continued by the Obama administration, is on track. This will allow the United States to honorably withdraw from Iraq, leaving behind a country that can potentially be an ally in the heart of the Middle East. However, this scenario can occur only if the administration continues to see the plan through.Read the whole thing in the August issue of Townhall Magazine. |
| New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is taking on the state's entrenched special interests, shrinking government and fixing the budget hole -- all without raising taxes. He's doing in his state what the tea party movement is demanding of the federal government. In the August issue of Townhall Magazine, contributing editor Meredith Jessup reports on the impact Chris Christie is having not only in New Jersey but also on American politics. Below is an excerpt from her feature, "Throwdown in Trenton." After years of aimless wandering through the post-Reagan desert, the search for a conservative political leader may finally be over. A young Republican from New Jersey is spreading the gospel of small government, fiscal restraint and responsible governing. Many elder politicos of Washington may dismiss his preaching as heresy; but the young governor's words have enthralled many voters looking for real change and a restoration of common sense in government. More than his words, Gov. Chris Christie's actions during his short tenure in office to date are making a real difference, both in lifting the state of New Jersey out from underneath it's overwhelming debt and in reigniting Ronald Reagan's brand of small-government conservatism. It's fitting that at age 18 in 1980, Christie cast his first vote for Ronald Reagan. With his zeal for smaller government, Christie has prompted comparisons with Ronald Reagan. But in the end, Christie insists his personal character and governing style are his own: Reagan-esque, "with a Jersey edge." The road to the New Jersey governorship was an uphill trek for Christie. Since Christie's historic victory, the glaring national media spotlight has largely faded. But a close look at the Republican's efforts since taking the oath of office in January reveals that this conservative's star continues to burn brightly. On Day 1 in office, Christie inherited the nation's worst state budget deficit—$10.9 billion on a budget of $29.3 billion. Over the last decade, New Jersey's municipal spending had increased 69 percent, while property taxes had spiked by 70 percent. In his first weeks in office, Gov. Christie put the brakes on New Jersey's runaway deficit spending. He announced spending freezes on hemorrhaging public programs and signed an executive order declaring a statewide "fiscal emergency." Before a special joint session of the New Jersey legislature, Christie announced his planned fiscal solutions for closing the budget gap. Citing both his duties as governor and his "moral obligation" to future generations, he candidly told state lawmakers he would undertake "bold action" to balance the state's budget. He pledged to: • "Cut government spending and end public union excesses we can no longer afford"; • "Reform government to cost less and operate better"; and • "Restore some sense of balance to the obligations we take on—so that in the future they are both sensible and sustainable." He promised to "forge a new course" to bring state spending in line with revenues, and like leaders before him, Christie promised to hammer out a fiscal plan that "lays the groundwork for a better tomorrow." But unlike Democratic politicians of the state's past, Christie understood that securing tomorrow meant tightening the belt today. Read the full, in-depth report in the August issue of Townhall Magazine. Order today. |
| An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) poses a devastating threat that is not science fiction but a real danger to our security that exists in the here and now. In the August issue of Townhall Magazine, Peter Brookes examines the EMP threat, how it works and what we can do to prepare. Below is an excerpt from his piece, "Electromagnetic Pulse Threat."  Just imagine that one bright, sunny day everything electrical just stopped working. The lights go out in your home or office. There is no cell phone or Internet service and, tragedy of tragedies, the coffee maker won't work. All the modern electrical conveniences we take for granted on a day-to-day basis in the 21st century go kaput -- without an obvious explanation. And as a result, modern life as we know it comes to a virtual standstill. Sure, it could be a power outage. That happens when the weather is bad, which it's not on this particular day. The power company could be working on the lines, but they aren't. And even if they were, that might not account for your cell phone outage or the fact your car -- and the others on the road -- all died at once. You were not aware of it, but American military, intelligence and homeland security forces had been tracking a foreign merchant vessel, operating off the East Coast of the United States. In fact, just before everything went dark, the ship opened the large cargo doors on its deck and launched a ballistic missile into the sky in the direction of the American shoreline. Aware of the launch from high-tech, spy-in-the-sky satellites, but unable to take out the missile due the lack of a comprehensive missile defense system, the U.S. military attempts to conduct a counter-strike on the freighter before it launches another missile. That is until the missile's warhead explodes high in the atmosphere over the central United States, releasing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) -- and destroying unprotected electrical and computer capacity within its effective radius. As a result, the country's three main -- and interconnected -- electrical grids are rendered useless due to the EMP, possibly leaving the entire country without service within seconds, according to experts. Moreover, in the blink of an eye, U.S. military forces within line-of-sight of the EMP -- up until this moment the world's most potent, computerized, and capable force -- is now practically out of business. And that's not all. With electrical circuits fried, hospital equipment stops; nuclear power plants are in jeopardy; and there are no emergency services to respond to your calls for help. In fact, you can't even call for help -- 911 is gone. It gets worse. Depending on the size and number of EMP bursts over America, this is only the beginning of our woes. With the destruction of America's electrical and computer systems, there will be severe water, food and medicine shortages, some experts believe. One estimate suggests a major EMP attack would push American society back 100 years technologically and could lead to the death of a large portion of the population in a relatively short period due to an evolving inability to deal with such things as the spread of illness, among other problems. Indeed, a U.S. government-sponsored study by the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack (a.k.a. the EMP Commission) concluded that within just one year of such an attack 70 to 90 percent of Americans could be dead from starvation or disease. While this sounds like something out of "The Twilight Zone," it's not. The possibility is real -- and the threat of EMP is here and now. Read the entire piece in the August issue of Townhall magazine. *** |
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