2007.08.15 Politics and National Defense Roundup
Meet SSG Lawrence E. Dean II
Michelle Malkin
First, watch this if you haven’t seen it already:
Now, via Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive, here’s your awesomeness of the day: ...
*** Exclusive Interview with Video-Making Marine
Uncle Jimbo
Most of you saw this video when we posted it earlier this week, and most of you wrote to say how wonderful it was. It contained many heartfelt sentiments about what being an American and an American fighting man means. The artist was unknown, until now. Ladies and Gentlemen I introduce you to SSG Lawrence E. Dean II. A reader who may claim her kudos in the comments if she wants to, alerted us that SSG Dean was the artist and he worked with her husband. She sent along B5 contact info and then let me know we needed to coordinate with the Cherry Point PAO and Mr. Mike Barton was very helpful and facilitated a phone interview w/ SSG Dean. Here is the coolest thing, the piece is titled She Called, well She is his Grandma and the piece is his explanation to her of why he would go to war. WOW! It was great to talk with him and I wish him the best in what could be a second career. Semper Fi!
Here is my interview with the Staff Sergeant ...
Andy Denton who along with his brother Matt posted the video have also been in touch with SSG Dean and have an alternate version of the piece here
Support citizen journalism
Michelle Malkin
Blogger Bill Ardolino is going back to Fallujah for two weeks on August 30. He did some fantastic reporting and posts a new video he shot back in January: [video link] ...
Ardolino notes that his media accreditation is with Bill Roggio's Public Multimedia, Inc. You can make tax-deductible donations that cover expenses (airfare, insurance, etc.) here. (Mark the subject or notes line with "Bill Ardolino").
And spread the word about PMI. They're doing great things.
Hhhmmm....Something Ain't Right
Blackfive
Reader Matt D. noticed this AFP photo on Yahoo News and quickly wondering if the projectiles were thrown rather than fired...
Here's the caption that accompanies the AFP phopto: An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. At least 175 people were slaughtered on Tuesday and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq, officials said.(AFP/Wissam al-Okaili) ...
Confederate Yankee Bob Owens has much more here.
See also:
Quick hits:
- Liar's Parade
Confederate Yankee: Why do the Scott Thomas Beauchamp stories published in The New Republic matter? ...
- What's Next On Haditha
Bruce Kesler: Two of the cases arising from the Haditha incidents that await determination are important to our conclusions. Together with, but distinct from, the prior cases we will have a more complete understanding of both Marine justice and of the conditions under which Marines operate. The charges in each case are for largely separate actions within that day, and the involvement and responsibility of each defendant differed. ...
Democrats' Disgrace
By Tony Blankley
Sometimes we can better understand where we are politically from afar than from within. Consider this assessment from Europe's biggest and Germany's most influential magazine, Der Spiegel, this week:
"The wind has shifted in Washington. America, not just its president, is at war. The Democrats are still critical of the failed Iraq campaign, but they are no longer opposed to the "War on Terror" in general. It has been accepted, and not just as a metaphor ... Ninety-two percent of Americans are opposed to an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and a majority doesn't want to see the U.S.'s special detention camp at Guantanamo Bay closed. At the moment, the American electorate's biggest criticism of Bush is that he has not been aggressive enough in pursuing terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. ...
Sanctuary Nation or Sovereign Nation?
The choice is ours.
By Michelle Malkin
Will the execution-style murder of three young students in Newark, N.J., finally turn the tide in the immigration-enforcement debate? Will we at last abandon the deadly, chaotic, lawless sanctuary-nation experiment and restore Americaâs lost status as a sovereign nation under the rule of law? ...
*** Sanctuary Nation or Sovereign Nation: Itâs your choice
Update: Illegal alien deportation evader Elvira Arellano will leave church sanctuary to participate in amnesty march
Michelle Malkin
Update: So, what does Michael Chertoff plan to do about this? Chicago Tribune: Elvira Arellano, the illegal Mexican immigrant who has avoided deportation for a year by taking refuge inside a Humboldt Park church, plans to leave her sanctuary next month to participate in an immigration march in Washington, according to todayâs edition of Hoy.
Arellano, who is scheduled to announce her decision later this morning, told the Spanish-language newspaper in an exclusive interview that she hopes to use her status as a figurehead for the nationâs estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to leverage support for more lenient reforms. ...
Iranian Unit to Be Labeled 'Terrorist'
U.S. Moving Against Revolutionary Guard
The United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group's business operations and finances.
The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. The decision follows congressional pressure on the administration to toughen its stance against Tehran, as well as U.S. frustration with the ineffectiveness of U.N. resolutions against Iran's nuclear program, officials said. ...
Dumb, dumb, Odumba, dumba, dumba Odumba, dumb, dumb, O dumb ah Are The Wheels Coming Off For Obama?
Ed Morrissey: The primary campaign has turned into a very long dance for Barack Obama, who seems determined to prove at every opportunity that he has two left feet. In New Hampshire, Obama told a crowd that the US military effort consists mainly of "air raiding villages and killing civilians" -- which his tone-deaf campaign confirmed moments later to reporters ...
***
Allah has video
*** Romney Criticizes Obama; Clinton Doesn't
John Hinderaker
Yesterday, Barack Obama made the inexplicable observation that "We've got to get the job done [in Afghanistan]. And that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there."
This characterization of what our armed forces are doing in Afghanistan was, to put it mildly, inaccurate. It was also politically tone-deaf in the extreme. It drew a strong rebuke from Mitt Romney spokesman Kevin Madden: "That is a very troubling remark on so many levels," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. "Most importantly, it's emblematic of Senator Obama's lack of experience for the job of commander-in-chief. But it's also an entirely inaccurate condemnation of the efforts of the men and women of the United States military who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Obama's blunder suggests, once again, that he is not ready for prime time, either as a politician or as commander in chief. It was interesting, though, that Hillary Clinton's campaign declined to comment on Obama's remark. A week ago, Hillary went after Obama for suggesting that as President, he would bomb Pakistan. Since then, she has solidified her lead in the polls. Her reluctance to weigh in on this potentially more serious mistake may suggest that she is more concerned about Obama, at this point, as a viable running mate than as a competitor for the Democrats' nomination. ...
*** The AP's 'Fact' Check
Ed Morrissey
The Associated Press issued a pretentious "fact check" to counter the so-called "spin" around Barack Obama's statement earlier today that the Bush policy in Afghanistan was to bomb villages and civilians. His campaign confirmed Obama's analysis of the Bush policy, which Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said consisted "solely of air raids and bombing of civilians."
Here's the AP' Nedra Pickler and her version of a fact check: ...
*** Mark It: Barack Obama's Campaign Steered Into the Ditch Today
Jim Geraghty
When I first saw the comment on Instapundit, I thought it was an Obama aide who made an astoundingly boneheaded assessement of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. But no, it turns out it was the candidate himself: Asked whether he would move U.S. troops out of Iraq to better fight terrorism elsewhere, he brought up Afghanistan and said, "We've got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there."
Ahem.
Perusing the Central Command web site: ...
See also:
Baggage
From AP: Clinton a drag? Dems fear her negatives. Looking past the presidential nomination fight, Democratic leaders quietly fret that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom.
They say the former first lady may be too polarizing for much of the country. She could jeopardize the party's standing with independent voters and give Republicans who otherwise might stay home on Election Day a reason to vote, they worry.
In more than 40 interviews, Democratic candidates, consultants and party chairs from every region pointed to internal polls that give Clinton strikingly high unfavorable ratings in places with key congressional and state races.
|
