What: on Wide Awakes Radio
When: 7 until 9 PM eastern
Phone: 1-888-407-1776 (assuming we have support from home base in Cali)
Email: wmdtvmatt@yahoo.com
First Hour: World War IV Update
Israeli-Hezbollah War
AP News Alerts: #1
JERUSALEM (AP) The army says 19 Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday in Lebanon, making it Israel's highest one-day toll in the war.#2
JERUSALEM (AP) An Israeli official says the Israeli Cabinet has approved the U.N. cease-fire deal.
Question: Has Israel surrendered?
UK Airliner Threat
WMD: "Major Islamofascist threat averted in Britain"
Telegraph: "University students at center of terror plots"
The Homefront
(AP) Houston Chronicle: "9 of 11 Egyptian students now in custody"
WNEM TV-5: "Mackinac Bridge: Alleged Target of Terror"
Channel Cincinnati: "Two Arrested In SE Ohio, Charged With Supporting Terrorism"
Marietta Times: "Racial profiling?"
Question: Shouldn't we be more concerned about these sorts of incidents?
Iraq
CENTCOM (Gen Casey): "The Glass is Half Full"
Second Hour: Media Bias Update
He's a degenerate. And he has a blog. He blasts the US, so the liberals at Daily Kos should like it enough to link to it. And maybe the DNC will too... Who is he? Iranian president Mahmoud Hesadegenerate.
Was Hesadegenrate misquoted when he said he wanted to wipe Israel off the map? Not if you are to believe his own translators.
Hesadegenerate isn't so well liked back home according to this poll. So why did Mike Wallace interview Hesadegenerate? It sure wasn't objectivity.
Media Bias at Home
Washington Times: "50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs"
Meanwhile, the Harris poll offered some positive feedback on Iraq. Seventy-two percent of respondents said the Iraqi people are better off now than under Saddam Hussein's regime -- a figure similar to that of 2004, when it stood at 76 percent. In addition, 64 percent say Saddam had "strong links" with al Qaeda, up from 62 percent in October 2004. Fifty-five percent said that "history will give the U.S. credit for bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq."
And although the response is tepid, American confidence in the Iraqis has improved: 37 percent said Iraq would succeed in creating a stable democracy, up five points since November.
Americans remain in touch with the realities of Iraq: 61 percent said the conflict has motivated more Islamic terrorists to attack the U.S. -- a number that has remained virtually unchanged since 2004.
An additional 41 percent say the war has reduced the threat of another major terrorist attack in the United States, a sentiment also unchanged in the past two years.
The financial burden of the war may be less keenly felt. The poll found that 56 percent said spending "huge amounts" for ongoing military efforts in Iraq means less funds are available to protect Americans at home. The figure was 62 percent last year, but 51 percent in 2004.
Has the war earned respect for the U.S. overseas? Sixty-eight percent said "no," the same as last year. The figure stood at 62 percent in 2004.
The poll of 1,020 adults was conducted July 5 to 11 and has a margin of error of three percentage points.
Investors Business Daily: "Americans Are Rising To Occasion"
The 919 adults surveyed last week may not be ready to declare this World War III. Only half (51%) of Americans believe that "militant Islamism is no less a threat in the 21st century than Nazism, fascism and communism were in the 20th century," with 30% "strongly" agreeing and an additional 21% "somewhat" agreeing.
But five of eight (or 63%) are "very concerned about the rising tide of Islamofascism and its desire to establish a worldwide Muslim rule," and 43% "agree strongly" and 20% "agree somewhat" with this statement. In addition:
• Nearly six in 10 (58%) doubt that diplomacy and negotiation are of much use "in dealing with Islamic fascists bent on destroying Western civilization."
• Six in 10 concede it will take "a strong commitment by the U.S., as the world's lone superpower, to eliminate the threat of militant Islamism."
• Nearly six in 10 (58%) think Iran is the "main promoter of Islamic fascism in the Middle East."
• And, most impressively, more than three in four (76%) believe Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons "at any cost."
The last statement, with which an equally impressive 59% agree "strongly," suggests most Americans would back a U.S. effort to take out Iran's nuclear plants through military means, if necessary.
Odd-N-Ends
Victor Davis Hanson, National Review: "Surreal Rules"
Rapid Fire
Doug the Producer asks questions that Matt and Doug haven't been prepared for...
