A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Patterico writes L.A. Times Editors: ‘We Just Can’t Solve the Mystery of Why that Muslim Guy Shot All Those Jews’ “What was the motive of the guy who shot up the Jewish Center in Seattle? L.A. Times editor Dean Baquet says: You got me! Yes, if you ask the editors of the Los Angeles Times, it’s an utter mystery why the shootings occurred. At least, if you look at Page One:” (read more)
Jay Tea writes The fate of hostages “With the deaths of over 50 Lebanese being attributed to an Israeli air strike, the whole issue of hostages and the lives of the innocent in times of war has come to the forefront. I'm not going to go into the particulars of that incident, as they are still emerging, but it is a good opportunity to discuss the ethics of such situations.” (read more)
Quid Nimis writes Firing the UN “OK, sometimes you just need to pull the trigger, metaphorically speaking. You have someone on the payroll, they aren't performing, it's just not working out. As we like to say, it isn't a good fit. So, I ask: what is the U.N. doing in South Lebanon lo these many years? They are "observers," or they are "peacekeepers." or something.” (read more)
Homefront6 writes Sadness and honor “I have always known that military spouses are strong people. But I've not had the opportunity to witness their strength up close and personal until now. MacGyver left recently for Iraq. And while we sat at the send off, I was able to sit and admire the strength of these (mostly) women and families. Yes there were some husbands there too and they held up well too. But the overwhelming majority of spouses in our unit are women and to watch them today as they said goodbye to their soldiers was incredible.” (read more)
Pamela aka Atlas Shrugs writes The Eagle Has Landed in Israel “Just got to the hotel...............security insane (maybe because I am staying in Condi's hotel?) I stopped at Mini-Israel on my way in the Jerusalem. It is striking to me the respect and attention the Israelis paid to replicating in exact detail the mosques and the Muslims in prayer in these displays at Mini Israel. The Israelis duplicatd more mosques that temples. Oh, if the respect was mutual, what a wonderful world it would be.” (read more)
Omar at Iraq the Model writes Why not Syria? “We are getting used to the appalling nonsense we hear from the leaders of al-Qaeda every now and then but we still do listen to their hateful speeches in order to understand more about how those criminals think and to know more about their intentions and plans, so while these audio or video statements they keep sending through al-Jazeera can add nothing to help al-Qaeda, they can be a source for free information to us…” (read more)
Michelle Malkin writes When do terrorists warn civilians? “See this: It's a warning leaflet distributed by Israeli Defense Forces for the safety of Lebanese civilians--warning them to evacuate their cities and villages so that Hezbollah will not use them as human shields. Now, someone show me the warning leaflets Hezbollah dropped on all the cities in Israel it has lobbed missiles and rockets at, okay?” (read more)
John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes A Few Miscellaneous Thoughts About Israel, Hezbollah, And The Palestinians “There's a lot of talk about what Israel is trying to accomplish with these attacks on Lebanon. My original assumption was that they simply wanted to kill Hezbollah fighters, destroy and degrade their infrastructure, and punish the civilians in Lebanon that are supporting them. That's a worthy mission and one that Israel has been accomplishing.” (read more)
July 31, 2006
The Bathtub Test
It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started.
During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.
"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."
"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"
DID YOU PASS, OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE?
During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.
"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."
"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"
DID YOU PASS, OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE?
July 30, 2006
The Real Middle East
By Michael J. Totten:
The Middle East isn't a cartoon. It's a rich and complex place. Many, if not most, of its citizens refuse to submit to the dumb little categories fanatics and outsiders like to impose on them.
Latest example:
UPDATE: Here's another example, this one from Lebanon.
The Middle East isn't a cartoon. It's a rich and complex place. Many, if not most, of its citizens refuse to submit to the dumb little categories fanatics and outsiders like to impose on them.
Latest example:
Being interviewed on a European radio station, the interviewer snarls at me when I mention that Haifa has a mixed Jewish/Arab population and that as we speak, many of them were sitting in bomb shelters together, hiding from Nasrallah's rockets.Hat tip: Allison Kaplan Sommer.
I was surprised this information could be so irritating. I didn't dare tell him about the guy who came up to me in downtown Haifa, showed me his bombed shop front and told me he was an Arab who wants the IDF to destroy the Hizbullah.
UPDATE: Here's another example, this one from Lebanon.
The situation in Ain Ebel is unbearable. Thousands of civilians have fled to the village from nearby villages and more than 1000 rockets have hit the village, there is no more food neither clean water and diseases are spreading.
Now here comes the most sickening part:
Hezbollah has been firing rockets from the village since Day 1 hiding behind innocent people’s places and even CHURCHES. No one is allowed to argue with the Hezbollah gunmen who wont hesitate to shoot you and i've heard about more than one shooting incident including young men from the village and Hezbollah.
Urgent appeals have been done through phone calls from terrified people who wouldnt give out their name fearing Hezbollah might harm or even eliminate them.
This is the true image of our brave Islamic Resistance, putting the civilians and their
homes as body shields to the Israeli bombardements.
Let the message spread and let those criminals move out of the village once and for
all.
Free Ain Ebel from the terrorists !
New Iraqi Command Opens
Story by Multi-National Force - Iraq
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Training and Doctrine Command officially opened in a ceremony at the Cultural Center Compound in Baghdad Tuesday.
Troops stand at attention during the ceremony.
The ITDC now has the ability and sufficient resources to oversee all Iraqi national defense related education and military doctrine development.
This is an important milestone as Iraq progresses toward its goal of being fully operable by July 2007, said Gen. Babakir Badir Khan Zebari, Iraqi Joint Forces commander.
“A modern and developed Doctrine coordinated with our national vision and interests helps create a culture for national security,” he said.
Read more…
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Training and Doctrine Command officially opened in a ceremony at the Cultural Center Compound in Baghdad Tuesday.
Troops stand at attention during the ceremony.
The ITDC now has the ability and sufficient resources to oversee all Iraqi national defense related education and military doctrine development.
This is an important milestone as Iraq progresses toward its goal of being fully operable by July 2007, said Gen. Babakir Badir Khan Zebari, Iraqi Joint Forces commander.
“A modern and developed Doctrine coordinated with our national vision and interests helps create a culture for national security,” he said.
Read more…
Photos that damn Hezbollah
Hat-tip Captain Ed.
Via the Sunday Herald Sun, AZ
By Chris Link:
THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.
The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.
Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.
The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.
They emerged as:
US President George Bush called for an international force to be sent to Lebanon.
ISRAEL called up another 30,000 reserve troops.
THE UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland called for a three-day truce to evacuate civilians and transport food and water into cut-off areas.
US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a UN resolution aimed at ending the 18-day war, and:
A PALESTINIAN militant group said it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.
Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.
Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.
The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.
"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.
"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.
"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."
The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".
Mr Egeland blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.
"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.
Via the Sunday Herald Sun, AZ
By Chris Link:
THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.
The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.
Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.
The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.
They emerged as:
US President George Bush called for an international force to be sent to Lebanon.
ISRAEL called up another 30,000 reserve troops.
THE UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland called for a three-day truce to evacuate civilians and transport food and water into cut-off areas.
US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a UN resolution aimed at ending the 18-day war, and:
A PALESTINIAN militant group said it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.
Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.
Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.
The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.
"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.
"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.
"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."
The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".
Mr Egeland blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.
"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.
July 27, 2006
Prepare to Receive Flash Traffic!
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FRAGREP over...
Bill Whittle has posted the first chapter of his book: CHAPTER ONE: THE WEB OF TRUST; over...
Go read it now! Thunder Run, Out.
Bill Whittle has posted the first chapter of his book: CHAPTER ONE: THE WEB OF TRUST; over...
Go read it now! Thunder Run, Out.
July 26, 2006
Out of Here!
Okay folks, I'm off on a road trip for the next 3 days.
I'll be back on Monday.
Have fun and above all else be safe.
I'll be back on Monday.
Have fun and above all else be safe.
Hezbollah Asks: Why Didn’t the West Save Us From Ourselves?
That seems to be the underlying theme of the recent statement by Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's political arm, when he told The Associated Press in an interview that his group will not lay down arms.
So this was all just an attempt by Hezbollah to get a few of its members out of jail. Why would Hezbollah think that Israel wouldn’t respond and their acts would be seem as heroic in the Arab world, it is because the liberal West has for decades chided Israel whenever they responded to an attack on their country in any manner other than to roll over and take it? For that reason alone the international community is the reason the violence in the middle-east, specifically, between Israel and her neighbors who wish to destroy her, continues.
Kim Priestap agrees when she writes at Wizbang:
Chester of The Adventures of Chester takes a stab at this question when he asks:
And yet, many on the side of the left openly support the destruction of Israel and support Hezbollah, people that should by all accounts believe just the opposite. Locally, veteran activist Barry Kissin writes in today’s opinion page:
But Barry as a Jewish-American fails to understand the real threat and falls back onto his indoctrination of moral relativism; 'one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorists.'
Barry though couldn’t be further from the truth, this meme has been handed down for generation in the liberal crowd and it is still as wrong today as it was then. Freedom fighters do not target innocent civilians to further their cause, and that is exactly what his “freedom fighters” are doing not only in Lebanon and Israel, but also Iran and Afghanistan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Left's ‘freedom fighters' are no more interested in his moral beliefs than they are mine, for they have a belief structure that transcends all human thought. They don’t care what you think, they only care that you think like them, and when we realize that line of reasoning its no wonder the Liberal Left sides with the Taliban instead of America. The party of tolerance only accepts free speech when it is speech that is just like theirs, and while they praise dissent as being patriotic, for them dissent is not allowed at all. It’s their way or the highway.
This moral relativism that the left crows about every time the US or Israel defends itself from attack is a line of reasoning that only serves to create more chaos in the world. By following the Left’s reasoning that its all relative we can assume that they believe there is no need for a police forces in this country, for there is no crime, it’s all a matter of relativity and how the acts are perceived by the committer and the victim. And for many of those that fall victim to the lefts line of reasoning it’s comforting to know that no action deserves a reaction, its all relative, not unlike the bread stealer in Les Miserables. It’s okay if you steal or murder as long as its for the betterment of someone or something. But we as a race can not live like that; we are a world of laws, and boundaries.
But that isn’t the only reason we should be supporting Israel, and a free and separate Israel at that. Hugh Hewitt gives us the five best reasons for supporting Israel and defeating Hezbollah, when he writes, why he supports Israel.
In the end, Israel is well within its rights to defend its borders, its people and its way of life. Hezbollah, the bully on the block, just got his nose broken by the new arrival in the play ground. It’s no wonder they are running to the principal’s office demanding that action be taken against the offending newcomer. I just wish the Liberal Left would stop enabling them and their ilk.
"The truth is, let me say this clearly, we didn't even expect (this) response.... that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war against us," said Komati.
He said Hezbollah had expected "the usual, limited response" from Israel to the July 12 cross-border raid, in which three Israelis were killed.
In the past, he said, Israeli responses to Hezbollah actions included sending commandos into Lebanon to seize Hezbollah officials or briefly targeting specific Hezbollah strongholds.
He said the Shiite group had anticipated there would be negotiations on exchanging
the Israeli soldiers for three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a mediator as it did before."
So this was all just an attempt by Hezbollah to get a few of its members out of jail. Why would Hezbollah think that Israel wouldn’t respond and their acts would be seem as heroic in the Arab world, it is because the liberal West has for decades chided Israel whenever they responded to an attack on their country in any manner other than to roll over and take it? For that reason alone the international community is the reason the violence in the middle-east, specifically, between Israel and her neighbors who wish to destroy her, continues.
Kim Priestap agrees when she writes at Wizbang:
“Hezbollah's surprise at Israel's response proves once and for all that Israel's use of restraint, which the international community has demanded every time Israel was attacked, has prevented peace from flourishing in the region.This latest stunt by Hezbollah will undoubtedly be its undoing and will lead to its destruction but at what cost to Israel?
Rather than creating peace, it actually encouraged the terrorists to continue their car bombings, homicide bombings, and rocket attacks because they knew they would not be severely punished.”
Chester of The Adventures of Chester takes a stab at this question when he asks:
“But the "After Hezbollah?" question is more difficult. Allow a guess:I have to agree, I can’t see Syria giving up Lebanon as easily as it did when they were ousted during the Cedar Revolution, in my opinion Syria only left because they knew Hezbollah was still there taking orders from them, and they were now in a position of authority having won a large portion of the Lebanese Government in the recent election.
Hezbollah is militarily defeated some weeks hence, but before then, some other event occurs that serves to keep the region in a period of flux. This period of flux will continue until one of two outcomes is sustained: the US and its allies find themselves involved in an overt war with Iran, or Iran becomes a declared nuclear power. The events that contribute to the period of flux could be friendly actions, such as new initiatives in Iraq or diplomatic initiatives in the Levant; or Iranian actions, such as a new intifada-like campaign in Iraq, or the attempted closing of the Straits of Hormuz, or the testing of a ballistic missile.
In other words, Israel has the opportunity to achieve an operational victory over Hezbollah and destory it; but by the time that is accomplished, the overall regional strategic picture will not have changed enough to allow such a victory to congeal long enough to create a status quo that can be characterized as "post-Hezbollah." Something else will happen. The victory, though a real one, and a meaningful one, will not be as meaningful as it otherwise might be until the problem of Iran's nuclear program is settled one way or another.”
And yet, many on the side of the left openly support the destruction of Israel and support Hezbollah, people that should by all accounts believe just the opposite. Locally, veteran activist Barry Kissin writes in today’s opinion page:
“I am a Jewish American. Relatives of mine died in the Holocaust. I believe in a justly drawn, two-state solution in the region of Israel-Palestine. And I must say:
Just as we, the U.S., made use of the pretext of 9/11 to carry out the pre-planned invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, so does Israel make use of the kidnapping of three soldiers to carry out the pre-planned invasions of Gaza and Lebanon.
Just as we continue to refer to people resisting the military occupation and economic domination of their homelands as "terrorists," so does Israel, as if conventionally challenging the most advanced militaries in the world is an option.”
But Barry as a Jewish-American fails to understand the real threat and falls back onto his indoctrination of moral relativism; 'one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorists.'
Barry though couldn’t be further from the truth, this meme has been handed down for generation in the liberal crowd and it is still as wrong today as it was then. Freedom fighters do not target innocent civilians to further their cause, and that is exactly what his “freedom fighters” are doing not only in Lebanon and Israel, but also Iran and Afghanistan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Left's ‘freedom fighters' are no more interested in his moral beliefs than they are mine, for they have a belief structure that transcends all human thought. They don’t care what you think, they only care that you think like them, and when we realize that line of reasoning its no wonder the Liberal Left sides with the Taliban instead of America. The party of tolerance only accepts free speech when it is speech that is just like theirs, and while they praise dissent as being patriotic, for them dissent is not allowed at all. It’s their way or the highway.
This moral relativism that the left crows about every time the US or Israel defends itself from attack is a line of reasoning that only serves to create more chaos in the world. By following the Left’s reasoning that its all relative we can assume that they believe there is no need for a police forces in this country, for there is no crime, it’s all a matter of relativity and how the acts are perceived by the committer and the victim. And for many of those that fall victim to the lefts line of reasoning it’s comforting to know that no action deserves a reaction, its all relative, not unlike the bread stealer in Les Miserables. It’s okay if you steal or murder as long as its for the betterment of someone or something. But we as a race can not live like that; we are a world of laws, and boundaries.
But that isn’t the only reason we should be supporting Israel, and a free and separate Israel at that. Hugh Hewitt gives us the five best reasons for supporting Israel and defeating Hezbollah, when he writes, why he supports Israel.
There are five reasons:
1. It is a fully-functioning democracy with a representative government and a nearly 60 year unbroken commitment to free and fair elections. When such states come under attack anywhere in the world, the US should support them.
2. Along with Great Britain and Australia, Israel is the most dependable ally the United States has in the world on a host of issues, but most especially the global war on terror. We need always to vigorouslydefend our allies and supply aid and arms as
needed.
3. Since its origins in the Balfour Declaration and then the League of Nations, followed of course by its establishment via the United Nations, Israel represents the best promise of structure of international laws and institutions that help keep the world civilized. Supporters of the UN must realize that if Israel is not defended, the UN cannot be defended. Defenders of the importance of international law and custom must grasp the same point.
4. Israel does deserve the long memory of the world since the world turned its back on the Jews during the early years of the Holocaust. The Jewish people of Europe are not the only people to have suffered genocide, but they are the only people to have suffered genocide in the heart of western civilization.
5. Anti-Semitism is an old and virulent disease. It is long associated with the worst impulses of civilized society. The forces that nurture and feed-of hatred of Jews and their state are never defeated, only contained. Their anti-semitic fevers are also
always accompanied by other hatreds. Keeping Israel strong is a sort of booster shot to the world's immunization system.
In the end, Israel is well within its rights to defend its borders, its people and its way of life. Hezbollah, the bully on the block, just got his nose broken by the new arrival in the play ground. It’s no wonder they are running to the principal’s office demanding that action be taken against the offending newcomer. I just wish the Liberal Left would stop enabling them and their ilk.
Web Reconnaissance for 07/26/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A skewed sense of proportion “A lot of the people calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon are all using the same stock phrases, and one that sticks out to me is that Israel's response is "disproportionate." This annoys me on a variety of levels.
The first is to say "well, duh." When someone hits you, you don't carefully measure how hard you hit them back. You respond to aggression with DISproportionate force. You make it more painful for them than their own blows to drive the point home:” (read more)
Jay Tea also writing at WILLisms writes Quoth The Craven: Nevermore “One of the recurring elements of the Israeli War On Terror has been the use of human shields -- often willing ones. And while it says something about the courage of those people, it reveals far more about their cowardice. The idea, to me, seems an evolution of Mahatma Gandhi's "nonresistance," the tactic he used against the Colonial British -- to great success. The idea of meeting force with resolve, violence with peace, hatred with acceptance has an enormous moral power. However, it has one critical flaw, one Achilles heel that keep it from being a guaranteed success: it depends on your opponent having a conscience. (read more)
Hugh Hewitt writes What The American Left Really Thinks About Israel: Tom Hyaden Explains It All For You “Unlike most of the netroots, Tom Hayden has never been deceptive or vulgar. He has been relentlessly and transparently honest about the agenda and as a result has never had a career outside of the hard-left precincts of Santa Monica and environs. Today at the HuffPo, the old SDSer offers a genuine expression of the left's view of the current crisis:” (read more)
Expose the Left has Kerry On Mideast Violence: If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened. “Only a week ago we were mocking Howard Dean for his claim that the current Middle East crisis wouldn’t be taking place under Democratic leadership, but it seems the competition for idiot of the month isn’t over yet. Former presidential candidate and senator from Massachusetts John Kerry has named himself the Psychic of the Senate, and made the same odd and unverifiable hypothetical postdiction. I know that’s a mouthful, but I can’t think of another word, because to simply say “postdiction” would imply that he’s pointing to vague claims he made in the past as a prediction of what we now see. So I’m sticking with ‘unverifiable hypothetical postdiction’” (read more)
GayPatriotWest of Gay Patriot writes Pat Buchanan: Ex-Conservative “Last week, many conservative pundits and bloggers criticized Pat Buchanan for calling Israel’s military actions against Hezbollah “un-Christian.” John Podhoretz called the one-time Nixon aide’s comments “anti-Semitism” while the more diplomatic Glenn Reynolds declined to say what he’d “call Pat Buchanan.” Although Buchanan still styles himself a conservative, in the years since working for the greatest Republican president of the last century, has turned from nearly every cause his one-time boss championed, including the Gipper’s strong support for Israel.” (read more)
Politics of a Patriot writes To My Faithful Readers... “I was kind of hoping Cameron would break the news so that I wouldn't have to, but I received an Honorable Discharge for medical reasons. I flew home last night. I will tell the story of my six weeks in Recruit Training and explain further about my discharge and how I feel about that in the coming days/weeks.” (read more)
Some Soldier’s Mom writes Musings from My Livingroom: Love More Than Hate “I keep watching all these reports on the Israeli/Lebanese (or more correctly Hezbollah) war… It’s always the same and I wonder why I can’t stop watching. I continue to hear how support by the Lebanese for Hezbollah continues to grow. I see Lebanese saying that they are supporting Hezbollah because Hezbollah is promising that they will provide bomb shelters from the bombs, protection from the bullets… that Hezbollah will rebuild the buildings, will provide food, that Hezbollah will provide medical care… and it strikes me as the story of the child who murders his parents and then cries because he is an orphan! Hezbollah promises to fix the damage it created!” (read more)
Balding Eagle husband of Grey Eagle writes Do I Make You Proud “It’s funny, not long along I was asked this very same question by Grey Eagle one night on the phone. “Are you and the boys proud of me” she asked. As the year in Iraq, day by day, chipped away at the woman she was, she sought comfort in the answer, for it somehow made it all worth it. In reading the article of the returning Guardsmen and in the contact I have with other soldiers, this one simple message seeks to provide strength and peace of mind for our soldiers to endure.” (read more)
Tom the Red Hunter writes The Israeli attack on Hezbollah “I haven't written anything about the current Israeli war against Hezbollah for two reasons, one, I've been too busy, and two, it all seems so obvious. To me, Israel must be allowed to destroy Hezbollah. If Hezbollah is allowed to survive, all that will happen is that it will reconstitute itself and resume attacks on Israel. In other words, we'll return to the situation that prompted the war in the first place.” (read more)
Dafydd writes The "Proportionality" Fallacy “I've been pondering and mulling for many days now the charge, absurd on its face, that Israel's response to the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah is "disproportionate." What has puzzled me all this time is where the silly meme of "proportionality" came from in the first place. I understand proportionality in, say, criminal sentencing: if a person stole some cash from the church poorbox, it's grossly disproportionate to punish him by cutting off his hand; the severity of the punishment vastly exceeds the mendacity of the crime.” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A skewed sense of proportion “A lot of the people calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon are all using the same stock phrases, and one that sticks out to me is that Israel's response is "disproportionate." This annoys me on a variety of levels.
The first is to say "well, duh." When someone hits you, you don't carefully measure how hard you hit them back. You respond to aggression with DISproportionate force. You make it more painful for them than their own blows to drive the point home:” (read more)
Jay Tea also writing at WILLisms writes Quoth The Craven: Nevermore “One of the recurring elements of the Israeli War On Terror has been the use of human shields -- often willing ones. And while it says something about the courage of those people, it reveals far more about their cowardice. The idea, to me, seems an evolution of Mahatma Gandhi's "nonresistance," the tactic he used against the Colonial British -- to great success. The idea of meeting force with resolve, violence with peace, hatred with acceptance has an enormous moral power. However, it has one critical flaw, one Achilles heel that keep it from being a guaranteed success: it depends on your opponent having a conscience. (read more)
Hugh Hewitt writes What The American Left Really Thinks About Israel: Tom Hyaden Explains It All For You “Unlike most of the netroots, Tom Hayden has never been deceptive or vulgar. He has been relentlessly and transparently honest about the agenda and as a result has never had a career outside of the hard-left precincts of Santa Monica and environs. Today at the HuffPo, the old SDSer offers a genuine expression of the left's view of the current crisis:” (read more)
Expose the Left has Kerry On Mideast Violence: If I was president, this wouldn’t have happened. “Only a week ago we were mocking Howard Dean for his claim that the current Middle East crisis wouldn’t be taking place under Democratic leadership, but it seems the competition for idiot of the month isn’t over yet. Former presidential candidate and senator from Massachusetts John Kerry has named himself the Psychic of the Senate, and made the same odd and unverifiable hypothetical postdiction. I know that’s a mouthful, but I can’t think of another word, because to simply say “postdiction” would imply that he’s pointing to vague claims he made in the past as a prediction of what we now see. So I’m sticking with ‘unverifiable hypothetical postdiction’” (read more)
GayPatriotWest of Gay Patriot writes Pat Buchanan: Ex-Conservative “Last week, many conservative pundits and bloggers criticized Pat Buchanan for calling Israel’s military actions against Hezbollah “un-Christian.” John Podhoretz called the one-time Nixon aide’s comments “anti-Semitism” while the more diplomatic Glenn Reynolds declined to say what he’d “call Pat Buchanan.” Although Buchanan still styles himself a conservative, in the years since working for the greatest Republican president of the last century, has turned from nearly every cause his one-time boss championed, including the Gipper’s strong support for Israel.” (read more)
Politics of a Patriot writes To My Faithful Readers... “I was kind of hoping Cameron would break the news so that I wouldn't have to, but I received an Honorable Discharge for medical reasons. I flew home last night. I will tell the story of my six weeks in Recruit Training and explain further about my discharge and how I feel about that in the coming days/weeks.” (read more)
Some Soldier’s Mom writes Musings from My Livingroom: Love More Than Hate “I keep watching all these reports on the Israeli/Lebanese (or more correctly Hezbollah) war… It’s always the same and I wonder why I can’t stop watching. I continue to hear how support by the Lebanese for Hezbollah continues to grow. I see Lebanese saying that they are supporting Hezbollah because Hezbollah is promising that they will provide bomb shelters from the bombs, protection from the bullets… that Hezbollah will rebuild the buildings, will provide food, that Hezbollah will provide medical care… and it strikes me as the story of the child who murders his parents and then cries because he is an orphan! Hezbollah promises to fix the damage it created!” (read more)
Balding Eagle husband of Grey Eagle writes Do I Make You Proud “It’s funny, not long along I was asked this very same question by Grey Eagle one night on the phone. “Are you and the boys proud of me” she asked. As the year in Iraq, day by day, chipped away at the woman she was, she sought comfort in the answer, for it somehow made it all worth it. In reading the article of the returning Guardsmen and in the contact I have with other soldiers, this one simple message seeks to provide strength and peace of mind for our soldiers to endure.” (read more)
Tom the Red Hunter writes The Israeli attack on Hezbollah “I haven't written anything about the current Israeli war against Hezbollah for two reasons, one, I've been too busy, and two, it all seems so obvious. To me, Israel must be allowed to destroy Hezbollah. If Hezbollah is allowed to survive, all that will happen is that it will reconstitute itself and resume attacks on Israel. In other words, we'll return to the situation that prompted the war in the first place.” (read more)
Dafydd writes The "Proportionality" Fallacy “I've been pondering and mulling for many days now the charge, absurd on its face, that Israel's response to the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah is "disproportionate." What has puzzled me all this time is where the silly meme of "proportionality" came from in the first place. I understand proportionality in, say, criminal sentencing: if a person stole some cash from the church poorbox, it's grossly disproportionate to punish him by cutting off his hand; the severity of the punishment vastly exceeds the mendacity of the crime.” (read more)
Semper I
Russ Vaughn has this poem posted at Old War Dogs it is a must read.
Semper I
Semper I is an old Marine Corps term applied to those selfish careerists who place their own success ahead of their men and the wellbeing of the Corps. Congressman John Murtha is a living example of that disgraceful term.
A bugle blows in Arlington,
Lilting notes fill still sad air,
An eagle's tears a globe fall on,
Trail an anchor with despair,
For a man we'd wish had not to die,
Brave youth among the best,
A Marine, he lived for Semper Fi,
And with Semper Fi he'll rest.
So sadly is the contrast,
Between those who talk and fight;
Fat Pols for whom their war's past,
But now can't see the light,
Accusing brave young fighting men,
Of crimes they can't defend,
Disgraceful fat old congressmen,
Who've lost the will to win.
Yes there we see the difference,
Between those who fight to win,
And a congressman with no sense,
Who's committed grievous sin;
He's turned against his Corps,
And no one knows quite why,
Except he loves himself much more:
Classic case of Semper I.
Semper Fi to all Marines everywhere from an old paratrooper who holds Murtha in as much contempt as you do.
Russ Vaughn
327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
Semper I
Semper I is an old Marine Corps term applied to those selfish careerists who place their own success ahead of their men and the wellbeing of the Corps. Congressman John Murtha is a living example of that disgraceful term.
A bugle blows in Arlington,
Lilting notes fill still sad air,
An eagle's tears a globe fall on,
Trail an anchor with despair,
For a man we'd wish had not to die,
Brave youth among the best,
A Marine, he lived for Semper Fi,
And with Semper Fi he'll rest.
So sadly is the contrast,
Between those who talk and fight;
Fat Pols for whom their war's past,
But now can't see the light,
Accusing brave young fighting men,
Of crimes they can't defend,
Disgraceful fat old congressmen,
Who've lost the will to win.
Yes there we see the difference,
Between those who fight to win,
And a congressman with no sense,
Who's committed grievous sin;
He's turned against his Corps,
And no one knows quite why,
Except he loves himself much more:
Classic case of Semper I.
Semper Fi to all Marines everywhere from an old paratrooper who holds Murtha in as much contempt as you do.
Russ Vaughn
327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66
July 25, 2006
Bolton Must be Approved
The ever lovely Pamela aka Atlas of Atlas Shrugs writes the following:
Attention: Dhimmicrats
Think before you open your piehole and stick your career in it. Let's talk about accomplishments, move politics aside and put country before party;
John Bolton’s Work at the UN
SANCTIONS
Ambassador Bolton worked closely with Security Council colleagues to create a new partnership with Interpol to strengthen sanctions against al-Qaida.
Ambassador Bolton led the adoption of sanctions by the Security Council against individuals contributing to the genocide in Darfur.
Ambassador Bolton has helped President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promote democracy in Liberia by revising and lifting sanctions imposed during the brutal reign of Charles Taylor.
SECURITY COUNCIL ACTION
Burma
Ambassador Bolton raised the issue of Burma in the UN Security Council and negotiated for the Council to receive briefings by UN Under Secretary General Gambari on the deteriorating political and social situation in the region.
Burundi
Ambassador Bolton led Security Council efforts to draw down the peacekeeping operation in Burundi after a successful transition (ONUB is scheduled to close at the end of 2006).
Congo
Ambassador Bolton and the Security Council provided the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, MONUC, with resources and temporary police and troop increases to support Congo's first democratic elections in 40 years.
Ethiopia/Eritrea
Ambassador Bolton and the Security Council condemned restrictions placed on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) by the Government of Eritrea as well as the Ethiopian refusal to demarcate the border.
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in an authorization to downsize the UNMEE peacekeeping force from approximately 3,300 troops to 2,300 troops in response to the situation on the ground in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Iran
Ambassador Bolton worked with colleagues to negotiate a formal Security Council statement calling on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities and to request follow up reports from the IAEA on Iranian compliance.
Liberia
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in the adoption of resolutions to establish a mandate to arrest Charles Taylor should he return to Liberia, to facilitate his transfer to the Special Court for Sierra Leone for prosecution, and to ensure peaceful presidential elections in Liberia.
North Korea
Ambassador Bolton, in partnership with the Japanese, led Security Council efforts to take a firm and clear stand against North Korean missile launches with the adoption of resolution 1695. This resolution is the strongest statement of condemnation the Security Council has made against North Korea in over 10 years and received unanimous support, even from China and Russia.
Sudan
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in authorizing the Secretary General to begin contingency planning for the transition of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a UN operation.
Ambassador Bolton negotiated with Security Council members to permit the entry of a joint African Union-UN assessment team to Darfur through a Chapter VII Security Council resolution.
Syria and Lebanon
Ambassador Bolton worked to adopt Chapter VII measures such as travel restrictions and the freezing of assets that would sanction individuals designated by the UN International Independent Commission (UNIIIC) as suspected of involvement in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Subsequently, the Security Council established a tribunal of an international character to try those involved in the terrorist bombing.
MANAGEMENT REFORM
Continue reading "Attention: Dhimmicrats" »
Attention: Dhimmicrats
Think before you open your piehole and stick your career in it. Let's talk about accomplishments, move politics aside and put country before party;
John Bolton’s Work at the UN
SANCTIONS
Ambassador Bolton worked closely with Security Council colleagues to create a new partnership with Interpol to strengthen sanctions against al-Qaida.
Ambassador Bolton led the adoption of sanctions by the Security Council against individuals contributing to the genocide in Darfur.
Ambassador Bolton has helped President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf promote democracy in Liberia by revising and lifting sanctions imposed during the brutal reign of Charles Taylor.
SECURITY COUNCIL ACTION
Burma
Ambassador Bolton raised the issue of Burma in the UN Security Council and negotiated for the Council to receive briefings by UN Under Secretary General Gambari on the deteriorating political and social situation in the region.
Burundi
Ambassador Bolton led Security Council efforts to draw down the peacekeeping operation in Burundi after a successful transition (ONUB is scheduled to close at the end of 2006).
Congo
Ambassador Bolton and the Security Council provided the peacekeeping mission in the Congo, MONUC, with resources and temporary police and troop increases to support Congo's first democratic elections in 40 years.
Ethiopia/Eritrea
Ambassador Bolton and the Security Council condemned restrictions placed on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) by the Government of Eritrea as well as the Ethiopian refusal to demarcate the border.
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in an authorization to downsize the UNMEE peacekeeping force from approximately 3,300 troops to 2,300 troops in response to the situation on the ground in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Iran
Ambassador Bolton worked with colleagues to negotiate a formal Security Council statement calling on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities and to request follow up reports from the IAEA on Iranian compliance.
Liberia
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in the adoption of resolutions to establish a mandate to arrest Charles Taylor should he return to Liberia, to facilitate his transfer to the Special Court for Sierra Leone for prosecution, and to ensure peaceful presidential elections in Liberia.
North Korea
Ambassador Bolton, in partnership with the Japanese, led Security Council efforts to take a firm and clear stand against North Korean missile launches with the adoption of resolution 1695. This resolution is the strongest statement of condemnation the Security Council has made against North Korea in over 10 years and received unanimous support, even from China and Russia.
Sudan
Ambassador Bolton led the Security Council in authorizing the Secretary General to begin contingency planning for the transition of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to a UN operation.
Ambassador Bolton negotiated with Security Council members to permit the entry of a joint African Union-UN assessment team to Darfur through a Chapter VII Security Council resolution.
Syria and Lebanon
Ambassador Bolton worked to adopt Chapter VII measures such as travel restrictions and the freezing of assets that would sanction individuals designated by the UN International Independent Commission (UNIIIC) as suspected of involvement in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Subsequently, the Security Council established a tribunal of an international character to try those involved in the terrorist bombing.
MANAGEMENT REFORM
Continue reading "Attention: Dhimmicrats" »
Syria emerges front and center
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Townhall.com
War wins nothing, cures nothing, ends nothing . . . in war there are no winners, but all are losers." So said Neville Chamberlain on the eve of the war he had sought desperately to avoid, but which his own blunders would bring about.
Chamberlain was mistaken. War ended Nazi Germany, though the cost was high: the Holocaust, the collapse of the British Empire, the Stalinization of 11 nations of Eastern Europe, 50 million dead and half a century of Cold War.
As this is written, Condi Rice has arrived in the Middle East, and the two-week Israeli-Hezbollah war, an artillery exchange by World War II standards, seems to be winding down. While final returns are a ways off, the first returns find few winners, except perhaps for Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Read the rest...
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Townhall.com
War wins nothing, cures nothing, ends nothing . . . in war there are no winners, but all are losers." So said Neville Chamberlain on the eve of the war he had sought desperately to avoid, but which his own blunders would bring about.
Chamberlain was mistaken. War ended Nazi Germany, though the cost was high: the Holocaust, the collapse of the British Empire, the Stalinization of 11 nations of Eastern Europe, 50 million dead and half a century of Cold War.
As this is written, Condi Rice has arrived in the Middle East, and the two-week Israeli-Hezbollah war, an artillery exchange by World War II standards, seems to be winding down. While final returns are a ways off, the first returns find few winners, except perhaps for Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Read the rest...
Then and now
By Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Townhall.com
Those of us old enough to remember World War II face many painful reminders of how things have changed in Americans' behavior during a war. Back then, the president's defeated opponent in the 1940 election -- Wendell Wilkie -- not only supported the war, he became a personal envoy from President Roosevelt to Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
We were all in it together -- and we knew it.
People who had been highly critical of American foreign policy before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor now fell silent and devoted themselves to winning the war.
What if the people, institutions, and attitudes of today were somehow taken back in time to World War II? What would have been the result? Would we have ended up winning or losing that war?
Read the rest...
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Townhall.com
Those of us old enough to remember World War II face many painful reminders of how things have changed in Americans' behavior during a war. Back then, the president's defeated opponent in the 1940 election -- Wendell Wilkie -- not only supported the war, he became a personal envoy from President Roosevelt to Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
We were all in it together -- and we knew it.
People who had been highly critical of American foreign policy before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor now fell silent and devoted themselves to winning the war.
What if the people, institutions, and attitudes of today were somehow taken back in time to World War II? What would have been the result? Would we have ended up winning or losing that war?
Read the rest...
Aiding the Enemy
By Debbie Schlussel
FrontPageMagazine.com
Why do the FBI, ICE, and the Justice Department continue to allow an obvious Hezbollah charity to continue to operate on our shores?
In May, I wrote--twice! (here and here)--about Hezbollah financier Talal Chahine and his contributions to Hezbollah front charity Al Mabarrat Association. I also wrote about its Dearborn, Michigan affiliate, Al Mabarat Charitable Organization. I had all the details and have reposted them below. (I went to an Al Mabarrat related event, yesterday, and will post about that, later.)
FrontPageMagazine.com
Why do the FBI, ICE, and the Justice Department continue to allow an obvious Hezbollah charity to continue to operate on our shores?
In May, I wrote--twice! (here and here)--about Hezbollah financier Talal Chahine and his contributions to Hezbollah front charity Al Mabarrat Association. I also wrote about its Dearborn, Michigan affiliate, Al Mabarat Charitable Organization. I had all the details and have reposted them below. (I went to an Al Mabarrat related event, yesterday, and will post about that, later.)
Al Mabarrat's Website Features Hezbollah Spiritual Leader Fadlallah
Now, over two months later, on a counter-terrorism site, an over-rated, washed up "terrorism expert" claims to have discovered both Al Mabarrat Association, the Hezbollah charity, its U.S. affiliate Al Mabarat Charitable Organization, and donor Talal Chahine. But the terrorism-expert-with-no-clothing can't even get the names of either organization right and, since he doesn't speak or read Arabic (and apparently, not English, either), incorrectly claims the charity's website is no longer online. It's still there.
Read the rest...
Neil Abercrombie, D-Hezbollah
By Malia Zimmerman
FrontPageMagazine.com
As Israel is in the fight for its people’s very survival, Congressman Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, has refused to support America’s important ally over the terrorist group, Hezbollah.
On July 20, Abercrombie voted “No” on House Resolution 921 that his fellow Congressmen overwhelmingly approved by 410-8, and the Senate passed unanimously, which summed up by America’s Pro-Israeli Lobby, “strongly backing Israel’s right to self-defense and condemning Hezbollah and Hamas—and their sponsors Iran and Syria—for launching unprovoked acts of war against the Jewish State…and for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for the full weight of American financial, diplomatic, and economic sanctions to be imposed on Syria and Iran.”
KSSK Radio’s popular morning talk show host Michael Perry asked Abercrombie during a rare live interview on Friday why he did not back the seemingly common sense resolution.
Abercrombie said he did not want to back a resolution that “cheered” on Israel without substance. He claimed during this interview with Perry that he has been supportive of Israel with his other votes.
However, a quick check of Abercrombie’s voting record over the last few years tells a different story.
Read the rest...
FrontPageMagazine.com
As Israel is in the fight for its people’s very survival, Congressman Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, has refused to support America’s important ally over the terrorist group, Hezbollah.
On July 20, Abercrombie voted “No” on House Resolution 921 that his fellow Congressmen overwhelmingly approved by 410-8, and the Senate passed unanimously, which summed up by America’s Pro-Israeli Lobby, “strongly backing Israel’s right to self-defense and condemning Hezbollah and Hamas—and their sponsors Iran and Syria—for launching unprovoked acts of war against the Jewish State…and for Hezbollah to be disarmed and for the full weight of American financial, diplomatic, and economic sanctions to be imposed on Syria and Iran.”
KSSK Radio’s popular morning talk show host Michael Perry asked Abercrombie during a rare live interview on Friday why he did not back the seemingly common sense resolution.
Abercrombie said he did not want to back a resolution that “cheered” on Israel without substance. He claimed during this interview with Perry that he has been supportive of Israel with his other votes.
However, a quick check of Abercrombie’s voting record over the last few years tells a different story.
Read the rest...
July 23, 2006
And Now a Quick Joke
There is a factory in Northern Minnesota which makes the Tickle MeElmo toys. The toy laughs when you tickle it under the arms.
Well, Lena is hired at The Tickle Me Elmo factory and she reports forher first day promptly at 8:00 AM. The next day at 8:45 AM there is a knock at the Personnel Manager's door. The Foreman throws open the door and begins to rant about the new employee.
He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line is backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule. The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for himself, so the2 men march down to the factory floor.
When they get there the line is so backed up that there are Tickle Me Elmo's all over the factory floor and they're really beginning to pile up. At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains of Tickle Me Elmo's. She has a roll of plush red fabric and a huge bag of small marbles.
The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little piece of fabric,wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo's legs. The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter.
After several minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and approaches Lena.
"I'm sorry," he says to her, barely able to keep a straight face,"but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday..."
"Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles.
Well, Lena is hired at The Tickle Me Elmo factory and she reports forher first day promptly at 8:00 AM. The next day at 8:45 AM there is a knock at the Personnel Manager's door. The Foreman throws open the door and begins to rant about the new employee.
He complains that she is incredibly slow and the whole line is backing up, putting the entire production line behind schedule. The Personnel Manager decides he should see this for himself, so the2 men march down to the factory floor.
When they get there the line is so backed up that there are Tickle Me Elmo's all over the factory floor and they're really beginning to pile up. At the end of the line stands Lena surrounded by mountains of Tickle Me Elmo's. She has a roll of plush red fabric and a huge bag of small marbles.
The 2 men watch in amazement as she cuts a little piece of fabric,wraps it around two marbles and begins to carefully sew the little package between Elmo's legs. The Personnel Manager bursts into laughter.
After several minutes of hysterics he pulls himself together and approaches Lena.
"I'm sorry," he says to her, barely able to keep a straight face,"but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday..."
"Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles.
Recovery Update.
Hello all,
Thought I'd let you know for sure, I was cleared by my surgeon to return to work on Monday the 24th of July. Yes thats right, just a little after 2 weeks out of having back surgery I'm returning to work TOMORROW!
I want to thank everyone that pitched in to keep The Thunder Run running, especially, Kat in Ga of Yikes!, Melinda of Most Certainly Not and Texas Grey of Adventures of Texas Grey!
I'd like to send a special thanks to Mr Robert Stokely who checked up on my status quite often while I was laid up. Thank you sir, your kind words and prayers were well received.
So what happened while I was gone?
Somewhere right about my surgery date I passed 10,000 unique visits, and last week I passed my one year blogaversary. Wow, what happens when you are strung out on Percocett and Flexeral and laid up in bed all the time. LOL.
Well I'm offically back to blogging and my site visits are way down, but that's okay, I'll be heading back to work and the land of a paycheck tomorrow and believe it or not, I'm going on a short vacation this week too! I'm off to Pennsylvania for my annual family reunion, so if you happen to be in the Greensburg/Latrobe/Ligonier area, stop by on Friday and visit us at Idlewild Park, your kids and you will love the place!
And yes, in two weeks I'm heading to Philadelphia to do the entire Revolutionary History tour, so if anyone knows the difference between the Philly Pass and the City Pass, please let me know. *Smile*
Until tomorrow and when hopefully my regularly scheduled programing returns, Thanks for stopping by, thanks for being such a wonderful group of people, and thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts, they were obviously heard.
Thought I'd let you know for sure, I was cleared by my surgeon to return to work on Monday the 24th of July. Yes thats right, just a little after 2 weeks out of having back surgery I'm returning to work TOMORROW!
I want to thank everyone that pitched in to keep The Thunder Run running, especially, Kat in Ga of Yikes!, Melinda of Most Certainly Not and Texas Grey of Adventures of Texas Grey!
I'd like to send a special thanks to Mr Robert Stokely who checked up on my status quite often while I was laid up. Thank you sir, your kind words and prayers were well received.
So what happened while I was gone?
Somewhere right about my surgery date I passed 10,000 unique visits, and last week I passed my one year blogaversary. Wow, what happens when you are strung out on Percocett and Flexeral and laid up in bed all the time. LOL.
Well I'm offically back to blogging and my site visits are way down, but that's okay, I'll be heading back to work and the land of a paycheck tomorrow and believe it or not, I'm going on a short vacation this week too! I'm off to Pennsylvania for my annual family reunion, so if you happen to be in the Greensburg/Latrobe/Ligonier area, stop by on Friday and visit us at Idlewild Park, your kids and you will love the place!
And yes, in two weeks I'm heading to Philadelphia to do the entire Revolutionary History tour, so if anyone knows the difference between the Philly Pass and the City Pass, please let me know. *Smile*
Until tomorrow and when hopefully my regularly scheduled programing returns, Thanks for stopping by, thanks for being such a wonderful group of people, and thanks for all of your prayers and thoughts, they were obviously heard.
Update on E Troop 108th CAV
Via Mr. Robert Stokely
Mr. Stokely, I couldn't agree more. Our country is in good hands, our soldiers have a moral courage and fortitude the likes of which this country has not seen in years. They know the power of action while others talk, and they realized early on, it isn't the process that matters but the results.
" When I made my middle of the night trip to visit my son, SGT Mike Stokely's fellow soldiers at FT Stewart after they returned from Iraq, I found myself wandering about trying to find their barracks - at 2:00 a.m. I happened upon a soldier who was coming from the Latrine and he recognized me as "Stokely's dad" . This soldier was SGT Darren Edwards. He made provision for me to have the rack and took care of me. I saw him next a few days later as the Troop returned to their home base in Griffin GA and were released.
It is with saddness that I report that SGT Edwards was killed a week ago in a motorcycle crash and his funeral was this past Thursday in Decatur GA. I attended as did many of SGT Edward's fellow Echo 108th CAV soldiers. I recall talking to him when he found me wandering around that night at FT Stewart and his words of comfort to me about Mike's death. I told him that Mike was ready to die - having told me not to worry about his safety for if God was ready for him, it would not matter whether he was in the safety of America or danger of Iraq. SGT Edwards spoke highly of Mike and told me to take comfort in my son's words and knowledge of life, and death and to know that he truly was ready to die for his country.
SGT Edwards leaves a wife, several sons and several daughters. One of his son serves our military and is a fine, strapping younger version of his father. SGT Edwards left our country a continuing legacy of service.
Now, add to this the following events in other soldier's lives: Ryan Callway, who was Mike's friend and served in the same platoon of E Troop 108th CAV was recently pinned down in Beirut Lebannon as he was on a church mission trip with his brother, Jarred (who also served in Iraq with the 121st Infantry GA Natl Guard and was also Mike's friend). They have now made it out on the USS Nashville and last word were headed to Cyprus and then home. How many of us would have just returned from a year of war in the middle east only to turn around and head back on a church mission trip?
But, the dangers of life also struck home for another of Mike's soldiers who was found to have a cancerous thyroid when getting his demobilization physical at FT Stewart. The thyroid was removed and prognosis is good - but we all know that cancer survivors always remain vigilant. (soldier's name omitted due to privacy reasons). It was an honor to march in a local 4th of July parade with this brave soldier and his two sons - what a remarkable soldier. Less than two months after being diagnosed and then his surgery, he marches in a hot 4th of July parade in full basic daily uniform to honor my son and our family.
Mike understood life; he also understood that dying is a part of living and that one must always be prepared to die and that death comes to us where we are at when it is our time. That is the message Mike was trying to convey to me in our last conversation August 8 - both a message of reassurance and preparadness.
You know what this all tells me - our country is in good hands, for soldiers like I described above serve so others can freely debate."
Robert Stokely
proud dad SGT Mike Stokely
KIA by IED 16 Aug 05 near Yusufiyah south of Baghdad
E Troop 108th CAV 48th Brigade GA NATL Guard
Mr. Stokely, I couldn't agree more. Our country is in good hands, our soldiers have a moral courage and fortitude the likes of which this country has not seen in years. They know the power of action while others talk, and they realized early on, it isn't the process that matters but the results.
July 21, 2006
Web Reconnaissance for 07/21/2006
A short look at what’s out there that might draw your attention.
American Citizen Soldier writes OUTTAKES FROM THE FRONT “The time is nearly upon us when I must bid adieu to fair Iraq: her rollicking hills and lush green forests, her spring gardens and clear blue lakes of… okay, so I’m full of it. You want to know the real reason why I believe so strongly in American victory in Iraq? So that I never have to come back here -- ever. No offense to the locals, but if it wasn’t for the Western ingenuity to harness petroleum, after Allah handed out real estate they would have found themselves with the dog slobber end of the chew toy.” (read more)
Pamela aka Atlas of Atlas Shrugs writes The Innocent Civilian Meme “I am not buying into the innocent civilians meme. If by ignorance, complicity, neglect or helplessness the Lebanese wouldn't throw Hezbollah out and establish a strong government, then they must pay the price for the sins of Hizbollah. And if people put up with dictatorships, theocracies, totalitarian regimes - as they did in Nazi Germany -- they deserve what Hezbollah deserves. Our only concern should be who started the war. Hezbollah/Hamas initiated the use of force and so stepped outside the principle of rights.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes part IV of Winning in Iraq - Measuring Victory “Now that victory has been defined, how are we achieving it? This is a short list of the strategic victory milestones that we've achieved here in Iraq. But since we're supposed to be losing this war, let's go over the list of strategic victory milestones that the terrorists have achieved:” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes part V of Winning in Iraq - The Way Ahead “So what now? We're clearly winning the war. We're making documented and verifiable progress. Life is getting better for the average Iraqi. The terrorists are on the run. What do we do now?
We drive on. We strap on our body armor and go back at it. We keep filing reports and pushing paper. We keep doing what we're doing. And we get better at it. We keep accomplishing the mission.” (read more)
Froggy writing at Blackfive writes Looks like many Americans really don't want to sacrifice “I don't know about you, but I find this incessant carping from American liberals tiresome, and not a little hypocritical. Liberals have been complaining for some time that the President hasn't been asking Americans to make any sacrifices while our troops are sacrificing so much by fighting on our behalf. Initially, they seem to have a point, and if you were gullible enough to believe it you would probably find yourself pining for tax increases and food rationing- of course that would make you an idiot but I digress.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Neutrality Is No Defense “The Swiss have learned that their traditional neutrality, which has kept them safe from centuries of European wars, will not have the same deterrent value in a war against Islamofascist terrorism. Their federal police have reversed previous assessments of the risk to the nation from terrorism and declared Switzerland a "jihadi field of operation":” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes Another Wayne Madsen Tin Foil Hat Theory Exposed As A LIE “I love moments like this... When you can expose one of the loony lefts' tin foil hat theories as a complete and total lie. It's almost as much fun as choke slamming Triple H through the Spanish announcer's table.” (read more)
Omar of Iraq the Model writes Just new banners, or war drums? “A few days ago we mentioned that we tend to believe that this ongoing war in-geographically-Lebanon is not only about Hizbollah and Israel; that it is probably the first stage of a wider regional conflict that is going to extend far beyond the borders of Lebanon and Israel. What I want to add today is that it is not wise to try to deal with it in the same way previous conflicts were dealt with, why? Because this conflict is not like any of the previous ones.” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes Gearing Up and Choosing Sides “This is an admittedly incomplete and sweeping thought, but at a deep, intuitive level it feels like things are gradually sorting out in the global conflict that kicked off November 4th, 1979 with the invasion by Iran of U.S. sovereign territory (i.e., our embassy in Tehran) and returned to the collective consciousness on September 11th, 2001 (albeit with shocking brevity and blithe dismissiveness). Or, one could say, the conflict that kicked off in the Garden of Eden and came out on the world stage with Stalin and Hitler and Mao and Pol Pot and the giggling, murderous romp of the Vietcong through Saigon on May Day, 1975.” (read more)
Michelle Malkin writes A SOLDIER'S NIGHTMARE--AND BDS “Sgt. Leonid Milkin of the Army National Guard returned home from duty in Iraq earlier than planned today. His wife and two children, along with his wife's sister, were brutally murdered in Kirkland, Wash. The Seattle Times has the report. Lisa de Pasquale at The Right Angle highlights the unhinged comments of anti-military Bush-haters gloating over the soldier's tragedy. The derangement never ends. Go read the disgusting comments and then take action.” (read more)
Wild Thing of The PC Free Zone Gazette writes Heinz Kerry-Funded Web Site Praises Hezbollah “A Web site partially funded by Teresa Heinz Kerry offers a report glorifying Hezbollah (Hizbullah) suicide bombers as "deified in paradise and venerated on earth for fighting Israel" - and praises the terrorist group's support network for women widowed by their husband's "martyrdom" attacks.” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes Reclaiming the language “One of the key elements of debating I learned is that whatever side determines the language most often wins. We see this played out all the time -- I think the most notable in the abortion issue, when one side portrays the two positions as "pro-choice" and "anti-choice," while the other uses the terms "pro-life" and "pro-abortion." Both sides argue that their position is the more accurate and simpler; I just use each group's term for itself to avoid arguments.” (read more)
T.F.Boggs writes Supporting The Troops…Or Not “Many patriotic Americans want to say that it is impossible to support the troops while not supporting the mission they are currently undertaking. They think if you argue against the war there is no possible way that you can possibly appreciate the work soldiers do day in and day out. I disagree. I know my saying this will probably anger more than a few of my readers but bear with me and consider my reasoning.” (read more)
American Citizen Soldier writes OUTTAKES FROM THE FRONT “The time is nearly upon us when I must bid adieu to fair Iraq: her rollicking hills and lush green forests, her spring gardens and clear blue lakes of… okay, so I’m full of it. You want to know the real reason why I believe so strongly in American victory in Iraq? So that I never have to come back here -- ever. No offense to the locals, but if it wasn’t for the Western ingenuity to harness petroleum, after Allah handed out real estate they would have found themselves with the dog slobber end of the chew toy.” (read more)
Pamela aka Atlas of Atlas Shrugs writes The Innocent Civilian Meme “I am not buying into the innocent civilians meme. If by ignorance, complicity, neglect or helplessness the Lebanese wouldn't throw Hezbollah out and establish a strong government, then they must pay the price for the sins of Hizbollah. And if people put up with dictatorships, theocracies, totalitarian regimes - as they did in Nazi Germany -- they deserve what Hezbollah deserves. Our only concern should be who started the war. Hezbollah/Hamas initiated the use of force and so stepped outside the principle of rights.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes part IV of Winning in Iraq - Measuring Victory “Now that victory has been defined, how are we achieving it? This is a short list of the strategic victory milestones that we've achieved here in Iraq. But since we're supposed to be losing this war, let's go over the list of strategic victory milestones that the terrorists have achieved:” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes part V of Winning in Iraq - The Way Ahead “So what now? We're clearly winning the war. We're making documented and verifiable progress. Life is getting better for the average Iraqi. The terrorists are on the run. What do we do now?
We drive on. We strap on our body armor and go back at it. We keep filing reports and pushing paper. We keep doing what we're doing. And we get better at it. We keep accomplishing the mission.” (read more)
Froggy writing at Blackfive writes Looks like many Americans really don't want to sacrifice “I don't know about you, but I find this incessant carping from American liberals tiresome, and not a little hypocritical. Liberals have been complaining for some time that the President hasn't been asking Americans to make any sacrifices while our troops are sacrificing so much by fighting on our behalf. Initially, they seem to have a point, and if you were gullible enough to believe it you would probably find yourself pining for tax increases and food rationing- of course that would make you an idiot but I digress.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Neutrality Is No Defense “The Swiss have learned that their traditional neutrality, which has kept them safe from centuries of European wars, will not have the same deterrent value in a war against Islamofascist terrorism. Their federal police have reversed previous assessments of the risk to the nation from terrorism and declared Switzerland a "jihadi field of operation":” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes Another Wayne Madsen Tin Foil Hat Theory Exposed As A LIE “I love moments like this... When you can expose one of the loony lefts' tin foil hat theories as a complete and total lie. It's almost as much fun as choke slamming Triple H through the Spanish announcer's table.” (read more)
Omar of Iraq the Model writes Just new banners, or war drums? “A few days ago we mentioned that we tend to believe that this ongoing war in-geographically-Lebanon is not only about Hizbollah and Israel; that it is probably the first stage of a wider regional conflict that is going to extend far beyond the borders of Lebanon and Israel. What I want to add today is that it is not wise to try to deal with it in the same way previous conflicts were dealt with, why? Because this conflict is not like any of the previous ones.” (read more)
Kobayashi Maru writes Gearing Up and Choosing Sides “This is an admittedly incomplete and sweeping thought, but at a deep, intuitive level it feels like things are gradually sorting out in the global conflict that kicked off November 4th, 1979 with the invasion by Iran of U.S. sovereign territory (i.e., our embassy in Tehran) and returned to the collective consciousness on September 11th, 2001 (albeit with shocking brevity and blithe dismissiveness). Or, one could say, the conflict that kicked off in the Garden of Eden and came out on the world stage with Stalin and Hitler and Mao and Pol Pot and the giggling, murderous romp of the Vietcong through Saigon on May Day, 1975.” (read more)
Michelle Malkin writes A SOLDIER'S NIGHTMARE--AND BDS “Sgt. Leonid Milkin of the Army National Guard returned home from duty in Iraq earlier than planned today. His wife and two children, along with his wife's sister, were brutally murdered in Kirkland, Wash. The Seattle Times has the report. Lisa de Pasquale at The Right Angle highlights the unhinged comments of anti-military Bush-haters gloating over the soldier's tragedy. The derangement never ends. Go read the disgusting comments and then take action.” (read more)
Wild Thing of The PC Free Zone Gazette writes Heinz Kerry-Funded Web Site Praises Hezbollah “A Web site partially funded by Teresa Heinz Kerry offers a report glorifying Hezbollah (Hizbullah) suicide bombers as "deified in paradise and venerated on earth for fighting Israel" - and praises the terrorist group's support network for women widowed by their husband's "martyrdom" attacks.” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes Reclaiming the language “One of the key elements of debating I learned is that whatever side determines the language most often wins. We see this played out all the time -- I think the most notable in the abortion issue, when one side portrays the two positions as "pro-choice" and "anti-choice," while the other uses the terms "pro-life" and "pro-abortion." Both sides argue that their position is the more accurate and simpler; I just use each group's term for itself to avoid arguments.” (read more)
T.F.Boggs writes Supporting The Troops…Or Not “Many patriotic Americans want to say that it is impossible to support the troops while not supporting the mission they are currently undertaking. They think if you argue against the war there is no possible way that you can possibly appreciate the work soldiers do day in and day out. I disagree. I know my saying this will probably anger more than a few of my readers but bear with me and consider my reasoning.” (read more)
July 20, 2006
Muthanna Big Step for Iraq
By Gen. George W. Casey Jr.
Multi-National Force - Iraq
Commanding General
Last week the world witnessed a historic event as the Multi-National Force - Iraq transferred security responsibility of al-Muthanna province to the provincial governor and civilian-controlled Iraqi security forces.
The handover represents a milestone in the successful development of Iraq's capability to govern and protect itself as a sovereign and democratic nation. Al-Muthanna is the first of Iraq's 18 provinces to be designated for this transition to Provincial Iraqi Control or PIC.
As Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced on June 19, the joint decision between Iraq's government and MNF-I to hand over security responsibility is the result of al-Muthanna's ability to take the lead in managing its own security and governance duties at the provincial level.
The transition decision also reflects a joint assessment of the overall threat situation in al-Muthanna, the capabilities of the ISF and the provincial leadership's ability to coordinate security. Coalition transition teams and other enablers are in place to smooth the transfer process and Multi-National forces stand ready to provide assistance if needed.
With PIC transition and acceptance of security responsibility, al-Muthanna demonstrates the progress Iraq is making toward self-governance and security self-reliance. The transfer of security responsibility in al-Muthanna province is just the first step in a new phase in the history of Iraq. PIC is a deliberate process to transfer security responsibility to Iraqis at the provincial level.
Coalition and Iraqi leadership created a joint committee to develop the conditions necessary for appropriate Iraqi civil authorities to take Provincial Iraqi Control. The committee, working with provincial governors assessed the security situation in each province by mutually evaluating an agreed-upon set of criteria.
Over a period of several months, Coalition and Iraqi leadership determined that al-Muthanna had attained the requisite capabilities and PIC transition was scheduled. As conditions are met in the months ahead, other provinces will transition to PIC.Several other provinces are close to meeting the criteria necessary to assume security independence.
Iraq's government and Multi-National Force - Iraq will continue to transfer security responsibilities in other provinces in Iraq as conditions are achieved.
Australian, Japanese, and United Kingdom forces assisted al-Muthanna authorities as models of international cooperation, providing economic and humanitarian assistance as well as security and stability. As Iraq develops and its needs continue to evolve, so too will the nature of international assistance to Iraq in al-Muthanna and elsewhere.
The United States will provide $10 million in order to enhance quality of life for the citizens of al-Muthanna as they take a bold and courageous step forward in the country's movement toward an independent and secure nation. This event represents significant progress by the government of Iraq to achieve a constitutional, democratic, and pluralistic Iraq, which guarantees the rights of all citizens.
Anti-insurgent efforts in restive city of Ramadi ‘right on track’
Soldiers with the 1st Armor Division stand watch in Ramadi. The commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, said July 14 that anti-insurgent efforts are beginning to take the city back from the insurgents. (file photo). BAGHDAD – Anti-insurgent efforts in the Iraqi city of Ramadi are beginning to bear fruit, a senior U.S. military officer said July 14 during the weekly Pentagon press briefing.
"We're in a transition point in the fight for Ramadi. There's still a lot to do, but we're on the right track," Col. Sean B. MacFarland said from his headquarters in Ramadi during a satellite teleconference with Pentagon reporters.
MacFarland is the commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. The 1st Brigade assists Iraqi Soldiers and Police in defeating insurgents within the unit's area of operations, he said.
Ramadi is the capital of al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad. The 1st BCT contains members from all of the U.S. armed services, MacFarland said.
The 1st BCT was initially deployed to the Tal Afar area in western Ninevah province in January, MacFarland said. The unit moved and took up anti-insurgent operations in al-Anbar on June 11, he said.
MacFarland said his troops work in partnership with Iraqi Soldiers and Police in the area.
Read the rest...
Company Unearths Weapons Cache, Detains Terror Suspects
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, uncovered a large weapons cache and detained a number of terror suspects.
Just days after assuming control of the western Baghdad region, the company unearthed a cache based on a tip received from a detainee.
In the cache, Soldiers found 32 homemade grenades, ten rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 500 Dragonov rounds, two cans 7.62mm ammunition, seven cans of grenade fuses, five RPG mortars, 12 AK-47 magazines and 2,500 7.62mm bullets.
In addition, just days prior to discovering the cache, Co. B was responsible for thwarting a vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device that was in its initial stages of preparation.
“This act undoubtedly saved many innocent Iraqi people and the lives of Coalition Forces,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Atwater, battle noncommissioned officer for the battalion tactical operations center. “But the Soldiers didn’t stop there, the 2nd platoon apprehended two additional terrorist suspects who are now at the Internment Facility at Abu Ghraib.”
During the afternoon of July 5, 2nd Plt. detained two suspects exhibiting suspicious behavior near the Khan Dari Market. While manning a traffic control point in the Khan Dari area, Soldiers from the platoon stopped a vehicle with two individuals in it and began questioning them.
“Upon searching the vehicle, we discovered one AK-47 as well as a number of identification cards with different aliases and some money,” said 1st Lt. Jamar White, fire support officer, Co. B, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.
TEXT PROVIDED BY MULTINATIONAL FORCE - BAGHDAD. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MSG ERIC LOBSINGER HERE
Just days after assuming control of the western Baghdad region, the company unearthed a cache based on a tip received from a detainee.
In the cache, Soldiers found 32 homemade grenades, ten rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 500 Dragonov rounds, two cans 7.62mm ammunition, seven cans of grenade fuses, five RPG mortars, 12 AK-47 magazines and 2,500 7.62mm bullets.
In addition, just days prior to discovering the cache, Co. B was responsible for thwarting a vehicle-borne improvised-explosive device that was in its initial stages of preparation.
“This act undoubtedly saved many innocent Iraqi people and the lives of Coalition Forces,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Atwater, battle noncommissioned officer for the battalion tactical operations center. “But the Soldiers didn’t stop there, the 2nd platoon apprehended two additional terrorist suspects who are now at the Internment Facility at Abu Ghraib.”
During the afternoon of July 5, 2nd Plt. detained two suspects exhibiting suspicious behavior near the Khan Dari Market. While manning a traffic control point in the Khan Dari area, Soldiers from the platoon stopped a vehicle with two individuals in it and began questioning them.
“Upon searching the vehicle, we discovered one AK-47 as well as a number of identification cards with different aliases and some money,” said 1st Lt. Jamar White, fire support officer, Co. B, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.
TEXT PROVIDED BY MULTINATIONAL FORCE - BAGHDAD. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MSG ERIC LOBSINGER HERE
Dozens of bases transferred to Iraqis
An Iraq Army Sgt. Maj. (left) yells out final instructions to the troops of 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, prior to pass and review July 13. The 4/1-4 Iraqi Army conducted a turn-over of authority of Forwarding Operating Base O'Ryan and surrounding area south of Balad, Iraq, from the U.S. Army's 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jeremy L. Wood)
Thursday, 20 July 2006
BAGHDAD – Because of the increasing abilities of Iraqi security forces, Coalition forces have been able to transfer to Iraqi control dozens of forward operating bases in Iraq. Of the 110 FOBs operated by the Coalition at the start of 2005, 30 have been transferred to the Iraqi Transitional Government, transferred to the Iraqi Security Forces, or closed. Task Force Band of Brothers will turn over control of the former Saddam Hussein presidential compound to Iraqi government officials in a ceremony in Mosul July 20.
Heros in Action
MWSS-374 Marines awarded Purple Heart in Iraq
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 2006594159
Story by Lance Cpl. Brandon L. Roach
AL TAQADDUM, Iraq -- Two Marines were awarded Purple Hearts May 1 for injuries received during an improvised explosive device attack in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.
Staff Sgt. James N. Wheeler and Lance Cpl. Matthias E. Knudsen, both with the military police, sustained shrapnel injuries during an IED attack March 3, 2006.
"We were out on an IED call," said Wheeler, referring to the unit who provides convoy security for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. "We were the lead vehicle and we received a stop call over the radio. We then hit a different IED while we were stopped."
Read the rest...
A 2008 Straw Poll
Vote in this unique 2008 primary straw poll. Pick all the candidates find acceptable or unacceptable, and it'll tally who has the largest net positive or net negative support.
Which candidates would you accept as the 2008 GOP nominee and which would you find unacceptable?
Which candidates would you accept as the 2008 GOP nominee and which would you find unacceptable?
Web Reconnaissance for 07/20/2006
A short look at what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Kat in Ga. writes Introducing a True Hero - SFC Norris Galatas “You all may remember about a month or so ago, I flew to Meridian, Mississippi, to visit my friends, Janis & Norris Galatas, and welcome home the 155th BCT of the Mississippi National Guard.
Below is Janis' recounting of Norris' incredible odyssey that began with an unfortunate encounter with an IED... the below accounting was originally posted on www.Missick.com.” (read more)
American Citizen Soldier writes MIND THE GAP “Until years have you spent ‘cross the world from your loved ones, In triple-digit temps short on privacy and bank funds; Unless mags do you load vice mugs before work, Pressed with graver concerns than the Boss is a jerk; Pay heed to the gulf between civvies and warriors, American Citizens; Citizen Soldiers.” (read more)
Pamela aka Atlas of Atlas Shrugs writes Hezbollah in America “The FBI is focusing in on this Hizbollah infiltrated Islamic community. The same Michigan community that looks likely to elect Keith Ellison, CAIR's candidate, former member Nation of Islam, and the first Muslim to ever be elected to the legislature (if he wins which he is poised to do, on the Democratic ticket - of course). The strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood Project.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq Part III - What Is Victory In Iraq? “Allow me to start off this section by saying the following: Victory will not be achieved when we pull Coalition troops from Iraq. Removing troops from Iraq will be a product of victory, not a source of it. So then what is victory? How will we know when we've achieved it? These questions may seem like pipe dreams, and under the tidal wave of negative news, unfortunately many people write them off as such.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Is This War Bush's Fault? “One of the stranger memes to arise in the last week is the notion that the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict is somehow the fault of George Bush. Howard Kurtz covers this in today's Media Notes, along with links to plenty of people willing to cast blame at the White House. The Post also has a separate report asserting that conservatives have erupted in anger against Bush's foreign policy, asserting that Bush has not taken the fight to America's enemies, or at least not enthusiastically enough, and that this has led Iran and Syria to test our responses via their Hezbollah proxies.” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes Trolls, Trolls and More Trolls “Good Grief - is the moon full? I come home from a long day at work and check my blog messages only to find some filth from a couple of moonbats. I find it ironic that these are the same kind of people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments over President Bush's slip o'the lip. Here's the first one from Mary at Peace Has No Borders in response to my posting about Cindy's little playmate, Geoffrey Millard...” (read more)
Fbl writes A Different Kind of Courage in a Marine “Meet Kris, a U.S. Marine. I met him last March when I was visiting San Diego and asked Soldiers' Angels if there was a hospitalized service member who needed some support. I had thought I'd be meeting a wounded combat vet. I did, but it was a different kind of combat.” (read more)
T.F.Boggs writes Oh So True “This new millennium has been fraught with misrepresentations by the press. Talk to any soldier and you will hear the same. How many countless milblogs and soldiers have told you the truth is not being reported by the MSM? How has the current administration’s support for war been hampered by faulty reporting and blatant disregard for the truth? Why has the media been allowed to run roughshod upon the great Americans who sacrifice so much for our Constitution?” (read more)
Justice Soldier writes Honoring the Fallen “Sergeant Kyle R. Miller died a hero while protecting his country and fighting for freedom on Thursday, June 29, 2006, near Balad, Iraq. Sergeant Kyle R. Miller was a devoted soldier who loved serving his country and did so with great pride. He is remembered by those who knew him for his fun loving personality and always wanting to make people laugh.” (read more)
Charles Bird writing at RedState posts The Way Out of the Israel-Islamist Battle in South Lebanon “I wrote in an earlier comment thread that Israel is doing the work that the Lebanese army should be doing but cannot. The simple answer to ending the current violence between Israel and Hezbollah is to degrade Hezbollah to the point where Israel can hand the keys to the Lebanese army, giving the government full sovereignty over its country. Another Charles Krauthammer agrees with me:” (read more)
Andi of Andi’s World writes U.S. Soldiers Free Kidnapped Journalist “Do you remember Linda Foley? Last year, Foley accused our troops of deliberately targeting journalists. While she felt the sting of the blogosphere, Foley, head of The Newspaper Guild - Communications Workers of America, escaped the fate of Eason Jordan. Last month, Foley called for better protection for journalists in Iraq. I have yet to see a statement from Foley thanking U.S. soldiers for freeing a kidnapped journalist....” (read more)
Kat in Ga. writes Introducing a True Hero - SFC Norris Galatas “You all may remember about a month or so ago, I flew to Meridian, Mississippi, to visit my friends, Janis & Norris Galatas, and welcome home the 155th BCT of the Mississippi National Guard.
Below is Janis' recounting of Norris' incredible odyssey that began with an unfortunate encounter with an IED... the below accounting was originally posted on www.Missick.com.” (read more)
American Citizen Soldier writes MIND THE GAP “Until years have you spent ‘cross the world from your loved ones, In triple-digit temps short on privacy and bank funds; Unless mags do you load vice mugs before work, Pressed with graver concerns than the Boss is a jerk; Pay heed to the gulf between civvies and warriors, American Citizens; Citizen Soldiers.” (read more)
Pamela aka Atlas of Atlas Shrugs writes Hezbollah in America “The FBI is focusing in on this Hizbollah infiltrated Islamic community. The same Michigan community that looks likely to elect Keith Ellison, CAIR's candidate, former member Nation of Islam, and the first Muslim to ever be elected to the legislature (if he wins which he is poised to do, on the Democratic ticket - of course). The strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood Project.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq Part III - What Is Victory In Iraq? “Allow me to start off this section by saying the following: Victory will not be achieved when we pull Coalition troops from Iraq. Removing troops from Iraq will be a product of victory, not a source of it. So then what is victory? How will we know when we've achieved it? These questions may seem like pipe dreams, and under the tidal wave of negative news, unfortunately many people write them off as such.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes Is This War Bush's Fault? “One of the stranger memes to arise in the last week is the notion that the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict is somehow the fault of George Bush. Howard Kurtz covers this in today's Media Notes, along with links to plenty of people willing to cast blame at the White House. The Post also has a separate report asserting that conservatives have erupted in anger against Bush's foreign policy, asserting that Bush has not taken the fight to America's enemies, or at least not enthusiastically enough, and that this has led Iran and Syria to test our responses via their Hezbollah proxies.” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes Trolls, Trolls and More Trolls “Good Grief - is the moon full? I come home from a long day at work and check my blog messages only to find some filth from a couple of moonbats. I find it ironic that these are the same kind of people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments over President Bush's slip o'the lip. Here's the first one from Mary at Peace Has No Borders in response to my posting about Cindy's little playmate, Geoffrey Millard...” (read more)
Fbl writes A Different Kind of Courage in a Marine “Meet Kris, a U.S. Marine. I met him last March when I was visiting San Diego and asked Soldiers' Angels if there was a hospitalized service member who needed some support. I had thought I'd be meeting a wounded combat vet. I did, but it was a different kind of combat.” (read more)
T.F.Boggs writes Oh So True “This new millennium has been fraught with misrepresentations by the press. Talk to any soldier and you will hear the same. How many countless milblogs and soldiers have told you the truth is not being reported by the MSM? How has the current administration’s support for war been hampered by faulty reporting and blatant disregard for the truth? Why has the media been allowed to run roughshod upon the great Americans who sacrifice so much for our Constitution?” (read more)
Justice Soldier writes Honoring the Fallen “Sergeant Kyle R. Miller died a hero while protecting his country and fighting for freedom on Thursday, June 29, 2006, near Balad, Iraq. Sergeant Kyle R. Miller was a devoted soldier who loved serving his country and did so with great pride. He is remembered by those who knew him for his fun loving personality and always wanting to make people laugh.” (read more)
Charles Bird writing at RedState posts The Way Out of the Israel-Islamist Battle in South Lebanon “I wrote in an earlier comment thread that Israel is doing the work that the Lebanese army should be doing but cannot. The simple answer to ending the current violence between Israel and Hezbollah is to degrade Hezbollah to the point where Israel can hand the keys to the Lebanese army, giving the government full sovereignty over its country. Another Charles Krauthammer agrees with me:” (read more)
Andi of Andi’s World writes U.S. Soldiers Free Kidnapped Journalist “Do you remember Linda Foley? Last year, Foley accused our troops of deliberately targeting journalists. While she felt the sting of the blogosphere, Foley, head of The Newspaper Guild - Communications Workers of America, escaped the fate of Eason Jordan. Last month, Foley called for better protection for journalists in Iraq. I have yet to see a statement from Foley thanking U.S. soldiers for freeing a kidnapped journalist....” (read more)
July 18, 2006
Web Reconnaissance for 07/18/2006
A short recon at what’s out there that might draw your attention.
Justice Soldier writes Summertime is Kid Time “Greetings everyone from the confines of a fledgling country of great people. Lately, the children have been coming out more - it is summer after all. Kids are great around the world, no question about it. I do not have any, so I live through my sibling’s and cousins’ kids - gotta love em’. The kids here in Iraq are no different, I want you all to know. They have those same smiles, that same curiosity, and that same desire to be loved, and love life.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes America's Stock Rises Among The Sunni -- As They See The Alternative “The New York Times reports on an interesting development among the Sunni in Iraq, who had bitterly opposed the American presence in their country. They have discovered mathematics and demographics -- and realized that the Shi'a outnumber them almost 3-1. This epiphany has led to a growing sentiment among the former ruling class of Iraq that the Americans may be the only thing standing between them and oblivion:” (read more)
The Armorer writes SSG Bellavia's Medal of Honor Nomination “On the night of 10 November 2004 Third Platoon, A Company, Task Force 2-2 IN near OBJ Wolf in Fallujah, Iraq, was ordered to attack to destroy six to eight Anti Iraqi Forces (AIF). 1LT Edward Iwan, the A Company Executive Officer, had identified six to eight AIF who had entered a block of twelve buildings. These AIF had engaged A55 and tanks from Team Tank with automatic weapons and rocket fire. Having a 25 mm cannon malfunction, 1LT Edward Iwan cordoned off the area and called Third Platoon to enter and clear all buildings until the AIF were killed or captured.” (read more)
Atlas Shrugs writes Disproportionate Delusions “You can hearing the low but insistent drone of the some left wing voices saying, "this is not our war,"" what's the big deal about a couple of captured (note captured, not kidnapped) soldiers," and their new favorite word, ‘disproportionate.’” (read more)
GayPatriotWest of Gay Patriot writes Violence & Murder Unprovoked–It’s What Terrorists Do “Last Tuesday, AOL briefly had as one of its rotating headlines, “Group Claims GIs Killed Over Rape, Murders.” By clicking on the link, we learned that the group referenced was an “Al-Qaida Group.” It stunned me that, on its Welcome Page, this news source identified a terrorist group merely as a “group” without any further descriptor.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq - Why I'm Doing This Part II “Prior to coming to Iraq, I was skeptical about the situation here. I had never been deployed before and I had only been on Active Duty for about a year and a half. All I really knew were the stories that I'd heard from the Soldiers who had already been here and from the news, both of which I took with a grain of salt. I always believed that we were doing a lot more good in Iraq than was being reported, but I had no way to verify that belief.” (read more)
David Horowitz of Front Page Magazine writes Fellow Travelers “At the outset of Iran’s proxy war to obliterate the state of Israel, the editors of the Nation – the oldest and most influential magazine of the American Left – published a lead feature condemning Israel as a terrorist state and blaming the war itself on Israel’s “oppressive occupation” of Arab lands. Written by a Palestinian Arab, Marwan Bishara, the article – “Israel On The Offensive” – claimed that Israel had “exploited” the kidnapping of its soldiers as a pretext for an aggressive war against Hamas and the “besieged” territories.” (read more)
Neptunus Lex writes In defense of democracy Over at NRO’s The Corner these weekend, several of the natives spent time analyzing the pro’s and con’s of the Middle Eastern Democracy Project - the hearts and minds element (not to mention moral underpinning, once you lay preventative self-defense aside) - of the GWOT. Andy McCarthy is sceptical that the game is worth the candle, while Michael Ledeen insists that there is no other way out from a multi-generational war. But all of this is neatly tied together by TigerHawk, who also adds this thought:” (read more)
Justice Soldier writes Summertime is Kid Time “Greetings everyone from the confines of a fledgling country of great people. Lately, the children have been coming out more - it is summer after all. Kids are great around the world, no question about it. I do not have any, so I live through my sibling’s and cousins’ kids - gotta love em’. The kids here in Iraq are no different, I want you all to know. They have those same smiles, that same curiosity, and that same desire to be loved, and love life.” (read more)
Captain Ed writes America's Stock Rises Among The Sunni -- As They See The Alternative “The New York Times reports on an interesting development among the Sunni in Iraq, who had bitterly opposed the American presence in their country. They have discovered mathematics and demographics -- and realized that the Shi'a outnumber them almost 3-1. This epiphany has led to a growing sentiment among the former ruling class of Iraq that the Americans may be the only thing standing between them and oblivion:” (read more)
The Armorer writes SSG Bellavia's Medal of Honor Nomination “On the night of 10 November 2004 Third Platoon, A Company, Task Force 2-2 IN near OBJ Wolf in Fallujah, Iraq, was ordered to attack to destroy six to eight Anti Iraqi Forces (AIF). 1LT Edward Iwan, the A Company Executive Officer, had identified six to eight AIF who had entered a block of twelve buildings. These AIF had engaged A55 and tanks from Team Tank with automatic weapons and rocket fire. Having a 25 mm cannon malfunction, 1LT Edward Iwan cordoned off the area and called Third Platoon to enter and clear all buildings until the AIF were killed or captured.” (read more)
Atlas Shrugs writes Disproportionate Delusions “You can hearing the low but insistent drone of the some left wing voices saying, "this is not our war,"" what's the big deal about a couple of captured (note captured, not kidnapped) soldiers," and their new favorite word, ‘disproportionate.’” (read more)
GayPatriotWest of Gay Patriot writes Violence & Murder Unprovoked–It’s What Terrorists Do “Last Tuesday, AOL briefly had as one of its rotating headlines, “Group Claims GIs Killed Over Rape, Murders.” By clicking on the link, we learned that the group referenced was an “Al-Qaida Group.” It stunned me that, on its Welcome Page, this news source identified a terrorist group merely as a “group” without any further descriptor.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq - Why I'm Doing This Part II “Prior to coming to Iraq, I was skeptical about the situation here. I had never been deployed before and I had only been on Active Duty for about a year and a half. All I really knew were the stories that I'd heard from the Soldiers who had already been here and from the news, both of which I took with a grain of salt. I always believed that we were doing a lot more good in Iraq than was being reported, but I had no way to verify that belief.” (read more)
David Horowitz of Front Page Magazine writes Fellow Travelers “At the outset of Iran’s proxy war to obliterate the state of Israel, the editors of the Nation – the oldest and most influential magazine of the American Left – published a lead feature condemning Israel as a terrorist state and blaming the war itself on Israel’s “oppressive occupation” of Arab lands. Written by a Palestinian Arab, Marwan Bishara, the article – “Israel On The Offensive” – claimed that Israel had “exploited” the kidnapping of its soldiers as a pretext for an aggressive war against Hamas and the “besieged” territories.” (read more)
Neptunus Lex writes In defense of democracy Over at NRO’s The Corner these weekend, several of the natives spent time analyzing the pro’s and con’s of the Middle Eastern Democracy Project - the hearts and minds element (not to mention moral underpinning, once you lay preventative self-defense aside) - of the GWOT. Andy McCarthy is sceptical that the game is worth the candle, while Michael Ledeen insists that there is no other way out from a multi-generational war. But all of this is neatly tied together by TigerHawk, who also adds this thought:” (read more)
Deploying
Fellow bloggers Jack Army and Charlie Munn are preparing for their own deployments. Please stop by and wish them well, for it is because of men like them that we can sleep peaceably at night.
Godspeed brothers!
Godspeed brothers!
July 17, 2006
Web Reconnaissance for 07/17/2006
A short recon at what’s out there that might draw your attention.
John at OPFOR writes Prepping the Battlespace “One of the lessons America, and the world, drew from the lightning campaigns of Gulf Wars I & II was the importance of battlesplace preparation. That is, the conditioning of the battlefield's environment prior to initiating full scale military operations. What we are witnessing in southern Lebanon is concurrent with actions designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. So far, Israel has relied on its dominance in sea and air forces to isolate Hezbollah, rather than focusing their brunt of their superior forces on actual enemy positions. By blockading the coast, neutralizing Beruit's airport, and damaging roads and bridges into and out of Lebanon, the IDF has cut off Hezbollah's supply routes by land, sea, and air, and blocked all lines of escape.” (read more)
Blackfive writes I question your patriotism “Over at Pundit Review on a post about their producing the Military.com's Editor's Desk Podcast this week, there's a commenter claiming that questioning one's patriotism is just a way to silence debate. It could easily be argued that removing the patriotism question from the table is really the way to silence debate. Six months ago, I wrote the following about military blogs and our role in this war (and, yes, I do question the patriotism of the New York Times when they MANIPULATE words to fit their own template rather than tell the truth) - read on:” (read more)
Sachi of Big Lizards writes The Word On the "Street" “For many years now, Moslem dictators have used the same old trick: whenever their domestic policies hit a wall, they turn around and point a finger at the nearest Jew. "It is not the time to squabble amongst Moslems. We need to unite against the Israeli aggression. We need to mobilize for freedom. We need to focus on defense." Never mind the economy is in a shambles due to the corruption, incompetence, and stupid policies of the Arab leadership. A quarter of their citizens unemployed and starving, bandits and police working hand in hand intimidating citizens to extort money and favors. That's not the issue; that’s not important. The urgent task is to defeat the Zionist Jews.” (read more)
Jeff Jacoby writing at Townhall writes The enemy is Iran “Opening a security conference in Tehran on July 8, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad exhorted the Islamic world to mobilize against Israel and "remove the Zionist regime." The nations of the region are growing furious, he said. "It will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion." Four days later, Hezbollah terrorists staged a raid across Israel's northern border, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight more.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq - Introduction “People have many different motivations for making the claim that we're losing the war in Iraq. Based on my research, I can only conclude that a large majority of the people who make this claim do so for reasons other than honoring our country or our new ally, Iraq, and that, more importantly, this claim is not based on the truth. Let me be more direct. People who say that America is losing the war in Iraq are lying.” (read more)
Dadmanly writes The Axis Minus One “Events continue to unfold. Questions about motivations, strategic plans proliferate, even as the actors involved continue to play their parts. I remarked yesterday that Israel has declared itself, for all intents and purposes, in a state of war, although perhaps the only change represented by recent events is that this state of war is now more publicly visible and obvious. So I’m still asking today, who wins?” (read more)
John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes The Democratic Underground Thread Of The Day: Hang The Traitors Who Support Bush! “They've got another nifty thread going over at the Democratic Underground. It's called, "Poll question: Is supporting Bush tantamount to Treason?" Just to make it clear that this isn't hyperbole, that the person who started the thread means what he says, this picture (it's edited down a bit) was posted under the title.” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes GI Special - Another Terrorist Supporting Tool “I have been doing a great deal of research utilizing the AlBasrah.net website - better known as one of the biggest Terrorist Supporting Websites available. If you want to see what the "resistance" in Iraq is up to, Al-Basrah is the place to go. One of the features of Al-Basrah is the "GI Special". The GI Special is nothing more than propaganda for the anti-military factions to use to demoralize our soldiers and undermine the United States. What makes GI Special even more disgusting is that it is written by an American, Thomas Barton. Barton also runs Traveling Soldier - another anti-military propaganda site. So who is this Thomas Barton and why does he hate our military?” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A convenient treason “With the Valerie Plame story back on the front burner, thanks to the Wilsons' absurd lawsuit (as I've said before, their testimony under oath during discovery should be both vastly educational and entertaining), I've been doing some thinking about the underlying principles behind the whole mess. To hear their defenders speak, the public revelation that Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, had been a field agent for some time until her identity was exposed by the traitor Aldrich Ames, and since then had worked in the CIA headquarters for some years was a grave blow to our intelligence capabilities.” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes No more half-solutions. “In spite of what we are facing here every day I find myself, just like many others, so attached to following what's going on between Israel and Lebanon and that's mostly because of the close resemblance between the two cases. In both cases we see a weak government suffering to control a powerful militia that is challenging the will of the rest of the country and engaging in a proxy war making the people suffer the results of regional conflicts that in no way can benefit their country.” (read more)
Expose The Left has Williams Defends Hezbollah, Labels Kristol A War Monger (VIDEO) “On FOX News Sunday, Juan Williams tried to bag Bill Kristol as big “man” who wants “war, war, war” and “more war”. Well, as usual Juan was hosed down not just by the conservatives on the panel, but by liberal Mara Liasson, for saying Hezbollah is NOT a major world government:” (read more)
John at OPFOR writes Prepping the Battlespace “One of the lessons America, and the world, drew from the lightning campaigns of Gulf Wars I & II was the importance of battlesplace preparation. That is, the conditioning of the battlefield's environment prior to initiating full scale military operations. What we are witnessing in southern Lebanon is concurrent with actions designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. So far, Israel has relied on its dominance in sea and air forces to isolate Hezbollah, rather than focusing their brunt of their superior forces on actual enemy positions. By blockading the coast, neutralizing Beruit's airport, and damaging roads and bridges into and out of Lebanon, the IDF has cut off Hezbollah's supply routes by land, sea, and air, and blocked all lines of escape.” (read more)
Blackfive writes I question your patriotism “Over at Pundit Review on a post about their producing the Military.com's Editor's Desk Podcast this week, there's a commenter claiming that questioning one's patriotism is just a way to silence debate. It could easily be argued that removing the patriotism question from the table is really the way to silence debate. Six months ago, I wrote the following about military blogs and our role in this war (and, yes, I do question the patriotism of the New York Times when they MANIPULATE words to fit their own template rather than tell the truth) - read on:” (read more)
Sachi of Big Lizards writes The Word On the "Street" “For many years now, Moslem dictators have used the same old trick: whenever their domestic policies hit a wall, they turn around and point a finger at the nearest Jew. "It is not the time to squabble amongst Moslems. We need to unite against the Israeli aggression. We need to mobilize for freedom. We need to focus on defense." Never mind the economy is in a shambles due to the corruption, incompetence, and stupid policies of the Arab leadership. A quarter of their citizens unemployed and starving, bandits and police working hand in hand intimidating citizens to extort money and favors. That's not the issue; that’s not important. The urgent task is to defeat the Zionist Jews.” (read more)
Jeff Jacoby writing at Townhall writes The enemy is Iran “Opening a security conference in Tehran on July 8, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad exhorted the Islamic world to mobilize against Israel and "remove the Zionist regime." The nations of the region are growing furious, he said. "It will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion." Four days later, Hezbollah terrorists staged a raid across Israel's northern border, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight more.” (read more)
Bandit 36 writes Winning in Iraq - Introduction “People have many different motivations for making the claim that we're losing the war in Iraq. Based on my research, I can only conclude that a large majority of the people who make this claim do so for reasons other than honoring our country or our new ally, Iraq, and that, more importantly, this claim is not based on the truth. Let me be more direct. People who say that America is losing the war in Iraq are lying.” (read more)
Dadmanly writes The Axis Minus One “Events continue to unfold. Questions about motivations, strategic plans proliferate, even as the actors involved continue to play their parts. I remarked yesterday that Israel has declared itself, for all intents and purposes, in a state of war, although perhaps the only change represented by recent events is that this state of war is now more publicly visible and obvious. So I’m still asking today, who wins?” (read more)
John Hawkins of Right Wing News writes The Democratic Underground Thread Of The Day: Hang The Traitors Who Support Bush! “They've got another nifty thread going over at the Democratic Underground. It's called, "Poll question: Is supporting Bush tantamount to Treason?" Just to make it clear that this isn't hyperbole, that the person who started the thread means what he says, this picture (it's edited down a bit) was posted under the title.” (read more)
Robin of Chickenhawk Express writes GI Special - Another Terrorist Supporting Tool “I have been doing a great deal of research utilizing the AlBasrah.net website - better known as one of the biggest Terrorist Supporting Websites available. If you want to see what the "resistance" in Iraq is up to, Al-Basrah is the place to go. One of the features of Al-Basrah is the "GI Special". The GI Special is nothing more than propaganda for the anti-military factions to use to demoralize our soldiers and undermine the United States. What makes GI Special even more disgusting is that it is written by an American, Thomas Barton. Barton also runs Traveling Soldier - another anti-military propaganda site. So who is this Thomas Barton and why does he hate our military?” (read more)
Jay Tea of Wizbang writes A convenient treason “With the Valerie Plame story back on the front burner, thanks to the Wilsons' absurd lawsuit (as I've said before, their testimony under oath during discovery should be both vastly educational and entertaining), I've been doing some thinking about the underlying principles behind the whole mess. To hear their defenders speak, the public revelation that Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, had been a field agent for some time until her identity was exposed by the traitor Aldrich Ames, and since then had worked in the CIA headquarters for some years was a grave blow to our intelligence capabilities.” (read more)
Mohammed of Iraq the Model writes No more half-solutions. “In spite of what we are facing here every day I find myself, just like many others, so attached to following what's going on between Israel and Lebanon and that's mostly because of the close resemblance between the two cases. In both cases we see a weak government suffering to control a powerful militia that is challenging the will of the rest of the country and engaging in a proxy war making the people suffer the results of regional conflicts that in no way can benefit their country.” (read more)
Expose The Left has Williams Defends Hezbollah, Labels Kristol A War Monger (VIDEO) “On FOX News Sunday, Juan Williams tried to bag Bill Kristol as big “man” who wants “war, war, war” and “more war”. Well, as usual Juan was hosed down not just by the conservatives on the panel, but by liberal Mara Liasson, for saying Hezbollah is NOT a major world government:” (read more)
July 16, 2006
I Don't Question Their Patriotism I Declare They Have None!
When elected officials shun the very country they were elected to represent, and when decorated war veterans, turn their back on the very military they once stood shoulder too shoulder with, then they cease to be American’s.
America was founded upon the belief that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was so basic a right of man, that no one could take it from you not even your government. Men fought and died for these beliefs before they were even enumerated in the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, for as far back as the Magna Carte the freedom of man was given as an absolute, and America, these United States of America was formed in that belief, and those rights have been passed down to us not on the shoulders of politicians or liberal academics, but rather on the shoulders and lives of the American Military.
In 1776 men went to war together and believed in their cause. They pledged their lives, their assets and their honor to their newfound country and to each other. Five of them were captured and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Army; another had two sons captured and imprisoned. Nine of them died from wounds received during the War. The wealthiest of them saw their entire net worth swept away by the war. Eight of them lost everything to vandals and looters while they were away at the war.
Their homes were destroyed, their wealth was confiscated and many of them died in utter poverty. At least one of them was driven from his dying wife’s bedside. Some of them saw their families jailed and subsequently die in jail. Still others returned after the war to find their spouse dead and their children missing. The price they paid to follow the convictions they had made to God and Country were extreme. And indeed they became men of constant sorrows. Who are they? They were in fact the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.
America was not founded so that we could be citizens of the world but rather so that we can be American’s. E Pluribus Unum: Out of many, One. Not hyphenated Americans, but simply Americans. When half of our country, elect leaders that stand for something other than that, then we have a problem.
If you can not support the country and our military in this war, then as I stated up front, I am not questioning your patriotism I am declaring that you are not patriotic at all, and this country is too good for you and your ilk. If you belief that the murderous thugs in Iraq, and Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza, Iran and Syria are truly freedom fighters fighting for a greater good, then by all means leave this country now and join up with them.
The left loves to attack the supporters of our military with the phrase, “if you think what we are doing in Iraq is so good, then why don’t you join?” Well the shoe can fit the other foot. If only those that are serving have the moral authority to speak in favor of the war effort, which is what they are say when they challenge you to join up, then I challenge them to live by the same rules. If they want to cry about how the war is being conducted on the ground, then they should have to join up, otherwise listen to your own rhetoric and leave this country now or shut up. You can’t have it both ways, if this truly is World War III, then sooner or later you are going to have to choose a side, choose wisely.
America was founded upon the belief that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was so basic a right of man, that no one could take it from you not even your government. Men fought and died for these beliefs before they were even enumerated in the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, for as far back as the Magna Carte the freedom of man was given as an absolute, and America, these United States of America was formed in that belief, and those rights have been passed down to us not on the shoulders of politicians or liberal academics, but rather on the shoulders and lives of the American Military.
In 1776 men went to war together and believed in their cause. They pledged their lives, their assets and their honor to their newfound country and to each other. Five of them were captured and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Army; another had two sons captured and imprisoned. Nine of them died from wounds received during the War. The wealthiest of them saw their entire net worth swept away by the war. Eight of them lost everything to vandals and looters while they were away at the war.
Their homes were destroyed, their wealth was confiscated and many of them died in utter poverty. At least one of them was driven from his dying wife’s bedside. Some of them saw their families jailed and subsequently die in jail. Still others returned after the war to find their spouse dead and their children missing. The price they paid to follow the convictions they had made to God and Country were extreme. And indeed they became men of constant sorrows. Who are they? They were in fact the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.
America was not founded so that we could be citizens of the world but rather so that we can be American’s. E Pluribus Unum: Out of many, One. Not hyphenated Americans, but simply Americans. When half of our country, elect leaders that stand for something other than that, then we have a problem.
If you can not support the country and our military in this war, then as I stated up front, I am not questioning your patriotism I am declaring that you are not patriotic at all, and this country is too good for you and your ilk. If you belief that the murderous thugs in Iraq, and Afghanistan, Lebanon and Gaza, Iran and Syria are truly freedom fighters fighting for a greater good, then by all means leave this country now and join up with them.
The left loves to attack the supporters of our military with the phrase, “if you think what we are doing in Iraq is so good, then why don’t you join?” Well the shoe can fit the other foot. If only those that are serving have the moral authority to speak in favor of the war effort, which is what they are say when they challenge you to join up, then I challenge them to live by the same rules. If they want to cry about how the war is being conducted on the ground, then they should have to join up, otherwise listen to your own rhetoric and leave this country now or shut up. You can’t have it both ways, if this truly is World War III, then sooner or later you are going to have to choose a side, choose wisely.
July 15, 2006
I Stand with Israel: I Stand with the Jews
By Oriana Fallaci
[A French court on Nov. 20, 2002, dismissed a request to ban "The Rage and the Pride," the best-selling book by [leftist] Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that critics say incites hatred of Muslims. Fallaci, 73, is a former Resistance fighter and war correspondent best-known for her uncompromising interviews with world leaders]
Hat-tip to Michelle Malkin for the updated links:
I find it shameful that in Italy there should be a procession of individuals dressed as suicide bombers who spew vile abuse at Israel, hold up photographs of Israeli leaders on whose foreheads they have drawn the swastika, incite people to hate the Jews. And who, in order to see Jews once again in the extermination camps, in the gas chambers, in the ovens of Dachau and Mauthausen and Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen et cetera, would sell their own mother to a harem.
I find it shameful that the Catholic Church should permit a bishop, one with lodgings in the Vatican no less, a saintly man who was found in Jerusalem with an arsenal of arms and explosives hidden in the secret compartments of his sacred Mercedes, to participate in that procession and plant himself in front of a microphone to thank in the name of God the suicide bombers who massacre the Jews in pizzerias and supermarkets. To call them "martyrs who go to their deaths as to a party."
I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiah just as Mussolini's avant garde used to flaunt the club and the fascist badge.
I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism. That in Sweden they asked that the Nobel Peace Prize given to Shimon Peres in 1994 be taken back and conferred on the dove with the olive branch in his mouth, that is on Arafat. I find it shameful that the distinguished members of the Committee, a Committee that (it would appear) rewards political color rather than merit, should take this request into consideration and even respond to it. In hell the Nobel Prize honors he who does not receive it.
I find it shameful (we're back in Italy) that state-run television stations contribute to the resurgent anti-Semitism, crying only over Palestinian deaths while playing down Israeli deaths, glossing over them in unwilling tones. I find it shameful that in their debates they host with much deference the scoundrels with turban or kaffiah who yesterday sang hymns to the slaughter at New York and today sing hymns to the slaughters at Jerusalem, at Haifa, at Netanya, at Tel Aviv.
I find it shameful that the press does the same, that it is indignant because Israeli tanks surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, that it is not indignant because inside that same church two hundred Palestinian terrorists well armed with machine guns and munitions and explosives (among them are various leaders of Hamas and Al-Aqsa) are not unwelcome guests of the monks (who then accept bottles of mineral water and jars of honey from the soldiers of those tanks).
I find it shameful that, in giving the number of Israelis killed since the beginning of the Second Intifada (four hundred twelve), a noted daily newspaper found it appropriate to underline in capital letters that more people are killed in their traffic accidents. (Six hundred a year).
I find it shameful that the Roman Observer, the newspaper of the Pope--a Pope who not long ago left in the Wailing Wall a letter of apology for the Jews--accuses of extermination a people who were exterminated in the millions by Christians. By Europeans. I find it shameful that this newspaper denies to the survivors of that people (survivors who still have numbers tattooed on their arms) the right to react, to defend themselves, to not be exterminated again.
I find it shameful that in the name of Jesus Christ (a Jew without whom they would all be unemployed), the priests of our parishes or Social Centers or whatever they are flirt with the assassins of those in Jerusalem who cannot go to eat a pizza or buy some eggs without being blown up.
I find it shameful that they are on the side of the very ones who inaugurated terrorism, killing us on airplanes, in airports, at the Olympics, and who today entertain themselves by killing western journalists. By shooting them, abducting them, cutting their throats, decapitating them. (There's someone in Italy who, since the appearance of Anger and Pride, would like to do the same to me. Citing verses of the Koran he exorts his "brothers" in the mosques and the Islamic Community to chastise me in the name of Allah. To kill me. Or rather to die with me. Since he's someone who speaks English well, I'll respond to him in English: "F*** you.")
I find it shameful that almost all of the left, the left that twenty years ago permitted one of its union processionals to deposit a coffin (as a mafioso warning) in front of the synagogue of Rome, forgets the contribution made by the Jews to the fight against fascism. Made by Carlo and Nello Rossini, for example, by Leone Ginzburg, by Umberto Terracini, by Leo Valiani, by Emilio Sereni, by women like my friend Anna Maria Enriques Agnoletti who was shot at Florence on June 12, 1944, by seventy-five of the three-hundred-thirty-five people killed at the Fosse Ardeatine, by the infinite others killed under torture or in combat or before firing squads. (The companions, the teachers, of my infancy and my youth.)
I find it shameful that in part through the fault of the left--or rather, primarily through the fault of the left (think of the left that inaugurates its congresses applauding the representative of the PLO, leader in Italy of the Palestinians who want the destruction of Israel)--Jews in Italian cities are once again afraid. And in French cities and Dutch cities and Danish cities and German cities, it is the same. I find it shameful that Jews tremble at the passage of the scoundrels dressed like suicide bombers just as they trembled during Krystallnacht, the night in which Hitler gave free rein to the Hunt of the Jews.
I find it shameful that in obedience to the stupid, vile, dishonest, and for them extremely advantageous fashion of Political Correctness the usual opportunists--or better the usual parasites--exploit the word Peace. That in the name of the word Peace, by now more debauched than the words Love and Humanity, they absolve one side alone of its hate and bestiality. That in the name of a pacifism (read conformism) delegated to the singing crickets and buffoons who used to lick Pol Pot's feet they incite people who are confused or ingenuous or intimidated. Trick them, corrupt them, carry them back a half century to the time of the yellow star on the coat. These charlatans who care about the Palestinians as much as I care about the charlatans. That is not at all...
[A French court on Nov. 20, 2002, dismissed a request to ban "The Rage and the Pride," the best-selling book by [leftist] Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci that critics say incites hatred of Muslims. Fallaci, 73, is a former Resistance fighter and war correspondent best-known for her uncompromising interviews with world leaders]
Hat-tip to Michelle Malkin for the updated links:
I find it shameful that in Italy there should be a procession of individuals dressed as suicide bombers who spew vile abuse at Israel, hold up photographs of Israeli leaders on whose foreheads they have drawn the swastika, incite people to hate the Jews. And who, in order to see Jews once again in the extermination camps, in the gas chambers, in the ovens of Dachau and Mauthausen and Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen et cetera, would sell their own mother to a harem.
I find it shameful that the Catholic Church should permit a bishop, one with lodgings in the Vatican no less, a saintly man who was found in Jerusalem with an arsenal of arms and explosives hidden in the secret compartments of his sacred Mercedes, to participate in that procession and plant himself in front of a microphone to thank in the name of God the suicide bombers who massacre the Jews in pizzerias and supermarkets. To call them "martyrs who go to their deaths as to a party."
I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiah just as Mussolini's avant garde used to flaunt the club and the fascist badge.
I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism. That in Sweden they asked that the Nobel Peace Prize given to Shimon Peres in 1994 be taken back and conferred on the dove with the olive branch in his mouth, that is on Arafat. I find it shameful that the distinguished members of the Committee, a Committee that (it would appear) rewards political color rather than merit, should take this request into consideration and even respond to it. In hell the Nobel Prize honors he who does not receive it.
I find it shameful (we're back in Italy) that state-run television stations contribute to the resurgent anti-Semitism, crying only over Palestinian deaths while playing down Israeli deaths, glossing over them in unwilling tones. I find it shameful that in their debates they host with much deference the scoundrels with turban or kaffiah who yesterday sang hymns to the slaughter at New York and today sing hymns to the slaughters at Jerusalem, at Haifa, at Netanya, at Tel Aviv.
I find it shameful that the press does the same, that it is indignant because Israeli tanks surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, that it is not indignant because inside that same church two hundred Palestinian terrorists well armed with machine guns and munitions and explosives (among them are various leaders of Hamas and Al-Aqsa) are not unwelcome guests of the monks (who then accept bottles of mineral water and jars of honey from the soldiers of those tanks).
I find it shameful that, in giving the number of Israelis killed since the beginning of the Second Intifada (four hundred twelve), a noted daily newspaper found it appropriate to underline in capital letters that more people are killed in their traffic accidents. (Six hundred a year).
I find it shameful that the Roman Observer, the newspaper of the Pope--a Pope who not long ago left in the Wailing Wall a letter of apology for the Jews--accuses of extermination a people who were exterminated in the millions by Christians. By Europeans. I find it shameful that this newspaper denies to the survivors of that people (survivors who still have numbers tattooed on their arms) the right to react, to defend themselves, to not be exterminated again.
I find it shameful that in the name of Jesus Christ (a Jew without whom they would all be unemployed), the priests of our parishes or Social Centers or whatever they are flirt with the assassins of those in Jerusalem who cannot go to eat a pizza or buy some eggs without being blown up.
I find it shameful that they are on the side of the very ones who inaugurated terrorism, killing us on airplanes, in airports, at the Olympics, and who today entertain themselves by killing western journalists. By shooting them, abducting them, cutting their throats, decapitating them. (There's someone in Italy who, since the appearance of Anger and Pride, would like to do the same to me. Citing verses of the Koran he exorts his "brothers" in the mosques and the Islamic Community to chastise me in the name of Allah. To kill me. Or rather to die with me. Since he's someone who speaks English well, I'll respond to him in English: "F*** you.")
I find it shameful that almost all of the left, the left that twenty years ago permitted one of its union processionals to deposit a coffin (as a mafioso warning) in front of the synagogue of Rome, forgets the contribution made by the Jews to the fight against fascism. Made by Carlo and Nello Rossini, for example, by Leone Ginzburg, by Umberto Terracini, by Leo Valiani, by Emilio Sereni, by women like my friend Anna Maria Enriques Agnoletti who was shot at Florence on June 12, 1944, by seventy-five of the three-hundred-thirty-five people killed at the Fosse Ardeatine, by the infinite others killed under torture or in combat or before firing squads. (The companions, the teachers, of my infancy and my youth.)
I find it shameful that in part through the fault of the left--or rather, primarily through the fault of the left (think of the left that inaugurates its congresses applauding the representative of the PLO, leader in Italy of the Palestinians who want the destruction of Israel)--Jews in Italian cities are once again afraid. And in French cities and Dutch cities and Danish cities and German cities, it is the same. I find it shameful that Jews tremble at the passage of the scoundrels dressed like suicide bombers just as they trembled during Krystallnacht, the night in which Hitler gave free rein to the Hunt of the Jews.
I find it shameful that in obedience to the stupid, vile, dishonest, and for them extremely advantageous fashion of Political Correctness the usual opportunists--or better the usual parasites--exploit the word Peace. That in the name of the word Peace, by now more debauched than the words Love and Humanity, they absolve one side alone of its hate and bestiality. That in the name of a pacifism (read conformism) delegated to the singing crickets and buffoons who used to lick Pol Pot's feet they incite people who are confused or ingenuous or intimidated. Trick them, corrupt them, carry them back a half century to the time of the yellow star on the coat. These charlatans who care about the Palestinians as much as I care about the charlatans. That is not at all...
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