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Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Christmas Down Range
By Spc. Leith Edgar
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
PATROL BASE COURAGE, Iraq – While excited children and delighted parents open their presents Christmas morning across America, many Soldiers in Iraq awoke to business as usual – another day down range.
Though holiday greetings of “Merry Christmas!” are rampant on outlying patrol bases such as Patrol Base Courage, the festivities are subdued and the mission remains first and foremost, said Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Wooten, the patrol base mayor, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
“The mission has not changed regardless of (it being) Christmas. We’ll try to squeeze Christmas in sometime between missions,” said the native of Virginia Beach, Va.
The mission for the Soldiers at Patrol Base Courage, a small outpost located north of the Iraqi capital, is to secure their center of operations, which looks almost like a hasty-fighting position, and the surrounding area of Agru Quf, as well, said Wooten, who is deployed for a second tour of duty.
Despite spending the holidays in a remote location, away from friends and family, Soldiers are at least able to celebrate with one another, said Wooten, who has been away from his family during Christmas four times during his military career.
According to Maj. Chad Shields, the company commander, the best part of spending Christmas on a patrol base is, “being with the boys,” who he called a bunch of “great Americans,” who serve selflessly.
“We’ve lost two Soldiers already, but the boys understand we have a mission to do. Everybody understands the mission and we have a motivated company.
We’re sticking together and we’re going to see it through,” said Shields, who hails from Brandon, Miss.
In addition to the camaraderie built from experiencing a common challenge, the Soldiers of Patrol Base Courage share a special Christmas meal, compliments of their diligent cooks, Shields said.
For some Soldiers on outlying patrol bases, experiencing Christmas while deployed to Iraq taught them the true meaning of the holiday. That been the case for Pvt. Patrick Ozment, an infantryman with 2nd Bn., 14th Infantry Regt., 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Div.
Ozment enlisted at 17, deployed after turning 18 and is spending his first Christmas away from his family in western Baghdad. He now calls Patrol Base Gator Swamp home.
“Now I really know what it’s about. It’s about family and I miss mine,” said the native of Jefferson County, Texas. “Just grasp every single moment you can because it’s the most precious thing.”
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
PATROL BASE COURAGE, Iraq – While excited children and delighted parents open their presents Christmas morning across America, many Soldiers in Iraq awoke to business as usual – another day down range.
Though holiday greetings of “Merry Christmas!” are rampant on outlying patrol bases such as Patrol Base Courage, the festivities are subdued and the mission remains first and foremost, said Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Wooten, the patrol base mayor, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
“The mission has not changed regardless of (it being) Christmas. We’ll try to squeeze Christmas in sometime between missions,” said the native of Virginia Beach, Va.
The mission for the Soldiers at Patrol Base Courage, a small outpost located north of the Iraqi capital, is to secure their center of operations, which looks almost like a hasty-fighting position, and the surrounding area of Agru Quf, as well, said Wooten, who is deployed for a second tour of duty.
Despite spending the holidays in a remote location, away from friends and family, Soldiers are at least able to celebrate with one another, said Wooten, who has been away from his family during Christmas four times during his military career.
According to Maj. Chad Shields, the company commander, the best part of spending Christmas on a patrol base is, “being with the boys,” who he called a bunch of “great Americans,” who serve selflessly.
“We’ve lost two Soldiers already, but the boys understand we have a mission to do. Everybody understands the mission and we have a motivated company.
We’re sticking together and we’re going to see it through,” said Shields, who hails from Brandon, Miss.
In addition to the camaraderie built from experiencing a common challenge, the Soldiers of Patrol Base Courage share a special Christmas meal, compliments of their diligent cooks, Shields said.
For some Soldiers on outlying patrol bases, experiencing Christmas while deployed to Iraq taught them the true meaning of the holiday. That been the case for Pvt. Patrick Ozment, an infantryman with 2nd Bn., 14th Infantry Regt., 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Div.
Ozment enlisted at 17, deployed after turning 18 and is spending his first Christmas away from his family in western Baghdad. He now calls Patrol Base Gator Swamp home.
“Now I really know what it’s about. It’s about family and I miss mine,” said the native of Jefferson County, Texas. “Just grasp every single moment you can because it’s the most precious thing.”
Monday, December 25, 2006
Radio Station Opens Doors, Gives Chance for Free Speech
By Spc. Ryan Stroud
3rd Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BALAD RUIZ, Iraq (Dec. 18, 2006) -- In a city where there is no means for releasing information to its people, coalition forces have developed a project to give the people the chance that many Americans take for granted – the privilege of free speech.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Al Noor radio station, also known as the “The Light,” located in Balad Ruz, Iraq, opened its doors to many with high hopes and happy faces from the Iraqi Army and police department, city officials of Balad Ruz and members of the 5-73 Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
“This is a great day for Balad Ruiz and its people,” said Mayor Mohamed Maroof Al-Hussein, mayor of Balad Ruiz. “I think this is a new stage for our city and a new way to serve our people.”
“This is a free station,” he continued. “The people can say what they want. The people can speak freely.”
With the help of 5-73, the civilians will now be able to here the news and get more information in their homes other than what the terrorist want to put out, said Al-Hussein.
“I remember the first night we were here [at Forward Operating Base Caldwell] and hearing Iranian broadcast in English to target the American Soldiers,” said Capt. John Pratt, Company B, 404th Civil Affairs. “These terrorists were getting their message out and the people here didn’t have a way to get their’s out.”
“This is a pro-government radio station that is to counter act what the terrorists are saying,” said the Myrtle Beach, S.C. native. “It also lets the people know what the coalition forces are doing in their area to help them.”
Pfc. Timothy Bramhall, a member of 5-73, and said this mission was one of the most important missions he had been on. Not just for the coalition forces, but for the Iraqi people, said the Bronx, NY native.
“This is a chance for the city and its officials to reach out to their people,” Bramhall said. “It is also a chance for us to let them know we are here to help them and try to make Balad Ruz a better place.”
Balad Ruz, which is primarily farm land, is currently behind in technological progress. Pratt feels this is a big chance for the government to prove to its people that changes in the economy are just waiting to happen.
“This is a primarily agricultural community and this is proof that Balad Ruz’s new government, along with the progress that is being made in Iraq, that the city is able to take that first technological step to bettering their economy,” said Pratt. “This means more jobs and growth for the community.”
After the ceremony, spectators were given a tour of the new facility and talked with the new employees. The station, which is now up and running, will start operations at 7 a.m. and end at 1 p.m., and will change its hours when employees are further trained.
Though the hopes of progress are high, Balad Ruz government officials and the coalition forces primarily hope the radio station raises awareness and the morale of the Iraqi people.
“I hope this new service will encourage other cities to start stations to better serve their people,” said Al-Hussein.
“I hope the [Iraqi citizens] feel good about this,” said Bramhall. “I hope it gives them a chance to say what they want to say. I think its better for them to hear information from their own people then from us.”
“It’s also their people getting the chance to reflect their own points of view,” he added. “It’s a chance to let those out there know that they are not alone with their views. There are others also that feel the way they feel.”
Bramhall said he hoped the Iraqi people would understand this freedom to say what they feel.
“Something we, as Americans, forget about at times – our right to freedom of speech,” he said. “They will now know what that’s like.”
“This radio station is for the people,” Pratt added. “It’s a way to put out information about what’s happening in their community to better serve the people.”
Employees of Al Noor are currently sending out flyers across the city to promote the station and begin its mission of informing the people.
3rd Brigade Combat Team,
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BALAD RUIZ, Iraq (Dec. 18, 2006) -- In a city where there is no means for releasing information to its people, coalition forces have developed a project to give the people the chance that many Americans take for granted – the privilege of free speech.
The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Al Noor radio station, also known as the “The Light,” located in Balad Ruz, Iraq, opened its doors to many with high hopes and happy faces from the Iraqi Army and police department, city officials of Balad Ruz and members of the 5-73 Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
“This is a great day for Balad Ruiz and its people,” said Mayor Mohamed Maroof Al-Hussein, mayor of Balad Ruiz. “I think this is a new stage for our city and a new way to serve our people.”
“This is a free station,” he continued. “The people can say what they want. The people can speak freely.”
With the help of 5-73, the civilians will now be able to here the news and get more information in their homes other than what the terrorist want to put out, said Al-Hussein.
“I remember the first night we were here [at Forward Operating Base Caldwell] and hearing Iranian broadcast in English to target the American Soldiers,” said Capt. John Pratt, Company B, 404th Civil Affairs. “These terrorists were getting their message out and the people here didn’t have a way to get their’s out.”
“This is a pro-government radio station that is to counter act what the terrorists are saying,” said the Myrtle Beach, S.C. native. “It also lets the people know what the coalition forces are doing in their area to help them.”
Pfc. Timothy Bramhall, a member of 5-73, and said this mission was one of the most important missions he had been on. Not just for the coalition forces, but for the Iraqi people, said the Bronx, NY native.
“This is a chance for the city and its officials to reach out to their people,” Bramhall said. “It is also a chance for us to let them know we are here to help them and try to make Balad Ruz a better place.”
Balad Ruz, which is primarily farm land, is currently behind in technological progress. Pratt feels this is a big chance for the government to prove to its people that changes in the economy are just waiting to happen.
“This is a primarily agricultural community and this is proof that Balad Ruz’s new government, along with the progress that is being made in Iraq, that the city is able to take that first technological step to bettering their economy,” said Pratt. “This means more jobs and growth for the community.”
After the ceremony, spectators were given a tour of the new facility and talked with the new employees. The station, which is now up and running, will start operations at 7 a.m. and end at 1 p.m., and will change its hours when employees are further trained.
Though the hopes of progress are high, Balad Ruz government officials and the coalition forces primarily hope the radio station raises awareness and the morale of the Iraqi people.
“I hope this new service will encourage other cities to start stations to better serve their people,” said Al-Hussein.
“I hope the [Iraqi citizens] feel good about this,” said Bramhall. “I hope it gives them a chance to say what they want to say. I think its better for them to hear information from their own people then from us.”
“It’s also their people getting the chance to reflect their own points of view,” he added. “It’s a chance to let those out there know that they are not alone with their views. There are others also that feel the way they feel.”
Bramhall said he hoped the Iraqi people would understand this freedom to say what they feel.
“Something we, as Americans, forget about at times – our right to freedom of speech,” he said. “They will now know what that’s like.”
“This radio station is for the people,” Pratt added. “It’s a way to put out information about what’s happening in their community to better serve the people.”
Employees of Al Noor are currently sending out flyers across the city to promote the station and begin its mission of informing the people.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Enlisted Platoon Commander Leads Marines From Experience and Faith
by Lance Cpl. Ryan L. Tomlinson
I Marine Logistic Group PAO
AL ASAD, Iraq – “Losing their commander affected the Marines quite a bit, and it is my job to make it up to them,” said Staff Sgt. Michael W. Nichols.
Becoming a platoon leader, Nichols, commander of 3rd Platoon, Combat Logistics Company 111, Combat Logistics Battalion 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), has used his knowledge and faith to lead his Marines.
“My faith all started when I was a drill instructor at San Diego in 2002,” said Nichols, 30. “My wife and I started going to church to strengthen our relationship as a married couple.”
Nichols’ devotion and wisdom grew, and he said good things started to happen. While on DI duty, defining moments occurred for him such as starring in the 2003 documentary, “Ears, Open. Eyeballs, Click,” from film-maker Canaan Brumley, about Marine Corps boot camp. He also achieved senior drill instructor at the rank of sergeant.
“The movie was shot when I was with my first platoon as senior drill instructor,” said Nichols. “That was a cool phase of showing the public the most accurate (version of) the making of Marines.”
From his experiences in the drill field and as a junior marine, the Laplace, La., native returned to his occupation as a motor vehicle operator and shared guidance from skills he has received in the Marine Corps.
“I try to shed my guidance to my Marines for them to know when they could play around and when it’s all business,” said Nichols. “(The Marines) tell me how they could always depend on me from my hard work and trust.”
With the trust and confidence of his Marines, Nichols became the platoon commander after its original leader was injured.
It happened during a routine re-supply mission as 2nd Lt. Wesley B. Lippman almost lost his life. An improvised explosive device blast flipped the command vehicle.
The explosion injured the driver, radio operator and platoon commander. The wounds prevented Lippman from continuing the mission, and the platoon was left without a commander. Knowing that the Marines had to return home, Nichols stepped up without hesitation as a staff non-commissioned officer and led his Marines back to base.
After the incident, when the platoon was left without a commander to lead them, the CLB-1 command appointed the Marine that 3rd Platoon calls ‘Preacher’ to guide the Marines.
“When I found out that I was going to be a platoon commander, at first I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I knew right then, I had a huge responsibility and I was meant for this.”
Nichols will remain in Iraq until the end of his active service in December 2006.
He plans to leave the Marine Corps but he wants to continue to lead, as a pastor of a church.
“I have a lot ahead of me in this life,” said Nichols. “I will look back at this experience (in the Marine Corps) with no regrets.”
I Marine Logistic Group PAO
AL ASAD, Iraq – “Losing their commander affected the Marines quite a bit, and it is my job to make it up to them,” said Staff Sgt. Michael W. Nichols.
Becoming a platoon leader, Nichols, commander of 3rd Platoon, Combat Logistics Company 111, Combat Logistics Battalion 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), has used his knowledge and faith to lead his Marines.
“My faith all started when I was a drill instructor at San Diego in 2002,” said Nichols, 30. “My wife and I started going to church to strengthen our relationship as a married couple.”
Nichols’ devotion and wisdom grew, and he said good things started to happen. While on DI duty, defining moments occurred for him such as starring in the 2003 documentary, “Ears, Open. Eyeballs, Click,” from film-maker Canaan Brumley, about Marine Corps boot camp. He also achieved senior drill instructor at the rank of sergeant.
“The movie was shot when I was with my first platoon as senior drill instructor,” said Nichols. “That was a cool phase of showing the public the most accurate (version of) the making of Marines.”
From his experiences in the drill field and as a junior marine, the Laplace, La., native returned to his occupation as a motor vehicle operator and shared guidance from skills he has received in the Marine Corps.
“I try to shed my guidance to my Marines for them to know when they could play around and when it’s all business,” said Nichols. “(The Marines) tell me how they could always depend on me from my hard work and trust.”
With the trust and confidence of his Marines, Nichols became the platoon commander after its original leader was injured.
It happened during a routine re-supply mission as 2nd Lt. Wesley B. Lippman almost lost his life. An improvised explosive device blast flipped the command vehicle.
The explosion injured the driver, radio operator and platoon commander. The wounds prevented Lippman from continuing the mission, and the platoon was left without a commander. Knowing that the Marines had to return home, Nichols stepped up without hesitation as a staff non-commissioned officer and led his Marines back to base.
After the incident, when the platoon was left without a commander to lead them, the CLB-1 command appointed the Marine that 3rd Platoon calls ‘Preacher’ to guide the Marines.
“When I found out that I was going to be a platoon commander, at first I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I knew right then, I had a huge responsibility and I was meant for this.”
Nichols will remain in Iraq until the end of his active service in December 2006.
He plans to leave the Marine Corps but he wants to continue to lead, as a pastor of a church.
“I have a lot ahead of me in this life,” said Nichols. “I will look back at this experience (in the Marine Corps) with no regrets.”
Friday, December 22, 2006
Online Holiday Greeting Videos from Our Troops Available
The Digital Videos and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) website has 9213 videos from our Troops, Airmen and Sailors from duty stations all around the globe.
"DVIDS is a state-of-the-art, 24/7 operation that provides a timely, accurate and reliable connection between the media around the world and the military serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
Through a network of portable Ku-band satellite transmitters located in-theater and a distribution hub in Atlanta, Georgia, DVIDS makes available real-time broadcast-quality video, still images and print products as well as immediate interview opportunities with service members, commanders and subject matter experts..."
"DVIDS- Digital Video and Imagery Distribution SystemSupporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom with U.S. Army Central"
Also, USAFNS.com has added links to DVIDS by state on:
2006 Holiday Greetings FROM OUR TROOPS Around The World!
"DVIDS is a state-of-the-art, 24/7 operation that provides a timely, accurate and reliable connection between the media around the world and the military serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
Through a network of portable Ku-band satellite transmitters located in-theater and a distribution hub in Atlanta, Georgia, DVIDS makes available real-time broadcast-quality video, still images and print products as well as immediate interview opportunities with service members, commanders and subject matter experts..."
"DVIDS- Digital Video and Imagery Distribution SystemSupporting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom with U.S. Army Central"
Also, USAFNS.com has added links to DVIDS by state on:
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Holiday Audios From Troops Now Available
Dec 18, 2005 - Holiday Audio (MP3) From Our Troops Now Available
MP3 Audio Tapes From Our Troops All Over The Globe
MP3 Audio Tapes From Our Troops All Over The Globe
Monday, December 18, 2006
Anonymous Posting
Originally Posted on 11-24-2005
Gentlemen,
I found this blog will trying to find the name of the music in the "Until Then..." slide show. My husband, a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, forwarded it to me earlier this week. I normally balk at forwards and slide shows etc, but this one was so well done and is so moving. Unfortunately, the original link that I had is now a bad link. Here are two others. I viewed the slide show on the second link.
http://www.clermontyellow.accountsupport.com/flash/UntilThen.swf
http://www.gcsdistributing.com/UntilThenA.htm
Posted by Anonymous
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got this from an anonymous source, and I checked it out, and found it a pretty good collection of images from Iraq. The second link is very slow - I recommend the first one.
Regards, Gunner
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12-18-2006
I had another anonymous comment made to this posting today. It was an ad for porn. Unfortunately, I can't delete comments. Unless I delete the entire posting. So, I decided to re-post the original by copying it into the new posting.
~G
PS - I decided that there are always a few that will spoil it for the rest of us. So, I reluctantly changed the parameters on this blog so that I moderate the comments.
Gentlemen,
I found this blog will trying to find the name of the music in the "Until Then..." slide show. My husband, a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, forwarded it to me earlier this week. I normally balk at forwards and slide shows etc, but this one was so well done and is so moving. Unfortunately, the original link that I had is now a bad link. Here are two others. I viewed the slide show on the second link.
http://www.clermontyellow.accountsupport.com/flash/UntilThen.swf
http://www.gcsdistributing.com/UntilThenA.htm
Posted by Anonymous
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got this from an anonymous source, and I checked it out, and found it a pretty good collection of images from Iraq. The second link is very slow - I recommend the first one.
Regards, Gunner
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12-18-2006
I had another anonymous comment made to this posting today. It was an ad for porn. Unfortunately, I can't delete comments. Unless I delete the entire posting. So, I decided to re-post the original by copying it into the new posting.
~G
PS - I decided that there are always a few that will spoil it for the rest of us. So, I reluctantly changed the parameters on this blog so that I moderate the comments.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
General Foresees 'Generational War' Against Terrorism
Worries over sustaining U.S. 'will'
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
December 13, 2006
The American people need to prepare for a long-duration war against radical Muslims who are set to fight for 50 to 100 years to create an Islamist state in the region, a top Pentagon strategist in the war on terror says.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark O. Schissler said in an interview that the current strategy for fighting Islamists includes both military and ideological components that make it similar to the 40-year Cold War against communism.
"We're in a generational war. You can try and fight the enemy where they are and where they're attacking you, or prevent them and defend your own homeland," said Gen. Schissler, deputy director for the war on terrorism within the strategic plans office of the Pentagon's Joint Staff.
"But that's not enough to stop it. We've got to break the chain, and that's ... the ideology. We really need to show the errors in Islamist extremist thinking."
Gen. Schissler said he is concerned that Washington politics is weakening the will of the nation.
"I don't care about the politics. I care about people understanding the facts of what's our enemy is thinking about, what's our strategy to defeat them, and for [Americans] to understand that it will take a long fight, mostly because our enemy is committed to the long fight," he said. "They're absolutely committed to the 50-, 100-year plan."
"One of my concerns is how to maintain the American will, the public will over that duration," he said.
America's past wars lasted three to four years and sustaining support for longer wars "is very difficult," he said.
A Joint Staff briefing on the long war against terrorism states that since 2001, more than 3,000 al Qaeda terrorists are held in more than 100 nations, including 500 in Pakistan, while two-thirds of al Qaeda leaders are dead or in prison.
More than 17 terrorist attacks were disrupted since 2001, including three in the United States and two in Europe.
Al Qaeda's ultimate goal, the general said, is to set up an extremist "caliphate" stretching from western North Africa through southern Europe and along a path through the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia.
"We're pretty convinced that the extremists are not ever going to give up the fight," Gen. Schissler said, noting that they are driven by the concept of jihad that makes it a religious duty to wage terrorist war.
The current war on terrorism requires fighting with ideas. In the Cold War, "we didn't beat ...the communists by militarily taking them to the battlefield," he said. "We took them to the intellectual battlefield and beat them against their ideas, the ideology of communism."
One goal is to disrupt al Qaeda efforts to "radicalize" young people ages 19 to 25 through educational efforts. Another objective is to assist moderate Muslims who see extremism as unacceptable.
Ultimately, Muslim scholars, clerics and other religious and government leaders will have to "take a stand," albeit one that carries grave risks because of the extremists' harsh methods, Gen. Schissler said.
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
December 13, 2006
The American people need to prepare for a long-duration war against radical Muslims who are set to fight for 50 to 100 years to create an Islamist state in the region, a top Pentagon strategist in the war on terror says.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark O. Schissler said in an interview that the current strategy for fighting Islamists includes both military and ideological components that make it similar to the 40-year Cold War against communism.
"We're in a generational war. You can try and fight the enemy where they are and where they're attacking you, or prevent them and defend your own homeland," said Gen. Schissler, deputy director for the war on terrorism within the strategic plans office of the Pentagon's Joint Staff.
"But that's not enough to stop it. We've got to break the chain, and that's ... the ideology. We really need to show the errors in Islamist extremist thinking."
Gen. Schissler said he is concerned that Washington politics is weakening the will of the nation.
"I don't care about the politics. I care about people understanding the facts of what's our enemy is thinking about, what's our strategy to defeat them, and for [Americans] to understand that it will take a long fight, mostly because our enemy is committed to the long fight," he said. "They're absolutely committed to the 50-, 100-year plan."
"One of my concerns is how to maintain the American will, the public will over that duration," he said.
America's past wars lasted three to four years and sustaining support for longer wars "is very difficult," he said.
A Joint Staff briefing on the long war against terrorism states that since 2001, more than 3,000 al Qaeda terrorists are held in more than 100 nations, including 500 in Pakistan, while two-thirds of al Qaeda leaders are dead or in prison.
More than 17 terrorist attacks were disrupted since 2001, including three in the United States and two in Europe.
Al Qaeda's ultimate goal, the general said, is to set up an extremist "caliphate" stretching from western North Africa through southern Europe and along a path through the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia.
"We're pretty convinced that the extremists are not ever going to give up the fight," Gen. Schissler said, noting that they are driven by the concept of jihad that makes it a religious duty to wage terrorist war.
The current war on terrorism requires fighting with ideas. In the Cold War, "we didn't beat ...the communists by militarily taking them to the battlefield," he said. "We took them to the intellectual battlefield and beat them against their ideas, the ideology of communism."
One goal is to disrupt al Qaeda efforts to "radicalize" young people ages 19 to 25 through educational efforts. Another objective is to assist moderate Muslims who see extremism as unacceptable.
Ultimately, Muslim scholars, clerics and other religious and government leaders will have to "take a stand," albeit one that carries grave risks because of the extremists' harsh methods, Gen. Schissler said.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Seeking Iran Intelligence, U.S. Tries Google
Internet Search Yields Names Cited in U.N. Draft Resolution
Washington PostDecember 11, 2006
By Dafna Linzer, Washington Post Staff Writer
When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft.
Frustrated, the State Department assigned a junior Foreign Service officer to find the names another way -- by using Google. Those with the most hits under search terms such as "Iran and nuclear," three officials said, became targets for international rebuke Friday when a sanctions resolution circulated at the United Nations.
Policymakers and intelligence officials have always struggled when it comes to deciding how and when to disclose secret information, such as names of Iranians with suspected ties to nuclear weapons. In some internal debates, policymakers win out and intelligence is made public to further political or diplomatic goals. In other cases, such as this one, the intelligence community successfully argues that protecting information outweighs the desires of some to share it with the world. But that argument can also put the U.S. government in the awkward position of relying, in part, on an Internet search to select targets for international sanctions.
None of the 12 Iranians that the State Department eventually singled out for potential bans on international travel and business dealings is believed by the CIA to be directly connected to Iran's most suspicious nuclear activities.
"There is nothing that proves involvement in a clandestine weapons program, and there is very little out there at all that even connects people to a clandestine weapons program," said one official familiar with the intelligence on Iran. Like others interviewed for this story, the official insisted on anonymity when discussing the use of intelligence.
What little information there is has been guarded at CIA headquarters. The agency declined to discuss the case in detail, but a senior intelligence official said: "There were several factors that made it a complicated and time-consuming request, not the least of which were well-founded concerns" about revealing the way the CIA gathers intelligence on Iran.
That may be why the junior State Department officer, who has been with the nonproliferation bureau for only a few months, was put in front of a computer. An initial Internet search yielded over 100 names, including dozens of Iranian diplomats who have publicly defended their country's efforts as intended to produce energy, not bombs, the sources said. The list also included names of Iranians who have spoken with U.N. inspectors or have traveled to Vienna to attend International Atomic Energy Agency meetings about Iran.
It was submitted to the CIA for approval but the agency refused to look up such a large number of people, according to three government sources. Too time-consuming, the intelligence community said, for the CIA's Iran desk staff of 140 people. The list would need to be pared down. So the State Department cut the list in half and resubmitted the names.
In the end, the CIA approved a handful of individuals, though none is believed connected to Project 1-11 -- Iran's secret military effort to design a weapons system capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The names of Project 1-11 staff members have never been released by any government and doing so may have raised questions that the CIA was not willing or fully able to answer. But the agency had no qualms about approving names already publicly available on the Internet.
"Using a piece of intel on project 1-11, which we couldn't justify in open-source reporting, or with whatever the Russians had, would have put us in a difficult position," an intelligence official said. "Inevitably, someone would have asked, 'Why this guy?' and then we would have been back to the old problem of justifying intelligence."
A senior administration official acknowledged that the back-and-forth with the CIA had been difficult, especially given the administration's desire to isolate Iran and avoid a repeat of flawed intelligence that preceded the Iraq war.
"In this instance, we were the requesters and the CIA was the clearer," the official said. "It's the process we go through on a lot of these things. Both sides don't know a lot of reasons for why either side is requesting or denying things. Sources and methods became their stated rationale and that is what they do. But for policymaking, it can be quite frustrating."
Washington's credibility in the U.N. Security Council on weapons intelligence was sharply eroded by the collapse of prewar claims about Iraq. A senior intelligence official said the intelligence community is determined to avoid mistakes of the past when dealing with Iran and other issues. "Once you push intelligence out there, you can't take it back," the official said.
U.S., French and British officials came to agree that it was better to stay away from names that would have to be justified with sensitive information from intelligence programs, and instead put forward names of Iranians whose jobs were publicly connected to the country's nuclear energy and missile programs. European officials said their governments did not rely on Google searches but came up with nearly identical lists to the one U.S. officials offered.
"We do have concerns about Iranian activities that are overt, and uranium enrichment is a case in point," said a senior administration official who agreed to discuss the process on the condition of anonymity. "We are concerned about what it means for the program, but also because enrichment is in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution."
The U.S.-backed draft resolution, formally offered by Britain and France, would impose a travel ban and freeze the assets of 11 institutions and 12 individuals, including the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the directors of Iran's chief nuclear energy facilities, and several people involved in the missile program. It would prohibit the sale of nuclear technologies to Iran and urges states to "prevent specialised teaching or training" of Iranian nationals in disciplines that could further Tehran's understanding of banned nuclear activities.
The text says the council will be prepared to lift the sanctions if Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA's director general, concludes within 60 days that Iran has suspended its enrichment and reprocessing of uranium and has halted efforts to produce a heavy-water nuclear energy reactor.
Many Security Council members are uneasy about the sanctions. The Russians and the Chinese -- whose support is essential for the resolution to be approved -- have told the United States, Britain and France they will not support the travel-ban element of the resolution, according to three officials involved in the negotiations. Russia is building a light-water nuclear reactor in Iran and some people on the sanctions list are connected to the project.
"The Russians have already told us it would be demeaning for people to ask the Security Council for permission to travel to Russia to discuss an ongoing project," a European diplomat said yesterday.
U.S. and European officials said there is room for negotiation with Russia on the names and organizations, but they also said it is possible that by the time the Security Council approves the resolution, the entire list could be removed. "The real scope of debate will be on the number of sanctions," one diplomat said. "Companies and individuals could go off the list or go on."
Saturday, December 09, 2006
University of Oklahoma Studies Milblogs
The University of Oklahoma conducted a study in 2005 to find out if MilBlogs have an impact on public opinion. You can read the entire 49 page .pdf by clicking on the link below.
Full Study:
http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/06A/capstone.pdf
Study Abstract:
"As the popularity of Web logs increases, so, too, have the number of military Web logs. Service members, veterans, and family members are blogging from home, from the base, and from the battlefield. These milbloggers are able to write daily reports that anyone in the world – friend or foe – can read. Military public affairs officers may find it harder to manage the message as milbloggers become conduits for information to the public and the media. Little is known about milblogs. How do they tell the military story, and what messages do they convey? Are they perceived as credible? Do they contain more emotional content? This paper analyzes the content of milblogs and how they depict the military and its personnel. It also compares the credibility and tone of milblogs, traditional media, and Defense Department news sources, and how the content from these three sources influences readers’ attitudes toward the war in Iraq and the U.S. military’s continued presence in there."
Study Conclusion:
"The results of the study indicate that there is no significant difference in the effects of milblogs on public opinion as compared to the mainstream media’s effect on public opinion. This would indicate that military public affairs professionals should not be concerned with milblogs having a negative effect on public opinion and should encourage the chain of command to allow individuals in the command to produce blogs. However, all milblogs should continue to be monitored by the military to ensure that they do not include operational security violations, force protection information or violations of the privacy act."
Gunner Sez:
I found out about the study from a blog named "gwot dot us" (http://www.gwot.us/2006/12/09/university-of-oklahoma-study-milblogs-do-not-pose-a-security-threat/trackback/) by someone who is currently stationed in Afghanistan. You can view his take on the subject by visiting his blog.
My take on this subject - If the military public affairs professionals continue to "monitor" milblogs, all of us know that that equates to censorship. I remember WWII when NOK received letters that looked like a child had taken a pair of scissors and cut them up. In some cases, the censored letters contained only two lines - The Salutation, and the Signature at the end.
I truly doubt that the chain of command will ever encourage Milblogs being produced in a combat zone. But then, I never would have believed that they would embed journalists with combat units. I do believe that Milblogs are achieving one thing above all others - they are getting the word out to the world regarding the positive aspects of the accomplishments of our troops. Before the bloggers, we never heard anything good coming out of Iraq. I know because I looked for the good things, and I couldn't find them to post on this website/blog. Now, there are a few articles, such as the Saving Baby Mariam piece that found its way into the Boston Globe recently. See: http://www.usafns.com/2006/12/saving-baby-mariam.htm
~g
Full Study:
http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/06A/capstone.pdf
Study Abstract:
"As the popularity of Web logs increases, so, too, have the number of military Web logs. Service members, veterans, and family members are blogging from home, from the base, and from the battlefield. These milbloggers are able to write daily reports that anyone in the world – friend or foe – can read. Military public affairs officers may find it harder to manage the message as milbloggers become conduits for information to the public and the media. Little is known about milblogs. How do they tell the military story, and what messages do they convey? Are they perceived as credible? Do they contain more emotional content? This paper analyzes the content of milblogs and how they depict the military and its personnel. It also compares the credibility and tone of milblogs, traditional media, and Defense Department news sources, and how the content from these three sources influences readers’ attitudes toward the war in Iraq and the U.S. military’s continued presence in there."
Study Conclusion:
"The results of the study indicate that there is no significant difference in the effects of milblogs on public opinion as compared to the mainstream media’s effect on public opinion. This would indicate that military public affairs professionals should not be concerned with milblogs having a negative effect on public opinion and should encourage the chain of command to allow individuals in the command to produce blogs. However, all milblogs should continue to be monitored by the military to ensure that they do not include operational security violations, force protection information or violations of the privacy act."
Gunner Sez:
I found out about the study from a blog named "gwot dot us" (http://www.gwot.us/2006/12/09/university-of-oklahoma-study-milblogs-do-not-pose-a-security-threat/trackback/) by someone who is currently stationed in Afghanistan. You can view his take on the subject by visiting his blog.
My take on this subject - If the military public affairs professionals continue to "monitor" milblogs, all of us know that that equates to censorship. I remember WWII when NOK received letters that looked like a child had taken a pair of scissors and cut them up. In some cases, the censored letters contained only two lines - The Salutation, and the Signature at the end.
I truly doubt that the chain of command will ever encourage Milblogs being produced in a combat zone. But then, I never would have believed that they would embed journalists with combat units. I do believe that Milblogs are achieving one thing above all others - they are getting the word out to the world regarding the positive aspects of the accomplishments of our troops. Before the bloggers, we never heard anything good coming out of Iraq. I know because I looked for the good things, and I couldn't find them to post on this website/blog. Now, there are a few articles, such as the Saving Baby Mariam piece that found its way into the Boston Globe recently. See: http://www.usafns.com/2006/12/saving-baby-mariam.htm
~g
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Mother's Gift To Iraq Troops: A Lifesaving Toy
A Stratford woman is collecting Silly String, which can detect trip wires.
By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
STRATFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Even in an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes the simplest ideas can save lives. Which is why a Camden County mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.
American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Before entering a building, troops squirt 10- to 12-foot strands of the plastic goo across a room. If the Silly String falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
A thousand cans are packed into Shriver's one-car garage in Stratford, ready to be shipped to the Middle East, thanks to two churches and a pilot who heard about the drive.
'If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it,' said Shriver, 57, an office manager.
Manufacturer Just for Kicks Inc. of Watertown, N.Y., has contacted the family about donating Silly String. Other companies make versions called 'party string' or 'crazy string.'
'Everyone in the entire corporation is very pleased that we can be involved in something like this,' said Rob Oram, Just for Kicks product marketing manager. He called the troops' use innovative.
The military, concerned about tipping off insurgents, is reluctant to talk about specific tactics. But Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said Army soldiers and Marines were not forbidden to come up with new ways to do their jobs, especially in Iraq's ever-evolving battlefield. And commanders are given money to buy nonstandard supplies as needed, he said.
Soldiers in Iraq have bolted scrap metal to humvees in what has become known as "Hillbilly Armor." Medics plug bullet holes with tampons until the wounds can be patched up. Soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the top of humvees to give gunners extra protection, calling it "Pope's glass," a reference to the barrier on the pontiff's "Popemobile."
In an October call to his mother, Army Spec. Todd Shriver explained how his unit in the insurgent hotbed of Ramadi had learned from Marines to use Silly String to detect booby traps.
After sending some cans to her 28-year-old son, Shriver enlisted the help of two priests and posted notices in her church and its newsletter. Money and Silly String are flowing in.
"There's so much that they can't do, and they're frustrated, but this is something they can do," said the Rev. Joseph Capella of St. Luke's Church in Stratford.
Shriver and her husband said they would not mind seeing the string become standard-issue equipment, but they don't blame the military for not supplying it.
"I don't think that they can think of everything," said Ronald Shriver, 59, a retired salesman. "They're taught to improvise, and this is something that they've thought of."
Because the string comes in an aerosol can, Marcelle Shriver said, the Postal Service will not ship it by air. But a private pilot who heard about her campaign has agreed to fly the cans to Kuwait, most likely in January, and they will then be taken to Iraq.
Shriver said she would continue her campaign as long as her son was overseas and she had Silly String to send.
"I know that he's going come through this. I hope they all do," she said.
By Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
STRATFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Even in an age of multimillion-dollar high-tech weapons systems, sometimes the simplest ideas can save lives. Which is why a Camden County mother is organizing a drive to send cans of Silly String to Iraq.
American troops use the stuff to detect trip wires around bombs, as Marcelle Shriver learned from her son, a soldier in Iraq.
Before entering a building, troops squirt 10- to 12-foot strands of the plastic goo across a room. If the Silly String falls to the ground, no trip wires. If it hangs in the air, they know they have a problem. The wires are otherwise nearly invisible.
A thousand cans are packed into Shriver's one-car garage in Stratford, ready to be shipped to the Middle East, thanks to two churches and a pilot who heard about the drive.
'If I turn on the TV and see a soldier with a can of this on his vest, that would make this all worth it,' said Shriver, 57, an office manager.
Manufacturer Just for Kicks Inc. of Watertown, N.Y., has contacted the family about donating Silly String. Other companies make versions called 'party string' or 'crazy string.'
'Everyone in the entire corporation is very pleased that we can be involved in something like this,' said Rob Oram, Just for Kicks product marketing manager. He called the troops' use innovative.
The military, concerned about tipping off insurgents, is reluctant to talk about specific tactics. But Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said Army soldiers and Marines were not forbidden to come up with new ways to do their jobs, especially in Iraq's ever-evolving battlefield. And commanders are given money to buy nonstandard supplies as needed, he said.
Soldiers in Iraq have bolted scrap metal to humvees in what has become known as "Hillbilly Armor." Medics plug bullet holes with tampons until the wounds can be patched up. Soldiers put condoms and rubber bands around rifle muzzles to keep out sand. And troops have welded old bulletproof windshields to the top of humvees to give gunners extra protection, calling it "Pope's glass," a reference to the barrier on the pontiff's "Popemobile."
In an October call to his mother, Army Spec. Todd Shriver explained how his unit in the insurgent hotbed of Ramadi had learned from Marines to use Silly String to detect booby traps.
After sending some cans to her 28-year-old son, Shriver enlisted the help of two priests and posted notices in her church and its newsletter. Money and Silly String are flowing in.
"There's so much that they can't do, and they're frustrated, but this is something they can do," said the Rev. Joseph Capella of St. Luke's Church in Stratford.
Shriver and her husband said they would not mind seeing the string become standard-issue equipment, but they don't blame the military for not supplying it.
"I don't think that they can think of everything," said Ronald Shriver, 59, a retired salesman. "They're taught to improvise, and this is something that they've thought of."
Because the string comes in an aerosol can, Marcelle Shriver said, the Postal Service will not ship it by air. But a private pilot who heard about her campaign has agreed to fly the cans to Kuwait, most likely in January, and they will then be taken to Iraq.
Shriver said she would continue her campaign as long as her son was overseas and she had Silly String to send.
"I know that he's going come through this. I hope they all do," she said.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
URGENT: MOPH Wounded Warrior Leave Program needs financial assistance NOW!
Make checks made payable to:
MOPH-Wounded Warrior Leave Program
Mail to:
Jim Casti
P.O. Box 639
Newport, NC 28570
jcasti@ec.rr.com
252-223-5951
Please Do it today - the funds must be received no later than 15 December to allow time for travel arrangements.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) is providing travel funds for USMC Wounded Warriors stationed at USMC Base, Camp Lejeune, NC and MCAS Cherry Point, NC for transportation to and from their homes of record for the leave period December 20 to January 2. In some cases family members are being re-imbursed at the rate of $0.30 per mile (round trip) to drive to Camp Lejeune, take their wounded warrior home for the holidays.
All contributions to The Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, Inc., was qualified with the Internal Revenue Service as an organization exempt from income tax under I.R.C. Section 501 (c)(4) on February 26, 1959. See http://www.purpleheartfoundation.org/aboutus.asp - also see http://www.purpleheart.org/purple-heart-national-officers.html for verification that Jim Casti is with the foundation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~gunner
Everyone is requested to paste the above into an email, and send it to all of your friends.
Mail to:
Please Do it today - the funds must be received no later than 15 December to allow time for travel arrangements.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) is providing travel funds for USMC Wounded Warriors stationed at USMC Base, Camp Lejeune, NC and MCAS Cherry Point, NC for transportation to and from their homes of record for the leave period December 20 to January 2. In some cases family members are being re-imbursed at the rate of $0.30 per mile (round trip) to drive to Camp Lejeune, take their wounded warrior home for the holidays.
All contributions to The Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, Inc., was qualified with the Internal Revenue Service as an organization exempt from income tax under I.R.C. Section 501 (c)(4) on February 26, 1959. See http://www.purpleheartfoundation.org/aboutus.asp - also see http://www.purpleheart.org/purple-heart-national-officers.html for verification that Jim Casti is with the foundation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~gunner
Everyone is requested to paste the above into an email, and send it to all of your friends.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Saving Baby Mariam
December 4, 2006
Pg. 1
Unto death, platoon fulfills a mission in Iraq
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff
Mariam's Team Slideshow
It was a routine patrol, in the third week of June -- if, in fact, there is such a thing as a routine patrol in Fallujah, in the Anbar Province of Iraq.
Chris Walsh, a Navy medic assigned to a US Marines weapons company, was riding in a Humvee with three Marines, when a hidden bomb exploded in the dirt road just in front of them.
Even before the thick dust had settled, the Marines, and Walsh, were out of the vehicle, looking for the insurgents who had planted the remote-control device. The triggerman, as several who joined the pursuit vividly recall, was spotted first on a rooftop, then on the ground making his escape through the maze of ramshackle houses that line the road.
When Walsh and the Marines came to one doorway, M-4 rifles up and ready, a woman emerged from a room, holding an infant and saying, over and over again, "Baby. Baby sick."
Walsh put his gun down and the woman put the baby down.
Walsh had seen bad things -- as an EMT back home in St. Louis, and at war. But he told his comrades he had never seen anything like this: The child, just a few months old, looked as though her insides had been turned inside out.
Her name was Mariam, and she looked up at Walsh with dead eyes.
Suddenly, finding the bad guys became secondary. Walsh, the Marines recall, examined the child, pulled out a digital camera and took pictures to show the doctors back at base camp. As soon as Captain Sean Donovan , a doctor assigned to the First Battalion 25th Marine Regiment out of Fort Devens in Ayer, saw them, he knew the baby had a rare condition in which the bladder develops outside the body. Donovan said she wouldn't live long without surgery of a kind she couldn't get in Iraq.
"Then," Donovan recalls Walsh saying, "we've got to get her out of here, sir."
It seemed a noble sentiment, if, in the middle of a war, a bit naive. But Walsh meant it. Saving Baby Mariam became his mission. At chow one night, he stood up and explained to the Marines in his platoon what he wanted to do. He said he'd need help. And one by one, the Marines put up their hands.
Mike Henderson , a Marine major from Maine, told Walsh and Donovan that his nephew was born with the same condition, called a bladder exstrophy , and that the boy had successful surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Donovan began using his computer, trying to find the appropriate medical care and a shortcut through the maddening military bureaucracy, a way to get the child out. Rev. Marc Bishop, a Chelmsford priest who is battalion chaplain, started e-mailing friends back home, looking for money and help.
Meanwhile, each week, under the cover of darkness, wearing night-vision goggles, Chris Walsh and a dozen Marines made their way to the shanty where Mariam lived. They parked their Humvees a mile away and walked a different, circuitous route each time. Staff Sergeant Edward Ewing, the platoon leader who devised and led the covert nocturnal visits, said Walsh's team followed a routine: Lance Corporal Eric Valdepenas , a 21-year-old from Seekonk, and Cody Hill, a 23-year-old lance corporal from Oklahoma, hid outside Mariam's house, providing cover, along with some others; Corporal Jared Shoemaker , 29, a police officer back in Tulsa, accompanied Donovan and Walsh inside the house, where they tended to Mariam as best they could, trying to ward off an infection that could kill her.
"We're going to get her the help she needs," Walsh would say, to a family that didn't speak English but somehow understood that the Americans, loathed as an occupying force by many in Fallujah, represented Mariam's only chance.
Over the summer, they made great strides. Father Bishop had struck gold with an e-mail to Christopher Anderson , one of his parishioners at St. Mary's Church. Anderson, who is president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, lined up 16 companies to pay to get the baby to Boston. Donovan, meanwhile, had found Dr. Rafael V. Pieretti , a Venezuelan surgeon at Mass. General who is one of the few doctors in the United States who specialize in the condition. Pieretti and Mass. General offered their services free of charge.
But there it all stalled. There were some 5,000 Iraqi civilians seeking to leave the country for medical care, and Mariam, it seemed, would have to wait her turn.
"We had a lot of things lined up," Donovan said, "but we couldn't get the permission we needed to get her out of Iraq."
On Labor Day, Sept. 4, Walsh and his team were on another routine patrol in another section of Fallujah, about a mile from Mariam's house. Ewing was in the lead vehicle and noticed some kids playing soccer off the side of the road. Then came the blast, which lifted the rear of Ewing's 5-ton Humvee off the road. But it was Walsh's Humvee just behind that took what the Marines call a belly shot: The bomb exploded directly under the vehicle.
"Victor Five is down!" a Marine screamed over the radio. "Victor Five is down!"
Ewing and some Marines rushed to the smoking wreckage. Greg Cinelli, a medic from Haverhill, tried to keep them away. They pushed their way past him, and Cine lli turned his attention to Hill, who had severe burns over more than half of his body. Hill was in shock but kept asking about the others.
"You made it out!" Cinelli told Hill. "They can, too!"
But Cinelli was just trying to give Hill the will to live. There was nothing he or anybody else could do for the others: Valdepenas, the youngest of eight kids, who left the University of Massachusetts at Amherst when his unit got called to active duty, Shoemaker, with a wife back in Oklahoma, and Walsh, the author of the mission for Mariam, were dead.
With their seven-month rotation about to end, and 11 members of their battalion dead and 83 wounded, the Marines decided there was only one way to honor their dead brothers and that was to make sure the baby was saved.
E-mails from Fallujah shot all around the United States, detailing the risks that Walsh and the Marines had taken, the effort expended, and the blood spilled. Suddenly, the red tape loosened, and in early October Mariam was flown to Boston. The surgery was successful, and she is doing well.
More than a month after Maureen Walsh buried her son, she stood in her living room in Kansas, reading a handwritten letter from Donovan.
"You need to know this about your son," Donovan wrote.
She had not known about Mariam, had not known that her son spent months, surrounded by the chaos of war, trying to save her. And it was then, as she stood there, tears falling onto Sean Donovan's letter, that Maureen Walsh knew she had to see the child, and hold her in her arms.
Instinctive sympathy
Chris Walsh grew up in Kansas, the oldest of five kids. He was popular, but had an instinctive sympathy for those who were not.
"He would bring home the kid no one else would play with," his mother recalled.
He was a good student and something of a perfectionist. But he was also restless. Accepted to college, he decided not to go, embarking instead on what his mother calls "a Jack Kerouac journey" across America.
Six weeks later, he called home from San Francisco, broke. At 22, when his peers were graduating from college, he enrolled in EMT school. He was his class valedictorian, but asked the school's director to omit mention of that distinction at the graduation ceremony.
He liked working the streets of St. Louis as an EMT, though he told his mother there were too many wasted hours between real emergency calls. After the 9/11 attacks, he joined the Navy reserves. His father, a Marine, had seen combat in Vietnam. His brother, Patrick, was a Marine serving in Iraq. Navy medics are assigned to Marine units, and Walsh began getting the training he needed to go to Iraq.
"He believed that no able bodied person, who had no responsibilities beyond themselves, should stay here when there were people with spouses and children overseas," his mother said.
After he and his unit arrived in Iraq, it didn't take long for his serious, gruff demeanor to earn him a Marine nickname: Grumps.
"Chris was 30 years old, and a lot of these Marines are kids, so they gravitated to him," said Edgar Gallego, a corpsman who is an EMT in New York City and partnered with Walsh in Iraq. "Chris was more experienced, so a lot of times I'd look at a Marine who was hurting and say, 'Go to Grumps.' "
On patrol in Iraq, Navy medics are more than medics. They carry carbines , just like the Marines, and they fight, just like the Marines.
"When you're in an infantry unit, you're in the infantry," Gallego explained.
And Walsh was always pushing to do more.
Ewing said that whenever they were on patrol, Walsh would ask to stop when they saw injured Iraqis on the street. In Fallujah, a hotbed of Sunni insurgents, this was more than risky. Ewing and his Marines would take up cover positions as Walsh operated his impromptu sidewalk clinics.
"It wasn't part of his job. Wasn't part of our job," Ewing said. "But Chris could not pass someone who was suffering and not help."
It was because of the way Walsh and the three Marines he rode with conducted themselves that their deaths resonated so deeply through their platoon.
After the fatal Sept. 4 attack, Ewing and his platoon were told to stand down, take a couple of days off. Besides respecting the platoon's sense of loss, Ewing said his superior officers wanted to guard against the possibility of the grief-stricken Marines seeking revenge.
Ewing admits those concerns were justified.
"It was hard not to go out and retaliate. It was hard as a platoon," he said. "But we all got talking, and we knew what those guys were about. They wouldn't have wanted us to retaliate. Then it became doing everything to honor them. We used their memories to push forward, and to get that baby out."
A few hours after Walsh, Valdepenas, and Shoemaker were killed, another patrol from their company was hit: two Marines, including Terrence Burke, a Boston police officer, lost legs in the blast. Ignoring the order to take some time off, Ewing and his men raced to the scene to help their brother Marines. And a few days later, Ewing resumed leading the middle-of-the-night visits to Mariam's home.
All 30 men in the platoon joined, at various times, in the volunteer effort. Mariam's family wondered what had happened to Walsh and the others, but the Marines decided not to tell them.
The last week of September, with Mariam's case still bogged down in bureaucracy, Captain Donovan stopped by Father Bishop's office. The battalion was "ripping," as Marines call the process of packing up to leave Iraq. Donovan was despairing, feeling they had let Walsh and the others down by failing to get the baby out.
"Have you prayed about it?" the priest asked Donovan.
"What?" Donovan asked.
"Have you prayed?" Father Bishop said.
Donovan sheepishly admitted he had not. Bishop suggested Donovan go to the small chapel next door and say the Memorare, a prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, which in part reads, "Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided."
Sean Donovan knelt down and said a Christian prayer for a Muslim girl whose Anglicized name is Mary.
The next day, Donovan opened an e-mail notifying him that Mariam had been cleared for medical evacuation to Boston.
An 'act of God'
Three weeks ago, Maureen Walsh stood on the 17th floor of the pediatric ward at Mass. General, rocking Mariam in her arms. The vacant stare that Chris Walsh first encountered has been replaced by a pair of bright, inquisitive brown eyes.
Mariam stared up at Maureen Walsh and smiled back.
Having arrived in Boston listless, malnourished, and underdeveloped, Mariam has put on two pounds and now weighs 12 pounds.
"This is a different girl than the one who arrived here in October," said Dr. Laurence Ronan, who has overseen Mariam's care and will take her and her grandparents back to Iraq soon.
Mariam's grandparents, who traveled with her because her mother has not recovered from complications at childbirth, told Maureen Walsh they had learned of Chris' death last month, when Captain Donovan visited them at the hospital.
Mariam's grandfather took Maureen Walsh's hand in his and, speaking in Arabic, said, "Thank you for your son."
Mariam's family does not believe it was coincidence that Chris Walsh was the one who came into their house in hot pursuit of someone who had tried to kill him and instead put down his gun and picked up Mariam.
"This," her grandfather said, nodding solemnly, "was an act of God. God sent Chris. To Mariam. So she will live."
Maureen Walsh shares that assessment.
"There were too many coincidences for it to be coincidence," she said. "Chris was waiting his whole life for something like this."
Maureen Walsh shook her head and stroked Mariam's hair.
"Look at her," she said. "Isn't she beautiful?"
Pg. 1
Unto death, platoon fulfills a mission in Iraq
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff
It was a routine patrol, in the third week of June -- if, in fact, there is such a thing as a routine patrol in Fallujah, in the Anbar Province of Iraq.
Chris Walsh, a Navy medic assigned to a US Marines weapons company, was riding in a Humvee with three Marines, when a hidden bomb exploded in the dirt road just in front of them.
Even before the thick dust had settled, the Marines, and Walsh, were out of the vehicle, looking for the insurgents who had planted the remote-control device. The triggerman, as several who joined the pursuit vividly recall, was spotted first on a rooftop, then on the ground making his escape through the maze of ramshackle houses that line the road.
When Walsh and the Marines came to one doorway, M-4 rifles up and ready, a woman emerged from a room, holding an infant and saying, over and over again, "Baby. Baby sick."
Walsh put his gun down and the woman put the baby down.
Walsh had seen bad things -- as an EMT back home in St. Louis, and at war. But he told his comrades he had never seen anything like this: The child, just a few months old, looked as though her insides had been turned inside out.
Her name was Mariam, and she looked up at Walsh with dead eyes.
Suddenly, finding the bad guys became secondary. Walsh, the Marines recall, examined the child, pulled out a digital camera and took pictures to show the doctors back at base camp. As soon as Captain Sean Donovan , a doctor assigned to the First Battalion 25th Marine Regiment out of Fort Devens in Ayer, saw them, he knew the baby had a rare condition in which the bladder develops outside the body. Donovan said she wouldn't live long without surgery of a kind she couldn't get in Iraq.
"Then," Donovan recalls Walsh saying, "we've got to get her out of here, sir."
It seemed a noble sentiment, if, in the middle of a war, a bit naive. But Walsh meant it. Saving Baby Mariam became his mission. At chow one night, he stood up and explained to the Marines in his platoon what he wanted to do. He said he'd need help. And one by one, the Marines put up their hands.
Mike Henderson , a Marine major from Maine, told Walsh and Donovan that his nephew was born with the same condition, called a bladder exstrophy , and that the boy had successful surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Donovan began using his computer, trying to find the appropriate medical care and a shortcut through the maddening military bureaucracy, a way to get the child out. Rev. Marc Bishop, a Chelmsford priest who is battalion chaplain, started e-mailing friends back home, looking for money and help.
Meanwhile, each week, under the cover of darkness, wearing night-vision goggles, Chris Walsh and a dozen Marines made their way to the shanty where Mariam lived. They parked their Humvees a mile away and walked a different, circuitous route each time. Staff Sergeant Edward Ewing, the platoon leader who devised and led the covert nocturnal visits, said Walsh's team followed a routine: Lance Corporal Eric Valdepenas , a 21-year-old from Seekonk, and Cody Hill, a 23-year-old lance corporal from Oklahoma, hid outside Mariam's house, providing cover, along with some others; Corporal Jared Shoemaker , 29, a police officer back in Tulsa, accompanied Donovan and Walsh inside the house, where they tended to Mariam as best they could, trying to ward off an infection that could kill her.
"We're going to get her the help she needs," Walsh would say, to a family that didn't speak English but somehow understood that the Americans, loathed as an occupying force by many in Fallujah, represented Mariam's only chance.
Over the summer, they made great strides. Father Bishop had struck gold with an e-mail to Christopher Anderson , one of his parishioners at St. Mary's Church. Anderson, who is president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, lined up 16 companies to pay to get the baby to Boston. Donovan, meanwhile, had found Dr. Rafael V. Pieretti , a Venezuelan surgeon at Mass. General who is one of the few doctors in the United States who specialize in the condition. Pieretti and Mass. General offered their services free of charge.
But there it all stalled. There were some 5,000 Iraqi civilians seeking to leave the country for medical care, and Mariam, it seemed, would have to wait her turn.
"We had a lot of things lined up," Donovan said, "but we couldn't get the permission we needed to get her out of Iraq."
On Labor Day, Sept. 4, Walsh and his team were on another routine patrol in another section of Fallujah, about a mile from Mariam's house. Ewing was in the lead vehicle and noticed some kids playing soccer off the side of the road. Then came the blast, which lifted the rear of Ewing's 5-ton Humvee off the road. But it was Walsh's Humvee just behind that took what the Marines call a belly shot: The bomb exploded directly under the vehicle.
"Victor Five is down!" a Marine screamed over the radio. "Victor Five is down!"
Ewing and some Marines rushed to the smoking wreckage. Greg Cinelli, a medic from Haverhill, tried to keep them away. They pushed their way past him, and Cine lli turned his attention to Hill, who had severe burns over more than half of his body. Hill was in shock but kept asking about the others.
"You made it out!" Cinelli told Hill. "They can, too!"
But Cinelli was just trying to give Hill the will to live. There was nothing he or anybody else could do for the others: Valdepenas, the youngest of eight kids, who left the University of Massachusetts at Amherst when his unit got called to active duty, Shoemaker, with a wife back in Oklahoma, and Walsh, the author of the mission for Mariam, were dead.
With their seven-month rotation about to end, and 11 members of their battalion dead and 83 wounded, the Marines decided there was only one way to honor their dead brothers and that was to make sure the baby was saved.
E-mails from Fallujah shot all around the United States, detailing the risks that Walsh and the Marines had taken, the effort expended, and the blood spilled. Suddenly, the red tape loosened, and in early October Mariam was flown to Boston. The surgery was successful, and she is doing well.
More than a month after Maureen Walsh buried her son, she stood in her living room in Kansas, reading a handwritten letter from Donovan.
"You need to know this about your son," Donovan wrote.
She had not known about Mariam, had not known that her son spent months, surrounded by the chaos of war, trying to save her. And it was then, as she stood there, tears falling onto Sean Donovan's letter, that Maureen Walsh knew she had to see the child, and hold her in her arms.
Instinctive sympathy
Chris Walsh grew up in Kansas, the oldest of five kids. He was popular, but had an instinctive sympathy for those who were not.
"He would bring home the kid no one else would play with," his mother recalled.
He was a good student and something of a perfectionist. But he was also restless. Accepted to college, he decided not to go, embarking instead on what his mother calls "a Jack Kerouac journey" across America.
Six weeks later, he called home from San Francisco, broke. At 22, when his peers were graduating from college, he enrolled in EMT school. He was his class valedictorian, but asked the school's director to omit mention of that distinction at the graduation ceremony.
He liked working the streets of St. Louis as an EMT, though he told his mother there were too many wasted hours between real emergency calls. After the 9/11 attacks, he joined the Navy reserves. His father, a Marine, had seen combat in Vietnam. His brother, Patrick, was a Marine serving in Iraq. Navy medics are assigned to Marine units, and Walsh began getting the training he needed to go to Iraq.
"He believed that no able bodied person, who had no responsibilities beyond themselves, should stay here when there were people with spouses and children overseas," his mother said.
After he and his unit arrived in Iraq, it didn't take long for his serious, gruff demeanor to earn him a Marine nickname: Grumps.
"Chris was 30 years old, and a lot of these Marines are kids, so they gravitated to him," said Edgar Gallego, a corpsman who is an EMT in New York City and partnered with Walsh in Iraq. "Chris was more experienced, so a lot of times I'd look at a Marine who was hurting and say, 'Go to Grumps.' "
On patrol in Iraq, Navy medics are more than medics. They carry carbines , just like the Marines, and they fight, just like the Marines.
"When you're in an infantry unit, you're in the infantry," Gallego explained.
And Walsh was always pushing to do more.
Ewing said that whenever they were on patrol, Walsh would ask to stop when they saw injured Iraqis on the street. In Fallujah, a hotbed of Sunni insurgents, this was more than risky. Ewing and his Marines would take up cover positions as Walsh operated his impromptu sidewalk clinics.
"It wasn't part of his job. Wasn't part of our job," Ewing said. "But Chris could not pass someone who was suffering and not help."
It was because of the way Walsh and the three Marines he rode with conducted themselves that their deaths resonated so deeply through their platoon.
After the fatal Sept. 4 attack, Ewing and his platoon were told to stand down, take a couple of days off. Besides respecting the platoon's sense of loss, Ewing said his superior officers wanted to guard against the possibility of the grief-stricken Marines seeking revenge.
Ewing admits those concerns were justified.
"It was hard not to go out and retaliate. It was hard as a platoon," he said. "But we all got talking, and we knew what those guys were about. They wouldn't have wanted us to retaliate. Then it became doing everything to honor them. We used their memories to push forward, and to get that baby out."
A few hours after Walsh, Valdepenas, and Shoemaker were killed, another patrol from their company was hit: two Marines, including Terrence Burke, a Boston police officer, lost legs in the blast. Ignoring the order to take some time off, Ewing and his men raced to the scene to help their brother Marines. And a few days later, Ewing resumed leading the middle-of-the-night visits to Mariam's home.
All 30 men in the platoon joined, at various times, in the volunteer effort. Mariam's family wondered what had happened to Walsh and the others, but the Marines decided not to tell them.
The last week of September, with Mariam's case still bogged down in bureaucracy, Captain Donovan stopped by Father Bishop's office. The battalion was "ripping," as Marines call the process of packing up to leave Iraq. Donovan was despairing, feeling they had let Walsh and the others down by failing to get the baby out.
"Have you prayed about it?" the priest asked Donovan.
"What?" Donovan asked.
"Have you prayed?" Father Bishop said.
Donovan sheepishly admitted he had not. Bishop suggested Donovan go to the small chapel next door and say the Memorare, a prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, which in part reads, "Never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided."
Sean Donovan knelt down and said a Christian prayer for a Muslim girl whose Anglicized name is Mary.
The next day, Donovan opened an e-mail notifying him that Mariam had been cleared for medical evacuation to Boston.
An 'act of God'
Three weeks ago, Maureen Walsh stood on the 17th floor of the pediatric ward at Mass. General, rocking Mariam in her arms. The vacant stare that Chris Walsh first encountered has been replaced by a pair of bright, inquisitive brown eyes.
Mariam stared up at Maureen Walsh and smiled back.
Having arrived in Boston listless, malnourished, and underdeveloped, Mariam has put on two pounds and now weighs 12 pounds.
"This is a different girl than the one who arrived here in October," said Dr. Laurence Ronan, who has overseen Mariam's care and will take her and her grandparents back to Iraq soon.
Mariam's grandparents, who traveled with her because her mother has not recovered from complications at childbirth, told Maureen Walsh they had learned of Chris' death last month, when Captain Donovan visited them at the hospital.
Mariam's grandfather took Maureen Walsh's hand in his and, speaking in Arabic, said, "Thank you for your son."
Mariam's family does not believe it was coincidence that Chris Walsh was the one who came into their house in hot pursuit of someone who had tried to kill him and instead put down his gun and picked up Mariam.
"This," her grandfather said, nodding solemnly, "was an act of God. God sent Chris. To Mariam. So she will live."
Maureen Walsh shares that assessment.
"There were too many coincidences for it to be coincidence," she said. "Chris was waiting his whole life for something like this."
Maureen Walsh shook her head and stroked Mariam's hair.
"Look at her," she said. "Isn't she beautiful?"
Comments:
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SAVING AN IRAQI BABY WAS NOT IN THE LIBERAL AGENDA
While Chelsea Clinton gets ready to beome the daughter in law of Roseanne Rosanna Danna.
A US military Officer named Walsh was killed because of his perseverance in saving a young Iraqi babies life. Because the us military is about saving people and not hurting people.
Democrats and the mainstream media who are more interested in
Defeating the bush administration than the lives of our troops.
The mainstream media will not tell the story of marine Chris Walsh
And his putting his own life on the line to save the life of a young Iraqi baby who was doomed to die.
Marine Chris Walsh was on duty in search for a sniper when he came upon a Iraqi baby who was dying. He came to the aid of the young baby and visited the family. The brave caring marine helped the family and the baby get the life saving medical attention.
Unfortunately, many of the pro Iran, Islamo Fascists do not have the same feelings about children. When they found out about this caring marine. The Islamo fascists planned an ambush and killed Marine Chris Walsh and two other marines. Is there outrage in the mainstream media? Of course not. That would not be in the best interest of military hating Democrats like John Murtha, Howard Dean, John Kerry, even Charles Rangel (who is pushing for a us military draft) and their ilk. Remember before GW Bush Our President Bill Clinton, A draft Dodger actually said, “ I loathe the military”. Jimmy Carter is out promoting his Anti Semitic Book by giving away free gifts with the purchase.
While Democrats in Hollywood are spreading anti USA propaganda loving Democrats continue to be glued to the TV and the latest antics of such liberal heroes as hate monger George Clooney, Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, Madonna, Michael Richards, Andy Dick. With no one watching the other night while Katie Couric was telling about 10 people how Bush got us into an Iraqi nightmare. The sin-a-bun anchor was gloating over a report that said that our military was losing in Iraq.
The good news is that despite the fact that the mainstream media did nothing and exerted no effort to help save the life of the Iraqi baby. Chris Walsh work did bear fruit. The ill child got the help she needed and is recovering in a US hospital thanks to men like Marine Chris Walsh who gave his life so this young girl could live a life of freedom.
I asked a bunch of anti war protestors who were out on South Congress Street in Austin during a first Thursday Artist Stroll. They looked at me and some admitted that although they claim to be anti war and care for our troops. They did not even write a single letter or donate a single penny to any of our troops or their families.
I am a former Democrat and former Liberal. I know the truth about Liberals and how they care more for getting their way and being accepted by their Liberal.
I know that if you took ten items and said Bush Said the statements. They would say the statements were stupid. If you then alter told them it was actually a Democrat that’s aid it. They would get angry with me or they would spin the very same statement to mean something different. I would do this all the time with a liberal roommate who for some reason pretended to be a vegetarian. Yes, Pretended. Her Idol was Alex Jones and she wrote a veggie raw food advice Blog. Yet she was not in good shape, was obese, wasted gas by driving short distances and was not a vegetarian or a raw food eater. Yet, she actually took midnight rides to the convenience store a few blocks away and bought fired foods, meats, etc. Yet she insisted she was a Vegetarian. She would tell me how horrible statements were. When she thought Bush made them and then twist them around to mean something different when I told her a Liberal made the comments. This is the attitude of Liberals, when it comes to our military. There people on the left who believe Bush blew up the World Trade Center and another prominent Liberal Professor from Colorado called the Victims of 9-11 “Little Eichmans” Others on the left had the attitude that “We deserved 9-11”
Some members of the left have no conscience. Just examine the history of the Democratic and Socialist Party
The Left and the mainstream media basically want anything that defends the Traditional Judeo-Christian foundation of the USA destroyed. In Austin Liberals complain about Wal Mart. Yet many of these same people own businesses that do not sell fair trade products, they pay employees nothing, do not give benefits and although they claim they care about the worker. They hire illegal aliens to
Maintain their lawns, pain their houses and take jobs away from American owned Tax paying local businesses. They drive their gas guzzling SUVS that are mostly made in foreign countries and adorn pro environment and pro Democrat bumper stickers. I call them gas-guzzlers for the DNC.
If Marine Hero Chris Walsh would have been unsuccessful in saving the child. The story would have then been newsworthy to the left and the mainstream media. They could have blamed the death of Bush and the military. If the left can embarrass the military and cause them harm. The left is more than willing to accommodate. Like the hero Bill Clinton, the mainstream media also loathes the military and wants them to fail. They claim to acre about people and call their success in getting the USA to withdraw from Vietnam a success. They have no regard or even care about the millions of Mung people who were killed after we withdrew from Vietnam. The left also did not care about the millions upon millions killed and tortured by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. President Jimmy Carter pardoned our draft dodgers and also pardoned his fellow attempted rapist peacenik Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Forgiving MR Yarrow for trying to viciously rape a 14-year-old autograph seeker. Yes, the wonderful left who would crucify any priest who may have been accused of sexual wrongdoing and of course call any woman who accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse “trailer trash”
These same libs in the media have no problem idolizing Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones whom like Peter Yarrow chased a 14-year-old girl. Except Mick Jagger actually had sex with a young girl named Mackenzie Phillips, only 14 years of age. While Mackenzie’s dad pounded on the door pleading with his majesty Mick Jagger to stop. Of course we know what happen to Mackenzie Phillips after that incident and how she turned to drugs and alcohol to hide her pain. But that’s okay; Mick Jagger is a good anti American Bush Hater, Republican hater. Democrat Ted Kennedy killed a pregnant Mary Jo Kopechnie. He was driving drunk, fled the scene and like a real man. He left her to drown in the cold waters of Chappaquiddick while he slept off his drunken stupor.
We have to wonder about a group of people who claim to care about human beings but have a record of ignoring human rights that dates back to many democrats opposing President Lincolns Decision to end slavery. Democrat President FDR Ignored the signs that Pearl Harbor would be bombed. He then threw innocent Japanese people in internment camps. They initiated wars and then abandoned the people. Opposed the Civil Rights act. Claim Victory and honor that they helped pass Roe Vs Wade and since that time have supported
And defended NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the fact that 21 million African American Fetuses have been aborted mostly by white male Democrat doctors.
Last night at the arts event there were a group of young Baptists that were out witnessing to the people on the street. The response to these believing Christians was of course mixed. I offered them encouragement and I sincerely wish I could be as strong a believer as they are. The reaction of some Liberals was disgusting and challenged their front of being compassionate people. Some gave them the finger, others just wanted to argue. When I saw one group of anti war liberals about to confront them for being at the event. I was flabbergasted that these antagonizing whiney Anti War Liberals who were trying to stick petitions in my face. Would actually believe that they have a right to be in public. But, of course those annoying right wing Christians did not. I said to one Liberal,
“Calm down, its better to have them here than Al Qaeda” and the Liberal actually started arguing that I was anti Muslim and he would rather have Al Qaeda here than Christians. Do not believe that comments like this are isolated.
The left would put anyone into power that they believe opposes the Conservative
Judeo Christian foundation of the USA. New Democratic leaders actually flew off this week to a Socialist Convention to celebrate their victory in the USA with anti Israel European Socialists. They are not visiting our wounded troops or the families of the dead. Is it because they do not care. They are unwelcome by the families or a little of both. I asked some liberals at the arts event if they would rather have Russian leader Putin as USA leader than GW Bush and some actually said, “yes”. Oh and of course it was not Russia that poisoned their
own people. It was George Bush who ordered it done. Yes, and Kennedy of course was set up by the CIA when he drove his car off a bridge and killed Mary Jo Kopechnie.
While Democrats continue to attack the Republicans. The DNC and Clintons have gotten the cooperation of the mainstream media to not report on the family of the Fiancé of Chelsea Clinton. Yes, Chelsea Clinton is marrying the son of the real “Roseanne Rosanna Danna”. Yes, the infamous liberal former Democrat Congresswoman now known as Marjorie Margolis who’s husband Misvinski also used Chelsea Clinton to set up Internet scams will not be at the Clinton-Misvinsky wedding because he is now in jail.
I spoke to a man from Pasadena Texas who was a member of the
Klu Klux Klan and he said to me “Hell, we and the Nazis could not have done a better job in getting rid of (word deleted because of being a racist term).
Yes, Democrats are the party of caring people or are they such hypocrites and abusers of people that it is easier to attack the righteous than face their own demons?
Post a Comment
While Chelsea Clinton gets ready to beome the daughter in law of Roseanne Rosanna Danna.
A US military Officer named Walsh was killed because of his perseverance in saving a young Iraqi babies life. Because the us military is about saving people and not hurting people.
Democrats and the mainstream media who are more interested in
Defeating the bush administration than the lives of our troops.
The mainstream media will not tell the story of marine Chris Walsh
And his putting his own life on the line to save the life of a young Iraqi baby who was doomed to die.
Marine Chris Walsh was on duty in search for a sniper when he came upon a Iraqi baby who was dying. He came to the aid of the young baby and visited the family. The brave caring marine helped the family and the baby get the life saving medical attention.
Unfortunately, many of the pro Iran, Islamo Fascists do not have the same feelings about children. When they found out about this caring marine. The Islamo fascists planned an ambush and killed Marine Chris Walsh and two other marines. Is there outrage in the mainstream media? Of course not. That would not be in the best interest of military hating Democrats like John Murtha, Howard Dean, John Kerry, even Charles Rangel (who is pushing for a us military draft) and their ilk. Remember before GW Bush Our President Bill Clinton, A draft Dodger actually said, “ I loathe the military”. Jimmy Carter is out promoting his Anti Semitic Book by giving away free gifts with the purchase.
While Democrats in Hollywood are spreading anti USA propaganda loving Democrats continue to be glued to the TV and the latest antics of such liberal heroes as hate monger George Clooney, Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, Madonna, Michael Richards, Andy Dick. With no one watching the other night while Katie Couric was telling about 10 people how Bush got us into an Iraqi nightmare. The sin-a-bun anchor was gloating over a report that said that our military was losing in Iraq.
The good news is that despite the fact that the mainstream media did nothing and exerted no effort to help save the life of the Iraqi baby. Chris Walsh work did bear fruit. The ill child got the help she needed and is recovering in a US hospital thanks to men like Marine Chris Walsh who gave his life so this young girl could live a life of freedom.
I asked a bunch of anti war protestors who were out on South Congress Street in Austin during a first Thursday Artist Stroll. They looked at me and some admitted that although they claim to be anti war and care for our troops. They did not even write a single letter or donate a single penny to any of our troops or their families.
I am a former Democrat and former Liberal. I know the truth about Liberals and how they care more for getting their way and being accepted by their Liberal.
I know that if you took ten items and said Bush Said the statements. They would say the statements were stupid. If you then alter told them it was actually a Democrat that’s aid it. They would get angry with me or they would spin the very same statement to mean something different. I would do this all the time with a liberal roommate who for some reason pretended to be a vegetarian. Yes, Pretended. Her Idol was Alex Jones and she wrote a veggie raw food advice Blog. Yet she was not in good shape, was obese, wasted gas by driving short distances and was not a vegetarian or a raw food eater. Yet, she actually took midnight rides to the convenience store a few blocks away and bought fired foods, meats, etc. Yet she insisted she was a Vegetarian. She would tell me how horrible statements were. When she thought Bush made them and then twist them around to mean something different when I told her a Liberal made the comments. This is the attitude of Liberals, when it comes to our military. There people on the left who believe Bush blew up the World Trade Center and another prominent Liberal Professor from Colorado called the Victims of 9-11 “Little Eichmans” Others on the left had the attitude that “We deserved 9-11”
Some members of the left have no conscience. Just examine the history of the Democratic and Socialist Party
The Left and the mainstream media basically want anything that defends the Traditional Judeo-Christian foundation of the USA destroyed. In Austin Liberals complain about Wal Mart. Yet many of these same people own businesses that do not sell fair trade products, they pay employees nothing, do not give benefits and although they claim they care about the worker. They hire illegal aliens to
Maintain their lawns, pain their houses and take jobs away from American owned Tax paying local businesses. They drive their gas guzzling SUVS that are mostly made in foreign countries and adorn pro environment and pro Democrat bumper stickers. I call them gas-guzzlers for the DNC.
If Marine Hero Chris Walsh would have been unsuccessful in saving the child. The story would have then been newsworthy to the left and the mainstream media. They could have blamed the death of Bush and the military. If the left can embarrass the military and cause them harm. The left is more than willing to accommodate. Like the hero Bill Clinton, the mainstream media also loathes the military and wants them to fail. They claim to acre about people and call their success in getting the USA to withdraw from Vietnam a success. They have no regard or even care about the millions of Mung people who were killed after we withdrew from Vietnam. The left also did not care about the millions upon millions killed and tortured by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. President Jimmy Carter pardoned our draft dodgers and also pardoned his fellow attempted rapist peacenik Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Forgiving MR Yarrow for trying to viciously rape a 14-year-old autograph seeker. Yes, the wonderful left who would crucify any priest who may have been accused of sexual wrongdoing and of course call any woman who accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse “trailer trash”
These same libs in the media have no problem idolizing Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones whom like Peter Yarrow chased a 14-year-old girl. Except Mick Jagger actually had sex with a young girl named Mackenzie Phillips, only 14 years of age. While Mackenzie’s dad pounded on the door pleading with his majesty Mick Jagger to stop. Of course we know what happen to Mackenzie Phillips after that incident and how she turned to drugs and alcohol to hide her pain. But that’s okay; Mick Jagger is a good anti American Bush Hater, Republican hater. Democrat Ted Kennedy killed a pregnant Mary Jo Kopechnie. He was driving drunk, fled the scene and like a real man. He left her to drown in the cold waters of Chappaquiddick while he slept off his drunken stupor.
We have to wonder about a group of people who claim to care about human beings but have a record of ignoring human rights that dates back to many democrats opposing President Lincolns Decision to end slavery. Democrat President FDR Ignored the signs that Pearl Harbor would be bombed. He then threw innocent Japanese people in internment camps. They initiated wars and then abandoned the people. Opposed the Civil Rights act. Claim Victory and honor that they helped pass Roe Vs Wade and since that time have supported
And defended NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the fact that 21 million African American Fetuses have been aborted mostly by white male Democrat doctors.
Last night at the arts event there were a group of young Baptists that were out witnessing to the people on the street. The response to these believing Christians was of course mixed. I offered them encouragement and I sincerely wish I could be as strong a believer as they are. The reaction of some Liberals was disgusting and challenged their front of being compassionate people. Some gave them the finger, others just wanted to argue. When I saw one group of anti war liberals about to confront them for being at the event. I was flabbergasted that these antagonizing whiney Anti War Liberals who were trying to stick petitions in my face. Would actually believe that they have a right to be in public. But, of course those annoying right wing Christians did not. I said to one Liberal,
“Calm down, its better to have them here than Al Qaeda” and the Liberal actually started arguing that I was anti Muslim and he would rather have Al Qaeda here than Christians. Do not believe that comments like this are isolated.
The left would put anyone into power that they believe opposes the Conservative
Judeo Christian foundation of the USA. New Democratic leaders actually flew off this week to a Socialist Convention to celebrate their victory in the USA with anti Israel European Socialists. They are not visiting our wounded troops or the families of the dead. Is it because they do not care. They are unwelcome by the families or a little of both. I asked some liberals at the arts event if they would rather have Russian leader Putin as USA leader than GW Bush and some actually said, “yes”. Oh and of course it was not Russia that poisoned their
own people. It was George Bush who ordered it done. Yes, and Kennedy of course was set up by the CIA when he drove his car off a bridge and killed Mary Jo Kopechnie.
While Democrats continue to attack the Republicans. The DNC and Clintons have gotten the cooperation of the mainstream media to not report on the family of the Fiancé of Chelsea Clinton. Yes, Chelsea Clinton is marrying the son of the real “Roseanne Rosanna Danna”. Yes, the infamous liberal former Democrat Congresswoman now known as Marjorie Margolis who’s husband Misvinski also used Chelsea Clinton to set up Internet scams will not be at the Clinton-Misvinsky wedding because he is now in jail.
I spoke to a man from Pasadena Texas who was a member of the
Klu Klux Klan and he said to me “Hell, we and the Nazis could not have done a better job in getting rid of (word deleted because of being a racist term).
Yes, Democrats are the party of caring people or are they such hypocrites and abusers of people that it is easier to attack the righteous than face their own demons?
<< Home
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Say no to AP’s shoddy work
By Jules Crittenden
Boston Herald City Editor
Sunday, December 3, 2006 - Updated: 02:46 AM EST
When a company defrauds its customers, or delivers shoddy goods, the customers sooner or later are going to take their business elsewhere. But if that company has a virtual monopoly, and offers something its customers must have, they may have no choice but to keep taking it.
That’s when the customers, en masse, need to raise a stink. That’s when someone else with the resources needs to seriously consider whether the time is ripe to compete.
The Associated Press is embroiled in a scandal. Conservative bloggers, the new media watchdogs, lifted a rock at the AP.
Curt at Floppingaces, www.floppingaces2.blogspot.com, led the charge. He thought there was something strange about an AP report, and took a second look at it, then a third look. He and others blew the lid off it. The AP is making up war crimes. But the resulting stink in the blogosphere has barely wrinkled a nose in the mainstream press. The ethics-obsessed Poynter Institute seems to be oblivious to it.
It has to do with the AP’s Iraqi stringers and an oft-quoted Iraqi police captain named Jamil Hussein. Problem is, the Iraqi police say Capt. Hussein does not exist. The Iraqi police and U.S. military say an incident described in an AP report - Iraqi soldiers standing by as people were burned alive in a mosque - didn’t happen. Another AP-reported incident, U.S. soldiers shooting 11 civilians, also never happened, the military says.
When the AP was forced to acknowledge this situation, it did so in a story about a new Interior Ministry policy regarding false reports. The AP buried the fact that its own false report prompted this new policy.
The AP stands by its reporting.. The AP has cast “Capt. Jamil Hussein” simply as someone not authorized to speak, and AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll has sniffed morally: “Good reporting relies on more than government-approved sources.”
The AP has another Iraqi stringer problem. Photographer Bilal Hussein is in U.S. custody, and the AP has been clamoring indignantly for his release. AP reports have buried the U.S. explanation that Hussein is being held without charge because - quite aside from producing photos that showed him to be overly intimate with terrorists in Fallujah - he was in an al-Qaeda bomb factory, with an al-Qaeda bombmaker, with traces of explosives on his person when he was arrested.
The AP, of course, has been delivering unbalanced reports about U.S. national politics for some time, as when President Bush, whom AP reporters despise, is barely allowed to state his case on an issue before his critics are given twice as much space to pummel him. The AP, once a just-the-facts news delivery service, has lost its rudder. It has become a partisan, anti-American news agency that seeks to undercut a wartime president and American soldiers in the field. It is providing fraudulent, shoddy goods. It doesn’t even recognize it has a problem.
This is the point at which, another big American industry learned, people start buying Japanese. But as an American newspaper, if you want to provide your readers with affordable regional, national and international news, you have to deal with the AP.
If newspapers don’t have an alternative, readers do. It’s called the Internet. That’s why newspapers, if they don’t want to be dragged further into irrelevance and disrepute, have to tell The Associated Press they are dissatisfied with its product.
Boston Herald City Editor
Sunday, December 3, 2006 - Updated: 02:46 AM EST
When a company defrauds its customers, or delivers shoddy goods, the customers sooner or later are going to take their business elsewhere. But if that company has a virtual monopoly, and offers something its customers must have, they may have no choice but to keep taking it.
That’s when the customers, en masse, need to raise a stink. That’s when someone else with the resources needs to seriously consider whether the time is ripe to compete.
The Associated Press is embroiled in a scandal. Conservative bloggers, the new media watchdogs, lifted a rock at the AP.
Curt at Floppingaces, www.floppingaces2.blogspot.com, led the charge. He thought there was something strange about an AP report, and took a second look at it, then a third look. He and others blew the lid off it. The AP is making up war crimes. But the resulting stink in the blogosphere has barely wrinkled a nose in the mainstream press. The ethics-obsessed Poynter Institute seems to be oblivious to it.
It has to do with the AP’s Iraqi stringers and an oft-quoted Iraqi police captain named Jamil Hussein. Problem is, the Iraqi police say Capt. Hussein does not exist. The Iraqi police and U.S. military say an incident described in an AP report - Iraqi soldiers standing by as people were burned alive in a mosque - didn’t happen. Another AP-reported incident, U.S. soldiers shooting 11 civilians, also never happened, the military says.
When the AP was forced to acknowledge this situation, it did so in a story about a new Interior Ministry policy regarding false reports. The AP buried the fact that its own false report prompted this new policy.
The AP stands by its reporting.. The AP has cast “Capt. Jamil Hussein” simply as someone not authorized to speak, and AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll has sniffed morally: “Good reporting relies on more than government-approved sources.”
The AP has another Iraqi stringer problem. Photographer Bilal Hussein is in U.S. custody, and the AP has been clamoring indignantly for his release. AP reports have buried the U.S. explanation that Hussein is being held without charge because - quite aside from producing photos that showed him to be overly intimate with terrorists in Fallujah - he was in an al-Qaeda bomb factory, with an al-Qaeda bombmaker, with traces of explosives on his person when he was arrested.
The AP, of course, has been delivering unbalanced reports about U.S. national politics for some time, as when President Bush, whom AP reporters despise, is barely allowed to state his case on an issue before his critics are given twice as much space to pummel him. The AP, once a just-the-facts news delivery service, has lost its rudder. It has become a partisan, anti-American news agency that seeks to undercut a wartime president and American soldiers in the field. It is providing fraudulent, shoddy goods. It doesn’t even recognize it has a problem.
This is the point at which, another big American industry learned, people start buying Japanese. But as an American newspaper, if you want to provide your readers with affordable regional, national and international news, you have to deal with the AP.
If newspapers don’t have an alternative, readers do. It’s called the Internet. That’s why newspapers, if they don’t want to be dragged further into irrelevance and disrepute, have to tell The Associated Press they are dissatisfied with its product.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Merry Christmas!
I just added two pages to my main website for parents with young children:
- A Christmas Card with poem 'Twas the night before Christmas
- A NASA photo of Santa over Australia in 2005 with a short audio by Santa
Drop by on Christmas Eve and read the poem to your young children, and then let them see Santa in flight last year followed by the audio "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" (the last words of the poem).
~gunner
PS - I dedicated the page with Santa in flight to my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
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