August 21, 2004

Bombs rattle Spanish resort towns

Two small bombs left in glass recycling bins have exploded in coastal resorts in north-western Spain, leaving four people with minor injuries.

A caller claiming to represent Basque separatists, who have targeted Spain's tourist industry before, phoned a warning before the devices went off.

The injuries were caused by flying glass when a bin exploded near a yacht club in Sanxenxo in the Galicia region.

A second bomb near a marina in Baiona, also in Galicia, caused no injuries.

Whoever is behind these attempts, the full force of the law in going to come down on them," he said.

Four small bombs exploded at holiday resorts on the country's northern coast earlier this month.

Isn't this pathetic and sad?
The ETA terrorists know they can attack Spain with impunity since they saw the Spanish government and the Spaniards cave after Al Queda pulled off the Madrid bombings.
Common sense should have told them to stand up to the terrorists--any and all terrorists--no matter what name or cause their group bears...and we tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen and now they're reaping the whirlwind.
AQ may be appeased for awhile because they got what they wanted this time which was to get Spain to pull their troops out of Iraq, but now ETA has come back (although not yet with a vengeance) and both ETA and AQ want to conquer Andalusia for themselves and most probably have joined common cause long ago.
Mistake, Zapatero.
America should be forewarned that the same thing will happen should Zapatero's fellow Leftist John Kerry be elected President here.

'We war widows should think very carefully before we speak out'

The widow of the first British soldier to be killed in Iraq has accused anti-war campaigners of exploiting the grief of the relatives of dead servicemen for political purposes.
[Yes, it's true. They do it here in the States, too, I'm sad to say.--Jen]

Samantha Roberts, 32, who rose to prominence after she accused the Government of misleading the public over her husband's death, said that some critics of the conflict had sought to "take advantage" of her own grief and she feared that the same was now happening with other families.
 
Mrs Roberts' husband, Steven, 33, a sergeant and tank commander, was killed after he was shot in the chest and stomach. Hours earlier he had been told to give his body armour to a soldier who had none.
[I think our U.S. soldiers have had a shortage of body armor, also, and I can only hope that the Pentagon is solving the problem as fast as they can.--J.T.]

Mrs Roberts said that despite her own clashes with the Government, she was concerned that the grief of bereaved relatives, such as Rose and Maxine Gentle, who spoke out last week over the death of 19-year-old Fusilier Gordon Gentle, were being used by critics of the Prime Minister.
[Just change PM to President Bush and we have the same despiccable situation here.
Even worse, was the spectacle of poor beheaded civilian Nick Berg's father blaming Bush with all the Leftist media in full attendance noting every word to get his reaction to his son's horrible murder.]

"Widows and relatives need to be careful that their grief isn't going to be used as a weapon to attack the Government by unscrupulous politicians or by those within the media with their own anti-war agenda," said Mrs Roberts, speaking from her home in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. "When you are newly bereaved, you are in a very vulnerable and confused state and it is easy for some people to take advantage of that.

"I certainly felt that some people were trying to take advantage of me and my feelings after Steve died and use them for their own agenda.

"When someone very close to you dies, the rawness of the experience makes you look for someone to blame for their death. I think that the tragedy these families are suffering is being exploited by some who want to attack the Government.

"I would advise anyone who suffers a bereavement in a case like mine to think very carefully before speaking out publicly. I'm no professional, but it is easy to find yourself saying things that you don't mean, and you have to ask yourself whether your husband or son would want you to be doing this."

Mrs Roberts's comments follow a call by Rose and Maxine Gentle, the mother and sister of Gordon Gentle, who was killed by a roadside bomb in June, for the Prime Minister to withdraw British troops from Iraq.
[...]
Mrs Roberts said her view was that her husband and other British servicemen had knowingly signed up to a job that involved risk, including the danger of being killed.

"I am neither pro-war nor anti-war, I supported my husband and I continue to support what the Armed Forces are doing in Iraq," she said. "It is very easy to forget that our servicemen are volunteers not conscripts. They didn't have to join up but they did, knowing the risks involved.

"We can't have an Army in which servicemen or women are allowed to pick and choose when they are going to fight and when they are not; that's not part of the contract and I think they accept this. Steve died doing the job he loved. This is what he had spent the last 16 years of his life training for and I am proud of what he stood for and what he did in Iraq."

Mrs Roberts' views were echoed by Julie Maddison, whose son Christopher, a Royal Marine, was killed in a friendly fire incident in southern Iraq in March last year.

Mrs Maddison, 49, from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, said that the politicisation of grief was undermining the sacrifice made by servicemen who had given their life for their country.

She believed it was wrong for the families of dead servicemen to call for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. "Every serviceman or woman is aware of the risks when they volunteer for the Armed Forces. They know that in the event of a war they might get killed. At the back of their minds the families also know that their sons and daughters may never come back from a war.

"Things could have been done differently at the beginning of the war, and perhaps the Government should have waited before they went to war. But if we pull out troops now it would be devastating for this country and for the people of Iraq.

"Christopher believed that the Iraq war was necessary, and so did all of the people he served with. As far as they were - and still are - concerned, they are there to free the Iraqi people from the hands of a tyrant.

"It's very easy for all of these armchair politicians and generals saying our troops should be pulled out of Iraq, but what message does that send to the rest of the world? When it gets tough the British will run away? Is that what they want every terrorist who has a grudge against the British people to think?"

God Bless you and thank you for your courageous example, ladies!
This goes double for Americans soldiers and their loved ones, should they be killed in combat!
(We were the ones who were attacked on 9/11 and the guys who got Britain into this.)
I can only pray that the Lord has given as much comfort to these fine women in their sorrow as He has clearly given them wisdom.
And may your loved ones rest in peace--their sacrifice will not be forgotten and their legacy of freedom will live on in the Middle East whilst your fellow Brits can live that much safer from terrorist attack because your sons and husbands took the fight to the enemy.

August 20, 2004

KERRY CAMP FRETS OVER CAMBODIA TALE

THERE'S now some real angst in Democratic circles because of the growing evidence that Democrat John Kerry's claim to have a memory "seared in me" of spending Christmas 1968 in Cambodia was false — and just didn't happen.

But what worries some pro-Kerry Democrats is the fear that Kerry has, as one put it, "an Al Gore problem" — that he's a serial exaggerator.
[This is Liberal-speak for "liar," a unequivocal term that's not "mainstream" enough for them to use.--Jen]
(Remember how Gore claimed to have invented the Internet and inspired the novel "Love Story"?)

Remember Kerry's claim that "I've met foreign leaders" who told him he had to beat Bush? Turned out he hadn't met any foreign leaders in years.

Kerry's campaign Web site claimed credit for Vietnam missions when another man, Tedd Peck, was the skipper (that was removed when he protested) and last week was claiming credit for former Sen. Bob Kerrey's service as Senate Intelligence Committee vice chairman.

"John Kerry, Bob Kerrey — similar names," blithely explained Kerry campaign spokesman Michael Meehan, as if Kerry didn't know his own bio.
[For everyone playing along at home, John Kerry's the guy who didn't cry on camera about Vietnam "war atrocities;" that was Bob Kerrey.
These Dim Senators. Sheesh!]

Not one of Kerry's Swift boat crewmates, even the ones backing his candidacy, recalls being in Cambodia in Christmas 1968 — and anti-Kerry Swift boat veterans cite a host of evidence that he was 50 miles away in Vietnam.

Why does it matter? Because Kerry has said the Cambodia incident — of being sent on a covert mission to "a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops" was "seared" in his mind and changed his view of America.

Team Kerry's excuse is that maybe he accidentally crossed the border or his time frame was fuzzy, but that just won't square with his passionate 1986 claim, on the Senate floor, that the Christmas memory was "seared — seared — in me."
[Apparently, this was one of the few times that Kerry bothered to show up in the Senate, much less take the floor for an issue he cared about.--J.T.]

Unlike the conflicts over Kerry's medals, this isn't a he said/he said dispute — Kerry either was or wasn't in Cambodia. Eventually a reporter will ask him point-blank if he still claims he was in Cambodia that Christmas — yes or no.

For sure, as the anti-Kerry Swift vets pointed out — thus embarrassing every reporter who missed it for over a decade — Kerry's statements were clearly false, since Nixon wasn't yet president in Christmas 1968. But adding Nixon sure embellishes the tale.

The story has unraveled so badly that Kerry's court biographer, Douglas Brinkley, is said to be preparing a new account in which Cambodia is said to come post-Christmas. So why did Brinkley leave it out of his campaign bio?

The other fascinating part of this story is the key role that bloggers on the Internet have played in pointing out the holes in Kerry's story — even as much of the press tries to ignore them.

For instance, when Team Kerry held a press conference featuring his crewmates this week, one was conspicuously missing — David Alston — after the Internet-fueled revelation that he may have only served on Kerry's boat for one week.

A Web blogger, captainsquartersblog, began questioning whether Alston (who has spoken emotionally about how they "bled together") ever served with Kerry. National Review examined the records and concluded maybe — for just one week.

This whole story could be a test of the Internet's impact in this campaign. While most papers have been ignoring the story — until Kerry went ballistic at the Swift vets yesterday — bloggers have been examining it in detail.

On Web sites like Instapundit.com, captainsquartersblog.com, HughHewitt.com and rogerlsimon.com, skeptical veterans are trading details on Kerry's service and raising intricate questions about his veracity based on their own experience.

Their online dialogue is punctuated with questions about why the "mainstream media" have been mostly ignoring this story — and why the 13 pro-Kerry vets are automatically assumed to have more credibility than 264 anti-Kerry vets.

Just imagine the coverage if 264 vets who served with Bush in the Texas Air National Guard made similar charges. For those bloggers, this story has become a test of the mainstream media's credibility — and its liberal anti-Bush bias.

I deeply bow to my 4 blogging colleagues who were cited--they are superb and have been all over this story like white on rice!
If you haven't discovered their blogs yet, you must.
What's glaringly obvious--other than the fact that Kerry is lying and that his lies go deep to the character issue--is that the Media has a Leftist, pro-Dimocrat agenda and will say and do quite a bit of lying themselves to promote their ideology and their candidates.
Job One for them is to get rid of President Bush and his team and to get the Dims, Kerry being the most prominent among them, back in power or to keep "their people" in power who already are there (as we can see in the awful McGreevey case where the whole political machine of New Jersey seems to be a cesspool, yet the media runs interference for him, too).
Actually, if the Kerry Swift Boat affair is how you discovered the blogosphere, then you're a little late to the party, but better late than never, of course.
We've been blogging on the Leftist, Bush-hating, America-hating lies for years now so try and catch up!
Not only has the media covered up for Kerry and tried their best not to let this story become a story, in spite of spilling copious ink over President Bush's service records for months and making it an issue for the second time when he was up for (re)election, but the Media's skewed, lied about, chosen to ignore and slanted all of the news about the war, too.
The Kerry Cambodian Christmas is just the latest example of their perfidy and deception.
Let's hope that the way this story has broken has gotten the mojo working for our blogs, but I'll tell you this: something has got to give with the Lame Stream Media and soon!
I don't get my news from TV anymore at all, but rely solely on the 'Net and blogs and I listen to Conservative talk radio all day, too, but I can't bear to watch cable or network news (even Fox's most of the time) and haven't been able to for months--it's just too terrible.
What the media calls "news" is nothing but their agenda masquerading as news.
Virtually every "story" they report becomes mere padding for a cautionary tale if you're a wrong-headed (in their minds) Conservative and another triumph of the Left which calls for the implementation of more Socialist "Progressive" policies.
Everyone's a victim who needs Big Government to save them.
Who needs it?
John Kerry is an awful candidate and I think I'd think so even I were an Independent voter.
He married for Big Money twice.
He fabricated a brief career of military service including probably self-awarded medals that he didn't earn or deserve and then came home to throw those medals over the White House fence in some bizarre war protest.
(Why should that be an effective anti-war statement? It would just be more for the White House groundskeeper to clean up.)
He made a name for himself--a name that thousands of Vietnam vets who served honorably have remembered for 30 years--by testi-lying to Congress in 1971 that all of our military were regularly engaging in "war crimes" in Vietnam and that the abuse was sanctioned up and down the chain of command.
Instead of coming home to a grateful nation and big parades, these men were met with being spat upon and called "babykillers" for their service when they got back.
They have Kerry and his friend Jane Fonda to thank.
I saw the first Swift Boat Veterans for Truth news conference back in early June and some of the 250+ men who are opposed to a Kerry as Commander-in-Chief had to hold back sobs when talking about what Kerry's public anti-war work had done to their own images in the eyes of their family and friends.
(I must confess, even though I was still in high school and not very politically engaged, I heard many of the Kerry/Fonda crowd's lies repeated as truths such as the "fact" that most GIs were drug addicts and that incidents like the My Lai massacre were probably not all that uncommon.
The current Kerry truth problem about us being in Cambodia (and Laos) "illegally" was another of the hippies' favorites talking points.
Maybe we did have Special Forces in Cambodia in the late '60's and early 70's.
Given the fact of the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, which slaughtered and tyrannized millions, and the placement of the Ho Chi Minh Trail there, we should have been there.
What's the peaceniks point, except that the US and her soldiers are "sneaky" and "evil?")
I imagine that in our Global War on Islamist Terrorism, our Special Forces will have to go to places where they're not "supposed" to be "legally" and fight small, quiet battles with our IslamoFacist enemies where the bad guys are, not where the UN declares them "legally" to be after much deliberation--Will Kerry have a problem authorizing this as Commander-in-Chief?
You can bet he will!
In fact, if he were to become President [shudder], I don't think he'd do anything at all to wage this war except pontificate at the UN and on TV a lot...just like his Dimocrat compadre Clinton.
Yes, he'll try to kick the can of American history down the road to ruin except that this time, I don't think our country will be able to get away with it like we thought we did with Clintoon.
The man is a whackjob and a schizophrenic to run on his "I was for the war/fought in the war before I was against it." platform!
Why can't he just choose?
Either be a warmonger Donkey like Joe Lieberman or be the peacenik candidate like Eugene McCarthy but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PICK!
And no matter what he says, he'll be lying because isn't it becoming clear that the man is a chronic liar and has no honor or truth in him?
Kerry's had an abysmal career in the Senate, sponsoring no key bills or important legislation, another fact of his bio he doesn't want the media or the public to look at too closely, either.
Why the people of Massachusetts keep electing him (and Teddy the Murderer Kennedy) is beyond me!
Must be something in the water in that state.
This man is SCUM and I think is campaign is an insult to the American people.
Good thing I love President Bush and think he's been a remarkable President and has done much for America in the past 3 and 1/2 years.
Frankly, I think President Bush should get a medal for having to run against a dirt bag like Kerry.
But I do know this, media lies and spin aside, President Bush deserves to be reelected, even if his opponent wasn't so dreadful!
As the posted story pointed out, when Bush wins, it won't be because he got *any* help from the media--quite the contrary.
On November 2, the American people will speak and all the world will be listening.
Let's hope and pray that most of us don't form our opinions on who to vote for based on what can be found in the Main Stream Media (because we're doomed if that's the case!).
If the "New Media" blogosphere helped to get the truth out and inform our fellow Americans of the real news, then I'm honored and proud to have been a small part of that as a (Right Wing Conservative warmongering chickenhawk) blogger!
With any luck, this Kerry Unfit for Command scandal will sound the deathknell for both his candidacy and for Old, Big Media..Fingers crossed and prayers going up!
One thing's for sure, blogs are here to stay and more and more people are noticing that we bloggers have got something substantive to say because every blog is a "No Spin Zone" as that blogger understands it.
We are hundreds, if not thousands, of Bill O' Reillys and we don't have to rely on sponsors or lobbies or soft money but only on what our hearts, minds and souls compel us to say!
Our great country and the Internet (most of it invented by Americans) make this possible and we should all give great thanks!

August 19, 2004

Patterson wins women’s all-around gold

First U.S. all-around champ since Mary Lou Retton in ’84

Carly, bless your heart!
You are so precious.
And congrats to our other fine athletes just for participating, but especially to our other gold medalists like 4-time winner Michael Phelps and Paul Hamm, who won the men's all-around gymnastics competition yesterday.
Your country is proud of all of you!

Check out the misleading headline from the LA Times:
Report on Iraq Abuse Will Widen the Blame

A long-awaited report on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal will implicate about two dozen military intelligence soldiers and civilian contractors in the intimidation and sexual humiliation of Iraq war prisoners, but will not suggest wrongdoing by military brass outside the prison, senior Defense officials said Wednesday.
[...]
But in the end, Defense officials said, the report implicates no one outside the prison.

"The report is going to say responsibility for Abu Ghraib stops at the brigade level," a senior official said.

The scandal has drawn international condemnation and questions about U.S. interrogation and detention policies. It also has cast a legal cloud over U.S. moves to begin trials for detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Defense attorneys in those cases, which begin next week, may submit evidence of abuse to question the legitimacy of confessions and other government claims.
[In short, all it's done has been to empower our enemies and give them more tools to hurt us and kill us.--Jen]
[...]
Some on Capitol Hill said they were dismayed that the investigation failed to implicate more senior military officers or Bush administration officials.
[Can you believe our fellow Americans can be so disgusting?!...being disappointed because they can't find enough people and enough important leaders who are bad people of low character. Unbelievable.--J.T.]
The administration has portrayed the abuses as isolated incidents committed in disregard of established procedures. But critics have questioned whether administration policies favoring more aggressive interrogations contributed to a climate in which abuses occurred and whether Fay's findings might be part of a lax Pentagon response.

"I'm a little shocked, I guess, that it doesn't go higher than that," a senior congressional aide
[And you know it's a Dimocrat Congressperson, too!--Jen]
, speaking on condition of anonymity, said when told of the initial news reports, adding that the findings weren't dramatic. "It's not big stuff."
However, others said the prison scandal was fueled in part by the political season.

This faux scandal was totally fueled by the destructive politics of the Left.
Interesting that the Bush-hating LATimes would report the findings so relatively accurately as they've been no cheerleader for the exoneration of the Bush Administration.
Of course, they fudged the headline, knowing that would be all a lot of Americans would see.
Scumbags.
Oh, how the Left called for SecDef Rummy's head over this and how they planned for the exposure of what they painted as the "systemic" Pentagon approval of enemy abuse in the WOT to dovetail with Kerry's charges of war crimes in the Vietnam War that also supposedly went all the way up the chain of command.
Lord above, I really hate the Dimocrats and the Left!
They will tell any lie and besmirch fine fellow citizens in their crazed lust to get power back.
Well I say let's not give it to them again. Ever.
And beyond creating a presumption of "systemic" criminality in our armed forces, the heavy play giving to the Abu Ghraib story with its implications for the enemy detainees at Gitmo is empowering the terrorists who are trying to murder us, just when we're starting to bring justice to them and prevent them from doing just that.
Let's hope that this report and the ongoing investigations will continue to exonerate the Pentagon brass and even our regular GIs in theater, as I'm sure they will, and that the American people won't have to hear about this trumped-up crap anymore!
(Although the buzz is that when President Bush wins a second term, they're going to gin the attack back up to try and impeach him and take out members of his Cabinet like Rumsfeld. Give me strength, Lord!)
Doesn't the LATimes know there's a war on?
Apparently, it's a war on Truth and they're losing the Stalinist side of rewriting history to suit their agenda.

August 18, 2004

Radical Cleric Accepts Najaf Peace Plan

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accepted a peace plan Wednesday calling for his militiamen to disarm and leave their hideout in a revered Shiite shrine, raising hopes of ending a battle that has threatened to undermine Iraq's fledgling interim government.
[...]
The cease-fire agreement was announced at the National Conference in Baghdad, which had sent a delegation to negotiate with al-Sadr.

The conference, a gathering of more than 1,000 prominent Iraqis that was seen as an important milestone on the country's path to democracy, spilled into an unscheduled fourth day Wednesday so it could choose members of an interim National Council. The council is to act as a watchdog over the interim government until elections in January.
[...]
On Wednesday afternoon, Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said the government could send Iraqi forces to raid the shrine by the end of the day. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi issued a statement accusing the militants of mining the area around the shrine.
[Boy! That's got to be a new way to make a "holy" place more sanctified!
Don't forget that Allawi's a Shi'ite himself; he's not cutting his "militant" brothers in Shi'a Islam any slack. I like him so much!--Jen]

Hours later, al-Sadr's office sent a message to the conference, saying he would accept the gathering's peace proposal, which demands his militia drop its arms, withdraw from the shrine and transform itself into a political party in exchange for amnesty.
[Lawsy, hope they don't give Mookie complete amnesty! He still needs to answer for at least the murder of that cleric.--J.T.]

Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said U.S. forces must first stop attacking.
[Heheh. I'll bet they wish we'd stop attacking! Don't hack off the Marines!]

"They cannot ask us to disarm while ... they're using warplanes to fight us. There should be a cease-fire first and then they ask us to disarm," he said.

The U.S. military says the clashes have killed hundreds of militants,
[Fabulous work, guys!
It seems that more than 50 of the enemy were given their opportunity to meet those 72 virgins in the past day or so of fighting in the picturesque slum of Sadr City and 3 weeks ago, we took out 300 bad guys in a hairy 2-day battle in Najaf.]
though the militants deny that. Eight U.S. soldiers and at least 40 Iraqi police have been killed as well.
[...]

Also Wednesday, one U.S. soldier was shot and killed during an attack on troops patrolling Baghdad, the military said. Two Marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were also killed Wednesday, the military said. One Marine was killed while conducting "security and stability operations" in the volatile Anbar province, and the other died in a vehicle accident.

Rest in Peace, you heroes, both Americans and Coalition soldiers and Iraqi cops, too!
I mourn every fallen soldier and hate like hell that we've had to wage this war and send our wonderful young men and women to these hellholes to take these evildoers down, but as President Bush said, we "take this world as we find it" and the IslamoFascists declared war on us (and long before 9/11).
No-one will be happier than I to see this al-Sadr headache put away, either in jail or forced to assume room temperature, except maybe our Marines and the rest of the Iraqis who don't support him and are tired of his Mahdi Army killling fellow Iraqis.
Of course, he's being supported in all ways by Iran and that country should be next on our regime change list, because they're a problem.
Check out how the story continues with the Iraqi response to the Sadr insurgency:

Many delegates [to the Iraqi conference] said Wednesday they were fed up with al-Sadr, and later in the day, Shaalan said the government could raid the shrine within hours.

Now that the peace talks have not worked, "we have to turn to what's stronger and greater in order to teach them a lesson that they won't forget, and to teach others a lesson as well," Shaalan said.

"Today is a day to set this compound free from its imprisonment and its vile occupation," Shaalan said.
[Don't you love it?! Look who are the "occupiers" now!--Jen]

Shaalan said Iraqi forces were fully trained to oust militants from the shrine, and U.S. forces would not enter the compound.
[So we can let the Muslim Iraqi soldiers worry about how to attack their "holy shrine!".
Excellent.]

State Minister Qassim Dawoud said a government raid on the shrine would "be a civilized lesson for those in Fallujah, Samarra, Mosul, Yusufiyah or Basra. There is no lenience ... with those people."

Iraq, stand firm for democracy and civil dissent and against tyranny and violent insurgency by anyone, including the Iranians, Al-Sadr, the Mahdi Army or Saddam's Baathists!
Al-Sadr is a 2-bit thug and his "army" is just a bunch of rag-tag killer scum.
Certainly, the Marines can make mincemeat of them anytime, but I'm convinced that the Iraqi soliders can clean up their own back yard.
At some point, Iraqis must decide if they want another Islamic oligarchy not much different from Saddam's regime or if they want a secular democracy where all get to participate and benefit and that decision might as well happen now with them forcing an end to the Al Sadr problem.

Two Abu Ghraib Detainees Killed in Fight

U.S. military police shot and killed two detainees and wounded five others in an effort to put down a massive brawl that broke out Wednesday at the notorious Abu Ghraib  prison facility west of the Iraqi capital.

Troubles began when several detainees attacked another inmate with rocks and tent poles in a fight that quickly escalated, drawing in 200 inmates at a tented detention camp within the sprawling prison compound, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, the U.S. military's spokesman for detention operations in Iraq.

Detainees hurled rocks at U.S. soldiers, ignoring "verbal warnings" and then a volley of rubber bullets from U.S. military police, Johnson said.

The military decided to use lethal force because one detainee was at risk of being killed by fellow inmates, he said.

"A determination was made that if lethal force wasn't used, this detainee was going to be killed," Johnson said. "So lethal force was used in the form of aimed shots against those most involved in the direct violence against the individual who was being attacked."

Let's thank the Leftist press for making this situation more possible and even probable!
Yes, Lynndie England and her abusive fellow soldiers may have gone too far with the detainees at Abu Ghraid, but what all the GIs are trying to do as guards there is to establish authority and control unquestionably over their inmates.
Because the media chose to "expose" this "scandal" (which was already being investigated by the Pentagon), it undermined that authority and control in the minds of the enemy and as we know only too well, they've milked the opportunity for all it's worth!
Not only that, but the continuous coverage and monitoring of our detainee control methods has all but tied the hands of the soldiers who are trying to handle these thugs!
As is obvious, these are not *nice* men and even in prison, they live by the same creed that got them there--Kill or be killed.
In times of war, there are always going to be a few bad eggs on the side of the Good Guys who go over the line, but most of our soldiers don't and they deserve every tool we can allow them to keep the enemy from killing any more (even if it's their own guys in prison).

August 15, 2004

Venezuela Holds Chavez Recall Vote

Summoned by bugle calls and firecrackers, millions of Venezuelans turned out in unprecedented numbers Sunday to vote on whether to force leftist President Hugo Chavez from office.
[Dontcha love the AP? "leftist" with a small "L" is being more than kind to Castro pal and virtual Communist Chavez!--Jen]

Lines snaked for blocks in upscale neighborhoods, where suspicion is high that the leftist leader plans a Cuba-style dictatorship, and in the slums, where support for his "revolution for the poor" is fervent. A seven-hour wait to vote was common.

The first-ever recall referendum for a president in Venezuela's history was aimed at putting a lid on years of often violent political unrest and came after a lengthy and complicated process of mass signings of petitions.
[...]
"This is the largest turnout I have ever seen," said former President Jimmy Carter, who monitored the vote. "There are thousands of people in line, waiting patiently and without any disturbance."
[At least Jimmuh Peanut is making himself of use somewhere...for once!--J.T.]
[...]
The referendum culminates a two-year drive to oust Chavez, which included a short-lived 2002 coup, a devastating two-month strike and political riots last March that claimed a dozen lives.

Please, please, please get rid of this Commie, Venezuela!
It's going to help your economy and consequently your lives and the progress of your country so much, whereas the continuance of a Chavez regime will mean only more misery.
Yes, it will benefit the U.S.A. to have him gone, too.
We'd love to import a lot more Venezualan oil and without Chavez, Venezuela will not only be producing more, but will be eager to sell it to us once again.
Chavez hates the U.S. and he especially hates a capitalist and liberator like President Bush, so down with him!

Two unidentified Iranian athletes, blue jackets, stand with their backs to Israel's team as U.S athletes are seen behind, during opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 in Athens, Greece.

Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest

Iran's world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against an Israeli Sunday, triggering a fresh crisis at the Olympic Games where race, creed or color are barred from interfering in sport.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) failed to agree how to deal with the politically explosive issue at an emergency meeting and said it would hold further talks Monday.

The burning issue was whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team, as the intrusion of the Middle East's bitter politics threatened to fly in the face of the Olympic ideal.

"There has been no decision and we are considering this situation very carefully," said IJF spokesman Michel Brousse.

"This has not been brought to us as an issue and until it is, we would not have any comment," said a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which pledges to uphold the ideal of sport transcending national barriers.

The official reason at the Games for Miresmaeili's non-appearance was failure to make the weight but judo chiefs questioned how a seasoned athlete, who carried Iran's flag at Friday's opening ceremony, would have made such a basic error.

REAL REASON

But in Tehran, the Iranian National Olympic Committee said in a statement: "This is a general policy of our country to refrain from competing against athletes of the Zionist regime and Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy."

Iran has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist since Islamic fundamentalists toppled the Shah in 1979.

Miresmaeili, who had been due to fight Israeli Ehud Vaks, was quoted by Iran's official news agency IRNA as saying he acted in solidarity with the Palestinians.

"Although I have trained for months and am in shape I refused to face my Israeli rival in sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people," said Miresmaeili, 66 kg world champion in 2001 and 2003. "I am not upset about the decision I have made."

Oh, brother!
Same old story from these dirtbags, eh?
This is what the Olympics is for--to compete on an equal and civil footing, leaving politics aside.
Knowing the Islamists and particularly the Iranians the way we do, I'd say they came to the Olympics just to do this, that is, to grandstand for the cameras and heap approbation on Israel and if this story is true, that's exactly what they'd planned.
(I kept thinking about the Munich '72 Olympics and the "Palestinian" slaughter of the Israeli team, most of whom were wrestlers then, too.)
And if the Israelis get upset and think about raising a fuss, there's always this happy news:

Iran Warns Its Missiles Can Hit Anywhere in Israel

Oh, and they also don't mind making their newly liberated and democracy-embracing Arab "brother" nations Iraq and Afghanistan feel uncomfortable and nervous, particularly in the their new-found treatment of women atheletes.
Hope you caught the opening ceremonies as I did:
they were gorgeous!


An artist symbolizing ancient Greece performs during the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 13, 2004. The Games returned to their spiritual home with an opening that brought the myths of Ancient Greece back to life through the magic of 21st century technology.

And I felt real pride and satisfaction when the Iraqi and Afghan teams processed in, knowing that my country had a hand in liberating their 50 million citizens from 2 brutally oppressive regimes and I felt the most joy for my fellow women in those countries who've been praying for liberation for years and years!
U.S.A.! Liberated human beings all over the world!


Lookee here! No burkas! Yea!


Update: The Iraqi soccer team has won again!
And even if they'd lost, they don't have to worry about being tortured by Uday Hussein when they get home as happened in the past, because the Coalition permanently solved that problem!


America and Iraq: Friends and Allies
An unidentified member of the US Olympic team waves to a member of the Iraqi team as he smiles back as they pass one another at the opening ceremony of the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens Greece, Friday Aug 13, 2004.

Bush Plans to Cut Forces in Europe, Asia

President Bush has decided to bring home tens of thousands of U.S. troops from posts around the world — most of them in Europe and Asia — plus 100,000 of their family members and support personnel, U.S. officials said Saturday. The changes will have no effect on forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.

As part of the largest troop realignment in years, Bush will shift about 70,000 uniformed military personnel, most of them currently in Europe, two senior administration officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A significant proportion will come home, though it was not clear when.

The decision is meant to "strengthen our ability to respond to threats overseas," one official said, declining to elaborate.

"It will improve our capability to protect America and our allies and ease some of the burden on our uniformed military members and their families," one official said.

Bush will announce the move Monday in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, the senior officials said.

This probably should have been done 10 years ago, when Soviet Communism came crashing down, but better late than never and after 9/11 and the start of the WOT, this is imperative!
Our troops aren't needed anymore to stop a Soviet invasion across the Iron Curtain in Europe and maybe our "allies" like the French and Germans will stop being so ungrateful and pull their own weight and get their own military houses in order.
For 50 years, countries like South Korea and Germany have sat back and relaxed because they knew they could depend on thousands of our superb troops to take care of any military problems that arose in their back yards!
To quote Cartman from Southpark, they need to "respect our authoritah!" and appreciate what we've done around the world to keep the peace for decades!
For our part, it will give our soldiers an unprecedented ability to deploy anywhere they're needed at any time without bothering about jurisdictional problems like flyover rights and whether their current head-of-state is an America hater who wants to overlook traditional alliances to thwart us, like a Schroeder or a Chiraq.
In places like South Korea, it should take our guys off the front line at a time when they're so much bellicosity coming out of North Korea and the South
Koreans are too inclined towards appeasement and accomodation to a nut like Kim Jung-Il, making an invasion that much more probable.
In general, it shows our enemies that the U.S. military is adaptable and flexible and definitely not schlerotic and entrenched in a fixed system, which is key to nations like China and Russia that see-saw between being allies and enemies with regards to problem spots like Iran and Taiwan.
Welcome back to all of you this will bring back to the homeland!
(I know the Germans particularly are going to miss you!)

Iraqi government evicts reporters from Najaf as fighting resumes

Iraqi police ordered all journalists to leave the holy city of Najaf on Sunday, just as a new U.S. offensive against militants hiding out in a revered shrine there began.
[...]
Though the order did not spell out a punishment for those who did not comply, the police who delivered it said any reporters remaining would be arrested, according to journalists at the hotel. The police said any cameras and cellular phones they saw would be confiscated. In response to the threat, many journalists left the city.
[Most wise!--Jen]

The order would mean that the only news coverage of the ongoing violence in Najaf, one of the most revered cities to Shiite Muslims, would be provided by reporters embedded with the U.S. military.

The order also said that all cars coming into the city would be searched and all protesters must leave the city.

Earlier Sunday, police had advised reporters to leave Najaf, saying there was rumor of a potential car bombing targeting journalists. When most reporters stayed, the police returned with the order to leave.

Now maybe our guys will get somewhere!
If the pro-Sadr Leftist journos have to leave and there won't be cameras for the "protesters" to play to, the Marines ought to be able to wrap this insurgency up pretty quickly.
This Iraqi provisional government is pretty sharp and being Arab Muslims themselves, they know only too well that working the media is as much a tactical weapon in this war as bullets and bombs, so they've wisely chosen to disarm that weapon.
Iraq may indeed be on the road to secular democracy and when the smoke clears, they can let the 4th Estate (and the 5th column!) have all the freedom they want!