The Washoe County Republican Party strongly supports our military and government leaders who recognize the deadly threat posed by global Islamic Jihad. We support those who are committed to defeating the Jihadis in the war they started and aggressively continue. The Islamic Jihadis call 911 “The Day of The Blessed Invasion of Manhattan”.
The Real Miss America
This 19-year old ex-cheerleader (now an Air Force Security Forces Sniper) was watching a road that led to a NATO military base when she observed a man digging by the road. She engaged the target (i.e. , she shot him). It turned out he was a bomb maker for the Taliban, and he was burying an IED that was to be detonated when a US patrol walked by 30 minutes later. It would have certainly killed and wounded several soldiers.
The interesting fact of this story is the shot was measured at 725 yards. She shot him as he was bent over burying the bomb. The shot went through his butt and into the bomb, which detonated; he was blown to pieces. The Air Force, made a motivational poster of her photo:
Obama Snubs Nation’s Heroes, Becomes the First President to Skip Ball Honoring Medal of Honor Recipients in Over 50 Years
Submitted by Julie on January 21, 2009 – 10:13pm.
2008 News Politics U.S. Government U.S. Politics World Politics
Barack Obama may have stumbled over his words briefly during his
inauguration, but he made an even bigger blunder later Tuesday evening.
The newly sworn-in President opted not to appear at what should have
been one of the most important Balls on his agenda that evening -
“The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.”
The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball was begun in 1953 for President Dwight
Eisenhower’s inauguration. The event recognized recipients of the Medal of
Honor, the nation’s highest military award. There were 48 Medal of Honor
recipients in attendance, who were undoubtedly disappointed by the new
Commander-in-Chief’s failure to show. Over the past 56 years and 14
inaugurations, no President has skipped this event – until now.
The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball is sponsored by the American Legion,
and co-sponsored by 13 other veteran’s service organizations, including
those such as the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Military Order of
the Purple Heart.
Instead of attending this ball honoring our nation’s heroes, Obama was busy
making stops at 10 other official balls. Obama and his wife’s first stop was at
the Neighborhood Ball. From there they went to the Home State Ball for Illinois
and Hawaii, the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Youth Inaugural Ball, and the
Home State Ball for Delaware and Pennsylvania. They finished off the night
with brief appearances at the Mid-Atlantic, Western, Midwest, Eastern, and
Southern regional Balls.
Celebrities were a plenty at the balls, with Stevie Wonder, Shakira, Mary. J. Blige,
Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, will.i.am, Sting, Mariah Carey, and
Leonardo DiCaprio in attendance at the Neighborhood Ball. In addition, the other
nine balls also featured a star-studded lineup including Kanye West and Kid Rock
at the Youth Ball, Marc Anthony at the Western Ball, and Cheryl Crow at the Western
Ball.
It was the party without all of the celebrities that Obama skipped. The very people who he sought to have support him during his candidacy and campaign, who have fought to protect this country, were snubbed in favor of publicity and the opportunity to rub shoulders – yet again – with the out-of-touch Hollywood elite!
SHAME ON YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA. THESE BRAVE MEN CAME TO RESPECT YOU, YET YOUR BLATANT FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THEM SENDS THEM AND ALL WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO DEFEND THIS NATION, THE WRONG MESSAGE. MAKE NO EXCUSES MR. PRESIDENT – WE NOW KNOW WHERE VETERANS STAND UNDER YOUR WATCH!
Mar. 10, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Word From War Zone
Doctor-legislator says reality of Iraq conflict sets in quickly
We are approaching day 30, one-third of the way through the tour. I am stationed at Al Asad in Anbar province, which is in the western desert of Iraq. It is a large base that supports several forward operating bases throughout the western part of the country.
My departure on Jan. 26th was emotional — the Blue Star Mothers arranged a surprise send-off for me and were at the airport pre-dawn with a group of supporters. They presented my mom with a Blue Star flag.
First stop was Fort Benning, Ga., for in-processing. For the first time, the harsh reality of this adventure sank in — the briefs on improvised explosive devices (IEDs) made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It’s amazing how many ways the insurgents have found to turn ordinary looking items into deadly weapons, and how many ways they have developed to detonate them. Casualties from IEDs are the greatest threat right now.
Next was 20 hours of flying to get to Kuwait, where the clock started for my 90-day tour.
We spent another five days reviewing what we did at Fort Benning. (You know the Army, if they don’t tell you the same thing at least three times, they haven’t told you.) But I was glad to get another briefing on IEDs.
Finally, I got to my duty station at Al Asad. I am working in a combat support hospital as the chief of emergency services. We have an emergency room with trauma capabilities. Fortunately, it is fairly slow in the ER, which means the good guys aren’t getting hurt. We see a fair number of minor-moderate illnesses and injuries, which is fine.
The Army Medical Department’s motto is “To Conserve the Fighting Strength,” so getting these troops with minor-moderate ailments back into the fight is priority No. 1. We also see quite a few civilians and Iraqi army, which is all part of the mission to “win the hearts and minds.”
But we have had some major trauma as well. Feb. 21 was a terrible day. We received a radio report that the medevac was inbound with a Marine who sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.
We got our team ready and were waiting for his arrival. Then we got word from the helicopter that they were five minutes out and they just lost a pulse. I felt my heart drop. As soon as they landed and we got him inside we worked him hard. We did things that would have been considered heroic and “last-ditch” efforts in the States, but we decided before he arrived that we would do everything humanly possible.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t save him. I was crushed. This 20-year-old kid looked like he could have been on the Marine Corps recruiting poster: rugged face, chiseled body, blond hair. You could just tell he was a Marine’s Marine. The entire ER staff became somber and sullen. Without a word, the charge nurse and two of my young medics began to clean the body to remove the blood and grime. Then, without anyone saying anything, these two medics spontaneously carefully draped the body with an American flag and took up positions at the foot of the gurney, standing at parade rest — “never leave a fallen comrade” — until the mortuary affairs team came to retrieve the remains.
I was never, simultaneously, more proud and heartsick — proud of my medics and their actions, yet heartsick over the loss of this Marine. He was the first combat trauma that we received since our arrival in theater, and we lost him. His face and name are etched in my brain forever. I have lost many patients in the ER back home, but this one was different. And it affected me much more than any other patient I have lost.
About 30 minutes after we finished that case, we received another call that we were getting a detainee who was shot. Incredible, I thought to myself, we just lost a Marine to insurgent actions, and now they are bringing us an insurgent.
He sustained a gunshot wound to the buttock that went into his abdomen and required surgery. From the time he hit the ER door until the time he was in the OR was 20 minutes — a feat that many U.S. hospitals cannot achieve. He survived, and was nursed back to health by the fabulous nursing staff and then sent to the detainee facility. We learned later that he was from a separate incident where he and three other insurgents were placing IEDs. His comrades were killed.
A few days later, we had a mini-mass casualty incident when a building collapse from poor construction resulted in five Iraqi army casualties. One was dead at the scene from head trauma, and the other four were brought to us. Most of the injuries were broken bones, but there were some abdominal organ injuries as well. They have all done well.
On the personal side, it is tough being away from the family, as you can well imagine. Especially my 10-year-old son — he started playing lacrosse this year and I helped coach before I left, but the season will probably be over by the time I get home. Internet access is pretty good, so I am able to e-mail with them and I get to call every so often.
Things have settled into a routine, as much as that is possible. There is not a whole lot to do when you are off shift, although I am on call 24-7 for trauma.
I am hoping to start flying with the medevac crews shortly. My secondary military occupational specialty is as a flight surgeon, so I would like to get outside the wire and fly a little while I am here.
We are succeeding in our goals for the Iraqi people. Unfortunately, only the violence is covered in the media and not the humanitarian progress that is being made. Many of the workers on the base are Iraqi nationals, and they are very grateful that we are here and have liberated their country. They are constantly expressing their gratitude.
Our troops are remarkable, which is something I have always felt, but have now seen. They believe in the mission and morale is high. There is no griping or complaining. They are the consummate professionals, just getting the job done.
The Unilateral Disarmament Democrats: Putting Trial Lawyers Ahead of Your Family’s Safety
Posted 02/20/2008 ET
Updated 02/20/2008 ET
It’s hard to think of an action that has put as many lives at risk as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D.-Calif.) declaration of unilateral disarmament in the War on Terror last week.
By refusing to renew our ability to monitor terrorist communications overseas, Speaker Pelosi has put Americans at risk. She has blinded our counterterrorism capability and shut down America’s most sophisticated defenses against the irreconcilable wing of Islam. As of midnight last Saturday, the law governing America’s defense is totally inadequate to stop terrorists.
Why? Because the Democratic left believes lining the pockets of trial lawyers is more important than stopping terrorists.
Suing Telecom Companies for Helping Keep America Safe
At issue is the extension of the Protect America Act that was passed last August to allow U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor foreigner-to-foreigner communications without a warrant. Congress has known for six months that this ability under the Protect America Act was set to expire on Sunday. So last week, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority, the Senate passed legislation to prevent the authority from lapsing.
But the House Democratic leadership, led by Speaker Pelosi, refused to let the House vote on the bill. This led to a House GOP walk out led by Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio), who said, “We will not stand idly by and watch the floor of the United States House of Representatives be abused for pure, political grandstanding at the expense of our national security.”
Why? Not because the bill lacked bipartisan support, but because it lacked trial lawyer support. The Senate-passed bill contains a provision granting immunity from lawsuits to telecommunications companies that have been cooperating with the government in the War on Terror.
Instead of putting her fellow Democrats in a position where they have to make a public vote in favor of trial lawyers over the safety of Americans, Speaker Pelosi opted to leave Washington for vacation.
‘The President Just Wants to Protect American Telephone Companies’
As Robert Novak reported Monday, the trial lawyers — the Democrats’ most important source of political contributions — have filed dozens of lawsuits seeking millions of dollars against phone companies for helping keep us safe by responding to the request of intelligence agencies to provide critical information about suspected terrorist communications without a warrant.
The continued cooperation of the telecom companies in monitoring terrorist communications is crucial to America’s defense, which is why the Senate bill contained the immunity provision.
The simple fact is that if a company cooperates with the United States government in tracking down terrorists, it should receive our thanks and gratitude, not a lawsuit.
But some Democrats evidently don’t agree. Note that House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) chose to attack the bill and the President’s support for it by siding with the trial lawyers: “This is not about protecting Americans. The President just wants to protect American telephone companies.”
The House’s Unilateral Disarmament Contrasts Sharply With the Senate’s Leadership
Speaker Pelosi’s and the House Democratic leadership’s unilateral disarmament contrasts sharply with the Senate Democrats who joined in the bipartisan 68-vote majority to strengthen America’s defenses against terrorism.
The Senate bill was a compromise between Senate Democrats and the White House. As former Justice Official Andy McCarthy put it: “Democrats surely did not want to give President Bush this legislative victory, and President Bush certainly did not want to cave on these issues. But both sides compromised precisely because they understood that failing to do so, failing to preserve current surveillance authority, would endanger the United States.”
Senate Democrats such as Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Jim Webb (Va.) deserve thanks for putting the safety of America ahead of their partisan political interests.
The Law Was Never Meant to Protect Foreign Terrorists
So what is the state of our national defenses as I write this today?
The Protect America Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that was passed in 1978 to protect people inside the United States from being monitored by U.S. intelligence without a warrant proving they were agents of a foreign government.
This point is crucial: FISA was never meant to apply to foreigners outside the United States communicating with other foreigners outside the United States.
For 30 years, this was the understanding of the law. But a court case last year said that foreigner-to-foreigner overseas communications now have FISA protections — that is, they require a warrant before they can be monitored — because technology has changed and these non-U.S. communications now technically may pass through U.S. channels in the global telecommunications network.
The result is that for U.S. intelligence to monitor suspected terrorist communications between a Pakistani and an Afghani, they have to go through the time-consuming, bureaucratic procedure of having the attorney general and others approve lengthy affidavits proving that the targets are agents of a foreign power.
As of Midnight Saturday, American Lives Are at Risk
So as of midnight last Saturday, if U.S. intelligence discovers a new terrorist threat, it must spend valuable time preparing bureaucratic documents and seeking approval of busy officials before their communications can be monitored. By the time they’ve jumped through the bureaucratic hoops forced on them by House Democrats, it may be too late.
What’s more, American telecommunications companies are less inclined to cooperate with intelligence officials because they lack protection from lawsuits under the law.
In short, Americans are at greater risk today than we were four days ago.
But Don’t Take My Word for It — Listen to the Intelligence Professionals
But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell — an intelligence professional who served under President Clinton as well as President Bush — told “Fox News Sunday”:
- “Our situation now, when the terrorist threat is increasing because they’ve achieved — al Qaeda’s achieved de facto safe haven in the border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan — the threat is going up.“And therefore, we do not have the agility and the speed that we had before to be able to move and try to capture their communications to thwart their planning.“…[Our country is in] increased danger, and it will increase more and more as time goes on. And the key is the — if you think about the private sector global communications, many people think the government operates that.“Ninety-eight percent of it is owned and operated by the private sector. We cannot do this mission without help and support from the private sector. And the private sector, although willingly helped us in the past, are now saying, ‘You can’t protect me. Why should I help you?’”
Obama and Clinton Were AWOL on Protecting Americans
The potential threat to our safety is so great that the situation calls for leaders of all political parties to come together to call for Congress to act — without delay — to restore these crucial authorities to U.S. intelligence.
Senators and presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama missed the vote that passed the Senate to extend the Protect America Act. But they now have an obligation to keep America safe by joining President Bush in calling for the House return to Washington and pass the Senate bill.
No presidential primary, no 12-day vacation, is more important than the safety and security of our country.
Our leaders and would-be leaders must act.
The United States Congress by its inaction has created a gap in our national defense. A gap we can now only hope will not be filled by our enemies. Congress has the solemn responsibility not to put politics over American security. The President should implore Congress, as a national security priority, to return to Washington and pass the Protect America Act to give our intelligence agencies the tools they need to defeat our enemies.
Arlington National Cemetery, December 19, 2007 
Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.Know the line has held, your job is done.Rest easy, sleep well.Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.Peace, peace, and farewell… 
Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths — some 5,000 — are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He’s done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.
A 61-year old Truckee physician, joins Navy after his Marine son was killed in Iraq
By Jim Clark
December 18, 2007
“Stores will open at 4:00 AM the day after Thanksgiving.” “Santa Baby, a Cadillac convertible”. The stress buying just the right presents. Overlapping holiday parties. Jorgie Jorgensen singing “Oh $@##, it’s Christmas again.” Is anyone else overcome by the holiday spirit?
I’m grateful to Incline’s Jack Hubbard for putting me on to a story about some locals the telling of which puts the stress of the season behind me and brings some welcome perspective into what this season is really about. Here it is.
Austin Krissoff, age 24, and his brother Nathan, age 25, were raised in Truckee. Athletic, scholarly and popular these brothers enjoyed everything that Tahoe life could offer them. Then the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 occurred. Most of us remember the scenes of humans jumping out of the burning buildings, charred bodies of firefighters and pipe band funerals for heroic police; we wondered what we could do to help in those dark days. The Kissoffs both joined the US Marine Corps and underwent training as officers. In March 2003 the Iraq war began and Nathan, an intelligence officer with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, was sent there with his unit.
Exactly one year ago today Nathan was killed by a roadside bomb near Fallujah.
Nathan’s dad is Bill Krissoff, MD, age 61, a Truckee physician with a prosperous practice. Dr. Krissoff was devastated by the news of Nathan’s death and experienced the anguish and grief all of us would have had we been in his place. Then, early this year, he began to put things into perspective and determined that he would honor his son’s life by becoming a military physician treating Marines in Iraq.
Easier said than done for someone nearing retirement age. First of all every Marine is basically a rifle carrier so the Marine Corps does not actually have a medical corps. The Navy provides all doctors, dentists and corpsmen that fight with the Marines so Dr. Bill had to qualify for Navy standards. He met all requirements except for age so his application got put in a suspense file.
A few months ago President George Bush came to Reno to address the American Legion convention. Dr. Bill and his wife Christine went to hear him and were invited to a private meeting with the commander in chief to discuss the loss of Nathan. In that encounter President Bush asked if there was anything he could do for them. Dr. Bill told him about the bogged down application.
Also present at the poignant meeting was presidential counselor Karl Rove who was taking notes. Back in Washington DC Rove called in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair who was Marine General Peter Pace.
On November 17 Dr. Bill was commissioned Lieutenant Commander (Medical Corps), US Naval Reserve. After some training in military medicine he will be deployed to a field hospital in Iraq.
“I’m just a doctor who wants to help Marines; I’m not trying to change the world” Dr. Bill recently told a reporter. “Usually it’s the father who tries to set an example for his sons,” he added. ”In this case my sons led me.” Asked what he believed Nathan would say about his successfully mastering Navy bureaucracy to deploy to a war zone: “He’d just say, ‘way to go, Pops.’”
In the Gospel of John’s it says: “Greater love hath no man than this; that he lay down his life for his friend.” This season let’s forget the mercantilism and remember all our firefighter, police and armed forces friends who have given what Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion” for us and our families.
And let’s extend best wishes for our neighbor, Dr. Bill, and his selfless mission of saving wounded Marines.
(Jim Clark is President of Republican Advocates, a vice chair of the Washoe County GOP and a member of the Nevada GOP Central Committee)
Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor
Lt. Michael P. Murphy died in June 2005. He is the first SEAL to receive the honor since the Vietnam War.
Lt. Michael P. Murphy, the first to be awarded the highest military award for combat in Afghanistan, was killed during a 2005 mission.
CORONADO — A Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan will be awarded the Medal of Honor, the first such award for troops serving in Afghanistan and the first for a SEAL since the Vietnam War, the White House announced Thursday.
Lt. Michael P. Murphy, 29, who had SEAL training here and was assigned to a SEAL team in Hawaii, was killed in June 2005 during a mission in the Hindu Kush mountains to find a key Taliban leader.
FOR THE RECORD:
Medal of Honor: An article in Friday’s Section A about the posthumous awarding of the Medal of Honor to a Navy SEAL who served in Afghanistan said Lt. Michael P. Murphy was commissioned a Navy ensign in 1999. That commission to the Officer Candidate School came in 2000. —
Ambushed by insurgents, Murphy’s four-man SEAL team engaged in a fierce firefight and was in danger of being overrun.Although he was wounded, Murphy risked his life to save fellow SEALs and then maneuvered into an open position to send out an emergency call and to continue firing at the enemy. While making the call, he was hit again.Only one of the SEALs on the team survived. Eight other SEALs and eight soldiers aboard a MH-47 Chinook helicopter sent to rescue Murphy’s team also were killed when the craft was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade.The incident was the worst single-day loss of life for Navy Special Warfare personnel since World War II.“Mike Murphy was a true warrior, a true leader. No one cared more about his men than he did,” said a SEAL officer who asked to be identified only as Sean. Because their missions are secret, SEALs prefer to remain anonymous.President Bush will present the Medal of Honor to Murphy’s parents on Oct. 22 at the White House.Only two other military personnel — Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham and Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith — have been awarded the nation’s highest honor for bravery for actions undertaken since Bush sent troops into Afghanistan in 2001. Both of those awards were for bravery in Iraq and were posthumous.The three other members of Murphy’s team — Matthew Axelson, 25, and Danny Dietz, 31, who were both killed, and Marcus Luttrell, 32 — have each been awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor.Luttrell is the author of “Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.”Murphy grew up on Long Island and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1998 with degrees in political science and psychology. He was commissioned a Navy ensign in 1999 and graduated from SEAL training in Coronado in 2001.His father, Daniel, an attorney and a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, said the assignment to Afghanistan was particularly important to his son. Murphy had friends in the New York police and fire departments and wore an NYFD patch on his uniform.“He told me, ‘We’re going where the people who planned, plotted and recruited for 9/11 are,’ ” Daniel Murphy said.Murphy’s mother, Maureen, said the Medal of Honor meant that “now the world will know what his family has always known: how special he was.”At the SEAL base in Coronado, Murphy and his teammates were the subject of numerous conversations as word of the White House announcement circulated.Though SEALs’ grief lingers, they preferred to praise Murphy’s steely determination and leadership.“I’ll remember him and those other guys every day of my life,” said Cory, a SEAL petty officer first class.tony.perry@latimes.com
“Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.”
The Global War against Islamist Terrorism
By Bruce Herschensohn
October 5, 2007
Americans are a uniquely impatient people. We find yesterday to be a long time ago. We buy Sunday newspapers on Saturday, next year’s models of cars are out this year, and we rush to the future, receiving Christmas catalogues in September. We are the inventors and consumers of fast—food. Our inherent American impatience is a great asset in peacetime. It can mean defeat in times of war.
Since the advent of the first television war, Vietnam, our impatience has increased to the point that many Americans today will only accept military engagements, if any, that are brief with few U.S. casualties, somewhat like Grenada or the liberation of Kuwait or the military incursions into Panama or Haiti or Bosnia or Kosovo.
Those U.S. efforts were carried out for our interests but they were not fought for the survival of our own nation; they were largely fought for the survival of others. We are now engaged in a war for the survival of the United States and the survival of civilization as we know it.
And so in impatience to be done with the battlefield of Iraq in the War against Islamist Terrorism, the current 110th Congress created a bill for a withdrawal of our armed forces from Iraq, using April 30, 2008, as a deadline. Coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, April 30 will be the 33rd anniversary of the surrender of South Vietnam to North Vietnam; a surrender brought about by the 94th Congress. (Our military had left more than two years earlier, but the 94th Congress stopped the vital aid we promised the South Vietnamese when we left.) It is as though the 110TH Congress is saying, “Let’s do it again!”
Today, many in the congress advocate “ending the war” rather than winning the war. “Ending the war” is said either because those members of the congress do not know how to win it, or feel the United States cannot win, or do not want the United States to win. Continually they ask, “What does victory mean?” That question was never asked during World War II.
Shortly after 9—11, our leaders from both sides of the aisle gave bad advice to the people of the nation to live life as before: to work as we have always worked; travel as we have always traveled; go on vacation when time permits; purchase what we would have purchased before. In summary, other than being vigilant, Americans were told not to change our lives from the normal routine known before 9—11.
Too many willingly adopted that advice and lived with the false perception that the war was no more than a background rather than the foreground of their lives, and the war was little more than an infrequent and unwelcome intrusion on the things they chose to do.
By no means did the war dominate everyone’s time, as World War II dominated the time of all Americans in a unified quest for victory. In the Global War against Islamist Terrorism, that unity only lasted weeks. On 9—11 of 2001, even skeptics realized we were in a war against those who wanted us killed and our nation killed and even themselves killed in the doing of it, all for imagined rewards to be given in the after—life for their killing. And we all knew that preemption on our part would now be vital. But soon the realization faded and so did the unity.
Complacency was reflected in polls that tabulated that the chief concern of Americans was the economy. And then health care. And then the environment. Further down the list was terrorism. After all, 9—11 was quickly considered to be history, not the present. Therefore, unity was history, not the present.
This year, a memo of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee advised that the phrase “the Global War on Terrorism” should not be used. What, then should it be called?
Massive attacks have been made by Islamist terrorists in Kandahar and Bali and Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and London and Casablanca and Islamabad and Jericho and Nazareth and Moscow and Djakarta and Mindanao and Amman and Mumbai and Luxor and Istanbul and Madrid and Aden and Sharm el—Sheikh and New Delhi and Dacca and Taba and Beslan and Netanya and Mombasa and Riyadh and Karachi and Aqaba and Beirut and Ankara and Dahab and Algiers and Glasgow and Sanaa and — New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. What is the hesitancy to call it what it is?
In this war we take comfort in knowing that every Chief of State around the world knows that we have more power than any other nation in the world and that our military has the means to destroy any enemy, and destroy any enemy in short time. But because of Vietnam in 1975, Lebanon in 1983 and Somalia in 1993, the world has come to believe we will not use the power we have, and therefore we are not the most powerful nation in the world. And that is key because the victor in any war is not necessarily the one who has the most power — it is the one that is perceived as willing to use the power that will achieve its victory.
Even after some 3,000 civilian lives were lost on 9—11, our troops were ordered to fight a politically correct war on the battlefields, and we fought a politically — correct war at home as well, allowing peace—time rules to apply in war. Almost with pride, we let it be known the enemy could win if it was patient enough and cruel enough.
All issues other than our victory in the war should be nothing more than luxury reserved for a later time. For those in the congress who do not understand the definition of the word: Victory means winning.
Bruce Herschensohn is a professor of foreign policy at Pepperdine University and sits on the Board of Directors at the Center for Individual Freedom (www.cfif.org).
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.
Ronald Reagan
September 28, 2007
Dear NewsMax Reader:
Please find below a special message from our sponsor, Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation. They have some important information to share with you.
Thank you.
NewsMax.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — “American pilots do not conduct air-raids on villages, killing civilians, nor are our troops cold-blooded murderers or terrorists,” said retired Air Force Col. George “Bud” Day, America’s most decorated living veteran and former POW. “But, if you believe some current members of Congress who have accused our men and women in uniform of all that and worse, you would have to conclude our military is a barbarian horde, just as John Kerry had previously said.”
“It was a lie then, and it’s an even bigger lie today,” Day continued. “The truth is that some in the U.S. Congress and their mouthpieces in the media now represent a much bigger threat to the lives of our men and women in combat, and our national security, than any foreign enemy.”
Among his many decorations from World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Col. Day is a Medal of Honor recipient and a combat pilot held captive for more than five years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison. He is also the Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation (VVLF) which has been embroiled in litigation with Kerry campaign aides since Kerry’s failed Presidential bid. Those lawsuits were recently withdrawn, and the VVLF is now able to reveal the results of its research and investigation efforts. But the VVLF needs your help.
“We were forced to spend over $1 million to defend ourselves in these frivolous lawsuits. In fact we still owe over $250,000 in legal bills. We paid the price of freedom 35 years ago to protect the basic liberties of all Americans, and now we’re paying all over again, to protect our own freedom of speech,” said Col. Day, a practicing Florida attorney.
“Unfortunately, as former Prisoners of War, we do not have the money that MoveOn.org has. Nor do we have the ability to obtain special discounts from the New York Times to run full page ads.”
Col. Day and several other POWs, including the wife of a POW, were sued numerous times by Kerry campaign associates after they participated in a 2004 documentary, “Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal.” In that film, Day and other POWs detailed the direct impact Kerry and his fellow anti-war activists, including many U.S. Senators, had on their survival in captivity and even the eventual loss of the Vietnam War.
The producer of “Stolen Honor,” Pulitzer Prize-winner and Marine combat veteran, Carlton Sherwood, was also sued in a vain effort by the Kerry Campaign to prevent the documentary from being broadcast or even shown in theaters. It was eventually released in the closing days of the 2004 campaign, primarily on Northern Ohio cable outlets where, according to most post-election news analysts, Sen. Kerry lost his presidential bid.
“Our brave soldiers were and continue to be sold out today by many of those same people, abetted by a new crop of politicians and journalists,” Col Day said. “They may say they ’support the troops,’ but they have nothing but contempt for those serving in the military. The reality is many in Congress and the media are hoping for, and invested in, America’s defeat in the Global War on Terrorism just as they forced America’s defeat in Vietnam, years after the last U.S. military combat units were withdrawn.”
Col. Day continued:
“The problem is that it was all a lie, staged theatrics, choreographed by the Communists and spoon fed to the American public by unconscionable, ambitious politicians and the press. We now have the hard evidence to prove that. We have obtained documents, records, eyewitness accounts, even the CONFESSIONS of those who originally made those despicable accusations and have now recanted ever witnessing an atrocity, much less committing one. The facts are incontrovertible and compelling.”
“Our findings prove the accusations made against our military in Vietnam were pure enemy propaganda used by American turncoats to advance their political ambitions and agendas, all trumpeted, by an unquestioning, complicit media,” Day said. “Today, other phonies have taken their place, people like Jesse MacBeth and Scott Thomas Beauchamp, whose slanderous accusations against our men and women in Iraq made world-wide headlines even though those reports were baseless, the accusers frauds. Then, as now, the media has been all too eager to hand the microphone over to anyone who wishes to defame America’s soldiers, whether it’s an ambitious politician or a wannabe who never spent a day in uniform, much less a combat zone.
Col. Day said his VVLF organization plans to release its findings once they secure funding to do so.
“This is not over,” said Day. “Now we are able to reveal the results of the research and documentation that we acquired. This material will reclaim once and for all the good name and good reputation of a generation of servicemen. It will help make sure that the brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t have to go through what we did.”
Armed with these testimonies and documented research, the VVLF plans to demonstrate to the American public the truth about those who accused our troops of atrocities and war crimes and those who promoted those falsehoods. The former POWs also intend to show the motives of those responsible and the media propaganda that lead to an entirely false history of Vietnam, just as the press is doing today in Iraq.
President Bush meets with a Marine combat patrol unit at Al-Asad Airbase in Anbar province, Iraq, Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. The president made an unannounced visit to Iraq to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general of the multinational forces in Iraq, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, Iraqi leaders, and U.S. troops. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
| Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
September 16, 2007
“Cut and Run Lite”: Congressional Iraq Proposal Puts Troops at Risk
The Heritage Foundation WebMemo #1618
This week, the Senate will resume debate on the fiscal year 2008 defense authorization bill. It will consider an amendment by Senator Jim Webb (D–VA) to prohibit the deployment of any soldiers, sailors, airmen, or Marines to Iraq or Afghanistan unless they have spent as much or more time at home than deployed overseas. The amendment also prohibits the deployment of any unit or member of a Reserve component (including the National Guard) that has been deployed at any time within the last three years. The goal of this legislation is to limit the options available to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, thereby tying Pentagon planners’ hands and forcing a de facto drawdown of U.S. force levels in Iraq. This legislation would undermine how America fights wars while limiting the flexibility necessary for the Secretary of Defense to effectively oversee military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate should continue to reject the cut-and-run approach.
Sacrificing Progress is Tragic
Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently told The Los Angeles Times, “Clearly there is hard work that remains in some [areas], but the situation in others is in pretty good shape.” General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker echoed this sentiment last week in their report and testimony before Congress. None of the recent progress in Iraq would have been possible without the flexibility to put troops on the ground when and where they are needed to perform the missions that will safeguard the lives of U.S. soldiers, protect U.S. interests, and help the Iraqis. Taking that flexibility away jeopardizes everything.
Congress should not mandate individual soldier or unit deployment lengths. Proposals along these lines are little more than transparent attempts to hamstring the military’s ability to support combat operations, particularly in Iraq. Such restrictions would be the first step toward cutting and running and abandoning the military’s hard-fought progress to forces that want to kill, exploit, and oppress the Iraqi people.
War by Committee is a Disaster
Congress’s limiting troop movements is unrealistic and would not serve to make America safer. Armies rarely go into battle with all the personnel, equipment, and training they need. With such standards in place, Americans would never have fought at Trenton, Cantigny, the Battle of the Bulge, or the Chosin Reservoir. No army could fight and win with these kinds of restrictions. In addition, legislative delays on committing troops—even with a so-called waiver authority—would place soldiers already on the ground at far greater risk. Even a proposal that allows the President to waive restrictions based on military necessity is risky. Waiver criteria would be controversial, using waivers would leave the President open to criticism, and delays in obtaining waivers could cost lives.
Restricting what personnel are available to the President, Secretary of Defense, service chiefs, and combatant commanders could ultimately make Americans at home less safe. If another flare up occurs outside of Iraq and U.S. units were unable to rapidly respond and prevent conflict, American safety would be on the line unnecessarily.
Micromanaging the Pentagon is a Mistake
Current Army policy already provides no less than one year at home for soldiers deployed for 15 months. With the likely drawdown of U.S. forces to “pre-surge” levels, this will ensure no units serve beyond 15 months. Those soldiers who must serve beyond one year in combat are paid an additional $1,000 per month or receive additional time off. (Active-duty soldiers receive one day off for every month their deployment extends beyond 12 months in a three-year period. If deployment extends to more than 18 months out of 36, two days per month are granted.) Active-duty Marines are sent on seven-month combat tours, with six months at home between deployments. The Defense Department’s current policy for members of the Reserve component is one year deployed and five years stateside, unless the soldier volunteers for repeat tours.
Defense officials and military leaders have repeatedly said that 15-month deployments are the worst-case scenario and that the department will eventually return to a 12-month deployment schedule, with two years at home between deployments. Army Secretary Pete Geren testified before Congress in June that the Army is constantly reviewing options to relieve pressure on active-duty soldiers, such as relying more heavily on reservists and using sister services for help. Though there is no doubt that America is asking much of its ground forces, 45 percent of Marines and 37 percent of Army soldiers had never deployed for various reasons, such as their skill sets and current locations overseas, according to a June Associated Press analysis. These numbers do not warrant Congress dictating in law operational deployment decisions that should be determined based upon the needs of battlefield commanders.
Stop the Insanity
Congress’s mandating deployment schedules would put U.S. forces and Americans at risk unnecessarily. Mandating deployment schedules would limit the Commander in Chief’s flexibility during war and would be the first step toward cutting and running in Iraq.
The President has authorized a significant drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq that will eventually alleviate the need to require lengthy deployments or reduced time between tours. The Department of Defense, meanwhile, is taking adequate steps to address extended deployments. Congress should not be in the business of dictating troop deployment policies, especially when its actions risk U.S. troops’ hard-fought gains.
—James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Senior Research Fellow for the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
Washington Says Effort to Strengthen Iran Sanctions Remains On Track |
|
| Washington 12 September 2007 |
The Bush administration continues to press for strengthened U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, provoking a testy reaction from Tehran. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports from Washington. Click here for complete article
Al-Qaida in Iraq takes heavy losses
Published: Sept. 13, 2007 at 9:25 AM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 13 (UPI) — Al-Qaida militants in Iraq have taken heavy losses in two joint U.S.-Iraqi raids north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported Thursday.
In one operation involving more than 1,000 U.S. troops and Iraq Special Forces in the Hemreen mountain area and Diyala river valley, three al-Qaida fighters were killed and 80 others were arrested, the Army statement said.
The report said four of the arrested men are considered senior leaders in the terror group, Kuwait’s KUNA news agency reported. U.S. air support was used to conclude the raid, after which a major weapons cache was found, the statement said.
Elsewhere in Salah Al-Din province, U.S. forces arrested 12 al-Qaida suspects and destroyed an entire house packed with explosives and weaponry, the report said.
© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
Lt. Col. Grossman on Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs
“One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: ‘Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident…Then there are the wolves,’ the old war veteran said, ‘and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.’ Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial…Then there are sheepdogs,’ he went on, ‘and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.’
…If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath–a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed…
Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed, and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence than by school fires, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog that intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.” Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog…
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, ‘Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.’ The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, ‘Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.’ When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage — only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.”
Lt. Col. David Grossman from The Bulletproof Mind
Subject: The surge is working – my son is there
Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 7:19 AM
From: Bill Ferguson
Conversation: the surge is working – my son is there
This morning I was on the KOH Radio Morning Show with Ross and Monica from 6:43 to 6:49, discussing the conditions that my son has seen while active in “the surge”… both Ross and Monica were very polite and appreciative when off the air…
they asked what he thought of the defeatist attitude of the Dems, and I read his response that he had provided me a couple of months ago… “Thank you Senator Reid for turning your back on those who protect your rights. You have shown your true character.”
They then asked about the surge and what Tom had seen. I told of the conditions when they first got there with streets empty and shops closed to now with shops open, kids in the street, and now the locals hold feasts for them on a regular basis. Local leaders are pleased to have their communities back.
The IA coming in to replace them is very experienced at sustaining calm and training-up a local police force. His experience is that the surge is working and the Iraqis are grateful. I did comment that 130 temps, sleeping on the ground, and a steady diet of MREs gets to them over time.They asked if I knew where he was, and I could only describe it as somewhere in Anbar Province defined as AO Anaheim… likely north and west of Baghdad…
Tom serves in the 13th MEU that was mentioned by Gen. Petraeus in his testimony before the House. The 13th is being rotated out of Iraq this month and replaced by Iraqi Army, not another US military unit.Their off-air comment was that the Dems keep telling us the surge isn’t working and that is picked-up by the media and pretty soon that becomes “the truth”, even if the conditions on the ground paints a totally different picture. My response was that we need to show pride in the accomplishments of the US military and stop the defeatist attitude.BillBill Ferguson wrote:
My son writes in a recent 3/1 newsletter:“With the sun still low in the sky, rising with the morning sounds, another familiar sound closed-in towards the Marines of the 2nd platoon. The sound was that of humvees; not any humvees, though, they were the humvees of the Iraqi Army 1st Division. It would mark the pinnacle of the Marines overall mission, to help the transition of security to the Iraqi Government. The IAs brought every fixing of home from beds to lockers.The symbolism isn’t just a sign of another IA unit being manned and ready for action. On the contrary, this unit has been operating for over 3 years now. The soldiers of the 1st Iraqi Army Division were previously stationed in Fallujah where Marines of the 3/1 fought so fiercely in 2004. After the battle of Fallujah in Nov 2004, the city was rid of insurgents, giving Marines a chance to start from scratch. The Marines came up with an ingenious idea of treating Fallujah like a gated community to ensure that only peaceful people were allowed back-in and the city would not fall back to insurgents again. With the success in Fallujah, the Coalition Forces have seen that the Iraqi Police can serve-up and protect Fallujah without the assistance of the IA.
The area of Dra Digla (my input: this is where he is as he writes this) is an area that has seen few Coalition Forces since the liberation in 2003. With the Coalition Forces having occupied the area for a total of 14 days since March 2003, the area was relatively untouched. With its tactical importance of being a secondary route between Karma, Baghdad and Fallujah, the area was prime for weapons trafficking and other insurgent activities. With the arrival of the Marines in mid-June, the area has seen a state of calm. With this relative calm, the 13th MEUs redeployment back to the US and the new trust and confidence in the IA, Dra Digla is set for success. The IA Division is ready to stay in the area until a local police force is stood-up and can take over the area.”Unfortunately, this is not the kind of news that reaches us here in the US.
Bill Ferguson
Reno, NV
Jihadi Terrorism
Dr. Babu Suseelan
Throughout its recorded history, fundamentalist Islam tried to establish an ontological form of Islam through Jihadi terrorism.
For centuries, Jihadis (religious warriors) have resorted to mass murder, oppression, intimidation, torture, terrorism, assassination and forced religious conversion all in the name of fundamentalist belief system. And so it is today. Only the threat, the methods, and the goals differ.
Now, Jihadi terrorism is one of the greatest single threats to the existing world order. Modern day jihadi terrorist groups as Hamas, Hezbollah, Lasker-E-Tobia, Al Bader, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Tehreek-E-Jihad, Hizbul Mujahidden virtually ensures that Jihadi terrorism will be with us for many years to come. Click here to read more
Al-Qaida Plans Nuclear Attacks on 7 U.S. Cities
Newsmax.com
August 22, 2007
The newly released book “The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World,” (Prometheus Books) paints a frightening picture of al-Qaida’s nuclear ambitions — one every American must be aware of.
Seasoned investigative reporter and former FBI consultant Paul Williams reveals the alarming potential for nuclear terrorism on U.S. soil and the sinister connections among organized crime, illegal immigrants, and al-Qaida.
Recently, FBI Director Robert Mueller, in an interview with NewsMax, confirmed Williams’ main claim. Mueller said al-Qaida’s paramount goal is clear: to detonate a nuclear device that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Mueller told NewsMax that at times, the threat feels so real he lies awake at night thinking about the prospect.
Williams maintains that al-Qaida is not content on blowing up one nuclear device or a “dirty” nuke — al-Qaida wants to explode real nuclear devices in seven U.S. cities simultaneously.
Williams says these cities are New York, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Miami, Boston, Houston, and Los Angeles.
Mueller seems to confirm this claim of multiple attacks, saying both New York and Washington would be likely targets. Already Williams says the U.S. government has Washington webbed by “choke” points to detect nuclear material.
For many Americans, the threat of al-Qaida’s nuclear ambitions begins in the time after the horrific 9/11 attacks.
But as Williams shows so clearly, al-Qaida has been devising its nuclear plan since the early 1990s — and the U.S. government and other intelligence services have been well aware of al-Qaida’s plan.
For example, Williams quotes Michael Scheuer, a senior CIA official who headed the agency’s bin Laden unit.
Scheuer admitted the CIA “found that [bin Laden] and al-Qaida were involved in an extraordinarily sophisticated and professional effort to acquire weapons of mass destruction — in this case, nuclear weapons; so, by the end of 1996, it was clear that this was an organization unlike any other one we had ever seen.”
Remember, Scheuer is describing the period before 9/11, proving again that bin Laden had been investing enormous time, resources, and money into getting nuclear weapons for more than 10 years.
Bin Laden and his adherents believe this nuclear cataclysm will usher in “The Day of Islam,” the dream of radical Muslims to see all of humankind fall in submission before the throne of Allah as the “Great Satan,” America, is brought to her knees.
Williams is not surprised at all that bin Laden has planned to launch such nuclear attacks, suggesting his delay is consistent with his past pattern of activities. For sure, it is a plan that has been long in its hatching.
Based on the “forgotten testimony” of the FBI’s “Confidential Source One,” as well as other sources, Williams first presents evidence of bin Laden’s purchase of highly enriched uranium in Sudan and nuclear devices from the Chechens and the Russian Mafia.
He then offers further information on the workings of Pakistani scientists and technicians from the A.Q. Khan Research Facility to maintain and upgrade al-Qaida’s “bespoke nukes” (with explosive yields in excess of 10 kilotons) for the “American Hiroshima.”
Williams explosive revelations are even more worrisome because they are not simply backed up by speculation and anonymous sources, they are sourced with government reports and comments made “on the record” by top officials.
Jihadist Strategies in the War on Terrorism
November 8, 2004
by Mary R. Habeck, Ph.D.
Heritage Lecture #855
I am going to be talking about a group of people who are generally known as fundamentalists, extremists, or (as I have grown to call them) “jihadis.” The term jihad suggests what they believe their lives are about–holy war that is directed against people they believe are their enemies and the enemies of their way of life.
Yet there is more to what they are doing than simple warfare. In fact, I believe they are involved in a war that has a definite strategy behind it, not simply the sort of random attacks that people talk about all the time. However, if you watch the news it is really hard to see that. You look at the news and you see Muslims being killed, you see churches being attacked, you see Jews being killed. You see all sorts of people being targeted and attacked, and in some cases those attacks seem to be counterproductive. After all, it does not make sense to kill the Muslims that you are trying to win over to your side of the argument. It does not make sense to target churches or other places of worship when all this does is win sympathy for the victims of these attacks. Click here to read rest of article
August 21, 2007
From: Bill Ferguson
To: Sam Shad
Subject: a direct report from Iraq received overnight
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:29:30 -0700
I heard some of Reid’s comments on Newsmakers yesterday. Somehow they seemed quite different from this report to families from the Commander of the 3/1 Marines serving in AO Anaheim somewhere in An Bar province… my son serves in the 3/1…
Bill Ferguson
Dear Families,
Since my last email update in late July, we have passed the four month mark in our deployment and are fast approaching the five month mark. We have also passed our original 60 day deployment window for operations in Al Anbar Province and are now finishing up our 30-day extension here in AO Anaheim. Your Marines and Sailors continue to amaze everyone that comes in contact with them. Over the last 30 days, the BLT has hosted numerous General Officers to include: the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Conway; the Commanding General, Multinational Corps-Iraq, LtGen Odierno; MARCENT CG, LtGen Mattis, and MNF-W CG, MGen Gaskin and each had one common theme – the unbelievable performance of the Marines and Sailors of BLT 3/1 (LtGen Mattis used the term magnificent no less than a dozen times). Your BLT has denied our enemy sanctuary, interdicted insurgent supply routes and removed accelerants (IEDs, IED making materials and weapons) from the hands of our enemies. These efforts have made an immediate and positive impact on the Al Anbar Province (and the greater Baghdad region). Unfortunately, as a result of their Herculean efforts the Marines and Sailors were rewarded with the 30-day extension to continue the mission. If it were left to the General Officers mentioned above, the BLT would remain in Iraq indefinitely because of the results we are producing. That said, we are scheduled to withdraw from AO Anaheim on schedule next month and there is no talk of another extension, so rest easy.
We are currently integrating the 1st and 3rd Battalions from the 2d Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division into AO Anaheim. They will take over responsibility of our area once we depart next month. They are battle tested Iraqi soldiers who have spent the last two years fighting along side Marines in Fallujah. We are working extremely hard right now to ensure the battlespace is ready for turn over to our Iraqi partners. We want to do everything in our power to ensure they are set up for success. We are currently training, coordinating and conducting combined patrols with these soldiers with the ultimate goal of eventually handing over all operations in AO Anaheim to the 2d Brigade.
The transit plan is now being finalized and your Marines should be passing the dates for the two port visits. The first port visit will take place in Perth, Australia from 16-21 October and the second will be in Hawaii from 8-10 November. These dates have been confirmed and are good for planning, reservations and Tiger Cruise purposes. Things can obviously change when transiting such extensive distances, but this is what we currently have from our Navy brethren, so hopefully nothing will change over the next 2 months. This still puts us returning home just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday on or about 19 November. This is great news as we could all use a good home cooked meal and we all know there is no better home cooked meal than the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Please forgive our manners though as we will likely engulf our food and pass out on the couch (actually what’s new, right).
With that said, I must remind you all that we still have a bit of work ahead of us here and our AO remains extremely dangerous. Our enemy does not have a deployment window and he will continue to seek to do us harm until the last minute of the last day of our time in AO Anaheim. I continually remind our Marines and Sailors that we must maintain an aggressive offensive mindset until the day we depart and we must continue to relentlessly pursue our enemy. Sadly, since my last email, the BLT has lost two additional Marines to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Cpl Sean Stokes and Sgt Jon Bonnell, Jr. paid the ultimate sacrifice to make a difference here in Iraq. As a Marine, it is painful beyond belief to lose a fellow Marine, but we seek solace in knowing that our cause is just and our actions righteous. I continually remind the Marines closest to these fallen warriors (as I personally was to Cpl Stokes) that these are our generation’s heroes. Marine Corps’ history is replete with charismatic leaders and valorous heroes and these Marines now take their place among that honored few. Personally, I no longer need to reflect back to those heroes of past historic battles to find motivation for I am surrounded on a daily basis by my true heroes, your Marines and Sailors. These are not pages in a book, but live history in the making and I am humbled to be a part of it all.
I will close with a passage from General George Washington describing the actions of his men after a near miraculous victory at Trenton during our American Revolution. His words most aptly summarize my feeling towards the Marines and Sailors of BLT 3/1. After the battle, the General remarked, “The officers and the men that were engaged in the enterprise behaved with great firmness, poise, advance, and bravery, and such as did them the highest honor.” I truly am honored to be associated with such men of high moral and physical courage and I love each and every one of them. I thank you for your continued love, prayers and support. We think of you everyday and long for the moment of our reunion. Please remain strong and hang tough for a couple of more months. It will be here before you know it.
Please feel free to forward this email to the families of our single Marines as they may not be directly tied into the network.
Semper Fidelis and God Bless,
LtCol Chandler
“3/1 HARD”
49-Year-Old Rambo Headed for Iraq – From Court Room to Combat
By Jason Auslander | The New Mexican
August 22, 2007 At an age when a lot of men confront midlife crises, public defender Damian Horne is pondering front-line combat in Iraq.
“You know what they call me in my unit?” said Horne, who will turn 49 on Friday. “Grandpa Rambo!”
