WASHINGTON (AP) - The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee sought to weaken support for a resolution opposing President Bush’s Iraq war strategy, saying Sunday that supporters are intellectually dishonest. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a 2008 presidential candidate, contended the bipartisan nonbinding resolution amounted to a demoralizing “vote of no confidence” in the U.S. military because it criticized Bush’s plans to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq without offering concrete alternatives.

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McCain Blasts ‘Vote of No Confidence’

I have a few words for ALL of our esteemed Senators, if you want to convey a ‘no confidence’ vote in GWB, I have no problem with that, but let me tell any and all this one thing, to even remotely express an opinion of ‘no confidence’ concerning our troops is the worst mistake you will ever make… All out troops need is a leader that has a set of balls and the GUTS to give the order… If that order were given, our troops would destroy a lot of real estate is short order…

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The four U.S. helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since Jan. 20 were apparently shot down, the chief American military spokesman said Sunday - the first time the U.S. command has publicly acknowledged that the aircraft were lost to enemy fire. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters that the investigations into the crashes of three Army and one private helicopters are incomplete but “it does appear they were all the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those helicopters down.”

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U.S.: 4 Copter Losses Due to Ground Fire

After the 4th paragraph the story roams to other Iraqi news, but the 1st 4 paragraphs appear to me to convey the idea that the DoD and the Field Generals seem to forget, the VC and NVA kept Bell Helicopter in business for years… I know the new birds have a lot better everything than the old ‘Huey’ had but ‘copters are still incredibly vulnerable to ground fire and losses are to be expected… In Vietnam helicopters were shot down all the time, simply because of the nature of their mission, VERY close support, fire missions, troops insertions and extraction and MedEvac… And they’re BIG targets as well…

WASHINGTON (AP) - A revolt against a national driver’s license, begun in Maine last month, is quickly spreading to other states. The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. The federal law sets a national standard for driver’s licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.

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States Challenge Nat’l Driver’s License

Maybe a National D/L isn’t the answer but we have got to have a way to identify every man, woman and child in THIS nation and we MUST determine who is legal and who’s not… Oh, wait, it doesn’t matter, they’re going to let em ALL become legal anyway…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The Iraqi government said Sunday that half the Sunni Muslim militants behind the bombings shaking the country had arrived through neighboring Syria. The United States and Iraqi officials have long accused Iraq’s neighbors, particularly Syria and Iran, of failing to stop Islamic militants from crossing into Iraq to carry out attacks.

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Iraq says many bombers come via Syria

And this is NEWS?? Every blogger worth their salt has been saying this for quite some time now, the only part of this that the MSM is missing on is the idea that Saudi Arabia IS the financier of the entire deal… And until all 3 nations are addressed, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, there will NEVER be any resolution in Iraq and I don’t give a damn what ANY ‘Bush Bot Bloggers’ have to say about it… Iraq is NOT the problem, Iraq wasn’t the problem when we went into Iraq…

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) — Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said Saturday he will probably run for president in 2008. “There’s a real good chance,” Giuliani, a Republican, said after a 30-minute speech and question-and-answer session with party leaders in South Carolina.

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Rudy Giuliani seriously considering presidential bid

Run Rudy, RUN!! I can’t speak for ALL Conservatives, but as for me, all I have to say is RUN, you’ll just be tired when you don’t get the nomination, but run… You won’t get MY vote…