Rummy gets even - About time after what they did to him

from here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060830/pl_nm/iraq_usa_rumsfeld_dc

The link above goes to Al-Reuters, where it quotes Pelosi and other cry-babies bitchin about Sec. Rumsfeld doin to them the same thang they have been doin to him for the past several years..

The Hildebeast raked Rummy over the coals in televised Congressional Hearins, but he caint make a statement to the Legionaires about them.. The difference is, that what he says is TRUE, but what they are sayin is all bullshit !!

Rummy has no inclination whatsoever to run for political office and so therefore their claims of his speech bein POLITICAL is totally unfounded, yet they are runnin, runnin, runnin, and what they say is to be considered just informin the masses..

But I'll let Mr. Rumsfeld speak for himself !!

They are Burning up SEALS!

The site has a slightly different look to it. I was tired of having that limited space in the center right to post in, so I opened up the code a bit. It gives a bit more breathing room to it.

Now on to our regularly scheduled rantings and ravings of the resident madman.

The military is misusing special operations forces and according to one source, Burning up SEALS! The military tried something different this time when hitting Iraq in their blitzkrieg fashion; they superimposed special operations units into standing frontline combat units, augmenting their area of responsibility.

No longer were small man teams going off into the unknown with a headset attached to God via a satellite hook-up. The problem with taking special operations warriors which the government has invested multi-million dollars into insuring they can perform to the standards and tasks they are assigned is they tend to become targets along with the rest of the advancing soldiers.

W. Thomas Smith Jr. wrote in the NRO(National Review Online) an article discussing the death of one warrior, a Navy SEAL, Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Alan Lee, after the article Smith stated, “some members of the Naval Special Warfare community are telling me he did not have to die, with one officer contending, “they’re burning up SEALs.”

Smith went on to quote a says Reserve SEAL Commander Mark Divine, “Special Operations warriors are not dispensable assets,” says Reserve SEAL Commander Mark Divine, who has been to Iraq several times and was tasked with evaluating the performance of a new Marine Corps special operations force during its developmental stages in 2004. “It will take two years to replace Lee with another combat-ready SEAL. The SEAL community is undermanned as it is, and it is the Navy’s number-one recruiting priority.”

A new concept the military is attempting is not the proper manner in which to deploy special operations personnel and if continued will only tear apart the most important factor of the units, the individuals assigned to them.

In the 1960 era the special operation warrior were the red-headed step-Child of the military and hated by most officers of a command rank. The new military and the new Special Operations Command Center, SOCOM has changed all that and if current operations are continued it will destroy everything that has been built.

Important forward by Wild Bill

Note from The Ranter:

This fine piece was forward to us by Wild Bill and is darn good. Some of you may have seen this already, others not, so I am posting it for your review as well my friends.

from here: http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Stopping the Sleeping Sickness: Rumsfeld Before The American Legion

Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 9:30 AM

The Secretary of Defense delivered a speech yesterday that was as blunt as any given by any senior official since the beginning of the war. Reading it against the near total refusal of the MSM to report seriously on the attacks in San Francisco yesterday makes its message even more compelling. (The killer didn't make the front page of the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, or the Boston Globe. Just another terrible case of road rage that happened to start out 20 miles from San Francisco and end up taking out two pedestrians in front of the Jewish Center and 12 more in an area traditionally considered a Jewish neighborhood.)

Rumsfeld and others are attempting to prevent the country from slipping into a sort of historical coma, one which will allow the country to avoid confronting the world in which we live, and one in which certain very unpleasant events --bombings, rampages, plots-- would not register. Thus a sharp drop in SAT scores and John Mark Carr get a massive amount of attention, but even the possibility of another terrorist attack gets waved away and the incredible text of the letter from Ahmadinejad to Chancellor Merkel is not reported on except in blogs.

The exaltation of the trivial and resolute refusal to focus on the menace to the West and its sudden manifestations in the homeland --Seattle, UNC, the El Al counter on 7/4/02. and yesterday's rampage-- is so amazing that were it not so absolutely dangerous it might be fascinating. But it is very dangerous indeed because the enemy seems to understand that nothing he says or does registers much less provokes reaaction. After all, we have issued a visa to Ayatollah Khatemi even though his country is a rogue regime systematically calling for genocide and arming terrorists around the globe. While a case could be made that he must be allowed to travel to and from the UN, how is it that he is being allowed to come to Washington, and who invited him to speak at the Washington National Cathedral four days prior to the fifth anniversary of the attacks? It was from the National Cathedral that the national day of prayer and grievance proceeded five years ago, and the State Department does not understand how it might be unacceptable to allow the former leader of the world's greatest sponsor of terror --and current Chairman of the Central Council of the Militant Clerics League-- to tread there at any time, much less in September? This decision makes me angry. How does it affect the families of the victims of terror, or the survivors of lost and wounded in the war?

Iran is supplying the killers of our troops in Iraq, and someone invited its former leader to the National Cathedral? Someone in the State Department said "Fine by us?" This is madness. And suicidal madness. How the jihadists must laugh and celebrate our idiocy.

We have seen this sort of collective denial before, and not just in Great Britain in the '30s, but also in our government in the '90s. (This denial is presented in ABC's "The Path to 9/11" on the nights of 9/10 and 9/11.) Rumsfeld knows what is happening, and yesterday's speech was another attempt to arrest the spread of the sleeping sickness engulfing many Americans. We have to hope that it is simply deep within the MSM and the bureaucratic elites, and not among ordinary Americans.

The text of Secretary Rumsfeld's speech is here. Key excerpts:

There was a strange innocence in views of the world. Someone recently recalled one U.S. Senator’s reaction in September 1939, upon hearing that Hitler had invaded Poland to start World War II. He exclaimed:

"Lord, if only I could have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided.”

Think of that!

I recount this history because once again we face the same kind of challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism. Today, another enemy -- a different kind of enemy -- has also made clear its intentions -- in places like New York, Washington, D.C., Bali, London, Madrid, and Moscow. But it is apparent that many have still not learned history’s lessons.

We need to face the following questions:

• With the growing lethality and availability of weapons, can we truly afford to believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased?
• Can we really continue to think that free countries can negotiate a separate peace with terrorists?
• Can we truly afford the luxury of pretending that the threats today are simply “law enforcement” problems, rather than fundamentally different threats, requiring fundamentally different approaches?
• And can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America -- not the enemy -- is the real source of the world’s trouble?

These are central questions of our time. And we must face them.

We hear everyday of new plans, new efforts, to murder Americans and other free people. Indeed, the plot recently discovered that would have killed hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of innocent men, women, and children on planes coming from Britain to the United States should have reminded us that this enemy is serious, lethal, and relentless.

But this is still -- even in 2006 -- not well recognized or fully understood. It seems that in some quarters there is more of a focus on dividing our country, than acting with unity against the gathering threats.

We find ourselves in a strange time:

• When a database search of America’s leading newspapers turns up 10 times as many mentions of one of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib who were punished for misconduct, than mentions of Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith, the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Global War on Terror;
• When a senior editor at Newsweek disparagingly refers to the brave volunteers in our Armed Forces as a “mercenary army”;
• When the former head of CNN accuses the American military of deliberately targeting journalists and the former CNN Baghdad bureau chief admits he concealed reports of Saddam Hussein’s crimes when he was in power so CNN could stay in Iraq; and
• It is a time when Amnesty International disgracefully refers to the military facility at Guantanamo Bay, which holds terrorists who have vowed to kill Americans and which is arguably the best run and most scrutinized detention facility in the history of warfare, as “the gulag of our times.”

Those who know the truth need to speak out against these kinds of myths, and distortions being told about our troops and about our country.

The struggle we are in is too important -- the consequences too severe -- to have the luxury of returning to the old mentality of “Blame America First.”

Rumsfeld went on:

Not so long ago, an exhibit on the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian during the 1990s seemed to try to rewrite the history of World War II by portraying the United States as an aggressor. Fortunately, the American Legion was there to lead the effort to set the record straight.

This watchdog role is even more important today in a war that is to a great extent fought in the media on a global stage -- to not allow the lies and the myths be repeated without question or challenge -- so that at least the second and third draft of history will be more accurate than the quick first allegations.

You know from experience that in every war there have been mistakes and setbacks and casualties. War is, as Clemenceau said, a “series of catastrophes that results in victory.”

And in every army, there are occasionally bad actors -- the ones who dominate the headlines today -- who don’t live up to the standards of their oath and of our country.

But you also know that they are a very small percentage of the hundreds of thousands of honorable men and women in all theaters in this struggle who are serving with humanity, decency and courage in the face of continuous provocation.

And that is important in this “long war,” where any moral or intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can weaken the ability of free societies to persevere.

Our enemies know this well. They frequently invoke the names of Beirut and Somalia -- places they see as examples of American retreat and weakness. And as we have seen -- even this month -- in Lebanon, they design attacks and manipulate the media to try to demoralize public opinion. They doctor photographs of casualties, use civilians as human shields and then provoke an outcry when civilians are accidentally killed in their midst, which of course was their intent.

The good news is that most Americans, though understandably influenced by what they read and see in the media, have good inner gyroscopes and good centers of gravity.

So I am confident that, over time, they will evaluate and reflect on what is happening in this struggle and come to wise conclusions.

Iraq, a country that was brutalized by a cruel and dangerous dictatorship is now traveling the slow, difficult, and uncertain path to secure a new future, under a representative government -- one that is at peace with its neighbors, rather than a threat to their own people, their neighbors, or to the world.

As the nature of the threat and the conflict in Iraq has changed over these past several years, so have the tactics and deployments. But while military tactics have changed and adapted to the realities on the ground, the strategy has not -- which is to empower the Iraqi people to defend, govern, and rebuild their own country.

The extremists themselves call Iraq the “epicenter” in the War on Terror. And our troops know how important their mission is.

A Soldier who recently volunteered for a second tour in Iraq, captured the feelings of many of his peers. In an e-mail to friends he wrote:

“I ask that you never take advantage of the liberties guaranteed by the shedding of free blood, never take for granted the freedoms granted by our Constitution. For those liberties would be merely ink on paper were it not for the sacrifice of generations of Americans who heard the call of duty and responded heart, mind and soul with ‘Yes, I will.’”

Someday that young man may be a member of the American Legion, attending a convention such as this. I hope he will be. And one day, a future speaker may reflect back on this time of historic choice -- remembering the questions raised as to our country’s courage, dedication, and willingness to persevere this fight until we prevail.

The question is not whether we can win. It is whether we have the will to persevere.

I am convinced that Americans do have that determination. And that we have learned the lessons of history, of the folly of turning a blind eye to danger. These are lessons you know well -- lessons that your heroism has helped to teach to generations of Americans.

This is an amazing and very necessary speech given by a man who has seen a great deal from very many vantage points going back many decades. He understands the war in which we find ourselves, and is urgently attempting to alert others to it. Those who don't want to be bothered want him fired or retired. That he is still there is one of the reasons why this Administration continues to receive the support of serious people focused on the real threats.

Perhaps he can now call Secretary Rice and inquire why, when so much has been required of the military and so much sacrifice made, we are allowing a terror master to roam D.C.?

UPDATE: NationalReviewOnline has a fine symposium on the appalling decision to allow Khatemi free-passage around the U.S.

Wild Bill is raring to go

Note from the Ranter: Bill wrote this as a comment and I wanted it onlline, it is too darn good for just comment stuff. So, from the heart of Wild Bill:

Although this article is a dated piece, it is still as good of a yardstick and mantle as it was when writen..

I just thought it was an interestin bit of info to add to your train of thought..

You see old Buddy, I'm sure that you, like me, were around folks that survived the Great Depression.. Remember those folks that still put cardboard in their shoes to cover the holes ?? If you happened to query them about it, and suggest they just go buy a new pair of shoes, you got a lecture on how they managed thru those years of strife..

We now live in a throw away, devil-may-care society.. It just irks me to no end that people have no thought of tomoro or that what they have today can be gone in an instant..

My point is, that this Country was carved out by people that wanted to create a place where people could build the greatest Nation on Earth.. For today, tomoro, and forever.. It has now come down to us just tryin to maintain it for TODAY !! Just tryin to keep it out of the clutches of those who could care less about tomoro.. They have no concern about history.. What was done right, and what was done wrong..
You can lead a horse to water, but you caint make him drink..

Those same war/military protesters back then, Jane and Peter Fonda, John Kerry-Heinz, and all the rest were WRONG THEN, and are WRONG NOW !! History has proved it beyond any doubt, but they keep on..

The Official Papers that are bein translated today are givin insight into what Sadaam was up too and what he had already accomplished, yet the same ones that poo-pooed history before are still at it today.. But why should WE have to be the ones to pay the price of THEIR stupidity ?? How much abuse do we have to suffer from the STUPID PEOPLE just because we are tryin to save their sorry ass, as well as ours ?? I'm jus tired of bein called a warmonger, a racist, a homophoebe, a islamaphoebe, a bigot, and all the rest, when all I'm tryin to do is get people to wake up and smell the gotdam coffee !!

You are a GREAT AMERICAN, Ranter, and I'm with you ALL THE WAY !! The battle for Hearts and Minds is just as needed here at home as it is on the Front Lines of this War in lands far away.. And the way I look at it is, they can either lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way !! Like Larry the Cable Guy says: LET'S GITTER DONE !!

From the Ranter:
Wild Bill, you are the man, we will turn some hearts and minds and I am looking forward to it.

Let’s Get er done!

See you later

Well, here I go again, as President Regan was fond of saying, darn I miss that man. My goal yesterday wa to catch up a few things I have been working on and many of the things Wild Bill has sent and boom, a drive crash., No problem, all mirrored to the laptop, thank the stars for networks.

I have it set up for the kids and it saved my bacon, so I am back up, about 50%, all the blog tools and mail are back and I will take today to write and reply, Wild Bill has sent excellent things that will be here as well.

Ranter

Remembering 911

The fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack upon the World Trade Center is approaching and America needs to use this opportunity to remember and personally reflect upon the events as they unfolded that dreaded morning as we all sat glued to our televisions. Every one of us should allow this deceitful act of war upon the United States of America to serve as a catalyst in jogging our memories as to why we are presently in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is not going to be a piece eulogizing the event; on the contrary, I want to point out a few things that perhaps people either were not ware of or did not know at all. Many wonderful pieces have been published in blogs as a remembrance to 911, I wrote a piece as well titled, Our Beacon of Freedom and that will serve as my thoughts on the matter.

On September 11, 2001 terrorist’s commandeered commercial aircraft piloting them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and straight into the ground after courageous passengers fought back attempting to take control of the aircraft. Thousands of human beings perished that day, The National Geographic Channel’s documentary on 911 stated the death toll was 2,983 innocent human beings whose lives, families, and future generations were destroyed by an individual and a group bent on destroying our way of life; 2,983 human beings who will never walk the earth again.

On the made for television show they interviewed many of the witnesses, fireman, police officers and individuals who were there witnessing the events and having their lives changed forever. Many talked of the loud noises of bodies hitting the ground every few minutes, human beings jumping from the hell that had been cast upon them by al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, surrounded by fire and smoke, their only escape to leap the building’s windows to their death.

One fireman described an image burned into his mind of a woman crawling out onto a ledge eighty stories in the air, standing there and making the sign of a cross on herself she gazed into the clouds spread her arms out wide and leaped. He said he would never forget that image and take it with him to his grave.

Perhaps one of the saddest commentaries on the aftermath came from the fireman working through out the day, the night and greeting the sunrise the next morning. They had not left their post, they were not going to leave a man or woman behind, and they were staying. The rising sun brought forth a new light onto the scene of devastation and most, if not everyone stopped, bowed their heads and prayed. A sound greeted them; loud chirping sounds and they seemed to emanate from ever corner of the rubble. Everywhere they looked, they could hear the chirping noises and it destroyed the very fabric of their soul, they were lost and began to cry openly, some fireman holding one another an openly weeping.

It was a surrealistic moment comprised of hundreds of chirping sounds, a cacophony of music from the depths of sadness that filtered through their minds and hearts. They were the emergency locator transponders of the fireman who perished in the devastation, the fireman had disintegrated among the rubble, but their transponders survived and now served as a beacon of prayer to remember them.

Smoke, fog and devastation was everywhere, some described the scene as a sight from the depths of hell, others as the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. The two tallest buildings in New York had come down upon itself and the landscape was now a rescue operation with every fireman praying they would find a brother lost in the rubble.

After the sunrise and the transponders, all singing their song of prayer the smoke and fog began to lift from the massive piles of rubble strew about the landscape of a proud city. The sight that now greeted the fireman put all thoughts of rescuing brothers and sisters from the rubble into a different perspective, a new realization of no one surviving this attack struck them from the scene of devastation. Littered among all the debris, the twisted beams of steel and pebbles that were once proud pieces of masonry serving as a tribute to democracy were hundreds upon hundreds, thousands of shoes. Shoes of all different sizes, colors, and shapes everywhere the eye could see were shoes, some destroyed, but intact laying upon the now hollowed ground.

The lost fireman’s emergency locator transponders all chirping, the hundreds or thousands of shoes struck these men and women, it moved into their souls and moved them and served as a notice to them that no one survived only transponders and shoes of the dead.

2,983 human beings perished on September 11, 2001 and perhaps ten times that amount became heroes, rescuing people from the devastation of an attack upon America. This memory should be burned into the depths of our souls, our hearts and our minds each moment of the day. We should never forget one moment of that day, not one-second, or nanosecond.

This is what Osama bin Laden set into motion upon our country on that day. This is what the cowardly creatures of the netherworld, under orders of bin Laden did to the families of 2, 983 human beings and this is why we need to fight terrorism with every breath of our bodies until it is dead and buried.

Remember 911, but remember the 2,983 souls who perished that day.

Better things are coming

I owe all my readers a very big, giant, in fact huge apology for not updating lately, but in my defense please allow me to say I have been busier than Puxatony Phil has on Groundhog Day. Of course, he rests the other 365 days of the year, watching the groundhog channel and eating pizza, but he does work the media that one day of the year. I have been helping a friend for the past five days and now that their life is in order I need to get mine in order, this blog is the primary focus of that little existence upon this earth

The job was time consuming and I was only able to do a bit of mail each morning, but I assure you my friends, it was important mail. I have invited Wild Bill to join me once I awhile here at My Daily Rant and I will be changing the other Ranter’s News that Count to reflect that as well. He will send in something a few times a week and at times we will both work on the piece, so if you like red-blooded American, old time Hell and brimstone patriotic material, well you have found the right place. If you like to read comments, questions or something that makes you stop and think, then are at the right place.

If you hate the war, the military, the brave men and women serving in harm’s way, than boy, are you at the wrong place.

We have a few important posts coming soon, I am working on a few and catching up with the news, I just added to the comments a few from Wild Bill and you will be seeing them here as well. So check later and do not give up hope. I promise you the Ranter has not left the building.

I do believe one or two people can make a difference, even if it is with a select few who can then influence a few more and with Wild Bill’s information he comes up with and my ranting, we will see what can be done.

As Henry Fonda’s character Tom Joad in the great film The Grapes of Wrath, based on the Great Depression said, “Takes no nerve to do something, ain't nothin' else you can do.” In addition, damned if I do not intend to do something.

The Book, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck made a huge impact on my young life, I was young an and an avid reader from the age of three when I began reading the comic strip out loud over my Father’s shoulder, surprising everyone and not knowing why they were so excited about it.

I was born in 1940’s and at the age of seven I read The Grapes of Wrath as my first try at reading. It was sitting in the house, it looked big, and in fact, the largest book I had ever seen at seven years of age. We were under quarantine from a member of the family coming down with Polio, the epidemic had just begun and everyone was terrified of our family thinking they would die, so the county placed a huge red lettered sign stating the fact. I had nothing to do, no television, did not have one yet, so The Grapes of Wrath was my playground and it hit me hard. I had my Mother explain just about everything in the book to me. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my youth.

Later when the movie was making the rounds, I could not wait to see it. My friends thought I was insane, they were watching Buck Roger’s save the galaxy and here I was watching what they called, some dumb movie.

Here is my favorite passage from the Grapes of Wrath, I will close after that and get back to all of the posts I have been working on. Remember to look for great things here at My Daily Rant and the wisdom of Wild Bill too.

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, “I been thinkin' a hell of a lot, thinkin' about our people livin' like pigs, an' the good rich lan' layin' fallow, or maybe one fella with a million acres, while a hundred thousan' good farmers is starvin'. An' I been wonderin' if all our folks got together an' yelled, like them fellas yelled, only a few of 'em a the Hooper Ranch--“
...
“I'll be all aroun' in the dark. I'll be ever'where--wherever you look. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. if Casy knowed, why, I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'--I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build--why, I'll be there. See? God, I'm talking like Casy. comes of thinkin' about him so much. Seems like I can see him sometimes.”

Wild Bill sent us this

Our dear friend, Wild Bill often provides many informative and updated articles and bits of information that I am not going to allow them to waste away in a comments area, but post them here in the blog. With that comment fresh in our minds here is the first.

Ranter

"Duck and Cover" was REAL my dear Ranter.. Check this out:

from here: http://www.nysun.com/article/23684

Truth Out of Poland

New York Sun Editorial
November 29, 2005

When President Reagan described the Soviet Union in 1983 as "an evil empire," he was widely denounced as a warmonger. The British historian Eric Hobsbawm, whose bestselling history of the 20th century, "Age of Extremes," has become a standard text on many campuses, reckoned that in the "Second Cold War" that began in 1979 when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, American democracy was "more dangerous" than Soviet totalitarianism. "The hysteria in Washington was not, of course, based on realistic reasoning.... There was absolutely no evidence, or likelihood, that the USSR wanted a war...let alone that it was planning a military attack on the West. The feverish scenarios of nuclear attack which came from the mobilized Western cold warriors and government publicity in the early 1980s were self-generated," he wrote. Historians of the 21st century, he predicted, "remote from the living memories of the 1970s and 1980s, will puzzle over the apparent insanity of this outburst of military fever...."

Well, the 21st century is here and it turns out that it is not the Cold Warriors but the "peace movement" that in retrospect looks insane. That is the meaning of the the Warsaw Pact map of Europe covered in nuclear mushroom symbols that was disclosed last week by the new Polish defense minister, Radek Sikorski, and reproduced on our foreign page yesterday. Mr. Sikorski is the Polish patriot who has made it his mission to teach his countrymen the truth about communism. He was recently based at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., until he was elected to the Polish Senate and joined the new government as head of the armed forces. Historians who, unlike Mr. Hobsbawm, do not have a record of lifelong support for communism now have a duty to examine the evidence that is emerging.

Mr. Sikorski's recent press conference, our Daniel Johnson wrote us from London, marked the first time that the Warsaw Pact archives have been opened for public scrutiny. Mr. Sikorski unveiled a battle plan dating from 1979. The Soviet led alliance was then poised for a massive tactical nuclear strike against forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, paving the way for the occupation of Western Europe. Much of Germany, Denmark, and Belgium would have been obliterated, including hundreds of thousands of American military and civilian personnel. This scenario was based on the assumption that NATO would retaliate with its own tactical nuclear weapons against a line of targets in Poland along the Vistula. The Kremlin was cynical enough to expect its Polish ally to launch an unprovoked offensive against the West in the full knowledge that millions of Polish civilians would be sacrificed.

It turns out that many of those who are today's leading European anti-Americans were the same individuals who, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, demanded unilateral nuclear disarmament. It is now clear that the deployment of Cruise and Pershing missiles by NATO, bitterly opposed by the so-called peace movement, was decisive in deterring a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. Yet not only communists and fellow travelers but leftists on both sides of the Atlantic insisted throughout that America, not the Soviet Union, was the greater threat to world peace, especially once the Reagan administration halted the period of decline that followed the Vietnam War. Wouldn't it be something to have been a fly on the wall when President Putin, the erstwhile KGB colonel who is now leading Russia, clicked on his television to watch Mr. Sikorski, who spent the years of Soviet-imposed martial law in Poland in exile?

The editors of these columns have long been for an Eastern European lustration. But the historical record will be a good start, particularly if other other governments of former Warsaw Pact countries will have the courage to follow Poland's lead and throw open their archives, too. They should ignore not only the Kremlin, but also the hypocritical complaints of those who say that old wounds are being reopened. For these disclosures - and there will be more, once historians have sifted through the documents - have vital lessons for the present. Once again, America is being depicted as an aggressor for standing up to a tyranny that thinks nothing of genocide. Once again, Europe is in danger of losing its nerve. Once again, an administration that refuses to appease the foe is accused of hysteria. Only this time the enemy is not communist but Islamist. The threat that an "Islamic bomb" will be developed and used, either by Iranian mullahs or by terrorists, is real and imminent. It is good that President Bush and veterans of the Cold War, such as Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld, are in a position to ensure that these lessons are learned, not forgotten.

It's a War for Pete's Sake!

I know that I have been on a war tangent lately, but let us be honest folks, what else is there? Well, I guess we could talk about Tom Cruise, he is always fun, or just about any of the Hollywood ‘Damn I’m beautiful, pamper me, spoil me, listen to me whine and oh two more things, I believe the WTC was imploded by the Israeli Mossad under direct orders by the CIA and an alien race came to earth at the dawn of time and began our human species.” On second thought, I think I would rather sit me the corner and stick pins and needles in my eye.

Back to our regularly scheduled moment of insanity leads me to an article that just caught my attention at the Star-Telegram, a local newspaper out of Fort Worth, TX. My RSS news feed reader displayed, “Israel may have broken secret weapons pact” which immediately peaked my interest and I surfed on over to visit Fort Worth. The article was an Associated Press feed written by, Lauren Frayer and discussed Israel’s use of cluster bombs within Lebanese cities during the war, which may have broken a secret U.S. and Israel pact on the use of these weapons.

The article states, “The State Department is investigating whether Israel's use of three types of American cluster munitions -- anti-personnel weapons that spray bomblets over a wide area -- violated secret agreements with the U.S. that restrict when such arms can be employed, The New York Times reported Friday.”

The article goes on to speculate that the Bush administration may be making this effort to sooth over Arab feelings resulting from his administration’s support of Israel. My comment to this is very simple, it is a war for Pete’s sake, bombs are dropped in a war and they were dropped within the city because that is where the Hezbollah were hiding among the people shooting hundreds of rockets into Israel. If civilians were casualties as a direct result of the cluster bombs then they were not the result of Israel. They were the result of the civilian’s good friends and neighbors, the Hezbollah. Oh and please allow me to reiterate, it is a war!

Who's on First?

The constantly on-edge apocalyptic overtones of the current situations in Iraq and North Korea are really starting to tick this old Ranter off quite a bit. As many of my friends visiting this site I grew up in the 1950 and 1960’s era of the nuclear cold war, missile silos implanted throughout our wonderful country, Strategic Air Command bombers constantly in the air carrying nuclear payloads. The poor self-sacrificing crew waiting for that one signal emanating from a hidden fortress ordering them to open the doors, drop the payload and fly like to hell to return home and bid their families goodbye before the other countries missiles hit.

During that long cold war were facing threats from one country, Russia, now even greater threats and challenges present themselves to us with two countries constantly beating nuclear war drums loud enough to awaken General George S. Patton from his long slumber. Nothing is making sense in the world, but just for the heck of it let’s go over a few of the players.

North Korea totally loves the international attention every time they place a missile on the launch pad, they revel in it then when their long-range rocket splashed into the water thirty seconds later they tell the world they planned it that way, we really got to love total idiots like that. However, the fact remains they will manage to hit the magic formula, steal it, barter or buy, in any case, they will be a threat soon. When they are operational and their arsenal rests in the hands of their moronic self-serving leader the threats will be coming on a daily basis.

(Ranter Note: My country links are to the CIA World Factbook. I Love that CIA World Factbook, you can click this link to download a copy, or this one to view the main page and bookmark it. It is a great, informative publication, but for anyone on a dial up The World Factbook requires about 30 megabytes of disk space for the .Zip files and about 80 megabytes of disk space for the publication once it is unzipped.)

Iran, now there is a different animal altogether, mostly predator, but somewhat of a skunk combined with a bird of prey. Their enigmatic, megalomaniac leader stands before crowds of reporters calling for the open destruction of the state of Israel while making nuclear threats to the United Nations if they impose sanctions. This guy is not only well entrenched within the idiot crowds I often speak of he is missing just about every common sense marble a human brain could possibly have.

Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution would be proud of him and parade his photos during every speaking engagement. “Ladies and Gentleman I have found the missing link, I will call him, Megalomaniacal, not enough brains to chew gum and pass gas at the same time, Stand-it-up-is.” “He can stand on two legs, walk, sit, but science is having a difficult time attempting to place his intelligence factor. So far we have been able to determine his IQ is somewhere between a dead pidgin and a snake, but we are working on it.”

We cannot neglect to bring into this ever-growing picture of destruction the present status of the world; Israel is fighting anyone attacking it, well, that is until their prime minister is thrown out of office for his last debacle, the Gaza Strip, Palestine, (Hezbollah, Hamas and joining them soon the Fatah party are fighting Israel and anyone who is ticked off at anyone else if about to fight. (Long sentence, I know, but hey, I'm ticked off so bad sentence structure is allowed. ) Suffice to say, it is interesting times we are living in.

Now we have Iran questioning the wording of the United Nations order with a field of their scientists clamoring away at one another and the UN. Let us not forget that as of yesterday the United States was no longer the lone voice in the wilderness when German joined in voicing their displeasure.

So, what can we possibly create from all of this nonsense, war screaming, threats and who knows what else? I really have no idea, but being ticked off tends to work very well for me. Perhaps it is time to all join Mamabear and Papbear in that Bomb shelter they talked about or just go on with our lives as we all did during the cold war. I sure do miss those cool air raid drills we used to have anyway.

This and That Redux

FoxNews online has been running a blog from Capt. Dan Sukman, presently on active duty in Iraq titled, “Soldier's Diary: A Day in the Iraq Life of Captain Dan”. Capt. Dan is writing a lot of insightful commentary we normally do not get a chance to read including Port-a-Johns, 'fufu' coffee and preparing to go home.

Morning all, today I thought I would tackle a few news releases from the military, a few comments and a few topics, I will try to keep it short, to the point, on topic and who the heck am I kidding, we all know I tend to go off at times, but I will try and be good.

The top of my list is a wonderful, informative interview by Blackfive of a Marine Gunny in Iraq, It is a good piece of work and Blackfive should be proud. Here is only the opening paragraph, stop and read it to learn the truth about the job our boys are doing and tell them Ranter sent you.

Written by Blackfive: “Want the truth on the ground in Iraq?”

“Thanks to the good folks at Central Command Public Affairs, I was able to interview a Marine that has rather been one my favorites to watch in Iraq. He is US Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Erik E. Duane, and he is a Civil Affairs detachment chief in the Denver Area of Operations. Since the Iraqis call their Gunnys "Lions" and Gunny Duane was inducted into a local tribe as a Sheik, he is Sheik Lion.”

Here's the interview unedited (except for my spelling errors) with Gunnery Sergeant Erik E. Duane:”

I receive the news release from CENTCOM and have been trying to build up something including them over at The Ranter’s News that Counts, but it is taking time. I will be updating that one today, in the mean time, I updated a release showing positive signs in Iraq, “Baghdad operation improving security” and here is a brief excerpt:

“BAGHDAD — Operation Together Forward, the Iraqi-led operation to reduce violence in Baghdad, is progressing well and improving the security situation around the Iraqi capital, a Joint Staff official said Aug. 23.”

One other addition over at the news site may be of interest: “IRAQI LEADER TAKES ACTION TOWARD PEACE”

I also added three other news releases to The Ranter's News that Counts. They are as follows:

Iraq:
Encouraging results in Police recruiting

CAMP AL ASAD — More than 500 Iraqi men were screened and accepted for service as police officers in their local communities during a three-day recruiting drive in Iraq’s western al-Anbar province recently. | Full Story |

Afghanistan:

SUSPECTED TERRORISTS CAPTURED NEAR PARU KHYL VILLAGE
KABUL , Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a pre-dawn raid on a compound housing suspected terrorists Aug. 22 near Paru Kheyl village in Khowst Province.
| Full Story |

EXTREMIST'S ROCKETS INJURE NOMADS
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Several rockets fired by Taliban extremists struck a Kuchie (nomad) encampment injuring two civilians in Gardez on Aug. 21. The injured are being treated by Coalition medical personnel. Their condition is not known that this time.
| Full Story |

President Bush is trying his best to provide a better understanding of Iraq now that John McCain joined the political fray and denounced the very program he previously supported. Darn, politics and elections just make the best come out in people.

This is the part that tends to tick me off too, politicians supporting one thing privately then a complete about face when the votes need to be counted. It is very evident they all wish to disassociate themselves with anything related to the policies of President Bush.

As I mentioned yesterday, President Bush nor Donald Rumsfeld did not expect what occurred, on the contrary, the initial attack plan would be studied for years to come, fast, lightning and deadly. The White House did not pay the Iraqi military to take up armed insurrection and they darn sure had no idea that Muslims from other countries would pour into Iraq for a chance to kill an American.

The sad commentary to that is whoever takes office next is not going to have a magic bullet or a miracle cure for Iraq, it will go on in the timetable needed and that is it, pure and simple. When the day does come of a total democratic and free Iraq whomever is the sitting President will take the credit even if he or she did nothing except get voted into office, the win will be there’s. Politics are said to make strange bedfellows, personally I think they suck canal water.

That is about all for this morning, I just wanted to share a few links, but if something catches my eye later, you bet I will be back.

Just a bad mood

I must make an initial confession, I have been in a bad mood for a few years now, darn, glad that is off my chest. At least that is what a niece of mine recently informed me in her moment of teenage angst regarding my lack of understanding. I kind of like the concept myself to be honest with you. It sort of fits the Ranter image.

So with that confession fresh in our minds let’s talk about people, Senator John McCain has always been a staunch supporter of the military and who would expect less from a hero of this caliber, but his latest attack to draw a line in the election sand with President Bush leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Let’s all be honest here for a moment, we all know we got a tad more than expected in Iraq, the only people not agreeing to that statement is the White House. Of course they need to play politics and that is expected, but the sad commentary is the only people who knew this was going to be a long protracted problem was us old timers from Viet Nam. I did not know of one veteran that did not soapbox to me those exact sentiments once President Bush announced the invasion was launched. In addition, we all know exactly why it occurred as well, war is unexpected pure and simple.

The blitzkrieg lightning run into Baghdad was a classic maneuver and it worked as planed, but guess what boys and girls, the military blended into the population and guerilla tactics began which led to the present unrest. There are two warring religious factions that have fought and hated one another since the dawn of the sand in the desert and we are in the middle. It is a war and things happen, not always, as we wish, but they do.

Along these same lines, I can safely assume that John McCain always knew there was a possibility of being shot down and captured, but when the reality comes into play, he never really thought it would happen. Its war, things happen.

One more comment totally unrelated to anything I can ever possibly discuss of any importance whatsoever, Tom Cruise supposedly broke Paramount Studios and was fired. So what, who cares! My comment to that news that coincidently was headline on FOX and CNN is he should have spent more time on the circuit talking about his movies instead of jumping on couches and hollering at Matt Lauer on television about mental illness and medication.

It was nice to learn that Tom was also so well schooled in the medical area of the mind; Scientology did well for him in that area while teaching him about his alien DNA. However, the simple fact remains, who cares? I sure as heck don’t, but brought it up simply to make a point of saying he did it himself. We reap what we sow.

I always liked that one that’s why I set a link for it in the rare case there is one person on the planet who did not hear it before. I know, you don’t have to tell me, “Ranter, you are being GLIB!” (Provided that one in case anyone wants to see Tom being an expert on mental health on national television and not jumping on couches screaming his love to the world.

Idiot group of the hour

The Palestinian group who kidnapped the two American correspondent Steve Centanni, 60, and cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36, of New Zealand has set their cause back a hundred years with this latest stunt.

The previously unheard of group of idiots calling themselves the Holy Jihad Brigades has effectively destroyed any further media coverage of their movement. If they hope to accomplish any positive spin on this current debacle they had better release them unharmed and in an expedient manner.

Personally, I would normally care or comment less about them, nor as the rest of the world had no knowledge of their existence till they announced it, but now that they have stated to the media they were the culprits in the kidnapping they can not seriously think the media will give the Palestinian’s any further positive spin on anything.

The new group of the hour, thanks to their idiotic kidnapping, demanded the release of Muslim prisoners in U.S. jails be released within three days in exchange for two kidnapped journalists. The group did not say what would happen if the deadline passed unanswered.

It just boggles my mind how stupid individuals can be, but at the same time, I would like to join all others in offering my hopes and prayers for the journalist’s safe return.

 

 

We must be watchful

This morning’s headline of, Bomb-making equipment found in Britain immediately caught my undivided attention. When the news from England was initially released, many individuals were questioning the validity of the bomb plot to destroy the airlines

This quote from the story puts it all into perspective,

"Since the 10th of August, we have found bomb-making equipment. There are chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other items," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said. "We have also found a number of video recordings — these are sometimes referred to as martyrdom videos.

We are not safe from any source, foreign or domestic and the sooner our countrymen and women awaken to that fact the sooner we will begin working together. There are outside sources whose sole purpose is to effectively destroy our way of life, pure and simple. They are not interested in attacking neither our military institutions nor our standing military. What they wish to destroy is our soul, our fabric of being, what makes America a democracy and they are not going to allow setbacks such as the one in England to stop them.

Their planning and operations is far more in depth then this one incident, if in fact, his incident was truly a plot underwritten by al Qaeda remains to be seen, but I do have reservations. I feel this plot may be related, but not sanctioned by them and simply lone individuals bent on destruction.

We have so many individuals who feel these incidents do not effect them and they go about their daily lives with little or no concept of fear of additional attacks. When in truth yes, there will be more, there will be additional attempts and they will try as hard as they can to attack our county. We must be ever watchful and guarded at all times if we wish to prevail.

Our beacon of freedom

Our great country is presently engaged in a war, not against the military of a nation, the might of a foreign country or to remove foreign rulers from our shores, but against those whose sole purpose is to destroy our way of life, our very existence.

These individuals have dedicated themselves to insure by any means possible that we become less than we are, that our nation, once standing proud, tall and free ceases to be the beacon of freedom in the night calling to the oppressed to free themselves of bondage. To struggle no more and live as they are in the light of another, living in fear of their lives and doing the will of a madman or mad government. To rise up if needed, to stand by their convictions and speak as one voice that freedom is their will and they will suffer no more.

Our nation has been this beacon to the masses with our lady of liberty bearing our torch of freedom and calling them to freedom. This principle, this conviction we live by, founded upon and governed by is what individuals we now call terrorist wish to destroy, to topple, to bury into the ground by any means they can fathom. By land, sea, air, whatever the means available to them they wish to discover any secret cargo it can possibly carry to destroy our beacon.

Twice they have attacked our shores and twice we have remained, each attack was not an attack upon our shipyards or military installations, but an attack upon a symbol of democracy, a symbol of success, the World Trade Center.

They attacked our country February 26, 1993 using explosive devices contained within a vehicle and the World Trade Center still stood. It remained, it did not fall and this infuriated them, they attacked once more, September 11, 2001 taking control of our own aircraft, piloting them into the buildings and they succeeded. These pictures are still etched forever within the recesses of our minds and with each thought it brings forth tears of pain, of anguish of hatred for those responsible, the memories will remain, but the buildings and the precious lives they contained did not.

Our fellow countrymen and women perished in moments of fear and terror amid blazes of fuel and the deafening sound of a building coming down from within. Lives of families throughout the world were changed in moments, children to be born were never to be, Mothers and Fathers never to return, sisters, brothers, friends, generations were stopped, the lives of our people and the landscape of our country was changed because of our convictions and way of life did not fall into the thinking of others.

Our nation still remained, we were angered, enraged, we cried and still do when the incident comes to mind, but we stood the test, our way of life continued, our beacon still called, our democracy stood.

Today our military is engaged in combat throughout many portions of this great earth. The men and women of our combined services are presently hunting out or standing face to face with the very people who put these events into play and we are bringing justice to them, forcing these people we call terrorists to fear, to feel terror, to fear retribution.

On September 11, 2001 our country mourned, we cried, we tried to overcome, heroes were born by the hundreds and lives were lost by the same, yet we stood. For that moment in time forever still frozen within our minds we were one, one nation, our leaders joining hands and singing to show the world we are still one voice and it was a beautiful voice, one of liberty, togetherness, one nation, one person.

Our nation collectively decided it would no longer turn the other cheek, bury our head and go softly into the night; we would seek out those responsible, bring them to justice for what they have done and insure our beacon of freedom remains and our democracy still stands.

Our nation will remain, our convictions of freedom and liberty will remain and we will prevail, but we must be one voice, one mind, standing together and saying as one voice that we will no longer be the paper tiger, no longer will we be afraid of the dark, no longer will we be attacked and no longer will we tolerate anyone who calls themselves a terrorist.

We must.

It is TIME!

I realize that the majority of my recent posts have clearly demonstrated a fixation on my part pertaining to the war in Lebanon and the actions of Israel, but I must confess that the geo-political atmosphere within this part of the world not only amazes me, it totally boggles my mind at times.

Here is a story from CBS News that caught my eye a moment ago and made me begin to think of a few things I want to discuss.

“CBS/AP) Standing in the midst of the rubble of south Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the Israeli bombing campaign "a crime against humanity." Saniora toured south Beirut accompanied by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah backer. The area, a Hezbollah stronghold, bore the brunt of Israeli airstrikes during the month-long fighting between Israel and the Shiite militia.”

Why is it that every time the state of Israel does something of a military manner to defend itself from attack it is a crime against humanity? The Hezbollah can do whatever they wish in the media and nothing is printed of their actions or motives, only the response from Israel and it is always a crime against God or humanity.

Why is it the Hezbollah can stand within the middle of their cities launching one rocket after another into Israel and the moment Israel responds in kind they are the bad guys, not the Hezbollah.

Why is it that information has been filtering out the Hezbollah actually set a trap by placing innocent civilians, women, and handicapped children within that building then launching a shoulder fired rocket from within one of the windows at the Israeli plane forcing it to fire a missile to defend itself destroying the building and nothing, not one drop is mentioned in the mainstream media?

Why is it the Hezbollah can send special teams into Israel killing LDF soldiers and taking hostages, effectively starting a war between the two parties and once Israel begins their military campaign to defend itself from further action they are committing the crimes against humanity and being torn apart by every media pundit in the world?

Why is it the darned media cannot ever do anything other than take the sides of every terrorist, murderer, thug, killer and at the same time openly discuss state secrets and no one, not one person in Washington gets off their collective lazy butts and attempts to put a stop to it?

Why is it when President Bush works diligently to attempt to defend the United States of America from acts of terrorism he is breaking the law, bending the constitution or deserves to be impeached?

Yes, I am totally darned sick and tired of all this nonsense, all of the “he did this”, and “he did not do that”, and am fed up, disgusted and ticked off. Any politician with the grit who wants to defend this wonderful country from any attack is torn apart in the media and we the people are allowing this to take place without screaming from every rooftop that we are sick and tired of it all.

We had terrorists take control of our commercial aircraft and fly them into our buildings killing thousands, destroying the lives of families for generations to come and years later the media dissects every moment of every day of our President. Our Secretary of Defense is openly torn apart and ridiculed on the Senate floor by a want to be president whose only intent was to further her political career and the media says she did well.

The whole thing is totally disgusting and turns my stomach that this is taking place while our men and women in uniform are being killed and wounded defending the very country that is protesting them. Lunatics like Sheehan can protest our wounded men and women in military hospitals and nothing is said except she is doing a good job, poor Cindy, she lost her son. So did a heck of a lot of other Mothers and Fathers and they are not out destroying the moral fabric of our military, where are the media stories on them?

The direction that everything is moving is not only disturbing it is darn well freighting, we have not lost our way, we have lost our minds and the media is only reminding us each and every day that we are bad people, we are not supposed to defend our country, we are supposed to turn the other cheek and let more destruction happen.

It is time we voting portion of the country assumed responsibility for our actions and voted for politicians who represent this country and will conduct themselves in their office as Americans willing to defend this country. It is time we tell the media they are wrong, it is time we tell the Sheehan’s of the world that NO, they cannot protest at our military hospitals, it is simply TIME.

Iran Update

Iran is doing it’s very best to tick off the entire world with their nuclear program. Today, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi confirmed that Iran would offer on Tuesday a "multifaceted response" to a Western package of incentives aimed at persuading Tehran to suspend enrichment activities, but insisted it would not cease enriching uranium altogether.

The United Nations could not have expected any other response from a country presently ran by lunatics other than “Blow it out your nose.” In all honesty, they could care less, what the United Nations does, in fact a recent quote only leads credence to that comment’ “

"If sanctions are imposed ... it will be easy (for us) to cope with it."Hamid Reza AsefiIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman

To remind everyone, the U.N. Security Council resolution passed last month gives Tehran until Aug. 31st to freeze uranium enrichment or face political and economic sanctions. Iran has repeatedly stated it would ignore it and this came as no surprise to anyone watching the events as they unfold.

One of the primary problems facing the United Nations is for all practical intent, helpless and without teeth to do anything to Iran that would matter and Iran is well aware of that fact.

The world will just have to wait and see, but one thing is for certain, it will not feel any safer knowing that the insanity running through the government of Iran has its collective finger on a possible button.

Rescue, Pure and Simple

Our old friend Wild Bill is a prophet or a soothsayer, his comments on the possible motive and purpose behind the Israeli raid being a rescue mission echoed my own sentiments yesterday when I first read the news of the incursion in Lebanon.

I may be old, antiquated and opinionated but when I was a young, full of lightning and thunder I have managed to get my wild on more than once, seen the door of a few planes and lived in Indian country trying my best to be a very small leaf when someone was close enough to see their two day old chin growth. I have also seen and experienced the opposite end of the spectrum, planning and equipping a foray into unknown areas for reasons that appeared sound at the time and later made us all mutter a collective, “Huh”.

I must add to this statement that my experience, or total lack thereof is of the old -school variety, “plan it, pack enough ammo and pray for forgiveness”, not today’s high-tech, “own the night,” “send a team into a mission with the ability to communicate with God the whole time”, I am digressing once again, either that or Alzheimer’s is setting in, but the fact remains, you don’t send in a highly trained Special Operations team your government invested a few million dollars and a few years into training and even more taxpayers bucks into equipping to take out a bridge. Not with today’s rocket technology that can fly a few hundred miles, knock on the door, wipe its feet then blow the hell out of its target before breakfast.

This was some form of a rescue mission, pure and simple and we will never know the truth because the Israeli LDF or the Mossad does not operate as our modern military. They don’t tell the media anything, period and if there were a media outlet in Tel Aviv with traitorous reporters printing all the state secrets behind a mission trying their very best to be the NY Times well, they would not be around much longer.

I do feel the mission had to be of a time sensitive high target value or high priority rescue for Israel to risk loosing their team, but as far as caring about the cease-fire, I stand by my original statements. Israel does not care for the media slant and they are going to continue doing as they please to demonstrate simply that they can.

Wild Bill made another statement I want to comment on as well and that is, “I truly believe that Olmert just sealed his fate!” That comment is something that good old Olmert can take to the bank or make sure his life insurance is paid up. Segue back to the 1972 Olympic Munich killings and try to name one of the terrorists involved that was alive a few years later after Israel put a secret operation called “The Sword of Gideon” into effect. Yes Wild Bill, I agree with you 100%, Olmert had better not make too many long-term plans.

Once again with feeling

I wrote this particular piece awhile back and thought it might be a nice idea to put it up one more time.

There was a time when this country was in its youth struggling for its independence, yearning to be free. Men, willing to die for their freedom counted upon by a fledging democracy, still testing the waters of its beginning “We the people”.

People stood together and with one voice said enough is enough, we will be free at all costs and they succeeded. Backwoodsmen, citizen soldiers, businessmen, schoolteachers, politicians all stood together as one taking on an army that had never lost a war and was determined to make their colonies listen to their king.

A country grew from the ravages of war as a phoenix rising from the ashes, dedicated to the principals of democracy and freedom, where all men are free to do as they choose, say what they will, safe in the knowledge their country would defend these freedoms at all costs.

Wars would come and pass, as all wars tend to do, with each one a united country standing together as one voice would meet it head on and the principals of the founding father’s would stand the test of time.

This country is presently engaged in a new type of war, a war on not a standing army, but against those wanting to take down the liberties that we hold so dear. They do not meet us head on in battlefields, but hiding behind innocent civilians, women and children, using them as shields knowing our soldiers will not return fire.

Survival dictates differently, for to live through the engagement our soldiers must return fire, in doing so innocents perish, it is sad, but our men and women did not put them in that situation, on the contrary, it was their own countrymen’s cowardly use of human shields that put their lives in jeopardy.

This does not make our soldier’s a murderer, it does not make them liable for their actions, they overcame, adapted, but first and foremost they survived, not just to fight another day, but to return to their families alive.

Our country needs to remember the principals upon which it was built, remember who we really are, remember that to succeed we must be one voice, a voice of reason, understanding, compassion. We must listen to the voices of our founding father’s that still echo from the halls in which they stood. We are one people, one voice standing together as one to overcome a foe, to achieve our goals, to win at all costs and beyond that, for our soldiers to survive coming home to the families they left behind.

We need to remember these words, imbed them within our minds:


“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Middle East Update

I realize that I wrote about the Israeli raid a bit ago, but since then I have been monitoring a few of the news services and television news stations and there appears to be a substantial upheaval growing over this raid.

Earlier when I read the article I felt it was more of Israel wanting to show everyone they could still move at will, but now I am starting to think they had more of an underlying thought process behind the raid. The question of if in fact Iran and Syria were truly resupplying the Hezbollah, as Israel is stating, is still up in the air and no doubt will remain so for sometime now. If in fact they were doing so then Israel should have made it known to the United Nations and allowed matters to be handled in that specific arena.

The fact remains though that Israel decided to take matters into their own hands and send in Special Forces dressed as Arabs to take out the resupply point. Apparently, this was operated in conjunction with a rocket attack upon a bridge. The Hezbollah were suspicious and opened fire, which resulted in deaths on both sides.

Now that more information is filtering into the various news services it is becoming more evident to me that Israel may have had more underlying thoughts to this raid; putting an end to the cease fire allowing them to begin actions once more.

This would permit them to attempt to regain a hold they never really had in the first place with the Hezbollah and another attempt to establish their buffer zone. It was very apparent their forces did not accomplish what they accepted, nor perform as they were expected, that is very evident with the casualties they took because of the actions.

As I have mentioned before the Israeli LDF are not taking the media slant of their defeat too well, in their opinion they are the best and unbeatable, but their past performance clearly put a damper to that thought.

It remains to be seen what their true intentions were and in the Middle East to attempt to guess anyone’s opinion is an impossible feat, but one thing is for sure, they will continue to infiltrate until they feel they have accomplished a media coup and nothing wills top them. This will only lead to more destruction and death on both sides and the United Nations will need to do more than they are to stop this.

Cease Fire.. What's that?

The United Nations cease-fire, which attempted to put a halt to the fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah, is in a constant state of question due to most countries not willing to send their troops to an area they will surely see action in. Daily the UN is begging countries for their military only to be told “No way Jose” and do not call again.

We can all safely assume that the French Foreign Legion will see the most action as well as providing the majority of the military personnel for the buffer zone. Legionnaires live for this type of commitment and the two I knew would have been packed waiting to leave long before they were called.

In any case, we can also assume that Israel is not going to allow one moment to pass without attempting to demonstrate to everyone concerned that Israel can still do whatever they wish to the Hezbollah operating safety within Lebanon and well protected by the Lebanese military. As was the case in this morning’s news summary where Israeli special forces operated inside Lebanon, risking the UN Mideast Cease-Fire Agreement.

The spokesperson for the Israeli army said the commandos blew up a bridge used to smuggle weapons from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah, but you can bet the farm that Israel simply wanted to demonstrate to the world that they could still move at will, doing whatever damage they wish. They are not taking the media slant of their massive defeat too lightly and they will use every opportunity to prove that fact, even risking the cease fire, which in all honesty, had they not taken so many casualties they would case less about.

There will never be peace within this portion of the world, the hatred is too well entrenched within the minds of everyone concerned to ever permit that to occur, at least not within years to come. It will take a lot more than a United Nations agreement to ever put a stop to this action and what that will be will remain to be seen.