The Global War On Terror

With Islamists Rising, Will Egypt Go The Way Of Iran?

2011-12-16T02:57:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration comes up another loser. Incompetence starts at the top at the weakest link. mc

Posted 12/01/2011 06:12 PM ET

Islamism: The news from Cairo is bad. Early election returns point to a Parliament dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the even more extreme Salafis. It's time for a fast reset to realism.

History never repeats itself precisely, but Egypt's revolution does seem to be falling into a familiar rut. Liberals lead the charge, overthrow the autocrats and then fall to a new breed of oppressors, more brutal, fanatical and globally ambitious than anything that went before.

Think France in 1789, Russia in 1917 and Iran in 1979.

Balloting has begun to choose the first Egyptian Parliament since the ouster of pro-American strongman Hosni Mubarak. To no one's surprise, the well-organized Muslim Brotherhood (slogan: "Islam is the solution") is getting the largest share of the vote, about 40%.

This would not be so troubling if the Western-looking liberal parties and more moderate Muslim groups had picked up enough votes to keep the Brotherhood in the mainstream, where it claims now to be.

Instead, it's the extreme Islamists, the Salafis, who are on the rise. Their strong showing could bring them about a quarter of the vote. Not only would the Islamists have a huge majority, but any moderate leanings in the Brotherhood could be squelched by the clout of the hard-core Salafis.

What now? For America, that question might be moot. We are neither loved nor feared in Egypt, so our ability to influence events there is almost nil. Blame for this condition, to be fair, is shared by the past two administrations, which have treated democracy — or the trappings of it — as a sort of pixie dust that would bring peace and prosperity to the Middle East.

George W. Bush at least tried to balance this >>>

A Terror State On Israel's Border?

2011-10-15T04:03:00.000-07:00

This article speaks for itself. Please read thru to the ending and judge for yourself.

Posted 09/19/2011 06:44 PM ET

United Nations: The planned vote on statehood for the Palestinians is more than just a bad diplomatic move. Though likely to be vetoed, it's an epic disaster for Israel, the U.S. and what remains of the West.

The proposal that will be put forward in the United Nations to make Palestine a full member of the U.N. — and thus, officially, a state — has overwhelming support from some 127 countries. But it's a dangerous idea that will lead to a new terrorist state in the Mideast and probably another war.

The noose of energy-states that surround Israel is tightening by the day.

In Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, a power shift will likely bring the Israel-hating Muslim Brotherhood to power.

Turkey, once both an ally and friend of the U.S. and Israel, has been taken over by Islamists. It's forging close new ties with Egypt and a soon-to-be-nuclear Iran, whose leader has threatened to "annihilate" Israel.

Earlier this year, Turkey supported the launch of a flotilla to break Israel's embargo on aid to Hamas. The flotilla was no "aid" group, as reported, but an al-Qaida-linked financial front.

Meanwhile, Syria, which has waged war against Israel>>>

Muslim Brotherhood Channel

2011-10-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Once again, the camels nose enters the tent abetted by the Obama Administration and many other unaware politicians of the threat of Islamofacism.

Posted 09/15/2011 06:44 PM ET

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will launch a pro-Islamist 24-hour news network even more radical than Al-Jazeera. View Enlarged Image

Islamofacism: Quick: What would be the biggest casualty of a merger between the Saudis and two of the West's most influential media moguls? Answer: the truth.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced this week he will launch a pro-Islamist 24-hour news network with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's privately held news service.

The deal has Bloomberg News providing five hours of financial and economic news programming throughout the day on the new "Alarab" channel, which the prince says will be "right of Al-Jazeera" — that is, even more radical. It will no doubt promote Alwaleed's notoriously anti-Israel agenda.

After 9/11, he gave a $10 million gift to New Yorkers, but with a string attached: They had to acknowledge our Mideast policies brought on the attacks. Mayor Giuliani famously told the prince to go pound sand.

Gotham's current mayor, on the other hand, has no qualms about doing business with the creepy billionaire. They seem to see eye-to-eye on many issues.

Take the Ground Zero mosque.>>>

Fast And Furious And Ugly

2011-10-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

AG Eric Holder should resign immediately. That means soonest. There is no doubt that he was complicit in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Posted 10/10/2011 06:48 PM ET

At the Arizona Peace Officers' memorial in Phoenix Friday, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu announced that 10 Arizona sheriffs had called for a... View Enlarged Image

Scandal: The attorney general once again pleads ignorance as some 40 Fast and Furious weapons are found at a Mexican drug lord's home. If the AG doesn't read memos, maybe he can read a subpoena.

After Eric Holder was involved in the pardoning of international fugitive Marc Rich, he confessed to not doing a thorough check of Rich's history and background. When he criticized Arizona's immigration law, SB1070, he admitted to not even reading the law. Now, with dead bodies and illegal weapons piled up high in Fast and Furious, Holder says he didn't read the memos.

Holder's "Sgt. Schultz" defense that he knew, saw and heard nothing about the ATF's gun-running operation does not wash with the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa.

On "Fox News Sunday" Issa said he plans to issue subpoenas that Holder and other top Department of Justice officials will have to read. On Friday, Holder reacted to calls for a special prosecutor and the fact that five weekly emails sent to him by Michael Walther, director of national drug intelligence, in July and August 2010 should have made him aware of the program and its problems.

"I do not and cannot read them from cover

Don't Cry Over Terrorist Awlaki's Death

2011-10-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Another 'down' and many more to go in our long war against terrorism.

Posted 09/30/2011 06:51 PM ET

War On Terror: U.S. forces dealt a huge blow to al-Qaida's Western recruiting when they took out two American al-Qaida traitors on the Saudi-Yemen border. It's also a blow to the ACLU.

Dead: Anwar Awlaki, tops on the CIA kill list, and his understudy Samir Khan, both U.S. citizens blasted by drone-fired missiles.

Awlaki, a Muslim cleric who advised the 9/11 hijackers and the Fort Hood gunman, became al-Qaida's top recruiter and external operations chief in the Arabian Peninsula. Khan, a 25-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., joined him in Yemen, where he published in English al-Qaida's slick, new jihad how-to journal.

The American Civil Liberties Union had worked with Awlaki's father to block attempts by America to hit him, arguing that targeting U.S.-born terrorists set a "dangerous precedent." To its credit, the White House fought the left-wing group's suit and did what's necessary to protect Americans.

Of course, the ACLU condemns the Awlaki "assassination" as a "violation of both U.S. and international law." And it may bring further action against the U.S. drone program. "As we've seen today," an ACLU spokesman complained, "it's a program under which U.S. citizens far from any battlefield can be executed by their own government without judicial process."

Earth to ACLU: The battlefield in the war on terrorists>>>

Cuba's Terror Smoking Gun

2011-09-30T03:45:00.000-07:00

And how close is Cuba to our shores?

Posted 09/01/2011 06:58 PM ET

Terrorism: For years, Cuba's apologists have debunked U.S. warnings of Havana's sponsorship of terror. It withers in the face of news that Cuba has just set up a Hezbollah base.

According to a report in Italy's respected Corriere della Sera Wednesday, three Hezbollah terrorists operating out of Mexico have left that country to establish a permanent "bridgehead" to the communist island, calling their clandestine operation "The Caribbean Dossier."

Twenty-three other terrorists from the Iran-linked terror group are expected to join the operation, which has a startup budget of more than $500,000. Corriere reported that the mission in Cuba is to provide logistical support for upcoming terrorist attacks planned in the hemisphere.

This is what "state sponsor of terrorism" means, which is how the U.S. accurately classified this odious regime since 1982, even as Cuba's leftist apologists have dismissed it, claiming Cuba is no threat.

Safely ensconced with the Castro brothers' hospitality, Hezbollah's operatives can carry out missions such as acquiring passports, recruiting informants and forging documents.

More disturbingly, they have been tasked to network with Hezbollah's other terrorist cells in Venezuela, Paraguay and Mexico, all in need of logistical support for attacks.

The Italian newspaper reported that Hezbollah might be planning a major attack against Israeli targets in the Western Hemisphere in retaliation for Israel's killing of Hezbollah's chief assassin, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus in 2008. Mughniyeh was a Hezbollah terrorist leader implicated in the two huge attacks in Buenos Aires in the 1990s on Jewish targets — strikes that remain unpunished.

But the targets might not all be Latin American. With Hezbollah ordered to meet with, presumably in Havana, Mexico's cartel traffickers that control illegal alien routes into the U.S., it's likely terrorist attacks are in the works for America, too.

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"Once you create the networks, the guerrillas will be held ready for their missions," Corriere reported of Hezbollah's orders.

That's classic terrorist networking coming into a place before a scourge emerges.

Make no mistake, it's the Castro dictatorship that's enabling Hezbollah. More to the point, it corresponds with the fact that the Castro brothers have always opened the doors wide to terrorist operatives — from Colombia's FARC, M-19 and ELN terrorists, to Chile's leftist terrorists of the Allende era, Nicaragua's Sandinistas and Spain's ETA Basque operations.

The Castro brothers have long been champions of Hezbollah, and there are no more "professionally trained" terrorists capable of carrying out large attacks than Hezbollah operatives.

Against all this, the Cuban regime screams>>>

Lessons from ten years of the global war on terror

2011-09-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

This global war on terror will last many lifetimes and we must be prepared in all ways always.

Last updated on: September 10, 2011 09:04 IST

Colonel Anil Athale

Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) on how the global war on terror has changed the geo-politics of the world and India's role in it.

It is more logical to call it ten years of 'America's war on terror' because the soft state that is India has been suffering from this scourge for much longer period, nearly 30 years. It needs reiteration that till the terror attacks on 9/11, the biggest single terror strike was the blowing up of Air India Boeing 'Kanishka' on June 23, 1985. In that attack 329 Indians were killed. It also must be noted that the perpetrators of that crime continue to roam around freely in Canada and the United States and have never been brought to book.

All traces of the conspiracy behind it were erased at the instance of the 'agency'. In the changed global context it is politically incorrect to rake up the past and the fact that the Khalistani terror campaign against India was a joint Pakistan-US-United Kingdom enterprise.

It is only in 2001 when similar terror visited the mainland US, that the US declared it to be a 'global war on terror' (GWOT for short).

'Realism' dictates that it is the view of the dominant and the powerful that becomes a 'world view' and not that of citizens of Burkina Faso or India. The fact is that till about five years ago and certainly in 2001, the US was the sole superpower. So the world had very little choice but to follow the lead, particularly when the then US President George W Bush declared that 'You are either with the US or against the US!'

The GWOT soon assumed the shape>>>

In No Way Can Assad Be Called A Change Agent

2011-04-03T04:27:00.000-07:00

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Posted 03/31/2011 05:39 PM ET

View Enlarged Image

"Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer."
Hillary Clinton
on Bashar al-Assad, March 27

Few things said by this administration in its two years can match this one for moral bankruptcy and strategic incomprehensibility.

First, it's demonstrably false. It was hoped that President Assad would be a reformer when he inherited his father's dictatorship a decade ago. Being a London-educated eye doctor, he received the full Yuri Andropov treatment — the assumption that having been exposed to Western ways, he'd been Westernized.

Wrong. Assad has run the same iron-fisted Alawite police state as did his father.

Bashar made promises of reform during the short-lived Arab Spring of 2005. The promises were broken. During the current brutally suppressed protests, his spokeswoman made renewed promises of reform. Then Wednesday, appearing before parliament, Assad was shockingly defiant. He offered no concessions. None.

Second, it's morally reprehensible. Here are people demonstrating against a dictatorship that repeatedly uses live fire on its own people, a regime that in 1982 killed 20,000 in Hama and then paved the dead over.

Here are insanely courageous people demanding reform — and the U.S. secretary of state tells the world that the thug ordering the shooting of innocents already is a reformer, thus effectively endorsing the Baath party line — "We are all reformers," Assad told parliament — and undermining the demonstrators' cause.

Third, it's strategically incomprehensible. Sometimes you cover for a repressive ally because you need it for U.S. national security. Hence our muted words about Bahrain. Hence our slow response on Egypt. But there are rare times when strategic interest and moral imperative coincide completely. Syria is one such — a monstrous police state whose regime consistently works to thwart U.S. interests in the region.

During the worst days of the Iraq War,>>>

A Glossy Approach to Inciting Terrorism

2010-11-28T04:23:00.000-08:00

By JUDITH MILLER And DAVID SAMUELS

The November special issue of Inspire, a slick new English-language Web magazine produced by Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula, aims to do more than report the news. It wants to make news, by inspiring young American Muslims to kill their neighbors.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Anwar Al-Awlaki

In addition to offering a wealth of fresh details about the attempted bombing of two U.S. cargo planes last month, the third issue of Inspire (the first issue came out in June, the second in October) also provides hard evidence of what many analysts once said was impossible—the growth of homegrown Muslim terrorism in America from a secondary nuisance into a major threat.

To bring down America, "we do not need to strike big," the editors of Inspire boast. "Attacking the enemy with smaller but more frequent operations" will "bleed the enemy"—a strategy of death "by a thousand cuts." One article claims that the recent effort to bomb FedEx and UPS cargo planes, which the magazine calls "Operation Hemorrhage," cost only $4,200: two Nokia phones at $150 each, two H-P printers at $300 each, plus "shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses."

The accompanying editorial package offers a canny blend of photos, feature stories, insider details, snappy news bits and verse-quoting theological justifications for terrorist attacks, all of it calculated to appeal to American Muslims who grew up on glossy magazines like Details and GQ. It is also notable for its collegiate sense of humor, which includes a mention of the fact that the plotters dropped a copy of Charles Dickens's "Great Expectations" into one of the bomb packages—a detail illustrated by a close-up of the novel's paperback edition. A photograph of Yemeni President Ali Saleh is accompanied by the caption "Yeah, keep scratching your head"; a credit at the bottom states "This ad is brought to you by A Cold Diss," a seeming attempt to appeal to the sensibilities of Muslim hipsters.

If Inspire feels so very American,>>>

Cut Ties To Terror

2010-11-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

Posted 11/26/2010 07:02 PM ET

Islamofascism: Now that a federal judge has unsealed evidence showing the three most prominent Muslim groups in America support terror, Washington must cut all ties with them.

U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis has ruled there is "ample evidence" to support the Justice Department's decision to blacklist the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as unindicted co-conspirators in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terror trial.

He refused requests to strike their names from the list.

At the trial, which ended in guilty verdicts on all 108 counts, FBI agents testified that ISNA, NAIT and CAIR are fronts for the federally designated terrorist group Hamas, which has murdered countless Israelis and at least 17 Americans.

Indianapolis-based ISNA controls most of the Islamic centers and schools in the country through its NAIT subsidiary — a Saudi-funded trust that holds title to radical mosques, including the notorious 9/11 mosque in D.C. CAIR, headquartered within three blocks of the U.S. Capitol, is the nation's largest Muslim-rights group. The trio for years have maintained they are "moderate" nonprofits that condemn terrorism.

However, "The government has produced ample>>>

Shunned Profiling Method On the Verge of Comeback

2010-11-25T02:42:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

By STEVE STECKLOW and PAUL SONNE

One of the most potentially intrusive technologies for profiling and targeting Internet users with ads is on the verge of a comeback, two years after an outcry by privacy advocates in the U.S. and Britain appeared to kill it.

The technology, known as "deep packet inspection," is capable of reading and analyzing the "packets" of data traveling across the Internet. It can be far more powerful than "cookies" and other techniques commonly used to track people online because it can be used to monitor all online activity, not just Web browsing. Spy agencies use the technology for surveillance.

Now, two U.S. companies, Kindsight Inc. and Phorm Inc., are pitching deep packet inspection services as a way for Internet service providers to claim a share of the lucrative online ad market.

Kindsight and Phorm say they protect people's privacy with steps that include obtaining their consent. They also say they don't use the full power of the technology, and refrain from reading email and analyzing sensitive online activities.

Use of deep packet inspection this way would nonetheless give advertisers the ability to show ads to people based on extremely detailed profiles of their Internet activity. To persuade Internet users to opt in to be profiled, Kindsight will offer a free security service, while Phorm promises to provide customized web content such as news articles tailored to users' interests. Both would share ad revenue with the ISPs.

Kindsight says its technology is sensitive enough to detect whether a particular person is online for work, or for fun, and can target ads accordingly.

"If you're trying to engage in one-stop-shopping surveillance>>>

Iran's Realities

2010-08-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

Posted 08/20/2010 07:02 PM ET

Nuclear Terror: Democrats say bombing would only slow Tehran's nuclear program. The U.S. tells Israel that Iran is far from having a nuke. Are we lying to ourselves about the dangerous realities of Iran's nukes?

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, says the mighty U.S. arsenal can't destroy Iran's nuclear program.

"We can't stop it. We can slow it down," Smith told FoxNews.com last week.

The thinking is that there are too many targets, many of which are fortified and even built deep within mountains. Bushehr, Natanz, Qom, plus other facilities, known and unknown, spread out far and wide — we'd never destroy it all, we're told.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Obama administration has been telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Israel not to worry; Iran's nuclear activities are prone to glitches, and it will be a year or more before it can build a weapon, according to U.S. intelligence and U.N. inspector reports.

In fact, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency has said it might take Tehran only three months. As Gary Milhollin, executive director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, wrote on the Atlantic magazine's Web site, President Obama's mantra that Iran's "nuclear clock has slowed" is false.

"The clock is still ticking, vigorously," according to Milhollin. "By the beginning of this year, Iran had produced enough low-enriched uranium to fuel two nuclear weapons if the uranium were further enriched to weapon-grade. By now, Iran has added almost enough low-enriched uranium to fuel a third weapon, and by the middle of next year (at current production rates) it will probably produce enough to fuel a fourth."

Plus, Tehran in February was enriching uranium to a higher level.

"All this is happening at a time when Iran is successfully fielding ballistic missiles that can carry a nuclear payload far enough to reach Israel," Milhollin noted.

Iran on Friday announced the launch of the Qiam1 surface-to-surface missile, with "new technical features and unique tactical capabilities," as well as an improved targeting system, as Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi bragged.

Are we really willing to bet our lives on a>>>

Hard Hats: No Mosque! No Mosque!

2010-08-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

Posted 08/20/2010 07:02 PM ET

SMOKIN' MAD: Bob Pernal, an engineer at the World Trade Center site, sports a sticker showing his opposition of the mosque construction. AP View Enlarged Image

Ground Zero Mosque: A grass-roots movement among construction workers and unions asks Cordoba mosque supporters: Who do you expect to build it? The same people who built the World Trade Center perhaps?

In real estate, it's said the price of a property is based on three things — location, location, location. The price in blood and treasure America has paid for the gaping hole where the Twin Towers once stood is incalculable.

The wounds are still fresh and the anger is still real, and it's something that supporters of the Cordoba mosque, named after a great Islamic victory over the West, simply don't get.

Two blocks from the proposed mosque, construction workers at the WTC site are trying get across their point, and ours.

The towers of the World Trade Center instantly became symbols of America, its strength, its embrace of freedom and free markets. It was the pride of the workers who built it, destroyed in just hours by madmen who turned passenger jets into flaming cruise missiles.

William McCabe, 31, who lost an uncle on 9/11, used black marker to scrawl "WTC No Mosque" on the back of his neon construction vest in protest. "It's like spitting in the face of all the people that died," he told DNAinfo.com.

McCabe, who lives in Queens and has been working on Tower One for five months, said: "What they're going to be doing is praying and laughing because they got the mosque. My uncle's turning in his grave. It's a disgrace."

Mark Sabay, 48, of Brooklyn, who's been working>>>

Bombs Away!

2010-08-22T03:39:00.000-07:00

Ending the Stigma of War-Related Stress

2010-07-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

JULY 21, 2010

By ROBERT MORGENTHAU

Recently the federal government moved to make disability benefits more accessible to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's a welcome step, but it does not go far enough. The government should actively encourage private hospitals and other nonprofits to partner with the Veterans Administration (VA) in efforts to destigmatize this disorder, and to make adequate care more widely available in every community across the country.

During World War II, I saw men deeply affected by their combat experiences. Some very close to me never fully recovered, with devastating consequences for themselves and their loved ones. At that time, there was too little recognition of the seriousness of the mental health consequences of war. Today, the effects are more widely recognized. But it pains me to say we are still not doing enough.

Consider the numbers involved:>>>

Suspected US missiles kill 16 militants in Pakistan's troubled South Waziristan tribal region

2010-07-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

Published July 23, 2010

| Associated Press

SLAMABAD (AP) — U.S. missiles hit a suspected militant hide-out, killing 16 insurgents in a troubled Pakistani tribal region along the Afghan border before dawn Saturday, intelligence officials said.

The strike came as the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, was in Pakistan. Mullen was expected to see Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who was recently granted a three-year term extension in what some have welcomed as a sign of continuity in Pakistan's battle against Islamist extremists.

The six missiles struck a compound in the Nazai Narai area of South Waziristan. The hide-out was known to be frequented by foreign fighters who were among the dead, two intelligence officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to go on the record, said agents were trying to get more details about the identities and nationalities of the dead.

Army spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.>>>

Inspired To Jihad

2010-07-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

Posted 07/21/2010 06:41 PM ET

War On Terror: In three short years, Samir Khan went from blogging about jihad from his parents' North Carolina basement to editing al-Qaida's new online magazine in Yemen — all under the FBI radar.

The 24-year-old Khan is now helping America's Enemy No. 1 recruit Muslims to kill fellow Americans as Webmaster of al-Qaida's splashy new propaganda organ, which provides instructions in English on how to "make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."And the FBI and U.S. intelligence never saw it coming.

The Khan case is the latest example of a disturbing trend in U.S. intelligence lapses involving radicalized Muslims. From the Fort Hood shooting to the Christmas Day airline bombing to the Times Square car-bomb plot, warning signs are ignored, dots left unconnected.

In October, Khan visited Yemen and hooked up with fugitive al-Qaida cleric Anwar Awlaki, another American terrorist turncoat. He was allowed to make the connection, despite sounding security alarms while living in the U.S. From Charlotte, N.C., he ran a Web site praising Osama bin Laden and calling for the death of U.S. troops.

He even made death threats against a private detective in Florida. The investigator filed a complaint with the FBI, but the bureau took no action. The known jihadist wasn't even added to the no-fly list.

"How far does someone have to go before we take them seriously?" asked Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who warned about Khan in 2007, only to have her concerns brushed aside.

Khan was exercising his free speech, she was told.>>>

New Terror Threat On Mexico Border

2010-07-20T03:00:00.001-07:00

Posted 07/19/2010 07:05 PM ET

A police officer runs after an attack on police patrol trucks in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The bombings represent an unprecedented escalation of... View Enlarged Image

Border: A Hezbollah-like car bomb explodes in a border town as a congresswoman asks Homeland Security about links between the terrorist group and Mexican drug cartels. This is more than an immigration problem.

Car bombs are a terrorist specialty and not a drug cartel modus operandi. The heavily armed cartels are more into shootings and kidnappings. So the car bomb that exploded Thursday in Ciudad Juarez, near a federal police headquarters, killing four, was either a change in tactics for the cartels or a sign of teaming up with a terrorist group, one of which could be Iran-linked Hezbollah.

Officials called it a well-planned trap using what may have been the first time that traffickers have used a car bomb since the start of a military-led offensive against drug cartels. It also may be the first indication of Hezbollah's growing influence south of the border.

Erick Stakelbeck of the Investigative Project, a counterterrorism research group, says Hezbollah has established a base in the Americas in what is known as the Tri-Border area, where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. As he reports, "the area is home to roughly 20,000 Middle Eastern immigrants — mostly from Lebanon and Syria — and has long been a hotbed for terrorist fundraising, arms and drug trafficking, counterfeiting and money laundering."

Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., recently sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security asking it to form a task force to investigate growing ties between Hezbollah and the drug cartels as well as growing evidence of a Hezbollah presence in Mexico.

"We have seen their cooperation in countries across South America, particularly the tri-border area of South America (bounded by Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; and Foz do Iguanzo, Brazil). Hezbollah operates almost like a Mafia family in the region, often demanding protection money and 'taxes' from local inhabitants," Myrick said in the letter.

Last year we reported that Colombian officials>>>

Keynesian Diplomacy

2010-07-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

Posted 07/19/2010 07:05 PM ET

War On Terror: We know the White House thinks big spending will cure our economic troubles. Now the secretary of state is combating terrorism by delivering a big stimulus check to Pakistan.

Maybe we should take some of those big signs with their Obama-for-president-style logos claiming that your highway dollars are at work and put them on Pakistani streets. Except "Your" will be "Their" — meaning U.S. taxpayers.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has given $500 million in foreign aid to the nuclear-armed Islamic power, the first chunk of $7.5 billion designed to win over Pakistani hearts and minds as U.S. forces next door in Afghanistan are killed by insurgents with Pakistan ties. After delivering the cash for economic development, apparently with a straight face, Clinton went to Kabul for an international conference on the Afghan War and announced her concerns about U.S. aid not making it through to its intended destination.

The one-time presidential candidate said>>>

Elite Fighting Unit

2010-07-19T04:09:00.001-07:00

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF)

These boys will be dropped off in Afghanistan and have been given only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today.

2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickup trucks, country music, naked women or Jesus..
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt .

The Pentagon expects the problem in Afghanistan to be over by Friday..

What Is Terror

2010-07-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

I got shot down over N Vietnam in 1967, a Sqdn. Commander.
After I returned in 1973.I published 2 books that dealt a lot
with "real torture" in Hanoi . Our make- believe president is
branding our country as a bunch of torturers when he has
no idea what torture is.

As for me, I put thru a mock execution because I would not respond...
pistol whipped on the head...same event.. Couple of days later...
hung by my feet all day. I escaped and a couple of weeks later, I got

shot and recaptured. Shot was OK...what happened afterwards was not.

They marched me to Vinh...put me in the rope trick, trick...almost
pulled my arms out of the sockets Beat me on the head with a
little wooden rod until my eyes were swelled shut, and my unshot,
unbroken hand a pulp.

Next day hung me by the arms...rebroke my right wrist...wiped
out the nerves in my arms that control the hands...rolled my fingers
up into a ball. Only left the slightest movement of my L forefinger.
So I started answering with some incredible lies.

Sent me to Hanoi strapped to a barrel of gas in the back of a truck.

Hanoi ..on my knees....rope trick again. Beaten by a big fool.

Into leg irons on a bed in Heartbreak Hotel.

Much kneeling--hands up at Zoo.

Really bad beating for refusing to condemn Lyndon Johnson.

Several more kneeling events. I could see my knee bone thru
kneeling holes.

There was an escape from the annex to the Zoo. I was the Senior
Officer of a large building because of escape...they started a mass
torture of all commanders.

I think it was July 7, 1969...they started beating me with a car fanbelt.

In first 2 days I took over 300 strokes...then stopped counting
because I never thought I would live thru it.

They continued day-night torture to get me to confess to a non-existent
part in the escape. This went on for at least 3 days. On my knees...
fan belting...cut open my scrotum with fan belt stroke. opened up
both knee holes again. My fanny looked like hamburger...I could not
lie on my back.

They tortured me into admitting that I was in on the escape...and
that my 2 room-mates knew about it.

The next day I denied the lie.

They commenced torturing me again with 3- 6- or 9 strokes of
the fan belt every day from about July 11 or 12th..to 14 October
1969. I continued to refuse to lie about my roommates again.

Now, the point of this is that our make-believe
president has declared to the world that we (U.S..) are a bunch of
torturers...Thus it will be OK to torture us next time when they
catch us...because that is what the U.S. does.

Our make-believe president is a know nothing fool who thinks
that pouring a little water on some one's face, or hanging a pair of
women's pants over an Arabs head is TORTURE. He is a meathead.

I just talked to MOH holder Leo Thorsness, who was also in my squadron,

in jail...as was John McCain...and we agree that McCain does
not speak for the POW group when he claims that Al Gharib was
torture...or that "water boarding" is torture.

Our president and those fools around him who keep bad mouthing
our great country are a disgrace to the United States . Please pass
this info on to Sean Hannity. He is free to use it to point out the
stupidity of the claims that water boarding...which has no after
effect.is torture.

If it got the Arab to cough up the story about how he planned the attack on the twin towers in NYC ...

hurrah for the guy who poured the water.

____________________________________________________________________

"Bud" Day, Medal Of Honor Recipient

George Everett "Bud" Day(born February 24, 1925) is a retired

U.S. Air Force Colonel and Command Pilot who served during the

Vietnam War. He is often cited as being the most decorated U.S.

service member since General Douglas MacArthur, having

received some seventy decorations, a majority for actions

in combat. Day is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

--------------

Please pass on to your
family and friendS

Al-Qaida Terror: This Time, Africa

2010-07-13T03:36:00.001-07:00

Posted 07/12/2010 08:07 PM ET

Terrorism: Sadly, Spain's World Cup triumph was marred by a Somali terror strike on Uganda. It brought back memories of how Spain fled Iraq after al-Qaida's attack in 2004 — a response Africa shouldn't repeat.

The bombings that killed 74 soccer fans watching the World Cup championship between Spain and the Netherlands on Sunday night had all the earmarks of a classic al-Qaida operation: They targeted large crowds of bystanders; the victims were multinational, with Irish, Indian, American, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Ugandan nationals among the dead; the blasts occurred almost simultaneously in two places; and it happened on a date ending in 11.

The attacks also signaled another al-Qaida junior partner in terrorism — al-Shabab of Somalia, whose ties to al-Qaida are similar to Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia or the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Al-Shabab, which claimed "credit" for the suicide attacks, already controls a third of Somalia's land and has ambitions of conquering all of it. African Union troops, which support the weak Somali government, are all that stands in their way.

"Al-Shabab was behind the blasts," said Ali Mohamud Rage, the terrorist gang's spokesman. "Thanks to our martyrs who carried out the attacks."

Al-Shabab had at least two motives for Sunday's attack: its Talibanic hatred of soccer, music, drinking and all "unnecessary fun," and the gang's political goal of driving Uganda's African Union troops out of Somalia so that al-Shabab can take over. Uganda has an election soon, and al-Shabab wants to use terror to drive Ugandans to elect someone who'll remove Uganda's peacekeepers from Somalia.

This is exactly what al-Qaida did in Spain in 2004, when its suicide terrorists launched attacks on Madrid commuter trains days before an election, killing 191. After Spain's 3/11 attacks, Spanish voters caved in to al-Qaida by electing an anti-American leader who quickly withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.

At the time, the enemy insurgency in Iraq was led by al-Qaida.>>>

WISDOM FROM TRAINING MANUALS

2010-03-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

'If the enemy is in range, so are you.'
- Infantry Journal-

'It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.'
- US.Air Force Manual -

'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.'
- General MacArthur -

'You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me.'
- Infantry Sgt.-

'Tracers work both ways.'
- Army Ordnance Manual-

'Five second fuses last about three seconds.'
- Infantry Journal -

The three most useless things in aviation are: Fuel in the bowser; Runway behind you; and Air above you.
-Basic Flight Training Manual- ;

'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.'
- Naval Ops Manual -

'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.'
- Unknown Infantry Recruit-

'If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up to him.'
- Infantry Journal-

'Yea, Though I Fly Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 50,000 Feet and Climbing.'
- Sign over SR71 Wing Ops-

'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.'
-Paul F. Crickmore (SR71 test pilot)-

'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'
-Unknown Author-

'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage it has to be a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.'
- Fixed Wing Pilot-

'When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash..'
-Multi-Engine Training Manual-

'Without ammunition, the Air Force is just an expensive flying club.'
-Unknown Author-

'If you hear me yell;"Eject, Eject, Eject!", the last two will be echos..'
If you stop to ask "Why?", you'll be talking to yourself, because by then you'll be the pilot.'
-Pre-flight Briefing from a Canadian F104 Pilot-

'What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; but If ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies.'
-Sign over Control Tower Door-

'Never trade luck for skill.'
-Author Unknown-

'Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.'
-Basic Flight Training Manual-

'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.'
- Emergency Checklist-

'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.'
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot) -

'There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.'
-Sign over Squadron Ops Desk at Davis-Montham AFB, AZ-

'You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.' - Lead-in Fighter Training Manual -

As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft,

having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives.

The rescuer sees the bloodied pilot and asks,'What happened?'
The pilot's reply: 'I don't know, I just got here myself!'

Reality Sets In, So U.S. Policy Is 'Reset' Again

2010-03-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

By VICTOR DAVIS HANSONPosted 03/12/2010 06:39 PM ET

View Enlarged Image

Almost every element of Barack Obama's once-heralded new "reset" foreign policy of a year ago has either been reset or likely soon will be. Consider Obama's approach to the eight-year-old war on terror.

Plans made more than a year ago to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay by January 2010 have stalled. Despite loud proclamations about trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11, in a civilian court in New York, such an absurd pledge will probably never be kept.

Talk of trying our own former CIA interrogators for being too tough on terrorist suspects has also come to nothing. And why not put an end to second-guessing anti-terrorism protocols since the Obama administration has quadrupled the number of assassinations by Predator drones of suspected Taliban and al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan?

After all, the targeted killing of hundreds of suspects is far more questionable than waterboarding three confessed killers.

The Obama administration seems to have embraced the once widely criticized Bush-Petraeus strategy in Iraq of gradual withdrawal in concert with Iraqi benchmarks. Indeed, Vice President Joe Biden in Orwellian fashion claims that our victory in Iraq may be one of the administration's "greatest achievements."

Was it not a defeatist Biden who not long ago advocated the trisection of Iraq into separate nations?

And after months of waiting, Obama finally sent more troops to Afghanistan, adopting a surge strategy that looks a lot like Bush's 2007 escalation in Iraq — this after he once assured the country that Bush's surge, in a tactical sense, "wasn't working."

Almost all of the once-derided Bush anti-terrorism protocols are still in place — wiretaps, intercepts, tribunals and renditions. And given there were more foiled radical Islamic terrorist plots in 2009 than in any year since 2001, the president will probably stop his outreach speeches to the Islamic world and his serial recitations of American sins.

Our efforts to reach out and negotiate directly with Iran failed. Secretary of State Clinton effectively acknowledged the impasse, citing the unexpected de facto military coup by the Revolutionary Guard. In any case, does anyone think more Obama speeches, videos, diplomacy and deadlines will halt an Iranian nuclear bomb?

President Obama was once a fierce critic>>>

Marines Battle Snipers in Marjah Offensive

2010-02-15T05:24:00.001-08:00

FEBRUARY 15, 2010, 7:16 A.M. ET

Associated Press

MARJAH, Afghanistan -- Sniper teams attacked U.S. Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gunbattles erupted Monday on the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland.

Multiple firefights in different locations taxed the ability of coalition forces to provide enough air support as NATO forces forged deeper into the town, moving through suspected insurgent neighborhoods, the U.S. Marines said.

In northern Marjah, an armored column came under fire from at least three separate sniper teams, slowing its progress. One of the teams came within 155 feet and started firing.

Moving Into Marjah

The Campaign in Helmand

View Slideshow

Bryan Denton for the Wall Street Journal

Marines filed through a field toward Marjah. In the first 24 hours of the assault, which began before dawn Saturday, one U.S. Marine and one British soldier were killed.

View Interactive

See how British and U.S. troops have waged a campaign against the Taliban.

Regional Violence

View Interactive

Follow events in Afghanistan and Pakistan, day by day.

More photos and interactive graphics

Troops braced for the estimated 2.5-mile march to link up with U.S. and Afghan troops who had been airdropped into the town. Small squads of Taliban snipers initiated firefights throughout the day in an attempt to draw coalition forces into a larger ambush.

The massive offensive involving some 15,000 U.S., Afghan and British troops is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

On Monday, Afghan military officials gave a more optimistic view of the progress being made, with Brig. Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai saying Afghan and NATO forces have largely contained the insurgents and succeeded in gaining trust from residents, who have pointed out mine locations.

"Today there is no major movement of the enemy. South of Marjah they are very weak. There has been low resistance. Soon we will have Marjah cleared of enemies," Gen. Zazai said at a briefing in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province. He added that only three Afghan troops had been injured.

However, the mission faced a setback on Sunday when two U.S. rockets slammed into a home outside Marjah, killing 12 civilians. NATO said Monday that the rockets missed their target by about 600 meters, or about a third of a mile. NATO had earlier said the rockets missed their target by just 300 meters.

The civilian deaths were a major blow to NATO and Afghan efforts to win the support of residents in the Marjah area, a Taliban logistical center and a base for the lucrative opium trade that finances the insurgency. Before the offensive began Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had pleaded for the Afghan and foreign commanders to be "seriously careful for the safety of civilians."

Mr. Karzai has called for a thorough investigation into the airstrike.>>>

Trace Adkins and The West Point Cadets

2010-02-11T19:30:00.001-08:00

Trace Adkins and The West Point Cadets

Be sure to watch until the video is completely finished and a screen will come up to show how many people have viewed it!

Http://media.causes.Com/611645?p_id=44185871

WW II : RARE COLOR FILM : MIDWAY : DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD

2010-02-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Prabhupada : Just like we had experience... I think in the First World War none of you had seen because you were all young men. And we were child. When the First World War was declared, we were all boys, schoolchildren. My age was at that time fourteen years old, in 1914, when there was fight declared between Germany and Belgium. So that was the First World War. Then Second World War was in 1939. That was also German and Englishmen, like that. But actually, this was also World War, this Battlefield of Kuruksetra, because all the kings of the world, they joined either this party or that party. So there were a great assembly of all worldly kings. Now, Krsna says that "Either Myself, either yourself, or these persons who have assembled here, they are individual. They were individuals in the past, they are now individuals, and they will continue to be individual even after annihilation of this body." Now, how you'll adjust? There are two theories, that after liberation all these souls, they become one. Just like all drops of water, if you put into the sea, they become one entity. There is no distinction. And the Lord Krsna says that "No, they keep their individuality. They do not mix." Now we are supposed... We are all laymen. We are ignorant, what is actually position, what is the actual position. But we have got our discretion also. Just like every one of you has some knowledge in the history. Now, in the history in the past... Suppose you are now thirty years old or thirty- five years old, and suppose two hundred years before, the history which you read, you find that all people were individuals. And at the present you are experiencing that all individual, they are. All living entities--either human being, or animals or birds, or anywhere--you can see that they are individual. Then why should you not believe that in future they will remain individual? Do you follow? In the past they were individuals, in the present they are individuals, and why not in future they'll remain individuals? It is naturally concluded that they will continue to be individuals. Even we do not have any sufficient knowledge in either of these two theories, mixing up or keeping individual, but by our own small reasoning we can understand that in the future history we have information that there were individual persons. At the present moment also, we are seeing that there are individual persons. So why not in the future? How it is that in the future they'll mix up and become one, homogeneous thing? It is quite reasonable. And this conclusion is like this: just like in two hundred years before, in the month of March, the climatic position was like this. And in 1966 we find in March the climatic position is exactly the same. And in future... Naturally I conclude that in future in March the same climatic condition will be there. In astronomy also, if you find that in March, in such and such date, the sun rising is like this, and actually in the present March, month of March, 1966, we see the same exact time... And the whole calculation of astronomy is made like that. They prepare hundred years' astronomical charts. Hundred years'. How they do prepare? By this calculation, that in the past it was like this, at the present it is like this, so naturally, in future it will be like this. Just like you are speaking of the imminent springtime, that the nature, how will be decorate, how springtime, it will be nice, because you had past experience. So you are foretelling. It is not foretelling. From past experience, you are telling that this will take place. This will take place.

Fault Found in Outpost's Fall

2010-02-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 6, 2010, 12:34 A.M. ET

By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV

KABUL—A U.S. military investigation into how the Taliban overran a remote U.S. Army combat outpost last fall, killing eight soldiers and injuring 22, has concluded that "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command" facilitated the attack.

Following the report's conclusion, a summary of which was released Friday, the commander of American forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has taken "appropriate action" against the officers involved, the U.S. military said. It didn't release the officers' names or specify the nature of the action.

The three-pronged Taliban attack on Combat Outpost Keating, in the Kamdesh district of Afghanistan's Nuristan province, on Oct. 3 has been trumpeted by the insurgents as a major achievement. Though the attack was repelled after several hoursof combat, the U.S. military evacuated and destroyed the outpost, which housed some 60 U.S. troops, three days later. Coalition troops are no longer present in that area, and most of Nuristan has fallen under insurgent control.

and more here>>>

Corpsman

2010-02-04T23:19:00.000-08:00

I say Corpsman--He says Corpsman!

I say Idiot--He says Corpsman!

I say dumb as a stump--He says Corpsman!

I say identity crisis--He says Corpsman!

I say double DUH--He says Corpsman!

I say where is that hope and change?--He says Corpsman!

Bare Warning

2010-02-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

Posted 02/03/2010 06:38 PM ET

Homeland Security: When it comes to foul balls, a "heads up!" is no big deal. But when the government warns of imminent and "certain" attack by al-Qaida, complacency is not an option.

A chilling spectacle just took place before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Panel Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked, "What is the likelihood of another terrorist-attempted attack on the U.S. homeland in the next three to six months, high or low?"

And one by one, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, CIA Director Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller all agreed an attack was "certain."

But log onto the Department of Homeland Security's Web site and all seems fairly calm. The first news item listed says, "Secretary Napolitano Announces More than $23 Million in Recovery Act Funding for Fire Station Construction Grants." And three of the other four news items on the main page tout the ways the department's $56.3 billion fiscal year 2011 budget request would be spent.

You have to look for the fine print and click a couple of times to find out the nation's terror alert condition — yellow or "elevated," like during most of the time since 9/11.

But if an attack is "certain" as the U.S.

U.S. Steps Up Missions Targeting Taliban Leaders

2010-02-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS

BARGHANTU, Afghanistan—The tunnel entrance was no more than 18 inches high. Matt, a U.S. Special Forces soldier, stripped off his body armor, dropped his rifle and wriggled through the gap, pistol and flashlight leading the way. Some 150 feet in, his beam caught a shape: a bearded man hiding behind a pile of rocks.

Cornered, the man stood and greeted Matt with a smile, as if their underground rendezvous were a scheduled appointment between friends. Instead, he was frisked, handcuffed, bundled into a helicopter and taken away for questioning.

The U.S. military is deploying tens of thousands of fresh troops in a much-publicized strategy to woo the Afghan people through good government, economic growth and security. Yet behind the battle lines, the U.S. is quietly escalating a more forcible campaign.

In recent months, small teams of Army commandos, Navy Seals and Central Intelligence Agency operatives have intensified the pace of what the military often calls "kill-capture missions"—hunting down just one or two insurgents at a time who are deemed too recalcitrant to be won over by any goodwill campaign.

The Pentagon's fiscal 2011 budget, released Monday, called for increasing the number of elite Special Operations troops, buying larger numbers of aerial drones and expanding the amount of military and financial assistance to Yemen, the home base of the al Qaeda offshoot that claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day bombing of a crowded U.S. airliner. Meanwhile, the U.S. is trying to determine whether a U.S. drone strike in mid-January killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, though that group said Monday he is still alive.

"You've got to kill or capture those bad guys>>>

A Tale of Two Terrorists

2010-02-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 1, 2010, 7:11 P.M. ET

The Justice Department defended the lengthy interrogation of one terror suspect days before the Christmas bomber was hastily Mirandized.

By DAVID B. RIVKIN JR. AND MARC A. THIESSEN

The Obama administration's decision to read the Christmas Day bomber his Miranda rights has rightly come under withering criticism. Instead of a lengthy interrogation by officials with al Qaeda expertise, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was questioned for 50 minutes by local FBI agents and then later advised of his "right to remain silent."

It's well understood that the focus on gaining evidence for a criminal trial was an intelligence failure of massive proportions. Not well understood is that the most powerful recent argument for aggressively interrogating terrorists, keeping them in military detention, and prosecuting them in military commissions comes to us from the Obama Justice Department itself.

On Dec. 18, 2009, days before the Christmas attack, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, made a secret filing in federal district court that was aimed at saving the prosecution of Ahmed Ghailani, another al Qaeda terrorist. Ghailani is facing charges for helping al Qaeda bomb U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Ghailani argues that those charges should be dropped because lengthy CIA interrogations have denied him his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

View Full Image

Associated Press

Ahmed Ghailani and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Mr. Bharara, on behalf of the Justice Department, filed a memorandum with the court stating that Ghailani's claims are dangerous and off the mark. Interrogating terrorists must come before criminal prosecution, he wrote in language so strong that even a redacted version of his filing (which we have obtained) serves as a searing indictment of the administration's mishandling of Abdulmutallab.

"The United States was,>>>

Pakistan Taliban Chief Reportedly Killed in U.S. Drone Strike

2010-01-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Reuters

Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, left, is seen with CIA homicide bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Al-Balawi in a video released Jan. 9.

The head of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed in a U.S. drone attack, Pakistan state television reported Sunday.

The report stated Mehsud had been injured in a drone attack in the Shaktoi area January 14 and died three days later. He reportedly was buried in the village of Mamuzai in the North Waziristan region.

The Pakistani army said Sunday that it was investigating the reports.

The militant leader's death would be an important success for both Pakistan, which has been battling the Pakistani Taliban, and the U.S., which blames Mehsud for a recent deadly bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan.

The army's announcement came shortly after Pakistani state television, citing unnamed "official sources," reported that Mehsud died in Orakzai, an area in Pakistan's northwest tribal region where he was reportedly being treated for his injuries.

"We have these reports coming to us," army spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas told The Associated Press. "We are investigating whether it is true or wrong."

A tribal elder told the AP that he attended Mehsud's>>>

The Terrorist-Certified Chaplains Who Minister To Muslim Soldiers

2010-01-31T04:49:00.000-08:00

By PAUL SPERRYPosted 12/16/2009 07:25 PM ET

Lost in all the coverage of accused Islamic terrorist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's penetration of the military's officer corps is a deeper problem within the military — its radical Muslim chaplain corps.

One of the groups the Pentagon turns to for clerics to minister to its growing ranks of Muslim soldiers is the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council. The group was founded by presumed "moderate" Muslim leader Abdurahman Alamoudi, who described his endeavor as "an excellent opportunity to show my community we have people who are patriotic."

This flag-waving patriot turned out to be one of al-Qaida's top fundraisers in the U.S., and is now serving 23 years in federal prison.

"Alamoudi placed chaplains throughout our military," said Rep. Sue Myrick, a Republican member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "He's now in jail, (but) the chaplains are still in their current positions."

Alamoudi's group sponsored Army Muslim chaplain Yousef Yee, the formerly accused spy who ministered to more than 600 detainees at Gitmo, many of whom have been released only to return to violent jihad.

Alamoudi, who was given power of attorney by >>>

Public Detects A Softness On Terrorism

2010-01-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

By RAGHAVAN MAYURPosted 01/22/2010 06:39 PM ET

View Enlarged Image

Americans are concerned about the Obama administration's approach to national security, with ideology a major influence on where they stand. As liberals support Obama's policies, nonliberals back tougher approaches.

These are the key findings from the latest IBD/TIPP poll of 923 Americans completed on Jan. 9. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Twelve percent of Americans list national security as the second-most important issue facing the country. Only the economy and jobs rank higher, with 49%.

An overarching read of the poll data is that Americans view administration policies as soft. Only liberals support them.

Security issues raised by the Christmas bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, are a case in point. Lawmakers last week questioned the wisdom of trying Abdulmutallab in civilian courts instead of a military tribunal.

It's not clear whether Abdulmutallab, a potential treasure trove of intelligence, was read his Miranda rights too early, before the intelligence agencies extracted all the intelligence from him. That becomes more relevant since Abdulmutallab told the FBI he'd been trained and armed by al-Qaida operatives in Yemen and that we could expect more bombers coming from that country.

Most Americans (61%) are against giving Miranda>>>

Will Washington Pay for the Terror Trials?

2010-01-24T04:01:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 21, 2010, 7:12 P.M. ET

By JAMES Q. WILSON

The plan to put five terrorists on trial in Manhattan (and possibly to put other terrorists on trial in neighboring Brooklyn) has raised profound questions.

How can a civilian trial protect classified information? Will the judge dismiss the charges if the defense claims the defendants were tortured? Why should murderers be tried so close to the place where thousands of their victims died? Is there any chance of finding disinterested jurors in a city that suffered so much from radical jihadists?

Recall what happened when Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and his associates were tried in New York City for attempting to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993. The government was required to disclose the identity of all of its unindicted co-conspirators in the case, a list that included Osama bin Laden and many of his followers. Bin Laden and others knew immediately that they had to be on the lookout.

But there is another question that deserves an answer: Why should New York City and law enforcement agencies there bear the burden of a trial foisted on them by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder?

The trial will take place in lower Manhattan.>>>

Al Qaeda's Deep Tribal Ties Make Yemen a Terror Hub

2010-01-24T03:41:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 22, 2010

By CHARLES LEVINSON And MARGARET COKER

SAN'A, Yemen—In nearly a decade of rebuilding its terror network here, al Qaeda has put down deep roots, a move that is now complicating U.S.-backed efforts to battle the group.

Unlike other chapters of the global terror network, Yemen's Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a largely homegrown movement, with carefully cultivated ties to the local population. That sets it apart from other affiliates of al Qaeda, and could make it much more difficult to dislodge.

The group's strategy: apply lessons learned from mistakes by affiliates in other Mideast havens, particularly Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

In both those places, al Qaeda's footprint weakened significantly as local support for the group turned sharply against it. To avoid a similar fate in Yemen, the group has worked hard to curry favor with local tribes—so much so that it is now largely interwoven in the country's tribal fabric.

"They've worked hard to put deep, and what they hope are lasting, roots that will make it very difficult for them to be rooted out of Yemen," says Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at Princeton University. "They've done a good job of looking at the mistakes that other versions of al Qaeda have made elsewhere."

Since late last year, Yemen has emerged as one of the biggest and most dangerous hubs for al Qaeda operations. U.S. officials have tied al Qaeda militants based here to two attacks against U.S. targets, including the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing allegedly by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who told U.S. Officials that he received his training from al Qaeda operatives in the Arab country. The push into Yemen, say U.S. officials, shows the group's increased ability to wage jihad against the U.S. and its allies, a main al Qaeda goal.

In recent months, a top al Qaeda leader publicized moving his foreign family here, while another married into a local tribe. The group is providing social and financial assistance in some of the country's poorest areas, according to tribesmen, local residents and a former al Qaeda member. Its leaders have also tempered its message of global jihad to fit local grievances—including the lack of economic benefits from Yemen's oil revenues—to recruit new members.

In exchange, some tribal leaders are welcoming al Qaeda members, allowing their sons to sign up, and providing protection from government troops. That has made al Qaeda militants almost indistinguishable from many of the rugged tribesmen and sympathizers they now mix with.

"As long as Qaeda respects the tribes, some tribes will welcome them," says Sheikh Abdulqawi Sherif, the head of the pro-government Bani Dhabian tribe, whose land borders Mareb and Shebwa provinces, two areas where al Qaeda cells are based.

Gen. Yahya Saleh, nephew of Yemen's>>>

Do You Remember 1987......

2010-01-23T05:46:00.001-08:00

Do You Remember 1987......

I had forgotten all of this. Do you
remember when the senators were giving Ollie North such a
bad time? This brings it all into perspective doesn't
it? Have a great day.

Thought you
might be interested in this forgotten bit of

information............

It

was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were
playing an old news video of
Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra
hearings during the Reagan
Administration.

There was Ollie in front of God and country getting
the
third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a
senator, 'Did you not recently spend close to
$60,000 for a home security
system?'

Ollie replied, 'Yes, I did, Sir.'

The senator
continued, trying to get a laugh out of the
audience, 'Isn't that just a little
excessive?'

'No, sir,' continued Ollie.

'No? And why not?' the
senator asked.

'Because the lives of my family and I were
threatened,
sir.'

'Threatened? By whom?' the senator
questioned.

'By a
terrorist, sir' Ollie answered.

'Terrorist? What terrorist could
possibly scare you that much?'

'His name is Osama bin Laden, sir' Ollie
replied.

At this point the senator tried to repeat the name,
but
couldn't pronounce it, which most people back then
probably couldn't. A couple
of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator
continued. Why are you so
afraid of this man?' the senator asked.

'Because, sir, he is the most
evil person alive that I know of', Ollie answered.

'And
what do you recommend we do about him?' asked the
senator.

'Well, sir,
if it was up to me, I would recommend that an
assassin team be formed to
eliminate him and his men from the face of the
earth.'

The senator
disagreed with this approach, and that was all that
was shown of the clip.
By
the way, that senator was Al Gore!

Also....

Terrorist
pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in
Israel
in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and
imprisoned him. As part of the
Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993,
Israel had to agree to release
so-called 'political prisoners.'

However, the Israelis would not release
any with blood on their hands. The American
President at the time, Bill Clinton,
and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher,
'insisted' that all prisoners be
released.

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked
us by
flying an airplane into Tower One of the
World Trade
Center . This was reported
by many of the American TV networks at the time
that the terrorists were first
identified.

It
was censored in the US from all
later
reports.

If
you agree that the American public should be made
aware of this fact, pass this on.

Do Not Break - it is 8 years strong.

This has not been broken since 9/11/01,
please
keep it going...

This has been kept alive and moving since 9/11. In memory
of
all those who perished this morning; the
passengers and the pilots on the
United Air and AA flights, the workers in the World
Trade Center and the
Pentagon, and all the innocent bystanders Our
prayers go out to the friends and
families of the deceased......

Yes, Be Afraid — Be Very Afraid

2010-01-10T02:50:00.000-08:00

Posted 01/08/2010 07:11 PM ET

War On Terror: Our top counterterrorism officials were "shocked" that an "individual" conducted an al-Qaida plot. They must have been asleep when the shoe bomber struck eight years ago. Are they still asleep?

White House counterterrorism czar John O. Brennan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the two highest-ranking officials charged with protecting America from terrorist attacks, say they failed to see the tree because they were busy looking at the forest.

The two held a joint White House briefing after the president's statement last Thursday. They were asked, "What was the most shocking, stunning thing that you believe came out of the reviews?"

Their answer is what was stunning.

Brennan said that "we had a strategic sense of sort of where they were going, but we didn't know they had progressed to the point of actually launching individuals here. And we have taken that lesson, and so now we're all on top of it."

According to Secretary Napolitano, "the tactic of using an individual to foment an attack, as opposed to a large conspiracy or a multiperson conspiracy such as we saw in 9/11 ... really emphasizes now the renewed importance on how different intelligence is integrated and analyzed, and threat streams are followed through."

Why is it so hard to envision a young, radicalized African Muslim like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab being willing and able to act alone? Shoe bomber Richard Reid did the same thing in December 2001 on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami, failing to detonate explosive footwear in his case rather than underwear.

Reid's admitted accomplice, British-born Saajid Badat,>>>

Special Forces ‘tried to rescue hostages near Iranian border’

2010-01-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

From The Times

Tom Coghlan and Alice Fordham, in Baghdad

British Special Forces tried to rescue Peter Moore and four other British hostages near the Iranian border in May 2007 but they failed to locate the kidnappers’ convoy, it was claimed last night.

The Ministry of Defence would neither confirm nor deny the report. “It is Special Forces related so we wouldn’t comment,” a spokesman told The Times. Other officials also refused to give details of the attempted rescue operation, which they described as an extremely sensitive issue, according to The Guardian. A British official involved in attempts to free the hostages confirmed, however, that at the time there were reports that the abductors were moving the hostages towards the Iranian border, but said that these remained unconfirmed.

Mr Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln, was abducted along with his bodyguards, Jason Swindlehurst, Jason Creswell, Alec Maclachlan and Alan McMenemy, from the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad by a large force of kidnappers dressed in police uniform.

Mr Moore was released last week.>>>

Aunt Karen

2010-01-09T13:39:00.001-08:00

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an
assignment: Get their Parents to tell them a
story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day, the kids came back and, one by one,
began to tell their stories. There were all the
regular types of stuff: spilled milk and pennies
saved. But then the teacher realized, much to
her dismay,that only Ernie was left.

'Ernie, do you have a story to share?'

'Yes ma'am. My daddy told a story about
my Aunt Karen. She was a pilot in Desert Storm,
and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over
enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of
whiskey, a pistol, and a survival knife.

She drank the whiskey on the way down so
the bottle wouldn't break, and then her
parachute landed her right in the middle of 20
Iraqi troops. She shot 15 of them with the
pistol, until she ran out of bullets, killed
four more with the knife, till the blade broke,
and then she killed the last Iraqi With her bare hands.'
'Good Heavens,' said the horrified teacher.
'What did your daddy tell you was the moral to this horrible story?

'Stay the hell away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking.'

A Gulf in the grasp of our facts - the release of Peter Moore

2010-01-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Jan 3 2010 by David Williamson, Wales On Sunday

The release of Iraq hostage Peter Moore, after the murder of Welsh bodyguard Alec MacLachlan and two other security men, poses as many questions as it answers, as DAVID WILLIAMSON reveals

HOSTAGES such as Terry Waite and the BBC’s Alan Johnston became household names and the campaigns to end their captivity made global headlines.

But mystery still surrounds the kidnapping in Iraq of computer expert Peter Moore and the deaths of at least three of his four bodyguards, including Alec MacLachlan from Llanelli.

Mr Moore was freed last week amid allegations that his kidnap from the finance ministry in Baghdad in 2007 involved Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

General David Petraeus , the former US commander in Iraq has said Mr Moore was “certainly” held in Iran at some stage of his captivity.

It has long been accepted that Iran has had close contacts with Shia insurgents, but if such a high level of involvement is proven, the US and the UK will be compelled to do more to support pro-democracy activists and prevent the development of nuclear weapons in the Gulf region.

When the full details of this hostage drama emerge we may gain an important insight into the murky and dangerous world of post-invasion Iraq. US and Iraqi officials deny that Mr Moore was freed in return for handing over a suspected insurgent leader to Iraqi authorities.

A light may also be shone on the strategies of the US, UK and Iraqi governments in dealing with the tangled network of armed groups who have brought death and suffering on a massive scale to Iraq.

The human story also features angry family >>>

Even Mogadishu Does It Better Than DHS

2010-01-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

Posted 12/30/2009 06:57 PM ET

Terrorism: For all the billions the U.S. spends on intelligence and homeland security, it's Somalia that has racked up a better record of stopping jet terrorists with explosive-filled underwear. Anyone out there appalled?

Last Nov. 11, sharp-eyed African Union troops, who serve as airport security in the failed state of Somalia, pinpointed a terrorist with a syringe detonator, lethal powder and explosives in his pants trying to board a Dubai-bound jetliner in Mogadishu.

They yanked him out of line and stopped him from getting on.

It's eerily similar in detail to the Christmas Day terror attack on a Northwest Airlines jetliner headed from Amsterdam to Detroit.

The chemicals and detonator were the same. The syringe and underwear were similar. It was consistent with the warning the al-Qaida-associated Nigerian arrested in Detroit, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, gave upon his arrest — that many more airline attacks like his were on the way. And by one news account, it happened on 11/11, a date favored by al-Qaida for strikes.

But the difference is in how it ended — in the U.S., with an unscripted passenger leaping onto the terrorist in the act of detonating himself amid burning chemicals, and stopping him.

In Somalia, the rudimentary security apparatus in the nation that ranks rock-bottom on every major development indicator stopped him before he even got on. Incredibly, it means that in this case passengers would have been safer flying out of Mogadishu than depending on elaborate U.S. security measures coming into Detroit.

All the $50.5 billion spent on Homeland Security>>>

Time For Enhanced Interrogation

2010-01-03T05:12:00.000-08:00

Posted 12/30/2009 06:57 PM ET

War On Terror: The U.S. now holds a prisoner of war who has knowledge that could foil future terrorist operations. The Obama administration has a moral obligation to extract it from Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The White House seems very big on the idea that fear is our enemy, not our friend. When sheer luck prevented the destruction of Northwest flight 253, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano instantaneously insisted there was no larger conspiracy involved — even though the failed bomber himself said otherwise.

And for nearly a year now it has been official U.S. policy, from the commander in chief on down, to eschew wartime terminology. Forget "global war on terror" and substitute "overseas contingency operations." Cut "terrorism," paste in "man-made disasters."

Quelling fears, however, isn't the real purpose behind the altering of the U.S. government's post-9/11 language. This is:

If the public stops believing the free world is in a protracted war with Islamofascist mass murderers, then the question of which party's anti-terrorism policy is better loses all meaning. You can't lose a non-war, any more than you can win one.

If Abdulmutallab is akin to the D.C. Sniper or the Son of Sam, then why turn him upside down in search of information? What's the point in placing another David Berkowitz in a cold jail cell, or depriving a John Allen Muhammad clone of sleep so he'll tell us what he knows?

Former Vice President Dick Cheney hit it on the head this week in charging that this administration is playing an inexcusable game of "Let's Pretend." If we close Guantanamo Bay and send terrorist POWs to some hamlet in Illinois, if we have ACLU-friendly judges try 9/11 conspirators in liberal New York City, then the American people will realize that the big-government sophisticates can take care of these problems.

The voters will come to see that this is a job for superlawyers, not those guys with the fruit salad on their uniforms and the twang in their voices, who commit faux pas like calling senators "ma'am."

And should anything go wrong, the politicians>>>

The Latest UAV

2010-01-02T11:58:00.001-08:00

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It is outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.

The Reaper is loaded, but there is no one on board.. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq , will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada .. The arrival of these outsized U...S. "hunter-killer" drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill. That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon," says the regional U.S. .. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that," Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview. The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan , and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.

"With more Reapers, I could send manned airplanes home," North said.

The Associated Press has learned that the Air Force is building a 400,000-square-foot expansion of the concrete ramp area now used for Predator drones here at Balad, the biggest U.S. air base in Iraq , 50 miles north of Baghdad . That new staging area could be turned over to Reapers. It is another sign that the Air Force is planning for an extended stay in Iraq , supporting Iraqi government forces in any continuing conflict, even if U.S. ground troops are drawn down in the coming years. The estimated two dozen or more unmanned MQ-1 Predators now doing surveillance over Iraq , as the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, have become mainstays of the U.S. war effort, offering round-the-clock airborne "eyes" watching over road convoys, tracking nighttime insurgent movements via infrared sensors, and occasionally unleashing one of their two Hellfire missiles on a target. From about 36,000 flying hours in 2005, the Predators are expected to log 66,000 hours this year over Iraq and Afghanistan .

The MQ-9 Reaper, when compared with the 1995-vintage Predator, represents a major evolution of the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. At five tons gross weight, the Reaper is four times heavier than the Predator. Its size 36 feet long, with a 66-foot wingspan is comparable to the profile of the Air Force's workhorse A-10 attack plane. It can fly twice as fast and twice as high as the Predator. Most significantly, it carries many more weapons.

UNDER THE RADAR: Air Force ramps up in Iraq

While the Predator is armed with two Hellfire missiles, the Reaper can carry 14 of the air-to-ground weapons, or four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs. "It's not a recon squadron," Col. Joe Guasella, operations chief for the Central Command's air component, said of the Reapers. "It's an attack squadron, with a lot more kinetic ability." "Kinetic" Pentagon argot for destructive power is what the Air Force had in mind when it christened its newest robot plane with a name associated with death. "The name Reaper captures the lethal nature of this new weapon system," Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, said in announcing the name last September. General Atomics of San Diego has built at least nine of the MQ-9s thus far, at a cost of $69 million per set of four aircraft, with ground equipment. The Air Force's 432nd Wing, a UAV unit formally established on May 1, is to eventually fly 60 Reapers and 160 Predators. The numbers to be assigned to Iraq and Afghanistan will be classified. The Reaper is expected to be flown as the Predator is by a two-member team of pilot and sensor operator who work at computer control stations and video screens that display what the UAV "sees." Teams at Balad, housed in a hangar beside the runways, perform the takeoffs and landings, and similar teams at Nevada 's Creech Air Force Base, linked to the aircraft via satellite, take over for the long hours of overflying the Iraqi landscape. American ground troops , equipped with laptops that can download real-time video from UAVs overhead, "want more and more of it," said Maj. Chris Snodgrass, the Predator squadron commander here. The Reaper's speed will help. "Our problem is speed," Snodgrass said of the 140-mph Predator. "If there are troops in contact, we may not get there fast enough.. The Reaper will be faster and fly farther." The new robot plane is expected to be able to stay aloft for 14 hours fully armed, watching an area and waiting for targets to emerge.

"It's going to bring us flexibility, range, speed and persistence," said regional commander North, "such that I will be able to work lots of areas for a long, long time." The British also are impressed with the Reaper, and are buying three for deployment in Afghanistan later this year. The Royal Air Force version will stick to the "recon" mission, however, no weapons on board.

2009: The Year Of Living Fecklessly

2009-12-25T06:46:00.001-08:00

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMERPosted 12/24/2009 06:17 PM ET

Last Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not just reject President Obama's latest feckless floating nuclear deadline. He spat on it, declaring that Iran "will continue resisting" until the U.S. has gotten rid of its 8,000 nuclear warheads.

So ends 2009, the year of "engagement," of the extended hand, of the gratuitous apology — and of spinning centrifuges, two-stage rockets and a secret enrichment facility that brought Iran materially closer to becoming a nuclear power.

We lost a year. But it was not just any year. It was a year of spectacularly squandered opportunity.

In Iran, it was a year of revolution, beginning with a contested election and culminating this week in huge demonstrations mourning the death of the dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri — and demanding no longer a recount of the stolen election but the overthrow of the clerical dictatorship.

Obama responded by distancing himself from this new birth of freedom. First, scandalous silence. Then, a few grudging words. Then relentless engagement with the murderous regime.

With offer after offer, gesture after gesture — to not Iran, but the "Islamic Republic of Iran," as Obama ever so respectfully called these clerical fascists — the U.S. conferred legitimacy on a regime desperate to regain it.

Why is this so important?

Because revolutions succeed at that singular moment, that imperceptible historical inflection, when the people, and particularly those in power, realize the regime has lost the mandate of heaven. With this weakening dictatorship desperate for affirmation, why is the U.S. repeatedly offering just such affirmation?

Apart from ostracizing and delegitimizing these gangsters, we should be encouraging and reinforcing the demonstrators. This is no trivial matter. When pursued, beaten, arrested and imprisoned, dissidents can easily succumb to feelings of despair and isolation.

Natan Sharansky testifies to the electric effect Ronald Reagan's Evil Empire speech had on lifting spirits in the Gulag. The news was spread cell to cell in code tapped on the walls. They knew they weren't alone, that America was committed to their cause.

Yet so aloof has Obama been that on Hate America Day (Nov. 4, the anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran), pro-American counter-demonstrators chanted "Obama, Obama, you are either with us or with them," i.e., their oppressors.

Such cool indifference is more than a betrayal of our>>>

New U.S. Spy Plane to Be in Afghanistan by Christmas

2009-12-22T04:37:00.000-08:00

Updated December 21, 2009

U.S. troops in Afghanistan are getting a new tool in their fight against terrorism in the form of a spy plane that will provide ground troops with still images, video and eavesdropping, Bloomberg reported.

The first of the 24 new Hawker Beechcraft four-man twin-propeller plane is expected to arrive by Christmas -- one month ahead of schedule, Lt. General David Deptula said in an e-mail, Bloomberg reported.

In April 2008, the planes were ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to up the number of manned and unmanned aircraft collecting intelligence data, and will now be used to help support the 30,000 troops Obama ordered to Afghanistan.

The planes have the capability>>>

Penetration Even At The Pentagon: Muslim Spies Setting Muslim Policy By PAUL SPERRY

2009-12-20T05:10:00.000-08:00

Posted 12/17/2009 07:34 PM ET

Gordon England, then deputy secretary of defense, is shown in 2006 at a convention that focused on issues facing American Muslims and their evolving...View Enlarged Image

IBD Special Series:
Jihadist 5th Column: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

The internal threat from Muslim extremists in the military extends to high-level Defense Department aides who have undermined military policy. In fact, one top Muslim adviser pushed out an intelligence analyst who warned of the sudden jihad syndrome that led to the Fort Hood terrorist attack.

An honored guest of the Ramadan dinner at the Pentagon this September was Hesham Islam, who infiltrated the highest echelons of the Ring despite proven ties to U.S. terror front groups and a shady past in his native Egypt.

As senior adviser for international affairs to former deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Islam ran interference for the Islamic Society of North America and other radical fronts for the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, the subject of my new book "Muslim Mafia."

For example, Islam persuaded brass to sack a Pentagon analyst, Stephen Coughlin, after he advised cutting off outreach to ISNA, which he accurately ID'd as part of a covert terror-support network in the U.S. — something the Justice Department recently confirmed in a major terror finance trial.

Islam invited ISNA officials to lunch with the avuncular England, known by insiders as Gullible Gordon, who in turn spoke at ISNA confabs. Islam also helped set up a Pentagon job booth at one recent ISNA convention to recruit Muslim chaplains and linguists.

Most disturbing, Islam met regularly with Saudi and other embassy officials lobbying for the release and repatriation of their citizens held at Gitmo. He in turn advised England, who authorized the release of dozens of Gitmo detainees. Some have resumed terrorist activities.

No one really knew who Islam was when he was promoted — in fact, the Pentagon removed his bio from its Web site after reporters noted major inconsistencies in it — yet he was allowed to get inside the office of the Pentagon's No. 2 official.

"In effect," a senior U.S. Army intelligence official told me, "we've got terrorist supporters calling the shots on our policies toward Muslims from the highest levels."

Meanwhile, politically incorrect prophets like Coughlin have been frozen out. After the betrayal at Fort Hood, the military could use his analysis of Islamic doctrine more than ever.

I attended a private briefing by Coughlin in February.>

Iraq Says New Saddam Hussein-Era Mass Grave Found

2009-12-20T03:58:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 19, 2009

BAGHDAD — A mass grave discovered in northeast Iraq contains dozens of bodies, mostly of women and children believed killed during a crackdown against Kurds by former dictator Saddam Hussein, an Iraqi official said Saturday.

The grave was originally found nearly two years ago west of Kirkuk, though its discovery was only made public this week after forensic pathologists began examining it, said Majid Abdullah Karim, an official with the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights.

Investigators initially put the number of bodies found at 185, though Karim said the number could be "significantly less" based on the number of bones and skulls recovered Friday by pathologists. Karim did not give an exact number, estimating only "dozens."

Mass graves across Iraq have been turning up with some frequency since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam's regime.

The latest discovery was made at a former military detention camp used by Saddam's forces in Tubzama, just west of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, said Karim. The grave was discovered after people reported seeing bones and bits of clothing at the camp, he added.

The remains were believed to be those of Kurds killed between 1988 and 1991, Karim said. Many Kurds were taken to the detention camp by Saddam's forces, he added.

The bodies were determined to be mostly>>>

The General Calls It Like It Is!

2009-12-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnPlayer.swf?aid=11991

http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnPlayer.swf?aid=11991

Slang Links Warriors to Home, Front Lines

2009-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Updated December 14, 2009

By Tina Irgang

- FOXNews.com

Like their fellow soldiers in Germany, Vietnam or Korea, those deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq have created a language all their own, filled with black humor, cultural references and even the occasional crudity.

WASHINGTON -- Like their fellow soldiers in Germany, Vietnam or Korea, those deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq have created a language all their own, filled with black humor, cultural references and even the occasional crudity.

Most of us have heard of RADAR -- originally a military acronym standing in for the cumbersome term "Radio Detection and Ranging."

We may even have encountered, or experienced, the occasional SNAFU, for "Situation Normal: All (Fouled) Up."

But what on Earth is a "death blossom?" Or a "fobbit," for that matter?

The Department of Veterans Affairs has published a list detailing the vocabulary of Operation Iraqi Freedom -- a list that contains such entries as "death blossom," a term originating in the 1984 science-fiction film "The Last Starfighter." It is used by servicemen to describe fire sprayed indiscriminately in all directions. The list also includes the terms "Mortaritaville" and "Bombaconda," both referring to LSA Anaconda, a base near Balad, Iraq, that is frequently the target of mortar attacks

Muslim Intimidation

2009-12-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

I did a search for the link below, it was gone. I found this one and
> many more, http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/17508
> Marie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
>
> From: Vonda
> Date: 12/3/2009 12:12:04 PM
> To: Vikki
> Subject: Muslim Intimidation
>
> This did happen!!!!!!!!! Do a search for:
>
> Flight 297 Atlanta to Houston Nov 17 2009
>
> And all kind of things come up. I read this one:
>
> http://homelandsecurityus.com/?p=3312
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> One week ago, I went to Ohio on business and to see my father. On
> Tuesday, November the 17th, I returned home. If you read the papers
> the 18th you may have seen a blurb where a AirTran flight was
> cancelled from Atlanta to Houston due to a man who refused to get off
> of his cell phone before takeoff. It was on Fox.
>
>
> This was NOT what happened.
>
>
> I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in
> full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves
> throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to
> the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so
> familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and
> called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the
> phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the 1st
> stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that
> cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she
> was not there.
>
>
> The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the
> 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger
> Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began
> to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were
> very loud about it. Now….they are only permitted to do this prior to
> Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the
> woman via mirror with his back to her. (don’t ask me….I don’t make
> the rules, but I’ve studied)
>
> The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic
> devices on at this time. To which one of the men said “shut up
> infidel dog!” She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream
> in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up
> and started to walk the cabin. This is where I had had enough! I got
> up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from
> another Texan twice my size say “I got your back.” I grabbed the man
> who had been on the phone by the arm and said “you WILL go sit down or
> you Will be thrown from this plane!” As I “led” him around me to take
> his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his
> waist and headed out with him.
>
> I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, “You WILL do the same!” He
> protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go. As I
> escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4
> police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to
> cease and desist for they had this under control. I was happy to
> oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within
> moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their
> luggage.
>
>
> We talked about the occurrence and were in disbelief that it had
> happen, when suddenly, the door open again and on walked all 11!!
> Stone faced, eyes front and robotic (the only way I can describe it).
> The stewardess from the back had been in tears and when she saw this,
> she was having NONE of it! Being that I was up front, I heard and saw
> the whole ordeal. She told the TSA agent there was NO WAY she was
> staying on the plane with these men. The agent told her they had
> searched them and were going to go through their luggage with a fine
> tooth comb and that they were allowed to proceed to Houston . The
> captain and co-captain came out and told the agent “we and our crew
> will not fly this plane!” After a word or two, the entire crew,
> luggage in tow, left the plane. 5 minutes later, the cabin door
> opened again and a whole new crew walked on.
>
>
> Again…..this is where I had had enough!!! I got up and asked “What
> the hell is going on!?!?” I was told to take my seat. They were
> sorry for the delay and I would be home shortly. I said “I’m getting
> off this plane”. The stewardess sternly told me that she could not
> allow me to get off. (now I’m mad!) I said “I am a grown man who
> bought this ticket, who’s time is mine with a family at home and I am
> going through that door, or I’m going through that door with you under
> my arm!! But I am going through that door!!” And I heard a voice
> behind me say “so am I”. Then everyone behind us started to get up
> and say the same. Within 2 minutes, I was walking off that plane
> where I was met with more agents who asked me to write a statement. I
> had 5 hours to kill at this point so why the hell not. Due to the
> amount of people who got off that flight, it was cancelled. I was
> supposed to be in Houston at 6pm. I got here at 12:30am.
>
>
> Look up the date. Flight 297 Atlanta to Houston .
>
>
> If this wasn’t a dry run, I don’t know what is. They wanted to see
> how TSA would handle it, how the crew would handle it, and how the
> passengers would handle it.
>
>
> I’m telling this to you because I want you to know….
>
> The threat is real. I saw it with my own eyes….
>
>
> -Tedd Petruna
>
>
> A. Gene Hackemack
> 979-251-2310 cell & home
> buttonbox01@gmail.com
> 8725 Hwy 290 W
> Brenham TX 77833
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> In God We Trust

Terror: A Global War

2009-12-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Posted 12/07/2009 07:30 PM ET

GWOT: The arrest of a Danish cartoon terror plotter for an even more lethal role in 2008's Mumbai terror attack reminds us the war on terror is global. So why is this being treated as a mere law-enforcement matter?

David Copeland Headley, 49, a Pakistani-American resident of the north side of Chicago, was arrested in October for plotting the terror-killings of the editors of Jyllands-Posten, a Copenhagen-based newspaper that ran unflattering cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.

A month later, the public learned it wasn't his first time. Headley, 49, a failed businessman and convicted drug dealer who'd changed his name from Daood Gilani, was arrested again on Monday, as an agent in the attacks at India's Oberoi and Taj hotels in Mumbai.

Headley was the advance man for the Pakistani terrorists, casing and filming Mumbai along the terror route as well as the hotels for months before they launched their multiday killing spree. The massacre that followed left 166 dead, including six Americans.

What's stunning here is that these incidents have thus far been viewed through a local lens — India's problem, Denmark's affair, America's issue, Pakistan's woe. They shouldn't be.

The same faces with the same Islamofascist motives are turning up no matter where or what sort of attack happens. It points to a ruthless enemy at war with the world, not a string of local crimes.

Yet the Danish cartoon imbroglio was viewed as an issue of civil rights and freedom of speech. The India massacre was dismissed as a function of its Kashmir dispute with Pakistan. The Afghanistan-Pakistan war is viewed as a nation-building venture rather than ground zero in the war on terror — which is what it is.

Remember 2001's shoe bomber Richard Reid?>>>

Blinded Prison Guard: Don't House Terror Suspects in NYC

2009-11-15T03:30:00.001-08:00

Saturday, November 14, 2009
By Joseph Abrams

The high-security prison in New York City where 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is expected to be sent to await his trial has a supermax wing to keep even the most notorious criminals quiet — but it isn't perfect. Just ask Louis Pepe.

Ten months before Al Qaeda in 2001 struck a deathblow in the heart lower Manhattan, one of the terrorist group's founding members plunged a sharpened comb through Pepe's left eye and into his brain, blinding the 42-year-old prison guard and causing severe brain injuries that plague him to this day.

Pepe told FoxNews.com he worries that sending Mohammed and four of his alleged fellow 9/11 conspirators to New York could compromise the safety of the guards at the MCC prison. Keeping the prisoners in one location, he said, was especially dangerous.

"Could you imagine over there what they're gonna do, God forbid?" asked Pepe, now 52, who lost feeling in the right side of his body and most of his ability to speak. "After all these years, you'd think they should know."

On Nov. 1, 2000, Pepe was ambushed in the cell of Mamdouh Mahmud Salim — an alleged top aide to Usama bin Laden. Salim's cellmate, another Al Qaeda suspect, joined in the attack, which prosecutors say was an attempt to steal Pepe's keys to the cell block to free other prisoners and take hostages.

The two had been granted permission by a federal>>>

Justice Denied

2009-11-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

Posted 11/13/2009 07:14 PM ET

In this March 1, 2003 file picture, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan. Attorney General Eric Holder...View Enlarged Image

War On Terror: Eric Holder's move to try the 9/11 masterminds in Manhattan makes it official: This administration has reverted to pre-9/11 "crime" fighting.

Amid all the talk during the attorney general's surreal press conference of the "crime" committed eight years ago, the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon wasn't even mentioned.

Lest anyone forget, the military headquarters of the United States was attacked that day along with the Twin Towers.

An entire wedge of the Ring was gutted when the Saudi hijackers slammed American Airlines Flight 77 into it. Nearly 200 military personnel were killed, along with the passengers and crew of the hijacked jet.

The jet was a weapon used to attack the very center of our military. That was not a "crime," as some say. It was an act of war.

And 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with the four other al-Qaida terrorist co-conspirators Holder wants to try, are no mere criminals. They are enemy combatants — and should be treated as such.

Yet this administration has adopted the same crime-centered mentality as the last Democratic administration. The one that treated al-Qaida's first World Trade Center bombing as a "crime." And al-Qaida's attack on the U.S. embassies in Africa as a "crime." And even al-Qaida's attack on the USS Cole as a "crime."

All were prosecuted in U.S. courts. A lot of good that did.

While President Bill Clinton was busy preparing indictments against the terrorists, al-Qaida was already plotting its next move. It hit the Pentagon just nine months after Clinton and his crime-fighters left office.

Maddeningly, this administration>>>

And Then He Sang !

2009-11-13T19:17:00.001-08:00

NOTE: You've just got to take the time to hear this young man sing; it will make you proud to be an American, and to know there's hope for the future; you'll be the loser IF you don't!! Just click on video.aol below!!

This young man sings the National Anthem prior to a
college basketball game. Notice two of the players in tears

HE IS ONLY 7 YEARS OLD!

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/7-year-old-sings-national-anthem/40945200

Ralph Scott’s Gunnery Sergeant Stripes Fit

2009-11-13T18:45:00.001-08:00

By DAVID HOGBERG, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILYPosted 10/30/2009 05:43 PM ET

Gunnery Sgt. Ralph Scott spent 7,361 days in the Marine Corps.

Nov. 12, 2004, was the most dangerous.

During the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, Scott rescued a wounded buddy by creating a distraction — in the heat of enemy fire.

"Anybody from that platoon, seeing what he did," said Scott's platoon sergeant, Michael Chambers. "My words can't do him justice."

For that, Scott was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor.

Scott became a Marine in large part because his stepfather was one.

"During my impressionable years, I grew up on military bases," Scott told IBD. "I just fell in love with the Marine Corps. I had an up-close-and-personal exposure to it."

Teen In Uniform

Scott joined in 1989, in the middle of his senior year in high school in Tallahassee, Fla. Since he was still 17, his mom had to go with him to the recruiting office to give him permission to sign up.

While in uniform, Scott>>>

'NATO Has the Watches, We Have the Time'

2009-10-30T02:59:00.001-07:00

OCTOBER 26, 2009, 9:38 P.M. ET

By JAMES SHINN

Those of us in the Bush administration who were responsible for its "Afghan Strategy Review" kept our mouths shut when we handed over the document to the Obama transition team last fall. We didn't want to box in the new administration.

And when President Barack Obama and his advisers rolled out their own Afghanistan strategy on March 27, I was quietly pleased. It came to basically the same conclusion we had: The paramount goal was to squash terrorism through counterinsurgency and better governance in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs promised the press corps at the time that its strategy would be "fully resourced." Later, in August, Gen. Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the situation in Afghanistan was leaked. It was a road map to implement precisely the Obama strategy that was announced in March.

But one key element of both the Bush and Obama strategies is getting lost in the debate—that we must apply the military and economic resources for the time required to achieve our goals. As the Obama administration's March 27 White Paper notes, "There are no quick fixes to achieve U.S. national security interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

The average counterinsurgency war lasts>>>

Remains of Long-Missing WWII Airman Given to Family in California

2009-10-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

HIGHLAND, Calif. — For two decades after her son's bomber went down in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, Vella Stinson faithfully wrote the U.S. government twice a month to ask if his body had been found — or if anyone was looking.

The mother of six strapping boys went to her grave without the answer that has finally reached her two surviving sons 65 years later: the remains of Sgt. Robert Stinson are coming home.

Military divers recovered two pieces of leg bone from the wreckage of a B-24J Liberator bomber found at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of the island nation of Palau. DNA testing showed the femur fragments belonged to the 24-year-old flight engineer who died in combat on Sept. 1, 1944.

Stinson's remains arrived under U.S. Air Force escort Wednesday and will be buried Friday at Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors. In between, the body will be kept at a mortuary less than 100 yards from the home where Stinson grew up with his brothers.

"He's not someplace on a little island or at the bottom of the ocean. He's home," said Edward Stinson, who was 9 when his brother died.

For Robert Stinson, the journey home was far from a sure thing.>>>

Flying Imams Victory

2009-10-26T19:40:00.001-07:00

Posted 06:49 PM ET

Homeland Security: A suspect Islamist group is gloating that a cash settlement in the so-called Flying Imams case is a "victory for civil rights." If it's a victory, it's one for future hijackers.

Three years ago, six Islamic clerics sued US Airways and Minneapolis airport police for discrimination and false arrest after they were bounced from a Phoenix-bound flight for behaving much like the 9/11 hijackers.

Some yelled "Allah, Allah, Allah," and changed their seats while asking for seat belt extensions they never used. Though situated throughout the cabin, the six men appeared to be acting in concert. Witnesses also said they loudly cursed the U.S.

Also raising flags, half of them had no checked baggage and what appeared to be one-way tickets.

The imams didn't seem to have a case — until that is, they got liberal federal judge Ann Montgomery to hear it. A Clinton appointee, she denied the defendants' request for dismissal.

And her ruling, strongly worded in favor of the plaintiffs, made it clear law enforcement wasn't immune from being sued. Convinced they wouldn't succeed at trial, the defendants settled.

The imams' attorney — a board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which financed the case — says the deal involves an undisclosed amount paid to his clients by airport police. Details are sealed. The airport authority issued a statement saying insurance limits its liability to $50,000.

"The settlement of this case is a clear victory for justice and civil rights," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.

These imams, whose leader admitted once supporting Osama bin Laden, are not the victims of discrimination. The victims are passengers who are now more vulnerable to terrorist attack.

The settlement threatens to have a chilling>>>

Thank You For Serving

2009-10-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Did Weapons Fail U.S. Troops During Afghanistan Assault?

2009-10-12T04:36:00.001-07:00

Sunday, October 11, 2009

WASHINGTON — In the chaos of an early morning assault on a remote U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips' M4 carbine quit firing as militant forces surrounded the base. The machine gun he grabbed after tossing the rifle aside didn't work either.

When the battle in the small village of Wanat ended, nine U.S. soldiers lay dead and 27 more were wounded. A detailed study of the attack by a military historian found that weapons failed repeatedly at a "critical moment" during the firefight on July 13, 2008, putting the outnumbered American troops at risk of being overrun by nearly 200 insurgents.

Which raises the question: Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy?

Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times.

A week ago, eight U.S. troops were killed at a>>>

Obama's Nobel and His Obligation to Afghanistan

2009-10-11T18:03:00.001-07:00

OCTOBER 11, 2009, 4:55 P.M. ET

By BOB KERREY

In a wonderfully stunning decision, the Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded our president its Peace Prize. They said the award was as much for the hope that he will contribute to a more peaceful world as it was for any specific accomplishment during his first nine months in office.

This is the same hope I had when I voted for President Barack Obama, contributed to him financially, and campaigned for him in a few states. I believed he could successfully manage the process of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. I believed he would help build a bridge to the Muslim world. And I believed he would bring his unique story to inspire us to overcome our divisiveness. I still hold fast to these beliefs, in spite of the fact that his presidency already seems to have brought out the worst in some.

By awarding the prize to Mr. Obama, the Nobel committee also surely hoped to influence the debate about U.S. policy in Afghanistan. I wish they had waited until the debate was settled here at home. My wish is based on a fear that American political leaders are about to talk themselves into breaking yet another foreign policy commitment.

In December 2006, President George W.>>>

A 'Necessary' War?

2009-10-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 10, 2009

By PEGGY NOONAN

All in. All out. Double down. Withdraw. The language of the Afghanistan debate is stark, as seem the choices. But at least the debate has begun, forced by the blunt recent comments of Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It is overdue. At the very least, less than a full airing of all the facts, realities, challenges and possibilities in that region shows insufficient respect and gratitude toward those we've put in harm's way.

Nobody, really, is certain what to do, or wherein lies wisdom. It isn't a choice between right and wrong or "clearly smart" versus "obviously stupid" so much as a choice between two hells, or more than two.

The hell of withdrawal is what kind of drama would fill the vacuum, who would re-emerge, who would be empowered, what Pakistan would look like with a newly redrawn reality in the neighborhood, what tremors would shake the ground there as the U.S. troops march out. It is the hell of a great nation that had made a commitment in retreat, abandoning not only its investment of blood and treasure but those on the ground, and elsewhere, who had one way or another cast their lot with us. It would involve the hell, too, of a U.N. commitment, an allied commitment, deflated to the point of collapse.

The hell of staying is equally clear, and vivid: more loss of American and allied troops, more damage to men and resources, an American national debate that would be a continuing wound and possibly a debilitating one, an overstretched military given no relief and in fact stretched thinner, a huge and continuing financial cost in a time when our economy is low. There is no particular guarantee of, or even a completely persuasive definition of, success. And Pakistan may blow anyway.

The debate is over which hell is less damaging>>>

The Real Afghan Lessons From Vietnam

2009-10-11T17:45:00.001-07:00

OCTOBER 11, 2009, 7:05 P.M. ET

By LEWIS SORLEY

More than 30 years have passed since North Vietnam, in gross violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, conquered South Vietnam. That outcome was partly the result of greatly increased logistical support to the North from its communist backers. It was also the result of America's failure to keep its commitments to the South.

Those commitments included promises to maintain a robust level of financial support, to replace combat materiel, and even the use of air power to support the South in case of aggression by the North. That failure was the doing of a U.S. Congress that had tired of the country's long involvement in a war in Southeast Asia and cared nothing for the sacrifices of its own armed forces or those of the South Vietnamese people.

Since then, whenever America has entered into other military actions abroad or contemplated such commitments, the specter of Vietnam has been raised. It is entirely appropriate that earlier military experiences be examined for such "lessons learned" as they may yield. But it is equally essential that those prior campaigns be accurately understood before any valid comparisons are made. When it comes to the Vietnam War, much skewed or inaccurate commentary has impeded our understanding of that conflict and its outcome.

All the better-known early works on the Vietnam War>>>

Biden Butts In

2009-10-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Posted 10/05/2009 07:20 PM ET

Warfare: As the commander in Afghanistan tries to get President Obama's attention on troops, it's political players like Vice President Biden who have his ear. Yet the military has a record of success. Biden has only blunders.

By sending in 21,000 more troops and adding $44 billion to the war budget, the president erased doubts early in his term that the goal in Afghanistan was victory. Even more impressive, he appointed Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a successful Iraq War commander who excels in unconventional warfare, to lead the fight.

But the doubts have returned. McChrystal has merited just two encounters with Obama since taking over in June, and an Aug. 30 proposal seeking 40,000 more troops in a civilian-protection strategy has found the president unable to act. Amid the dithering, 10 U.S. soldiers were mowed down in Afghanistan over the weekend, precisely because they were outgunned and undermanned.

Obama's reluctance to face the war and the commitment it requires has given an opening to Biden, who knows little about war but a lot about politics. Last week, Obama met with Biden and various Pentagon heavies in a long sit-down in which Biden recommended fighting only al-Qaida and not the Taliban.

This might be an acceptable strategy if the battlefield were some place like Copenhagen. But Afghanistan is a failed state where terrorists don't wear badges and nobody calls the cops.

McChrystal's long war experience has shown that protecting and defending civilians are critical to developing a state that can take on terrorists. In the fluid swamp of a failed state, loyalties can overlap. A warlord can be a Taliban, an al-Qaida member, an opium trafficker or all of the above. Biden's idea, as McChrystal put it bluntly, "won't work."

His sentiment echoed comments made two weeks earlier by Gen.David Petraeus, the Central Command chief.

Both McChrystal and Petraeus have long>>>

Obama And The Gene

2009-10-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

We have just begun to fight

2009-09-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Fight on and keep America strong!

Flight Insurance

2009-09-25T02:17:00.000-07:00

Subject: What to do in a flight when you have an annoying passenger seated next to..

<> 1. Remove your laptop from the briefcase; 2. Open the laptop
slowly and carefully: 3. Turn it on, as well as the sound; 4. Make
sure that the passenger next to you is looking; 5. Access the
Internet; 6. Close your eyes for a few moments, open again and look up
to heaven ;\
7. Take a deep breath and open the site:

http://www.myit-media.de/the_end.html

8. Observe the facial
expression of the passenger seated next to you.
-------------

Bank of America Draws Fire for Pulling U.S. Flags From Property

2009-09-23T18:37:00.001-07:00

When a South Carolina woman tried to honor her next door neighbor, a Marine who was recently in Afghanistan, by planting flags along the route the casket would follow, a Bank of America branch manager pulled the flags from the bank's property, citing "corporate policy."

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

With a name like Bank of America, it was particularly surprising when a branch manager in South Carolina ordered the removal of a U.S. flag honoring a fallen soldier from the bank's property.

Brenda Earls of Gaffney, S.C., tried to honor her next-door neighbor, Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Fowlkes, who was recently killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, by planting flags along the route the casket would follow. But a Bank of America branch manager pulled the flags from the bank's property, citing "corporate policy."

Bank of America, which has received $45 billion in federal loans as part of the government rescue of the financial industry, apologized for the incident, calling it a "terrible mistake."

"We want to ensure the community knows how deeply proud we are of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to our country," the bank said in a written statement. "The bank does fly the American flag at our locations throughout the country and flags were displayed in front of our banking center in Gaffney the evening prior to our dedicated Marine returning home. We deeply apologize for any misunderstandings."

But customers already have begun canceling>>>

How Did You Sleep Last Night?

2009-09-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

The
attached photo

was
forwarded from one of the last U.S. Marine
companies in Iraq

Toppling Terrorism

2009-09-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, September 18, 2009 4:30 PM PT

War On Terror: Indonesian police killed the deadliest terrorist in East Asia Thursday, avenging the murders of 200 and striking a blow against al-Qaida. It took time, but Indonesia never gave up. This is how wars are won.

The Afghanistan Panic

2009-09-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009, 4:30 A.M. ET

Opposition to the war is rising, even in the President's own party and even before his new military strategy has been fully implemented. Our ally's leaders look weak and corrupt, Americans are increasingly opposed to the war, and prominent politicians and columnists are saying it is time to leave and redeploy our forces to focus on the real danger to the U.S., which is from al Qaeda.

Sound familiar? That was roughly the state of play regarding Iraq in September 2007, even as General David Petraeus's troop surge and counterinsurgency strategy were beginning to work in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle. Despite a few shaky moments, President Bush stuck with it, and a looming U.S. defeat became a victory.

View Full Image

Associated Press

U.S. soldiers secure the site of a suicide attack in Mehterlam, the capital of Laghman province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009.

We are now approaching a similar pass in Afghanistan, amid rising doubts about the wisdom of continuing that war nearly eight years after 9/11. Evidence that President Hamid Karzai's allies stuffed ballot boxes have tarnished the recent Afghan election, U.S. casualties are rising, and the Taliban enemy seems increasingly menacing. Though new theater commander Stanley McChrystal has only recently submitted his strategic plan, the calls are growing for the U.S. to leave. We are about to see if our current Commander in Chief has the nerve of his predecessor to withstand a Washington panic.

***

The great irony of this panic is that only months ago the consensus was that Afghanistan was a "war of necessity," as President Obama likes to put it. Even the left seemed to agree that Afghanistan couldn't again become a sanctuary for al Qaeda, that retreat from Afghanistan would be a strategic victory for jihadists, and that it would weaken our influence in Islamabad and perhaps threaten the stability of Pakistan itself as Islamists tried to turn the Pakistan military and population its way.

Now we're told we can accomplish these same strategic goals merely by maintaining a much smaller force than the 68,000 currently committed to Afghanistan. Drones and special forces based offshore can contain the jihadists, while the Kabul government will have to fend for itself. We thus don't need to "nation build" to achieve U.S. ends.

This sounds appealing as a way to ease>>>

How to Win in Afghanistan

2009-09-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009, 7:49 P.M. ET

By MAX BOOT

Given declining poll numbers and rising casualty figures, it is no surprise that the chattering classes are starting to bail out on a war in Afghanistan that was launched with their enthusiastic support. From Sen. Russ Feingold on the left to columnist George Will on the right, these born-again doves seem to be chastened by the fact that the Taliban won’t simply stop fighting. Rather than rise to the challenge, they propose that we stick to what Mr. Will says “can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters.”

If only we could. No one wants to see troops risking injury and death in ground combat. It would be nice if it weren't necessary. But it is. We tried the offshore strategy in the 1990s when Afghanistan became a stronghold of al Qaeda. Even after 9/11 we still stuck to a minimalist approach. Recall the failure to capture Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora because we wouldn't commit enough American troops. As recently as 2008 there were only two U.S. Brigade Combat Teams in the entire country (a brigade has roughly 4,000 soldiers), compared to 20 in Iraq at the height of the surge.

There are now five brigades engaged in combat in Afghanistan. For most of the Bush administration, we relied on unmanned Predator drones and Special Forces to keep the enemy at bay. Afghan Security Forces were too small and ineffective to pick up the slack. Even today there are only 173,000 Afghan soldiers and police compared to 600,000 in Iraq. The result: The Taliban, which had been routed in 2001, staged a disheartening resurgence.

However much advocates of downsizing might want to disguise the fact, there is no alternative to doing the kind of intensive counterinsurgency work on the ground that has paid off in numerous conflicts from Malaya to Iraq. If we don't make a substantial commitment—one that will require raising our troop strength beyond the 68,000 to which the administration is already committed—we are likely to lose.

Losing wars is a bad thing. It is especially bad if you are a superpower that depends on an aura of invincibility to keep rogue elements at bay. That should go without saying, but those calling for a scuttle from Afghanistan seem to have forgotten this elementary lesson. They might cast their minds back to the 1970s when we were reeling from defeat in Vietnam and our enemies were on the march from Nicaragua to Iran. Or back to the 1990s when, following the U.S. pullout from Lebanon and Somalia, Osama bin Laden labeled us a weak horse that could be attacked with impunity.

A U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan>>>

David Hutchinson, A Soldier Ice-Cool Under Fire

2009-09-01T17:53:00.000-07:00

By DAVID HOGBERG, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILYPosted 08/31/2009 06:28 PM ET

Hutchinson, at Wisconsin's Fort McCoy two months before his Silver Star battle in the Afghan mountains, is now a specialist and recovering from wounds. Defense Department View Enlarged Image

Army Pfc. David Hutchinson landed in Afghanistan on May 16, 2008.

It would be a short deployment.

On his fifth day a grenade wounded him — but not before he killed five terrorists and helped secure the safety of 16 fellow soldiers.

A year later he received the Silver Star for bravery. The Pentagon says he's just the fifth Army reservist so honored.

Hutchinson was born in 1987 in Humble, Texas. He joined the Army Reserve when he was 18, joining his family's long line in uniform.

"There was a strong sense of patriotism in the family," Hutchinson told IBD. "That was instilled in me from the get-go."

His grandfather, uncle and a few cousins all joined the military, mostly in the Air Force.

Hutchinson had a simple reason for not going that route: "I'm not a big fan of flying."

Hutchinson is with the 420th Engineer Brigade. Not that he does much engineering. He mostly trains for brigade security. This involves providing safe transport for VIPs.

On the morning of May 21, 2008, members of the brigade's security detail were in a convoy of four Humvees driving through the mountains of Afghanistan.

Riding Shotgun

Hutchinson was in the third Humvee manning the MK-19, a machine gun that fires 40 mm grenades. "We wanted to know what it was like on that route before we had to drive it with somebody important," he said.

The ambush came at 11 a.m. as the convoy moved up a small mountain.

"Just about the time that all four trucks got into the pass,>>>

2009-08-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

August 28, 3:57 PM

In recent times, following its presidential elections, the government and society of the Islamic Republic of Iran has felt massive shutters resulting from exceptionally high and passionate opposition to the announced results of the elections. Many in the country, indeed throughout the world, believe that the election results announced are not supported by the actual votes cast in the election. There are allegations of voter fraud, hidden ballots, intentional low stock of ballets in mainly anti-Ahmadinejad areas, and intimidation tactics by the Basij. A government that claims to have the unanimous backing of its people certainly doesn’t have unanimous support from the Iranian people.

The leadership of Iran has issued threat upon threat against the United States, Israel, and their allies. They have continued to pursue ballistic missile technology and nuclear weaponry in spite of U.N. and IAEA demands to stop. They are not suspected of being a threat to the Western nations of the world but are known and self-declared threats to the West and Israel. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated repeatedly that Iran will wipe Israel and the United States off of the map. Intelligence data reveals that Iran is acting on its threats and actively striving to over-throw neighboring nations and key African Nations so as to achieve their ultimate goal of Shi’a Islamic domination of the planet and the destruction of all who are not them.

Through the use of the Quds Force,>>>

TALIBAN HUMOR

2009-08-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

TALIBAN HUMOR

A fleeing Taliban, desperate for water, was plodding through the Afghanistan desert when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the object, only to find a little old Jewish man sitting at a card table with neckties laid out on it.

The Taliban said, "My thirst is killing me. Please, do you have water?"

The Jew replied, "I have no water. Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $150. This one goes very nicely with your robes.

"The Taliban shouted, "Idiot! I do not need your overpriced tie. I need water!"

"OK," said the old Jew, "it does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie. I will show you that you have not offended me. If you walk over that hill to the east for about four miles, you will find a lovely restaurant. Go! Walk that way! The restaurant has all the water you need!"

The Taliban staggered away toward the hill and disappeared. Eight hours later the Taliban came crawling back to the Jewish man's table.

The Jew said, "I told you, the restaurant with the water is about four miles over that hill. Could you not find it?"

"I found it," rasped the Taliban. "But your brother wouldn't let me in without a tie."

A Weakening Will To Crush Terror

2009-08-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, August 13, 2009 4:20 PM PT

The Law: Terrorists have had lots to celebrate recently as court rulings from Bangkok to Madrid wiped out years of work to stop them and raised doubts about treating the war on terror as a law-enforcement action.

Revenge of the ‘Shoe Bomber’

2009-08-02T00:52:00.000-07:00

JULY 31, 2009

By DEBRA BURLINGAME

Last May at the National Archives, President Barack Obama warned that “more mistakes would occur” if Congress continued to politicize terrorist detention policy and the closure of Guantanamo Bay. “[I]f we refuse to deal with those issues today,” he predicted, “then I guarantee you, they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future.”

On June 17, at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) penitentiary in Florence, Colo., one of those albatrosses, inmate number 24079-038, began his day with a whole new range of possibilities. Eight days earlier, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver filed notice in federal court that the Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) which applied to that prisoner—Richard C. Reid, a.k.a. the “Shoe Bomber”—were being allowed to expire. SAMs are security directives, renewable yearly, issued by the attorney general when “there is a substantial risk that a prisoner’s communications, correspondence or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury” to others.

Reid was arrested in 2001 for attempting to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami with 197 passengers and crew on board. Why had Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to renew his security measures, kept in place since 2002?

According to court documents filed in a 2007 civil lawsuit against the government, Reid claimed that SAMs violated his First Amendment right of free speech and free exercise of religion. In a hand-written complaint, he asserted that he was being illegally prevented from performing daily “group prayers in a manner prescribed by my religion.” Yet the list of Reid’s potential fellow congregants at ADX Florence reads like a Who’s Who of al Qaeda’s most dangerous members: Ramzi Yousef and his three co-conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui; “Millennium bomber” Ahmed Ressam; “Dirty bomber” Jose Padilla; Wadih el-Hage, Osama Bin Laden’s personal secretary, convicted in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing that killed 247 people.

In December 2008, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss Reid’s lawsuit. It cited the example of ADX inmate Ahmed Ajaj as an illustration of “the dangers inherent in permitting a group of inmates, of like mind in their opposition to the United States, to congregate for a prayer service conducted in a language not understood by most correctional officers.”

While imprisoned for passport fraud in 1992,>>>

Waterboarding

2009-07-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

'And not a drop to drink'!

Drafting Guys over 50 into the armed forces

2009-07-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

Drafting Guys over 50 into the armed forces

----this is funny & obviously written by a Former Soldier----

New Direction for any war: Send Service Vets over 60!

I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing ass-backwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.

For starters: Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.

Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some asshole that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while.

An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10 a.m. Old guys always get up early to pee so what the hell. Besides, like I said, 'I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical s-of-a-b....

If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

Boot camp would be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.

They could lighten up on the obstacle course however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training.

Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too. I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.

An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start up a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head..

These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.

Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple of million pissed off old farts with attitudes and automatic weapons who know that their best years are already behind them.

***How about recruiting Women over 50 ...with Menopause !!! You think Men have attitudes !!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my God!!!

If nothing else, put us on border patrol....we will have it secured the first night!

Share this with your senior friends. It's purposely in big type so they can read it.

One of Bin Laden's Sons May Have Died in Missile Strike

2009-07-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 24, 2009

A CIA missile strike early this year is thought to have killed one of Osama bin Laden's oldest sons, a 27-year-old who had followed his father's footsteps into al-Qaeda, U.S. counterterrorism officials said Thursday.

Saad bin Laden -- one of at least 23 children fathered by the al-Qaeda founder, according to "The Bin Ladens," by Steve Coll -- was apparently killed inside Pakistan in an attack by one of the spy agency's unmanned Predator aircraft. Intelligence officials said that the attack occurred in late winter and that the younger bin Laden had not been the intended target.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,">>>

Band Of Brothers, Darrell Powers, Dies

2009-07-27T03:40:00.001-07:00

One of the "Band of Brothers" soldiers died on June 17, 2009.

We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.

I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry.

If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne, or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said, "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said, "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?"

At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was and I know what D-Day was.

At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ."

I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said; "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know hat to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said, "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center .

No wall-to-wall, back-to-back, 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way.

Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially, to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

"A nation without heroes is nothing."
Roberto Clemente

A Class of Generals

2009-07-27T02:55:00.001-07:00

JULY 25, 2009, 4:55 A.M. ET

By YOCHI J. DREAZEN

West Point, N.Y.

Ray Odierno was a floppy-haired teenager who was recruited into West Point’s class of 1976 to play football. An average student, he spent his free time tailgating outside the military academy’s football stadium and leading excursions to an off-campus bar.

His classmate Stanley McChrystal came from a military family. His idea of a practical joke was mounting a fake assault on one of the campus’s office buildings using decommissioned weapons and “grenades” made out of rolled-up socks. When the prank drew the attention of the military police, then-Cadet McChrystal’s career almost ended.

Thirty-three years after graduating, the two men are four-star generals running the nation’s two wars. Gen. Odierno is the top officer in Iraq. Gen. McChrystal recently took command in Afghanistan. It’s the first time in West Point’s 207-year history that graduates of the same class command two wars simultaneously.

The class of 1976—who left West Point at a low point for both the Army and its famed training ground—has produced a striking number of generals now influencing the shape of the U.S. military. All told, at least 33 active and retired generals, now all in their mid-50s, were among its 855 graduating members. Gen. McChrystal’s deputy in Kabul, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, was a classmate, as was the officer leading U.S. efforts to train the Iraqi army, Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick. Retired Lt. Gen. Dave Barno, who spent 19 months as the top commander in Afghanistan, was also West Point ’76.

“It’s really sort of unprecedented,” says Stephen Grove,>>>

Winning Is All

2009-07-25T03:11:00.000-07:00

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, July 24, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Afghanistan: It was a bad week for the president. After accusing Cambridge, Mass., police of acting stupidly, he called victory unnecessary in Afghanistan. Does the commander in chief misunderstand the use of force?

Read More: Middle East & North Africa

In the dark days of May 1940, Winston Churchill famously outlined the task before the British people: "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terrors, victory however long and hard the road may be — for without victory there is no survival."

Contrast that with what the president told ABC News last Thursday: "I'm always worried about using the word victory, because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur."

If the goal of the U.S. in Afghanistan isn't victory, what is the purpose of the blood, toil, tears and sweat of our forces? What is the meaning of the struggle and suffering of their families?

According to Vince Lombardi, "If you can accept losing, you can't win."

Now, in fairness to our president, he doesn't seem to be saying that losing is an option. He noted in the same interview that "when you have a nonstate actor, a shadowy operation like al-Qaida, our goal is to make sure they can't attack the United States."

Going on, he said the U.S. "will continue to contract the ability of al-Qaida to operate," which the president called "absolutely critical." We agree.

But we are at something of a crossroads in Afghanistan. The toil, tears, sweat — and especially blood — have increased of late.

As a result, public displeasure is on the rise in Britain, Canada and Germany, which with their tens of thousands of troops are taking part in the U.S.-led coalition — the kind of coalition, by the way, that liberal Democrats consider absolutely vital before fighting wars against terror states.

Our allies could eventually pull out. So at a time like this, the job of the president is to remind them, and the American people, that we are in a world war against a network of evildoers.

Barely two months into this administration, the Pentagon was sent a memo announcing that we were no longer engaged in a global war on terror; this was not a "long war" the American people were faced with.

No, the endeavor U.S. servicemen and women were being asked to spill their blood for would from now on be called an "overseas contingency operation."

How's that to stir your patriotism?>>>

Targeting Terrorists

2009-07-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

JULY 18, 2009, 4:46 A.M. ET

By RICHARD A. CLARKE

Not since 1975 when the Church Commission investigated Nixon-era abuses in intelligence agencies, have such unusual things occurred in the world of Washington intelligence agencies as in these past few weeks. The Democratic House of Representatives threatened to pass an intelligence authorization bill which the Democratic White House has promised to veto. The former Democratic congressman who now heads the Central Intelligence Agency has been having a public disagreement with leading House Democrats about whether the CIA lies to Congress. There is a controversy about a secret CIA program to do something most Americans presumably want the CIA to do, to kill al Qaeda terrorists. The attorney general is rumored to be looking for a special prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogators, even though the president seemed to have earlier told CIA employees that there would be no prosecutions about alleged torture. Former CIA employees are publicly trotting out the claim that all of this attention “hurts the Agency’s morale” and that damage could result in another successful terrorist attack on the U.S. Even seasoned Washington policy wonks are finding it hard to navigate their way through all of those stories and make some sense of what has been going on.

View Full Image

Reuters

A U.S. missile attack by a pilotless drone aircraft killed at least six people, including three Arabs, in a Pakistani tribal region regarded as a safe haven for al Qaeda and Taliban militants in October 2008

Unless we understand what all of this drama is really about, we will not get the delicate balance right between the needs of a democracy and the rule of law on one side and the requirements of a secret intelligence service on the other. And this democracy needs a functioning secret intelligence service to protect it against the current genres of threat.

All of this recent Washington activity about intelligence is perhaps best understood as three distinct, but related stories playing out against a backdrop of suspicion about what the previous administration may have done in reaction to the 9-11 attacks. It is also part of a 60-year historical pattern of manic swings of opinion in Washington about the efficacy of covert action.

The first story should probably have been>>>

All Is Fair In Love And War

2009-07-14T18:51:00.001-07:00

Read the following explanation before looking at the picture!

Most Syrians struggle to even read Arabic, much less have a clue about reading English.

So, how do a group of Syrian protest leaders create the most impact with their signs by having the standard 'Death To Americans'(etc..) slogans printed in English?

Answer:

They simply hire an English-speaking civilian to translate and write their statements into English.

Unfortunately, in this case, they were unaware that the 'civilian' insurance company employee hired for the job was a retired USArmy Sergeant! Obviously, the results were PRICELESS!

This picture is not doctored.

Duty Done

2009-07-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

A Major Rescue Effort In Iraq

2009-07-03T01:39:00.000-07:00

By BRIAN J. ARTHURS
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, June 26, 2009 4:30 PM PT

Army Maj. John Detro was in the heat of the Gulf and Iraq wars as a medic and physician's assistant.

He says the greatest advancement made between the two operations was in the quick treatment of soldiers wounded in combat.

The military has a better grasp of treating seriously injured patients on the battlefield, keeping them alive until a doctor can operate.

Detro, during one of his two tours in Iraq, is an Army major stationed these days at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he trains fellow medics.

The result is fewer battlefield deaths. Detro demonstrated that fact during his decorated mission in northern Iraq on Sept. 5, 2005.

Serving as a medic leader with the 3rd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Detro and his fellow GIs went on a mission to kill terrorists, high-value targets he called "deck of card guys," referring to the military's most wanted list .

"We knew we were facing a hardened group of fighters who were unlikely to surrender," Detro told IBD. "But we didn't realize their force was almost equal to ours."

The Rangers hoped they could enter the building in silence and grab the target as the people around him slept. Such an element of surprise wasn't possible. The Americans had to use explosives to get in.

Prior to the mission, then-Capt. Detro arranged to bring extra medics and pre-position helicopters near the combat site as a precaution.

The decision was wise. The first two Rangers to enter were shot, and Detro jumped into action to treat the wounded amid the firefight.

Trouble From Above

The terrorists were on the second floor overlooking a courtyard, firing guns and tossing grenades at the Rangers. As Detro and one other medic took on fire, they used their bodies to shield the wounded from grenades bouncing nearby and continued treating them at every break. While the explosions didn't make direct hits, shrapnel struck Detro, causing minor injuries.

"I took some shrapnel on my extremities, anywhere that wasn't covered by body armor," he said. "It was a chaotic scene, with the enemy shooting and throwing grenades. There was smoke everywhere."

Shrugging off his wounds, Detro continued assisting soldiers in need. He got two to safety. Then "the platoon sergeant came to the medical vehicle and stated we had a seriously injured member in the courtyard," he recalled. "The majority of the force had vacated the area, so two of us went back inside and found the ground force commander and my medic providing care to a seriously injured soldier."

The fallen GI had taken a bullet near his arm pit, severing an artery and opening a bloody floodgate.

Detro moved fast. He applied a newly developed dressing to the wound, stopping the bleeding.

But the heat from above didn't stop. The terrorists hid in spider holes — hollowed-out wall areas — and fired on the Rangers as they tried to exit the courtyard. "The whole area was about the size of half a football field, and there were about 100 people fighting," said Detro. "So it was pretty intense."

Eventually Detro and his medics evacuated the bleeding GI to a medical facility 30 minutes away by helicopter in time to save his life. "If we didn't have the helicopters positioned nearby, we wouldn't have been able to save his life," he said.

"Detro held no sense of preservation for personal safety, putting the literal lives of others above his own," Sgt. Casey Loose, a medic on the mission, told IBD by e-mail from Afghanistan. "He and the other medics performed with the utmost stellar skill and concentration required in an operating room."

Detro lauds the military's medical grip. "It's so important to have soldiers trained in basic first aid because so much can be done in the first minutes of an injury to give a patient a better chance at surviving," he said. "This is something that is happening, and the survival rate for injured soldiers is increasing."

Detro had witnessed the improvement in Army battlefield medical techniques firsthand. He served as a medic in 1991's Operation Desert Storm, where only people in his field could provide effective emergency treatment. Today all Rangers are trained to give quick medical aid so critical for a wounded soldier.

Fourteen years later, Detro was in for more action that hectic night in Iraq. When he returned to the medical facility with the wounded, he worked through the morning and into the next night assisting on nine surgeries alongside Col. James Ficke and his staff.

Of the 50 men on the mission, 22 were wounded, five seriously. Thanks in great part to Detro and his team of medics, all of the Rangers survived and many of them are still on active duty. And the military reported the mission successful, with 50 terrorists killed.

For his sound judgment and exceptional performance, Detro was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor and the Purple Heart.

He also earned the admiration of his medics, who upon returning home nominated Detro for the Army Physician's Assistant of the Year Award.

After winning it, he said: "I never expected to receive that award. That (the medics) would (nominate me) was just awesome."

Detro's career in the military began when he enlisted in 1987.

He had attended Sienna Heights University in his native Michigan, studying biology and running track.

He would be inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame, where he's described as "perhaps the best distance runner in Sienna Heights track and field history."

After donning Army green, he became a medic and focused on what he truly enjoyed: treating patients.

He did that behind the lines in Desert Storm, then applied for the Army's physician's assistant program. By 1999 he was ready for battlefield medical operations, so at 38 he signed up for Army Ranger School to prepare for combat.

With his athletic background, he was able to excel in the demanding program despite his age.

"Ranger School prepares you to handle difficult situations," said Detro, who in addition to Iraq has served in Afghanistan. "Ranger School is actually more difficult than combat, physically and mentally, because you are forced to cope with extreme situations where you have to make difficult decisions when you're tired and hungry.

"I was older than most, but was fit enough to handle it."

Ready For Action

Detro says the training helped him and his fellow Rangers survive that intense night in northern Iraq.

He was a part of the Army's initial advance into Afghanistan in the months after 9/11 and has served two tours in Iraq.

Today Detro, 47, is stationed in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he trains medics. He is married to Moraima, and they have three children.

What keeps Detro in the Army?

1. His fellow soldiers and their families, many of whom have known nothing but combat since they joined the military. "Their dedication inspires me every day," he said.

2. The medics he trains. "Many have gone on to become P.A.s (physician's assistants), and one went to medical school," he said. "It's a very proud day when one of your students is selected for P.A. school or goes on to medical school.

High-Tech Soldiers Head for Combat in Afghanistan

2009-07-03T00:37:00.001-07:00

Thursday, July 02, 2009

When the soldiers of the U.S. Army's 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division hit the ground in Afghanistan this month, they'll be carrying the latest in high-tech gear.

Their officers and squadron leaders will be using "Land Warrior," a $48,000 wearable computer system that will let each user view maps of terrain, track his fellow soldiers with GPS navigation and communicate with others via text messaging or whispers.

The men and women of the 5-2 have been training with Land Warrior at their base in Fort Lewis, Wash., reports the Tacoma News-Tribune.

That could come in handy as U.S. and Afghan forces step up their offensive against the Taliban. They launched a major operation Wednesday in Afghanistan, intended to bolster the security of the local population in the face of the Taliban threat.

The Pentagon continues to beef up its capabilities>>>

The War On Terror Just Won't Go Away

2009-07-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, April 24, 2009

Fighting Terror: It's a very real threat when people who are our sworn enemies suddenly begin capturing territory at the expense of our allies. And today, that's exactly what's happening in Pakistan.