Battle to Establish an Islamic State Across Iraq and Syria

This is from far-left commentator Patrick Cockburn, brother to the "last Stalinist" Alexander Cockburn (who passed away in 2012), at the Independent UK, "In the war on terrorism, only al-Qa'ida thrives":

It has become increasingly obvious over the past year that al-Qa'ida type movements, notably Isis, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, have come to dominate or can operate freely in a great swathe of territory across northern Iraq and northern Syria. This gives Isis a vast hinterland in which it can manoeuvre and fight on both sides of what is a largely nominal Syrian-Iraqi border. The prospect is always there for an even more explosive conflict: last week, Isis columns of vehicles penetrated deep into the city of Samarra in Iraq, coming within less than two miles of the golden-domed Shia al-Askari shrine, the blowing up of which by al-Qa'ida in Iraq in 2006 led to a savage intensification of the sectarian civil war in which tens of thousands of Sunni and Shia were butchered.

So long as the Syrian civil war continues, it benefits groups such as Isis, which wants to create its own state and not just get rid of Assad, because fanatical armed groups, with fighters prepared to be killed, always benefit from conflict. By the same token, moderates lose out or are marginalised as the situation becomes more and more militarised and Syrian public opinion counts for little.

And, "Isis special report: Jihadist group more extreme than al-Qa’ida in battle to establish Islamic state across Iraq and Syria."

Miss Pennsylvania Valerie Gatto

At Life News, "Miss Pennsylvania Valerie Gatto Was Conceived in Rape, Glad She Wasn't Aborted."

And from Kevin Williamson, at National Review, "Mother Courage: Miss Pennsylvania USA's Remarkable Mother":

There are many kinds of courage in the world, of which a mother’s courage is a very specific and demanding variety. Rape is a special kind of cruelty in that it transforms the life-giving act into an act of torture. To suffer the crime and yet cherish the life is an act of transcendence, a perfection of generosity rarely if ever equaled by the merely human.

Kate Beckinsale

At Egotastic!, "Kate Beckinsale My Hot Virgin in White."

Details Emerge of Bowe #Bergdahl's Captivity

Most of the news now is pro-administration propaganda, with the folks at the New York Times leading the way. William Jacobson reported earlier on the Old Gray Lady's editorial demonizing Republicans for rightly calling out the administration's perfidy and treason, "NY Times Editors Rush to Demonize Republicans over Sgt. Bergdahl."

And from today's edition, "As Bowe Bergdahl Heals, Details Emerge of His Captivity," and "Bergdahl Was in Unit Known for Its Troubles." (At Memeorandum.)

And here's the report from this morning's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, with both George and Martha Raddatz showing touching solidarity with the traitor Bergdahl.



PREVIOUSLY: "Bowe #Bergdahl Won't Speak to His Family."

#Rule5 Sunday

Last up we had "Jessica Simpson Friday #Rule5 Roundup."

So, picking up today, check it out at Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is extreme rain caused solely by someone driving a fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist."

At 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

And from Blackmailers, "Big-Breasted Farrah Abraham Insists That She’s Not a Porn Star."

In a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has the "Friday Pinup."

More at Daley Gator, "DALEYGATOR DALEYBABE CARRIE MINTER."

Odie has, "Goblins ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

The Hostages, "Big Boog Friday."

And from Proof Positive, "Tonight's FNB* is Amal Alamuddin!"

The Chive, "Every girl is working out for the weekend (38 Photos)."

At Knuckledraggin', "For old times sake."

And Dana Pico, "Rule 5 Blogging: The Women of Normandy!"

At Doubletroubletwo, "Random Hotties."

Plus, at Egotastic!, "Eva Green Topless Scene in 300 Rise of an Empire."

And from Goodstuff, "Gwyneth Paltrow's (Iron Man Chick) cleavage leads this gargantuan metablog."

BONUS: At Soylent, "Over-Nighty: Pearls."

Drop your links in the comments if I missed you.

5 Dead in Las Vegas Shooting

At the Las Vegas Sun, "Two officers, three others dead in shooting on Nellis Blvd."

Also at London's Daily Mail, "Two police officers killed in 'ambush' at Las Vegas Walmart by pair of gunmen who then killed themselves":

Sheriff Gillespie confirms death of two LVMPD officers today, Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo. pic.twitter.com/sSuZlLA6Xc

— LVMPD (@LVMPD) June 8, 2014

Sources told KSNV the gunmen ran into the the Cici's armed with rifles and bullet-proof vests at 11.27 a.m.

The pair then shot the officers - one in the head - and then took their firearms and ammunition before fleeing to a nearby Walmart while repeatedly shouting about a revolution beginning, police said.

One of the cops died at the scene as the other was rushed to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead while in emergency surgery, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The two suspects shot then shot dead a a civilian who is believed to have been carrying a concealed firearm and had opened fire on them as they ran into the Walmart, Deputy Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during an afternoon press conference.

There were 'literally a thousand' witnesses to the terrifying events, Mc Mahill added.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies (early edition)," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

And at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Operation Enduring Weakness."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Hillary Wants to Be President Without Media Vetting

Of course.

A killer IBD editorial, via Instapundit, "WELL, IT WORKED FOR OBAMA."

Amid Open Borders Surge, Feds Shipping Hundreds of Illegal Alien Children to Arizona

At Pat Dollard, "Feds Say ‘No End In Sight’ to Policy of Dumping Illegal Alien Children In Arizona."

And Blazing Cat Fur, "This is What 'The Camp of the Saints' Looks Like."

Also at the Arizona Republic, "300 more immigrant children shipped to Arizona."

The thing is, administration policy is being touted as a de facto amnesty south of the border, and single mothers with children are swarming into the United States to take advantage.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Rumors of U.S. haven for families spur rise in illegal immigration":

Yoselin Ramos had long wanted to trek to the United States to escape the crushing poverty and rising violence in her hometown in Guatemala.

But it wasn't until the 24-year-old heard about a "new opportunity" that she packed a bag and left her home with her 3-year-old son, Yovani, for the treacherous journey north.

Ramos became part of an unprecedented surge of families crossing illegally into the U.S., drawn by reports circulating throughout Central America that parents with children are allowed to stay in the United States indefinitely, according to Guatemalan consular officials and parents who are making these trips. But these families, U.S. officials say, are getting only half the story.

The surge of single parents and children has surprised and overwhelmed border agents in the Southwest — particularly Texas — and flooded the Greyhound bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson over the last several months with hundreds of immigrant families dropped off there by U.S. immigration authorities who had nowhere else to put them.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, federal officials flew at least 400 migrants apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to Tucson to be processed, said Andy Adame, a spokesman for the Border Patrol in Arizona.

From there, many were dropped off at bus stations with orders to appear before immigration authorities at their chosen destination within 15 days. "The Border Patrol does not have enough space in its processing facilities to handle a surge in illegal immigrants in south Texas," Adame said.

The unusual situation represents not a change in policy but an attempt to accommodate the unexpected numbers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. Immigration authorities have recently opened shelters on military bases in Texas and California for the wave of children crossing the U.S. border in ever-greater volumes in recent months. Detention centers are available for adult immigrants. But there are no similar facilities for families, at least in the Southwest.

In 2008, immigration officials stopped placing parents traveling with their children at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, after allegations surfaced of human rights violations at the facility.

The fact that so many parents with children have been freed to travel within the U.S. has sent rumors flying through Central American nations that parents will not be detained in the U.S. if they arrive with a child — spurring even more families to launch the journey, according to immigrant advocates and Guatemalan consular officials in Phoenix who have been working to help find shelter for families stranded at bus stations.

More.

Bowe #Bergdahl Won't Speak to His Family

At WSJ, "U.S. Official: Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Has Declined to Speak to His Family: Doctors Moving Slowly on Treatment because of Swirling Controversy Over Prisoner Swap" (via Blazing Cat Fur and Memeorandum):

PARIS—Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has declined to speak to his family after five years in harsh captivity that included being held in a cage after one attempted escape, according to a U.S. official familiar with the Army soldier's recovery.

Doctors treating Sgt. Bergdahl at a U.S. military hospital in Germany are moving slowly because of the swirling controversy over the soldier's release, the U.S. official said.

While he spent five years in captivity after being captured by Afghan insurgents in 2009, Sgt. Bergdahl doesn't yet want to talk to his family on the phone, the official said.

Sgt. Bergdahl has likely been shielded from most of the backlash his release has generated in the U.S. Some former platoon soldiers have accused him of deserting his post and lawmakers from both parties have questioned the decision to trade America's lone prisoner of war in Afghanistan for five Taliban officials held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Local authorities canceled a homecoming celebration in his Idaho hometown because of the backlash. The celebration was canceled specifically because of threats made against the family, officials said.

The political furor, which has raged since the May 31 prisoner swap, continued through the weekend. What had at first blush seemed an uplifting story about a prisoner returning home after five years in captivity has instead become a major headache for the Obama administration, straining ties with lawmakers who felt they were kept in the dark about the prisoner swap and raising fears the freed Taliban detainees could return to the battlefield.

Speaking on CNN, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended the administration's decision to exchange Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five top Taliban detainees, saying it would have been "offensive and incomprehensible" to leave an American prisoner of war behind.

"To leave an American behind, in the hands of people that torture him, cut off his head, do any number of things, and we would consciously choose to do that? That's the other side of this equation," Mr. Kerry said on CNN's "State of the Union." "I don't think anybody would think that is the appropriate thing to do."

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), speaking later on CNN, said he wouldn't have released the five Taliban detainees, saying they were evaluated during their time in Guantanamo as too great a risk and would put other American servicemen at risk. He said the Qatari government "is not renowned for its ability to keep things in security."

"I think we should do everything in our power to win the release of any American being held but not at the expense of the lives and well-being of their fellow servicemen and women," said Mr. McCain, who was himself a prisoner of war in Vietnam. "When we join the military, we know we take certain risks, and among those risks are wounding, death, imprisonment."

More.

Actually, I don't think he's so "shielded." I don't think he wants to be associated with his father right now, who looks like a freakin' imam.

More at NYT, "As Bowe Bergdahl Heals, Details Emerge of His Captivity."

Bowe #Bergdahl's Views Shifted After First Taste of War

At the Wall Street Journal, "Private Was Gung-Ho, but Soon Complained About Army's Strategy":

Bowe Bergdahl arrived in Afghanistan ready to kill.

Like many soldiers heading into a war zone for the first time, the 22-year-old Army private was eager to get into the fight. As he and his unit prepared for battle in late 2008, he approached his squad leader at their Alaska military base with a memorable question.

"The first thing he said was: 'Can I cut off the face of the first Taliban I kill and wear it like a mask?' " said Josh Korder, an Army soldier who said he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The bravado didn't last. Then-Pfc. Bergdahl's view of America's war began to turn after his first big firefight on an Afghan mountainside in May 2009. A month later, after complaining about the Army's strategy, he disappeared from his post.

Now that Sgt. Bergdahl, 28, has been released after nearly five years in Taliban captivity—he was promoted during that time—some of his friends and fellow soldiers are speaking out on the question at the heart of the controversial prisoner exchange that freed him: Why did he vanish?  "I've been thinking about it since the day he left," said Mr. Korder. "Where'd Bergdahl go?"

Was he trying to switch sides? Did he want to leave the war behind and become a nomad? Was he betrayed by two Afghan police officers who Mr. Korder said mysteriously fled from the same outpost the day the soldier disappeared?

The answer rests with Sgt. Bergdahl in a U.S. military hospital bed where he is probably unaware of the political turmoil his release has created. A spokesman for his family declined to comment on Friday, as did the Army.

The Army and the soldiers who served with Sgt. Bergdahl have no doubt that he walked away from the tiny military outpost on June 30, 2009. A classified Army investigation concluded he voluntarily left the compound in eastern Afghanistan, but it stopped short of characterizing it as a desertion, said military officials familiar with the report.  Some soldiers who lived and fought with then-Pfc. Bergdahl described a man with conflicting and often contradictory views of the war.

Pfc. Bergdahl at one point complained to them that the Army's soft-edged "hearts and minds" counterinsurgency campaign wasn't the way to win the war. But he spent hours hanging out with Afghan police officers, studying the local language and praising their culture, they said.  He chafed for a time at not having more chances to attack the Taliban but appeared to respect the way Afghan insurgents fought.

Zach Barrow, a 27-year-old Army gunner who rode in the same truck as Pfc. Bergdahl, described his shift.

"It seemed like he was this die-hard, Rambo-esque soldier who wanted to kick a— and take names who then became this Peace Corps kind of guy who wanted to help the people," Mr. Barrow told The Wall Street Journal in his first interview about Sgt. Bergdahl.

Soldiers who trained with then-Pfc. Bergdahl described the arriving Army private from Idaho as a quiet loner who favored books on Buddhism over video games. He told friends he was named after Chick Bowdrie, the tough Texas Ranger in author Louis L'Amour's cowboy short stories.

Especially at first, Pfc. Bergdahl was eager to fight. In May 2009, shortly after he arrived in Afghanistan, he took part in a mission to rescue an Army unit stuck in the mountains after a roadside bomb had disabled one of its armored vehicles.

On the narrow mountain road, a vehicle in his convoy hit a roadside bomb, leaving his unit stuck in the middle of Taliban-dominated terrain for days. As the stranded soldiers grew anxious, waiting for commanders to come up with a plan, Pfc. Bergdahl fantasized about life in Afghanistan.

More.

Judge Jeanine Pirro Demands President Obama's Impeachment

No one tops Judge Jeanine's righteous indignation.

I love it.

Fresh Legs Stamp Out a Coronation — #BelmontStakes

Following-up from my last entry, "California Chrome Owner Steve Coburn: 'This Is the Coward's Way Out...'"

Here's the main story at the New York Times, "Belmont Stakes 2014: Tonalist Wins, Denying California Chrome the Triple Crown." (A commenter there indicates that previous Triple Crown winners faced fresh horses.)

Also, "Belmont Stakes: Tonalist Denies California Chrome the Triple Crown":

O.K. I’ll admit it, I just got goosebumps for the first time today. And I fully expect half the press box to shed a few tears if California Chrome does indeed win. Chrome’s loquacious co-owner just entered the owner’s box and stood up and tipped his cap to the crowd. It seemed as if the entire crowd turned around and started to chant, “Let’s Go Chrome!”

Now Frank Sinatra Jr. is singing “New York, New York” as the horses make their way to the racetrack. The buzz is palpable.

Bill Dwyre's got an analysis, at the Los Angeles Times, "Once again, a Triple Crown dream vanishes at the Belmont."

And see Steve Kallas, at CBS New York, "Chrome Winning Triple Crown Might Be Bad for Thoroughbred Racing."

California Chrome Owner Steve Coburn: 'This Is the Coward's Way Out...'

At USA Today, "California Chrome owner Steve Coburn flips out after Belmont Stakes."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "California Chrome co-owner calls Tonalist win 'coward's way out'."

From potential Triple Crown owner to sorest loser in a span of a few minutes #stayclassy
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) June 7, 2014

Has the Desperate Global Warming Crusade Reached its Waterloo?

From Steven Hayward, at the Weekly Standard, "Climate Cultists."

More Than Half Say They'd Abandon Their Cable Firm, If Only They Could

Well, if they keep doggin' us on sports programming, like the Dodgers Time-Warner Cable TV debacle, folks won't have any choice but to say screw it anyway.

Yep, at WaPo, "‘A soup of misery’: Over half of people say they’d abandon their cable company, if only they could."

Not Looking Good for Mary Landrieu

At Diogenes.

After Kay Hagan, Landrieu's my #2 top GOP pickoff.

And speaking of Hagan, it's not looking so good for her either. At the Asheville Citizen Times, "Tillis slightly edges Hagan in new poll."

'Blue Collar' California Chrome Has Central Valley Abuzz

A front-page story, LAT, "Belmont: California Chrome's run at history has hometown breathless."

And that nose strip issue won't be a problem, apparently, "Nasal strips came along for California Chrome's Triple Crown ride."

President Barack Obama Remarks at 70th Anniversary of D-Day — Omaha Beach, Normandy

Check the transcript of the speech here.

And the full video is here, "President Obama Commemorates the 70th Anniversary of D-Day."

I'm multitasking here with other news sources, but so far I hear no apology for America, no statement slamming the racist, imperialist United States for "not being perfect." That said, he does conclude by harking back to the meme that "today's wars" are coming to "an end" (even though they are not), so never underestimate the president's ability to throw America's sacrifices under the bus.

National Security Advisor Susan Rice Doubles Down on #Bergdahl Defense

It's pretty pathetic when you have to plead, "Really, Jim ... he is, like all Americans, innocent until proven guilty..."

At Gateway Pundit, "UNREAL. Susan Rice Defends Deserter Bergdahl Again – Calls His Service “Honorable” (Video)." (Via Memeorandum.)