Yearning for days of my youth.

The events taking place these days makes me yearn for the days of yesterday, the days of family happiness, Dad watering the front lawn, Mom sorting out the spat that created yet another dispute among brothers and sisters and the best part of this fantasy, the bomb shelter twenty-two feet under our back yard. Safety in planning, the Civil Defense would advertise in the posters, direct mail, and plan everyone did.

Thinking back to days of my childhood, the very image of the fall of the Berlin Wall was unknown, let alone the fall of communism and the Russian way of life. Images and thoughts of the fall of communism were not even remotely on the horizon, let alone nasty old Fidel Castro the sole remaining communist. My Father always used to say that it would take a magician to stop communism, who would have thought it would take a man named, Ronald Reagan and a Pope named, John Paul, not a magician to make it happen.

These were the days of air raid drills taking place during school, where the entire school would go to the basement’s west corner wall, knell down, bend our heads and cover them with our hands. As children performing that self-preservation ritual we felt so secure in the knowledge that if the big one hit, we would survive to carry on the American dream. Of course, only the faculty was aware of the true knowledge behind this exercise in futility, get the small bodies off the street so it would not gross everyone out, but we felt safe.

Today we are faced with events that are quickly forming a life of its own, moving beyond the control of humans. Headlines such as: Day of Hope and Bloodshed, Iraq gets new government as bombs kill 24, Israeli aid strike kills four Palestinians in Gaza, scream at us from online news services, Yahoo, Topix, Google, and feeling safe is something of a mystery.

There was that time when I was in grade school that the class discussed the previous day’s events where Nikita Khrushchev stood at the UN podium, pounding his brown shoe repeatedly on the top of it while screaming, “Мы вас похороним!”, which translated meant, “We will bury you”. Many events changed the course of history back then, things such as The Bay of Pigs fiasco, and The Assassination of President Kennedy.

I suppose things truly never do change, the world keeps spinning, countries continue to hate one another and war never really stops, it is a road show, it simply travels to another location leaving its death and destruction in its wake. Perhaps it is time we tried to change things, but then again, that would mean the people of the world would have to get along and the one thing we have learned over the course of history is that will never happen.

A change in my e-mail.

My friends, due to the antics of some childish individual(s) who think it is funny to use other people’s e-mail addresses as the default sending address for mailing thousands of pieces of trash spam to unknowing users, I am forced to change the e-mail address for this blog. The previous address will be closed effective immediately and I will no longer receive nor send e-mail for the blog from that address. I should point out to everyone that these types of attacks occur often, usually out of vengeance, as the knights of old, we must all remain ever on guard.

I am now using a graphic image for the e-mail address, you can send mail by clicking on it, and actually, I feel it looks a lot better than the plain old link anyway, gives it a little more class. I also would like to advise everyone that presently corresponds with to know I will be sending my new address to you shortly.

They are Winning..

“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security” - Benjamin Franklin

The military Divide and Conquer axiom used in varying forms by Sun Tzu in The Art of War, is a common guerilla warfare tactic meaning, an enemy must be divided by force, propaganda, planting of false rumors, any means necessary before they are conquered.

The divide and conquer tactic was used successfully by, Ho Chie Min during the war in Viet Nam, not only in the rice paddies or red mud, but within our own country. This was never more evident than within the groups of protestors that swelled to throngs of thousands by wars end. The crowd’s philosophy and anger fueled by the media’s continuous portrayal of the war and American troops engaged as wrong, immoral, war mongering, baby killers. The media stood in the shadows of Ho Ch Min’s propaganda machine, mouths open like newborn birds waiting to be spoon-fed stories that would put them inline for a Pulitzer and peace prize combined.

Today it is déjà vu all over again as we never do learn from our mistakes. As George Bernard Shaw said, "We learn from history that we learn nothing from history." the media still awaits its morsels, passing them on to fuel the anger of the people, only this time from two propaganda machines, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The majority of reporters are not anti-American, they honestly feel within their hearts that the stories are factual, when in truth they are nothing more than what Al-Qaeda and the Taliban wish them to be and they do not question it, as their voracity for information is far too great.

Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have all the time in the world, unlike politicians worried about the next election and policies that may hinder the vote, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban can sit back, plant the seeds of false information and enjoy the events as they unfold. What more could they ask for then what is presently transpiring, dissension among the people, the lose of individual constitutional rights with terrorism the blame, a growing anger over a war and over policies of an administration, even the question of impeachment thrown in for good measure.

They have accomplished exactly what Osama bin Laden has set before them many times over in his video messages, “further attacks upon America” as they have created a false atmosphere of fear in Washington that has affected the rights of every citizen. The attacks have already come, not by weapons of mass destruction, or dirty bombs, or any other explosive, but through our own fear and mistrust that he has built through our media and allowed to fester while creating additional fear upon it.

America needs a very strong wake-up call, an alarm needs to go forth among the land, ringing from every town, we need to become one voice and one nation and heed the alarm of ”They are winning and we need to do something about it before it is too late”.

CJ's IED-ROLL-UP

Here is the latest IED-Roll-Up from CJ:

May 16 - Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers observed three terrorists with two bongo trucks emplacing a roadside bomb on a highway southwest of Baghdad. Attack helicopters destroyed both bongo trucks, killing one terrorist, as another fled to a nearby home. Coalition Forces cordoned off the area and detained the man. After searching the impact area, Soldiers discovered two AK-47 rifles, a rack system, a set of night vision goggles, six 155 mm rounds, a car battery, detonation cord, a pressure plate mechanism and a long-range transmitter base. Coalition Forces are currently searching for the third terrorist. The wounded terrorist received medical treatment prior to being detained for questioning.

May 16 - Terrorists attacked Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers on patrol in the Baghdad neighborhood of al Mansour in a drive-by shooting. The Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment followed the truck to the al Abbas Mosque and observed the terrorists entering the building. Soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition Forces surrounded the mosque. The Qada chairman negotiated with the Imam in order to gain entry and detain the terrorists. While they were waiting, the U.S. Soldiers searching the truck used in the drive-by shooting discovered a machine gun, a sniper rifle, an anti-tank mine, rocket-propelled grenades and a launcher. Once permission was given by the Imam, Iraqi Soldiers respectfully searched the mosque and the surrounding compound. There were no explosives found in the mosque. However, IED making materials and a large weapons cache were found on the compound. Eleven military-aged males were detained for questioning.

May 17 - Iraqi Police and Coalition Soldiers killed three terrorists and wounded 10 others in two separate incidents in Mosul. Soldiers from 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team observed a group of insurgents burying an improvised explosive device on a roadway southwest of the city. The troops tracked the movements of the insurgents before engaging them with small arms fire. The terrorists jumped into waiting vehicles and fled the area. Troops from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division and Coalition personnel searched a local hospital and identified nine men with gun shot wounds received from the engagement. Once we found them, did we torture them and saw off their heads? Nope. The men were treated by hospital doctors and detained. In another incident, three civilians were attacked by terrorists on a highway outside of Mosul shortly after noon. The terrorists were driving two separate cars and chased the civilians' vehicle and fired into it several times. Coalition troops responded to the gunfire and killed three terrorists driving in one of the cars. Iraqi police officers pursued the remaining car until it stopped. The four terrorists fled on foot. Officers wounded and captured one individual. The remaining three are cleaning their shorts and counting their blessings...while they have them.

May 19 - Iraqi police officers found and cleared a bomb that was hidden in a shrine east of Baqubah. The device was composed of an anti-tank mine with a remote control detonation device. Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal personnel dismantled the device and removed the components for later disposal. No injuries or damages were reported. May 20 - Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division found and cleared a cache south of Bayji. The cache contained 60 23 mm high-explosive rounds and an assortment of mortar rounds and bomb-making components. The materials were destroyed on site by a controlled detonation. No injuries or damages were reported.

In all, about 69 IEDs were prevented this week from built and/or detonated against our soldiers, American contractors, and Iraq civilians. This saved the lives of approximately 550 people. This week was a very busy week with Coalition and Iraq soldiers killing and capturing terrorist cell leaders, destroying a huge base of insurgent operations, and responding to multiple insurgent attacks. We ARE still winning the war against these terrorists. We've shown them that the man they look up to (Zarqawi) can't even operate a weapon. And this man is leading them?! They're runing out of components in the meantime and have to wait for more. The problem here is that we're killing and capturing these guys on the borders before they can get to the cities.

I also wanted to update everyone no what happens to many of these guys when they're captured. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 14 security detainees May 3 through May 9 for various crimes including possessing illegal weapons and joining terrorist groups. The trial court found Ammar Fat'hi Hassan Hussein guilty of violating Article 194 of the Iraqi Penal Code for joining terrorist groups to endanger innocent people's lives and to unsettle the stability and security of Iraq. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him for being a cell leader in Abu Talha's Mosul Terror Cell. Three persons who had been tried and convicted of crimes related to their membership in the MTC testified at the trial against the defendant, Hussein.

The trial court found Ra'ad Dawood Salman Al Zobai guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for the possession of illegal weapons and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after discovering a weapons cache in his home where they found 1,500 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, 50 AK-47 magazines, a large quantity of soap, soldering irons, an electronic multimeter test set and Iraqi police uniforms and documents. Coalition Forces searched the yard surrounding Zobai's house and discovered timers, batteries, blasting caps, thirty feet of detonation cord, five grenades, five pounds of C-4 explosive, bags of gunpowder, small arms ammunition, one artillery round, one RPK machine gun and three rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The trial court found Subhi Esmail Trad, Ahmad Eubayid Sumair, Khudir Abd Al Hamid Alwan, Auda Kalbush Mutuk, Saladin Subhi Jubayir, Hussin Silabi Authman, Rid Yusif Yakuh, Hussein Karim Muhammad, Sahir Hamadallah Adab, Abid Ibrahim Muhammad and Yasir Ismail Ibrihim guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for the possession of illegal weapons and sentenced each of them to life imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended them after raiding a remote terrorist training camp and finding two Draganov sniper rifles, 200 armor-piercing rounds, four machine guns, one RPG launcher, 11 RPG rounds, five AK-47 rifles with seven loaded magazines, two 9 mm pistols, hundreds of rounds of small arms and artillery ammunition, body armor, night vision goggles, $10,000 in U.S. currency and four wired cordless phone base stations.

The trial court found Mohammed Kamel Mussa guilty of violating Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 3 for the possession of illegal weapons and sentenced him to six years imprisonment. Coalition Forces apprehended him after finding 60 sticks of plastic explosive and two anti-tank mines inside his residence and buried in his backyard. The defendant confessed in writing at the investigative hearing and at trial to the material facts. To date, the CCCI has held 1,053 trials of insurgents suspected of anti-Iraqi and anti-Coalition activities threatening the security of Iraq and targeting Multi-National Force - Iraq. The proceedings have resulted in 948 individual convictions.

So these guys are being tried and convicted for crimes against innocents. The government is beginning to function the way a democracy should function. Truly there is No End But Victory.


A Soldier's Perspective
www.soldiersperspective.us

More news on Gitmo

Additional information on the events surrounding the planned attack yesterday at Guantanamo, Gitmo, has been released to the media. This latest round of updates from Government sources as well as many other sources distinctly demonstrates that the prisoners, all enemy combatants, planned an executed an attack upon the Marine guards charged with their safety and security.

In a quote from topix.net News Service, “Detainees had smeared floor with feces and soapy water to make responders slip and fall, CBS News reports. Prisoners attacked 10 members of Guantanamo's quick-reaction force with fan blades, pieces of metal and broken light fixtures, said Army Col. Michael Bumgarner, a camp official.”

I found the fact this occurred along with the UN calling for the closure of Gitmo detainee center to be more than coincidental. As all of the sources are pointing out, this was a planned and executed attack by the detainees and they should be punished, severely for their action. Gitmo does not need closure, it needs stricter rules and detainees treated as the scum they are. If any of these people escaped, they would cut the throats of every person they found, that is the truth, not what the media is saying.

What sickened me was some of the liberal media comments and comments from some attorney are constantly stating we are torturing prisoners; this is another direct quote from an article at topix.net news service.

"Under these circumstances, it's hardly surprising that people become desperate and hopeless enough to attempt suicide," said Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, an attorney for a detainee from Bahrain who has repeatedly tried to kill himself.”

What a load of pure, utter nonsense, these are enemy combatants who planned an attack upon our Marine’s and they should not go unpunished. The sad fact to this incident is party leaders will now call for closure just as was planned all along and the media will stay on it until it is done.

Incidents as this make me sick and reading the statements from the bleeding heart, liberal “save the world” people who feel they know it all make me sicker. We should send these people in to spend the night with the detainees and they can find the truth out for themselves that is if they last the night.

To the Marines stationed at Gitmo following orders performing a service for our country that is quickly becoming above and beyond, Semper Fi from an old Hooah.

Gitmo, The truth and nothing but the truth..

Rumors constantly fly through the media how badly the prisoners are treated by our military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but the facts constantly prevail that the prisoners are treated with respect they do not deserve.

Our military stationed at Guantanamo operates under strict guidelines of religious respect for the prisoners beliefs, white gloves are used at all times when touching the Koran and these orders are followed. The prisoners themselves are treated and fed well and contrary to media reports, they are not mistreated and tortured daily.

Yet we are inundated from every corner of the circus arena that is more commonly referred to as the media that troops at Guantanamo are disrespectful, uncaring, downright mean individuals who torture the prisoners as if they held the secret to the Holy Grail. No, these troops are not the highly secret army of descendants of the Knights Templar attempting to recapture the object they lost, they are men and women trained to follow orders and they are doing just that.

Yet the media and the people who do follow blindly want us to believe just the opposite, they want us to see the troops as demons in disguise tearing human rights from the throats of prisoners as they stomp all over their dignity. This is the pure Bovine Excrement exclamation once coined by the great General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and it fits this usage quite well. There are times when I am reading a news story where I am reminded of the phrase, “100 monkeys pounding on typewriters”.

Now we are supposed to believe the inhumane stories once more because prisoners rioted at Guantanamo. When in truth the prisoners using makeshift weapons battled guards who were attempting to save a detainee from what has now been found to be a staged suicide.
This attack by the prisoners was nothing but a coordinated attack upon the guards in an attempt to kill them, attempted homicide and attempted escape, pure and simple.

I suggest anyone reading this click on the next link to writing from Michelle Malkin, titled, The Gitmo Suicide was staged, and she is a syndicated journalist with a pedigree that is unapproachable. Read her writing and learn the truth.

They want rights, give them the true rights they deserve as the criminals they are and judge them for murderers, attempted murderers and give them lethal injections. That is what they truly deserve, nothing more.

Rep John Murtha insulting the entire corps

Rep. John Murtha is a complete, glory seeking, political rabble-rousing troublemaker who has the pure unmitigated gall to refer to himself as an ex-Marine. I realize the Marines are fond of saying, “Once a Marine, always a Marine”, but in the particular case of Murtha, with his constant insults against the Marines and now his latest attack calling them murderers, he is better off stating he never served in the Corps. Because after his latest use of the name of the Marines, sacred to many, I am, sure the Marines have disavowed any knowledge of him as well.

Murtha’s mouth has opened far too many times telling the world how bad, cold-blooded killers like the Marines should not be representing their country. His latest attack on the Corps pertains to an incident, which occurred in the Iraqi city of Haditha where Murtha has accused Marines of murdering civilians, running his mouth off to any reporter within hearing distance, convicting US Marines of a massacre before the investigation is completed, and findings released to the media.

Whether the Marines are guilty of firing into an unarmed crowd has yet to be determined, I agree with the fact that whatever took place it is a tragedy. I would also like to state that if the story were indeed true, the United States Marine Corp would punish anyone that was found guilty, as it should be. What should not be done is bringing the information to the floor to throw around as a political football and discussing personal, pure-political feelings with the media on a daily basis.

Murtha has proved to the Marines repeatedly that he no longer deserves any respect as a veteran of the Viet Nam war. Further, as a veteran of that war he needs to remember the incidents which took place that he was privileged to have knowledge of and how he would have felt if any individual would have been called cold-blooded killers before an inquiry found them so. He above all, should realize that you do not use any incident, which takes place during wartime as political advantage to promote your run for presidency, never. He should also remember the law, which states a person is innocent until proven guilty. He is insulting the memories of those fallen Heros and brothers in the Marines when he constantly rakes their actions through the mud.

I am so damned upset of his continuous use of the Corps as a means to gain office and everyone knows that is exactly what he has been doing. The man is not only disgusting he needs to have his mouth taped shut.

I am not stating that people should go unpunished for their actions, on the contrary, I am stating the justice system needs to do the job it is supposed to do and if anyone is found guilty then and only then are they are punished.

Making an entire branch of the service walk through the heated coals of insults and use them as a political stepping-stone is very wrong, as a Marine, he should know that.

Here Kitty - Kitty.

Growing up we always had some sort of pet in our home, rabbits, hamsters, birds, chimpanzees, dogs and the ever-preset cat that no one ever knew just how she got there, but she quickly took over the house and liked to pee on my Father’s favorite chair, we children loved her.

I feel some people go just a little too far when selecting a family pet, as this family in last nights headline, Kentucky Family Fights to Keep Pet Lion. It seems this family in a small Appalachian town should win the strangest pet of the year award with a full-grown lion for a pet.

The owners purchased the lion or Kitty as they named him, three years ago, when he was a 5-pound cub at a flea market. Of course, most of us have seen a lion cub on television and they are so cute and cuddly, that is until they mature and are capable of taking down an elephant before breakfast, or is that for breakfast, in any case, he is full size now.

His cute, tiny little purr is no longer music to the ear, now it is a lour roar and some residents are not too happy. Time and the law will decide on little Kitty and until then he is part of the family. I hope they keep him well fed and the mail carrier does not turn up missing.

Military troops along the border...

President’s Bush’s latest plan to augment the Border Patrol along our Border with Mexico by sending 6000 National Guard troops will be a blessing for US Citizens living along the border in Arizona. I have been following news reports originating in Yuma, Arizona and residents there are hoping and praying that Congress approves the plan.

Border crossers have long besieged Arizona, currently one of the illegal immigrant hot spots of our country. Residents of Yuma, Arizona have stated in interviews that their property and homes are no longer safe with the nightly incursions into their city lead by the coyotes. The low-life characters, who charge their flock thousands of dollars apiece, often take their money, lead them into an out of the way location in the Arizona Desert, far from water and leave them for the heat to dispose of.

Some time ago civilian human rights groups and Border Patrol agents began placing bottles and large containers of water in some of the remote Desert locations where coyotes often leave people to die from exposure and heat stroke, there are no statistics available to demonstrate if it works or not. In any case, even the smallest bit of water can mean the difference between life and death in the Sonora Desert. It is a hot, dry, unforgiving environment that was never meant for man or beast, yet these inhuman, filth coyotes, who call themselves human beings lead people through it all of the time.

The media is constantly drawing attention to the illegal immigrant issue related to border crossers when they need to be dwelling more on the depth of the illegal drug smuggling, which takes place between the borders of Mexico and America. The drug problem in America is not going to go away, or simply stop on its own merit. It needs constant work, workers, equipment and different laws and even then, the smugglers would still find ways in which to bring their death trash into our country.

It is unknown if Congress is going to allow Bush to proceed with the National Guard plan and even if they do; Washington has already announced the Guard will not be patrolling the border, just augmenting the personnel located there. That is a not only a waste of Guard resources, but may not accomplish anything at all. We will just have to wait and see.

The illegal immigration and drug smuggling issue is not going to fade away quietly, the National Guard alone will not correct much of it either, time will tell.

Thief needed to landscape his house...

I absolutely love it when surfing the news services and from out of nowhere, you spot a headline that makes you exclaim, “What the hell!” aloud before you actually click on it to view the entire story. I always expect the outrageous, dual meaning headlines if I am surfing through the oddities of the day or the sexual innuendos that tend to scream out from some want-to-be news site just to make you click and read the link.

Of course, once you have loaded the page, well there you are, reading something that had nothing to do with the headline what so ever and you discover why they created a screaming sex headline, it was boring!

With all the ranting and raving off my mind, I can get down to what I had planned on writing about. Honestly, in this particular case, the story does relate to the headline, but the headline is what grabbed my attention. I guess the reporter who wrote the story could actually say their journalism degree was worth it, I could not give their name from the byline because the AP (Associated Press) felt it was not important enough to include with the news article.

“Thief Steals Calif. Homeowner's Front Yard”, now try to tell me that headline did not at least get a “Huh?” from you. I realize that it had nothing to do with sex, nor was it even derogatory about some celebrity, but hey; sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. (By the way, experts agree that Sigmund Freud never even said that famous quote, a comedian in his stand up act used the phrase. Look at all the great tidbits of useless knowledge you learn here.

This particular incident took place in Adelanto, California, where a Mojave Desert homeowner came home to find their entire front law, which had just been professional landscaped hauled away by one determined thief. The culprit apparently was one determined person; taking all the fresh sod, plants and even the entire irrigation system. I can well imagine authorities investigating this incident, we can rule out CSI coming in, that is for sure.

Luckily, for the homeowner witnesses watched the event take place and watched as the thief, (we know this one cannot be referred to as a master thief) hauled the lawn, lock stock and barrel, to their own home. Witnesses contacted sheriff’s deputies who showed up and after investigation, took him to a nice soft cell where he never had to worry about a nice front yard again.

The Grinch Electric Company

The financial problems of businesses everywhere appears to be stemming from skyrocketing delinquent accounts, hence they’re no longer tolerating any form of late payment due on any amount. Gone are the days of “Payment due fifteen days upon receipt of bill” that once adorned those pretty bills they used to send, adorned with cute stickers and sayings, you owe it, you pay it, or else.

Politicians have gained a lucrative income from touring the news panel circuit, telling everyone, billing departments no longer have a heart and by Head Who, we are going to investigate and stop the accounts receivable departments from being the anal-retentive heartless ding-dongs they have become. (A new saying is making the rounds too, “Hit like the Grinch hit Whoville”)

Why are we going to do that, you ask, well because we are politician’s thank you very much, making threats we forget about upon leaving the podium is what we do. Hey, Mr. News host, do you think I can I have my check for appearing now, quickly too, I have to seventeen more talk shows to do this morning, After all, I have to pay for that new wing on my house.
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The city of Flint, Michigan’s electric company really do not like their customers very much at all, they have appeared to have taken the stand of the “Grinch who stole everything and they will not tolerate their customers ignoring them.

No, they really have neither compassion nor understanding and like the Grinch, when it comes to people, why their heart is so small that physician’s were unable to locate it in their last Grinch checkup.

Whoville reporters, lost deeply in their daily Christmas song, “Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze” when the news of the electric companies microbe size heart reached them rushed to the cave of the head Grinch to obtain his comments, he simply shed one tear and refitted the deer antlers on his dog. Happiness is a sad Grinch.

They have finally proved to their customers and to the entire world their Grinch status, they proved it once and for all, when they turned off the power of a Michigan women. I mean how much can a Grinch stand, the woman owed them ONE CENT and they are not waiting any longer.

Yahoo News reported this article this morning, “It was just a penny, but to Consumers Energy it was enough to cut off power in a local home. Jacqueline Williams, 41, of Flint had an electricity bill of $1,662.08 and paid all of it, except for one cent.” That one cent was simply too much for a Grinch heart, I hope it grows just little larger, customers would be happier if it did.

Updated Links from Iraq and Others

I updated my Links section located on the bottom left of the page, adding quite a few of the great blogs and web sites that I make a point of visiting daily.

The sites belonging to soldiers presently serving in Iraq defending freedom are worth every minute you stay visiting and reading their personal entries, stories and viewing a few of their photos. I highly recommend them and sincerely hope you take the time to stop by and visit.

Blogs like, Fun with Hand Grenades, Midnight in Iraq, A Female Soldier's Story and others provide insight, wisdom and stories of their lives while serving in the big sandbox and I can assure you they would love hearing from you.

I also added two new items that are now available for all my visiting friends, situated on the lower left of the site below the links is a Google Search and below that is a blogarithm.com tool. The Google Search tool will search my entire blog for any word or phrases and display what it locates in another window. Of course, it also contains the great Google web search engine that made it famous.

The blogarithm.com tool is a great new feature that I discovered while reading “A Soldier’s Perspective” this morning and I have to say that I was very impressed. The tool provides all my visiting friends the opportunity to receive e-mail notifications whenever I have updated the blog. All you have to do to activate this feature is simply provide your e-mail address and you will receive notification of updates.

I hope you find both of these tools useful, if you have seen or used tools on other blogs that you have liked and found useful drop me an e-mail about them and I will see about adding them.

Ranter

Comment on Iraq..

I have two comments to make on this morning’s news from Iraq as both affected me in a different way and tended to tick me off in the same manner.

The first comment pertains to the news from Baghdad, Iraq that insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, bringing the weekend death toll of American service members to seven.

As a vet, this affected me as brothers, sisters fell to additional attacks from insurgents, and I sincerely hope the US forces are able to seek out and locate these murderous, cowardly individuals and send them to their maker so they are able to explain their actions and pay through eternity for their cowardly act. It also infuriates me that Zacarias Moussaoui is sitting in jail while men and women of our military are being killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. He should have received the death penalty for his knowledge and actions on 9/11.

The second issue from Baghdad, Iraq that the genocide-ordering coward, Saddam Hussein angrily refused to enter a plea on Monday after hearing a full, formal list of charges of crimes against humanity read to him in court filled me with yet more utter disgust and hatred for this slime who calls himself a human being. He murdered, tortured and humiliated entire sects of his own people, men, women and children combined and he has the audacity to stand in court claiming he is immune as he is the rightful president of Iraq.

The judge officiating the hearing took the right stance as he entered a formal "not guilty" plea on Saddam's behalf after giving a 15-minute recitation of killings, torture and executions that followed an attempt on the Iraqi leader's life in 1982.

This inhuman, murdering scum’s only legal position in this case is that of a murderer of women and children facing charges, if justice prevails he will soon swing from an Iraqi rope to answer for them and he too can explain why he did it to his maker.

National Guard to patrol our borders

I wholeheartedly agree with the President’s plan to bolster the nation’s Homeland Security, Border Patrol by augmenting it with National Guard. Of course, there will be heated discussions surrounding his plan, as the illegal immigration issue has become the political hot potatoes of both parties.

The White House also stated the added role of border patrol and security will not compromise National Guard responsibilities in the Iraq war or traditional disaster response issues when they occur. This is welcome news as long as they tick to that statement and not spread the guard too thin. The reports from the White House further insured that no active duty troops would be involved in this plan.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett was quoted by CBS News that the use of National Guard troops won't be "a militarization of the borders, nor will that guard forces sent to the Mexican border area "will not have law enforcement responsibilities or powers." They will act "in a supportive role."

The Border Patrol working along both the Arizona and Texas borders have been reported to be spread too thin to be an effective border crossing and illegal drug enforcement federal agency to fully accomplish their assigned mission. I feel that as long as the National Guard forces are not overworked and spread too far out, as some analysts are currently predicting then they would be a welcome addition to not only the border patrol, but American’s living along the border in various border towns.

IED Roll-up! From CJ.

CJ can be reached at:
A Soldier's Perspective
www.soldiersperspective.us

In all this week, more than 225 IEDs were prevented from being constructed. This does not take into account the IEDs that would have been built later by the guys we killed/captured this week. 225 is a pretty conservative number given the amount of materiel we found here. More than 1800 people will not be killed or injured from the devestating effects of these devices. Here's this week's IED Roll-Up:

6 May - Ansar al-Islam member and chemical expert Ali Wali, was killed during a counterterrorist raid in the Mansur district of Baghdad. Local citizens transported two bodies to the morgue where Coalition forces later confirmed the identity of the wanted terrorist. soldiers were not able to confirm the identity of the other man. Ali Wali, whose full name is believed to be Abbas bin Farnas bin Qafqas, was an Iraqi Kurd who served as a key leader in Ansar al-Islam's military command responsible for training and military operations including the planning of suicide operations, ambushes and kidnapping. Ali Wali was also an expert in the implementation of explosives as well as in the use of artillery, tanks and anti-aircraft weapons and allegedly was an expert in toxins and poisons. Wait, this can't be. I thought all the Dumbocrats said that there weren't any toxins and poisons in Iraq? If I weren't smarter than that, I'd be cornfused.

7 May - Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces captured nine suspected members of a terrorist cell near Kirkuk. Iraqi soldiers moved to the target in the village of Tawilah, just outside Kirkuk, where they found five suspects, all members of a local terror cell responsible for making and emplacing improvised explosive devices. The five suspects, with four other individuals who were in the home at the time, were taken to a U.S. military compound in Kirkuk for questioning.

7 May - Coalition Soldiers discovered a cache west of Bayji based on information from a local citizen . The cache included an improvised explosive device ready for placement, nine anti-tank mines, eight hand grenades, various other weapons and IED making equipment, as well as an improvised rocket launcher. An explosive ordnance disposal team conducted a controlled detonation of the cache. Another tip from the informant led the Coalition Soldiers to an individual who is suspected to have ties to the cache and the leader of an anti-Iraqi terrorism cell in the province. The suspected insurgent was taken to a nearby military facility for further questioning.

10 May - Elements of the 6th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, and 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, seized a large cache of deadly explosives in a residence in eastern Baghdad. The search in the New Baghdad neighborhood by the National police and Soldiers resulted in the discovery of 142 land mines, 58 blocks of C4 explosives, approximately 8,000 feet of detonation cord, 107 fuses, 22 rocket-propelled grenades, a launcher, 59 mortars, 40 pounds of mortar propellant, four shape charges, 43 blasting caps, explosive-formed projectile materials, two gas masks, six two-way radios, multiple mortar launching tubes, maps of Baghdad and Iraq and insurgent literature. The operation took place with no rounds fired and no injuries. Three men were detained in connection with the cache. One female was detained and then released to a local leader under house arrest. A group of more than 300 residents gathered in the area. A local Imam and civic leaders ensured that the group demonstrating did not turn violent. Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel removed and destroyed the explosives from the house.

11 May - Iraqi Police killed two terrorists when the two men attacked a police patrol in Tal Afar. Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division arrived on scene to assist the police and conducted a search of the building the terrorists were using. The Soldiers uncovered a false wall that led to a tunnel system and another hidden door that opened into a room used as clandestine sleeping quarters. The "Ready First" Soldiers discovered a variety of weapons and munitions scattered about the tunnel and underground room. A Katusha rocket, 10 rifle grenades, four mortar rounds, three IEDs and two mortar tubes were seized. An explosive ordnance disposal team conducted a controlled detonation of the weapons and munitions, destroying the house and tunnel system to prevent terrorists from using them again. Three police officers were wounded in the initial attack and transported to the Tal Afar hospital.

Supporting the President...

I feel with all of the constitutional rights violations I have been discussing and ranting about that I need to step back for one moment to make something perfectly clear.

I support President Bush in the war on terrorism and I openly agree with the majority of what he has been doing to combat this war. I do not agree with all of his actions and that is my right as a citizen.

I also feel had the NSA truly wished to test their new “social network analysis” techniques with a test-range of American’s recorded telephone conversations, the probability is very high that if asked, the majority of American’s would have consented to the action. This would have been something truly unique in the spy game, open – truth. Washington should learn from this instead of carrying on in spin-control business as usual.

Further, I do not agree whatsoever with the “Hate Bush”, Michael Moore, Fahrenheit 9/11 crowd running around in their constant “chicken little” mode screaming the sky is falling, calling for the impeachment of President Bush every time an incident occurs, including a loud Presidential belch. This is the same crowd still saying Ohio lied and Bush did not win the election. (Further proving you can say anything you want on the web)

I agree with the majority of news correspondents saying the President’s problem is he has surrounded himself with a staff of advisors constantly making wrong decisions and knowing this the President still relies on their advice. When in fact he should have sent them packing, telling them that great Texas saying “Don’t let the door hit you where Mother Nature split you”. This same comment applies to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld too. The President should have accepted his resignation every moment he offered.

That is about it folks. I just wanted everyone to know that just because I am trying to champion individual rights does not necessarily mean I do not support the President, because I do.

Happy Mother's Day...

I wanted to take a brief moment and extend my warmest wishes of Happy Mother’s Day to the all the Moms out there who stop by visiting my blog as well as making a few comments from time to time. I also wish you to know that I love hearing from you and value your thoughts and opinions on my ramblings and ranting.

As a vet, I recall the difficulty in the 1960’s my Mother had on holidays knowing that I would not be stopping by with a card and plant in hand for her. There were many occasions that I was unable to call to wish her greetings and love as the telephone industry was very different back then, with telephone calls averaging $12 to $15 per minute that made it even harder. My Father always accepted the charges on my collect. Calls from somewhere in the world I might be at the time and at times the lines were so bad that hundreds of cross-talk voices could be heard softly in the background. My parents have both passed on since then, but many warm memories remain.

What is at Stake...

I wish to make something perfectly clear in the telephone recording and database issue that I have been discussing lately.

The oath administered upon entering the military and law enforcement both contain passages pertaining to the constitution of the United States of America. The oath regarding law enforcement officers dwells further into state, county and/ or city, but both involve the person swearing under oath of office to protect and uphold those rights and laws.

I have been privileged to serve my country and the citizens of it in both situations. I have taken the oath for each of these positions as a soldier in the US Army and as a Police Officer. I am no longer with either, but considered a veteran and I personally consider the oaths I took to be a sacred trust. I strive within my life to uphold this trust.

The issue of the NSA or any government agency for that matter obtaining your telephone number is not under discussion here. Yes, that would be a time consuming factor, but it is not an impossibility, nor is it that difficult of a task to achieve.

The agencies which have physical control of the largest database ever compiled consisting of tens of millions of recorded personal and business telephone conversations are already working with the primary owner and operators of the nations telephone exchanges. The task of backtracking the telephone numbers would entail compiling an algorithm and implementing it within the exchange system. It would take awhile, but rest assured that if needed, it could and would be done.

What is at stake is the personal liberties of every American citizen contained within this database created by the telephone companies recording your conversations without consent or court order, violating your fourth amendment rights under the constitution. As well as Federal laws, The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC 2516, along with applicable individual state and city laws.

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

These rights and laws were enacted to protect our rights and they have been wantonly violated in the name of national security. That is what I am upset about and that is what I have been writing about.

Thank You.

A few Nixon memories...

I have been a registered, voting republican since Nixon, and people, do not blame me, I voted for McGovern, I thought Nixon looked too much like one of those untrustworthy guys who would scam someone out of their last buck on some gold mine that never existed and I simply did not like him.

I confess that when Woodward and Bernstein told the world what they had discovered while tracking the “Nixon money-trail” I ran around screaming, “I told you so” to every family member and friend within range. The Watergate inept, felony in waiting “gee I want to be a burglar” plumbers provided me with many hours of even more entertainment.

Who can ever forget the infamous “I am not a crook” speech he gave with his traditional five o’clock shadow accompanied by that sweat glistening on his upper lip that had cost him the election during the Kennedy debates.

Here was John F. Kennedy, rich and famous, looking like a GQ cover photo, the man every guy wanted to be, married to beautiful Jackie, standing there delivering his lines like a tenured professor explaining college life to his freshmen assistant.

Standing next to him, we had Tricky Dickey, looking like he was going to explode with anger or had just been caught playing with matches, sweat pouring down his face, his upper lip dripping moisture and the man actually later questioned in a book why he lost the debate and the election that very moment.

I have never done as my Father and voted the straight party ticket, individual not mattering, party affiliation only. Except my Father was not republican, but a democrat and proud of it, all except for his, “I like Ike” days he could always be counted on to vote democrat straight up the ballot. There were a few instances where I questioned him about it and he would to tell me he made sure to vote that way simply to cancel out my vote. He always did have a way with words.

This is simply a few memories I wanted to share with everyone. I actually did not feel like ranting this morning, but hey, give me a few hours and I am sure something will tick me off and be put here for your reading pleasure. Thanks for stopping by and listening to my Nixon years memories.

Security - Better safe than sorry

As a computer consultant specializing in security, I have always advocated the use of e-mail encryption techniques to prevent information leakage within the business community. Stop for one moment to reflect back to the Netscape vs. Microsoft wars, the eventual government hearings on monopoly then recall the leaked memos from Bill Gates and wonder if Bill wished he had used PGP encryption. If anyone is interested in this form, it is available in a commercial and freeware package.

Note: If you are presently using any of the commercial security packages available look into what you have before running out and purchasing others. You may have sufficient encryption available to you already.

I would bet that he would have given a few million of his easy-earned bucks to use his own NT encryption techniques let alone something along the lines of PGP or anything with blowfish encryption, much faster than DES Algorithm.

While I am on this subject, we can also add to his past plethora of ill wills the fact of washing any e-mail correspondence after a certain date. This would insure the company’s security and keep internal secrets safe from the prying eyes of industrial espionage. Their stored e-mail records provided many a silver bullet in the monopoly case when a simple wash technique would have kept them safe and out of court.

The hearings did have one thing going for it though, without them the world would have never learned that Gates rocks back and forth in some form of Zen trance whenever he is concentrating.

So with all of this useless information out in the open I would like to take a few moments to advise everyone within reading, listening or throwing distance – encrypt your personal and business correspondence!

We have a wide variety of encryption techniques available to us in today’s age of computers. I have provided a link to the site www.download.com to provide a brief overview of what is available.  

Update to the NSA

I have to admit that I could care less if the NSA wants the calls of tens of millions of American citizens so they can use their social network analysis techniques, all I care about is their invasion upon our privacy. The interesting item contained within the link I added in the last sentence was one small sentence located towards the end of the article, and I quote, “social network analysis would appear to be powerless against criminals and terrorists who rely on a multitude of cell phones, payphones, calling cards and Internet cafes.”

Here is my comment on this, did the NSA have any idea about that little tidbit of information when they told President Bush, “Gee Sir, we really need those records for the security of the country and we can tell you all the criminal and terrorists links in them, please can we have them?”

So, with that quoted bit of information one would be lead to imagine the NSA will next be after cell phone records, transcriptions, oh, wait one moment, they already have those, what was I thinking of. How about Internet Messenger transcriptions, well, they have those too. Yes, I have a problem with all of this being done in the name of national security while the government feels the citizens will accept it in that manner of spin mode.

The article I linked to is very informative and goes into quite a bit of detail on just what the NSA is attempting to accomplish, stop by and read it.

Know your Rights

The newspapers yesterday were packed with articles of the latest attacks upon the rights of American citizens and I am very glad the government is being called to explain its actions. Our government is comprised of three branches, legislative, judicial and executive and they were put in place to provide checks and balances against one another in situations such as this.

Our government was established in that manner by the founding fathers and so far, it has stood the test of time. The manner in which present events have played out turn heads to another form of government, the politburo and that will never rule its ugly head here, because our system works and now we have to allow it to do its job.

At the same time, we the people need to be vocal in our support of our rights to our elected officials. We need to remind them that we will not stand quietly while our rights slowly disappear as they have been doing. Every American citizen should be aware of their rights, know them as they were set forth and ratified, go to “Know your rights!” and read them, study them and be aware of what you have. Our rights are precious commodities given to us by the founding fathers and should never be taken lightly.

Border groups under the microscope

In an attempt to clarify information previously reported the Border Patrol is now stating they do not report the location of its citizens within the minutemen organization volunteering along the border to Mexican officials.

Their spokesperson said in a statement that the report was "inaccurate'' and that Border Patrol officials are not giving the location of civilian watch groups to the Mexican government.

They went on to say the United States gives information to Mexican officials under the rules of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963, which provides foreign nationals being detained by a government the right to consular access.

Mexican consulates, however, went beyond the boundaries of the Vienna Convention, asking U.S. Border Patrol officials to provide them with information on "vigilantes'' operating along the U.S. border, according to the August report.

Since the initial report of the Border Patrol’s action, the Department of Homeland Security has been asked to investigate the charges. It appears the Border Patrol is working overtime to insure a misinformation campaign is implemented to cover these allegations and statements have been flying from their offices to insure this continues.

The common knowledge along the border is the drug runners simply enter America through alternate locations totally circumventing the watchful eyes of the volunteers presently working there. The reasons behind this are now clear with the knowledge that their locations are reported to a government who has already attempted to legalize the use of drugs in their own country. If not for the negative media attention and comments from our own government this would have been signed into law effectively removing Mexico from the fight against drugs along the border.

Our rights are fading.

I want to begin by openly stating something my readers already know, I support our troops with every fiber of my being and as a combat vet a part of me dies each time a soldier is killed in action. I am sixty years of age, but if permitted I would rejoin my brothers and sisters at a moments notice and serve my country once again.

Yesterday I commented on the latest news from Washington and the largest database of telephone information ever compiled and turned over to the NSA. I feel strongly as an American citizen that I have certain rights and protection that must never be violated and old as I am the warrior within me would still give his life to insure these rights remain to every American.

A line was once drawn into American soil by our founding fathers as not only an act of defiance against a foreign nation upon our soil, but also an act of personal liberties that must not ever be given up by the people to anyone, for any reason, ever again. Our nation is getting closer and closer each day to removing a large portion of these liberties and it frightens me to death.

The telephone-monitoring situation bothers me because as a computer consultant I know the NSA had another option in which to monitor for phrases. They could have simply created an algorithm monitoring key words and phrases and if detected that line locked onto for further investigation. This form of electronic surveillance still crosses the line, but in a manner that can be understood and even approved. The NSA has the nations most brilliant computer personnel and they would have had little problem creating one. The very fact that the recorded conversations of every American have been given to the NSA and turned into the largest database ever created not only crosses the line it wipes it away from the soil in which it was drawn.

Ladies and Gentlemen do not forget for one moment that this is the NSA we are taking about, do not think for one moment that they do not have the technology to backtrack and obtain the telephone numbers and names and locations of the American citizens within this database. That form of thinking is dangerous because they can and would do so if ordered by executive order or act of congress.

I see the constitutional rights of American citizens slowly fading into the horizon and being done so in the name of war and terrorism so Americans will agree with the loss and this is wrong. We have lost enough of our rights and we must draw our invisible line into the soil and say enough is enough. We must inform our elected officials and congressional representatives that this must stop. We must do this before it is too late and we are unable to do so.

The NSA has gone too far...

We all recall that the existence of an NSA eavesdropping program launched after the September 11 attacks was revealed in December and created quite a nationwide stir among the Senate and Congress. Defending their controversial program at the time, the Bush administration said it had aimed to uncover links between international terrorists and their domestic collaborators and only targeted communications between a person inside the United States and a person overseas. At that point in time people tended to fall into a “Yes sir, what’s good for the country is good for us” line of agreement.

It is very disheartening to discover that the entire conversations of tens of millions of Americans were compiled by NSA through monitoring - AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. The source of this latest information USA Today stated, “although customers' names and addresses are not being handed over, the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information,"

The fact the NSA created the database using entire conversations is what boggles my mind and sets the hair on the back of my neck on end. By now any computer literate person in America is well aware that instead of a total call monitoring and database compilation system a simple data mining program could have been constructed monitoring the calls, searching for key words, i.e. bomb, explosives, etc. any hits it incurred then tabulated into a database

This latest report may indeed be the culprit that provides the proverbial straw breaking the camels back once the public realizes the full picture of what their government has done in the name of national security. This is action not only violates citizens rights, it stomps all over every one of them and takes it foot and grinds it into the dirt.

Follow up:

Here is a wonderful link to contact, write or e-mail your elected official, Contact your Congressman or representative; we need to state our unhappiness that America is reporting the whereabouts of its own citizens to a foreign nation, Mexico as can be read at the Daily Bulletin.

Reporting on our own citizens!

Not too long ago I posted about the Minuteman project I questioned what would happen when the time came when one of these people had to use deadly force and the repercussions that would ensue.

This morning I received information from Cj stating that our country must report the whereabouts of these people on the borders to Mexico! This is an absurdity of the highest proportions and it is a violation of their constitutional rights to congregate as an American citizen.

CJ pointed out that according to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants-- and when violence is used against border crossers.

What bothered me more than anything else in the above statement is the fact of America, a sovereign nation and the majority of financial support for Mexico reporting the whereabouts of it own citizens, their movement and actions to another government?

This actually solves a question that has been on many individuals lips lately pertaining to the Minuteman project. The fact that illegal drug runners all have prior knowledge of the whereabouts of the Minuteman and their taking alternate routes to bring their death dealing drugs into our country. I have read some publications in Mexico and Texas where the reporters are actually using this as humor when discussing the Minuteman project and now I understand the situation completely, their government is giving them the information as to the location of the groups.

I agree with CJ and feel we all should initiate a letter or e-mail writing campaign to our elected officials telling them this is a violation and we as citizens do not agree with it. I will be posting the information needed for this later on in the day.

Support our Military.

CJ has the right idea and I support and applaud his efforts to educate the politicians and media, there is not any better or qualified individual to do that then someone who was there. I feel his statements, news releases and information must be heard from as many people and as many sources as possible, only then will we get people to understand the truth.

Perhaps if the blog community takes the stance as I, we just may succeed in getting them to understand that NO our troops are NOT loosing the war. It is high time they woke up to the fact that we have the highest trained, professional military in the world and they are doing the job they are supposed to do, learn from that.

The media, Washington and politicians have never learned anything and this stems from our involvement in Viet Nam and has remained with them to this day.

Our military in that action never lost a battle, never, not once, yet the war was a loss because the politicians and the people at home grew tired of it. How did they think it made us feel, the military engaged in actions that our country had sent us to accomplish when we heard news from home that all was against us?

When our brothers and fellow soldiers would return from leaves telling us they were pelted with eggs and spit upon by the people we were representing it created deep problems that remain to this day. The troops would hear the news and stories of protest from home and carry on because that was what soldiers are supposed to do.

The news from home made the troops feel like hell, moral went out the window in some cases, thoughts of our brothers and sisters in our own families being against us hit harder, but we fought like the dogs of war we were and battles were won. America needs to remember these lessons and learn from history instead of repeating it as we constantly do.

As long as CJ keeps the word and information flowing I will be posting it with hopes that all who read it walk away informed and talk to others, educate the masses and for the sake of our own brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in harm’s way support them, tell them you care.

News from CJ...

I received this release via CJ today and wanted to share it with you.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – During an Apr. 16 raid in the Yusifiyah area, Coalition Forces discovered a large amount of documents and videos ranging from plans to critiques including al Qaida in Iraq's strategy in Baghdad, and how the terrorist organization lacks leadership, military capability and Iraqi support.  

After discovering these documents, the translated versions were sent to Coalition Forces' leadership for analysis, said a Multi-National Force spokesman.  Specifically, the al Qaida author of the "Baghdad Strategy" and the "Baghdad State of Affairs" is unknown, but officials assess he is of significance within the terrorist organization.  The latter memorandum outlines that al Qaida in Iraq presently has no strategy, that the '…mujahideen are not considered more than a daily annoyance to the Shiite government…', and that the '…mujahideen in Baghdad are generally groups of assassins without any organized military capabilities.' 

"The discovery of theses documents is extremely relevant.  This information confirms what the Government of Iraq, Coalition Forces and ultimately the people of Iraq already know - that AQIZ's role only attempts to impede Iraqis in following the road to prosperity, security and national unity," said MNF-I spokesman, Brig. Gen. Rudy Wright.

According to the translated al-Qaida in Iraq's documents, the Mujahideen's only power lies in surprise 'hit and run' attacks, or setting up explosive charges and booby traps that predominantly target civilian men, women and children. 

According to the author of the Baghdad State of Affairs document (translated), "The actions of the Iraqi Security Forces are having a significant negative impact on the Mujahideen's ability to operate in Baghdad.  Al Qaida in Iraq attacks Mosques and other public places to draw media attention and is having difficulty recruiting members because the people of Iraq do not support its cause."           

Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces continue to conduct operations that provide for the safety and security of all Iraqis.  The Government of Iraq is presently working on forming its new National Unity Government according to its constitution voted on by all Iraqi people and is a hindrance to the terrorists who do not support this cause.

News from Baghdad.

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be posting the IED Roll-ups that Cj sends out; his posting can also be viewed at No End But Victory.

In my opinion the Roll-up advisories that CJ was posting on his blog and now via e-mail and on No End But Victory are a vital piece of news from Baghdad, the public will not read the information in the media as they could care less that our troops are making a difference, they are only concerned with negative reporting.

Remember that every single IED captured by our troops and the Iraqi’s is one less explosive device that will injure or kill our men and women.

A Salute goes out from this old warhorse to our troops and the Iraqi troops on a job well done. HOOAH!

The photos displayed are also from CJ, the first is of the Iraqi police handing out activity books focused on countering IEDs. Also of note is that the first Iraqi Army soldier has graduated from the Army Ranger course.

The second photo is of a new Iraqi army HMMWV.

Lawnmower DUI...

While surfing the news and the strange and odd this morning I came upon one of the gems of the net, “Man Charged With Drunk Driving On Lawn Mower”. It seems a gentlemen in Ohio who already had two prior arrests for DUI had been tossing down a few and then decided it would be nice to go outside, mount his 20 HP riding lawn mower and cut his front lawn.

That was all well and good as long as he had curtailed his driving to the private property of his own front lawn, but this poor guy decided to drive his lawnmower on the sidewalk. Big mistake as the law specifies all it takes to be charged with driving under the influence is physical control of a vehicle, any vehicle albeit car, bicycle or in his case a lawnmower.

The article stated that just before 10:00 pm Friday, an officer saw the 50-year-old male driving on the sidewalk along a road in Vermilion, Ohio, subsequently stopped him and after detecting the odor of alcohol administered a field sobriety test, which the gentlemen failed and subsequently placed under arrest for DUI.

The male in question is of course denying the incident and the fact that he was operating the lawnmower on the sidewalk and it is evident he has never seen the television show Cops, if he had he would have known that officers have dash cam video mounted in their patrol cars and this guy is their newest star.

I can only imagine the outcome had a pursuit ensued while the office was attempting to stop the lawnmower; the chase would have reached speeds in excess of 5 MPH as lines were mowed in all the lawns of the neighborhood.

Important Information to remember:

People tend to forget or simply do not have knowledge that all it takes to be charged with DUI is physical control of a vehicle, any vehicle, it does not matter if the vehicle is not even moving; you are intoxicated or under the control of drugs and sitting in the drivers seat with keys in hand, you are guilty. By the way, that includes any drugs including over-the-counter medications that would impair the driver’s ability to operate a vehicle such as Benadryl, (Diphenhydramine) antihistamine allergy medication. It is a good idea to make it a habit to read the adverse effects on the box when taking any over-the-counter medication and operating any vehicle.

CJ’s IED Roll-Up

April 28 - Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division led a joint raid with Coalition Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division in the town of Al Hak during Operation Babil Perimeter and detained five men and seized four weapons caches. Iraqi soldiers conducted a search of the homes to find suspected terrorists. Coalition troops provided a cordon around the town. Troops discovered two caches around the immediate area. After the initial search by the Iraqi troops, Coalition Soldiers used K-9 dogs and metal detectors to search the areas again and located two additional caches. In total, the caches contained an assortment of bombmaking materials and triggering devices, a 152 mm round, a 132 mm round, three 82 mm rounds, two PKC machine guns, an RPK light machine gun, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with two RPG rockets and a 57 mm aerial rocket with an improvised launcher.

April 29 - Seven insurgents with AK-47s were encountered and engaged by Soldiers from the 1-68 Combined Army Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Band of Brothers and 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division when the joint patrol observed them digging at a cache site in Baqubah. Both elements pursued the insurgents who retreated into a palm grove. The insurgents then broke contact and fled, swimming across the river. No injuries or damage were incurred by either of the units. At the site, an Iraqi police badge was found. Also discovered were four 155mm rounds, six silencers and numerous mortar rounds and hand grenades. The munitions were taken to a secured location for further investigation and controlled detonation.

April 30 - Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition troops arrested three men in connection with insurgent activities and found a cache near Hit. The cache contained three assorted artillery rounds, an acetylene gas tank and several fuses. The detainees and cache contents were turned over to authorities for further investigation.

May 1 - Badrah Iraqi Police found eight small unidentified types of explosive devices north of Al Kut. Explosive ordnance personnel believed the munitions to be left over from previous wars in Iraq. During the search, Iraqi police officers also found one antitank mine, two 82 mm mortar grenades, 11 anti-tank guided missiles, three 122 mm artillery shells, 10 fuses, one 130 mm artillery shell and one 23mm anti-aircraft shell. Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal personnel were called in to secure and dispose of the munitions. No injuries or damage were reported.

May 2 - Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition troops got a tip from locals and found a bomb maker's cache northeast of Bayji. The cache contained three 155 mm artillery rounds. The ordnance was recovered for later disposal. No injuries or damages were reported.

In total, approximately 44 IEDs were prevented from being built and employed against US and Iraqi people. Over 350 people will not be affected by the vile devices terrorists have resorted to in order to further their extremist views. These are the points you won't see in many places. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think would like to read it. If you're a blogger, you are free to post it there as well.

Threats of war

An article this morning caught my attention it was from the London Papers: “Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's Iran Stance Prompted Angry Bush Call To Blair” and it was asking the question if President Bush had forced this person out due to his anti-use of nuclear weapons stance he had recently taken.

I feel that someone in this crazed world needs to make a stand against the use of nuclear weapons because if the path Iran is presently on does not change quickly we will all be facing the use of these dreaded death machines within our lifetime.

President Bush cannot be blamed in the Iran situation that has been brewing for a few months now; he is simply a bystander as is the rest of the world. An idiot that is presently the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making the entire situation worse in his constant barrage of threats against anyone and everyone in the free world. His constant flow of nuclear threats against the UN, the United States and Israel only creates a situation where we must counter any attack with nuclear weapons or this idiot will actually launch weapons of mass destruction to back his threats up. The ruling sect in Iran is doing nothing to prohibit this, nor are they doing anything to dampen his open threats of use of nuclear weapons.

The world is in a higher state of the actual use of raining nuclear death upon the earth  then it was during the cold war and Iran is doing nothing to put a stop to it, their idiot president is only putting the path a little closer each day with his constant threats of destruction.

The world can only wait and see what is going to transpire with this latest threat, but I for one wish someone would kick that idiot in the butt and put him in another form of governing Iran, perhaps sweeping floors, that may keep his mouth shut.

Televison has went Bye-Bye.

Well it finally happened; the television industry has officially run out of ideas for reality shows and scrapped the bottom of the barrel in an attempt to create something to satisfy the whims of reality audiences everywhere. This morning I read that the creator of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee is on the hunt for a new superhero, and he plans to find it on reality TV.

The release said that eleven wannabe superheros — whittled down from over 200 — are set to compete in the show, scheduled to premiere July 26 on the Sci-Fi channel. The winning superhero will be the star of a new comic book created by Lee.

My imagination had an entire field day and went into overtime with the news of this release with insane visions of spandex clad muscle-bound “Hulk Endowed” men running around the streets of New York saving kittens from trees and women from bad relationships. Accompanying these sad caricatures of man-hood were spandex clad women, faced masked, capes flowing in the morning breeze saving these same men from a life of comic books and living with their Mother and never knowing what a relationship is.

As if this pathetic and sad scenario is not bad enough, they have announced the catch phrase for those who do not make the cut, "Turn in your spandex!"

The television industry has been dedicated to reality shows for so long that they have lost sight of any other form of programming. They constantly create shows containing the entertainment values of watching the grass grow in the front yard and then question why their ratings have hit the bottom. I guess we will just have to wait for the next superhero and watch as he or she flies into our televisions on a weekly basis.

An Eye for an Eye...

I have followed the trial of convicted terrorists Zacarias Moussaoui since the initial opening arguments, I, as many other Americans feel sentencing this poor excuse for a human, and general piece of trash to supermax is not the way in which to put a dent into the growing terrorist problem.

Removing his personal liberties and confining him to solitary imprisonment sends a message of tolerance to the terrorist community instead of a message of an eye for an eye. That is not going to combat the growing problem of terrorism in any way shape or fashion. We must remember that we are not dealing with a rational way of thinking in this instance; we are not dealing with the normal manner in which reasonable and prudent people operate. The only manner in which to combat terrorism is through the use of deadly force. That and only that will put a dent into the problem, not sentencing the man to prison.

We Americans tend to look at life in a very different perspective then those in other countries, we see the rainbows and the good in people, we feel we can solve all the worlds woes by taking them into our hearts and embracing their cultures and history. That is a load of pure and simple bovine excrement too, for the only thing that manner of new age, “let’s help the world” thinking will lead to is another terrorist launching a shoulder fired rocket at anything they can get a lock on.

We need to radically alter our way of fighting terrorism, the arrest; detainment and any subsequent trial and punishment that may follow will simply not work. The only process that will work is the total use of deadly force and until we wake up to that fact, we will remain the targets that we have been.

And Life Goes On...

It appears that one of the seven seals that will lead to the riding of the four horseman of the apocalypse have finally been broken. I am sitting at my desk, sixth or seventh cup of coffee in hand, (Hey, they say it is good for you now) and all I see in the news services are comments pertaining to the ever-mad-hatter Tom Cruise and the sex life of Britney Spears.

First we can cut straight to the chase and I will state hear and now that I personally could care less if Britney is pregnant again. It does appear that she has found something to do in her off time from singing besides running around telling people what a great Mom she is, but I do not care about her sex life, not one bit. While I am on the subject, Britney, for the sake of everyone purchase a better fitting bathing suit when running around hotel pools. Believe me when I say this, there are far worse photos of her pregnant and wearing a bikini at hotel pools out there and there is no way I will lower my blog to link to them.

Tom Cruise has been quoted saying that the detox process from heroin addiction is only a three-day process and bingo, you are ready to face the world drug free and dependant upon life and the merry habits of chipmunks instead of nasty old heroin. It is such a comforting feeling knowing that Tom has become an expert in the physiological dependencies of drug addiction and has a newfound hobby now that he no longer has the need to peer into Katie’s womb with his personal ultrasound machine.

The only facts that I can come up with in dealing with the great knowledge of Tom’s expertise in all things knowing is that his Scientology education and dedication to all things L. Ron Hubbard is equal to or greater than Freud and Jung combined. I just want to say, thank you Mr. Cruise for taking the time away from your daily “I Love Katie” couch jumping exercises to obtain this educational supplement for the greater good of man.

Iran needs to take a step back.

I do not know if it is truly Iran’s policy, but unless they stop pounding their constant barrage of war drum rhetoric it is clear they will get what they are asking for and end up in a nuclear war with Israel or the United States.

News this morning that Israel Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel needs to take seriously Iranian threats to wipe out the Jewish state and can defend itself against a country the West suspects of seeking nuclear weapons only takes the nuclear threat game one step closer to reality.

This newest incident coincides with their latest threats against the state of Israel and their right to exist. This is coming from a country whose president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called to the Arab world for the open destruction of the state of Israel.

Just two days ago, Iran complained to the United Nations that the United States is planning to use our nuclear capabilities against their country in a weak attempt to toss the blame somewhere else. They need to discontinue their current practice of constantly making nuclear threats against anyone who disagrees with them or stands in the way of their beliefs or this cannot end in any other way than it is presently heading. The world recalls not that many years ago when Israel in a bold move to protect themselves against a nuclear attack, took it upon themselves to fly a nonstop mission to Iraq and destroy their nuclear reactor that was presently in the startup phase of construction and their threats to repeat the attack each time they attempted to rebuild.

With the Middle East in the constant state of disarray and uncertainty that it exists within and the militant as ever Hamas now in control as the governing body of Palestinian affairs Israel is already living within a state of constant readiness and preparation for attacks or reprisals. History has already been subject to the fact they will not tolerate any threats of destruction to their country nor their right to exist.

The world did not need another nation entering the nuclear game of chance, especially a country as volatile as that of Iran and the views of its present leadership president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We can all only hope and pray this present mess and constant display of force does not end as it appears to be currently heading, because if nuclear weapons are used the world as we know it will cease to exist.

Hard work and dedication

The article from England titled, Medieval Marathon Man Finally Finishes at first struck me as humorous. It said, “Eight days after the London Marathon began, a man dressed in some very heavy metal finally dragged himself and his pet dragon across the finish line.” Then went on to describe the man dressed in full medieval knight armor and dragging a dragon behind and his quest to raise money for a children’s charitable organization a children's leukemia charity.

The headlines were quite funny, the photo of this guy really made it that way, when you think he him ran the slowest marathon ever that adds to it. Then it struck me that this poor guy had to go to that great length to raise any funds whatsoever and it saddened me.

I have a good friend who has been working since 1988 with a non-profit organization called, New Parents Network, their mission is to help children worldwide by reaching families with parenting information through the creative use of technology. Their website can be visited at, www.npn.org and she has dedicated a large portion of her life to insure the mission statement of her company is achieved.

I have learned over the years through my friendship with the founder of New Parents Network that it takes hard work, dedication and as much tenacity as humanly possible to achieve your goal as this person in England did.

We all tend to forget that there are people out there who are striving to make a difference in this world. There are many more people as this man in the knight armor dragging their own personal dragons around in their quest to make a difference in this life. Their personal dedication to their goals is awe-inspiring and I as others forget that until an article like this come into play.

I have watched my friend with New Parents Network dedicate herself to her quest, her goal and I confess that I have gained more respect for her than any other person in my life and I have learned that one does not have to wear armor to be a hero for she has become just that to me, my hero. Her selfless dedication and work is an inspiration to me and I applaud her.

The Judge Code.

I think it is wonderful that an English Judge of the high court would take the time to place a code within the writing of his judgment in the copyright case involving Dan Brown's bestseller "The Da Vinci Code. It was announced yesterday that a lawyer has uncovered what may be a secret message buried in the text of the ruling.

Apparently, a Lawyer Dan Tench noticed some letters in the judgment had been italicized, and it suddenly dawned on him that they spelled a phrase that included the name of the judge: "Smith code."

Justice Peter Smith, who presided over the copyright case was said to display a sense of humor that in itself was a rarity within the English bewigged barristers who, to this day are steeped in ancient tradition. The Justice appeared to have become so involved in the case that he decided to embrace the technology of codes that run throughout the Da Vinci Code novel.

I had read the novel by Dan Brown and had a grand old time attempting to make heads or tales of the codes even though Brown goes into detail it still makes one wonder if in fact some type of code exists. To discover a Justice of the English high court so involved in the process of codes that he creates a tongue in cheek judgment rendering his ruling is wonderful.

Perhaps the world need more levity and humor to get us through the days we have been facing, I know I am all for it.

The pubs in London

The pubs in London have taken customer identification to an entirely new level of achievement. Plagued by a long list of troublemakers who after a pint or two begin to tear the pub as well as patrons apart they have instituted a new identification process, fingerprint scanning.

Biometric finger-scanning machines have been installed at six venues in Yeovil, southwest England. Clubbers will be asked to have their right index finger scanned and show picture identification to register on the system.

The data is then stored on a computer network which other pubs and clubs in the scheme can access so that information on louts can be passed on quickly.

I can just imagine something like this taking place in the good ole US, people would be screaming “Invasion of privacy” from the tops of roofs, marching in the street and drinking at home.  In London, people are a bit different, laid back, refined and are not going to miss their evening pub experience for anything.

We also have to bear in mind that the soccer crowds in the English pubs take drinking and violence to a completely new level of destruction. They have long been notorious for destruction caused before and after games, so if keeping out the instigators solves the problem, then more power to them.