Guilty of Contempt of Congress

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Yes I am, your honor. I plead guilty to the highest level of contempt it is humanly possible to have for our Congress and would ask divine intervention to enable me to despise them as fully as they deserve.

In a take one for the team kind of mentality, I have watched as much of the weasel fest on Capitol Hill as I could. I work from home and much is on computer, so I could have the bastiges on in the background. I have seen mental midget after politcal hack after deranged partisan pay no attention to the two gentlemen calmy not killing them while blowing all kinds of methane only rarely related to the truth.

General,  some hack in Newsweek said that "We're all doomed Christopher Robin" don't you think this is certain proof the surge has failed?

or

Mr Ambassador, the Iraqis have been unable to reconcile and start singing Kumbaya after 4 long years, a task we ourselves handled in barely 11 , well if you don't count that whole Civil War thing, but back to my bloviating, doesn't this show that you can't create Democracy with force, well of course not counting the Revolutionary War and WWII, Umm did I ask a question Mr. Chairman?

I have had my faith completely restored in our Parliament of Whores. I knew they were beneath useless, and given their performance I can't wait to see their approval ratings. What is Absolute Zero in percentage points anyhow?

Unsurprisingly these near cretins didn't even smudge the brass on Petraeus' uniform and Crocker even had a couple of laugh lines that the pompous masters of smug all missed. Between the disgusting haters of MoveOn and the lying, posturing, back-stabbers of our Congress, I'll take the haters. At least they are honest if not honorable. The parasites I saw attacking the very idea of victory are neither.

A real way to remember HEROES

Posted By The Wolf

On this day of remembrance, I want to bring to your attention a site that you should bookmark, and read often.  This is a site that is recording the TRUE heroes of our great nation, wherever they have served.

WWW.HOMEOFHEROES.COM is a site that is gathering the information on ALL MoH recipients, those that have received the various service crosses (Navy Cross, etc) as well as the Silver Star.  A monumental task!

Mr. Doug Sterner, webmaster and cataloger extraodinaire, has been compiling the information to this site in order to record all of those valiant efforts our soldiers have put forth in name of freedom.  To ensure that no one is forgotten.  3500 MoH, and over 22,000 Silver Stars!  All to be compiled here.

There is a TON of information here, and not just on the valor awards.  Bookmark now.  This is a treasure of a site.

-Mr. Wolf

The Poles on 9/11

Posted By Blackfive

Received an email from Marian Jordan Lewandowski of Gdynia, Poland (a beautiful coastal town of about 230,000 residents), who wanted us to know that, today, we are not alone:

As every year , in my little town lost somewhere at the end of the world - at seaside of Poland, people fold flowers and inflame candles to celebrate the memory of innocent victims of the attack on WTC which were killed from the hand of animals.

From the hand of animals which shamed all other animals

The inscription proclaims :   On September 11th,2001 our hearts stopped petrified with horror - on that day we were all New Yorkers.  On the 1st anniversary of the terrorist attack on WTC - inhabitants of Gdynia.

Thank you, friends - Jordan, and Gdynia, Poland.

Attention Mr. President: Award Rick Rescorla The Medal of Freedom

Posted By Blackfive

[Repost from last week. Please sign the petition at the end of the post. Thank you.]

"Men of Cornwall stop your dreaming
Can't you see their spear points gleaming?
See their warriors' pennants streaming
To this battlefield.
Men of Cornwall stand ye steady
It cannot be ever said ye
for the battle were not ready.
STAND AND NEVER YIELD!"
- "Men of Harlech"
Sung by Rick Rescorla in the stairway of WTC Tower 2 on September 11, 2001

First, you must read the definitive post about Rick Rescorla by Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette.  Rescorla was one of my heroes when I was a Sergeant-turned-Cadet and began reading extensively about Viet Nam and the Ia Drang Valley.  During my enlistment, I had met a lot of brave men up to that point. 

I respected the man's tenacity, strength and wry humor.  A few times in my life, I was barely able to keep myself together.  After reading about him, I wanted to be able to be calm under fire, like Rescorla.

Rick was a British (Cypress and Rhodesia) and American (Viet Nam) war hero.  He retired as a Colonel in 1990.

Decades later, after 9/11, I had no idea that Rescorla had everything to do with denying Al Qaeda a huge victory.  I wasn't surprised that Rick had saved 2,700 people that day, and then paid the price with his life when he went back into the tower for stragglers.  He knew, KNEW, it was coming down.  And he went anyway...

Tenacious, strong, and leading all the way to the end.

Last year, we honored Rick at Pundit Review Radio where I featured him - Rick Rescorla - Someone You Should Know Radio ("September 11th" podcast for Pundit Review Radio).

Appropriately, Rick now has a statue at the Infantry Center at Fort Benning.  The US Army has honored his accomplishments.  AWTM had a post about visiting the museum and defending Rick.

Rick's town of Hayle, Wales (UK) has this plaque honoring their son:

Rick's widow, Susan, left this comment for all of us (you, too!) here at Blackfive a few months ago:

Thank you for keeping Rick alive. I know why Rick died, and I am so proud of him. The book, and of course the fabulous bronze statue, which will be on Heroes'Walk in 2008 will endure forever, as his legacy, as a new Hero in our new millinium. Today is a day to be proud to be an American.

All the best, Susan Rescorla

It sure is a day to be proud to be an American.  Which brings me to the point of this post - The petition for the President to award the Medal of Freedom to Cyril Richard Rescorla:

A PETITION TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO AWARD THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM TO C.R.”RICK” RESCORLA FOR HEROISM AND GALLANTRY BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY ON SEPTEMBER 11,2001.

MR. RESCORLA CAME TO THIS COUNTRY AS AN IMMIGRANT TO BECOME AN OFFICER IN THE ARMY. MR RESCORLA SERVED WITH SUCH DISTINCTION AS AN OFFICER IN VIET NAM THAT ALL WHO SERVED WITH HIM CONSIDER HIM THE BRAVEST MAN WE HAVE EVER KNOWN. HE WAS HIGHLY DECORATED FOR HIS BRAVERY AND LEADERSHIP IN COMBAT. HE BECAME A US CITIZEN AND SOUGHT A HIGHER EDUCATION OBTAINING A BACHELOR AND MASTERS DEGREE AT UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA AND FURTHER OBTAINING A LAW DEGREE BEFORE SERVING A AS TEACHER AT USC LAW SCHOOL BEFORE BEING LURED TO THE WORLD OF COMMERCIAL BANKING. MR. RESCORLA’S SPECIALTY WAS SECURITY AND SECURITY LAW. IN 1993 HE WAS THE LAST MAN OUT OF THE TRADE TOWERS AFTER EVACUATING EVERYONE. ON SEPT.11TH IN SPITE OF BEING TOLD HIS BUILDING WAS NOT IN DANGER, HE IMPLEMENTED THE EVACUATION PLAN HE HAD DEVELOPED FOR HIS FIRM, MORGAN STANLEY. AS A DIRECT RESULT OF HIS EFFORTS THAT DAY AND HIS QUICK ACTION, OVER 2600 EMPLOYEES WERE SAVED. MR RESCORLA WAS LAST SEEN GOING UP TO RESCUE PEOPLE WHO WERE UNABLE TO GET DOWN. HIS ACTIONS REFLECT THE VERY BEST ABOUT AMERICA, ITS CITIZENS AND ITS DREAMS.

THE UNDERSIGNED URGE YOU TO RECOGNIZE MR RESCORLA BY BESTOWING THIS HIGHEST HONOR TO THIS MOST DESERVING MAN.

Why hasn't the President awarded the medal to Rick?  The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded for "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Please go and sign the petition. Please link, email, and print the petition. And remember Rick and the other heroes we lost on that horrible day...Stand and never yield!

The Freefly- Mohammed comes to the mountain

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Gen. Petraeus and Adm. Crocker (I know he's an Ambassador just watch) testified before the lower and dumber house in our Parliament of Whores. Dam theyz dum. I saw some people incapable of completing a single coherent thought spend 5 minutes not even managing to ask a question. Oh just watch they are awful. Tomorrow we move to the senior house of Smug, I feel ill already.

We also did a separate NFL Freefly, highly Packer focused me being part-owner of the team and all. It will be a twice weekly show and if you have an NFL jones send questions Kev knows everything, seriously he does. He knew the college and draft round of all the players on our roster that we drafted ourselves. That's twisted.

The Freefly- NFL Week 1

Petraeus Pwns Wexler

Posted By Blackfive

Today was interesting...

Man, if I hear one more politician say "With all due respect" and then show none at all...how General Petraeus must want to put a Corcoran so far up their fourth points of contact that they will taste Kiwi...the man has the patience of a Saint.

I was on Jerry Doyle's show today to discuss the report, and Jerry said that, if he were General Petraeus, that he'd want to leap across the room and throttle Lantos and Skelton...I understand that, but General Petraeus is a soldier, a professional soldier. He's independent while in uniform (which is 24/7 now). Hell, he might be a Democrat (maybe not any more after today). Maybe he could have run as a Dem for President in a few years...

Anyway, Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida showed his @$$ today and got it handed to him by General Petraeus:

Rep. Wexler rants: "Tragically, it is my understanding that seven more [U.S.] troops have died today while we are talking."

“In your testimony today, you claim that the surge is working and that you need more time. With all due respect, General, among unbiased, nonpartisan experts, the consensus is stark. The surge has failed, based on most parameters.”
<...>
“In truth, war-related deaths have doubled in Iraq in 2007 compared to last year. Tragically, it is my understanding that seven more American troops have died while we've been talking today. Cherry-picking statistics or selectively massaging information will not change the basic truth. And please understand, General Petraeus, I do not question your credibility. You are a true patriot. I admire your service to our nation. But I do question your facts [and] ... testimony stating that the dramatic reduction in sectarian deaths is opposite from the national intelligence estimate, the Government Accounting Office, and several other nonbiased, nonpartisan reports."
<...>
“This testimony today is eerily similar to the testimony the American people heard on April 28, 1967 from General William Westmoreland, when he told the American people America was making progress in Vietnam.”
<...>
“We've heard a lot today about America's credibility. President Bush recently stated we should not have withdraw our troops from Vietnam because of the great damage to America's credibility.

“General, there are 58,195 names etched into the Vietnam war memorial. Twenty years from now, when we build the Iraq war memorial on the national mall, how many more men and women will have been sacrificed to protect our so-called credibility? How many more names will be added to the wall before we admit it is time to leave? How many more names, General?”

GEN. Petraeus responds: “Congressman, first of all, I have not said that the surge should be extended. In fact, my recommendations are that the surge be curtailed earlier than it would have been. The forces of the surge could have run all the way until April before we began pulling them out, and that would be if we did not recommend its continuation beyond that. My recommendations, in fact, include the withdrawal of the Marine Expeditionary Unit this month without replacement, and then a brigade starting in mid-December, and then another one about every 45 days. And that's a considerable amount prior to, in fact, how far the surge could have run if we'd just pushed everybody for 15 months.”
<...>
"With respect to the facts that I have laid out today, I very much stand by those. As I mentioned, the GAO actually did cut off data at least five weeks and in some cases longer than that in the assessment that it made, and in fact those subsequent five weeks have been important in establishing a trend that security incidents have gone down as they have and have reached, as I mentioned, the lowest level since June 2006 with respect to incidents and with April 2006 in terms of attacks."

“I stand by the explanation of the reduction in ethno-sectarian deaths and so forth.”

“And lastly I would say, Congressman, that no one is more conscious of the loss of life than the commander of the forces. That is something I take and feel very deeply. And if I did not think that this was a hugely important endeavor, and if I did not think that it was an endeavor in which we could succeed, I would not have testified as I did to you all here today.”

The GAO reported on only the first five weeks of data out of 10 weeks of Surge? I didn't know that.  Also, CBS radio reported this evening that the nine Soldiers and Marines that died in Iraq today were due to accidents.  Tragic.

I talked to Uncle Jimbo today during the embarrassing search for the Mic for General Petraeus.  Both of us agree with John Forbes Kerry that MoveOn totally screwed the pooch by showing that they are too extreme in their bias to be rational.

Finally, the highlight of today was that I was able to meet John Ratzenberger.  One helluva guy.  I didn't ask for him to go on record so I won't say what we talked about, but you should know that John Ratzenberger really supports our troops and this country.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to visit the MoveAmericaForward Pro-Troop Rally and 9/11 Observance here in Chicago (at Touhy and N. Milwaukee in Niles, IL, at 6PM).   

Roundtable: Farming in Iraq

Posted By Grim

We had an interesting conversation with Col. Garrett (transcript here), who mentioned in passing during his opening statement that his unit operated in a lot of agricultural country in Iraq.  We've all heard a great deal about the state of the industrial economy in Iraq, and power generation, satellite dishes, and so forth; but I don't remember reading much about the farming community. 

That interested me, coming as I do from cattle and timberland country.  So I asked him about it.

COL. GARRETT:  I'll give you my sense. We're in a fairly rural area and agriculture and agribusiness, you know, is I think the number one employer for most of, you know, this portion of Iraq. And our battle space is interesting in that, you know, we are on the Euphrates River Valley and just to the south and west of the Tigris, and as you fly for instance from Baghdad through our battle space down to Najaf, I mean you really are flying over the Fertile Crescent. I mean, it really is amazing that, you know, in this very arid country the portion that we operate in looks like it could be somewhere in the Midwest of the United States.

My sense in looking back at historical documents, we still have not -- and historical documents and listening to some of the farmers -- we still are not at the levels, I don't think, in terms of production, you know, during the Saddam era. And I say that for two reasons: one, because every farmer that I talked to and the feedback that I get from our agricultural unions is that, you know, in some instances, we're able to farm -- you know, we're getting the, you know, two to three growing seasons a year -- but it's the distribution, you know, being able to distribute their products and produce throughout Iraq.

And then, you know, there are some challenges where some of the things that are being imported into Iraq, which is taking away some of the business from the farmers. But there are also, you know, good news stories....

You know, the other piece with agriculture, as I said before, you know, we're looking for opportunities to engage and identify local leaders. And before the concerned citizen program started, you know, in the areas where we had no real leadership, no governmental leadership, like Arab Jabour, Dayara, Muayla (sp) and a couple of other locations that were outside of our population centers, you know, the big organizations, the organizations that allowed us to bring people together were agricultural unions. There was a time up in Arab Jabour, for instance, just south of Baghdad, where we started with, you know, 80, 90 folks. That organization grew into 2,500 folks. And with the introduction of the EPRT access to experts -- agricultural experts -- we've been able to do some education, we've had reachback, and really a capacity here on my staff that we didn't have before.

The colonel didn't know if the cheap agricultural imports were coming in any special quantity from Iran; we've heard in the past at the Roundtables that Iran seems to be sending a lot of cheap industrial goods to Iraq, which in the absence of tariffs is depressing the rebound of Iraq's industry somewhat.  Whether that is also happening in the agricultural sector -- or if it's an intentional policy, rather than simply the accumulation of market decisions by Iranian farmers/merchants -- is not clear.

Petraeus live

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

OK now that Petraeus is done with his blah, blah, blah. The real fun can begin. I found nothing surprising in his testimony. He stated our gains and the potential cost of cutting and running. No one in the room really cared what he actually said, they all have their spin prepared.

Nice bit of foolish Code Pinkage between Petraeus and Crocker. Man do those hags think they help their cause by shrieking like banshees? I'd like to thank MoveOn again for the idiotic and counter-productive ad they ran today. These clowns remind.

Crocker just said a stable Iraq is possible.He states the simple truths for quite a while and now the clowns will perform as if they hadn't heard a damn thing he or Petraeus said.

Can we deport Lantos back to his native Transylvania?

Did you ever notice that no Congress weasel can ever get to a point and ask a question. Ros-Lehtinen asked a dozen questions before she shut up.

Bob Owens delivers a coup de grace to TNR

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Not that this hasn't been an ouch from jump street, but Ouch! Confederate Yankee Bob Owens does some more of that journalism stuff and those professionals at The New Republic come out looking very poor. Pajamas Media has this:

An exclusive interview with Major John Cross, Investigating Officer, the Scott Thomas Beauchamp "Shock Troops" allegations:

 

http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/09/new_republic.php

related here:

 

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/239912.php

This is about the 3rd or 4th story of note where the only one with any actual reportage, done by talking to real people about the story is Mr. Owens. Bravo sir, well struck.

And Ms. Malkin and the Hot Air studio have a Vent out featuring a chat with Michael Goldfarb of TWS who was lead dog on this excursion and a visit to the offices of TNR to see if Foer was wearing sackcloth and scourging himself.

Could this guy be any more of a neo-max, zoom dweebie?

MoveOn flings poo at Petraeus

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Today the sorriest of the sorry groups on the left, George Soros' Move0n placed a full page ad in the NYT asking

Gen. Petraeus or Gen.  Betray us

These troop supporters believe so much in their ideological war to end the war, they are willing to slime a man better than all of them simply because the truths he will testify to do not match the left's sick, almost junkie-like need to ensure we stay defeated.

I will keep this short because they do not deserve any more of our time than required to remain active in opposing them,. But I absolutely think it's time to not just question their patriotism, but answer the question. They are not patriots, they do not love any America we or the Founding Fathers would recognize and they do not and never have supported the troops. We have known it all along, but to see them now, as the tide has turned in our favor, calling an actual patriot leading our troops in battle a liar and a betrayer is shameful.

We know who is trying to betray who here and they no longer even hide their hatred. I actually just got a warm fuzzy because the worse they act, the more they show their ass to the American people. Duty, honor & country are alien concepts to the aging hippies and America haters on the left, but not to most of our citizens. They may have polled against the war when it looked pretty bleak, but if they think we can win, and the trend in the polls is showing that, then the hater left is just going to poison the Democrat candidates by association. Nobody likes a hater, especially an un-American one who it is obvious to see is rooting for the other team.

Pete Hegseth has a piece up at The Weekly Standard about this and be sure to stay up on their ten week plan to take Capitol Hill back from the defeateds.

bin Laden joins forces with America's left

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

UPDATE: Dung beetle Adam Gadahn is named as author of OBL bit. I'm sad I didn't figger that out myself. Here is an oldie from when Azzam was recruiting infidels to the fold.

I have one question before we get into bin Laden's college freshman in a coffee house dissertation, where in the hell has he been for three years and why have we not seen hide nor dyed hair?

That is a long time in a war, and even if our left won't admit it, his team has been taking massive casualties in Iraq. He couldn't have managed a quick vid on the 5 year anniversary of 9/11? Now bin Laden's perspective is in hundreds of years back to the glory days of the Caliphate and al Andalus, but to sit out the public debate for three years now makes no sense. One good thing is that if that was him, he looks like 5 miles of squashed shite. Maybe he was too sick until now, but other than that I can't see why he would purposely stay out of the eyes of the Ummah, his people.

Let's look at his team's efforts since his claim to fame. Have any bin Laden directed terror attacks occurred in the US? No. Anywhere else? No. bin Laden's profile has been so low that it was reasonable to assume he had assumed room temperature. Now there have been some horrific acts of terror, Bali, Madrid, London but those were done by other groups of deranged Islamists, bin Laden has been laid up sorry somewhere and Zawahiri has done a little cheerleading, but Al Qaeda, the group that dropped the twin towers is now just a facade, and a sagging one at that.

So what did OBL have for us in this chat? I think Greg Gutfeld had the best take.

It was at this point, I thought I was listening to Keith Olbermann. That's when it dawned on me. Bin Laden isn't just a terrorist. He's worse. A liberal!.....Just remember: only a man who's losing it quotes Chomsky.

Amen brother. FFS Chomsky? Gut is dead on though as to who OBL is talking to, our beloved, anti-war, anti-victory anti-American left. I could hand the transcript to any of the dreadlocked college punks and aging hippies cluttering up Madison, and it would sound perfectly apt, you know rambling, incoherent, pointless, and chock full of references to socialist (in this case the warm embrace of Sharia) clap trap and stock denouncements of evil corporations. It was eerily like any of the gatherings of progressives I have infiltrated here in the Mad City, What should give them pause is what it means to share an agenda with a mass-murdering barbarian. I don't see how they can deny it, the question is how will they manage to blame it on Bush.

It was very hard to watch his sorry performance and consider him much of a threat, except he has never really been the threat personally, more of a mascot. I have mentioned before how I hate to hear about a criminal mastermind, Bill Gates is a mastermind, criminals cheat and that's easy. Same with terrorist masterminds, the plan for 9/11 was a freakin' long shot and they hit the lottery. But once you get past the initial spark of creativity it didn't take much masterminding. And since then, they haven't even managed a simple car bomb in Dubuque? Once a decision was made that no rules apply, my buddy Kev and I could explode a car bomb in one world capital a week with little difficulty.

So let's demythologize OBL and look at the real threat, the millions of radicalized Muslims hearing hate in their mosques and thinking about how nice it would be to live in a 7th Century paradise. They worry me quite a bit more than Droopy.

"The Warrior Monk" to Receive Fourth Star

Posted By Blackfive

Word on the street (and the trenches) is that President Bush will nominate US Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Mattis for a Fourth Star...very good news, in my opinion.  Announcement should happen this week, maybe tomorrow.

A Diarist at The Daily Kos is, of course, of the opposite opinion...shocking! /sarcasm

[Edit note:  Allan in the Comments correctly points out that the opinion is of the diarist at TDK and not the opinion of TDK - added "A Diarist at" to the beginning of the sentence above.]

Patriot Day (in case you didn't get the memo)

Posted By Blackfive

For Immediate Release                          September 5, 2007

PATRIOT DAY, 2007

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

     September 11, 2001, was a defining moment in American history.  On that terrible day, our Nation saw the face of evil as 19 men barbarously attacked us and wantonly murdered people of many races, nationalities, and creeds.  On Patriot Day, we remember the innocent victims, and we pay tribute to the valiant firefighters, police officers, emergency personnel, and ordinary citizens who risked their lives so others might live.

     After the attacks on 9/11, America resolved that we would go on the offense against our enemies, and we would not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor and support them.  All Americans honor the selfless men and women of our Armed Forces, the dedicated members of our public safety, law enforcement, and intelligence communities, and the thousands of others who work hard each day to protect our country, secure our liberty, and prevent future attacks.

     The spirit of our people is the source of America's strength, and 6 years ago, Americans came to the aid of neighbors in need.  On Patriot Day, we pray for those who died and for their families.  We volunteer to help others and demonstrate the continuing compassion of our citizens.  On this solemn occasion, we rededicate ourselves to laying the foundation of peace with confidence in our mission and our free way of life.

     By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day."

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2007, as Patriot Day.  I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day.  I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time

to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

                             GEORGE W. BUSH

Dick Durbin Leads the Surge Against the Surge - Part I

Posted By Blackfive

"It is regrettable that the White House has apparently chosen September 11 to release the Bush-Petraeus report.  President Bush acknowledged long ago that Iraq has nothing to do with 9/11." - Senator Dick Durbin on September 7th.

Remember when I wrote?:

...Please refer all conspiracy theorists to this excellent post by Grim - "The Petraeus Report" - about the legal background around the testimony that General Petraeus will be compelled to make on September 11th.  I believe the testimony was originally supposed to take place by the 15th of September, but the Rosh Hashana holiday begins on the 12th so his testimony was moved up.  When Think Progress, Daily Kos, and all "progressives" spaz out on the date of the testimony, please remember (or remind them) which party controls Congress.  They could hold the testimony on the 10th, but then that would mean that Congress would have to work on a *gasp!* Monday...

Just sayin'...

"Alive Day Memories" on HBO Tonight

Posted By Blackfive

J.R. Salzman - who is home now, medically retired and back in school with his wife Josie - sends this note about a new documentary by HBO and hosted by James Gandolfini about wounded soldiers and their recoveries:

I want to give you a heads up for an HBO documentary, "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq" (http://www.hbo.com/aliveday/) premiering Sunday at 10:30 p.m. EDT. Our Alive Day is the day each of us nearly lost our life in combat (the vast majority of us to ieds/rpgs). My alive day is December 19. I intend on making it a positive aspect in my life every year. The documentary is based on a set of interviews with 10 Soldiers and Marines. Most of them were long gone by the time I got to Walter Reed on the eve of Dec 24th, 2006 (although I did share the same Physical Therapist as famed triple amputee, Sgt. Bryan Anderson) I did however attend the Vail Veterans Program this past March where I got stuck in an airport (after our connecting plane broke) with Dawn Halfaker. She was the first "senior" arm amputee I had met (it had only been about 3 months since my incident when I met her, and she had already left Walter Reed a year earlier). What started out as a simple "hi, were you at Walter Reed?" quickly turned into "so how do you tie your shoes? How do you scrub the left side of your body?" (since we both lost our right arm) It was great to finally talk to someone like me who knew exactly what I was going through. At that time in your recovery, information like that is worth its weight in gold. Therapists can only do so much to help you out.

I heard about the program when I called the OT Lab at Walter Reed to take care of some things.Early reports of this show are giving it excellent reviews, with early reviews from media outlets holding it in high esteem. Its definitely a show I'm not going to miss. I believe this is an important aspect of Soldiers and Marines lives that the public needs to see. Like Dawn has said, "it's important to bring awareness to what's going on."

I've had quite a few people write and ask me how I felt about the documentary. I haven't seen it. I haven't lived it. JR has lived it and if he says to check it out, you should. ALIVE DAY MEMORIES: HOME FROM IRAQ premieres today, September 9^th at 10:30 pm.  You can also stream Alive Day on HBO.com beginning on Sunday September 9^th at 11:30PM EST until Sunday September 16^th.

Here is a promo clip about the show and if it's any indication, it looks interesting:

Eeyorepundit at Hot Air hearts NYT

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Quite obviously we are at a pivotal moment in Iraq; security operations have done what they are supposed to, reduce the violence to a level that politicians could swing some deals but that has yet to materialize. I realize that it would have been ideal if the Iraqi Parliament had stayed in session and passed an Oil law and reconciliation procedures, but like every other legislature including ours, they took the hottest month of the year off and went home. I don't recall any expectations being laid out that political progress would track right alongside security, as a matter of fact common sense ought to have pointed toward that as a follow on to less killing. It is tough to think about peace in the midst of battle. Well things have cooled down and we have made amazing progress in Anbar, which even 6 months ago was de facto ruled by AQI, and Baghdad is hardly pacified but it is much safer.

In the face of this we have plenty of skeptics and pessimists and there is plenty to be skeptical and pessimistic about. Before I knee him in the neck let me say I love 99% of Allah's work at Hot Air, but sometimes he gets out of his depth. Today Allahpundit at Hot Air continues his trend of skeptical pessimism and you can almost hear the "We're doomed Christopher Robin", as he hugs the skirts of the NYT's Damien Cave. In a piece he titles NYT survey: Surge has largely failed, Allah joins Cave in concluding the surge has likely failed because there is no instant political reconciliation. Cave quotes a US officer:

He said, “I think we have essentially stalled the sectarian conflict without addressing the underlying grievances.”…

Allah then comments:

The boldface part sums up the dilemma: if they’re not making things better but they are keeping things from getting worse, is that in itself enough of a justification to keep troops there long term?

WTF? Even if you simply take that statement as gospel with no context it hardly means the surge has failed. We are about 6 months into this effort and we have already made large gains in many areas. The fact that Cave and his stringers can find Iraqis who think they are doomed as well is hardly surprising. Things have been sucking for a long time, hope is tough to find after so much carnage. But the idea that this piece by Cave is somehow particularly noteworthy is a stretch. Now Cave came in for some well-deserved praise when he refused to parrot Bill Maher's idiotic ideas about Iraq, but given the abject stupidity of Maher's questions all he really did was disagree that things would be better if Sadaam was still in power and that we owe it to the Iraqis to fix what we broke. Noble sentiments but hardly a step out on a limb.

Allah seems to feel that this and Cave's rep as an honest broker give tremendous weight to his assessment of current affairs in Iraq. I do not. Cave is a reporter for the NYT, and despite Burns and Gordon's solid work on the war, that is still a strike against you. If we are to listen to the sage analysis of Mr. Cave one would assume that he has expertise in military affairs and national security right? Mr. Caves' bio from his Phillips Foundation fellowship

Damien Cave
Full-time Fellowship
Project: "Beach Blanket Capitalism," focusing on four aspects of the Cuban government's effort to increase tourism: American laws and their effect on Cuban travel policy; the changing fortune of underground entrepreneurs; the effects of "tourism apartheid" on local citizens; and the role that tourism training schools play in exacerbating prejudices against race, class and political creed. Damien is now a reporter for The New York Times. He previously worked as an associate editor at Rolling Stone, a senior writer for Salon.com, and as a staff writer for the Keene Sentinel in New Hampshire. He received a B.A. in English from Boston College and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.

And there you have it, he was a technology writer for Salon, wrote for a little paper on local stuff, wrote for that noted defense industry journal Rolling Stone and now he brings all that relevant experience to bear informing the rest of us on a counter-insurgency operation following an invasion that deposed a brutal dictator in a situation complicated greatly by religious strife. Right, I mean that's just like when the  guys in Motley Crue forced Vince Neil out because of sectarian oh wait no, maybe like when at the Keene, New Hampshire city council meeting when Mrs Jones argued that the Catholic Church social was trying to sabotage the Presbyterian bake sale, oh wait no.

Actually Damien Cave is as qualified to write on war as I am to write on neuro-surgery. I could research a piece and talk to some doctors and sick people and read some stuff and go to some hospitals and watch some surgery and take some pictures, and in the end I would produce a piece that was mostly factual, but provided no actual insight or really useful information. It would be a ignorant layman's look at an incredibly complex topic. Anyone who used my piece for any important decisions would be a fool.

Well I will answer Mr. Cave quite simply, I don't dispute a single thing he reports. I simply don't consider him a valuable source of information on the conflict and neither should anyone else. Just because the NY Times thinks he is qualified to be a war correspondent doesn't make it true, actually it probably works against his credibility. Allah would be well advised to take his skeptical eye and consider his sources. Sadly he drops a link to Bill Ardolino, who is in Fallujah right in the middle of this sob fest and then says read Cave for the last word, that was some weak shite. He would have been better off quoting large chunks of Ardolino and throwing Cave the little bone.

Ardolino the Mujahid

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

UPDATE: Fresh stuff from Bill is here and here, so go read what's happening on the ground and see the great pictures of the Civil Affairs operations going on in Fallujah.

Bill Ardolino sent this pic from Fallujah after the IP scarfed up a weapons cache. I didn't have the heart to tell him he's holding it backwards (just kidding). We should have another talk with him (with better audio) on Monday (ish). Hey we should hit up Nike for sponsorship. Hmmmmm.

I will have a piece on bin Laden's tape, if that is really him, on Monday as well. It seemed to me more like his retarded, sounding like a college freshman brother. I am not alone in that assessment, Greg Gutfeld had the best line I've heard yet.

"It was at this point, I thought I was listening to Keith Olbermann. That's when it dawned on me. Bin Laden isn't just a terrorist. He's worse. A liberal!"

Helping soldiers into homes

Posted By The Wolf

Tracy Keil has just one requirement for their new home.

"Enough bedrooms to have kids," she said. "We've got a lot of time on our hands."

I'm beginning to wonder about all the great articles our local papers have been printing as of late.  This morning I awoke to another one, detailing the assistance Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Keil and wife Tracy received thru the American Military Families organization.

AMF is the organization Colorado chose to help channel funds raised thru our 'Support The Troops' license plates.  These plates were an idea that my state Senator and I came up with a couple years ago.  Sen. Lois Tochtrop (D-Brighton) and I worked a bill thru the legislature, with AMF, and got a bill passed to have a special plate made for supporting the troops.  All you need to do is donate 25 dollars to AMF and you become eligible for a plate.

This story details what the results of this support can do.

Continue reading "Helping soldiers into homes"

Sub Returns Home

Posted By Blackfive

Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) pulls alongside the pier as she returns to Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Key West returned to her homeport after successfully completing a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific promoting international relations and supporting the global war on terrorism.  Photographer: Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Hight, Navy Visual News Service.

The Cocaine Submarine

Posted By Blackfive

Check this out. Coordination between U.S. Coast Guard, Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection, and crews from a U.S. Navy P-3C Orion and the frigate USS Dewert (FFG 45), resulted in the seizure of an estimated $352 million of cocaine during an interdicted and boarding operation on a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Aug 19. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo)

Iraqi Special Forces

Posted By Blackfive

May 13, 2007 [Basarah, Iraq] - Petty Officer Greg Badger filmed Iraqi and Coalition Forces conducting an early morning raid to detain an alleged cell leader. They find more than the cell leader...

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August 16, 2007 [Sadr City, Iraq] - Petty Officer Brett Cote filmed (night vision) an Iraqi SF mission to rescue a hostage in Sadr City.

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[The Blackfive Military Video Channel on YouTube is located here (attacks, memorials, briefings, rescues, and some Guinness.]

[Uncle Jimbo's YouTube Channel is here (for righteous Freeflys among other things).]

The myth of Al Qaeda in Iraq?

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

WTF? This is mind-boggling.

Only a Myth?   [Stanley Kurtz]

The buzz on the left-blogosphere today is all about an article by Andrew Tilghman, an Iraq correspondent for Stars and Stripes newspaper in 2005 and 2006, entitled "The Myth of AQI." Tilghman argues that, like the missing WMD’s, the presence of the terrorist group known as "al–Qaeda in Iraq" (AQI) is largely a myth. That’s pretty interesting, given that the cover story of the Standard this week is an excellent piece by Frederick Kagan entitled, "Al Qaeda in Iraq: How to understand it. How to defeat it." I take on Tilghman here.

All right, I'll join in. If there is no AQI then who are the Sunni sheiks in Anbar helping us kill or drive out? If there is no AQI then who was running the little petty fiefdoms all over the place hacking heads off and enforcing sharia barbarity? Who cut off all those heads in the videos, who was scaring the bejeezus out of so many people they were afraid to point out the killers amongst them?

Either the Iraqis believe in ghosts, or there was and still is enough of an AQ presence there to deserve our srious attention. As Mr. Kurtz points out in his retort Tilghman decides every act of violence is either all sectarian or the work of AQ. This ignores the fact that many of the tribes now helping us whack tangos in the Sunni Triangle were de facto auxilliary forces or in fact allied directly with AQ. It is understandable that as members of the minority sect that had previously profited from the domination of the rest, they would fear any association with their invaders.

As the Sunni insurgency took form, AQ saw opportunity and began reinforcing with foreign jihadis. Somehow Mr. Tilghman forgets all the foreign terrorists, identified by their own papers we have sent to Allah. That was one of the major themes of the media, that we had created a magnet for jihadis. Well to some extent that is true, but now so many of the holy horrors have assumed room temperature that they are playing their rec league softball teams against the US Marines. And that is gonna leave a mark.

Tilghman also take reports that place responsibility for bombing attacks on AQI and determines that if the perpetrators are not card-carrying AQ members, then it is simply sectarian violence. Well the Shia militias tend to favor EPs against our troops and snatch and torture techniques against Sunni and others they oppose.  Does he think the bombings in Sunni neighborhoods are done by their own people to terroize themselves. AQI uses bombings as they are much more likely to gain them the publicity they crave and they don't care if they slaughter Sunni or Shia, all are lambs for the jihad slaughter.

The idea that US and Iraqi leadership have invented a powerful AQI to ensure support for their efforts flies in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, it is tough to figure out why he would write such an ill-founded piece. Not to be cynical, but I smell a book deal and the need to have a controversial topic.

Bush lied again, No WMD, No al Qaeda, no victory. I wonder if he moonlights speech-writing for Chucky Schumer.

"...a heroic U.S. soldier won't fly..."

Posted By The Wolf

Now THIS is complete BS.  From a story headlined on foxnews.com, comes the details of a new movie that is being filmed the purports to be based on the G.I. Joe action figure.  According to the studio:

The studio won't elaborate, saying filming hasn't begun and details are still in the works, but the behind-the-scenes rumblings are that the producers have decided to change the nature of G.I. Joe in order to appeal to a wider, more international audience. 

The word is that in the current political climate, they're afraid that a heroic U.S. soldier won't fly. (My emphasis)

Can you say ''out of touch with reality''???

Continue reading ""...a heroic U.S. soldier won't fly...""

Roundtables: Iraqi Air Force, Afghan "Texas Rangers"

Posted By Grim

We spoke with Brigadier General Allardice this week, who is in charge of standing up the Iraqi Air Force.  It's an interesting project, and he has a lot to say about the specifics -- how they're addressing COIN and heavy transport needs, long term and short term plans, and the ethnic mix of the force (as well as how they're getting along).  He also gave some anecdotal thoughts on the Surge:

Number one, my life is a lot easier in the last four weeks because I'm not getting shelled every day. I just point that out as a statement of fact. It's kind of nice.

Number two, two months ago, I didn't have -- we didn't have anybody coming into the Iraqi air force. Despite the efforts to recruit, I was told for my first three months, it's just very difficult to get anybody. And starting about mid-July until today, we wound up with the numbers I gave you earlier on -- you know, over 130 pilots that are now coming back into the air force.

On the Afghan side, we spoke with Major General Cone and Colonel Wenzler (transcript here).  This was a very interesting conversation.  I was especially encouraged to see that something I've been advocating for a long time seems to be taking shape:  a "Texas Ranger" style force that can respond to engagements out to the border, with rule-of-law powers as well as firepower.

I'll put that exchange in the extended entry, but as is nearly always the case, the whole transcript is worth reading.

Continue reading "Roundtables: Iraqi Air Force, Afghan "Texas Rangers""

General Petraeus to the Troops

Posted By Blackfive

General Petraeus wrote a letter to the troops today.  You can go here to get a copy (PDF file).

...hard work lies ahead.  We are, in short, a long way from the goal line, but we do have the ball and we are driving down the field.

...militia extremists, some supported by Iran, continue to carry out attacks on us, our Iraqi partners, and the Iraqi civilians we seek to secure...

...Iraqi soldiers and police are very much in the fight, and they continue to sustain losses that are two to three times our losses...

I will go before Congress conscious of the strain on our forces, the sacrifices that you and your families are making...Our nations have asked much of you and your families. It remains the greatest of honors to serve with you.

Yes, it's a good preview of what he'll tell us on Tuesday.

More Good Citizen Reporting from Iraq

Posted By Grim

My fellow Georgian Jeff Emanuel, has been producing some outstanding stuff from his embed, currently with the 82nd Airborne.

The Talking With Heroes project is in its editing stage.  If you missed the "Interview with an Iraqi Patriot," you should take some time to read it.

And as always, keep your eye on The Dawn Patrol at the Mudville Gazette.

Soldier's Angels Adoptee To Get A Day Of The Right Stuff

Posted By Laughing_Wolf

Soldier's Angels does so many things for our troops and their families, many of which really aren't that well known. One thing they do is to "adopt" troops for letters and other morale support, and some truly wonderful things come from that. One such adoptee, Senior Airman Nathan F, will experience a day of "The Right Stuff" courtesy of the STS 122 Ascent Flight Control Team and the STS 122 Astronaut Crew -- and his Soldier's Angel Joan Kranz. If that name seems familiar, it should: she is the daughter of the legendary Gene Kranz. If that still doesn't do it for you, go watch Apollo 13, and note who says "Failure is not an option." It was true then, and it is even truer today...

Here is the story from the Soldier's Angels newsletter, that tells the tale:

Senior Airman Nathan F. to sit with Shuttle Flight Control Team

Have you ever dreamed of sitting in Houston's Mission Control to monitor the training of the Astronauts? Senior Airman (SrA) Nathan F. will get the opportunity of a lifetime on October 12, 2007. He will have unprecedented access to Mission Control and have the privilege of being the guest of the STS 122 Ascent Flight Control Team, as well as the STS 122 Astronaut Crew. The STS 122 Astronaut Crew is supposed to launch early to mid 2008. His Soldiers Angel, Joan Kranz works at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, and has arranged for Nathan to meet the Ascent Flight Control Team and possibly fly in the Shuttle Motion Base Simulator (SMS). The SMS is the simulator used by the astronaut crews to train for their shuttle flights.

Nathan F. will begin his day sitting with the STS 122 Ascent Flight Control team lead by Flight Director Mr. Norman Knight. (The Flight Director is considered the "Top Gun" and the "boss" of Mission Control, and the Ascent Flight Control Team.) If you've ever seen the movie "Apollo 13" directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks, the Flight Director in "Apollo 13" was played by Actor Ed Harris. (Ed Harris wore the white vest and had the crew cut in the movie and sat on console.) Ed Harris was nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Flight Director, Gene Kranz. (Joan's father.) Nathan and Joan will be sitting on console, each wearing a head set, monitoring computer displays, while listening to the flight controllers, the flight director, and the astronauts all talking on the flight control loops. (Loops are like telephone lines.) The flight controllers normally monitor approximately six to eight loops, maybe more simultaneously so Joan will configure the loops so both her and Nathan can listen to what's going on in the simulation. Listening to six to eight loops simultaneously is a piece of cake! You listen to what you need to listen too, and ignore the rest of the "chatter." (Joan has worked in the Space Industry for 25 years, so she's conditioned to listening to many conversations going on at once.) Nathan might have a headache by the end of the simulation!...

Continue reading "Soldier's Angels Adoptee To Get A Day Of The Right Stuff"

PMI Fundraiser Update

Posted By Laughing_Wolf

As you know, we here at Blackfive do have an interest in this fundraiser. As Uncle Jimbo points out, it helps good independent journalims out to the world. As Grim notes while discussing the new Long War Journal, there have also been some unexpected expenses involved with the embeds. Your contributions will help not just myself and our other embed, it goes to help a number of embeds.

So, please consider a tax deductible contribution to PMI; and, please help spread the word about the fundraiser. The nice thing is, we all win with this effort.

LW

USS Nassau Prepares for Combat...

Posted By Blackfive

A CH-53 Super Stallion, from the air combat element for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducts deck landing qualifications in the Atlantic, Aug. 25, on board amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4). Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group is preparing for an upcoming deployment. Photographer: Coleman Thompson, Navy Visual News Service.

A landing craft air cushion from Assault Craft Unit 4 departs the well deck of amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4) into the Atlantic during training operations, Aug. 25, in preparation for the upcoming deployment. Photographer: Seaman Cory Rose, Navy Visual News Service.

A CH-46 Sea Knight, from the air combat element for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducts deck landing qualifications in the Atlantic, Aug. 25, on board amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4). Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group is preparing for an upcoming deployment. Photographer: Seaman Ryan Steinhour, Navy Visual News Service.

Interview w/ Bill Ardolino from Fallujah

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

I would like to credit the video producers for the pieces that accompany this talk with Bill Ardolino of INDC Journal who is currently in Fallujah embedded with a Marine unit. Sgt. Ted McDonald II MEF PAO & Sgt. Josh H. Hauser II Marine Log Grp PAO were the two names I could find so thanks gents, let me know if there are others as well.

Bill talks about a just-completed Operation Alljah where the Marines and the locals set up precincts around town. These are combination police, neighborhood watch, and reconstruction centers. They are reaping the benefits of the Anbar Awakening and there is a fair amount of progress. Bill discuses recruiting the neighborhood watch who serve as junior cops and how they have used the presence of US Marines to bolster the confidence of local law enforcement. The videos show much of the activity that Bill mentions.

Please consider a tax deductible donation to support independent journalism. Mark the subject line with "INDC Journal," if you are so inclined. The money goes to keep Bill, Bill Roggio and many others in country and telling the truth. We had two calls, so don't be fooled when I say goodbye the first time

Or you may listen to a podcast of our talk here.

This is the first of as many interviews we are going to get done between now and Sept. 15 when Congress starts debating the Iraq war. Send links to the Congress critters or anyone else.

John McCain

Posted By Blackfive

Whatever you believe about John McCain, don't ever make the mistake of counting him out...

...Many political analysts, reflecting widespread sentiment among Republican elites, saw McCain as irrelevant to the race and likely to withdraw. Not anymore.

Wednesday night's Fox News Channel debate saw McCain reassert his place in the top tier of Republican contenders. And it was his answers on critical foreign policy questions involving Gen. David Petraeus's "surge" strategy in Iraq, the interrogation techniques deployed on enemy detainees, and the use of military force against Iran that established his strong position. It increasingly seems clear that illegal immigration, the issue which dominated the Republican race throughout the spring and summer, and an issue on which McCain stands directly opposed to many in his party, will not be the issue on which the nomination is decided. To put it another way: Foreign policy has come home to roost...

Not just NO but HELL NO

Posted By The Wolf

I'm wandering into some new territory here on this posting-  one that I've been contemplating for some time.  One that NEEDS to be posted, but I had to bring my BP down a notch or five, but now I want to ratchet it back up for a full-on beat-down and explanation of why this a** does NOT deserve what he's been nominated for.  And why its a slap in the face of every soldier who's served in Iraq to even consider it.

Continue reading "Not just NO but HELL NO"

Captain Travis Patriquin - "An American Martyr"

Posted By Blackfive

RE: Blackfive - "Great in the Woods" - Godspeed Captain Travis Patriquin (December 11, 2006)
RE: Patterico - How to Win in Anbar: An Idea with Proven Results (December 11, 2006)
RE: Michelle Malkin - The Patriquin Plan–now in video (February 2, 2007)
RE: Blackfive - Travis Patriquin and the Heroes Run (June 5, 2007)

One reason why the words of Senator Schumer piss me the hell off are despicable is because of the blood of soldiers like Captain Travis Patriquin.  He was killed in Iraq last year in the midst of making a little known, but very impactful difference.  It looks like Patriquin's sacrifice didn't end his work in the region...perhaps there is not a better epitaph for a man like Patriquin.  He truly freed the oppressed.

Via Michelle Malkin, here is Ham Nation's tribute to Captain Patriquin's ideas on how to win the war in Iraq (via the first link above, he had put together a succinct presentation on how to win in Anbar).  Thanks again to the most excellent MKH. 

Guess what?  He was right:

If you're a regular here, then you know what's happening in Anbar.  To fill in some of the gaps, The Times UK has a story about Captain Patriquin's victory, even his death couldn't stop it - which to the Sunni, makes him a martyr:

How life returned to the streets in a showpiece city that drove out al-Qaeda
An American ‘martyr’ is being hailed in the Sunni Triangle for restoring peace to a town where soldiers now fight only water leaks

The police station in Tameen, a district of Ramadi, occupies a wreck of a building – its roof shattered by shells, its windows blown out, its walls pockmarked by shrapnel. That is not unusual in Iraq. What makes this station extraordinary is that a city in the heart of the infamous Sunni Triangle, a city that once led the antiAmerican insurgency, has named it after a US soldier – Captain Travis Patriquin.

The honour is well-deserved. Captain Patriquin played a little-known but crucial role in one of the few American success stories of the Iraq war.

He helped to convert Ramadi from one of Iraq’s deadliest cities into arguably the safest outside the semi-autonomous Kurdish north. This graveyard for hundreds of American soldiers, which a Marine Corps intelligence report wrote off as a lost cause just a year ago, is where the US military now takes visiting senators, and journalists such as myself, to show the progress it is making. Ramadi will be Exhibit A when General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, appears before Congress in two weeks’ time to argue that the country as a whole should not be written off.

<...>

Captain Patriquin may have offered more than mere words. His main interlocutor, Sheikh Abdul Sittar Bezea al-Rishawi, told The Times that he gave them guns and ammunition too. The sheikhs did rise up. They formed a movement called the Anbar Awakening, led by Sheikh Sittar. They persuaded thousands of their tribesmen to join the Iraqi police, which was practically defunct thanks to al-Qaeda death threats, and to work with the reviled US troops. The US military built a string of combat outposts (COPs) throughout a city that had previously been a no-go area, and through a combination of Iraqi local knowledge and American firepower they gradually regained control of Ramadi, district by district, until the last al-Qaeda fighters were expelled in three pitched battles in March. What happened in Ramadi was later replicated throughout much of Anbar province.

<...>

But for now Ramadi’s citizens are enjoying their improbable peace, and remembering the American they call “Martyr Husham” – the brave and generous martyr.

Captain Patriquin, 32, a father of three young children, was killed by a roadside bomb days after I left Ramadi last winter. Sheikh Sittar wept when told the news. He and several tribal leaders attended his memorial service. Captain Patriquin “was an extraordinary man who played a very, very important role,” he told The Times.

He “showed Iraqis that Americans are real people and not an evil occupying force bent on destroying their land...He was a true hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Colonel Charlton.

Don't worry, we'll never forget Travis Patriquin, no matter what the *spit* politicians say...

A Ship Called Comfort - Navy Humanitarian Mission to Latin America

Posted By Blackfive

Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) sails off the coast of Virginia shortly after getting underway from Naval Station Norfolk to start a multi-month humanitarian assistance deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean. Sailors aboard Comfort expect to provide medical treatment to approximately 85,000 patients in a dozen countries. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joan Kretschmer)

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"USNS Comfort’s humanitarian mission is a major component of the president’s “Advancing the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere” initiative.  Comfort will visit 12 Central American, South American and Caribbean nations where its embarked medical crew will provide free health care services to communities in need.  The mission offers valuable training to U.S. personnel and provides the region a mobile, flexible, and rapidly responsive afloat medical capability for a number of missions and training opportunities." - SouthCom's Description of the mission of the USNS Comfort

This operation is amazing in it's scope and benefit to our neighbors to the south.  If you read the above caption, the Comfort was going to treat 85,000 people, and as of mid-August, they had completed:

178,137 consultations with 45,094 patients during visits to just six countries.
Conducted 510 surgeries
Completed 18,110 dental procedures
Dispensed 53,022 pharmaceuticals
Issued 10,735 eyeglasses and...
Treated 6,467 animals

The ship's medical staff has also partnered with Project Hope -- an international, nongovernmental heath organization -- to conduct more than 700 training sessions for approximately 20,000 students.

Biomedical technicians from the Comfort have conducted 287 repairs on medical equipment for local health care facilities; and Seabees (Navy Engineers) have conducted more than a dozen construction and restoration projects at local schools and health care facilities during the deployment.

I could go on and on.

There are so many wonderful things that the USNS Comfort is doing right now that it's tough to put it all in one post.  I'm going to try using a few different mediums. 

Below is a Fox News report on the Comfort from July 25th.

Below is a story via the DoD on the USNS Comfort:

USNS Comfort Brings Free Medical Care to Latin America

Medical personnel aboard the USNS Comfort hospital ship are providing free medical care to thousands of people in Nicaragua as part of a four-month humanitarian assistance deployment to more than a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The Comfort sailed out of Norfolk, Va., June 15. Before arriving in Nicaragua, personnel aboard the ship provided medical care to more than 55,000 patients in Belize, Guatemala and Panama... 

You read the whole piece here.  Here's graphic depicting the ship (source US Navy/SouthCom):

And one more cool thing about the Comfort...it's Captain keeps a blog!

More photos after the Jump.

Continue reading "A Ship Called Comfort - Navy Humanitarian Mission to Latin America"

Heads Up Emergency Responders!

Posted By Laughing_Wolf

If you are a corpsman, medic, paramedic, or other first responder, then you know that CPR is somewhat limited. The facts are: that for every minute CPR is delayed, you lose ten percent of your ability to recover the patient; that not every first responder will do rescue breathing, as there is a risk of infection no matter what precautions you take; that ribs can and will be broken ("you know you've done it hard enough when ribs snap"); and, that the success rate with CPR is only five to ten percent. The alternative is not viable, for if you simply don't do it, then there is no chance to recover the patient.

Imagine, however, a method that would provide up to 25 percent more blood flow, and eliminate the need for rescue breathing. A method that would eliminate broken ribs and other complications.

Imagine no more

Dr. Leslie A. Geddes and a team of faculty and student researchers have developed a new method of CPR that compresses the abdomen rather than the chest. You can find much more here, and in the September issue of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. I've been incredibly lucky to be called in to help document some of the research over the last three years, from early experiments to do the first measurements of the force required to meet CPR guidelines (yes, in all the years it's been done, no one had ever measured how much force is required to do CPR) to watching as a graduate student did the new procedure on Dr. Geddes so that they could measure the tidal flow in and out of the lungs. If you are a first or emergency responder, then read the article.

And people thought I was joking when I said that the best was yet to come when he was awarded the National Medal of Technology last month...

Roundtables: PRT Special

Posted By Grim

We recently had four separate roundtables with Provincial Reconstruction Team leaders in different parts of Iraq.  We spoke with John Jones, PRT leader for Diyala province (transcript here).  We also spoke with Howard Keegan of Kirkuk province's PRT (transcipt here).  We spoke with Steven Buckler of Salah ad Din province (transcript here).  Finally, we spoke with Jason Hyland, PRT leader for Mosul (transcript here).

Taken together, the four transcripts may be the most in-depth look available at how our Interagency reconstruction efforts are working across Iraq.  You've seen the PRTs praised by US military commanders throughout the country.  Now you can see what the team leaders themselves have to say.

In "Uncle Reeker Wants You," we talked with a State Department official highly placed in the PRT project.  He spoke of the difficulties State sometimes has in finding qualified people for these difficult jobs.  It turns out there is a streamlined way to find opportunities on PRTs, and apply for the jobs -- it just took a while to find the people who knew what it was. :) 

The USAJOBS site posts all PRT positions.  If you type "PRT" into the search box and run the search, it will show you everything currently open.  Right now they need rule-of-law advisors, urban planners, people who understand transportation, electrical advisors, people with experience working elections, industrial advisors, people with banking and finance experience, and several other kinds of specialized experience.

If you are looking for a way to help your country out in Iraq, and the military may not be right for you, consider the PRTs.  They are highly praised by our warfighters, and an important aspect of our efforts in Iraq.

Maybe they need you.

The Long War Journal

Posted By Grim

Bill Roggio's new website, The Long War Journal, is now up and operating.  It will replace The Fourth Rail as his go-to site, and will serve as PMI's main outlet.

PMI still needs and deserves your support.  You can donate here. 

While we're on the subject, an update.  When we last spoke of the JSOTF-P embed, the outbreak of major military operations in Mindanao forced the Armed Forces of the Philippines to move their headquarters to Zamboanga, resulting in some delays in getting necessary approvals from the government of the Philippines.  Those problems are now resolved, and the embed will be departing shortly.

Because the delay caused a last-minute schedule shift, PMI has endured some extra expenses in bringing the embed off.  Since this is a joint BlackFive/PMI project, we'd appreciate it if those of you who can would send them a little extra to help make up the difference.  Such things are part of the cost of doing business in PMI's field -- independent war reporting is not an easy, or a cheap, thing to do. 

As always, donations to PMI are fully tax deductible because of their not-for-profit status.

Chuck Schumer- The Senate's biggest ass?

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Tough call there given the competition, I mean Teddy, Reid, Larry Craig but Chuck Schumer is just so consistently low and mean. Plus he is so ruthless in getting in front of a camera, there is plenty of ammo. Today was just a little soliloquizing on the Senate floor.

I feel his pain, it is hard to stand there all pompous ass-like and try to make the case that even though the surge is working, neither W nor the troops deserve any credit. Now that is a stretch, and poor Chuck face planted.

The violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda, said to these tribes: "We have to fight al Qaeda ourselves."

Wow Senator, really. So the Sunni tribes that before had either helped Al Qaeda, tolerated them, or were intimidated into submission by them, decided to fight them on their own. And somehow they chose to show this by allying themselves directly with us and conducting operations with US troops. Hmm go figure, but noted military expert Chuck Schumer wouldn't just be running his mouth would he? Just standing on the Senate floor flappin' his gums about things  he is woefully ignorant about, this is the US Senate for cripes sakes.

And yet there he is, lying in that disgusting tone those collegial jagoffs use. That combination over-bearing know-it-all and arrogant ahhhh I'll hold my tongue. I'm in the mood for some blistering profanity and Kev and I will cover this tomorrow at lunch. So until then, Bite me Chuck! The rest of us know who deserves the credit  and you well your career speaks for itself. A life spent on the public dole, telling the rest of us how to live.....poorly. No thanks buddy, now bugger off and let those of us conversant with reality continue on.

I completely agree with Hugh that Chuck could use some communications:

Asserting that the sacrifice of the American troops has been futile and their efforts in vain is an astonishing and vile statement for a sitting member of the United States Senate to make.  Call the Hill switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask for his office and make your sentiments known.

Bill Ardolino reports from Iraq

Posted By Blackfive

Bill of INDCJournal is back in Iraq and reporting:

...I've attended a Fallujah City Council meeting, a recruiting day for the "Fallujah Protectors" (neighborhood watch), the establishment of the city's last police precinct and a meeting of "muktars," traditional cultural leaders of specific neighborhoods who work with Marines to improve infrastructure. Tomorrow, my CAG unit will distribute food bags downtown. Almost none of this access or interaction was possible in January, and the cooperation with American personnel is widespread and animated...

Check it out and keep an eye on INDCJournal.

Miltary.com interview with John McCain

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Ward Carroll interviews John McCain in this weeks Editor's Podcast. I follow with a look the the BS GAO report on benchmarks in Iraq. The Dems set the report up to fail by making the benchmarks all or nothing. They really suck at ending the war eh?

Some of McCain's commentary:

Presidential hopeful and steadfast Iraq war proponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said Tuesday that the "surge" strategy launched in March is succeeding and that the U.S. military is turning the corner in Iraq .

Saying all other issues "pale in comparison" on the campaign trail, McCain told Military.com in an exclusive interview that fellow lawmakers pushing for a withdrawal are setting "a date for surrender."

"I not only believe it is winnable, but I think we're succeeding - I think we're winning," McCain said in the Sept. 4 interview. "For us to bail out now would bring on chaos and genocide - the region would deteriorate into chaos - and we would be back and they would follow us home."

Hear the full interview here.

Matt Sanchez (FGPS) continus his string of excellent reporting with this interview of one of the awakened Anbar Sheiks.

German Jihadis

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Old Europe comes through again with a major arrest of some wannabe tangos.

BERLIN - Three suspected Islamic terrorists from an al-Qaida-influenced group nursing "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" were arrested on suspicious of plotting imminent, massive bomb attacks on U.S. facilities in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday.

German Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said the three, two of whom were German converts to Islam, had trained at camps in Pakistan run by the Islamic Jihad Union, a group based in Central Asia. They had obtained some 1,500 pounds of hydrogen peroxide for making explosives.

Now I only call them wannabes because they didn't actually manage to blow anything up or kill any children.  One thing about the Germans is they will do a little profiling, although this case had a couple of German converts to the Religion of Peroxide Bombs. It gets a little scarier when the jihadis manage to delude westerners into joining their hateful cult, but young fools have often been attracted to the latest hip cult of death. Baader-Meinhof anyone?

I think there is really no question that our actions in Iraq have generated ill will toward us and helped recruit foreign fighters to go to Iraq and die. But keep that in mind, that's what they do when they get there, and I know that the whole 72 goats thing is supposed to be a big draw, but the number of fools willing to vaporize themselves is not large and they have had top resort to chaining some of these "volunteers" to the wheel to ensure they would do the job.

America-hating is a long popular pastime around the world, but we need to focus on any of these folks who decide to take action. I haven't seen any indications that there has been an overall increase in terrorist acts around the world, outside of Iraq. In Iraq we have had the privilege to return thousands of America-hating fanatics back to room temp, and none of them are back home now bragging to their buddies about how coll it is to go Crusader hunting along the banks of the banks of the Euphrates.

Now the long term solution to the jihadism that has infected world-wide Islam is societal and cultural not military. It's still a net good think every time we whack a tango, that type of religious nuttahdom is impossible to deal with directly. But we need to have a much better plan for dealing with the countries that incubate this anti-western animus. And I know Sarkozy has already figured out that his immigrant "youths" are the advance troops of a Caliphate redux in the bastions of Old Europe. This ought to remind the Germans and everyone else.

It's not freakin' Iraq, it's them. Anyone who believes I have to do what they think their God wants. Well since this time around it's the Allah-heads losing their minds let's stomp a mudhole out of anywhere that nurtures them. And let's get busy with all their enablers like the Saudis, funding jihadi training madrassas around the world and acting like barbarians at home. Military force is a vital weapon in our anti-Islamist arsenal, but we need to stop the spread of Islam and it's anti-civilized customs and culture. The simple but total oppression of women alone would justify a liberation operation, but we need to shine a bright light on all the lovely rituals and sick acts they do in the name of GOD.

An honest look would show that they act in the name of weak and feckless men, left behind by the rest of the planet.

Paratroopers Find Insurgents in the Darnedest Places

Posted By Blackfive

September 3, 2007 [Diyarah, Iraq] - Here is some raw footage of Charlie Company, 3/509th (Airborne) air assaulting into the Diyarah, Iraq, to nab insurgents.  The footage shows the paratroopers boarding helicopters, arriving, capturing insurgents hiding in a ditch, getting actionable intelligence on more insurgents, departing, capturing more insurgents in a pond, then heading for "home".  Airborne!

You can read more about the 3/509th here at their official site.

[The Blackfive Military Video Channel on YouTube is located here (attacks, memorials, briefings, rescues, and some Guinness.]

[Uncle Jimbo's YouTube Channel is here (for righteous Freeflys among other things).]

The Guardians...

Posted By Blackfive

Spc. Joel Redman, from Phoenix, Ariz., and crew chief for the 3rd 'Spearhead' Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, keeps a watchful eye for any enemy activity while flying in a UH-60 Black Hawk over Iraq on Sept. 3.  Photographer: Spc. Courtney Breton, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

A 3rd 'Spearhead' Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division UH-60 Black Hawk flies over industry buildings and homes near the outer edges of Baghdad during an operation on Sept. 3. Photographer: Spc. Courtney Breton, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

COIN: Iraqi Police take over in Fallujah

Posted By Grim

The Fighting 6th Marines are celebrating today, as a major -- oh, let's call it a "benchmark" -- is reached:

The last battalion of Iraqi soldiers with 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, withdrew from the Anbar Province city of Fallujah, Sept. 1, leaving the city’s security and stability in the hands of the local police and government.

Brig. Gen. Ali al-Hashemi, the brigade’s commander, said the time had come when Iraqi Police alone could handle law enforcement in the city.

You can tell our Marines are proud to see their AO blossom, but a great deal of credit belongs to the Iraqis of Anbar as well. 

Lt. Col. Daniel T. Thoele, the operations advisor for 2nd Brigade Military Transition Team with Regimental Combat Team 6, spoke well of the departing unit.

“The 2nd Brigade has been phenomenal,” said Thoele. “I think today is a historical event because of not only the success of the IA, but the IA working closely with the Iraqi police.”

Initially the IA provided security over the city to give the fledgling police force time and breathing space to develop. Now with a strong force, the locals trust the IPs and are cooperating with counterinsurgent activities.

“(Since) Col. Faisal got here in November, there has been expediential growth with the IPs, both in their numbers and also in their development,” Thoele said. “The IPs are still having equipment and manning problems, but they are working through it.”

Under al-Hashemi’s guidance, his soldiers routinely respond with, “I am Iraqi,” whenever asked by civilians whether they are Shiite or Sunni, Thoele said.

“I am very confident and very happy about everything they did in the city of Fallujah, because I see the result and the city is a lot safer and a lot of progress was made here,” al-Hashemi said about his soldiers’ efforts. “We were very successful because all the forces were working together. The IA, IPs and the Marines all worked together as one team. There were three commanders, IA commander, IP commander and a Marine commander. We had a very good understanding of working with each.”

Congratulations.  May the city of Fallujah know only better years.

The Freefly- Return of Kev & Ass**le Offsets

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

An answer about Kev's coin flip, and I actually drop an F-bomb on Katie Couric. I wasn't planning on it, but she's just so stupid. Then we hate a little on Mark Cuban, Pat Dollard tellts why. Kev takes a potshot at former MASH star Wayne Rogers. Definite language alert.

[The Blackfive Military Video Channel on YouTube is located here (attacks, memorials, briefings, rescues, and some Guinness.] [Uncle Jimbo's YouTube Channel is here (for righteous Freeflys among other things).]

The Weekly Surge Wrap & some 97.1 TALK Radidio

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

I did a stint on 97.1 Talk with Jamie Allman and Crane Durham, my St. Louis connection that you can hear here.

Plus LT Fishman, hey did I notice that he is now 1LT having received that coveted first promotion, delivers the open source Surge Wrap.

How life returned to the streets in a showpiece city that drove out al-Qaeda

The police station in Tameen, a district of Ramadi, occupies a wreck of a building – its roof shattered by shells, its windows blown out, its walls pockmarked by shrapnel. That is not unusual in Iraq. What makes this station extraordinary is that a city in the heart of the infamous Sunni Triangle, a city that once led the anti-American insurgency, has named it after a US soldier – Captain Travis Patriquin. The honour is well-deserved. Captain Patriquin played a little-known but crucial role in one of the few American success stories of the Iraq war. He helped to convert Ramadi from one of Iraq’s deadliest cities into arguably the safest outside the semi-autonomous Kurdish north. This graveyard for hundreds of American soldiers, which a Marine Corps intelligence report wrote off as a lost cause just a year ago, is where the US military now takes visiting senators, and journalists such as myself, to show the progress it is making. Ramadi will be Exhibit A when General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, appears before Congress in two weeks’ time to argue that the country as a whole should not be written off. In Ramadi last weekend I did things unthinkable almost anywhere else in this violent country. I walked through the main souk without body armour, talking to ordinary Iraqis. Late one evening I strolled into the brightly lit Jamiah district of the city with Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Turner, the tobacco-chewing US marine in charge of central Ramadi, to buy kebabs from an outdoor restaurant – “It’s safer than London or New York,” Colonel Turner assured me.

Continue reading "The Weekly Surge Wrap & some 97.1 TALK Radidio"

President in Iraq - Uncensored

Posted By Blackfive

Here is some B-Roll footage from the US Marine Corps Public Affairs of the President's visit to Iraq yesterday.  Scenes include the president exiting Air Force One (at about the 1:45 mark), greeting the staff of the air base, saluting Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, and posing for the media with Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.

[The Blackfive Military Video Channel on YouTube is located here (attacks, memorials, briefings, rescues, and some Guinness.]

[Uncle Jimbo's YouTube Channel is here (for righteous Freeflys among other things).]

Mike Yon's Channel on YouTube

Posted By Blackfive

In case you didn't know, thought I'd point out that Michael Yon has a YouTube Channel.  In his latest dispatch, he talks about the video that goes along with his Ghosts of Anbar (Part III of IV).  Check out this video where Mike narrates the clearing of an IED..."fantastically dangerous."

Jeff Emanuel in the Surge

Posted By Blackfive

Former USAF Tactical Air Controller, Jeff Emanuel is in Iraq inside the Surge.  His dispatches are getting picked up everywhere so go to his blog to find his latest postings. 

Noah Shachtman in Iraq

Posted By Blackfive

Blackfive pal, Noah Shachtman of Wired's Danger Room is back in Iraq.

He describes what having it good is like, Iraqi cops and wannabes, biometrics (it is Wired, after all), and Fallujah's shame and honor.

General Petraeus to testify on 9/11 - Prediction: Tin Foil Hatters will freak out

Posted By Blackfive

The left will pop smoke in 3, 2, 1...

Please refer all conspiracy theorists to this excellent post by Grim - "The Petraeus Report" - about the legal background around the testimony that General Petraeus will be compelled to make on September 11th.  I believe the testimony was originally supposed to take place by the 15th of September, but the Rosh Hashana holiday begins on the 12th so his testimony was moved up.  When Think Progress, Daily Kos, and all "progressives" spaz out on the date of the testimony, please remember (or remind them) which party controls Congress.  They could hold the testimony on the 10th, but then that would mean that Congress would have to work on a *gasp!* Monday...

So, after the ginning up of the testimony being on the 11th, will the Democrats or anybody opposing the Surge actually have a plan (a real plan) for Iraq?  What about the Democrat candidates' plans (other than the utterly imbecilic invasion of Pakistan)?

*crickets chirping*

The point here is that you strike while the iron is hot.

People, General Petraeus ain't gonna make that iron any hotter than it is right now.  More military success will come, certainly.  And political concessions will follow.  But the momentum for change is happening right now.  The anti-war movement virtually fell apart this summer (No?  Then, where are they?).  The politicians have scrambled to take a spun up position that states"...of course, our military will be victorious, but it means nothing without the Iraqi Congress enacting legislation."  As if they already knew that victory was a foregone conclusion...except that it is an impossibility.

Why can't they just try to win this damn war? 

Iraq is far from victory or reasonable stability.  But it IS changing for the better.  And the General could use all the help he can get from Congress (funding, legislation, and how about some support?).

My thoughts and prayers will be with General Petraeus that day.  Surely, he would rather face the enemy than deal with the Soros-influenced, sycophantic, and self-serving martinettes that will be sniping at him on the 11th.