There is movement on the political front in Iraq. According to this story in the NYT, the Kurds have joined with the Sunnis to demand that Prime Minister Jaafari not succeed himself as the new Prime Minister. This may be the break that is needed to get the three sides to agree on a true compromise candidate. It could also be the event that breaks the country into three parts. Time will tell. For now, I'm optimistic that they will work something out, having stared into the abyss of civil war after the destruction of the golden-domed mosque.

Jim Hoagland says we need to face Iraq's past before we can realistically help the Iraqis achieve a stable, unified state (which he believes will need to be decentralized in nature).

George Will says the rhetoric coming out of the White House about Iraq has an air of unreality about it.

Here is an article by Stewart Verdery on the NRO website about illegal immigration. He is a former Homeland Security official who thinks we can strengthen our borders, but that we need to create a mechanism for the 11 million people in the country illegally to come forward and be legalized. Froma Harrop, writing for RealClearPolitics, thinks the Democrats have an opening on the issue if they come forward with a plan to go after the employers of the illegals. I think she is right.

My view on immigration is that it is a national security issue. It is incomprehensible to me why, four years after 9/11, we have not done more to seal our borders. To me, it is the greatest failure of the Bush Administration. Having said that, I understand there is a serious practical problem dealing with the 11 million illegals already in the country. I am open to any plan that might bring these people into a legal status IF, and only IF, that plan REALLY strengthens border security. I imagine a quadrupling of the Border Patrol, a real fence or barrier along our southern and northern borders, a significant increase in INS personnel, a significant increase in fines and penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegals, and the like. We are not going to be able to hunt down, arrest and deport 11 million people. But we certainly can hunt down, arrest and fine their employers. First, though, let's give everyone a chance to pay a fine and get legal (imagine the money to be raised if every business employing an illegal had to pay a $10,000 fine and every illegal who wanted to come forward and be legalized had to pay a fine of $1,000...money that could be used to hire those new Border Patrol and INS agents). Then, we can truly seal the borders (as much as they can be sealed).