Oscar Noms

The Academy nominations are announced and they have decided not to pit Leonardo DiCaprio against himself, as the Hollywood Foreign Press did, but snubbed him for the wrong movie. Nominated for Blood Diamond they passed over his great performance in the otherwise dubious The Departed. One of the best big performances I've seen since Edward Norton in 1998's American History X.

Paul Greengrass's United 93 was nominated for Best Director (which he was no shot at) and the Academy continues to be prejudiced against comedy by failing to nominate Sacha Baron Cohen for his rude, crude, brilliant Borat. And no David Bowie nomination for The Prestige as he was the best thing about that movie, playing Nikola Tesla.

Books To Read

Here's my current list of what I want to read in '07:

QBQ - John G. Miller (and Flipping The Switch)
The Future of Warfare - Bevin Alexander
The Pentagon's New Map - Thomas Barnett (and Blueprint for Action)
First Fruits of Prayer - Frederica Mathewes-Green
Mark Steyn's Passing Parade
White Guilt - Shelby Steele
Original Intent - David Barton
Human Accomplishment - Charles Murray (and In Our Hands)
Fiasco - Tom Ricks (and Making the Corps)
History of English Speaking Peoples Since 1900 - Andrew Roberts (and Salisbury)
Guests of the Ayatollah - Mark Bowden
Third Option - Vince Flynn (and Memorial Day)
Just War Against Terror - Jean Bethke-Elshtain
Elect in the Son - Robert Shank
A Mind For God - James Emery White (and Serious Times)
Eurabia - Bat Ye'Or (and Islam and Dhimmitude)
Dogmatic Theology - William Shedd
Proper Confidence - Lesslie Newbigin
The Last Lion - William Manchester
Without Roots - Joseph Ratzinger
In The Fullness of Time - Paul Maier
The Swallows of Kabul - Yasmina Khandra
The Theory of Moral Sentiments - Adam Smith
The Universe Next Door - James Sire
Jihad Incorporated - Steve Emerson
Between War and Peace - Victor Davis Hanson

Quds Forces Detained

The President alluded to this in his address the other night but how many in the MSM are picking up on the Iranian Quds forces are that fueling the insurgency? That's right, almost none. If you aren't aware of them either don't feel alone. Neither is Dennis Kucinich. Thankfully Bill Roggio over at his fine blog The Fourth Rail is covering it and has a new article about this Iranian Revolutionary Guard detachment that is working to undermine American efforts at nation-building. Read his story here.

Zapatero Apologizes

Back in 2004 - in the days after the 3/11 bombing - Spaniards swept out the conservative Aznar government in favor of the Socialist Party's Jose Zapatero. He was elected in large part on the promise that he would pull Spain out of the coalition forces fighting in Iraq.

A few days ago the prime minister apologized for putting his faith in peace talks with a banned separatist group. Money quote:

"All Spaniards heard me say on December 29 that I had the conviction that things were better for us than five years ago and that in a year's time things would be even better," Mr Zapatero told a special session of the Spanish parliament.

"Although it is not frequent among public leaders, I want to recognize the clear mistake I made before all Spanish citizens."

Despite allegations that he had been "fooled" by Eta, he insisted that he had been right to seek negotiations with the terrorist group after they declared a permanent ceasefire last March. "I did what most Spaniards wanted - to try to use the truce to end the violence," he said.

How many people will attempt to bargain with terrorists before they realize it is futile?

(HT: Captain's Quarters)

The Art of Counterinsurgency

Is Lt. Gen. David Petraeus the right man for the job in Iraq? Well, he quite literally wrote the book (the Army field manual on counterinsurgency) so he's well positioned by way of understanding what we face. A good biography of the General is available here and as troops are arriving as we speak I would like to see General Petraeus get out in front of the MSM on stories concerning the troops, negative or positive. We cannot fight a generational war without resolve and perseverance and for that we need confidence at home.

(HT: Worldwide Standard)