August 1, 2006

Web Reconnaissance for 08/01/2006

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.


American Citizen Soldier writes REPATRIATE GAMES “’Homecoming, Interrupted’
Mosul, Tal Afar, and now the belly of the beast. It was announced this week that our unit, the 172nd Stryker Brigade, has been extended for up to four additional months in Iraq in order to bring additional force to bear on the persistent lawlessness of the capital city of Baghdad. My platoon was already in Kuwait, homeward bound, when we were first notified of this occurrence via Yahoo! News, of all sources. The media, our families, along with anyone else in America who cared knew long before we did that not only were we not returning home as planned following an already mentally and physically draining year in Iraq, but that by the time we finally do we’ll more than have qualified for in-state tuition to Baghdad University.” (read more)

Sgt Allen writes The True Burden of Rank “Clean sheets. A soft bed.The night is still and still I cannot sleep. My eyes fixed into a daze. My mind 6000 miles away. I hear the pure sounds of a guitar playing across the desert night. I feel myself reclining in my camp chair. My eyes fixed and staring at stars, millions of stars, stars that I had never seen before, reaching out to the horizon. My legs stretching out, my boots sole deep into the desert sand. The cool night breeze warmed by that sand. My eyes slowly closing and my mind dreaming of my home. I really miss the way Mo played the guitar at night.” (read more)

Dan Reihl writes Have We Lost The Rhetoric War? “Are there similarities in how we fight wars less effectively today and how we discuss them, similarities that might ultimately undermine the war effort itself? If someone didn't whole-heartedly support America's cause in World War II, odds are they would have been called a traitor, a coward, or at least a weakling, etc. Today, just as we see collateral damage as an argument for not fighting a war, as opposed to an unfortunate by product of one, the conventional wisdom is that we shouldn't be too hard on war critics, less we run the risk of looking like unhinged war mongers.” (read more)

Wade Zirkle of Vets for Freedom writes Gold Star Moms Take Charge “Yvette Burridge is a Gold Star Mother from Lafayette, Louisiana. Her son, David, died next me as we were on patrol north of Fallujah on Labor Day, 2004. I got to know him well in the short time he was in our platoon, and I have had the good fortune to get to know Yvette over the past two years.” (read more)
Trevor at Will to Exist writes BOOOM!!! “This morning I was playing a video game in my hooch (I was awoken early by a boom) when a thunderous BOOOOOOM shook the walls of my trailer. My bed is against the wall so I moved an inch or so with the concussion blast. A car bomb detonated outside a bank in the Karada district just across the river. At last report, we’re told, 12 Iraqis died and 18 more were seriously wounded. The victims were Iraqi government employees who were waiting to be paid. Of course, civilians just passing by were also killed. The terrorists here make no attempt whatsoever to limit what military men term collateral damage.” (read more)

Cassandra writes From The Belly Of The Whale “Well folks, it's official. Once more the august senior Senator from Massachusetts hath opened wide his stately blowhole and from it issued forth such glowing pearls of wisdom as would well adorn a dusky Ethiop's ear. In truth, his constituents are well served.” (read more)

Captain Ed writes Putting Qana In Perspective “When we or our allies go to war, we expect the maximum effort to adhere to the modern conventions of warfare, especially in protecting civilian populations. Unfortunately, the success for such efforts largely depend on the nature of the enemy. An enemy that does not concern itself with protecting civilian populations -- in fact, one that hides itself and its weapons among civilians for tactical and political purposes -- makes civilian casualties impossible to avoid. That Israel faces such an enemy should surprise no one, especially considering the tactics used by their enemies now and for the last generation, as Naomi Ragen reminds us in Arutz Sheva.” (read more)

Ray Robison writes The New York Times thinks you are stupid “The New York Times thinks you are a complete idiot. They have to. Why else would they feel free to publish this nonsense. Enough is enough, we get it, you hate President Bush! That doesn't mean you have to treat us like we are stupid! In his article today Iraqi Officials Ask For Aid For Global War On Terror writer Paul von Zielbauer tells us:” (read more)

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