One small voice from Iraq.

I'm stealing this comment from over at Ace's at this post, because I can. Because I loved it. Because I love hearing things straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak: (emphasis mine and my lefty commenters might want to take note)

Maybe I can help. I've got a great job, helping to build the Iraqi Air Force. Not that thats special, but I work with these guys every day, and we've had some big success'. It is far more difficult to build an Air Force than an Army, but we're really making good progress; we had the first sortie of the first Flying Training school that has been totally through the "westernized" system that has been jointly (USAF and IqAF) built. They've been through english training, officer training, and now they are in flying training. The starting class was very small. They are marked men and they know it. The conditions of their schooling was substandard to say the least. They didn't have electricity for much of the day (summer was a bear) water was bad (one got body sores), and to top it all off, they didn't get paid for about 3 months. Plus they get the standard mortaring/rocketing along with the knowledge that if the wrong people found out what they were doing, they would be killed. They stuck it out, and are now flying training sorties in body armor. They know they are the foundations of the IqAF, and maybe, have their hand on the tiller (in some small way) of this society. They love us here (Army/USAF/USMC). I am humbled to serve with them. We had a guy go back to the States for some training; smart, westernized, really "got it". When he got back, the wrong people got ahold of him, brutally killed his family (first). Still they come in.

Humor too. One of the Cols I work with was reminiscing about his favorite car that Saddam had given him for missions flown in Iran. He went on and on about how he loved this car. I think it was a Regal. He told story after story of the memories in that car. He then showed me a picture of it. All that was in the pic was a burned out hulk. A second photo shows the VIN number carefully framed, the soot rubbed off. I asked what happened to it.. He looks at me and says..." You guys bombed it". Uncomfortable silence. He then says..."Thank you for coming here".

Theres not a day that goes by that my heart doesn't leap into my throat over something like this.

When I get out of the service, I will be able to express my pitiless anger over the left in this country, and the members of one particular party who desperately want this to go wrong. Against the people who use us for political gain, not considering the type of work we do. (Both of the guys from my state signed the stupid Rush letter). Please understand, it is changing here. If there were 100 guys with explosives, machine guns etc running around New York with random bombings etc, there would be chaos. But only a small number of bad actors. Thats what its like here. The guys I work with say it is getting better, even in Bdad. Now, I dont go outside the wire very often, about once a week on the ground, and about the same in Iraqi helos, so I'm no expert ( a la Beauchamp) but that sounds good to me.

Sorry so long, got carried away.

MikeB

Code Pink. Code Crazy.

This is the video of the Code Pinker getting up in Condi Rice's face with blood on her hands (red paint). This happened Wednesday as Condi arrived to testify before the House Foreign Relations Committee regarding US policy in the Middle East.

This just infuriates me. Totally unacceptable! They should all be thrown into jail.(They were arrested thank God) I believe in protest, but you do NOT charge a person with what looks like blood on your hands. It's sick and disgusting and shows what nutcases the Code Pinker really are. They have no shame or common decency.

I might add that Condi handled it with her usual grace and dignity.

via Sweetness & Light (who has lots of posts on Code Pink. Scroll to the bottom of the page for background on Code Crazy.)

Let me add one more thing. Why can't we keep these idiots from these meetings? They have proven themselves unstable. They are pretty easy to spot since they wear ridiculous pink outfits. And this isn't just the Republicans they harrass, the Democrats get it to. Good grief. Let's put a stop to it.

The New York Times Hails Victories For Iraq!

"At the end of 2006, the United States was headed for defeat in Iraq. Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent leaders proclaimed their imminent triumph. Our own intelligence analysts and commanders agreed that our previous strategies had failed. The notion that a "surge" of a few brigades and a change of mission could transform the security situation in Iraq was ridiculed. Many experts and politicians proclaimed the futility of further military effort in Iraq. Imagine if they had been heeded."

Ok, by now you know I'm kidding with the title of my post. That was from the Weekly Standard. But wouldn't it be nice if the NYT could see this reality? Anyway, most Americans won't read this, but here it is:

"Had al Qaeda been allowed to drive us from Iraq in disgrace, it would control safe havens throughout Anbar, in Baghdad, up the Tigris River valley, in Baquba, and in the "triangle of death." Al Qaeda In Iraq had already proclaimed a puppet state, the Islamic State of Iraq, and was sending money and fighters to the international al Qaeda movement even as it was supplied with foreign suicide bombers and leaders by that movement."

More:

"Instead, Al Qaeda In Iraq today is broken. Individual al Qaeda cells persist, in steadily shrinking areas of the country, but they can no longer mount the sort of coherent operations across Iraq that had become the norm in 2006. The elimination of key leaders and experts has led to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the al Qaeda bombings that do occur, hence the steady and dramatic declines in overall casualty rates."

This is news that should be the headlines in all of our papers across the country. Don't we all want victory here? (Don't answer that) Well, we SHOULD all want it. But as the article points out, it isn't over yet. We must take this victory and keep our commitment to Iraq and not leave prematurely. No matter how tempting that may be. The article ends with this:

"America must not try to pocket the success we have achieved in Iraq and declare a premature and meaningless victory. Instead, let us be heartened by success. We have avoided for the moment a terrible danger and created a dramatic opportunity. Let's seize it."

Indoctrinate U

Award-winning filmaker Evan Coyne Maloney has created this documentary film, "Indoctrinate U," that reveals the truth of academia leftwing indoctrination. From censorship to sensitivity training to hostility of religion on campus. Take a look at the clip above of Evan being interviewed by Sean Hannity.


It's heartwarming to me to see young people fighting back against the intolerance of academia where all ideas should be expressed freely.

See the trailer here.



via Powerline

TNR. Is there no shame?

Peggy Noonan, as usual, puts it all in perspective. Perfectly.

The Scariest Holloween Pumpkin......

....EVER.

Trendy/Stupid/Insulting.

This manages to be all three. Mona Charen (who I love) writes this at NRO:

Lennonism at Bloomies

Bloomingdale's is advertising jewelry with a political message. A necklace by designer Georgianna Koulianos is fashioned to look like military dog tags. But the tags read "Imagine" "Peace" and "Love."

So trendy ladies in Chevy Chase and Manhattan are going to wear these accessories to advertise their moral superiority to the guys who wear the real ones? The guys who wear these so that their bodies can be identified if they should be killed or maimed by our enemies? The guys who voluntarily endure terrible heat, bad food, separation from their families, and sickening boredom punctuated by shattering fear?

What a symbol of the disconnect between the two cultures.

What Do You Save?

Time magazine has an interesting article about what people saved from the fires in California and the hurricane in New Orleans. Other than pictures and important papers, what did they save?

When we evacuated from Rita, that is what I took, the important papers, baby books, and photos. I had a lot more time than those in the fires and I honestly couldn't think of anything in my house that was important enough for me to take with me. It either says something wonderful about how I am not attached to material things or it says I have too much dang unnecessary stuff.

The Times article referred to a 2006 New Orleans-time Picayune story where people were asked their advice for future evacuations. This particular paragraph stood out to me because I hope that all those involved in disasters learn these important lessons: (emphasis mine)

People wrote about the lessons they will carry in their heads. The kind of advice that doesn't fit in a suitcase but will almost certainly matter more than Band-Aids: Learn how to text-message, do not let your kids watch TV news, and never depend on the government. And "as you drive away from a house and possessions you may never enjoy again," wrote a survivor, "remember the song about how you can't drag a U-Haul behind your hearse."

Finally....

Someone is suing the wicked Westboro Baptist church (Fred Phelps). Recently Phelps and his band of evil protested at a Marine's funeral and the Dad decided that was enough.

What may have kept some from suing is the fact that many of Phelp's children are lawyers. But I think that every person who has had their funeral disrupted should sue them now. Keep them in court FOREVER.

h/t Dave H.

Unwritten Blog Rule.

Never delete a controversial post. Especially if it makes us mad.

Apologies work.

You might want to close your eyes....

This is the cover of the November issue of Radar. Kinda makes you want to puke, doesn't it? Just wrong on so many levels. It's a parody of this Vanity Fair cover. Radar is like the Star Magazine of politics in this issue.

TNR vs. NRO

Actually this is just a discussion between Peter Beinert editor at large at TNR and Jonah Goldberg editor at large at NRO about Hillary bashing and political bashing in general.

While I'm watching this, my oldest asks me what I'm watching. I explain. And he says, "You enjoy this?" and goes away shaking his head.

Such is my life. I'm an island here.

A few shallow observations (you know how I love that) The whole webcam thing is casual, I know, but Peter needs to hang up his clothes somewhere else. Jonah is just too cute. He has this sexy professor thing going, but it's one thing to drink coffee and quite another to scratch your ear while talking. The former is fine, the latter...not so much.

Anyway, it's a good discussion about the atmosphere of the 2008 election. Will character bashing work on Hillary if she comes across as a perfectly fine character? (which she is doing a beautiful job at now)

My favorite line of Jonah to Peter:

"We will dissect your inaccurate observations at a later time."

So if your interested in what Jonah and Peter have to say, go watch.

The New Republic's Baghdad Diarist Scott Beauchamp's Saga.

All the drama.

If you need all the details. Jeff Emanuel and Powerline has them. If you spend any time at all on the political blogs, you know this story. A magazine (TNR) publishes what appears to be fictional stories from a soldier in Iraq. This isn't the first time a magazine or news organization has been fooled. So why is this important? Well, there is the coverup, which adds to the drama, but the main reason we all got so upset about this is this continuing determination of some in the media of defaming our military. There seems to be an ongoing effort to denigrate our soldiers and paint them in the worst possible light. We on the right, who understand their sacrifice and bravery, get sorta ticked about it.

So this won't be the end of it. And even if you get tired of reading about it, just keep in mind that perhaps this will make other news organizations think twice about publishing stories until they have thoroughly fact checked it.

I get the feeling...

..that we on the right aren't the only ones who don't want Hillary to be President. Slate Magazine is asking for anyone with tips on the "Clinton Propaganda Machine" to send them in.

Update: Gee, it was pretty easy to find one today.

And in related news, did you hear about Hillary going on and on about how "romantic" Bill was? John Hawkins at RWN does a bit of fisking:

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton says husband Bill often brings her romantic gifts: a giant wooden giraffe from an African trip, for example, and a Chanel watch that reminded him of teeth.

What's so romantic about a giant wooden giraffe or a, "watch that reminded him of teeth?"

"Oh he's so romantic," the former first lady said in an interview for the November issue of Essence magazine. "He's always bringing me back things from his trips."

I have no doubt that Bill Clinton is a romantic guy. I mean, anyone who gets married and never stops dating other women has to enjoy romance.

Heh.

Go ahead....

..tase him bro'!

To The Firefighters In California.

And Firefighters everywhere.

via Grouchy Old Cripple

A Free Cuba.

I wish that all of you could have seen live President Bush's speech to Cuban dissidents (some of whom just recently arrived). Bush introduced the relatives of four Cuban prisoners being held for political crimes. It was touching to see the faces of those who have suffered so under Castro, given appreciation and applause.

Update: video here.

This seemed to be a call during what will be a time of transitions, for all Cubans to resist the old ways of oppression and bring Cuba into the light of Democracy.

Bush spoke directly to the Cuban people, with Radio and TV Marti broadcasting in Cuba. He told them that even if you are a part of the Cuban military and police, you will be supported by the United States. He says "There is a place for you in a new Cuba.”

Perhaps Raul Castro will choose a different path than his brother's. One that does not imprision those who disagree. One that does not leave it's people in poverty. One who will embrace freedom, both personal and economic.

How wonderful would it be to see in my lifetime, no more makeshift boats of tires and wood, carrying a desperate people across dangerous water to our land of opportunity. Instead to see opportunity land on the shores of Cuba.

Bush's speech was truly inspiring. As Babalu Blog says:

"Regardless of what some may say, the words of the President of the United States still carry a great amount of weight. Just a couple of weeks ago the president stood before the general assembly of the UN to remind those hypocrites about the real Cuba.

Not only that, this president more than any other has been willing to confront the Cuban leadership and denounce the human rights situation in Cuba."

Update: Babalu explains the importance of today's speech in a way I cannot. He has all the perspective.

Walk A Mile In His Shoes.

You may have missed this bit of controversy regarding Barack Obama and his allowing a Grammy winning black gospel singer by the name of Donnie McClurkin to tour with him in South Carolina.

The problem is that McClurkin has written a book about his life and talked about his struggle with homosexual feelings and how he has overcome his homosexual leanings with prayer and faith. Some people on the left aren't happy with Obama about it.

You see, to the left, if you aren't 100% pro-gay, then you are a "gay basher" and a "anti-gay bigot." There is no grey area here. But most times in life, there is a lot of grey.

Donnie McClurkin was 8 yrs old when he witnesses his little 2 yr old brother get hit by a car as the toddler followed Donnie into the street to retrieve a ball. He hears his brother's last words.."Mommy."

This would be tragic enough for anyone, especially when his mother blames him for the accident and then became addicted to drugs, but that was only the beginning of Donnie's childhood of hell.

The night of the funeral Donnie was raped by his pedophile uncle and again by his uncle's son.

Now, if this doesn't rock the foundation of someone's sexuality, then I don't know what would.

Donnie grows up to find healing in God, music, and prayer. His story is one of the human struggle with horror, and then the cleansing hope of redemption.

Sometimes someone's view of sexuality or feelings of sexuality is defined by trauma and horror. How dare the left judge this man. Is it not possible, in their mind, that someone's sexuality can be twisted by such acts of adults on a child?? Maybe Donnie wasn't born gay. Maybe these rapes turned his feelings inside out. Maybe some people are born gay and maybe some choose it. We just don't know. But to condemn someone who questions their own sexuality after such an invasion of it, is shameful.

So spare me the smug self righteousness of The Church of the Left Wing.
You walk a mile in Donnie's shoes and then come back and condemn him. Most people would have given up the fight long ago. After such trauma, most would have turned to drugs or alcohol. But Donnie found peace in his church, music, and faith. A faith, I might remind you, that teaches that all sex outside of marriage is a sin and no amount of propaganda or desensitizing will ever change that.

This is our faith, a faith that saves us from ourselves.

You can disagree with Christian teaching. You can disagree with me and with Donnie, but don't you condemn a man who has walked through a darkness that most of us can't imagine. Don't condemn a man who found light in that darkness and chooses to sing, letting the power of the music sweep all that is painful away and letting the cool sweet waters of redemption flow through him.

Free Speech? Right.

From Zombie via lgf:

"Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" is a nationwide series of lectures and presentations organized by conservative writer David Horowitz and his various organizations. On the evening of October 22, dozens of famous speakers gave lectures at universities around the country, mostly on the subject of Islamic extremism. The presenter at U.C. Berkeley that evening was Nonie Darwish, an Arab-American author and feminist who has become a Muslim apostate and vociferous critic of radical Islam. Her appearance at Cal was sponsored by the Berkeley College Republicans, and strongly opposed by several left-wing groups and Muslim organizations, including World Can't Wait, the Muslim Students Association, and Students for Justice in Palestine. Her speech was even condemned by the ASUC, the official student governing body at Berkeley.

Look here to see a series of fascinating photos that seem to me to illustrate the absurdity of any kind of thoughtful debate in this country on leftwing college campuses.

This isn't about protesting what someone is saying. This is about denying the right to speak at all. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can speak uninterrupted at Columbia, but the founder of Minutemen gets attacked on stage at the same University, then something is horribly wrong with the way the faculty and staff are teaching young people on how to disagree and debate.

When I was growing up in the 60's it was the leftwingers that were drowned out, thrown out, and refused a voice in so many cases. It's a bit ironic that they are now the ones who refuse to listen, isn't it?

I Question Your Patriotism. Yes, I do.

How many times have the Democratic leaders bristled at the idea that someone is questioning their patriotism? They go out of their way to insist that even though they are against the war, they support our soldiers 100%.

So I'm just going to say it. I question their patriotism.

Let's begin with the New York Times ad for MoveOn.org calling General Petraeus “General Betray Us.” A man who deserves nothing but our praise for his honorable and distinguished service to our country. Yet a resolution in the Senate to disavow the MoveOn.org ad war was opposed by all the leading Democratic presidential candidates. All top Democrats also refused to attend briefings by Gen. Petraeus before he spoke to the nation.

Recently Rep Peter Stark demeaned the sacrifice of our troops in Iraq; he obscenely accused the President of being amused by the deaths of our troops in Iraq. Requests by House Republicans to have the sickening remarks stricken from the record failed. House Minority Leader, John Boehner (R. Oh.) released a statement through the Drudge Report:

"Our troops in Iraq are fighting against al-Qaeda and other radical jihadists hellbent on killing the people we are sent here to represent. Congressman Stark's statement dishonors not only the Commander-in-Chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of America's armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security. Congressman Stark should retract his statement and apologize to the House, our Commander-in-Chief, and the families of our soldiers and commanders fighting terror overseas."

Stark stood by his statements and not a word of disagreement could be heard from our Democratic leaders. Except for Nancy Pelosi agreeing that it was "inappropriate" because it "distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand -- providing health care for America's children." Not because it demeaned our troops and Commander in Chief.

(Update: Stark apologized today after a resolution to censure Pete Stark failed. I'll take his apology at face value only because he walked off the floor of the Senate and cried for five minutes. It shows me that he was affected by how his words hurt so many. I can respect that.)

Rep. John Murtha accused our soldiers of "murdering innocent civilians in cold blood" in the Haditha incident. When those murder charges against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt and Steven Tatum were dropped in the Haditha incident, not a word of apology from Murtha or a call to do so from any Democratic leader.

Sen Dick Durbin compared our soldiers at Guantanamo to Nazis:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings."

And let's not forget the man who would be President if the Democrats had won, Sen. John Kerry:

"And there is no reason… that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children."

"Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama said this recently:

"We've got to get the job done there (Afghanistan). And that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there."

Sen. Harry Reid, Majority Leader had this to say in April:

"This war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything."

Leading our soldiers in Iraq to fire back to Sen. Reid with this:

"We are not losing this war!"

Hillary Clinton keeps her anti-military views hidden. She is no fool, but she had to give the far left some red meat in a carefully crafted way of calling Gen. Petraeus a liar:

(To Gen. Petraeus) "You have been made the de facto spokesmen for what many of us believe to be a failed policy. Despite what I view is your rather extraordinary efforts in your testimony both yesterday and today, I think that the reports that you provide to us really require a willing suspension of disbelief .

All these examples make the whole Reid/Limbaugh/Phony soldiers controversy even more laughable. If Reid wanted to get indignant over insults to our troops, he need look no further than his own party and himself. Trying to paint himself as the defender of the troops against a staunch military supporter such as Rush, made Reid look like a fool. And it backfired on him beautifully, with Rush selling the phony letter of outrage to Clear Channel that Reid and his 41 fellow Democrats signed, for $4.2 million (with Rush's match) for the kids of Marines and law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty.

Do I believe everyday citizens who are Democrat are unpatriotic? Certaintly not. I know many and they love our soldiers as much as we do. But it's time for those Democrats to take a good hard look at their leadership and question their leader's patriotism.