School for suicide bombers? Clifford D. May: There is no such thing as an experienced suicide bomber. This insight seems to have eluded the Central Intelligence Agency. A few days ago a classified CIA report was leaked to the media. It put forward the frightening “assessment” that terrorists in Iraq are developing greater skills than those who learned their trade in Afghanistan under Taliban/al-Qaeda rule in the 1990s. Think about that: The most effective weapon the terrorists utilize in Iraq is the suicide bomber. Surely it is the rare suicide bomber who improves his performance mission after mission. What other abilities are the terrorists mastering in Iraq? They are assembling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Does anyone seriously believe that the IED learning experience provided in a Fallujah basement is so much richer than what used to be offered in Kandahar in the days when Osama bin Laden was resident there? ... While not ferreting out the secret
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Shhh, don't tell the Democrats From the LA Times : ... Elsewhere in Iraq, an insurgent group with ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist network claimed responsibility in an Internet posting for the execution of Kamal Khaled Zebari, a Kurdish security officer in the city of Mosul. "After he admitted assisting crusader forces since they entered Iraq, the rule of God was implemented and he was executed by firing squad," said the statement by Ansar al Sunna. Remember when Democrats at least wanted to fight al Qaeda? Now they do not want to admit they are even in Iraq.
Army Captain from Vicksburg, Misssissippi ready to go back to Iraq if called The Vicksburg Post: Ginger Kackley is glad to be back home in Vicksburg, but she would return to Iraq in a heartbeat if given the chance. Kackley, 30, is a graduate of Warren Central High School and Hinds Community College. She received her bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Northeast Louisiana University before joining the U.S. Army through an ROTC commission. While in the Army, she has received master's degrees in acquisition and procurement and environmental management from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. ... "I was commander of a headquarters and supply company in the 127th Aviation Support Battalion," she said. She and her staff supplied food, water and parts for tanks and aircraft and everything in between. &q
Euro critics of US do not understand, nor do her enemies Gerard Baker: ... In fact while today’s armchair critics in Europe see America as a bloodthirsty warrior, its enemies have always seen precisely the opposite. Hitler thought Americans’ Aryan purity had been fatally weakened by immigration and ethnic diversity. The Russians thought years of capitalist decadence had sapped its resolve. Whatever else bin Laden and Saddam Hussein may or may not have had in common, they both believed Americans were essentially soft, would not have the stomach for a fight once engaged. Hit them hard and they may lash out at first, but they will bend and retreat at the first sign of a serious struggle — as they did in Beirut and Mogadishu. To European critics the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was irrefutable proof of America’s irredeemable bloodlust. Two years later, however, it is the enemies’ proposition that is being tested.... As it happens, both the critics and the enemies are wrong, or at be
The myth of Iraq as Terror U. The AP has a story on the foreign fighters coming to Iraq that pretty clearly suggest they are coming their to die and not to learn how to be a jihadi: The vast majority of suicide attackers in Iraq are thought to be foreigners — mostly Saudis and other Gulf Arabs — and the trend has become more pronounced this year with North Africans also streaming in to carry out deadly missions, U.S. and Iraqi officials say. The bombers are recruited from Sunni communities, smuggled into Iraq from Syria after receiving religious indoctrination, and then quickly bundled into cars or strapped with explosive vests and sent to their deaths, the officials told The Associated Press. The young men are not so much fighters as human bombs — a relatively small but deadly component of the Iraqi insurgency. ... The key role of foreign fighters in suicide attacks is one reason many senior military officials, including the top U.S. general in the Middle East, tend to vi
A patriotic family Perry County News: Marine Cpl. Sally Saalman, injured in a car-bomb attack last week in Iraq, is continuing a proud family tradition of military service. Older sister Kelly Latini, contacted Monday at the Leopold home of her parents, Mark and Tammy Saalman, served three years in the Navy. "It makes me feel like I need to be over there, that I needed to do more time (in the service)," she said about her response to news of the attack. "I kind of feel guilty, but I have my children to take care of." Sally Saalman received a call while serving in Okinawa, her mother said Monday, asking if she'd be willing to go to Iraq. Military women were needed to search Iraqi females at checkpoints in Fallujah. She readily volunteered, saying she didn't have children to think about, as other Marines do, Tammy Saalman said, and moved from Okinawa to Iraq in February. The main stream media seems to find disgruntaled family member stories more news worthy
US taking Hit, no foreign fighters found so far AP: US marines and Iraqi soldiers pressed with an anti-insurgency sweep west of Baghdad dubbed Operation Sword.... Hundreds of US marines, soldiers and sailors, along with Iraqi forces, scoured the lush Euphrates valley west of the flashpoint city of Ramadi for insurgents as part of Operation Sword, launched two days ago. The operation is "currently focusing on clearing insurgents and foreign fighters from the city of Hit," said a US military statement adding, that 13 suspects have been arrested in house raids. "Resistance is being reported by commanders in the city as light. No foreign fighter presence has been detected within the city." Several hundred mortar and artillery rounds, explosives, rifles and various bomb-making materials were discovered, the statement said. ... A Saudi militant, Fares al-Dhaheri al-Harbi, on a new wanted list put out by Riyadh, was killed in fighting in Novem
Don't know much about recent history--Dem reaction to Bush speech edition Villainous Company thinks the Dems may be suffering from a pre No Child Left Behind education. She gives a pretty good history lesson/spanking. I think one of the Democrat's main problems with the war in Iraq is that they are too invested in wanting it to be a failure, because they believe that will help them politically.
Democrat pollster imitates Rush Limbaugh A poll on the political mood in the United States conducted by the Democratic Party has alarmed the party at its own loss of popularity. ... Greenberg told the Christian Science Monitor he attributes the slippage to voters' perceptions that Democrats have "no core set of convictions or point of view." Oh, they have one. They just can't tell you what it is and get elected.
The left's new rule about 9-11 and Iraq Neal Boortz: ... Amazingly, the left now seems to have developed a new rule. The president is not allowed to mention the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when talking about the war in Iraq. OK .. here's what's at work here. The left knows that the American people still harbor harsh feelings toward the Islamic terrorists who killed 3000 of their countrymen on 9/11. The left also knows that the American people will not have any kind feelings toward anyone with any connection, no matter how tenuos, with the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks. Since the left is placing its hopes on any possible electoral gains in 2006 to discrediting Bush's actions in Iraq, they know that they must stand steadfast in their battle to use whatever means necessary, even lies, to make sure that nobody -- and certainly not the president -- is allowed to connect Iraq and Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda. The truth is that th
Hey Joan Vennochi , its American's war not Bush's The Boston Globe columnist is ragging on Democrats for not opposing the US's war in Iraq, but she is so unpatriotic, she will not even admit that it is our war. When liberals start calling wars by the name of the president, you can generally tell who they want to win and who they want to lose. Vennochi is a disgrace.
Iraq is not a breeding ground for terrorist, it is a graveyard David Ignatious takes the side of those who claim Iraq is the new training ground for terrorist as described in a recent CIA report. Most of the evidence lately is not that terrorist are going to Iraq to train. They are going there to die, usually within a matter of days after they slip across the Syrian border. Recent stories also indicate that recruiting has become so difficult the al Qaeda guys are scouring the mosques of Europe looking for people who want to die in Iraq.
The diversity problem in liberal media Douglas MacKinnon: ... The liberal media's reaction to Rove's remarks illustrates, potentially, their greatest weakness. That being that their professed staunch belief in diversity is an unethical fraud. Why? Let's examine the typical "diverse" newsroom at one of the major daily newspapers in the United States such as the New York Times, or The Washington Post, or one of the major networks like NBC, ABC or CBS News. What is the totally predictable breakdown of their "diverse" collection of reporters, editors, producers and executives? Among their number, you will find liberal African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Arab Americans, caucasians, Catholics, Jews, protestants, Muslims, Scientologists, Buddhists and every other conceivable ethnic and religious background known to the planet. What you won't find, however, on this very eclectic list, is the demographic that proves the premeditated prejudice of t
Military mum on status of Seals on crashed chopper in Afghanistan Washington Post: Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a U.S. special forces helicopter that crashed into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan, but there was no immediate word on the fate of the 17 troops on board, according to a U.S. military statement Thursday. "Coalition forces have secured the site where a helicopter crashed June 28 and are currently assessing the cause of the crash and the status of the 17 service members" who were on board, the statement said. The statement did not elaborate on efforts to find survivors or the bodies of the 17, who were thought to have perished in Tuesday's crash. ... Further hampering the rescue effort was the loss of a Predator drone that had provided imagery of the crash area Wednesday, according to the senior official. That aircraft might also have been shot down, the official said. The crash site was in the mountains near the Pakistan borde
Iran elects embassy hostage taker as President Washington Times: ... "As soon as I saw his picture in the paper, I knew that was the bastard," said retired Army Col. Charles Scott, 73, a former hostage who lives in Jonesboro, Ga. "He was one of the top two or three leaders," Col. Scott said in a telephone interview. "The new president of Iran is a terrorist." ... Donald Sharer, a retired Navy captain who was for a time a cellmate of Col. Scott at the Evin prison in northern Tehran, remembered Mr. Ahmadinejad as "a hard-liner, a cruel individual." Will Democrats criticize his handling of prisoners who were being illegally held in Iran? Update: Iran's president elect and some of the leaders of the hostage takers deny a connection .
How you can tell Gitmo is not a good issue for Dems This headline in NY Times gives a clue: Guantánamo Thorny Issue for Democrats on Committee Then later in the story: ... For Republicans, the mission was simple and direct: defend the military's detention center at Guantánamo as humane and deserving of admiration throughout the world. For some Democrats, the task was more complicated: to praise the patriotism and work of the vast majority of military personnel at Guantánamo, while raising questions about abuse of detainees. Apparently some have learned what Durbin learned the hardway. In a debate over treatment of the enemy, it is not a good idea to be on the side of the enemy.
Dems counting every vote in E. St. Louis--even the fruadulant ones Powerline: Democratic Party officials in East St. Louis, Illinois have been convicted of massive voter fraud in last November's election. The local jury convicted them of, among other things, paying people to vote Democratic. This is, really, only the tip of the iceberg; still to come is an attempted murder trial arising out the effort by a Democratic Party official to murder a witness who threatened to blow the whistle on the Democratic Party's electoral fraud. Based on press accounts, I understand that in the attempted murder case, the prosecution will offer into evidence photographs that were shown to the Democratic Party official, which appeared to show the dead body of the witness whom the Democratic Party official had ordered murdered. When Democrats talk about voter suppression, it is the fraudulant votes they are really worried about.
Earth to Feingold Roger Simon: Sen. Russ Feingold's screed regarding Bush's speech last night is one of the purest examples of the reason people like me have deserted the Democratic Party: With the country listening, the President had the chance to finally give our troops and the American public some sense of when he believes this conflict in Iraq will be over and when our brave men and women in uniform will come home. Earth-to-Feingold, Bush does not want to state WHEN (sorry for the caps but they are necessary in this rare case) our troops will come home because, as he has repeated again and again, that would put them and their Iraqi colleagues in harm's way and also tell the Baathists and Islamofacists (remember them?) what we are up to and allow them to wait and take over Iraq. Also, anyone with the slightest intelligence realizes that it is impossible to tell at this juncture when the Iraqi government forces will be prepared to defend themselves against t
T-shirts for mass murders Boris Johnson: ... Remind me: who was the greater mass murderer, Stalin or Hitler? Well, Stalin is thought to have been responsible for about 50 million deaths, and Hitler for a mere 25 million. What Hitler did in his concentration camps was equalled if not exceeded in foulness by the Soviet gulags, forced starvation and pogroms. What makes the achievements of communist Russia so special and different, that you can simper around in a CCCP T-shirt, while anyone demented enough to wear anything commemorating the Third Reich would be speedily banged away under the 1986 Public Order Act? Just to prove my theory that commie tyranny was still chic, I sent a Spectator assistant to Camden Lock market, and she returned shining-eyed, with tales of hammer and sickle T-shirts, and laden with badges of the foremost commie creeps of history. There was a badge of Lenin - good old Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He was responsible for killing about five million people, but a
Nork paranoia on parade AP vai Washington Post: North Korea has cut most of its international phone lines since late March over concerns that sensitive information about its society will flow out of the isolated country, South Korea's spy agency reportedly said Tuesday. Spy agency officials told a closed-door session of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee that international phone connections had been cut at most of the North's trading companies and at government agencies since late March, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Since April, even people with permits to make international calls have been able to do so only under the strict surveillance of security officials, the report said. So who called in this story to the AP office in Seoul? Strategy Page several weeks ago indicated that the Norks were having trouble controlling cell phones on their border with China. South Korea could also have some fun by building cell phone towers right ne
The Nepal "quagmire" Maoist guerrillas are attempting to raise themselves from the dust bin of history and seize control of Nepal which lies between India and Tibet. It is somewhat surprising that Nepal is struggling at this point to deal with the Maoist "insurgency." Ghurkha troops from Nepal where a key element in the British defeat of the communist insurgency in Malaya as well as another insurgency in Borneo. An example of the Gurkha tenacity is given by E.D. Smith in Valor describing an ambush of a terrorist at a point where he picked up food: ...there was no covered approach to elephant grass which meant that once the ambush party was in position, it had to stay there. The six Gurkhas' vigil lasted for three days with no cover from the sun by day or from the wet, damp cold of night. Cooking was out of the question and the only water available was the limited supply that Partapsing and his men had brought with them. It required incredible self disiplin
Europe is the citadel of hypocrisy on greenhouse gas Getting to bin Laden in Pakistan ... a Pakistani TV network aired an interview with a senior Taliban commander in contact with Taliban leader Mullah Omar and bin Laden. Afghan officials and the outgoing U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, questioned how a TV crew could find a man whom Pakistani intelligence services say they can't locate.
Dems upset about references to 9-11 in Bush's Iraq speech Democrats continue to reject links to al Qaeda and Iraq despite the existence of an organization called al Qaeda in Iraq that is responsible for most of the violence. That organization, headed by Zarqawi, who was treated for wounds received in Afganistan while seeking sanctuary in prewar Iraq. The Democrats fundamental problem is they have mischaracterized the reasons for going to war in Iraq. By focusing on WMD and supposed links to the 9-11 hijackers they are over looking the real reasons for going to war. The real reason for going to war is that Saddam failed to account for all his WMD as he was required to do by the 1991 cease fire agreement and numerous UN resolutions. His inability to account for those weapons, after 9-11 was an unacceptable risk. He was a man whose word was no good. After the war, despite a significant effort The US was still unable to account for all of Saddam's WMD. We were still left to
Faint praise for White House Homeland Security Advisor, Frances Fragos Townsend NY Times: ... "Spending a lot of time in small rooms with people who've killed a lot of people is not for everybody, but Fran just thrived in that atmosphere," said James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general who worked with Ms. Townsend in the 1980's prosecuting the Gambino crime family in the United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. "She was very good at working with members of the Mafia, getting them to trust her. She had a good way with criminals." Is the Times suggesting she is in a similar situation working in the White House?
Something is happening in Afghanistan The downing of a Chinook helicopter brining in fresh troops to a battle that has already killed over 100 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan along the border with Pakistan, suggest a major confrontation is underway. This also raises the question of why the Taliban are accepting combat in this location insead of running away to fight another day, which is the normal response of weak insurgencies like theirs. It is not clear whether the usual reason, they are trapped and unable to escape, applies to this situation. There is also the possibility that they are protecting someone like Mullah Omar, or HVT himself, Osama bin Laden. What does seem clear is that the Taliban is offering battle and the US is sending additional forces to join the battle. The Taliban is either changing its strategy, or it has no choice in offering battle.
The President's speech I thought the President gave a good speech. Emphasising the failure of the enemy to achieve his objectives is a good start on proving that we are not losing in Iraq. In fact from the day the liberation began, the enemy in Iraq has never won an engagement with US forces. Never. That is one reason why the enemy avoids engaging US forces in direct combat, and will only fight when cornered. Recent action in the desert west of Iraq points to another weakness of the enemy. A group of around 40 enemy were blocking a road. They were dispatched with bombs from a US plane called in by the Marines. Results 40 KIAs with no friendly casualties. The military significance of this battle is that the enemy can not mass its forces to achieve an objective, without being threatened with destruction. If the enemy cannot mass it forces it can never take and hold an objective. It other words, it cannot win. Why doen't Chuck Hagel know this? Why doesn't Nancy Pelosi know thi
Famine, genocide on the cheap in Zimbabwe Independent: Zimbabwe is in the grip of a hidden famine and as a United Nations envoy begins a tour of the country today, The Independent can reveal a deadly nexus of Aids, starvation and depopulation of the cities that is sending tens of thousands to a silent death in rural areas. One month into President Robert Mugabe's brutal campaign of demolition and displacement, which has cost at least 400,000 people their homes and livelihoods, the scale of the humanitarian disaster is emerging. The victims of this forced expulsion - which has been compared to the devastating policies of Pol Pot in Cambodia - are arriving in the already famine-stricken countryside, where, jobless and homeless, they are waiting to die. Unofficial estimates obtained by The Independent suggest the death rate is already outstripping the birth rate nationwide by 4,000 a week. What hidden famine? It has been apparent for years. That is why these people had come
Spainish mom lights up rapist Telegraph: A Spanish mother has taken revenge on the man who raped her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight. He died of his injuries in hospital on Friday. Antonio Cosme Velasco Soriano, 69, had been sent to jail for nine years in 1998, but was let out on a three-day pass and returned to his home town of Benejúzar, 30 miles south of Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. While there, he passed his victim's mother in the street and allegedly taunted her about the attack. He is said to have called out "How's your daughter?", before heading into a crowded bar. Shortly after, the woman walked into the bar, poured a bottle of petrol over Soriano and lit a match. She watched as the flames engulfed him, before walking out. A 69 year old rapist? Did he gets some Viagra with his three day pass?
A Marine reservist saved a flag at Dodger Stadium in 1976 and became a hero ... However, when Monday (a Chicago Cub and Marine reservist) took off with the flag, all of the cynicism and defeatism of the past two years melted away. Watching Monday rescue the flag from two lunatics who tried to hijack a baseball game for their protest, which would have provided the perfect nadir of American morale at that time, the crowd did something no one expected. Lasorda recalled in his book that starting softly, the crowd started singing "God Bless America", completely unprompted, until all of the tens of thousands of Dodger fans had joined together to sing it. It was one of the few unscripted and spontaneous patriotic displays in our Bicentennial, and one of the most moving at any time. Monday became a favorite of Dodger fans from that moment on, and the next year the team traded for Monday. He played on three pennant-winning Dodger teams and played a key role in their Worl
A Seabee from Nevada talks about his time in Iraq ... "I wanted to do my piece," Fogle said. "I wanted to help out with this a little bit." Fogle asked for the support of the community and the American people. "I've seen some nasty stuff while I was over there and it would be really nice if everyone was praying," he said, "if they see a Marine, a soldier, a sailor, an airman ... and thank them. "We are doing this for everybody," Fogle continued. "When somebody comes up and says 'thank you' it just helps us to realize that what we are doing over there, no matter what it is, isn't a bad thing." Thanks Jacob Fogle, we appreciate what you are doing.
Congress could deny detainees court hearings Andy McCarthy: ... 4. The United States has not "flouted its own constitutional safeguards" by maintaining captured enemy combatants. The combatants are aliens captured overseas at wartime and are not among the American citizens and legal aliens (i.e., U.S. persons) who are entitled to constitutional safeguards. Even the Supreme Court, in opening the U.S. courts to habeas petitions by enemy combatants, did not pretend that its ruling (in Rasul v. Bush (2004)) was compelled by the Constitution. Rather, it rested its ruling on the federal habeas corpus statute (28 U.S.Code, Sec. 2241) -- which means that if Congress got off its duff and amended the habeas statute statute tomorrow, the terrorists could be foreclosed from using our own courts as a weapon against us in the middle of a war, and the Constitution wouldn't have a thing to say about it. ... 8. It wasn't boatloads of prosecutors President Thomas Jefferson d
Tom Brokaw has a pretty comprehensive report on the war on terror Brokaw's report runs nine pages on the MSNBC website with interviews with many of the key players in the war. In a Q and A with an NBC reporter: ... Brokaw: “You've been living in this part of the world for some time now. What’s the underlying source of all this rage against Western ideals and thing that we cherish?” Engel: “It’s mostly Islamic. People believe as a baseline assumption that there is an American agenda against Islam, and then it gets more conspiratorial from there. But people generally assume that U.S. policy is linked to an Israeli vision to dominate Islam. That is the base assumption, the basis for a lot of the frustration and anger that you have across the region.” Are the people in the middle east as stupid as Engel makes them out to be? If there was an American agenda against Islam why would we be messing around liberating 50 million people when we could just wipe out every Islamic cit
Insensitivity training Tim Blair: “We strive to exceed the expectations our readers, advertisers and viewers have of us,” claim the publishers of the Melbourne Age . And they have! Here’s Age editor Andrew Jaspan mourning freed hostage Douglas Wood’s insensitivity: "I was, I have to say, shocked by Douglas Wood’s use of the a---hole word, if I can put it like that, which I just thought was coarse and very ill-thought through and I think demeans the man and is one of the reasons why people are slightly sceptical of his motives and everything else. "The issue really is largely, speaking as I understand it, he was treated well there. He says he was fed every day, and as such to turn around and use that kind of language I think is just insensitive." Politenessman Jaspan believes hostages should be sensitive to murderers . He thinks someone held captive and beaten by extortionists and killers ought show some respect. And how, precisely, does Wood’s use of th
Force to space an issue on Syria Iraq border Sabrina Tavernise: American marines climbed atop the collapsed roof of the final house to be searched this week in an operation to clear this desert town of foreign militants and declared victory. Almost one hour later, they left. When asked if the foreign fighters would be back, Sgt. Wayne O'Donnell of Company K, the unit that made the final push to the tip of the town, replied in a tired voice as he walked away, "Oh, definitely." So goes the war in Iraq in this windswept swath of desert along the Syrian border, where marine commanders move their thinly stretched troops from village to village to quash insurgents, only to see them resurface a short time later. The problem is all too familiar. American troops farther north on the Syrian border had to beat back insurgents twice in nine months, after leaving only 500 troops to control thousands of square miles. The issue of troop levels is so delicate that the commandi
Sometimes debate with al Qaeda works Brian Michael Jenkins: In Yemen three years ago, Islamic scholars challenged a group of defiant al-Qaeda prisoners to a theological debate. "If you convince us that your ideas are justified by the Koran, then we will join you in the struggle," the scholars told the terrorists. "But if we succeed in convincing you of our ideas, then you must agree to renounce violence." The scholars won the debate, the prisoners renounced violence, were released and were given help to find jobs. Some have since offered advice to Yemeni security services – a tip from one led to the death of al-Qaeda's top leader in the country. ... But armed force alone cannot win this war in the long run. In the continuing campaign against al-Qaeda and the insurgency raging in Iraq today, political warfare must be an essential part of America's arsenal. Few Americans understand political warfare, which in its broadest sense, may encompass ever
Flag burning lets you know where people stand Mark Steyn: ... For example, two years ago, a young American lady, Rachel Corrie, was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. Her death immediately made her a martyr for the Palestinian cause, and her family and friends worked assiduously to promote the image of her as a youthful idealist passionately moved by despair and injustice. ''My Name Is Rachel Corrie,'' a play about her, was a huge hit in London. Well, OK, it wasn't so much a play as a piece of sentimental agitprop so in thrall to its subject's golden innocence that the picture of Rachel on the cover of the Playbill shows her playing in the backyard, age 7 or so, wind in her hair, in a cute, pink T-shirt. There's another photograph of Rachel Corrie: at a Palestinian protest, headscarved, her face contorted with hate and rage, torching the Stars and Stripes. Which is the real Rachel Corrie? The "schoolgirl idealist" caught up in the cycl
Sgt. Hester's Silver Star Washington Post: The two soldiers crept along the trench line, bullets thumping into the dirt around them. One was a lanky family man, 36, with two young sons and a 15-year career at International Paper Co. The other was a petite, single woman, 23, the floor manager at a Nashville shoe store. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester handed Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein a grenade. He had the better arm. Nein hurled it at the insurgents, who were crouched in the same trench, firing their AK-47 rifles at the Americans in the early afternoon. Hester and Nein inched forward, the two recalled, Hester firing her black M-4 assault rifle next to Nein's ear. By the time the soldiers climbed out of the trench, their lips were chapped from the heat, their faces smeared with dirt, and four insurgents lay dead or dying nearby. "I really don't know who killed who," said Hester, who stands 5-foot-4, speaks with a twang and walks with a swagger. "He could have got thre
China buiding military threat Bill Gertz: China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack. China's military buildup includes an array of new high-technology weapons, such as warships, submarines, missiles and a maneuverable warhead designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses. Recent intelligence reports also show that China has stepped up military exercises involving amphibious assaults, viewed as another sign that it is preparing for an attack on Taiwan. ... The combination of a vibrant centralized economy, growing military and increasingly fervent nationalism has transformed China into what many defens
Iran's election of extremist makes Bush's job easier While to Americas enemies the above statement may be counter intuitive, it is none the less true. For the last few years Iran has remained the chief state sponsor of terrorism, while showing two fices to the world--the so called moderates, and the Ayatollahs pulling the strings. The moderate front gave the Euros cover to not confront Iran directly while they pursued endless negotiations. For both sides the negotiations were a cover for doing nothing. Iran made no meaningful concessions and the Euros made offers that were not accepted. Now the pretense of having a reasonable negotiating partner is no longer there to hide the Iranians sinister intent . ... Mr. Ahmadinejad's win may well bolster the skepticism within the administration that the Europeans can persuade Iran to trade away its ability to produce its own nuclear fuel. ... Whether the election results turns out to be the result of manipulation or a true
Stopping the flow of terrorist across the Syria-Iraq border Secretary of State Rice hammered the Syrians again this week for not controlling terrorist coming across their border. The Syrians said they would like the Iraqi to provide them some evidence. I suppose they could scrape together some DNA from a bomb site where one of the infiltrators exploded. However, expecting the Syrians, even if they were motivated to stop these guys at the border with Iraq is about as realistic as expecting the US and Iraqis to stop them at the border. It is a long border with few fortifications and stop points. The choke point, the center of gravity for terrorist infiltration is closer to Damascus. It begins at the airport where the jihadis arrive in the country. That is where Syria could most easily control " the trail of death ." From the airport the jihadis head out to places like: ... A garden café on the airport road into Damascus clusters of young men gather to drink coffee, smoke shis
Al Qaeda leader arrested in Iraq UPI: Iraqi security Saturday arrested the head of the al-Qaida affiliated Ansar al-Sunna, leader Hilal Hussein al-Badrani, authorities said. A security source said al-Badrani, a Saudi national, was captured Saturday near the town of al-Shurqat outside the northern city of Mosul. He was in possession of weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition. The man is suspected of being a senior al-Qaida member in Iraq and heads an armed group called Ansar al-Sunna (Supporters of Sunnis). In a related incident, the U.S. military in Iraq said troops arrested ten gunmen suspected of launching rocket attacks on the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Why do some Democrats not want to fight al Qaeda elements in Iraq. It seems like a much better place to do it than the US.
A Shia leader in Iraq who gets it Urdu Times: One of Iraq's most powerful Shia leaders, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, ruled out any dialogue on Friday with insurgents who, he said, had declared all out war on his community and "must be terminated". Sunni Islamists and their Baathist allies no longer seemed focused on battling US occupation or other political aims but on a sectarian fight to the death with Shias, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) told Reuters at his fortified headquarters compound in Baghdad. "The terrorist groups have revealed their purpose, which is creating sectarian strife, and stand in the way of the political process and building the new Iraq," Hakim said, a day after two waves of car bombs killed more than 30 people in mainly Shia neighbourhoods of the capital. "What is new in these attacks is that they have started targeting the Shias openly and clearly," he said. "These terrorists must be
Democrats see a quagmire But then a traffic jam on the road to Baghdad is a quagmire to liberals. A war won in weeks in Afghanistan is a quagmire to liberals. Liberals actually root for quagmires, because they think that quagmires validated their weak policy positions on national security. A Quagmirest is a liberal hoping for US defeat just so they can say I told you so.
Marine Sgt. describes enemy tactics Gloucester County Times: ... "I'm not sitting around. We're going in, clearing houses, looking for guys, looking for insurgents," Collins said. "You get shot at every day. Rocket attacks, mortar attacks. The mortars cut down when we took out the top two mortar guys a couple of weeks ago," he said. "What these people like to do, they stage with a car waiting as soon as they make contact. They like to shoot a rocket, start an attack, shoot RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), then run downstairs, throw their weapons in the car and take off," Collins said. The quick getaway isn't exactly working for them, thanks to the CSI-like technology the Marines are using. ... "A couple days ago, we had a rocket shot at camp. We go out, we'll track him down. People talk, kids especially. If they're by themselves, they'll tell you anything you want to know," Collins said. The insurgen
Where does Rove get these ideas? Patrick Ruffini: Call me crazy, but if you're trying to convince people that you're strong, moaning and wailing and running to the teacher like a 7-year old in the schoolyard might not be the best strategy. As is usually the case when liberals are under attack, the hysterical defensiveness of the response tells you volumes more than the original critique. Frankly, I don't know where Karl Rove gets these crazy ideas. It's not as if the "rights" of the comrades of Atta at Guantanamo were of concern to liberals or anything. It's not as if a leading liberal Senator was comparing American military personnel to Nazis, and not, say, the Taliban, and it's not as though he was feted at a soiree with well-heeled D.C. establishment types the week after. It's not as if their putative Speaker of the House called the war on Al Qaeda over. It's not as though they nominated someone who insisted upon passing a &qu
Paranoia on parade in Venezuela AP via Washington Post: President Hugo Chavez told thousands of troops Friday that Venezuelans would defend the nation's social "revolution" with their lives if attacked by a foreign power such as the United States. Chavez spoke to troops standing at attention while hundreds of demonstrators protested several blocks from the Cuban Embassy in Caracas, burning an effigy of Fidel Castro and saying they rejected Cuba's growing influence in the Venezuelan government. Dozens of police halted the marchers with barricades one block from the embassy, where the crowd stood chanting "No to communism!" and "Get out, Fidel!" The demonstration eventually broke up peacefully. Wearing fatigues and a red beret, Chavez pinned awards on soldiers and announced a pay raise for the troops of between 50-60 percent. He warned that any foreign attackers "would have to face the counteroffensive to throw them off this land, wha
How the Democrats became the staunch supporters of war on terror Washington Times Editorial: Liberals woke up yesterday morning wondering what happened to their Democratic Party. Literally overnight, the Democrats had become the President's staunchest supporters in the war on terror. As much as we welcome the party's change of heart, we were surprised to see that it was precipitated by the architect himself, Karl Rove. The White House Deputy Chief of Staff, speaking at a dinner Wednesday night of the New York State Conservative Party, had a few words on "state of liberalism." In particular, Mr. Rove compared the conservative reaction to September 11 to the liberal reaction. "Conservatives saw the attacks and prepared for war," he said. "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Pretty much sums up the last four years for us. Michael Moore, George Sor
Asymmetric slurs Victor Davis Hanson: Sen. Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, was not alone in recently comparing American behavior at Guantanamo Bay to that of "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings." Tarring Bush and Co. with Hitlerian imagery has become a debased parlor game. Politicians and other public figures toss about these charged references, expecting to create a buzz and assuming their audience is as uninformed as they are. Rep. Charles Rangel, New York Democrat, cited the Holocaust to blast American policy in Iraq: "This is just as bad as the 6 million Jews being killed." In his upside-down world, the mass murderer is the moral equivalent of those who stop him. Before Mr. Rangel, Sen. Robert Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, evoked Nazi Germany to warn about the Bush administration. An official of the Red Cross lectured that American guards at Guantanamo were "no bette
Bias and reporting controversial statements Washington Times: Major news outlets that largely ignored the controversial comments of the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate last week immediately reported on a fiery speech by White House adviser Karl Rove, giving the story front-page prominence and the lead of newscasts. Early yesterday morning, NBC's "Today" show, the CBS "Morning Show," and ABC's "Good Morning America" all featured the Democratic outrage over Mr. Rove's comments that after September 11 liberals "wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers" while conservatives "prepared for war." Each network's nightly newscasts on Thursday also ran stories on Mr. Rove's speech, delivered Wednesday night. On June 14, Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin compared the military's interrogation techniques at the prison camp at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to th