"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
~~Richard Bach
This morning I read that the remains of two missing GI’s who were captured last May have been identified. Mournfully, the families of 25-year old Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez and 19-year old Pvt. Byron W. Fouty were informed on Thursday of the deaths.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families today.
Another victory story from Iraq that the American MSM is not interested in reporting. After all, good news is NO news for them.
Iraqis Lead Final Purge Of Al-Qaeda
Timesonline.co.uk
(hat tip RN)
July 6, 2008
Excerpt
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul. [Read more →]
Since the MSM is not going to shout it out from the roof tops I think it’s important for bloggers to spread the news. Another Haditha Marine has been acquitted. Innocent until proven guilty? Not if you are a Marine in the path of the MSM and Murtha. I would love to see a formal apology, but you know it will never happen.
Read MORE about the acquittal of Lt. Andrew Grayson.
You won’t see this in your local newspaper:
Springtime in Islamberg
Radical Muslim paramilitary compound flourishes in upper New York state
By Paul L. Williams Ph.D., (author of THE DAY OF ISLAM)With files from Douglas Hagmann, Northeast Intelligence Network,
(www.homelandsecurityus.com/Gilani) 2006 article: Pakistani terror Sheikh angry over investigative report
With the able assistance of Bill Krayer and Michael Travis
Friday, May 11, 2008
Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden.The 70 acre complex is surrounded with “No trespassing” signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.
The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane, is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.
A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill.
The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb - - a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. “Our community is not open to visitors,” he says.
Want to read more? Click this.
Sadly, there is one of these right here in good ‘ol Tennessee. Reckin we ort ta bring ‘em a covered dish just to say “howdy” and “welcome to the neighborhood”?
Come on. We all knew there were Islamic training camps here in America. Don’t you think its about time we at least started admiting it?
After all, isn’t that the first step in recovery? Admission of a problem? Hummmm?
Mr.Hooah!, out.
I found the following bit of news unsettling, but the silence from our Presidential Candidate on the matter is really what leaves me on edge:
Nine out of Ten Terrorists Love Them Some Obama
by Larry Johnson, April 15, 2008
LINK
(excerpt)Well, it looks like the investment has paid off. Barack appears to be the favorite candidate of Hamas. Hamas, a radical Sunni terrorist group, just offered the equivalent of an unofficial endorsement. While this news comes courtesy of World Net Daily’s Jerusalem bureau chief, it appears to be real. Aaron Klein reports that Ahmad Yousuf, a top level Hamas official, said:
I understand American politics and this is the season for elections and everybody tries to sound like he’s a friend of the Israelis…so whatever [the] Israelis didn’t like they will take from all those candidates,” he said.
Yousuf said that in Hamas’ view, Obama has “a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with humiliation and arrogance.”
When asked to criticize former President Carter on his recent trip and meeting with a Hamas leader, Obama had the following to say:
“I’m not going to comment on former President Carter. He’s a private citizen. It’s not my place to discuss who he shouldn’t meet with,” Obama told reporters while campaigning in Indianapolis. “I know that I’ve said consistently that I would not meet with Hamas.” (Reuters) LINK
Actually it is wise for Presidential Candidates to discuss Carter when he makes a trip to meet with sworn enemies of this Country. Carter is not just a private citizen. Carter is a former President of this Country, and criticism of his setting up a meeting with Hamas should be, no it must be, openly discussed by our Candidates so that they can establish and set the rapport right now with Hamas and other terrorist groups, that their current status with the US as a terrorist organization will not change with the changing of our President. Unfortunately for us, when Carter was voted out of office he did not lose his representative status. He is still a “de jure” representative of this Country which is why we are up in arms about his meeting with Hamas. Furthermore, how many “private citizens” can set up a meeting with the leader of a terrorist organization? I can only imagine the reprecusions I would face as a private citizen if I jaunted out to have a meeting with a terrorist group. I imagine I would be detained for questioning, and maybe denied reentry into this Country — a decision I can not disagree with.
I have to wonder if Obama believes he can get by this issue like he has so many other issues… and that is to not answer (whether it is make no definitive statement or refuse to vote on a matter, etc.), or by answering so ambigously that he is not committed to his answer. I, personally, need to hear his opinion on this matter. I am not planning on voting for this man, but if he has a shot at sitting in the White House, I really need to know his thoughts and stance on this particular issue. It is too important to push aside.
I wonder if Obama is willing to give us, the citizens of this Country, the only acceptable answer to Hamas’ unofficial endorsement of him. That answer, although it may be laden with political doublespeak and worded differently, must include the following for my peace of mind (add your own if you like):
1. That Mr. Obama does view Hamas, absolutely and with no reservations, as a terrorist group and therefore an illegitimate group with which to negotiate, compromise, or include in any way, shape, or form in our global politics or foreign policies.
2. That Mr. Obama does fully recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Nation.
3. That he openly denounces and rejects any supportive words from Hamas, and clearly represents to them directly through his statement that he would not see Hamas differently than our current President. That he holds Hamas in contempt for their Terrorist activities, their continual denial of Israel’s right to exist as a Nation, and for the continued threat they pose to Americans at home and abroad.
This little note was also taken from the same Reuters’ article:
“Such doubts could cost Obama support with some U.S. Jewish voters.”
It doesn’t make him too darned popular with many of the military voters either. Until the year 2001, Hamas was the one terrorist group who had pulled off the largest terrorist attack on Americans. That terrorist attack took place 25-years ago this year. Hamas was a name Americans became painfully aware of when the terrorist organization slaughtered 241 of our Marines, Sailors and Soldiers in Beirut while they were there on a peacekeeping mission. We will never forget. Nor should we.
Michelle Malkin has a great update and Obama’s newest way to avoid having to answer the hard questions… it seems that he like waffles more than he likes to answer hard questions.
As a novice seamstress - and I really mean novice - I was very pleased to read the following article.
AL-KUT, Iraq (April 16, 2008) – A women’s sewing center officially opened in Muafiqiyah village on April 10, providing both employment and training for female residents.
The center will serve as a means for local women to earn income to support their families, said Sgt. Amanda E. Timmer, head of the Women’s Initiatives program for the Wasit provincial reconstruction team.
The center employs 11 women from the village, one for each sewing machine. Eventually these women will take apprentices, doubling the workforce, said Timmer.
“The plan is not only to employ women, but to train them, provide them a skill,” Timmer said.
Selection for the initial group was specifically aimed at single mothers whose spouses had died and who had no other means to provide for their families, said Timmer.
This is the first project in Muafiqiyah the PRT has undertaken, said Timmer, and was used to establish a relationship with the village.
The project resulted from collaboration between local leaders in the village, the PRT and the Wasit provincial council.
<snip>
Timmer said the sewing center will be overseen and run by Ahmad Nouri Ali al-Yasiri, head of the Muafiqiyah local council. All the materials currently at the center where provided by the council and will be used by the women to create clothing, she said.
The clothing produced by the women will be sold locally and - if there is a demand - at the al-Kut markets, said al-Yasiri. The council will oversee sales, with part of the profits going to maintain the center, fund operations and purchase materials.
The remaining income will be handed over to the women to support their families. In this way, Timmer said, the center not only supports the women, but allows them to contribute to the community.
Years ago I had a good friend who made frequent missionary trips to different areas in Africa setting up sewing centers. The project she worked with and helped to establish was called “The Dorcas Project.” There are many programs around with that name, but she chose that name for her program after “Tabitha” in the book of Acts in the Holy Scriptures. Tabitha translates to “Dorcas,” and the woman herself was a very kind and giving woman, and she was also raised from the dead. Dorcas fed the hungry, clothed the naked and she aided the widow. I hope that this program below will give the women in Iraq a fighting chance to feed their families by earning a living as they learn a trade. What a great opportunity for the women in Iraq, and a great opportunity for philanthropists here to give to a great program.
This story is not nearly as important as when Britney Spears shaved her head, or when Anna Nichole Smith died unexpectedly, so please excuse my enthusiasm. Our mainstream media works overtime to bring you all of those very, very important headlines. So, as a blogger all I am left with is humdrum news like the following piece of amazing history.
I can post the information below from the source I found, but I am not sure if hell has actually frozen over or not — fortunately I have no inside connections to that information.
Sunni and Shia sheiks unite in Balad
by Rick Rzepka
(excerpt)
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne DivisionBALAD, Iraq (April 12, 2008) — For the first time since sectarian tension embroiled the Balad area, Sunni and Shia sheiks and local community leaders gathered in the same place to promote unity among various tribes.
More than one hundred sheiks and tribal elders from the communities of Duluiyah, Ishaki and the surrounding area gathered in a town-hall style meeting on April 3 to discuss repairing fractious differences in an attempt to bring peace and prosperity to the citizens of the region, which is comprised of about 40 percent Shia and 60 percent Sunni.
While tensions mount in the southern province of Basra, Shia and Sunni leaders have pledged cooperation and unity in the Balad area in an effort to stimulate the local economy through recent security gains.
OK, this explains why you will not see this information in the mainstream media. See, if they print the bolded parts of this text that would be a back door admission that they have not given the surge fair coverage and they have been falsely decrying the surge’s failure.
Among the Shieks and elders, the governor of the Salah ad Din province, Hamad Hamood Shekti, was all smiles as he spoke enthusiastically about the way forward for the Iraqi people.
“There is hope here today,” said Shekti who praised the sheiks for setting aside their differences to build on common ground.
“Today we are not Shi’a or Sunni, we are Iraqis,” he said.
Is that the sweet sound of patriotism I hear? Nationalism where there used to be none? The sweet, sweet sound of success is what that phrase is to me. Success that has been hard won with long hours and many sacrifices.
Employment and security were on the minds of most of the Iraqi influencers as they clamored over which comes first, jobs or guns. For many here, the answer is jobs.
“We must be able to support our families,” said a Sunni sheik.
“We must be able to work together,” he said.
<snip>
“I would like to see more people volunteer for the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police,” said Balad Mayor Amar Hali Mirhon.
“More participation from other tribes encourages the population to trust the army and police,” he said.
As the people of the Balad area continue to see an improved security situation, they are gaining confidence in the cooperation between local leaders.
“We understand that a lot of people lost their jobs because of past events, but we have settled our differences, and we welcome you all,” said Balad City Council Vice President Malik Lafta Ahmad.
A quick note here at the end for those in Congress to heed. This is how progress is made. This is how things get done. Maybe you should all take a field trip to Balad and watch productivity, patriotism and good old fashioned collaboration unfold. It’s quite a site to behold, I am sure.
(h/t RN)
Two Maupin captors in custody
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
Cincinnati Enquirer
April 16, 2008Army officials have told the parents of Sgt. Matt Maupin that some of the Iraqis believed to be responsible for their son’s capture four years ago are in custody.
“I know that there are at least two who are supposed to be put on trial, if they haven’t been already,” said Keith Maupin, father of the Union Township soldier whose remains were found March 20 in Iraq by U.S. soldiers, nearly four years after he was captured in a convoy attack near the Baghdad airport.
Keith Maupin and the soldier’s mother, Carolyn Maupin, left Cincinnati Wednesday afternoon for Washington, D.C., where they will have a full day of briefings from Pentagon officials on their son’s disappearance.
The soldier’s father said he expects to learn more Thursday about the Iraqi insurgents believed to be responsible for the then-20-year-old Army reservist’s capture; and more about how and when their son died.
They also will have a video conference with soldiers from the 1st battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment who discovered Sgt. Maupin’s remains on March 20 northwest of Baghdad, working on a tip from an Iraqi civilian.
Keith Maupin said he was told by Army officials soon after the remains discovered that some of those believed responsible for their son’s capture and death had been detained. He doesn’t know their status, but believes that if they are found guilty, they will be executed under Iraqi law.
Waiting for the first liberal to whine about these two murdering scumbags’ Geneva Convention Rights… 5, 4, 3, 2…
