Belmont Club has some information about the assault on Fallujah, including a possible timeline.

It seems that CBS was delaying the investigation into Rathergate in order to avoid having to discipline its employees. From Broadcasting & Cable:

Pre-election, the feeling in some quarters at CBS was that if Kerry triumphed, fallout from the investigation would be relatively minimal. The controversial piece’s producer, Mary Mapes, would likely be suspended or fired, but a long list of others up the chain of command–from 60 Minutes II executive producer Josh Howard, to Rather and all the way up to news division President Andrew Heyward–would escape more or less unscathed.

Here’s hoping they get what they deserve.

(From Rathergate.com)

Arthur Chrenkoff has a look at two weeks’ worth of good news from Iraq.

Tim Blair has details on several new outbreaks of BDS.

Earlier, I watched a Fox News video showing Iraqi troops successfully seizing control of the city’s hospital. It was heartening to see Iraqi soldiers participating in clearing out Fallujah, and building their future.

More details from the BBC.

Marine armor is getting ready to see action.

Deacon at Power Line remarks, “Before the start of the military campaign in Iraq, it was feared that we would have to engage in fierce urban fighting unlike any we’ve seen since Vietnam. We were able to conquer Iraq without such fighting, but now may be forced to engage in it.” While this engagement may be long overdue, it will probably turn out to be the costliest one for our efforts in Iraq to date.

We made it up to Clingman’s Dome yesterday. Unfortunately, traffic was bad enough that we didn’t get there until sunset. The photograph below was taken from the Clingman’s Dome parking lot.

The view was still incredible. The sky was clear and full of stars. And we could see bright city lights in the distance.

For the day. It is beautiful here in Knoxville, so my wife and I, and some friends are headed up to the Smoky Mountains for the afternoon. If I take any nice photos, I’ll post them later.

Rantingprofs links to a NY Times op-ed by ABC News’ director of polling, who opposed the inclusion of “moral values” in the exit polls.

Opinion researchers don’t always agree. The exit poll is written by a committee, and that committee voted down my argument against including “moral values” in the issues list. That happens - and the exit poll overall did deliver a wealth of invaluable data. The point is not to argue that moral values, however defined, are not important. They are, and they should be measured. The intersection of religiosity, ideology and politics is the staging ground for many of the most riveting social issues of our day.

The point, instead, is that this hot-button catch phrase had no place alongside defined political issues on the list of most important concerns in the 2004 vote. Its presence there created a deep distortion - one that threatens to misinform the political discourse for years to come.

The post on Rantingprofs also points out something I hadn’t considered: “Aside from the obvious (that ‘moral values’ could have meant Kerry’s values, as a characteristic of leadership) the interpretations also presumed that every voter was a single issue voter, but the poll never asked people if they voted only on the basis of the issue ‘most important to you.’”

I may often refer to Colin Powell as cousin Colin. Lest anyone in the blogosphere think I am dissin’ him, I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way. And no, he isn’t my cousin. I have a very close friend who is married to one of Powell’s cousins, hence the reference. When I found out about their relationship, we started jokingly referring to him as ‘cousin Colin’, as in “Man, you need to tell cousin Colin to tell those jokers at the U.N. to shut up.” That’s all there is to it.

Why doesn’t somebody tell Kofi Annan to shut up?

The United States, Britain and Iraq on Friday angrily dismissed a warning from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that a military offensive in the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah could jeopardize the credibility of upcoming elections in Iraq.

In letters dated Oct. 31 and addressed to President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and interim Iraqi leader Ayad Allawi, Annan said using military force against insurgents in the city would further alienate Sunni Muslims already feeling left out of a political process orchestrated largely by Washington.

This leaves no doubt that the U.N. is utterly useless in dealing with global terrorism. Leaving the terrorists in control of Fallujah would seriously damage the credibility of the Iraqi government. It will send a signal to other militant groups that an Iraqi democracy is incapable of dealing with them. If the thugs in Fallujah want to be part “of a political process”, then they need to lay down their arms and accept democratic government. Until they do that any claims to being left out in the cold are fraudulent. But I won’t be holding my breath, waiting for it to happen.

Fortunately, the U.S., British and other coalition governments aren’t heeding Kofi’s “advice”.

Annan pushed for a diplomatic, rather than a military, solution in Fallujah. But Allawi said the “window is closing” for diplomacy, and within hours U.S. warplanes pounded the heavily populated city while Marines and Iraqi troops hovered on the outskirts.

Asked about Annan’s concerns Friday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, “Frankly, we differ.”

Boucher added: “The Iraqi government has made very clear that they do have a strategy for resolving the problems of these towns like Fallujah. It’s a strategy that has worked in some cases already, in Najaf and Samarra and a few other places. It’s a strategy of reaching out politically to local leaders, of reasserting Iraqi government control and of moving militarily where that needs to be done, Iraqis and coalition forces together.”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell discussed the letter with Annan in a weekend phone call, and the U.N. chief met privately on Monday with John C. Danforth, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Privately, Bush administration officials said they were livid about the letter, which was sent two days before the U.S. presidential election.

It’s good to see cousin Colin (no, he’s not my cousin) telling Kofi where to stuff it.

Captain Ed has some thoughts on Kofi’s cowardice and the U.N. as well.