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Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Brittany Sure Hit One Out of the Park...

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments about Brittany's card to our troops. I am continuing to forward the comments and links from Trackbacks to Brittany's Dad, Tim.

Recently, Tim emailed me to let me know how overwhelmed they were with the response it's gotten.

Originally, Tim tells me, Brittany had asked him how she could get her card to the troops - he came across
Soldiers' Angels and this blog.

I knew Brittany's card was something extra-special, and in addition to posting, sent it out hither and yon to see if I could get it as widely viewed as possible - after all, she'd wanted it seen by as many troops as she could manage. I can't thank you all enough for posting about it.

Here are the latest bloggers to mention it - others are listed
here:

Banana Oil
Isaac Schrödinger
Everyman

Please stop by and pay these bloggers a visit when yo
u can.

Michael Yon's Latest

Be sure to stop on over to read Michael Yon's latest dispatch, "Empty Jars."

Is This Cute, or What?

Warrior children
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Staff Sgt. Lee Feldhausen and his daughters, Kayey, 4, and Breanna, 1, inch their way through a low-crawl obstacle here during Hanscom Warrior, Junior Warrior Day. The July 15 event honored children of deployed servicemembers and those recently deployed. More than 125 children participated in the event and 40 families received Homefront Hero Medals. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jan Abate)

IWT Mailbag

I've gotten a couple choice bits of hatemail lately, which aren't worth dignifying with a post, but I did tell the sender of this mail that I would respond in one. Spelling errors, etc. have been left intact.

(sorry to rant a bit i got a bit carried away so test your consentration and argue with my opinion, it will be interestin...)

I am british and i am awar that we have soldiers in iraq too, and they are doing pretty mutch what they do in northern island, i have noticed ya said we are not losing the war, i dont think you can win a war (like you cant win an earth quake) lots of civilians are dting insurgents will only be in iraq so long as americans are there when the americans leave they will go back to killing each other in the mean time theyll shoot you yanks and the american army cant change that, think about it, if you nuke iraq who won the war? osama probaly. we got terrorist attacks in britain the other day and people didnt panik lots of people even said that its good to see a bit of war here too cos its only fair they get a pop at us back, do you think im liberal? i think republicans are a bit simple when it comes to complicated issues.war has been fought for thousands of years in europe, tho americas strong it realy should ignore the rest of the world as it should have no interest, its not like you guys ever liked arabs anyway and saddam wouldnt have been suspected of tryin to kill you guys unless you provoke him in the first place. you can argue about the poor people but when america is responsible for pain and suffering throughout the globe (bo phal india,trade sanctions, arms trade etc etc)it just doesnt make mutch sense at all.

as for your war of the worlds comment though i think you rite it is bullshit, although you cant beat insurgents in iraq
.


OK, let's take this a piece at a time:
I am british and i am awar that we have soldiers in iraq too, and they are doing pretty mutch what they do in northern island, i have noticed ya said we are not losing the war, i dont think you can win a war (like you cant win an earth quake) lots of civilians are dting insurgents will only be in iraq so long as americans are there when the americans leave they will go back to killing each other in the mean time theyll shoot you yanks and the american army cant change that, think about it, if you nuke iraq who won the war? osama probaly.

We AREN'T losing the war. Saddam is out of power, Iraq had it's first free election in decades, and terrorists are being killed and arrested daily. You most certainly CAN win a war. Is Germany still led by Hitler? And not to put too fine a point on it, but the reason you're a Brit and I'm a Yank is 'cause we won a little war a couple of centuries ago. Yes, civilians are dying (um...killed by Arab terrorists, mostly), troops too, unfortunately. You say that the insurgents will only be there as long as the Americans are there. If by "insurgent" you mean "terrorist," they were around a long time before we got to Iraq. They may shoot some of our troops, yes. But we shoot a whole heck of a lot better, and somebody had to deal with Saddam, and with them. Once again, the U.N. refused to, and once again, the U.S. had to step in.

One thing that boggles my mind is the fact that people act as if terrorism started with Iraq. You, living where you do, should know better. For a refresher course, I posted a timeline here a while ago, with a link to another site. There was also one posted over at the Mudville Gazette fairly recently, and you can also go here for info.

And as far as killing civilians go....Saddam was doing a pretty good job of that long before we got there....Halabja, for example.....have you missed all of those mass graves we found?

Oh, and by the way, the American left often argues that there was never any connection between the War on Terror and Iraq.....so if we "nuke Iraq" - which is NOT any game plan I've ever heard of, how could Osama win?

we got terrorist attacks in britain the other day and people didnt panik lots of people even said that its good to see a bit of war here too cos its only fair they get a pop at us back, do you think im liberal? i think republicans are a bit simple when it comes to complicated issues.

I can't say anything bad about the way the Brits reacted to the terror attacks. I am, however, of the opinion, that the terrorists have gotten plenty of "pops" along the way as it is. I think "fair" would be to see the murdering losers suffer whatever horrible hell I believe fate has in store for people like them.

Yeah, you sound like a wee bit o' the liberal to me. (And as an Irish-Scots-American, I really feel I have to point out that it's Northern IRELAND, not Island - wink). And as for the simple / complicated issue, I think liberals are a bit complicated when it comes to simple issues.

war has been fought for thousands of years in europe, tho americas strong it realy should ignore the rest of the world as it should have no interest, its not like you guys ever liked arabs anyway and saddam wouldnt have been suspected of tryin to kill you guys unless you provoke him in the first place. you can argue about the poor people but when america is responsible for pain and suffering throughout the globe (bo phal india,trade sanctions, arms trade etc etc)it just doesnt make mutch sense at all.

Wait a minute - I thought we were supposed to be more like Europe because it was so peaceful and happy....what gives? And "its not like you guys ever liked Arabs anyway"? Wow. I would refer you to "protected classes" under American anti-discrimination law - y'know, race, religion, creed, gender, national origin, marital status, age... we like Arabs just fine - we're just not particularly fond of terrorists. Saddam wouldn't have been suspected of trying to kill us if we hadn't provoked him? Um.....invasion of Kuwait....UN Sanctions....shooting at American aircraft (sometimes daily) in the no-fly zone....Ba'athist party believes in one Arab nation under them....Saddam paying bounties to the families of dead suicide bombers....Not to put it in too "simple" terms, but he's the one who provoked. The first time, basically the WHOLE WORLD decided to kick his butt. It's just that certain nations who shall remain nameless but supplied significant amounts of banned materials to Iraq decided to stand in the way, and certain ridiculously lame-duck multi-national organizations (funded SIGNIFICANTLY by American dollars, might I add) decided not to enforce their own sanctions....

Um....Bhopal was an industrial accident, involving a private company, not the American government (and actually, 49% of the plant was owned by private Indian companies). It's a matter for U.S. civil courts, and apparently, India's criminal court system......y'know, industrial accident...kind of like Chernobyl...but that must not have happened, 'cause it wasn't Americans that did it. At any rate, what the heck has THAT got to do with Iraq?

Trade sanctions - are you saying we can't decide who we will and won't do business with???? Sorry, but if you're an enemy, I think we have the right to say, "no, actually, we won't be supporting your country."

Arms trade? Puh-lease. Surely you didn't mean to imply that the US is the leader in the arms trade. We're just a little bitty fish in a very big pond on that one. Take a look at the weapons killing troops in Iraq, and you'll find a few "civilized" European countries there, my British friend.

As for the War of the Worlds comment (here, in the infamous poster post) - yes, it is, and oh yes, we can.

Still, thanks for the mail - it was a whole heck of a lot better than the ridiculous name-caller that followed it.

Feel free to chime in, folks...
KYRGYZSTAN VISIT — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld meets U.S. servicemembers at Manas Air Force Base at Bishkek International Airport, Kyrgyzstan, July 26, 2005. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald

The Radical Left Calls it Art...

I won't even get into what I call it.

Yes, I'm talking about Steven Pearcy's piece of crap picture - er, I mean "piece of art," T'anks Mr. Bush.

As a reminder, Move America Forward is planning their own Patriotic Artshow this Thursday - read all about it in the Sacramento Union.

Also, Joe Wierzbicki sends the link to this OpEd piece by Mark Williams. It certainly isn't a tree-huggy, touchy-feely sort of piece--

"...Pearcy’s “art” consists of a crudely scribbled drawing of an American Flag, in the shape of the United States, being flushed down a toilet...it is indistinguishable from similar works of “art” that may be found in poorly maintained public restroom stalls. But Pearcy’s “art” is one of several just like it, each displaying its own particular bigotry..."

-- but it's definitely worth reading - heck, the comments alone are entertaining!


"J. Petersonw writes: ""You know what your problem is? Your all STUPID."

Maybe so J. Peterson, but I'm smart enough to know that the word your in the above sentence should have been spelled "you're.""
-> Posted by GM Roper / Jul 26, 2005



Go take a look.

Silver Star Families of America

Posted about this once before; you'll see a link to a related site, "Newton's Best of the Best" listed among the "Troop Support" sites to the right. They also now have a permalink on the right hand side of the page.

The information is worth a repost.



Silver Star Families of America is a group working to get a WIA Service Flag designated to honor those of our Heroes wounded in service to their country.

You can go to this site to find out more:
http://steven.newton6.home.att.net/

They also have a group support site at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SilverStarFamiliesofAmerica/

Here is information from their webpage:


THE ORIGIN, GOALS AND MISSION OF THE SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA
A couple of years ago, while at a Veterans Administration hospital, I was speaking to a family about their son. He had been wounded in the war and now spent a lot of his time alone at the hospital. We all considered it a shame that while America is at war it honors its hero’s but it doesn’t take long for the heroes to be forgotten. For the wounded of our nation to live and struggled on their own with little or no help. The medals tarnish and some of our most vulnerable soldiers and veterans are left to survive or die with no recognition for their achievements.

Since that time I have struggling for a Service Flag for our wounded. Something to fly over a V.A. Hospital to remind the country, day in and day out, of the sacrifice of our men and women in the armed forces and for families of the wounded to hang in their windows or fly proudly from a pole to show their pride. And not just during conflict but ALL the time. When war ends THAT is the time we especially need to be reminded that some are still suffering the consequences of conflict.

I wanted a place where our wounded service members and their families could go for help and information or just to laugh, talk or cry with others going through the same experience they are. A safe place, an honorable place that took no notice of politics or race, but a place for ALL to come as they are for comfort.

I started my quest by contacting a few organizations but had very little luck in convincing them that we needed to honor our wounded. Since that time, by the grace of God, I have come to be associated with a wonderful group of people. We started a web site and requested of our Senators that legislation be enacted to allow for placement of the Silver Star on the Blue Star Service Flag to show wounded. We started an on-line petition, which has now entered the real word as an actual hard copy petition, which I hope you will soon see on every street corner.

Friends started a Yahoo Group where like-minded people, and families of our wounded, could gather to exchange ideas and to work on accomplishing our goal. Disappointments, as in all things, came and went but one of the most frustrating one was when we heard that legislative action could take from one, two or three years. We had only a few options, all which were not acceptable to us.

So, On April 1st of the year of our Lord 2005, we decided that instead of waiting for legislative action or other organizations acceptance, we would start to honor the wounded of our country NOW. Thus was formed the SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA. We designed and copyrighted the Silver Star Service Flag that can be downloaded now. We are also working on forming our own 501 c organization.

We have worked and struggled for a long time but now we are doing what we set out to do. Helping those that cannot or do not know how to help themselves. And we are showing our respect for them by flying our Silver Star Flags NOW.

It is one of my fondest wishes that other organizations would join with us and many already have. It is an honorable cause. I invite each and every one of you to sign the petition but more importantly to join us now to do something that was once done many years ago by several states. That is to show our fellow countrymen that we DO honor our wounded and that they are not forgotten.

Chief Steven J. Newton (ret)

My Hero...

Angela sends this picture of SPC Timothy R., (back row, first on the left) and members of his platoon, currently deployed in Iraq.

She says of Timothy,

"He is very Kind,Sweet and supporting. Always in a very good mood...To me really he is an angel."

Timothy and all - Thanks for being the Heroes that you are. Keep your heads down and your helmets on, take care, and stay safe.

In Today's News - Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Quote of the Day
"It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you."
--Dick Cheney

News of Note
London Bombings
Report: Failed London Bomber Arrested
Six arrests made in terror probe
Blair: Not 'One Inch' to Terrorists
Apology for Mistaken Shooting
Photo Essays:
Bombing Suspects Sought

Bombings in Egypt
Egypt identifies body of possible bomber
Civilian terror attacks called criminal
Bedouin help sought to solve Egypt blasts

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Docs Detail Syria, Iraq Link
US may sharply cut Iraq force within year -general
Nearly 1,000 Iraqi Police Graduate From Training
Medics Provide Exams Before, After Interrogations
Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers Help Victims of Terror Attacks

Operation Enduring Freedom
Heavy Taliban Losses Affect Recruiting Transcript
Afghan Army Hones Skills at Artillery Range

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Senate OKs Bill to Make DHS Sec'y Eighth in Succession
Friend or Foe? - Why does Pakistan continue to be a terrorist recruiting center?
Video:
U.S. Cities Boost Security
Video:
London, Egypt Attacks Linked?

Other News of Note
N. Korea Demands U.S. Remove Nukes From Korea
'Doonesbury' Strip Pulled

Fox News
Crew Inspects Space Shuttle
Rumsfeld Visits Iraq, Presses Leaders on Syria and Iran
Iraq Violence Kills 20
Gonzales: Supreme Court Not Bound by Roe v. Wade
Roberts Docs Released
Video: The Spouse Factor
N.Y. Gov. Pataki to Skip Bid for Re-Election, Eyes White House

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iran vows to restart some nuke activities
Plane rolls into ditch at Jordan airport-
Syria shuns charges of having weak border
Anti-Syria warlord released in Lebanon
Jerusalem OKs neighborhood construction
U.S. nudges Iraq on political compromise
Al-Qaida in Iraq airs tape of diplomats
Israeli soldiers practice Gaza pullout
Group says Palestinian police bloated

Reuters: Top News
Rumsfeld urges Iraq to meet constitution deadline
'Millennium bomber' to be sentenced in Seattle
N.Korea digs in on day two of nuclear crisis talks
Astronauts use laser to search for shuttle damage

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq constitution drafters convene emergency meeting of leaders: report
Iranian gas victims want justice from Saddam tribunal
Iraqi Women Differ on Greater Role for Islam in Constitution

Department of Defense
Rumsfeld Calls Tajikistan 'Solid Partner' —
Story Transcript
U.S. Still Welcome at Manas Air Base
Rumsfeld Discusses Kyrgyzstan Election Transcript
Report Cites Iraqi Police Progress, Challenges — Story Transcript

ON THE GROUND
3rd Platoon Soldiers Keep Supplies Moving —
Story

IN IRAQ
Marine Commandant, Top NCO Visit Al Asad
Marines Prepare Al Anbar Province for Flight Ops
Planes Soar Thanks to Baghdad's ‘Tower of Power'
Marine Military Police Patrol Local Roadways

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Officers Learn How to Operate Army

IN TURKEY
New Cargo Mission Increases Incirlik Flightline Ops

FACE OF DEFENSE
Airman Garners 'Outstanding' Title —
Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
McDonald's Recognized for Support —
Story

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
Forces Continue Crackdown
New Police Express Determination
Photos: Iraqi Soldiers Take Lead
Attacks Kill U.S. Soldier, Iraqis
Iraqis Force Car Bomb Detonation
Bomb Kills at Least 40 Iraqis
U.S. Soldier, Marine Killed
Reconstruction Effort Underway
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)
'Eye on Iraq' (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Officials Address Protest at Base
Governors Discuss Elections
Fighting Kills U.S., Afghan Soldiers
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Myers: U.S. Must Maintain Will
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Myers: QDR Must Look at Missions
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualty — Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
1689 - Jacobite Scottish Highlanders defeat a Royal force at Killiecrankie.
1789 - Congress establishes the Department of Foreign Affairs (State Department.)
1816 - U.S. troops attack Fort Blount, on Apalachicola Bay FL.
1837 - The U.S. Mint opens in Charlotte, NC.
1844 - The U.S. Mint in Charlotte, NC, is destroyed by fire.
1861 - Union General George McClellan takes command of the Army of the Potomac.
1909 - Orville Wright tests the first U.S. Army airplane, flying for 1 hour, 12 minutes.
1944 - The Gloster Meteor becomes the first British jet fighter used in combat; the U.S. regains Guam from the Japanese.
1953 - An Armistice is signed, ending the Korean War and dividing Vietnam into two countries.
1955 - Austria regains full independence after occupation.
1962 - The Mariner-2 is launched to Venus for a flyby; Martin Luther King, Jr., is jailed in Albany, Georgia.
1969 - Pioneer-10 is launched.
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee votes 27-11 to recommend Nixon be impeached.
1987 - John Demjanjuk, accused Nazi "Ivan the Terrible," testifies in Israel.
1988 - Radio Shack unveils the Tandy 1000 SL computer.

Birthdays
1768 -
Charlotte Corday, assassin of Jean-Paul Marat
1857 - Jos‚ Celso Barbosa, found Federalist Party

Passings
1883 -
Montgomery Blair, lawyer (Dred Scot case)
1976 - Ray Brennan, first victim of "Legionnaire's Disease"
1980 - Shah Mohammed Reza Pahavala of Iran
1990 - Kim Thomas-Friedland, news anchor (FNN)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Berg, Kile D., USAF (WA); F105D shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive as of 1996
Kosko, Walter, USAF (VA); F105D shot down, believed Killed
Purcell, Robert B., USAF (KY); F105D shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Bare, Wiliam, USAF (OK); RF4C shot down
Corbitt, Gilland W., USAF (CO); RF4C shot down
Hardie, Charles D., USN (TX); presumed Killed after aircraft encountered problems over water, body not recovered
Patterson, Bruce M. USN (OR); presumed Killed after aircraft encountered problems over water, body not recovered

1968
Fullerton, Frank E., USN (GA); A4F crashed on bombing run, cause undetermined, presumed killed, body not recovered
Patton, Ward K., USN (KS); while returning to YRBM-18 from another craft, lost footing and fell into swift-moving river; presumed Killed, body not recovered

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