Eight Terrorists Killed - 40 Detained

IN a continuing effort target terror leaders and their operatives Coalition Forces operating in Salah ad Din and Anbar provinces killed eight terrorists and detained 40 on Sunday and Monday:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces killed eight terrorists and detained 40 suspected terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in Salah ad Din and Anbar provinces Sunday and Monday.

A precision raid on Sunday targeted an al-Qaeda in Iraq emir near Tarmiyah. After Coalition Forces blocked escape routes for three terrorists associated with the alleged leader, the armed men fired on the assault force. Coalition Forces called close air support in their defense, and the three armed terrorists were killed in the air strike.

Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists during the raid and destroyed a cache of weapons and ammunition inside the building.

A Monday raid targeted the same al-Qaeda in Iraq network. As Coalition Forces approached one of the targeted buildings, they received small arms fire from within. After ensuring that women and children near the scene were a safe distance from the building, Coalition Forces, reacting in self-defense, called in close air support. Ground forces assess five terrorists were killed in the air strike. The assault forces detained 10 suspected terrorists and destroyed the building.

Near Karmah, Coalition Forces raided four buildings Monday associated with a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq financier who works with senior al-Qaeda leaders in Anbar province. During the operation, the assault force discovered a cache of weapons containing machine guns, mortar rounds, improvised explosive device materials and military-style assault vests. A Coalition Forces air strike destroyed the cache and the ground forces detained 17 suspected terrorists on site.

South of Samarra, Coalition Forces detained eight suspected terrorists during a Monday raid targeting a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq operative tied to suicide bombers and foreign terrorists.

The ground forces uncovered a cache of weapons that included rifles, grenades, mortars, military-style assault vests, body armor and materials to assist in anti-aircraft strikes. A trained explosives team destroyed the cache on-site.

Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists during a raid in Bayji Monday targeting an alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq leader there.

As Al Qaeda in Iraq and their affiliated networks continue to conduct attacks on the Iraqi people, in order to ferment sectarian violence and sway public opinon against the US forces we must continue to target the leaders of these groups and those who worK with them.

By eliminating the leaders the movements will fall apart and Iraq will become more and more stable.

Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces Detain 13

ON Monday morning Iraqi Security Forces, and U.S. Special Forces operating in the Nudah area of Iraqq, detained 13 al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists in early-morning raid:

TAJI, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, along with U.S. Special Forces advisors, conducted an early-morning raid July 30 detaining 13 in an effort to disrupt terrorist weapons smuggling and early warning systems in the Nidah Area of eastern Iraq.

After clearing six buildings, forces detained the primary target, along with 12 others. The suspect is thought to be a key member of the terrorist criminal network of al-Qaeda in Iraq operating in the Mandali area. He is also suspected of engaging in improvised explosive devices and vehicle born IED activity; as well as mortar attacks, small arms attacks, murder, kidnapping, ransom, and intimidation of local citizens.

Along with the suspected terrorists, two AK-47 assault rifles, three cell phones and a pick-up truck belonging to one of the detainees were also confiscated.

No Iraqi or U.S. Forces were injured during this operation.

Another fine job of hunting out the enemy and taking them off the street boys.

Two NCOs Step Up and Help Iraqi Girl Obtain Much Needed Medical Care

A US Special Forces Medic (Army Staff Sgt. Joe Murtaugh) and an Army Civil Affairs NCO (Army Staff Sgt. Marikay Satryano) have given an 8 year old girl a new lease on life but starting Operation Iraqi Heart:

BAGHDAD – Even though she’s surrounded by war, Dalal is not much different than other children her age. She likes jumping rope and Cinderella and enjoys reading and drawing. Her favorite classes are religion and language and she recently completed second grade -- earning perfect marks in all her studies. But, unlike many of her peers,the 8-year-old Iraqi has also fought a life-threatening battle from within since birth.

Due to the efforts of a U.S. Special Forces medic and U.S. Army Civil Affairs noncommissioned officer, all of that changed recently and Dalal was granted a newlease on life.

July 23, Dalal received an operation in Amman, Jordan, to correct a heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot. The congenital disease causes a decreased flow of blood to the lungs, as well as mixing of blood from separate chambers of the heart. Left unattended, Dalal’s prognosis could have been death around the time she hit puberty.

“We had to close a hole in one area of her heart and patch and enlarge another area,” said Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Khaled Salaymeh shortly after the operation. “She was fully awake shortly after the surgery and doing excellent.”

Dalal’s journey to the operating room began in Western Iraq several months ago.

“The previous (Special Forces) team here discovered her,” said Army Staff Sgt. Joe Murtaugh, a U.S. Special Forces medical sergeant assigned to the Al Anbar Province.

“Her father had an electrocardiogram from when she was 3 years old diagnosing her with the condition. Since so much time had passed, they had him take her to where he could get another test and the diagnosis came back the same.”

While reviewing Dalal’s medical records, Murtaugh found an e-mail address for the International Organization of Migration in Jordan and contacted them for assistance.

“They directed us to several contacts but the most important was Marikay (Army Staff Sgt. Marikay Satryano). She took care of all the logistical details in Jordan and even arranged for three organizations to cover the $8,000 cost of Dalal’s Surgery.”
Read the Rest...

Hearts and minds indeed! Good job Sergeants!
How could anyone even think that our troops are murderous thugs?
As SSG Satryano states “The child we can’t help is the one we don’t know about.” If the democrats have their way, there are a lot of iraqi children who will never see the light of freedom, we can not let that happen.

Iranian QODS Force Captured in Iraq

Coalition forces operating in Shulah today captured three suspected terrorists with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF):

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces received sustained small arms and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fire from terrorists during a precision raid to capture or kill operatives with connections to the IRGC-QF. Coalition Forces returned fire on the identified enemy positions killing four terrorists.

The captured suspected terrorists are believed to be key players in a major facilitation network for smuggling weapons and components of Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) from Iran into Iraq to be used against Coalition Forces.

“Coalition troops continue to conduct highly successful raids to capture these terrorists who bring EFPs and other lethal aid from Iran into Iraq,” said Major Marc Young, MNF-I spokesperson.

While its obvious that Iranian influence is hindering the prospects of peace and stability in Iraq. The western powers must remain committed to dismantling terror networks that seek to kill innocent Iraqis. To allow our own defeat to become the overwhelming attitude in Iraq, we provide countries like Iran with more power on the worlds stage. Thankfully the surge is working and operatins like this that highlight the influence and interference of Iran in Iraq help the world to come to terms that Iraq is a winnable war.

Web Reconnaissance for 07/31/2007

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.



In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Alaska Senator's Home Is Raided - Agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R) yesterday as part of a broad federal investigation of political corruption in the state that has also swept up his son and one of his closest financial backers, officials said. (READ MORE)

Bush, Brown Stress Commonalities - President Bush and the new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, presented a united front Monday on Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking to dispel suggestions that the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain would deteriorate because of the recent transfer of power in London. (READ MORE)

Chief Justice Suffers Seizure - Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was rushed to a hospital here Monday afternoon after suffering a seizure at his summer island home, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said. Roberts, 52, fell on a dock after having a "benign idiopathic seizure," said Kathleen Landin Arberg, the court's public information officer. (READ MORE)

Taliban Threaten More Killings - The body of a second South Korean hostage is recovered in central Afghanistan, and the Taliban threatened today to kill more captives if their demands were not met. (READ MORE)

New British Leader Backs Bush on Iraq - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday strongly backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and said the global war against terror looms as a "generation-long battle." (READ MORE)

GOP Resolution Rejects Amnesty for Illegals - State Republican officials from across the country on Thursday will formally break with the desire of President Bush and other top Republican leaders to include amnesty and other benefits for illegal aliens in immigration-reform legislation. (READ MORE)

Pakistani Army Battles Militants - Government soldiers backed by helicopter gunships repelled an attack on a military checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan today, killing up to 12 militants, an army spokesman said. (READ MORE)


From the Front:
Michael Yon: Bread and a Circus, Part One “Baqubah - The Battle for Baqubah (or “Baqouba” according to the story above) is still underway. Small TICs [Troops In Contact] continue to occur, but those enemy attacks have had little effect since combat kicked off on 19 June. As of 30 July, we lost 1 soldier, while the enemy losses number about one hundred. This battle is best measured not in the losses, but the gains. The people of Baqubah have been demonstrably ecstatic. Other than in the Kurdish areas, I have never seen such overt gratitude from so many Iraqis. Iraqis continue pointing out al Qaeda operatives and their hidden bombs. Despite that many al Qaeda escaped, the success so far is overwhelmingly obvious. The challenge remains to make it stick, but the gains are undeniable and the sense of momentum is palpable.” (READ MORE)

Greyhawk: There is no jihad. We are just instruments of death. “Former suicide bomber Ahmed Abdullah al-Shaya, ‘“I realized that all along I was wrong,” al-Shayea told The Associated Press in a two-hour interview at a Riyadh hotel before returning to an Interior Ministry compound that serves as a sort of halfway house for ex-jihadists rejoining Saudi society. “There is no jihad. We are just instruments of death,” he said.’” (READ MORE)

LTC Rich Phillips: Week 26--A Look Back. “As we pass the midpoint of this 12-month tour, it seems like a good time to look back on where we came from and what we’ve experienced in the last six months. In January the 396th CSH (FWD) left Camp Atterbury, IN enroute to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VIII. After three months at Camp Atterbury our journey took us by bus to Pope AFB, then by air to Bucarest, Romania, Manas Airbase and finally Bagram Airbase before we separated to our three locations in Afghanistan.” (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Uncle Jimbo @ Blackfive: The Resurgence of The Surge "The anti-war left has gone pretty much all out in their surge against the surge and thus far all Harry Reid and company have managed is to fail to do anything at all. Sadly, given our Congress, that is the best that could be hoped for. Reid went so far as to call the surge doomed prior to the last troops even leaving the US. I try to give opponents of the war the benefit of the doubt , but the problem is their lack of concern over the effects of a sudden withdrawal make that difficult. Jonah Goldberg has a recent quote that points out one aspect of this." (READ MORE)

David Ignatius: Sept. 10 in Waziristan “The National Intelligence Estimate released July 17 put the problem plainly enough: Al-Qaeda has ‘regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability’ using a new haven in the lawless frontier area of northwest Pakistan known as Waziristan.” (READ MORE)

Bret Stephens: Bad Company “American and Indian diplomats have now completed negotiations for the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Accord, also known as a 123 Agreement (after a section of the 1954 U.S. Atomic Energy Act that governs such deals). The agreement, which bridges the gap between what Congress approved late last year and the conditions demanded by India's government, would allow India to purchase U.S. nuclear technology and fuel, ostensibly for civilian purposes only. Whether New Delhi abides by that commitment is another matter:” (READ MORE)

WSJ Review & Outlook: Tax Hike Scorecard “With a new Democratic majority, the agenda on Capitol Hill has shifted abruptly this year, and no more so than on taxes. For a decade the focus in Congress was which taxes to cut. Now everywhere you look someone running the Congress, or running for President, is proposing to raise taxes on some industry or group of Americans. The proposals are coming so frequently that it's hard to keep track without a scorecard. So as a reader service, and with a tip of the hat to Ed Hyman's ISI Group for some of the details, here's a list of the most notable proposals so far:” (READ MORE)

Bill Roggio: Iraq Report: Attacks fail to materialize after soccer victory “The Iraqi soccer team gave the nation a reason to celebrate on Sunday with a victory over Saudi Arabia and the championship in the Asia Games. There were no major attacks reported during Sunday celebrations, and Iraqi security forces killed a suicide bomber and defused another car bomb in Baghdad.” (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Worst. Delegation. Ever. “Alaska’s three Republicans in Congress are an embarrassment. They should be impeached, er, expelled. Rep. Don Young is the target of an FBI investigation. The headline in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: “Young feeling heat on the Hill.” From the story:” (READ MORE)

Allahpundit: Muslims to pet food factory: We’re inhaling pork! “Just what we need — another type of emission for the left to get angry about. If the mere smell of pork is so lethally haram, how do they manage to live in England at all? One wrong turn down an unfamiliar street and they might end up outside a butcher shop. What then? Or is there some de minimis exception where trace amounts of pig smell are okay so long as it’s not, um, ‘raining down’?” (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: In Sickness And In Hell, Part II “My apologies for the delay in this piece; I was rather delightfully distracted online last night. So, we've established that our health care system works pretty damned well, but the way we pay for it is seriously bollixed. Just what the hell should we do about it? Well, I am innately suspicious of any heavy-handed government solution. There's an old saying that ‘the power to tax is the power to destroy,’ and the power to regulate and control is not that far removed from the power to tax. I would be very concerned about having the government ‘fix’ the financing end without totally wrecking the important part, the part that works -- the actual health care.” (READ MORE)

Cassandra: Bringing The Strong Strength of Strongness... “Jake Tapper notes an interesting competition shaping up amongst the candidates for the Democratic nomination: Though Tapper doesn't make this point, the use of ‘attack’ seems almost obscene to this Marine wife when we have 150,000 men and women in uniform actually being attacked in Iraq right now and tens of thousands more in Afghanistan. One has to wonder whether these people ever stop to think just how unstatesmanlike such tactics make them look, especially when we are at war?” (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: Laying a Golden Egg “Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post say that a positive report from Iraq might split the Democrat Congress ‘and impede ... efforts to press for a timetable to end the war.’ ‘[House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)]Clyburn noted that Petraeus carries significant weight among the 47 members of the Blue Dog caucus in the House, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats. Without their support, he said, Democratic leaders would find it virtually impossible to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal....’” (READ MORE)

Big Dog: Did the Gore Name Save the Kid from Jail? “Rush Limbaugh became addicted to prescription pain killers and ran into trouble with the law. He went into treatment and was off the air for a little more than a month. When he came back he had to fight for a very long time against the judicial system that kept digging and digging. No one in the system told him that since he completed treatment that they would drop the charges.” (READ MORE)

Blue Crab Boulevard: If It Walks Like A Duch “Just a few days ago John Kerry stoutly denied that there had been a bloodbath in Southeast Asia when the Democrat-controlled Congress cut off funding for South Vietnam. Today the UN-sponsored Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia destroyed Kerry's claim by finally bringing charges of crimes against humanity against the former warden of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.” (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: Lieberman On Offense On Iran, Iraq “The Hill interviewed Senator Joe Lieberman about his unique position in the upper chamber, and how he sees the debate on Iraq and Iran. Lieberman castigated his former colleagues in the Democratic caucus as excessively partisan and unwilling to meet the threats posed by America's enemies: ‘Lieberman, the Democrats’ 2000 vice presidential nominee, insists he is not actively considering joining the Republican Party. But he is keeping that possibility wide open as his disenchantment grows with Democratic leaders. The main sticking points are their attempts to end the war in Iraq and their hesitation to take a harder line against Iran.’” (READ MORE)

Steven Emerson: Muzammil the "Moderate" “Continuing in its efforts to help sanitize radical Muslims and present them as mainstream voices, the Washington Post and Newsweek, in their ‘On Faith’ blog, published a piece from long-time Imam of the Islamic Society of Orange County, Muzammil Siddiqi. ‘On Faith’ describes Siddiqi as involved in ‘inter-faith initiatives, including participation in an inter-faith prayer service with President George W. Bush’ and as the ‘Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America, a body tasked with interpreting religious law throughout the continent.’ (For more information on the pro-terrorism background of the Fiqh Council, read, ‘The American Islamic Leaders' 'Fatwa' is Bogus’).” (READ MORE)

Flopping Aces: No Evidence of Hate Crime Charges Being Brought Against Those Who Destroy Bible “Ok, what universe are we in when Alan Colmes actually makes sense? Well, not a huge amount of sense when he backs CAIR, but we are talking about Alan Colmes here. Also the Washington Times cannot find any other case of someone being prosecuted for hate crimes after destroying a bible. Asked whether someone was ever charged with a hate crime over the Bible, Mr. Thorpe said ‘that would take a paralegal a couple of days to research, but this whole situation is fraught with this kind of question.’” (READ MORE)

Dymphna: “They Celebrate the Massacre That is Still Vivid in My Eyes” “This letter must reach everyone; spread it around as much as possible… ‘Milan, September 11 ’04 Saturday afternoon September 11 2004. In front of my house there is a mosque of sorts, or rather there’s a building where practically only Muslims live and they’ve set up a room for prayers, they’re all dressed in white, they’re celebrating… yes they’re celebrating September 11, they usually never meet on Saturdays but on Fridays so this is a special day, they’re celebrating the fall of the Twin Towers, they celebrate the massacre that is still vivid in my eyes and in anybody’s eyes…’” (READ MORE)

The Tygrrrr Express: Support Terrorism–Buy the Los Angeles Times “While the Washington Post is firmly entrenched as the ugly kid sister of the Jayson Blair Times, the Los Angeles Times has decided that it is now qualified to be the retarded family cousin that nobody talks about. Once content to be a badly written paper that was simply less awful than its East Coast counterparts, the LA Times has now officially declared itself an enemy combatant. Take the editors to Guantanamo Bay, there is no turning back. This is not about free speech, or even disgusting speech. This is about expressing support for terrorists. The LA Times wants American Taliban John Walker Lindh to be set free.” (READ MORE)

TigerHawk: Allies “Once again, critics of the Iraq war are disappointed that George Bush has been able to maintain the support of our ‘traditional allies’: “Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has disappointed American and British critics of the war in Iraq by declaring that he believes the West is involved in a ‘generation-long battle’ against radical Islamic terrorism, that he believes the American mission in Iraq is worthwhile, and that he will stand by President Bush in his efforts to promote democracy in Iraq and in the rest of the Middle East.” (READ MORE)

Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.

Web Reconnaissance for 07/30/2007

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.


In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
A True Political Partner - Aboard a small chartered jet, Elizabeth Edwards -- lawyer, mother, author, cancer patient, candidate's wife -- was flying recently from New Hampshire to Iowa. She had spent the morning campaigning solo and was meeting her husband, John Edwards, and their younger daughter, Emma Claire, for two days... (READ MORE)

Gonzales's Truthfulness Long Disputed - When Alberto R. Gonzales was asked during his January 2005 confirmation hearing whether the Bush administration would ever allow wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants, he initially dismissed the query as a "hypothetical situation." (READ MORE)

For Abducted Guards, Iraq Wasn't Just About Money - ON MAIN SUPPLY ROUTE TAMPA, Iraq -- Surrounded by darkness, an AK-47 at his side, Jonathon Cote considered his future from the driver's seat of a black Chevy Avalanche hurtling through southern Iraq early last November. (READ MORE)

Iraqis Find Unity in Soccer Win - Tens of thousands of Iraqis, from the Shi'ite south to the Kurdish-dominated north, poured into the usually treacherous streets yesterday to celebrate a rare moment of national joy and unity after the country's soccer team won Asia's most prestigious tournament. (READ MORE)

Russia Backs Abbas as Palestinian Leader - Russia considers President Mahmoud Abbas the only leader of the Palestinian people, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today in Moscow's strongest statement backing Abbas since Hamas militants seized the Gaza Strip last month. (READ MORE)

The Iron Man has His Golden Moment - In this picturesque village on the shores of Lake Otsego, Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. became a baseball immortal yesterday. (READ MORE)

Virginia's Bid for Help With Illegals Nixed - Federal immigration officials say they lack the resources to fulfill a proposed mandate by Virginia lawmakers to train staff at every state jail to start deportation procedures for illegal aliens. (READ MORE)


From the Front:
Badger 6: A Run for Heroes “Long time readers of Badgers Forward no doubt remember December 6 of last year. Long before this recent success Ar Ramadi was a bad place. And even though a light had appeared, Coalition Forces were suffering casualties almost daily. December 6 saw a roadside bomb attack that killed Major Meagan McClung, Public affairs officer for the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, the highest ranking female Marine Corps officer to die in Iraq. That attack also killed Captain Travis Partiquin, a Special Forces officer serving in a Civil Affairs capacity, and author of the "How to win in Anbar" presentation. Additionally the gunner on their vehicle, Spccialist Vincent "VJ" Pomante was also killed in the attack.” (READ MORE)

Acute Politics: Sleeping in Hell “After five days in a row of having the power go out every afternoon around 1 pm, we finally seem to have consistent electricity again. Hopefully the juice stays on- it's hard to stay up on sleep for nighttime missions when the power continually goes out during the hottest part of the day (and during the time we have for sleeping). I talked with the lead KBR electrician who was sent to fix the problems as they arose each day- it seems there are a number of reasons for the difficulties.” (READ MORE)

Brotherhood of Courage: Operation Gratitude “I would like to give special thanks to OPERATION GRATITUDE for their tireless effort to send US troops goody packages. Everyone from my platoon enjoyed everything that you sent us.” (READ MORE)

Eighty Deuce on the Loose: Look at the worlds greatest Army NOW! “Well, the meat and potatoes of this post are going to be on what I call, 82nd Airborne Greatest Bloopers. I couldn't believe what had happened and in the end, it ended up being quite hilarious. We were headed out to this one place early in the morning, before sunrise. We were driving through this one neighborhood and we ended up missing our turn. Well we went to loop around to come back to the road that we needed to take, but it wasn't a route that we normally take. It is now, a road we will probably NEVER take.” (READ MORE)

The Gunner's World: The Future “The old man shook my hand and said follow him, he was dressed in an old green camouflage uniform with the markings of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division (2/1) of the Iraqi Army; he seemed old enough to be my father, which given my age is saying something. We walked back outside into the oven that has now become Iraq in late July, the temp at 2:00 this afternoon is 121, we move to another building to the desk of a Marine Corps Sergeant. I tell him who I am and that I am looking for the Marine Corps Military Transition Team (MTT) Commander for 2/1, LtCol Fisher, “Follow me Sir” back to the oven and to another building, I am stuck by how young the Sergeant is compared to the Iraqi soldier who lead me to his desk, I wonder where do I fit in that equation?” (READ MORE)

Half A World Away: Home!!!! “I've been meaning to post this for quite some time, but a variety of things have kept me from the blog. Perhaps the most glaring was the fact that my computer crashed shortly after I got home on June 27th, and I just now got it fixed. Among other reasons/excuses is that blogging has slipped from its perch as my number 3 leisure activity while in Iraq (after gym time and running) to approximately number 46.” (READ MORE)

The Iceblog: Back Home with Family and Friends “As soon as I got home, the first thing I wanted to do was take a bath! In this picture, Milkshake is helping me get the bath water cold enough: Here I am relaxing in my nice, cold bath. Boy, did I ever get dirty in Iraq! Polar bears are very clean animals. It’s important for us to keep clean because if our fur gets dirty, it can’t keep us warm! Unfortunately the showers in Iraq were not big enough for me, so I had to go without for most of the tour.” (READ MORE)

Jason's Iraq Vacation: Football “As the temperature climbs above 120 and the days seem to get longer and more frustrating, I can’t help but find myself looking forward to the start of training camp for the Philadelphia Eagles. There are a hundred other things I worry about on a daily basis, all admittedly more important, yet I can’t help from fantasizing about Brian Westbrook reaching 1,000 yards rushing this season and the Eagles playoff possibilities. I keep telling myself - once football season is here, this deployment will fly by. Since we get a handful of selected programs broadcast here via the Armed Forces Network, I will most surely get to see at least one football game per week, which will be something nice to look forward to.” (READ MORE)

Omar: Mesopotamia: The Champions of Asia “I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said hat today has been as exciting as one of those election days in Baghdad. Our national soccer team is playing for the Asian cup for the first time in its history. By comparison this is as if the American team is playing for the cup of Copa America against the team of Brazil or Argentina! But of course here in Iraq we care way more about soccer than Americans do. No offense meant of course! The government had already announced shorter work hours in all government offices, including the parliament, for today so that people can go home early enough to watch the match.” (READ MORE)

Michael J. Totten: In the Wake of the Surge “BAGHDAD – 82nd Airborne’s Lieutenant William H. Lord from Foxborough, Massachusetts, prepared his company for a dismounted foot patrol in the Graya’at neighborhood of Northern Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni Arab district of Adhamiyah. ‘While we’re out here saying hi to the locals and everyone seems to be getting along great,’ he said, ‘remember to keep up your military bearing. Someone could try to kill you at any moment.’ I donned my helmet and vest, hopped into the backseat of a Humvee, and headed into the streets of the city with two dozen of the first infantry soldiers deployed to Iraq for the surge. The 82nd Airborne Division is famous for being ready to roll within 24 hours of call up, so they were sent first.” (READ MORE)

Matt Sanchez: Silk Route--Not So Smooth “It took forever to get to Salerno. Even the name, Salerno, sounded far, more like a neighborhood in distant Brooklyn than a forward operating base forty kilometers from the Pakistan border. Salerno was just a stop on the way to my ‘final destination’, Gardez home of the first Afghan Provincial Reconstruction or PRT. I had only been in Afghanistan for less than a week and already the acronyms were beginning to give me trouble.” (READ MORE)

Michael Yon: Bird’s Eye View: The Battle for Baqubah “A Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is the headquarters for a unit. Company-level TOCs are the smallest I have seen. A typical infantry company has about a hundred or more soldiers. The commander will normally be a captain. A company-level TOC often consists of a radio and a map, and one person on duty 24/7. It might have a coffee maker, too. In fact, there is a company TOC at the other end of the tent in which I now reside with a company called C-52. C-52 is the smallest company with only 54 men, who all live in this tent with a huge amount of weapons, and great combat experience to back them up [to whit: Superman.]” (READ MORE)

Patrick S Lasswell: If the Iraq Panic Bubble Bursts “I was reflecting on my business partner Michael Totten's words from Baghdad when he wrote about the current media presentation of the war: ‘You’d think explosions and gunfire define Iraq if you look at this country from far away on the news. They do not. The media is a total distortion machine. Certain areas are still extremely violent, but the country as a whole is defined by heat, not war, at least in the summer. It is Iraq’s most singular characteristic. I dread going outside because it’s hot, not because I’m afraid I will get hurt.’ One of the reasons Michael and I went into business was to prove that honest people could make a decent living without distorting facts.” (READ MORE)

My Desert Adventure: Packing My Trash “Today, I’m finally starting to get excited about coming home. Of course, I don’t know if that will be on the 11th or the 15th. The navy still hasn’t made up its mind. I packed my duffel bags today. It was an easy job since 90% of all the stuff I never used while I was over here. ( I never unpacked it) Not much demand for a chemical suit, entrenching tool, or a few of the other items I lugged here from South Carolina.” (READ MORE)

Greyhawk: Wolves Among Us “‘You know, boss,’ I once said to my boss, ‘we have over 200 people in this organization. Any type of person you can imagine, good or bad, any character flaw you've ever heard of, in this unit I can guarantee you there's one of each.’ I've been around a while, I know. And this isn't unique to the military. Cut a random slice of the population, and you'll find the same. Hey, none of us are perfect - we are all of us flawed mortals. Some more so than others; some can't get to work on time two days in a row. Some abuse their children or wives. Some bounce checks, some steal CDs from the Exchange even though it's payday. Some go for all the above and more.” (READ MORE)

Northern Disclosure: Sometime it pays to be good and sometimes it just sucks. “Being on the road is fun, but distance makes the heart grow fonder. I was away with Ranger Sid and Tremblay Force for 18 days. I was so happy to see the guys again, I almost started to feel sappy, ALMOST. Lot's of great things to report though. First and foremost, Ranger Nievera and Mr 300(Thomson) both were promoted, so the 6's were running deep in Voo Doo but I had to go and ruin it by getting my second rocker. So finally the pay matches the positions for the 3 of us. Now all we need is the IRR promotions to get caught up since those guys truly deserve it and are getting boned.” (READ MORE)

LTC Rich Phillips: Week 25--A Typical Day “There is no typical day at a forward surgical hospital. It's like working in a big city emergency room/trauma center 24/7/365. There are slow days where I get to the gym and the bazaar and hang out with the guys. There are other days where it is busy from dawn until late at night with traumas and surgeries and patients on the ward. And there are lots of days in-between. But every day is an adventure. This week was crazy. Lots of days with lots of traumas. A few deaths. And a few quiet days.” (READ MORE)

Michael J. Totten: Baghdad Raid Night “BAGHDAD – ‘We want to use you as bait,’ Sergeant Eduardo Ojeda from Los Angeles, California, told me before I embedded with his unit on what was shaping up to be a night raid. ‘Excellent,’ I said. ‘That’s why I’m here.’ This is what passes for black Army humor in Baghdad. ‘Our TST [time-sensitive target] blew up a vehicle and killed four soldiers and an interpreter in the next AO [area of operations],’ he said. ‘He’s somewhere in our AO now.’” (READ MORE)


On the Web:
Robert D. Novak: A New Escapade “The morass in Iraq and deepening difficulties in Afghanistan have not deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and questionable new secret operation.” (READ MORE)

Debra J. Saunders: John Doe Versus Flying Imams “Imagine you're waiting to board a plane, and you see fellow travelers acting strangely and muttering words that you don't understand. Maybe they're Muslim, maybe they're not. You're afraid that they are up to no good. What do you do?” (READ MORE)

Michael Barone: Our National Funk “Not all is gloom out there. That's the dominant message from the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project's poll of 47 nations. Pew found that there is rising or constantly high contentment all over the globe with one's quality of life and family income.” (READ MORE)

Donald Lambro: Big money not a harbinger of victory “The excessive attention being paid to the huge sums of money raised by the Democratic presidential front-runners overlooks an important irony in recent political history: The best-funded candidates often lose in the early caucuses and primaries.” (READ MORE)

Paul Greenberg: Malaise, A Short Story “He no longer looked up when he walked out of the office building into the evening. He felt the sauna heat and went on, gazing straight ahead. He used to dawdle. Now he walked purposefully, as if he knew where he was going.” (READ MORE)

La Shawn Barber: Harry Potter and the Inevitable End “Love it or hate it, Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon. The series has produced a collection of books, research papers, blogs, podcasts, fan fiction, and fan conferences devoted to analyzing the text, positing theories, dissecting clues, and pouring over minutiae. The long tail of Harry Potter is so vibrant, even fans have fans.” (READ MORE)

Matt Barber: Left Smears War Hero Judicial Nominee “There's absolutely no legitimate reason for anyone to oppose President Bush’s nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.” (READ MORE)

Cassandra: More Revisonism On Clinton-Era Torture of Detainees “The Editorial Staff is verklempt. Via Glenn Reynolds, now The Guardian is blaming Teh BushReich for the Clinton administration's tacit approval of torturing rendered detainees. Not only do our media (Dana Priest, anyone?) routinely turn a blind eye to the fact that the Clinton administration as a matter of policy turned over rendered terrorism suspects to known human rights abusers without any guarantee they would not be tortured, but now they're blaming Bush (whose rendition program, according to the man who ran the program under Clinton is far more careful to respect the rights of detainees) for Clinton-era abuses! Is there anything these people aren't capable of?” (READ MORE)

Paul: This Week, Global Warming = Hurricanes “I hope you have a score card at home. You've been told the science was settled and Global Warming causes hurricanes but that was before the 2006 hurricane season was a dud so the global warming hucksters made a new theory that Global Warming reduced hurricanes. But either this week's folks didn't get the memo or the grant they received was to prove hurricanes where caused by global warming, but whatever the reason, we have another bogus study on our hands...” (READ MORE)

Jay Tea: In Sickness And In Hell, Part I “Well, as the political season moves on, we find that once again the notion of ‘health care reform’ is rearing its ugly head yet again. I'm no expert, but I have a few observations and opinions. The first is that we don't have a health care crisis in this country. We have a health care funding crisis right now, and it's threatening to bring about an actual crisis in health care, but that is a symptom of the real problem.” (READ MORE)

Ed Morrissey: They've Got To Admit, It's Getting Better “Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the center-left Brookings Institution take to the pages of the solidly-left New York Times with an unusual mission. The pair have recently returned from Iraq to study the military effort by the US, and they have some bad news for the Gray Lady's readers. We really have turned the corner in Iraq:” (READ MORE)

Don Surber: Impeach the NYT? “Bush Derangement Syndrome finally got to the editorial board of the New York Times. That is the only explanation for today’s lead editorial, ‘Mr. Gonzales’s Never-Ending Story,’ a seething piece of factually challenged illogic that shows not only does power corrupt, but apparently it causes brain damage.” (READ MORE)

Bryan Preston: “A war we just might win” “This NYT article is significant both for what it says, and for who is saying it. Prior to the war, Kenneth Pollack was a Democrat who supported it, gave interviews to blogs like Talking Points Memo supporting it with some caveats, but like many Americans turned against the war as the problems and casualties mounted. Now, at least going by this article, he’s back on board. And importantly, he’s back on board because he has recently visited Iraq and seen tangible progress there.” (READ MORE)

Allahpundit: (Video) Olby wonders if Bush had Pat Tillman whacked for supporting Kerry “Actually, that’s overstating it: He thinks it might have been Bush or our right-wing military acting of its own accord. You’ll find it below at about 3:00 if you’re counting down. Would the president have had one of his own men murdered to prevent a meeting with Noam Chomsky? That’s a given in Olbyworld.” (READ MORE)

Lawhawk: Taliban Continue Holding South Koreans Hostage “Taliban in Afghanistan continue holding 22 South Koreans, who were kidnapped while their bus was driving through central Afghanistan. ‘An Afghan team that was supposed to have held more talks with the Taliban on Saturday could not reach the group because of security concerns in Ghazni province, provincial sources said.’” (READ MORE)

A Soldier's Mind: Unity Of Iraq’s Soccer Team Should Serve As An Example To It’s Political Leaders… “In an inspirational win over the Saudi Arabian soccer team, the Iraqi national team won the 2007 Asian Cup, with a score of 1-0. The team, consisting of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish players proved to their fellow Iraqi’s and to the world, that by being able to put aside their ethnic differences and work together towards a common goal, that anything, including victory is possible. The team has not been without tragedy, when terrorists attacked scores of innocent people who were celebrating the teams’ victory over South Korea. The team honored those who were killed in the bomb blast by wearing black armbands in the post-match news conference.” (READ MORE)

The Belmont Club: An NYT article on Iraq “Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack, both fellows at the Brookings Institution, argue in a New York Times entitled "A War We Just Might Win" that the war in Iraq is being won. ‘Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with. ...’” (READ MORE)

Bill Roggio: Chairman of Afghanistan's Taliban military council killed “Coalition forces struck another blow to the senior Taliban leadership in Afghanistan. On July 23, Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops killed Qari Faiz Mohammad, the chairman of the Taliban Military Shura, or council, during a targeted raid in Helmand province. Mohammad was also a close associate of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and a chief financier for the Taliban.” (READ MORE)

Dadmanly: An Anti-War Pathology “As a First Sergeant, I know that the kinds of behavior confessed by PVT Beauchamp in his ‘diaries’ for TNR, and described as routine for others in his unit, if true, would represent gross dereliction of duty on the part of his NCOs. Such behavior and practices would certainly reflect very poorly on Beauchamp’s Sergeants, first and foremost, his First Sergeant, known as ‘Top.’” (READ MORE)

Neptunus Lex: Who are you going to believe? “Politicians committed to national defeat for narrow partisan purposes? Or your own lying eyes? The worst possible outcome for those who have prematurely declared the war in Iraq lost - even as America’s soldiers surged overseas in support of a new strategy - is that we just might win. A non-trivial possibility, according to Michael E. O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution and Kenneth M. Pollack of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings:” (READ MORE)

Richard S. Lowry: Cultural Differences “Last week, I had a forty-minute telephone conversation with the Multi-National Force-West commanding general, Major General W. E. Gaskin, USMC. His Area of Operations (AO) encompasses all of al-Anbar Province. We spoke about many things, but the subject that intrigued me the most was our talk of the Tribes of Anbar and how their tribal culture is different from American Society. Here is what I learned about the tribes of Anbar.” (READ MORE)

Patterico: Should Republicans Participate in the YouTube Debate? “Apparently people all over the Internet are debating whether Republicans should participate in a CNN/You Tube debate. Why shouldn’t we discuss it here? I think Republicans should participate — mainly because they will look like wusses if they don’t. I read the transcript of the Democrat version, and I understand the reluctance. The Democrat debate was dominated by questioners asking: ‘Why can’t you be more leftist?’ And the Republican debate will be dominated by questioners asking: ‘Why can’t you be more leftist?’” (READ MORE)

Pros and Cons: Our own John Haskell e-mailed me about Gitmo, so I’ll go off on the GWOT generally - lightly updated “Amazingly, good news, objectively reported for once, at least until the end of the story, flowed from The Grey Lady, a/k/a The Neue Amsterdam Times (it’s a joke, they refer to Al Qaeda in Iraq as Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia to distance themselves from any ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq, Neue Amsterdam can as easily be substituted for New York) was sent my way by our John Haskell. (He also, uncharacteristically, liked the analysis of uber-neocon Max Boot, interviewed by The Wall Street Journalists this weekend, transcript available here. Since I am a bloody-minded neocon, I, characteristically, liked it.)” (READ MORE)

McQ: What Iraq are Democrats talking about? “For four years, Democrats essentially asked that question of the administration when statements such as ‘the insurgency is in it’s last throes’ and the like were made. Now it is fair to ask the Dems which Iraq they’re talking about as they continue to maintain the war is lost in the face of mounting evidence that things have changed for the better in that country.” (READ MORE)

Right Truth: Eradicating poverty and your wealth at the same time “The Progressive politicians like John Edwards and Barack Obama are making poverty a central issue in their campaign for President of the United States. With all the money that is given to end poverty, why is it that ‘little progress is being achieved, in fact, the problem continues to escalate?’ Edwards goal is to eradicate poverty by 2036. Good luck with that. Are Americans buying what Edwards is selling? Edwards plans to eradicate poverty by ‘health care for all, the creation of 1 million one-year transition jobs, housing vouchers, and eliminating tax benefits for the rich.’ Translation? Punishing hard working Americans, entrepreneurs, businesses, ... those who create new jobs, those who run the American economy. You.” (READ MORE)

Right Wing Nut House: Whose Freedom? What is Speech? “If you haven’t heard about it, a free speech controversy is about ready to erupt that is going to make the Mohamed cartoon imbroglio look like a walk around the Ka’aba. A 23 year old and Ukranian immigrant, Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn, has been charged with two felony counts for throwing a Koran into a toilet on two separate occasions. The incidents occurred last year when Shmulevich was a senior at Pace University in New York. He left school a couple of credits short of graduating and now works for an international banking firm in New York city.” (READ MORE)

John Fund: Whose Ox Is Gored “When Republicans win elections, liberals are quick to cry fraud. But when actual fraud is found, they are just as quick to deny it, if Democrats are the ones who benefit. Just before the 2004 election, the influential blog DailyKos.com warned of a ‘nationwide’ wave of voter fraud against John Kerry. After the election, liberal blogger Josh Marshall urged Mr. Kerry not to concede because the election had been ‘too marred with voter suppression, dirty tricks and other unspeakable antics not to press every last possibility’ of changing the outcome.” (READ MORE)

ShrinkWrapped: Know Your Enemies “With all the attention on the Iraqi front in the war against radical Islam, it is all too easy to lose sight of exactly who we are fighting, or more properly, who is currently waging war against us. This suits the needs of the anti-war cohort who have their own complicated motives for seeking to undermine our efforts in Iraq, ranging from those on the far left who actively seek an American defeat (to discredit American "imperialism") to those who cynically see an American failure as being their path to power in the 2008 elections, to those who honestly understand the war in Iraq as an error and an impossibility. By depicting Iraq as a separate and unique war dissociated form the greater war of radical Islam against the West, abandoning the front in Iraq is held to be inconsequential to the overall war (which, in any event, is also denied by those who oppose our efforts.)” (READ MORE)

Smooth Stone: More Muslim mythology “Keep moving folks, nothing to see here but more mendacity and stupidity from the Arab world. What is it this time? Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, has accused "24 Jewish organizations" of "fueling the conflict in Darfur" last week in an interview with a Saudi newspaper. Hussein was interviewed during an official state-visit to the Saudi kingdom last week. "The Darfur issue is being fuelled by 24 Jewish organizations, who are making the largest amount of noise over the issue, and using the Holocaust in their campaigning," the Sudanese defense minister replied. We already know that lying is not prohibited in Islam and in fact, may be used as a weapon in order to defeat one's enemy.” (READ MORE)

Vox Veterana: Why it matters “Tim`s article about The New Republic and ‘Scott Thomas’ (now known to be PV2 Scott Thomas Beauchamp) has generated some interesting discussion in the comments. A few questions have been raised, however, which I feel are deserving of a more complete response than is really suited to comments. Actually, the more I read, the more I foam at the mouth. This particular issue is pushing a lot of my buttons. I`ll try to be restrained and polite and measured and all of that garbage--we don`t want to discourage commenters when we`re just getting started. You can get invective anywhere, after all.” (READ MORE)

Have an interesting post or know of a "must read?" Then send a trackback here and let us all know about it. Or you can send me an email with a link to the post and I'll update the Recon.

Trackbacked by:
The latest from Iraq, with some reportage from Afghanistan/Pakistan from Pros and Cons

Once Again Into the Breach

Well, I've returned from my "worldwind" tour. And just where did I go and what did I do whilist I was out glavanting around the country?

Our first stop after leaving home was Manhattan and a 3 day visit with my brother, where I walked more in three days than I have in years. My legs are still tired from it all. While there we visited Central Park, The American Museum of Natural History, Wall Street, Ground Zero, St. Pauls Chapel, Trinity Church, the Irish Hunger Memorial, Battery Park, Statten Island and, Times Square to include a visit to Top of the Rock for an amazing nighttime view of the city.

From Manhattan we travelled to Pennsylvania's Pocono region for a 3 day visit to Great Wolf Lodge and their indooor water park.

And we ended our tour in Pennsyltucky (Western Pennsylvania) in the towns of Latrobe, home of Rolling Rock beer, until it was sold to Anheuser Busch of course and Ligonier, for a family reunion.

Nine days later we returned to dead plants but our own beds, YEAH!

So now its back to bloggin and the Web Recon and hearty thank you to everyone that filled in and guest blogged while I was gone.

Thank you all, for all you have done.

Weekend Web Recon

In spinning around cyberspace today, these little gems surfaced as things you might be interested in reading.

Greyhawk offers a final analysis of the "Scott Thomas" debacle. We've covered the background of this story and Greyhawk's summation seems a fitting capstone. (Forewarned: An overabundance of the word a-hole, but still a good summation).

El Capitan, blogging from the sandbox, relates a recent incident and asks relevant questions as our involvement in Iraq is every-evolving.

The JAG Hunter features a trailer for a documentary film which examines the Pendleton 8. Aside from the trailer's repeated references to the Marines and Navy Corpsman as "soldiers" (a personal pet peeve of mine), it looks like it might contain interesting information. Some of the most comprehensive background information on this case can be found in the archives at Euphoric Reality.

Michelle Malkin continues to follow the tenuous negotiations between thugs in Afghanistan who are holding missionaries hostage. The "hardline militia members" (in my book, bloodthirsty terrorists) have already killed the group's pastor. His body, riddled with bullets wounds to his head, chest and stomach, was found, dumped, on what would have been his 42nd birthday. The pastor leaves behind a wife and 9-year-old daughter.

Michael Totten's latest post provides more, well-rounded coverage from someone actually there.

Have camera? Expect to see this guy. New York's Democratic Senator, who never met a camera he didn't like, Chuck Schumer is vowing to block any more Supreme Court nominees from the Bush Administration because he feels they were "duped" into confirming Roberts and Alito. Maybe Schumer should check his more than ample media archives (you KNOW he has an entire library of himself) for reminders of the circus and obstacles he actually created for these two.

Caroline Glick's recent article in the Jerusalem Post is an interesting take on the initiatives in Iran and the current state of that regime.

Tanker Brothers provide some good news that you might not otherwise learn about Iraqi children and how they are spending recent days.

As follow-up to her post on completely worthless, whiny and FAT military spouses, Andi brings us military moms and dads who fit the same description.

And, I've seen this on the blogs for the past week or so, but if you haven't, you need to see the latest from George S. Patton--he's alive and well and living on You Tube.

Web Recon for 7/26

I always feel inadequate when I try to gather as much great information into one post since Dave sets such a high bar on this blog. But, I will try and hope you can suffer through until he returns from his much-deserved vacation.

First, Michelle Malkin has comprehensive coverage of the dogged determination of a few tenancious bloggers to uncover the veracity of claims made by a person who represented himself to The New Republic as a soldier named Scott Thomas. The guy has decided to reveal his identity which has amounted in a sort of feeding frenzy/analysis storm on many military blogs. Michelle's site is aggregating it and providing timely updates.

The Business and Media Institute's research showed up today on a local radio talk show I listen to frequently. You may want to check out their entire site, but the research topic that caught my attention today has to do with the realities, rather than the fiction, involved in the 'uninsured Americans' saga.

Victor David Hanson offers his latest take on the Middle East.

The exchange between Grim and Harper's continues. If you'll recall, a Mr. Silverstein targeted a hit piece on the Blogger's Roundtables to which Grim responded. Once the ball was returned to his court, Silverstein elected to respond to the reply. Now, Grim offers a measured return volley.

With all the heat in Afghanistan and Iraq of late, it takes a little digging to uncover what is going on in places like Somalia. The Counterterrorism Blog's authors do the digging for us and give us a bleak update.

Sunshine, a teenage girl living in Iraq, blogs frequently about what life is like for her family. This week, it's all about soccer and what that has meant to her and her neighbors.

Greyhawk offers a piece regarding what's all in a day's work for our men and women in uniform. It's a lengthy list! Follow that up with part two for a full picture.

Jack Army provides some great footage, photos and commentary from his work in Iraq.

Greyhawk's always impressive Dawn Patrol points to an article regarding the pressure the surge is putting on al Qaeda in Iraq.

Andi responds to the characterization of our troops as the "killitary" and our military families as whiny, fat and worthless. The comments section is pretty priceless as well.

Hope that provides you with enough to keep you busy for a bit! Read on!

As You Were, John Doe

It seems like the public incredulity and outrage over the idea that a private citizen could be sued for doing his/her civic duty by reporting suspicious activity has taken the wind from some sails. The whimpering cries of, "...but it could lead to racial profiling" have apparently been quelled and the John Doe protection provision has been added, once again, to the Homeland Security conference report. I'm interested to read the actual verbage of the provision, although, the intent of the provision is certainly needed and warranted.

If you haven't been keeping track of the significance of this provision or its roots, there are plenty of places to refresh your memory. To nutshell it, six Muslim imams were removed from a flight last fall after behaving in a manner that resulted in many passengers raising concerns with the flight crew. This behavior included things like loudly chanting (and saying things during those chants that had one Arabic-speaking passenger speaking up) in Arabic, making anti-American/pro-Saddam comments, shuffling their seats once on board, all going back and forth to the lavatory (and they are still on the ground at this time), asking for seat belt extenders when they didn't need one. In other words, pretty much daring anyone to have the gall to call them on their idiotic behavior. Once other passengers did, the imams were removed from the flight. Their response was to quickly call the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR (and, I'll assume the conversation went something like, "Hey! It worked!") and file a lawsuit against the airlines AND the "John Does" who reported their behavior.

Without some sort of legislative protection, anyone reporting suspicious activity, whether right or wrong, could face personal financial ruin from a frivolous lawsuit. I say frivolous because, in my opinion, unless the plaintiff could demonstrate a malice or reckless disregard on the part of the defendant (the private citizen reporting his/her suspicions), they should not receive any sort of remedy from the private citizen. Having the legislative provision in place might not stop you from being sued in a case like this, but your attorney's fees could be much smaller given your attorney could file any number of motions to end the case before it ever saw a courtroom.

It's sad such civility and vigilance has to be protected through legislation, but in the world we're facing today, the loopholes have to be filled in lest they be exploited by those with less than pure intentions.

Trackbacked by:
Our own John Haskell e-mailed me about Gitmo, so I’ll go off on the GWOT generally from Pros and Cons

VA Faces Class Action Lawsuit

Frustrations with the VA backlog in light of the tremendous need of Iraq War vets prompts some to take it to court:

WASHINGTON - Frustrated by delays in health care, a coalition of injured Iraq war veterans is accusing VA Secretary Jim Nicholson of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.

The class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad change in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it charges that the VA has
failed warriors on several fronts — from providing prompt disability benefits, to adding staff to reduce wait times for medical care to boosting services for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The remainder of this article details the remedies being sought as well as the response from the VA.

Married to the Killitary?

If I subscribed to the paranoia, hysteria and vitriol the Kos Kids spew on a daily basis, I suppose I would consider myself a Killitary Spouse. The Kos site has since deleted the post that's causing such a buzz, but if you know anything about the internet, there are very few ways to actually tank a post entirely.

Michelle Malkin and some other savvy folks were quick to catch and keep a copy.

Just in case you missed the gym this a.m., but still wanted to raise your blood pressure a few notches: this post is as good as cardio.

Some people just write this kind of stuff off; I certainly don't let it affect my life, but I do like to keep tabs on such nonsense because it can lead to effects on my household. Knowledge is power and all that Schoolhouse Rock stuff.

Sunday Morning Reading

I'm hopeful the weather where you are is as beautiful (and moderate for July!) as ours is here. Since that likely isn't the case for ALL Thunder Run readers, some Sunday morning reading may be in order to set your day right.

For those of you keeping tabs on the Blogger Roundtables, Grim offers a response to a hit piece in Harper's Magazine. Grim addresses this not-so-complimentary piece of journalistic chest puffing and his analysis makes good sense.

Michael Totten describes in searing detail his arrival in Baghdad. It's a pulse-quickening ride to be certain!

There is something about the sound of children's laughter and singing that can usually make me smile. I'm prone to shedding a tear, though, when I'm privileged to listen in on what the wee ones are praying for, especially when they don't think anyone else but God is listening.

Bloggers and readers alike followed the story of an Airman shot outside his home by a stranger on July 4th. While bloggers leaned toward the shooting being motivated by the Airman's service, this finding hasn't been signed onto by those responsible for investigating the case. Even though the gunman committed suicide following his murderous act, the story continues to draw attention; this time, the attention comes from mainstream media.

Use this post while you drink your coffee and then do what needs to be done today. I plan to spend this day of rest hanging laundry on the lawn and trying to organize this house so that 'everything having its own place' is more the rule rather than the exception.

Possible Data Compromise for TRICARE users

Some Soldier's Mom links to a news release of possible risks to personal information security for certain members of TRICARE:

News Release : SAIC Addresses Possible Data Compromise
(SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, VA) July 20, 2007

Personal information of certain uniformed service members, family members and
others was placed at risk for potential compromise while being processed by SAIC
under several health care data contracts for military service customers, the
company said today.
SAIC remedied the security lapses upon learning of them
and began working with the customers to mitigate any potential impact. Forensic
analysis has not yielded any evidence that any personal information was actually
compromised; however, the possibility cannot be ruled out. SAIC is notifying
approximately 580,000 households, some with more than one affected person.

"We deeply regret this security failure and I want to extend our
apologies to those affected by it," Chairman and CEO Ken Dahlberg said. "We are
concerned about the inconvenience and risk of potential compromise of personal
information this may cause. The security failure is completely unacceptable and
occurred as a result of clear violations of SAIC's strong internal IT security
policies. In this instance, we did not live up to the high level of performance
that our customers have learned to expect and demand from us. We let down our
customers and the service members whom we support. For this, we are very sorry."

The information was stored on a single, SAIC-owned, non-secure server at
a small SAIC location, and in some cases was transmitted over the Internet in an
unencrypted form. The contracts were with customers in the Departments of the
Army, Navy, Air Force and Homeland Security. The work was being done in
connection with TRICARE, the health benefits program for the uniformed services,
retirees and their families. The personal information at risk varies by
individual, but could include combinations of names, addresses, Social Security
numbers, birth dates, and/or limited health information in the form of codes.

The company is working closely with its government customers to mitigate
any potential inconvenience or harm the possible compromise of personal
information may cause. SAIC retained Kroll Inc. to provide services to affected
individuals, including an Incident Response Center with extended hours,
information resources, and credit and identity restoration services for any
victims of related identity theft. These services will be provided at no cost to
the government or the affected persons. The pre-tax cost of these services,
which will be included in SAIC's financial results of operations for the three
months ending July 31, 2007, is estimated to be in the range of $7 million to $9
million, excluding costs for credit restoration services if any related identity
theft occurs.

See detailed information on the company's response including contact information if you should have questions.

Some Quick News You Can Use

David turned over the keys and I always find the task of filling in daunting! I thought a little news to help gear up your weekend might be helpful. Here's what I found on a spin through cyberspace!

A new Iraqi police station has opened in Wahida and is being hailed as Iraqis working toward their own independence and taking responsibility for their own security.

Poor President Bush. Regardless of your politics, you have to feel a little bit for anyone whose colonoscopy makes "breaking news." Of course, the "handing over the red button to Cheney" part has people chattering too, but I can only imagine the one liners being written regarding a doctor taking a look up the President's netherregions.

Blackfive brings us the story of an Afghani nine-month-old who survived the IED attack that took her parents' lives. She's in the capable care of Air Force and Army medical staff. And, the Jawa Report relates a story demonstrating that the Taliban is still alive and well and living in Afghanistan.

Found this link at Mudville Gazette and it's a must see! A televised interview featuring Badger 6 from Iraq and Mrs. Badger 6 from home on their local newscast.

Several blogs are buzzing this morning that you must also read the transcript of a radio interview between Hugh Hewitt and General David Patraeus, so please do.

Andrea Shea King at the Radio Patriots' Blog join the growing chorus of voices asking just what is IN the coffee Senate Democrats are drinking when it comes to homeland security and a citizens' ability to report suspicious activities. I think it's possible they have had one too many playdates with the Kos Kids.

From his new homepage, TF Boggs discusses the controversy over a recently published and questionable article from the New Republic.

Phew!

I have a four-year-old insisting I set up her t-ball set in the yard and watch her hit a few. You all can gnaw on this news and I will make further updates as the times deem necessary.

The Grand Tour

This is it. My last post before heading out on vacation and I’m not returning until July 30th. Might as well have said August at that point, but I digress. We are off on The Grand Tour. Well not exactly - it will be grand and it will be a tour…but grand tour…I not so sure about that. What I do know is I’ll be hitting both extremes of civilization from Manhattan to Pennsyltucky and everywhere in between.

In the meantime please give a big hand to those wonderful team members of The Thunder Run: Melinda, Kat and Texas Grey who will be running the show while I'm gone. I offered a gig to TRCNA-K but schedules did not allow us to get together for the proper training/change of command.

See you all when I get back.

Take care of the place…she doesn’t look like much but she’s got it where it counts.

On the Offensive in Baqouba

Fighting on two "fronts" utilizing Civil Affairs units as well as the combat units - Coalition Forces took the offensive into Diyala to restore services and provide necessary goods to the people in Diyala as well as securing Baqouba by surrounding one eastern portion of the city and beginning a deliberate, house-to-house search there for al-Qaida operatives:

BAQOUBA, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces expanded their efforts to secure Baqouba by surrounding one eastern portion of the city and beginning a deliberate, house-to-house search there for al-Qaida operatives July 17.

Elements of the 5th Iraqi Army Division, along with the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, are searching the neighborhood known as “Old Baqouba,” during this next phase of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which began June 19.

“Today, the Iraqi Security Forces and Task Force Arrowhead began the liberation of eastern Baqouba,” said Col. Steve Townsend, commander of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. “We will drive al-Qaida out and bring security to the people and streets of Old Baqouba.”

In addition to combat operations, wide scale efforts to restore services and provide necessary goods to the people in Diyala have been underway in conjunction with Operation Arrowhead Ripper.

The Iraqi government, with Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces support, coordinated the delivery of 48 trucks of fuel to Khanaqin, Diyala province July 15 as part of efforts to bring necessary provisions to the people there.

The arrival of the trucks was the first step of larger plans to distribute the fuel throughout the province. The delivery, executed by civilian contractors, comprised 21 trucks of benzene, 18 trucks of diesel and nine trucks of kerosene.

Operation Arrowhead Ripper began when Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces closed off the western half of Baqouba to begin a systematic search for al-Qaida operatives there last month.

Coalition and Centcom reports indicate that since the beginning of operation Arrowhead Ripper, Iraqi and Coalition Forces have killed at least 63 anti-Iraqi forces, detained about 240 individuals suspected of having ties to terrorist groups, and disabled more than 146 improvised explosive devices, along with 24 booby-trapped structures. About 10,000 U.S. and Iraqi military personnel have taken part in the operation. The Diyala provincial government has delivered more than 340 tons of flour and rice, and provided other essential services such as medical care to the residents of western Baqouba.

Before the operation began in early June, residents of western Baqouba were afraid to leave their homes and walk down their own streets, press reports indicate that people are now walking the streets and visiting the re-opened markets - children are playing outside. Al-Qaeda it appears has lost their strangle hold on Diyala and Baqouba and area they had at oen time claimed as their "capital" in Iraq.

Senior al-Qaeda Leader in Captured in Mosul

As US Forces continue to pressure al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and their networks we learn that Coalition Forces detained another suspected al-Qaeda senior leader in Mosul on Tuesday:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists during operations in Mosul targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders Tuesday.

Coalition Forces captured an alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in Mosul who is believed to have been promoted within the organization after recent Coalition operations created numerous vacancies in the terrorist leadership structure. Intelligence reports also indicate the individual is responsible for mortar and sniper attacks against Iraqi forces and a December attack against Coalition Forces. Two other suspected terrorists were also detained during the Tuesday operation.

“We’re putting continuous pressure on al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and their networks,” said Maj. Marc Young, an MNF-I spokesperson. “We will continue attacking these networks so Iraqis can live peacefully, without fear of vicious terrorist attacks.”

And another one bites the dust. Good hunting boys!

Iraqi Army Captures Al Qaeda Emir in Qayyarah

Another Iraqi Army stepps up and with Coalition Forces along as advisers they capture an Al Qaeda Emir in Qayyarah:

BAGHDAD – Elements of the Iraqi Army Second Division, with Coalition Forces as advisors, captured the alleged emir of Qayyarah for Al Qaeda during an intelligence driven operation July 15 in Qayyarah.

During the operation, Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces also detained three other individuals at the residence and recovered terrorist propaganda, passports and Korean currency.

The capture of this individual will disrupt terrorist networks operating in eastern Ninewa Province. The individual has high level contacts in the Al Qaeda network, cells for foreign fighters and improvised explosive devices.

Good work boys as you step up to defend your country from the true invaders and occupiers, Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the numerous Iranian sponsored militias. Missions like this aonly serve to prove that Iraq is not a failure and Iraqi units are not untrainable.

Trackbacked by:
Milblog Roundup: NYT Dishonesty, Al Qaeda takes a hit, Petition to Support the Troops from VA Joe Blog

Watching Where You Are Walking, And Not Watching Where You Are Going – Part III

Wherein I relate how I think the Anti-War Movement is watching where they are walking but not watching where they are going.

Part One is here:
Part Two is here:

Part the Third:

As you can see the practice of watching only where you are walking can still get you to your destination, or rather to “a” destination but if you don’t watch where you are going, how do you know the destination upon which you have arrived is one you really want to arrive upon?

As I walked the trail on the return trip I knew where I wanted to go, and I knew the path I wanted to take, but I was unable to see the pitfalls before they were tight upon me. This I think is exactly where the anti-war movement and Senator Harry Reid is now…they have determined where they want to go, but some where along the way they didn’t see the snake in the path and they stepped right on it. Those “renegade Republicans” who broke from Bush on the war have done the same thing and now they are so far off the path that their map doesn’t even show them any alternatives on returning to the proper path. And their reaction to it: go faster make up lost time get there quicker – but where are they going, and do you really want them to get us there any quicker if the destination they are heading towards is death?

Do you remember when I advised you that you don’t want to run on this trail because of its technical rating and the lost opportunities to reconnect with nature? Well, this is exactly what the Democrats and the anti-war movement are doing right now. They are running along this highly technical trail and they are missing everything going on around them, they have only one goal, get there – NOW! They can’t see that the blazes are now a different color, or that snake in the trail ahead because they aren’t looking for the signs that something is wrong in their process, for them it’s all about the process and if there is a fault in it oh well, we’ll still get to the end of the trail eventually, but they can’t even be sure that they are on the correct path!

Unfortunately, for America the trail they are trying to get us on is not a trial we want or need to be upon. Their trail is wrought with danger, more danger than the trail of a war in Iraq, but they haven’t even bothered to look around them and see where we are going, they are simply watching where they are walking looking for their next step and it’s getting them closer and closer to the precipice. They are in point of fact leading us to certain failure in Iraq but they do not care, they only have one goal in sight, unfortunately for them the path they are on does not lead them to it.

That goal will not be accomplished by their action but rather the Constitution of the United States, for in January of 2009 George W. Bush will leave office never to be President again not because of their policies and votes but because of the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Can you see where I’m going with this? The anti-war movement in their zeal to get President Bush hasn’t even realized that in less than two years, he will be gone anyway. They are watching where they are walking but not where they are going. They have fallen victim to their own short sightedness. Think of the amount of energy they have wasted in allowing their envy and anger to guide them in their folly instead of directing their energies into something worthwhile? They could have re-built New Orleans in this time if they had focused their energy into building projects instead of undertaking a policy of destruction and hate.

By watching where they were going they could have seen that their anti-war/anti-Bush policies had morphed into an “I hate everything movement, and I especially hate those people I am pledging to support – our troops.” They have stepped on the snake and been injected with its venom of hate, and still they run on towards death.

Last night on the way home from the fire station a group of about 10 haters had gathered on the square corner in support of their brethren in Washington. They were banging their drum and holding their signs. Their heads were down and their eyes closed as they swayed in time to their rhythmic beating but they weren’t going anywhere. I watched them for a while as I sat at the light, wondering if any of them realized that even by that early hour the Democrats grand plan to foil Bush and the war had already failed. But then I reflected upon my own lesson from Saturday and I realized - they weren’t watching where they were going, they were watching where they were walking and they missed the turn they couldn’t see that they had been left behind by their “leaders.”

America needs a leader that can not only help us watch where we are walking, but one that can also watch where we are going. We need a leader that can guide us through the dark parts of the trail, up the steep slippery slopes not just across the soft sandy and level sections. The Democrats are not that leader, in fact very few in Congress are for they are too caught up with negotiating the trail of Washington D.C. where you only watch where you are walking and not where you are going. Your vote is only as good as the next topic or the next lobbyist, or the next special interest.

And here I might surprise and anger many of you - on many topics, George W. Bush is not that leader either, but where he is this leader is on the war. As a wartime President he knows that the only acceptable outcome is victory. He has said numerous times that we will “Stay the Course” and where the Democrats use it as a punch-line to a joke, for what they view as an inability to accept change, I know that Bush uses that line as a compass heading towards victory, for staying the course does not mean doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. “Staying the Course” means driving forward towards victory, not surrender, not a cease fire, but victory.

Victory, that’s the trail I’m on, what trail are the Democrats on, and more importantly, what trail are you on and are you simply walking that trail watching where you are walking or are you also watching where you are going?