I can hardly wait to hear Oblablah's take on the latest news coming out of Iraq.  [hat tip:  Lt. J. Fishman]

"After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

The group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.

Last Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed to a large explosion today."

Also courtesy of Lt. Fishman, the strides are not only in the fight against terrorism, but on the political front! 

"The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Sunday waived Iraq's debt of nearly seven billion dollars and named an envoy to Baghdad, in a twin boost timed with a visit by Iraq's prime minister.

President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan told Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki the UAE has "decided to write off all debts owed by Iraq totalling four billion dollars... plus accrued interest," state news agency WAM reported.

An Emirati official, confirming the decision, told AFP the debt and interest amounted to just under seven billion dollars.

The UAE, a close US ally, also named its current envoy to India as ambassador in Baghdad, the official said.

Washington has been pushing its Arab allies to send ambassadors to Baghdad and ease Iraqi debt to help anchor volatile post-Saddam Hussein Iraq in the Arab world.

"The UAE cabinet, at its meeting today, approved the appointment of its current ambassador to India, Abdullah Ibrahim al-Shehhi, as its ambassador to Iraq," the official told AFP.

"The Iraqi government has already approved the nomination."

The appointment, confirmed in a cabinet statement, came a month after UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan became the first high-ranking official from an Arab state in the Gulf to visit Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion.

He said at the time that Abu Dhabi would soon name an ambassador to Baghdad."

I don't trust Oblablah's back-pedaling to the right for an instant, even though it is royally pi$$ing off his far left supporters.  He will adjust his rhetoric, as well as his actions, if he manages to pull the wool over the eyes of a majority of American voters to become POTUS.  He will socialize medicine, he will try to nationalize oil production in America, he will attempt to shut off the voices of Rush Limbaugh, et al.  He is immature, and with only 143 days actually spent in the Senate, I cannot imagine a thinking American can consider him qualified to be Commander in Chief.  It is going to be an interesting political season.