Hi -

Godspeed, Michael, all the best for a safe and for your own personal safety uneventful trip.

Don't forget plenty of sunscreen and a wide brimmed hat.

Take care of yourself.

Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 07/05/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

MJT -- Best of luck. I look forward to your blogs and pray for your safe return.

Good luck Michael. You couldn't have picked a better time to go. It'll only be around 50 celcius in the shade this time of year. Enjoy the pool in the IZ, if you get a chance. It's quite impressive.

Hope you enjoy this as I have.

Firebrand cleric Abdul Aziz's capture sparked an exodus from Islamabad's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, with 1,200 male and female students surrendering to the authorities a day after clashes there left 16 people dead.

...**After all the things he has said and all the oaths he took from his students that they should embrace martyrdom with him, look at this man,** deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said.

It's like an upper-class Indian masquerading as an Untouchable, or a Ruler of the Universe in blackface, trying to fool the cops.

The deputy information minister has it precisely right, just look at this guy, a typical blowhard inciting his followers to martyrdom, who cross dresses and tries to sneak out the alley, leaving his followers to their doom.

This is, shall we say, not unusual. I reported way back when that Osama bin Laden sneaked into Iran from Afghanistan when the going got tough in late 2001...in a burqa. Ditto for many other jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan, who pretend to be despised females when given a chance to perform the ultimate sacrifice.

You may have noticed that some of the hardliners in Iran are demanding death for former president Khatami, because he shook hands with a woman-not-his-wife.

But I rather wonder if these same tough guys will wrap themselves in burqas and chadors when their moment comes. It's a delicious practice, isn't it? These vile misanthropes who delight in having women stoned or hanged or flogged, sneaking around in drag rather than facing their Maker.

Or the Marines, for that matter, who are firmly committed to arranging the meeting.
========== http://corner.nationalreview.com/
= TG

I hope you have a great and safe experience and bring back lots of useful info for your readers! Your wife is a saint.

Still reading your blog after 4 years, still impressed, and now just a little concerned...

Take care.

Safe passage, Michael.

Have a good trip and be safe, Michael.

LONG LIVE MICHAEL J. TOTTEN!!!

Thanks Michael, safe passage.

Take along extra eyes for the back of your head and duck a lot. Also, keep us posted!

Safe journeys,
Krista

Good luck.

All the best and take care of you, Michael!

Post it if you're headed upriver from Ramadi.

Have a safe trip, Michael!

Be safe Michael. Please let me know if you can get any info on the collaboration of Saddam Hussein loyalists and al Qaeda in post and/or pre invasion Iraq. I think some of the guys over there may be ready to open up on what they've found.

Michael, all the best to you.