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Friday, 31 August 2007
 

2007.08.31 Politics and National Defense Roundup

Just Read the Headline; Don't Ask Any Questions
John Hinderaker

When Marines were accused of committing atrocities at Haditha, Mad Jack Murtha and many others rushed to convict them. We have followed the story as those accusations have fallen apart, and one Marine after another has been exonerated. Now, at least two of the cleared Marines have either sued, or stated their intention to sue, Mad Jack for defamation.

The mainstream media don't seem to have noticed that the Haditha prosecutions have crumbled. Hence, headlines like this one, by AFP: ...

See also: Was a Crime Committed in Haditha?

Below the fold:

  • Breaking: Goose Creek indictments
  • Fugitive Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu Turns Self in to Police

Quick hits:

Breaking: Goose Creek indictments
Michelle Malkin

Creek case asking for DNA and hair samples from one of the suspects. Now, the mystery unclouds further. Via AP breaking news: (Hat tip-reader William A.)

Two University of South Florida men indicted on charges of carrying explosives across state lines; one indicted on terror charges.

Stand by for more…

See also: Goose Creek Terrorism Indictments

Fugitive Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu Turns Self in to Police

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. —  A top Democratic fundraiser wanted as a fugitive in California turned himself in Friday to face a grand theft charge.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge H. James Ellis ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Sept. 5, at which the judge will consider reducing his bail to $1 million. ...

See also:

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 31, 2007 at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Our new lake

This may make more sense if you read this post first.

Well, we survived August (my 9/1 check came today due to the weekend) but only by deliberately taking advantage of the overdraft protection on my bank account, which means we're starting September off with less than we would have. There's at least hope for September. So far my sister's part time job is working out OK, one of my nephew's friends wants to buy his old beater the transmission went out of several months back (All he wants is the engine but he'll get the whole car out of our way), and I got a BlogAd order a few days ago that puts me over the $75.00 minimum amount BlogAds will bother with transferring to my PayPal account (on 9/15).  We're still a long way from rolling in dough but at least things look a little brighter than they have for a while.

Things are still up in the air concerning the horse boarding deal but I'm optimistic. My daughter and her family will be here over the weekend and I'm not above brainwashing my grandson to tell my ex "I think Sunshine should go live with Grandpa and Aunt Vicki." There's not a huge amount of money involved but we'll be getting the first year up front at a time we can really use it.

Click the image to enlarge it.

It finally cooled down enough that I could get out this morning to see what's going on in that field behind us. I took the above picture from about three feet inside our property line. The fence attached to that big post on the left is the boundary between "the garden" and "the barn lot." That squashed-down fence running left to right was similar to it till the people working in that field screwed it up taking out trees that weren't hurting a damned thing where they were. They're either going to have to fix it for us or, if/since we're going to have to have some other fence built if we bring horses in here, pay us for the damage and let us see to the repairs.

If you look close at the enlarged view of the above image you can see a truck sitting in a hole several feet down from that big backhoe. The grapevine has it that's the beginning of a nine acre lake, complete with fish and maybe a duck now and then. The hole obviously doesn't cover anything close to nine acres yet but I won't hazard any guesses as to where the edges will eventually be. I guess I'd rather it grow towards us than to have room for a business of some sort between it and our place.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 31, 2007 at 12:58 PM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Weekend Open Post

Click here for a handy "most recently updated posts at the top" listing of the posts on this page. Click here to see a similar listing for the Old War Dogs site. 

So here's the deal, folks: I was up way late last night finishing Lone Survivor, I have payday errands to run later today, and my daughter and her family are coming up for Labor Day weekend. I probably won't take the weekend completely off but my threshold for what's worth mentioning is going to be a lot higher than normal for a while.

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 31, 2007 at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Thursday, 30 August 2007
 

2007.08.30 Politics and National Defense Roundup

Marine to sue Murtha over irresponsible Haditha accusations
Bryan Preston

Remember this? [video link]

Well, the Marine Corps investigator has now dropped all charges against 3 of the 8 accused Marines in the case, and only one Marine still stands accused of crimes at the scene. The others are charged with various after-the-fact issues that arose from investigations of Haditha, not the events themselves. Murtha’s aim, of course, in accusing the Marines of murder “in cold blood” was to pin the blame on Bush. But in the process of blaming Bush, he slandered those Marines.

One of those Marines, Col. Jeffrey Chessani, plans to sue Murtha once he’s exonerated.

Brian Rooney, one of the attorneys at Michigan’s Thomas More Law Center representing Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani and a former Marine captain himself told NewsMax.com that his client, who is alleged to have failed to fully investigate the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha November, 2005 and not reporting an alleged Law of War violation, may follow the example of another Haditha Marine, SSgt. Frank Wuterich who is suing Murtha for libel. ...

See also: NYT’s Hasn’t Heard Of Innocent ‘Til Proven Guilty

Michael Yon's latest, Ghosts of Anbar, Part III of IV, is up. Don't miss it.

Today's other must read: Mark Moyar's Getting Vietnam Right

Below the fold:

  • Fred's in, Formal Announcement Late Next Week
  • Ferry plots and Filipino Muslim converts
  • Mystery at Goose Creek update: Federal grand jury investigates

An Important Announcement from Friends of Fred Thompson
(from an email I received a few minutes ago)

On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, there will also be a National House Party, during which there will be a conference call with Fred.

We enter this campaign in a strong position. Fred is consistently near the top in the polls, and conservatives across the country have put together the closest thing to a draft in recent presidential campaign history in an effort to bring about this day. The next few weeks will only serve to build upon those efforts, with house parties, visits to the early primary states, and a homecoming in Lawrenceburg, TN on the 15th. To view the dates and locations of Fred's bus tour, please click here, and check back soon for more information on attending one of these events.

By announcing via webcast, Fred is able to take his consistently mainstream conservative message directly to the voters, who are already responding to that message with a strong upwelling of grassroots support. The webcast and the following campaign tour will play to Fred’s strengths, a consistent record of conservatism, his ability to clearly spread his message, and his ability to work with and connect with Americans from all walks of life. Be apart of this historic occasion by signing up to host or attend a house party today.

Sincerely,

Bill Lacy
Manager, Friends of Fred Thompson, Inc.

Some links I'd posted earlier in the day:

Quick hits:

Ferry plots and Filipino Muslim converts
Michelle Malkin

The FBI is still sifting through hundreds of tips on the two suspicious men in Seattle whom ferry employees witnessed photographing restricted areas and pacing several ferry routes, “as if trying to measure distances,” over the past several weeks.

I have learned that these men have been the subject of much investigative energy within homeland security bureaucracies for quite some time. Indeed, one source told me that until the FBI released the photos of the men, the snapshots had been handled as classified material. ...

Mystery at Goose Creek update: Federal grand jury investigates
Michelle Malkin (H/T: Dan Riehl)

Remember the accused pipe bomb boys arrested on the road to Goose Creek Naval Weapons Station in South Carolina? Here’s a new update. The Tampa Tribune reports today that a federal grand jury investigating the case has asked for DNA and hair samples from one of the suspects: ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 30, 2007 at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

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Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 30, 2007 at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Wednesday, 29 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

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Quick links to some things farther down the page:

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 29, 2007 at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.29 Politics and National Defense Roundup

Answering ANSWER
Michelle Malkin

The dog days of August have drawn to a close. This is the calm before the gathering political storm. On September 15, the far Left group ANSWER (”Act Now to Stop war and End Racism”) will descend on the nation’s capital to demand what they’ve been demanding for the last six years in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks: immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, immediate closure of the Guatanamo Bay detention facility and immediate release of every last suspected al Qaeda operative in American custody, immediate impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and immediate capitulation to our enemies at home and abroad.

Who will be there to counter the Jane Fonda retreads? Will you? ...

Today's other must-reads:

Below the fold:

  • Reaper ready to deploy next month
  • Iraqi Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Suspends Mahdi Army Activities
  • More On The Seattle Ferry Story
  • Clinton Fundraiser Is A Wanted Swindler

Sadr Backs Down

Moqtada al-Sadr, who has tread lightly on Iraq's stage for the past several months, announced today that his Mahdi Army will undergo rehabilitation. It will take the next six months to reorganize itself, and in the meantime will conduct no offensive operations in Iraq, including actions against American forces: ...

The final straw appears to have been a fight in Karbala that left 52 dead during a Shi'ite pilgrimage. Authorities had prepared for attacks by Sunni terrorists, but instead the big clash came from the Shi'ites, instigated from Sadr's goon squads. The reference to safeguarding its "ideological image" undoubtedly comes from the mind-bogglingly stupid decision to attack the Badr factions during a pilgrimage in one of Shi'a Islam's most holy cities -- exactly the kind of dumb political thinking that has become emblematic of Sadr himself.

A six-month vacation from Sadr will be exactly what the Iraqi government needs to keep the momentum towards reform. ...

See also:

Quick hits:

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 29, 2007 at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The light at the end of the tunnel's flickering,
...and my head's spinning even faster (Updated and bumped)

This will probably make more sense if you read this post first, and maybe follow the links in it to some of my earlier posts.

I'm posting the part of this I have now, then I'll add to it as I'm able. Help may or may not be on the way but it's pretty clear at this point that we aren't going to make it through the week without some help. I'll try to explain what's going on better sometime soon but it the mean time if you can afford to click that PayPal button on the sidebar please, please, do.

First, some pics you can skip by if you want to. At least I had sense enough to just post thumbnails this time; click 'em to see 'em bigger if you're interested.

Click any image for a larger view.

I've posted that first image a couple of times before but maybe some of you haven't seen it yet. It's a satellite shot of this area from not too long before they decided we needed a bigger Wal-Mart. The triangular property with the red X on it is our (more precisely, Mom's; it'll be my sister's eventually if we don't sell part of it) place. The large building just right of center near the top is a Wal-Mart that's been there about 15 years. The new Super Wal-Mart's going to be somewhere in that field behind it, with access from James St.

That next shot gives you an idea what our back property line (the long side of a right triangle) looked like before things started changing. The northeast corner of our place is about a fourth of the way over from the left in the picture; to the left of that is our north property line, part of the neighbor's back yard, and farther away part of the existing Wal-Mart.

In that third shot you can see what they did to the southwest end of that fencerow. The trees weren't ours but the fence was and if we don't end up selling part of that back field they're going to have to fix it.

I took the fourth shot from right next to that tree in the middle of the third one. Just to the left of that big backhoe you can see the beginning of what we've heard will be about a nine acre lake, a lot closer to our place than I'd have preferred. I liked that area a lot better as a cornfield like it was for at least the last 50 years.

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 2007.08.28.00:09 ***

It doesn't look like Mom's going to be selling part of the place to my brother after all. Apparently it came as a big shock to him (although I'm pretty sure he was told several years ago about the same time I was) that Mom's will leaves the place to my sister. I don't know what he thinks he's done to deserve part of it. I'm told that even when I was living in Texas I made it by here about as often than he did, and I know for a fact he hasn't been the least bit helpful with the financial problems we've been having since my sister lost her job and didn't look for a new one because Mom needed someone here to help take care of her. (With my hearing and health problems I'm not qualified for the task.) As far as I'm concerned if Vicki hadn't been here to take care of Mom we'd have had to sell the place and put Mom in a nursing home by now, and if Mom wants to leave the place to her she has my blessing.

It's also looking pretty certain at this point we won't be selling any land to the contractor/developer who bought that field behind us. He still wants it, but at a price nowhere close to what it originally sounded like he'd be willing to pay, and what he's offering just isn't worth worrying about what would eventually come of what we sell him. If the guy who owns that field in front of us had been willing to sell it we would have ended up with a road across that field and our east field to whatever ends up in that field behind us. Since the field in front of us isn't for sale, if we sell that east field we're liable to end up with a business of some sort 50 feet from the house in a few years. I guess for now we're going to keep the place intact and if someone offers enough for part of it in  a few years reconsider the situation then.

On the "maybe we might make it after all" side, my sister started a new part time job Saturday night, something I have very mixed emotions about. She's going back to work, at least temporarily, at the gas station/convenience store where she worked years back and left when McDonald's offered her more hours and better wages (due to her having worked for Druther's, a McD's wannabe, right out of high school.) When she lost her job at McDonald's it first looked like she was going to be watching her two youngest grandkids while their mother worked so she'd have some income and still be here with Mom. When that fell through, as things involving said daughter invariably do, we decided to see if we could make it without her income, which it's become painfully clear recently we can't. After training she's supposedly only going to work evenings, when there will be someone else besides me here in case Mom needs help -- basically counting on my 10 year old nephew to be my ears. Since her son has been working at the same place for the last few months it sounds like management would be OK with him covering for her if something comes up and she needs a night off on short notice. Supposedly she's just working there temporarily while one of the regular employees is on maternity leave, but there's no knowing whether the other employee will actually come back and even if she does it sounds like management will still want Vickie to work a night or two a week to keep her on the payroll so she can fill in when someone's sick, etc. It's not a good situation but maybe it's a way to hang on without help till the Social Security people quit stalling and I get what I should be getting from them.

To help out a little more, it sounds like we may go into the horse boarding business on a small scale. I've never really been much of a horse person but there have been horses here off and on in the past. Dad bought Dixie for my brother in the mid 60's, then bought Ginger for my sister a few years later. My memory's not what it used to be but I know that somehow my ex-wife ended up buying Ginger some time in the late '80s and still has three of her colts in a pasture on what used to be her (my ex's) granddad's place about 15 miles from here. The youngest of the three (who I think they've told my grandson is his, the middle one being my daughter's) is in the process of going blind and needs to be in a smaller, flatter, more open pasture than he's been in till the last few days. Some friends of my ex's (horse people to the core) have him at their place temporarily but don't have room to keep him long term. It's not a sure thing yet but it sounds like my ex may put up the money to put a fence across the north side of our east field --  I can't for the life of me remember when or why the one that used to be there went away -- and bring him here. She's not offering huge amounts of money for watching him but she has offered the first year up front, and we'd much rather have one of Ginger's colts in that field than whatever might end up there if we sell it. The next step in the decision making process is for my daughter, who was already planning to come up for Labor Day weekend, to go by and see the horse in question while she's here and report back to her mother on his condition. Obviously we'll work on my grandson while he's here to "Go home and tell Grandma you think Sunshine should come and live with us." I hope we're not getting set up for another disappointment; my sister's already getting excited about having a horse around here again, and if we can make a little money for keeping one so much the better.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 29, 2007 at 12:33 AM in Around our place | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Tuesday, 28 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

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Folks, I don't know what's going on lately. I slept 8 hours last night, got up for two and a half hours, then went back to bed for another three and a half. I feel like I could go back to bed again right now (about 6P) if I didn't know the potassium pills I just took would upset my stomach if I did. I have an appointment in Evansville a week from tomorrow to have my blood gasses and potassium level checked; I may come home with instructions to start taking more potassium. In the mean time I'll just keep plodding on as best I can; sorry I'm not more energetic.

Quick links to some things farther down the page: 

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 28, 2007 at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.28 Politics and National Security Roundup

Quick hits:

Graham Returns From Reserve Tour Supporting The Surge
Ed Morrissey: Lindsey Graham has returned from his Air Force reserve posting in Iraq to support the continuation of the surge. The South Carolina Senator, who has not been supportive of past military strategies in Iraq, claims that the US has seized on a historic opportunity almost by accident, as al-Qaeda has discredited themselves and prompted Iraqi tribes to work together: ...

  • The Left bashes Brian Baird
    Michelle Malkin: I highlighted Democrat Rep. Brian Baird’s op-ed last week in the Seattle Times arguing against precipitous withdrawal from Iraq after he returned from a trip there on the ground. The nutroots continue to be incensed with Baird’s conclusions. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 28, 2007 at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Monday, 27 August 2007
 

Tears Of Ink

Email from frequent Old War Dogs contributor Roberto Prinselaar (USN 1948-1957, USCG 1967-1989). I added the Amazon link.:

xxxx
xxx

xxx
xxxx

Bill,

My new book “Tears Of Ink” has been published, and is available at www.amazon.com. The book is a compilation of all of my military poems plus some writings. One of the counselors at the Vet Center in Las Vegas urged me to publish, and my wife assisted in getting everything ready for the publisher. I can’t take any of the profits from the sale of the book because I firmly believe that my being able to write what I did was a gift from God, so I’m donating all of the profits to our local chapter #961 of the Viet Nam Veterans of America. They just got started and need help.

Bob Prinselaar

Seriously, folks, this is one you really need a copy of. Check out Bob's Old War Dogs contributions here and his IWVPA page here.

Tears of Ink
Bob Prinselaar

My tears of ink flow down my pen
A torrent of what’s inside of me
My feelings in a tale
The words all come from deep within
Old memories just come tumbling out
As I pull aside the veil
Some memories darker than the ink
And I fight to keep them down
My hand grips hard the pen
Why am I cursed with all my thoughts
Of things that happened long ago
And of men I knew back then
So now I write to ease the pain
And I cry inside to form the ink
And let it flow to write
But ink will never be the same
And I will never find my peace
Till real tears blur my sight

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 27, 2007 at 11:59 PM in Bob Prinselaar, Books, Poetry | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

Click here for a handy "most recently updated posts at the top" listing of the posts on this page. Click here to see a similar listing for the Old War Dogs site.

Getting off to a real late start again. I might as well just admit in advance I'm headed for a real slow week. I'm totally exhausted, which I'm beginning to think may be my new "normal" state, and still nerved up big time about money problems and what we're going to end up doing about selling part of our place -- more on that when I'm up to it. Getting as rested up as I can before my daughter and her family are in town for Labor Day weekend is also going to have priority over my blogging all week. I'm not quitting, just not getting much done.

Quick links to some things farther down the page: 

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 27, 2007 at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.27 Politics and National Security Roundup

Today's must-read:

Rule of the Harvest
J. D. Pendry

Or maybe it is rather the seeds of our demise. As a nation, we’ve sown ours over the years.

I think our first seed was in Korea. That’s where we first decided that a cease fire is as good as total victory. We hold up South Korea as a great democratic and economic success. It is that no question about it, but everyday its Soldiers and ours peer across the world’s most fortified and defended border at an enemy still holding onto the goal of reuniting the peninsula under communist rule. That is where we demonstrated our ability to win military battles and lose political ones. The Chinese and Soviet proxy of North Korea never gained anything for its war effort, but in the end it never lost anything either. ...

Read the whole thing.

Quick hits:

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 27, 2007 at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Sunday, 26 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

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Quick links to some things farther down the page:

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 26, 2007 at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.26 Politics and National Defense Roundup

Burning Another Beauchamp
Confederate Yankee

If we're to make any sort of sense of the Iraq War at all, we need to know that those who are providing us information on the conflict are being as honest in their reporting as inherent human biases allow. As it has often been said, we can allow people to have their own opinions, but not their own facts. On that point, I think we can all agree.

Because of this shared desire for facts, those dissemblers who falsify accounts and events in that conflict should be brought to light and discredited so that the can no longer easily spread lies.

Friday, Harper's Scott Horton blasted one reporter for lying, and for being part of a group creating "pure fabrications" when it came to war reporting: ....

Read the whole thing, then don't miss Bookworm's excellent related post here.

Counter-protesting the surrender crowd
Michelle Malkin

Two weeks ago, I called your attention to several major pro-troops, anti-surrender campaigns that will converge this September in Washington DC. The ANSWER crowd must be answered. If you can’t be there in person, please make sure to check out all the links and support the organizations I’ve linked to any other way you can. See also: The Victory Caucus website.

Here is some inspiration to get you moving: ...

Below the fold:

  • Martin Lewis Invites the FBI to Tea
  • The Sobriety Of Fred Thompson

Quick hits:

  • Sanctuary or sovereignty: Where does your AG stand?
    Michelle Malkin:  Earlier this week, in the wake of NJ attorney general Anne Milgram’s decision to order law enforcement to notify the feds of illegal alien criminal suspects, I posted the contact information for the nation’s state attorney generals. Where does your stand? A number of readers are starting to report back on their contacts with their AG offices. ...

Martin Lewis Invites the FBI to Tea
Baldilocks

Have you ever had this type of "conversation" with a person? Said person makes nonsensical suggestions based on topical ignorance and when you try to clue the person in, he/she tells you not to interrupt. The person then proceeds to come to conclusions and/or make further recommendations based on the original faulty premises.

Though a blog post is by its nature not a conversation, Huffington Post's Martin Lewis puts up a post that reminds me of above-mentioned type of "exchange." ...

***

The Sobriety Of Fred
Ed Morrissey

The Politico reports on Fred Thompson's latest speech in Indianapolis, and concludes that the soon-to-be candidate may have decided on a theme of even straighter talk than his friend, John McCain. The Midwestern Republican Leadership Conference got a sobering look at the challenges facing the nation from the former Senator, a surprising change from the normal upbeat presentations that other candidates normally give. Fred has a prescription for what ails America, too:

Fred Thompson thinks the country faces a tough road ahead and he's not glossing over the problems we face. In fact, he's anxious to outline the daunting litany and appears to be basing his forthcoming campaign on the assumption that his party shares the same outlook.  ...

See also:

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 26, 2007 at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Saturday, 25 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

Click here for a handy "most recently updated posts at the top" listing of the posts on this page. Click here to see a similar listing for the Old War Dogs site. 

Don't expect too much out of me the next couple of days. Nobody reads blogs on weekends anyway and it's supposed to be cool enough this weekend I can catch up on my sleep a little and try to be well rested for a big Monday.

Quick links to some things farther down the page:

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 25, 2007 at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.25 Politics and National Defense Roundup

Haditha Marines exonerated
Posted By Uncle Jimbo

I've been doing a bit of interesting reading, specifically the Investigating Officer's Report for Lcpl Tatum who was one of those charged with murder in the deaths of Iraqi civilians in two houses in Haditha.

Many have sounded off about this, Rep. Murtha went so far as to say these Marines had killed in cold blood. How actions in response to a fatal IED attack could occur in cold blood I will leave to the lummox to explain. The report has testimony from those involved both US and Iraqi, and this is the conclusion the investigating officer came to. ...

There are several related links at the top of yesterday's roundup here.

Now We’re Getting Somewhere
The Iraq debate comes to Earth.
By Charles Krauthammer

After months of surreality, the Iraq debate has quite abruptly acquired a relationship to reality. Following the Democratic victory last November, panicked Republican senators began rifling the thesaurus to find exactly the right phrase to express exactly the right nuance to establish exactly the right distance from the president’s Iraq policy, while Murtha Democrats searched for exactly the right legislative ruse to force a retreat from Iraq without appearing to do so.

In the last month, however, as a consensus has emerged about realities on the ground in Iraq, a reasoned debate has begun. A number of fair-minded observers, both critics and supporters of the war, agree that the surge has yielded considerable military progress, while at the national political level the Maliki government remains a disaster. ...

Below the fold:

  • How Dare They?
  • News of the Future: "President Hillary Clinton Surrenders America"

Quick hits:

  • The week that was
    Don Surber -- Story Of The Week: President Bush to his critics: “You want to play ‘Iraq-is-Vietnam’? OK, fine. We’ll play that. Boat people. Re-education camps. Killing fields. No free speech. No religious freedom. A per capita income 30 years later that’s below every neighboring state. Yea, that was some ‘peace’ the Democrats brought there.” ...

How Dare They?
John Hinderaker

Freedom's Watch has produced a series of television commercials supporting our efforts in Iraq, and urging Congress not to pull the plug on our troops. You can watch them here; this is a sample: [video link].

The ads are good, with a simple message that the war in Iraq is important, and there is no acceptable substitute for success. They will be, I hope, a useful antidote to the far larger number of ads that have been paid for by antiwar groups. In its article about the ads, however, ABC News didn't see them that way. The network's hostile tone is striking; ABC begins by focusing, not on the content of the ads, but on the fact that they were paid for by Republicans: ...

News of the Future: "President Hillary Clinton Surrenders America"
By Douglas MacKinnon (Hat tip: Roberto Prinselaar)

It can credibly be argued that the presidential election of 2008 is the most important in the history of our Republic. Why? Because if we get this one wrong, Islamic terrorists will almost certainly strike into the heart of America. That is their stated goal. That is why they are paying so much attention to this election.

Political correctness has made us a weaker nation because it has killed some truths. The paramount truth most liberals, and most in the media, will not allow to be spoken, is that if you are in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, if you are in favor of ending or scaling back the “Patriot Act,” if you are in favor of stopping or even criminalizing warrantless wiretaps, if you are in favor of preventing our spy satellites from being used to protect our homeland, if you are in favor of never using facilities such as Guantanamo Bay to house murderous terrorists, if you are in favor of never letting our allies interrogate terrorists, then you are opening up the United States to a horrific terrorist attack. Period.

A second truth being that Senator Hillary Clinton is a far-left liberal who is in favor of all of the above. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 25, 2007 at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack


Friday, 24 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

Click here for a handy "most recently updated posts at the top" listing of the posts on this page. Click here to see a similar listing for the Old War Dogs site. 

Quick links to some things farther down the page:

  • 2007.08.24 Politics and National Defense Roundup
    • All Charges Against Haditha Marine Likely To Be Dropped
    • Rep. Brian Baird: Our troops have earned more time
    • Iraq Vets Respond ... to the New York Times seven
    • Another Vietnam?
    • Maroons Rush In
    • Troofers
    • U.S. sees stability expanding in Iraq
    • ...

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 24, 2007 at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

2007.08.24 Politics and National Defense Roundup

All Charges Against Haditha Marine Likely To Be Dropped
Pat Dollard (H/T: William Page)

SAN DIEGO (AP) - An investigating officer recommended Thursday dismissing all charges against a Marine accused of murdering two girls in an assault in Haditha, Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, 26, is charged with unpremeditated murder of two girls and negligent homicide on suspicion that he unlawfully killed two men, a woman and a boy. He is also accused of assaulting another boy and a girl.

Investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul Ware said the evidence was too weak for a court-martial. Tatum shot and killed civilians, but “he did so because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder,” Ware wrote.

See also:

Our troops have earned more time
Rep. Brian Baird, D-WA  (H/T: MM)

The invasion of Iraq may be one of the worst foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation. As tragic and costly as that mistake has been, a precipitous or premature withdrawal of our forces now has the potential to turn the initial errors into an even greater problem just as success looks possible.

As a Democrat who voted against the war from the outset and who has been frankly critical of the administration and the post-invasion strategy, I am convinced by the evidence that the situation has at long last begun to change substantially for the better. I believe Iraq could have a positive future. Our diplomatic and military leaders in Iraq, their current strategy, and most importantly, our troops and the Iraqi people themselves, deserve our continued support and more time to succeed....

Below the fold:

  • Iraq Vets Respond ... to the New York Times seven
  • Another Vietnam?
  • Maroons Rush In
  • Troofers
  • U.S. sees stability expanding in Iraq

Quick hits:

  • Recreate ‘68
    Don Surber: Ever notice how suicidal the left-o-sphere is? No sooner did Nancy Pelosi become speaker than Cindy Sheehan was running against her. Now there is a group that wants to turn the Democratic National Convention next year into Chicago 1968. Great strategy: Let’s turn Hillary into Hubert Humphrey.

Iraq Vets Respond ... to the New York Times seven
by David Bellavia, Pete Hegseth, Michael Baumann, Carl Hartmann, David Thul, Knox Nunnally, Joe Worley

ON SUNDAY, seven soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Iraq penned a passionate opinion piece in the New York Times that further illustrates the complexity of what is "really" happening in Iraq. Of the almost 3,000 soldiers from the Army's storied 82nd Airborne Division currently serving in the hottest of Iraqi neighborhoods, seven felt confident enough in their misgivings to sign an opinion piece. They should not be surprised that many of their comrades--including the seven undersigned here--find their work to be misguided.

The 2nd Brigade is responsible for two dangerous areas of Baghdad: Adihamiyah and Sadr City. Airborne troopers there have seen the worst al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army can throw at them and the Iraqi people. But the whole story is that the Iraqis and soldiers in their sector have not yet been fully affected by the surge of troops and operations, which have barely been in place two months.

Currently, American and Iraqi Forces are clearing sections of southern Baghdad before turning north to the 82nd Airborne's neighborhoods. As such, the portrait these soldiers painted, while surely accurate and honest, is more representative of pre-surge Baghdad: sectarian strife, lawlessness, and indiscriminate slaughter.

This is not, however, the picture elsewhere in Iraq, or even most of Baghdad. ...

Read the whole thing. I first saw this as an email from Pete Hegseth but I'm going to be lazy at send you to the Weekly Standard site rather than post the whole thing here.

Another Vietnam?
President Bush's analogy to Iraq is not inaccurate, just incomplete. 
Max Boot

Ever since the mid-1970s, critics of American military involvement have warned that any decision to deploy armed forces abroad--in Lebanon and El Salvador in the 1980s, in Kuwait, Somalia, and Kosovo in the 1990s, and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan--would result in "another Vietnam." Conversely, supporters of those interventions have adamantly resisted any Vietnam comparisons.

President George W. Bush boldly abandoned that template with his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Wednesday. In a skillful bit of political jujitsu, he cited Vietnam not as evidence that the Iraq War is unwinnable, but to argue that the costs of giving up the fight would be catastrophic--just as they were in Southeast Asia.

This has met with predictable and angry denunciations from antiwar advocates who argue that the consequences of defeat in Vietnam weren't so grave. After all, isn't Vietnam today an emerging economic power that is cultivating friendly ties with the U.S.?

True, but that's 30 years after the fact. In the short-term, the costs of defeat were indeed heavy. More than a million people perished in the killing fields of Cambodia, while in Vietnam, those who worked with American forces were consigned, as Mr. Bush noted, to prison camps "where tens of thousands perished." Many more fled as "boat people," he continued, "many of them going to their graves in the South China Sea."

That assessment actually understates the terrible repercussions from the American defeat,  ...

***

Maroons Rush In
Criticism of the president’s Vietnam analogy takes Chutzpah.
By Mackubin Thomas Owens

In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Tuesday, President Bush argued that the consequences of an American withdrawal from Iraq would be similar to those that followed our abandonment of South Vietnam in 1975. Citing the killing fields of Cambodia and the executions and “reeducation” camps in Vietnam, the president continued:

[...]

The reaction to Bush’s invocation of the Vietnam War’s aftermath was swift and critical. John Kerry called the comparison “ignorant.” Reporters interviewed several historians who were happy to agree with Kerry. Robert Dalleck called the comparison “a distortion”:  ...

Bugs Bunny had a name for people like this: “maroons.” And Alan Dershowitz once wrote a book about them entitled Chutzpah! Of course in criticizing Bush’s reference to Vietnam, they are comparing apples and oranges. If they don’t see this, they are fools. If they do — which is more likely — they are dishonest. Take your pick. ...

See also:

Warner: Show Qaeda U.S. Commitment Not Open-Ended
Scott Ott

(2007-08-24) — Sen. John Warner, R-VA, yesterday called on President George Bush to start bringing troops home from Iraq “to show al Qaeda that the U.S. commitment to fighting Muslim terrorists overseas is not open-ended.”

“This is a two-way street,” said Sen. Warner. “We’ve kept our end of the deal, delivering crushing blows to the terror networks, but al Qaeda has refused to capitulate. It’s time to send a strong, clear message that our devotion to fighting the enemies of freedom is not a blank check.” ...

Troofers

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend the new History Channel documentary debunking the 9/11 "truth" movement: 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction. The show airs twice more this weekend: Saturday, August 25 at 8:00 PM and Sunday, August 26 at 12:00 AM.

Examines the various conspiracy theories espoused on the Internet, in articles and in public forums that attempt to explain the 9/11 attacks. It includes theories that the World Trade Center was brought down by a controlled demolition; that a missile, not a commercial airliner, hit the Pentagon; and that members of the U.S. government orchestrated the attacks in hopes of creating a war in the Middle East. Each conspiracy argument is countered by a variety of experts in the fields of engineering, intelligence and the military. The program also delves into the anatomy of such conspiracies and how they grow on the Internet.

U.S. sees stability expanding in Iraq
By Bill Gertz and S.A. Miller

Growing Sunni opposition to al Qaeda and in some cases the perception that U.S. troops will leave the country are key factors behind recent and growing stability in Iraq, according to a major U.S. intelligence report based on findings from 16 agencies.

The updated National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a consensus view of the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other services, says "measurable" security improvements were made in war-torn Iraq since January and will expand modestly in the next 12 months with continued military pressure on insurgents. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 24, 2007 at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack


Thursday, 23 August 2007
 

A Quick Index To Today's Posts, Quick Hits, Open Post

Click here for a handy "most recently updated posts at the top" listing of the posts on this page. Click here to see a similar listing for the Old War Dogs site.

Today's interesting but little known fact: 9 out of 10 men prefer women with big breasts ... and the 10th guy prefers the other 9.

Quick links to some things farther down the page:

  • 2007.08.23 Politics and National Defense Roundup
    • View from the Tunnel
    • Can't afford the sunshine, anymore.
    • Iraqi citizen saves the lives of four U.S. soldiers
    • Did Clinton Lie About Targeting Bin Laden?
    • Clinton lied, people died
    • Don't Look Now
    • Did the Newark murder suspects benefit from illegal alien amnesty programs?
    • New Jersey attorney general orders cops to start reporting illegal alien suspects to feds;
      Update: Geraldo smears righty blogs, misstates Linnik suspect’s status again
    • The Newark massacre: New details of the heinous crime…and how to contact your state attorney general to help stop the criminal alien revolving door
    • President Bush's address to the VFW convention
    • Surprise: Mexican senate committee protests US sovereignty
    • \TNR - Changing the Story
    • Like a suppository, only a bit stronger
    • A New York State of Mind
    • Thompson, Giuliani start trading shots
    • ...

Please feel free to use this post for comments and trackbacks not related to other posts on the site. If you leave a trackback your post must include a link to this one and, as always, comments claiming the sun will rise in the west tomorrow, Chimpy McHitlerburton lied, etc. will be deleted without ever appearing on the site.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 23, 2007 at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

About that pop-up as you load the site ...

Folks, I'm temporarily removing a couple of posts as part of my troubleshooting to try to figure out why I'm getting a message I shouldn't be every time I load the site.

I just realized a few minutes ago (after spending a few hours away from the computer) that every time I (and I assume you) load this site I'm getting a pop-up message about not being able to connect to northamericanpatriot.com. The message is due to a script that's supposed to load an "I Am Pro-Victory" button on the sidebar. For now I'm going to assume their server is just down temporarily and leave the script in place. If they don't get the problem under control in a reasonable length of time I'll have to remove the button, but I happen to like the button so I'm not going to do it right away.

***

I just removed the offending script from the sidebar., as much as I hated to. I went to www.northamericanpatriot.com and found empty whitespace where several other images should have been, on a site that hasn't been updated since March. Pity; it was a nice site. *** Oops. There's a note right on the site saying Wonder Woman has moved to The Lasso of Truth. There's also a post there saying she's on vacation.

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 23, 2007 at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack