While the major-party endorsed candidates continue to focus on energy issues, there are important developments on the national security and illegal migration fronts today that also deserve our attention, much as all of us would like to see cheaper gas.

Gates Sees Terrorism Remaining Enemy No. 1
New Defense Strategy Shifts Focus From Conventional Warfare

A soldier in Iraq guards suspected terrorists, a duty becoming the norm. (Photo credit: Washington Post / Maya Alleruzzo — Associated Press)

By Josh White

July 31, 2008

Excerpts

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the “Long War” against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation’s top military priority over coming decades, according to a new National Defense Strategy he approved last month.

The strategy document, which has not been released, calls for the military to master “irregular” warfare rather than focusing on conventional conflicts against other nations … The strategy … spells out his view that the nation must harness both military assets and “soft power” to defeat a complex, transnational foe.

“Iraq and Afghanistan remain the central fronts in the struggle, but we cannot lose sight of the implications of fighting a long-term, episodic, multi-front, and multi-dimensional conflict more complex and diverse than the Cold War confrontation with communism” …

His strategy … departs from Rumsfeld’s focus on preemptive military action and instead encourages current and future U.S. leaders to work with other countries to eliminate the conditions that foster extremism. …

Gates wrote that he perceives this document as a “a blueprint to success” for a future administration. …

Gates singles out Iran and North Korea as threatening “international order” and meriting U.S. concern; his strategy also warns about potential threats from China and Russia … 

Full story

Comment: As someone trained in both conventional warfare and irregular counter-insurgency / anti-terrorist operations, I welcome Secretary Gates’ strategy proposal. It’s a nonpartisan transition document that either John McCain or Barack Obama can use as a strategic blueprint immediately upon taking office in January.

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U.S. toll in Iraq hits all-time low as month ends (AP, July 31, 2008) – The monthly U.S. toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 11 American deaths as July drew to a close Thursday after the departure of the last surge brigade. … The U.S. military has pointed to a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a truce by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as playing a large part in the drop in violence, along with the troop buildup and improvements in training Iraqi security forces. Baghdad — the site of the some of the worst sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war — has been turned into a maze of concrete walls and checkpoints that make it difficult for militants to function. …

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Report: U.S. ‘Wasted’ $560 Million on Iraq Repairs

July 31, 2008

WASHINGTON – The United States has “wasted” more than half a billion dollars in Iraq repairing facilities that were damaged because of poor security, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says in a report released Wednesday.

Stuart Bowen’s quarterly report arrived at a price tag of $560 million by tallying the results of more than 100 audits his office has conducted.

Further billions had to be diverted from reconstruction to security because the Bush administration did not adequately foresee how volatile Iraq would be when it began rebuilding the country, the report says. …

Full story

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U.S. to Urge ‘Fugitive Aliens’ to Surrender

Full story 

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Study Finds 11% Drop in Illegal Immigrants

Nicole Gaouette
Los Angeles Times
July 31, 2008

Excerpts

WASHINGTON — A report Wednesday indicating a marked decline in the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. fueled a widening national debate over the Bush administration’s policy of immigration enforcement through aggressive workplace raids.

The largest such enforcement action was in May in Postville, Iowa, where federal immigration agents descended on a meatpacking plant and arrested nearly 400 workers later detained in a building used to house cattle.

The administration began aggressively enforcing workplace laws after Congress last year failed to pass an immigration overhaul. In the months since, thousands of workers have been arrested in scores of raids.

Conservatives have applauded the tactics, while critics have pointed to mistaken arrests of U.S. citizens, deaths of immigrants in detention and limited scrutiny of managers who recruit and hire them.

However, evidence that the strategy may have succeeded in reducing the number of illegal immigrants was presented in a report Wednesday by a group favoring tighter curbs on all forms of immigration.

The report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based think tank, says that the number of illegal immigrants fell about 11% between last August and May, from 12.5 million to 11.2 million. 

The study was based on an analysis of census data and concludes that if that rate of decline is sustained, the number of illegal immigrants will be halved in five years. …

“It challenges the idea that there is no way to deal with the problem but for creating some kind of legal status [for illegal immigrants],” [Steve Camarota, the center's research director] said. “And it seems you don’t have to deport everyone.” …

The immigration report was issued as Latino lawmakers gathered to condemn the administration’s enforcement drive and announced plans to put a stop to the raids. …

He said immigration reforms must include a way for illegal immigrants to legally remain in the country. However, he offered no further details on how Latino lawmakers would stop the raids.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, conservative lawmakers praised the value of immigrant “attrition through enforcement” and held up Wednesday’s study as proof.

“Enforcement works,” said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, which oversees immigration issues. …

Full story 

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Yesterday afternoon, I attended the St. Cloud area joint town hall meeting at Whitney Senior Center, featuring the mayors of St. Cloud, St. Augusta, St. Joseph, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and Waite Park to learn about the concerns of area civic leaders.  

In evening, I attended the Little Rock Lake TMDL Public Meeting and Open House at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School to learn more about water quality issues on Little Rock Lake in Benton County. The main focus of the TMDL project will be to mitigate phosphorus, the water quality limiting nutrient responsible for the toxic blue-green algae blooms in the lake.

Aubrey Immelman listening to the water quality concerns of Little Rock Lake residents

UPDATE

Here’s link to a blog entry by “littlerockpj” on the website of the St. Cloud Times:

“My not so private thoughts on the TMDL study presented on July 29th 2008 concerning Little Rock Lake.”

Patrick Immelman (2) catches his first fish in Harris Channel (which connects Little Rock Lake to the Mississippi River) on Father’s Day, June 15, 2008.

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Yesterday morning, I submitted a “Write Now” response to the St. Cloud Times’ July 28 editorial, which challenged the major-party endorsed candidates to offer specifics on how their respective energy proposals will achieve the goal of reducing the price of gas. 

War, Dollar, Inflation Drive Gas Prices

St. Cloud Times Online
July 28, 2008

Today’s Times Our View, “Candidates must add details on their plans,” invites U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and her Democratic challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg to explain in detail how each of their respective energy plans will achieve the objective of reducing the price of gasoline.

While the focus on the two major-party endorsed candidates is understandable, party nomination is by primary election. For Bachmann to be on the ballot in November, she first has to win the Sept. 9 primary, in which I am challenging her for the Republican nomination.

In that context, I offer a modest proposal for reducing the price of gas: Stop printing and borrowing money to fund unnecessary foreign wars – specifically, the war in Iraq.

Printing money and going deeper into debt to pay for the war and occupation creates inflation and drives down the value of the dollar, which adds to the high price at the pump for U.S. consumers.

Yes, we need to increase the oil supply by expanded drilling; yes, we need to reduce demand by conserving energy; yes, we need to explore alternative energy sources. But reducing the price of gas cannot be achieved with simplistic solutions and empty promises.

No sensible plan to reduce the price of gas can ignore the links among war spending, monetary policies, inflation, the depreciating dollar, the dollar foreign exchange rate, and the distortion of market forces resulting from foreign fuel subsidies on the price we pay at the pump.

Aubrey Immelman
Sartell

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In the afternoon, I met with Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner and Emergency Manager Marvin Klug to learn more about important law enforcement and public safety concerns in the county. In the coming weeks, I will meet with law enforcement and first responder leaders in other Sixth District cities and counties as I formulate my position statement on law enforcement/public safety.

Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner

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In other news on the campaign trail, blip.tv has released a web video in which I discuss my core campaign issues of national security, border security/enforcing immigration law, and law enforcement/public safety on its “The UpTake” program. 

Meet Rep. Bachmann’s Republican Primary Challenger (06:48)

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Also yesterday, Christopher Truscott published the following comment on his blog:

Mr. Immelman responded to “CD-6 Candidate Bob Anderson: ‘I’m in a Battle Royal’” yesterday. I’ll reprint [Immelman's] comment here:

“The world is better off without Saddam Hussein …”
– Bob Anderson

Only in the most general sense, that Saddam was a brutal dictator who fully deserved his fate at the gallows.

However, removing Saddam has not improved U.S. national security. Saddam posed no significant threat to U.S. national security and, in fact, served as a bulwark (or defense) against the expansion of Iranian power in the Middle East.

Post-Saddam Iraq presents a much more complex and difficult-to-manage national security challenge for the United States than Saddam-era Iraq.

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Although much of the political debate of late has focused on the price of gasoline, another pocketbook issue, Iraq – yes, the war and occupation contributed to driving up the price of oil, by weakening the dollar – is back in the news. Today, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction will release a report detailing billions lost so far on scrubbed or substandard projects in Iraq.

Report: Empty Prison in Iraq a $40M ‘Failure’

Associated Press (July 28, 2008) — In this undated photograph released by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Khan Bani Saad Correctional Facility, about 12 miles northeast of Baghdad, is seen with unused building materials nearby. The site is a chronicle of U.S. government waste, misguided planning, and construction shortcuts costing $40 million …

Full story

OTHER IRAQ NEWS

Suicide Attacks Kill 57 in Iraq, Wound Nearly 300

July 28, 2008

BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300, police said.

Three female suicide bombers blew their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102, Iraqi officials said. …

It was the deadliest attack in Baghdad since June 17, when a truck bombing killed 63 people in Hurriyah, a neighborhood that saw some of the worst Shiite-Sunni slaughter in 2006. …

In the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, 25 people were killed and 185 wounded when a blast tore through a crowd of Kurds protesting a draft provincial elections law, officials said. …

After the suicide explosion, dozens of angry Kurds opened fire on the offices of a Turkomen political party, which opposes Kurdish claims on Kirkuk. …

Full story

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

In their honor: Belgrade poet hopes to create memorials of all troops who died in Iraq, Afghanistan

St. Cloud Times
July 27, 2008

Belgrade [Minn.] poet Rance White hopes to secure the funds to create a memorial for each military member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. White also hopes to raise money for a scholarship fund for children of the deceased.

How to donate

Rance White is looking for donations so he can continue on his quest to make memorials for each of the [more than] 4,100 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Today, I traveled to Minneapolis to tape an interview with Ken Avidor for The UpTake, focusing on my background, my reasons for running, and my core issues of national security, law enforcement/public safety, and border security/illegal migration.

In discussing national security, I remarked on lost opportunities after 9/11, specifically the ill-conceived invasion of Iraq, which turned a country that had been militarily contained and led by a dictator hostile to Iran and to Islamic fundamentalism — both Shi’ite extremism and al-Qaida’s brand of radical Islam — into a foreign policy nightmare that has consumed our domestic political agenda and squandered our finite resources for more than five years. 

Upon checking the latest news wires upon my return home to Sartell, I found the following Associated Press report, from which I excerpt below.

Analysis: U.S. Now Winning Iraq War That Seemed Lost

BAGHDAD (AP, July 26, 2008) – The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost. Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.

That does not mean the war has ended or that U.S. troops have no role in Iraq. It means the combat phase finally is ending, years past the time when President Bush optimistically declared it had.

The new phase focuses on training the Iraqi army and police, restraining the flow of illicit weaponry from Iran, supporting closer links between Baghdad and local governments, pushing the integration of former insurgents into legitimate government jobs and assisting in rebuilding the economy.

Scattered battles go on, especially against al-Qaida holdouts north of Baghdad. But organized resistance, with the steady drumbeat of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and ambushes that once rocked the capital daily, has all but ceased. [...]

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told The Associated Press this past week there are early indications that senior leaders of al-Qaida may be considering shifting their main focus from Iraq to the war in Afghanistan. [...]

Shiite militias, notably the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, have lost their power bases in Baghdad, Basra and other major cities. [...]

Despite the favorable signs, U.S. commanders are leery of proclaiming victory or promising that the calm will last. [...]

Iraq still faces a mountain of problems: sectarian rivalries, power struggles within the Sunni and Shiite communities, Kurdish-Arab tensions, corruption. Any one of those could rekindle widespread fighting. [...]

Now a moment has arrived for the Iraqis to try to take those positive threads and weave them into a lasting stability.

The questions facing both Americans and Iraqis are: What kinds of help will the country need from the U.S. military, and for how long? The questions will take on greater importance as the U.S. presidential election nears, with one candidate pledging a troop withdrawal and the other insisting on staying.

Iraqi authorities have grown dependent on the U.S. military after more than five years of war. While they are aiming for full sovereignty with no foreign troops on their soil, they do not want to rush. In a similar sense, the Americans fear that after losing more than 4,100 troops, the sacrifice could be squandered.

U.S. commanders say a substantial American military presence will be needed beyond 2009. But judging from the security gains that have been sustained over the first half of this year — as the Pentagon withdrew five Army brigades sent as reinforcements in 2007 — the remaining troops could be used as peacekeepers more than combatants. [...]

Army Col. Tom James, a brigade commander who is on his third combat tour in Iraq, explains the new calm this way:

“We’ve put out the forest fire. Now we’re dealing with pop-up fires.”

It’s not the end of fighting. It looks like the beginning of a perilous peace. [...]

Whatever happens in Iraq, the new administration in Washington come January will face a more perilous situation in Iraq than did the current administration when it assumed office in January 2001. And for the foreseeable future, the American people will see hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars pumped into the rebuilding and restabilization of Iraq.

In addition, al-Qaida – which was nonexistent in Iraq prior to the March 2003 U.S. invasion – will continue to have a presence in Iraq, though not nearly as lethal as it was before the “Sunni Awakening,” the 2007 troop buildup, and the successful counterinsurgency strategy instituted by Gen. Petraeus. 

Of greater concern, the anti-American Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is currently pursuing religious studies in Iran with the intent of becoming an ayatollah, could lift his August 2007 ceasefire at will, with the specter of unleashing renewed violence in Iraq. My expectation is that he will bide his time, with the intent of turning Iraq into a Shi’ite fundamentalist theocracy along Iranian lines after the United States withdraws from Iraq.

Finally, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a former ally of al-Sadr, is himself closely aligned with Iran. There is no certainty that post-Saddam Iraq will be a reliable ally of the United States.

In short, the next president of the United States will face a formidable set of national security challenges in the Middle East and beyond. 

UPDATE

Meet Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Republican Primary Challenger

Text and Video by Ken Avidor

Professor Aubrey Immelman is challenging Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) in the Republican primary in September. Aubrey Immelman is a professor at the College of Saint Benedict / Saint John’s University in St. Joseph and Collegeville. Professor Immelman’s field is political psychology, hypnosis, and forensic psychology. According to his web site, Professor Immelman is also a military consultant specializing in nuclear counterproliferation, human factors, threat assessment, flexible deterrent options, force multipliers and psyops.

In addition to his concerns about foreign policy, Professor Immelman brings a unique perspective to the Sixth District race on U.S. immigration policy. In the interview, Professor Immelman speaks about his own experience as an immigrant from South Africa.

Aubrey Immelman has been accused by some Republicans in the Sixth District of being a DFL proxy and cite Immelman’s support for Patty Wetterling in 2006. In this interview, Professor Immelman explains that he and Patty Wetterling worked together before she ran for office. Professor Immelman says he hopes his campaign will bring more attention to unsolved cases of missing, abducted, and murdered children.

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On July 21, 2008, the St. Cloud Times, in an article titled “Immigrants’ rights are topic of forum,” reported a Spanish-language community forum will be held August 9 in Cold Spring “to help residents understand their rights and discuss legal and civil rights issues.” According to the report, topics will include “protections against discrimination, employment abuses and other concerns.” It was also reported that a workshop “on immigration and detained immigrants’ rights will follow the forum.”

As I noted at the time (July 21; Day 7 on this blog) the article prompted heated debate in the Times’ online “In Your Voice” reader commentary feature, with some readers suggesting the forum involves a misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens.

In my opinion, an event of this nature, if intended for legal immigrants, is a legitimate use of public funds. However, I can appreciate the concerns of some, given the extent to which the term “immigrant” has devolved as a catch-all phrase for both legal immigrants and undocumented migrants.

As the time of the report, I promised to establish the facts of the matter and report back on this website (see July 21; Day 7 on this blog).

Subsequently, I wrote Mr. Mario A. Hernández of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, to inquire whether the event is intended specifically for legal immigrants and whether public funds will be used to benefit undocumented aliens. 

Here is his response, dated July 23, 2008:

Mr. Immelman, 

Thank you for your inquiry about the Know Your Rights forum scheduled for August 9, 2008, in Cold Spring, MN. I too saw the article titled “Immigrants’ rights are topic of forum” in the St. Cloud Times. 

Let me clarify one point.  There are two separate items taking place on August 9, 2008. The Know Your Rights forum is being hosted by a collaborative of government and nonprofit organizations that enforce and educate around civil and human rights. The intent of this forum is to educate Spanish-speaking residents of the Cold Spring area about their rights in the area of employment, housing, business, and immigration.  These are common areas in which my department and my colleagues at other civil enforcement agencies receive frequent questions. This educational forum will provide event attendees an opportunity to learn more about their rights and to ask questions about issues directly affecting them.

A workshop focusing on the rights of immigrants who are detained/stopped by police or immigration officials will be held after the Know Your Rights forum. This workshop is being sponsored by one of the partner organizations who helped organize the Know Your Rights forum. This organization, the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, is a private non-profit organization that provides legal services to the growing immigrant and refugee communities in Minnesota.  

The St. Cloud Times’ article failed to mention that the immigration workshop was being sponsored by the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, even though our press release included this fact. 

Our department’s outreach events are open to all residents of Minnesota, since everyone residing in our state is protected against discrimination.  The Immigrant Law Center works with immigrants of all immigration status, since their particular mission is to help people navigate the immigration process. 

I hope this answers your questions. 

Mario A. Hernández
Legislative and Community Affairs
Minnesota Department of Human Rights
190 East 5th Street, Suite 700 
St. Paul, MN 55101
PH: 651.297.5091
FAX: 651.296.9042
TTY:651.296.1283
Em: mario.hernandez@state.mn.us
www.humanrights.state.mn.us

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This morning, between 11 a.m. and noon, I will be heading out on foot from my home in Sartell to Little Rock Lake near Rice in Benton County, which has been plagued by water quality problems, to meet with constituents.

The route march, intended in part to build physical endurance for a campaign swing on foot through the Sixth District next month, will take me south along Stearns County Route 1, east along Stearns/Benton County Route 29, and north along Highway 10 for a total distance of approximately 15 miles.

Update

Aubrey Immelman sets out on foot from Sartell to Little Rock Lake.

The actual distance was 11 miles and it took 3 hours and 15 minutes to cover on foot. I will try to make it to the July 29 Little Rock Lake Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Project meeting at Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School and the Aug. 9 Little Rock Lake Association annual meeting to learn more about Little Rock Lake-Mississippi River water quality issues.

 
Aubrey Immelman meets with Little Rock Lake resident Nancy Carver to discuss water quality issues on the lake, July 24, 2008.

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On this day, I issue my national security position statement, specifically as it relates to the war in Iraq (here, or click on the “Issues” tab at the top of the page).

 
Patrick Immelman, 2, of Sartell runs through a field of crosses during a Memorial Day ceremony at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center, May 26, 2008. (Photo credit: Paul Middlestaedt, St. Cloud Times)

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Candidate Questionnaires

Barely one week into the campaign, I’m being inundated with questionnaires from special interest groups.

Considering the limited resources of my self-financed  campaign to research the full array of issues important to diverse constituencies, my inclination is to decline these solicitations – at least for the duration of the primary campaign — and to define myself in terms of the core issues on which I’m challenging the incumbent. However, I want to be transparent and accessible, so I will keep an open mind as I meet with Sixth District residents in the coming weeks.

As I scoured the national media today for important stories, I was struck by an article in this morning’s Washington Post, from which I excerpt below:

Young Republicans, Blue About the Prospects Ahead

By Krissah Williams Thompson
Washington Post
July 22, 2008

David All glanced around Top of the Hill bar and saw the future of the Republican Party. It looked dim. A who’s who of young conservatives had gathered, but they were few, and they were frustrated. [...]

It’s … poor communication on the big issues such as Iraq and the economy, that have caused the GOP brand to slip with younger Americans, even as they have grown more political.

Voters under 30 are more than twice as likely to identify themselves as Democrats, according to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll. [...]

“I think the Republican Party is staring down a very long, dark, quiet night,” All says.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,” says Mindy Finn, 27, who ran Romney’s site.

“It’s a challenging time right now, and I think there’s a lot of people searching for a new identity, new leaders,” says Robert Bluey, 28, a blogger who is editor in chief of the Heritage Foundation’s Web site and director of its Center for Media and Public Policy. “Sometimes it will take some cleansing before it gets better.” [...]

“Conservatives haven’t been in the right place to get the message to young voters,” Austin Walne, 22, says, sipping his beer. “Young people who just got into the workforce don’t care about the tax rate, but they have to fill up their gas tank and turn on the AC in their studio apartment. Energy is a big winner for us if we can communicate it well.”

Walne, just one year out of the University of Tennessee, helped staff former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson’s Web site and now works for a small PR firm in town. He has taken some teasing from Democratic friends, who predict this year will see a tidal wave for their party. He nudges back at them. “Congress’s approval rates are [approaching] 19 percent, so nobody’s thrilled,” he says. “People that didn’t grow up under Jimmy Carter don’t remember the stagflation of the ’70s or the Iran standoff. Our job is to educate them on the failed policies of the past.” [...]

Still, many of the party’s newbies are preparing for the worst. Matt Lewis, 33, is hoping a trouncing in November will force the old guard aside and give his generation a shot. He was one of the committed young conservatives who came to Washington during the Bush administration, eager to push the politics of limited government and compassionate conservatism. He worked for the Leadership Institute, which teaches youngsters about the principles of classic conservatives such as Edmund Burke and Frederic Bastiat, as well as William F. Buckley Jr. and Barry Goldwater. He now blogs full time at the conservative Web site Townhall.com.

He’s happy with Bush’s Supreme Court picks but disappointed by the administration’s failure to curb the ballooning deficit and bloated government.

“When everything is working well there is no hunger for new ideas,” Lewis says. “Maybe there is room for some new up-and-coming thinkers to get a shot now. There is a bright side to seeing the Republican Party go through travail.” [...]

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