I'd like to see Gilad Shalit freed, and hope it happens soon.  He looks like such a nice, intelligent young man.  I'm a little disappointed that Mr. Hartman didn't put Mr. Meshal's "fingernail" comment in its proper context, however. ...

The effectiveness of the surge in tamping down violence in Iraq likely had more to with flipping Sunni insurgents via the Anbar Awakening (a.k.a. Sons of Iraq), and the simultaneous reining in of the Shiite Militias by the Maliki government ...