HE Won't Say Win

The Chosen One is in Iraq on a "fact-finding" election campaign. Lets face it, this is a campagin tour. No one with any sense doubts that for a moment. You have fawning MSM anchors practically kissing the ground and Katie Couric ready to climax over this wet-behind the ears socialist who has ZERO foreign policy and military experience.

He keeps saying we need to end the war. Not WIN the war, END the war. So what is his problem? Is victory such a bad thing? Has some playground incident in his past jaded him against winning? We all know the politically correct crowd on the left has problems with competitive sports. They've succeeded in banning dodge ball, t-ball, and spelling bees, because someone has to win and someone has to lose, and we all know thats bad for self-esteem. Teachers can no longer use red ink to mark wrong answers on tests or grade term papers. God forbid they tell a student to re-write a sentence that doesn't make any sense.

If the messiah is so dead set against giving the Iraqis the same chance for self-determination we have, then why not just say so? That would be a refreshing change.

It's OK to win. It really is. No seriously. The men and women doing the work in Iraq and Afghanistan, taking the rounds, enduring the heat, the seperation from family, would certainly benefit from being told they are winners, because, when it all comes down to where the metal meets the meat, they are winners.
Every one of them.

US programs in Africa helping millions. Who knew?

President Bush has been vilified and criticized for years about his apparent disinterest in the poor and downtrodden of Africa. I say "apparent" because to all appearances, the US has done little to help the sick and poor of Africa. And who presents that appearance? Why, the US media. The same media that trumpets any less than stellar achievement as a disaster, IF the person to benefit is President Bush.
(emphasis mine)

President Bush and Sir Geldof

The Most Powerful Man in the World studied the front cover. Geldof in Africa — " 'The international best seller.' You write that bit yourself?"

"That's right. It's called marketing. Something you obviously have no clue about or else I wouldn't have to be here telling people your Africa story."

It is some story. And I have always wondered why it was never told properly to the American people, who were paying for it. It was, for example, Bush who initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with cross-party support led by Senators John Kerry and Bill Frist. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were on HIV antiretroviral drugs — and they had to pay for their own medicine. Today, 1.3 million are receiving medicines free of charge. The U.S. also — whcontributes one-third of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which treats another 1.5 million. It contributes 50% of all food aid (though some critics find the mechanism of contribution controversial). On a seven-day trip through Africa, Bush announced a fantastic new $350 million fund for other neglected tropical diseases that can be easily eradicated; a program to distribute 5.2 million mosquito nets to Tanzanian kids; and contracts worth around $1.2 billion in Tanzania and Ghana from the Millennium Challenge Account, another initiative of the Bush Administration.

So why doesn't America know about this? "I tried to tell them. But the press weren't much interested," says Bush.

Sir Bob Geldof, being British, misses this part of the equation when he scolds the President for his lack of knowledge about marketing. Its not that the press isn't interested. Its that the press is not interested in Bush getting ANY credit about ANYTHING. President Bush could cure cancer and he would not get good press. If Bill Clinton had achieved this, he would have been made a saint....

Good News From Fallujah

Isn't it great to see all the wonderful news coming out of Iraq? I mean, after all the talk of failure, isn't it wonderful to see our success trumpeted by all of the press over there? What? What do you mean there's no good news? Of course there is... look at this:

Michael J. Totten, on the ground in Fallujah:

FALLUJAH – At the end of 2006 there were 3,000 Marines in Fallujah. Despite what you might expect during a surge of troops to Iraq, that number has been reduced by 90 percent. All Iraqi Army soldiers have likewise redeployed from the city. A skeleton crew of a mere 250 Marines is all that remains as the United States wraps up its final mission in what was once Iraq's most violent city.

“The Iraqi Police could almost take over now,” Second Lieutenant Gary Laughlin told me. “Most logistics problems are slowly being resolved. My platoon will probably be the last one out here in the Jolan neighborhood.”

“The Iraqi Police in Jolan are very good,” Second Lieutenant Mike Barefoot added. “Elsewhere in Fallujah they're not as far along yet. Theoretically we could leave the area now and they would be okay, except they would run out of money.”

CNN IS LYING TO YOU

Over at QandO, there is proof that CNN is lying to you. Over a minor interview that affects nothing.

Watch both videos.

After you watch the respective interviews, consider what CNN (and any other major media outlet) is doing to the stories they feed you.

LIES, LIES, LIES. Like Reagan said, "Trust, but, verify." Never thought we would have to do that to our own.

Some good news from OPFOR. Scroll through the whole site. They have info from Michael Yon that is better than anything in the media. I just wish that the rest of the media would do some research. And Congress too.

Al-Qaeda on the Run

By Richard S. Lowry

In March of 2003, Abu Musab al-Zargawi was holed up in his mountain terrorist training camp in Eastern Iraq. He had already been fighting Americans for quite some time. He had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan in 2002 but managed to escape to Baghdad, where he was treated and brought back to health in an Iraqi hospital. Once recuperated, he established a terrorist training camp along the Iranian frontier. He selected a mountain perch that would be easy to defend and would also provide a quick escape route into Iran. His men controlled a 300 square kilometer finger of land that protruded into Iran, just east of the ghost town of Halabja.

I have been told, unofficially, that Abu-Musab al-Zargawi was under direct orders from Osama bin-Laden to establish his Iraqi camp to spread the violence of al-Qaeda. I was told this by a former S-2 (intelligence) officer for a brigade that was deployed in Northeastern Iraq. I believe he knows what he is talking about but, unfortunately, I cannot divulge his name as a source. Instead, let me direct you to the work of a well-known author, Robin Moore. Mr. Moore visited Iraq shortly after the invasion in 2003. He then wrote “Hunting Down Saddam,” St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2004.

In his book, Moore writes of Operation Viking Hammer, “perhaps the largest Special Operations assault in history.” When the Turkish government baulked, and did not allow American forces to attack Iraq from the north, a large Special Operations effort was initiated in Northern Iraq and Kurdistan. Kurdish pesh merga forces, assisted by American Special Forces teams moved toward, and eventually attacked Zargawi’s hideout, east of As-Sulaymaniyah. The battle is also recounted in Linda Robinson’s, “Masters of Chaos,” PublicAffairs, New York, 2004. Ms Robinson indicates that there was an association between Zargawi’s group, Ansar al-Islam, and al-Qaeda.

The battle to neutralize Ansar al-Islam in the Iraqi mountains raged for days and was one of the fiercest fights of the war. Finally, the pesh merga and American Special Forces routed or killed hundreds of Sargawi’s fanatic fighters to find the largest terrorist training camp in the world. You all may think that I am about to go on to claim that this was an al-Qaeda training camp, that al-Qaeda was in Iraq in 2003, and that Saddam was in cahoots with Zargawi (and thus al-Qaeda). Well, I am not. I will leave that research to the reader. What I am going to do is make a prediction.

I predict that al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) will beat a retreat to this same finger of land, or a similar border hideout in the same vicinity, in the near future. AQI is on the run in Anbar and Diyala Province. (According to the Multi-National Force-Iraq Public Affairs Office, “Eighteen paramount tribal leaders representing 14 of the major tribes in Diyala Province, Iraq, swore on the Koran and signed a peace agreement unifying the tribes in the battle against terrorism…on August 2nd.”) General Rick Lynch is running the enemy to ground, south of Baghdad. The Multi-National Division-North has made great strides in killing or capturing most all of the senior al-Qaeda leadership in Mosul. Soon, al-Qaeda’s only safe haven will be along the Iranian border. Soon, al-Qaeda will resort to the same tactics as they are using in Afghanistan.

The surge is working. Harry Reid – we are not losing in Iraq. General Petraeus’ forces are doing everything they can to keep al-Qaeda off the Iraqi population and, they won’t let up until they are all dead, in custody, or dug in to their last mountain hideout. We are far from victory in Iraq, but we are approaching a tipping point.

Richard S. Lowry is the author of “Marines in the Garden of Eden.” Visit www.marinesinthegardenofeden.com to read more.

CNN: "Anti-immigrant Sentiment" Fueling Klan?

CNN is launching a pre-emptive strike tonight at 8pm on those who support border security suggesting that they are exploiting "anti-immigrant sentiment to further its cause" to proclaim the white race as the master race.

Paula Zahn asks:
Is the Klan making a comeback? Is it exploiting anti-immigrant sentiment to further its cause? Find out about a possible rise in hate groups. Tune in Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.


So, in CNN's view, anyone who objects to open borders and tons of illegal immigrants is worthy of being KKK now? This type of comparison will be par for the course in the border security debate, especially with Democrats in charge of the House and Senate. Wonder who they will classify as a "hate group"; Republicans particularly or conservatives in general.

Here's an idea: how about doing a story on how race tensions may be rising due to the import of racism by illegal immigrants with stereotypes like this.

To The Post's Arken: Leave The Troops Alone

The following is an open letter to William M. Arken, writer for the Washington Post:
(RE: “The Troops Also Need To Support The American People”)

*******

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Dear Mr. Arken;

I’m almost not sure what to write, as what I would really like to say is 1.) not (or should not be) printable, and 2.) would be below the decorum of a former soldier who served this great country in Gulf War I, and is now grateful that he did. Your tirade at the American Armed Services “The Troops Also Need To Support The American People” is off-base and ill-founded. I’m not sure what version of the “American people” you associate with, but I can offer this one piece of advice: get out of Washington a LOT more often than you currently are and talk to some REAL American people. I can give you a few thoughts to take back to your “American people” and share with them.

First, your assertion that the “American people” have “indulged” the troops by supporting them through “every Abu Ghraib…,Haditha,…, rape and murder” is a plain falsehood. There was only one Abu Ghraib, one Haiditha, and very few instances of rape or outright murder in this war. If your assertion that our troops were roving bands of pillagers and rapers were true, there would be thousands of cases, not the few you outline. Incidents like you describe ARE the EXCEPTION, not the Rule. In fact, we go to great lengths to make sure that we protect innocent life wherever we can -- as much as one can in a war theater. The training that we provide our troops, drills them on avoiding innocent casualties (versus our adversary Al-Qaeda, for whom killing innocent people is as natural as breathing.) Further, we know that the majority of our troops have grown up in our American society that supports the preservation of human life and the value of people (again, versus our adversaries who train their children from day 1 to kill anyone who is different, doesn’t agree with them and/or won’t convert to their way of thinking.) Our enemies do not value life and use children and young adults – men and women – as human time bombs. It is for these reasons that we support our troops so steadfastly. This is not an “indulgence” it is a confidence in them, their training, and their humanity.

Next, our soldiers are NOT paid a decent wage (especially enlisted personnel) over all, and struggle to make ends meet while not being able to take on part time jobs as regular Americans do because they are considered “on Duty” 24 hours a day, and must be available at a moments notice. As a private (E-2) in the Army in 1988 with a wife and new son, I was eligible for food stamps, and other forms of public assistance because the pay was so low. I never took the government up on it, because I was taught that I was responsible for feeding my family, not the government. Others who came after me are following that same track. Frankly, our veterans and active-duty soldiers deserve more than what they get, for practical reasons, and for reasons of gratitude. Our soldiers certainly aren’t paid well compared to the risks they take with their lives, but they accept this as part of the job.

Further, you say “…even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and policy.” This thought pattern may make you feel better, but it, too is patently untrue. Their have been numerous demonstrations that I have been witness to, and the focus is NOT solely on White House and policy. Many engage in personal attacks, obstruction, and outright physical confrontation. The soldiers in question who earned your ill-placed ire ARE, thought, talking policy and White House. You should applaud them for that. You say “We just don’t see very man[sic] “baby killer” epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.” So, because you chose not to spit on the troops and call them stupid names when they came home they now owe you loyalty to your opinion of the war? That’s insane. You are wrong; people are still doing those same old tired-ass Vietnam era anti-war tactics. A few of you have refined your tactics, though, to use oh, say, a newspaper column.

Soldiers do have a paycheck, healthcare at military hospitals (not all hospital visits and treatments are free by the way.) But these things are not things that require them to cow-tow to public opinion. They are benefits earned by people who do the most important job in this country; protecting us from all enemies foreign and domestic. Thanks for giving the United States a look at what liberal socialists really want in exchange for all the free healthcare, food stamps, and all the other “freebies” the government gives. You are thereby a bought-and-paid-for slave of the ruling class of government utopia, and in exchange they will tell YOU what to think. Anything outside of this earns you a slap from King Arken on his throne at the Washington Post. Long live the dictator.

Sincerley,
Alpheus O. Pope
Formerly; Specialist, United States Army
f22strike@yahoo.com

PS. Should you want to debate this further, you can reach me at the above address. I would be delighted.

******
Previously:
WaPo to Military: You Can Help Yourself But Don’t Take Too Much

WaPo To Military: You Can Help Yourself But Don't Take Too Much

I almost fell out of my chair watching this video. NBC actually broadcast a video in which some American Troops were allowed to voice an opinion counter to the leftwing Democrat/ics.

Did you watch it? Awesome isn't it?

Here is the (insert adjective here, none of the ones I know are vile enough) response from the Washington Post.

The Troops Also Need to Support the American People
By William M. Arken
The Washington Post

~snip~

Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order.

Sure it is the junior enlisted men who go to jail, but even at anti-war protests, the focus is firmly on the White House and the policy. We just don't see very man "baby killer" epithets being thrown around these days, no one in uniform is being spit upon.

So, we pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?

Hat tip to Ward's View for video link and Just A Nobody for WaPo link.
UPDATE: Blue Crab Boulevard has lots of links to bloggers' reactions and a great email from his son in the sandbox.
Cat House Chat has a great post.

Associated Press Cries at Loss of Saddam

Charles at LGF has a great example of media “news” stories – that aren’t – being distorted into the “opinion as news” pap that is turning viewers off . What’s worse, the article is re-written to provide a nice cuddly side to recently executed madman Saddam Hussein:

Weepy Associated Press “Saddam was a gentleman” version:

Original news version:

BDS at CNN Not on the D.L. for TGIF

The left-wing weekend crew at CNN’s web site is really outdoing itself on the last weekend of 2006. The 5th headline down says “Tornado Scare Sends Bush Running for cover.”


But if you look at the article, the headline is “President takes cover during tornado scare.” I’m no “journalist” but there is a world of difference between those two headlines – “taking cover” is not the same thing as “running for cover.”

For the record, this is what happened:

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush and first lady Laura Bush were moved to an armored vehicle on their ranch Friday when a tornado warning was issued in Central Texas, the White House said.The vehicle was driven to a tornado shelter on the ranch, and the president, first lady and their two Scottish terriers sat inside until the weather cleared, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. They were never moved into the shelter, he said.
The president was "in the vehicle for about 10 minutes and then he went back to the house," Stanzel said, adding that other members of the staff at the ranch were sheltered as well.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at 12:40 p.m. (1:40 p.m. ET). At 3:47 p.m. (4:47 p.m. ET), the watch was upgraded to a tornado warning, which lasted for less than an hour.


This trick of BDS-MSM (Bush Derangement Syndrome-Main-stream Media) is no different than the personal attacks the media made on Bush during the 9-11 attacks. Bush was criticized as running scared when the attacks happened because the media didn’t know his location. What was he supposed to do, immediately run back to DC where the attacks were happening? What is he supposed to do, stand out in the open and watch the cows fly by? MSM dopes!