Well, we've reached what the Left seems to regard as a magic number; we've lost the 2,000th service member in Iraq. The anti-war crowd seems to believe that this is the number that will spark a full-fledged cry from the American people to abandon the Iraqi's to their own devices.

I think the troops feel differently; as the story states:

"Recent public opinion polls show that Americans increasingly favor an early withdrawal of troops, but soldiers in Iraq said the rising death toll stiffened their resolve and would likely make pulling out more difficult."

We need to pull the gloves off and let the troops conduct a full out-balls to the wall WAR and forget the niceties of whether or not the Arab street won't like us any more. We have made great strides in Iraq, despite what the LSM has been peddling. They try to call it a morass, even though we have rebuilt a quarter of the infrastucture, and the Iraqi's have voted to enact a democratic constitution. The left says "too little-too late" and "why has it taken so long"?; when if they looked at our own history, they'de find that the Iraqis are almost eight years ahead of where we were in the founding of our own country.

There will many problems and setbacks in the years to come, but the seed has been planted, and with the proper care, it will grow into a mighty tree. A tree that will bear witness to the sacrifices made, both by our brave men and women, but by the Iraqi people themselves; we owe it to those that gave the last measure to continue to tend the tree of Liberty untill it has become fully rooted and is capable of resisting the storms that may rage around it.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:35 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Yep Iraq is a QUAGMIRE. The MSM tells us this every day. THEY say that we've boosted Al Qaeda's forces,and they're growing stonger every day. But is it true?
HERE'S a recent briefing by Colonel Robert Brown, Commander of The 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Multinational Force-Northwest

Here's the interesting part:

One of the great pieces of information we got recently is 80 percent of the al Qaeda network in the north has been devastated. And those are not our figures, those came from the last six leaders in Mosul , al Qaeda leaders that we captured; they informed us of that. We also had a letter that was captured from Abu Zaid (sp) going to Zarqawi . We recently killed Zaid (sp) and we had that letter, and it also talked about the desperate situation for the al Qaeda and the insurgents in Mosul and in the north. And then also, sources we have inside the al Qaeda network up here have also informed us of that. (emp. mine D)

We ARE gaining ground in Iraq, WE ARE beating the "Insurgants" Islamofacists in Iraq. DON"T let the MSM do as they did in Viet Nam and make us snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by fomenting a lack of will, and a resolve to win, in the American populace.

DO NOT let 1800+ soldiers have their final sacrifice be wasted because of unwarrented fear and misinformation. The fight is not over, there will be furthur sacrfices and hardships, but we can see that our actions are having their desired effect, and if we can maintain our resolve, we will overcome the enemy.

H/T to Misha at the Rottweiler for the link

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The 3 Present Day Variations of the Medal Of Honor, Army,Navy, and Air Force (the Marines and Coast Guard share the Navy version):

Yesterday was the 87th anniversery of Sgt. Alvin York's induction into an elite group; those that have earned our nations highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Sgt. York was awarded the medal for leading seven men against German troops, capturing or killing more than 150 German soldiers.

Since it's inception on Dec. 9, 1861 , it's an honor that has been presented only 3,459 times.

The first Medal of Honor was earned by Army assistant surgeon Bernard J.D. Irwin for his actions on the 13th of Feb. 1861,when he rescued 60 soldiers of 2d Lt. George Bascom's unit at Apache Pass, AZ.  Irwin received the award in 1894. The first M'soH ever presented were received by six of the surviving members of Andrew's Raiders, on the 25 of March, 1863, by then Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

The standards for receiving the medal are extremely high, the BASIC requirements are that the candidate "exhibits conspicuous and intrepid bravery at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty,in combat against an armed enemy force". At the present time, there are 121 surviving MoH recipients.

Number of Medals awarded to date, broken down to service:

Army: 2,357
Navy: 744
USMC: 300
USAF: 17
USCG: 1
Unknowns: 9

I thought it might be fun to see how much you might know about the Medal of Honor.

Here's seven questions, see how you do. The answers will be below the fold, no fair peeking! Don't look until after you've written the comment. To make it simple, they are in true or false form.

1. When drafted, Alvin York applied for concientious objector status.

2. No woman has been awarded the Medal of Honor.

3. The first Black American to recieve the award fought in Viet Nam.

4. The Medal of Honor has been awarded in every major conflict since the Civil War.

5. The Medal of Honor has never been awarded to a foreign born recipient.

6. No recipient has ever been awarded more than one MoH.

7. The Medal of Honor was the only medal awarded during the Civil War.

Want to learn more about the Medal of Honor? GO HERE. more...

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The USAF has released information on its newest weapon it the fight against Islamofacists. Dubbed the P-MKM (Porcine Muslim Killer Missile).

It does require a B-52 to deploy, as the porcine elements needs room to move during transport to remain happy, and as we all know, a happy missile is an accurate missile.

Hopefully the first deployemt will help end the hostilities, as even those of the enemy not killed out right by the esplosive power of the missile will become so anguished by being thought "unclean", they will be forced to suicide to regain their honor.

Here's a declassified photo of an early deployment test:

H/T to Jaybear for obtaining the excellant photo from the AF Testing Dept.

It's a good thing they got the bugs worked out....I got my hands on the recording of the first model test....it's not pretty:

No ignition..and the guidence system went totally haywire right after release...but look at that damned thing GO! Maybe this beta version was meant to make the enemy dizzy enough to make easy targets...

H/T to Caspian for the Beta test video..

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:25 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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My nephew SlagleRock put up a post about one of the latest causelties in the fight against Islamofacism.

As he said in his e-mail to me, the fact that it was a women doesn't make her any more special than any of the others that have paid the ultimate price, but it did affect him just a little bit more than usual because she was "one of his own" in the SF MOS.

He requests that you spend a few moments and leave your thought's in the comments on his post, to be relayed to the family. It might bring a little comfort to them in their hour of grief to know that they aren't the only ones to feel the loss. She gave her all, she's earned our respect.

Rest in Peace, Airman Jacobson. May God's love enfold you, and grant you blue skies and an unlimited ceiling.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:21 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"By far the biggest obstacle to a more speedy success and return home to the States is this liberal media, the academic and Hollywood freaks who have no clue or purposely misrepresent or ignore the truth to push forth their own agendas."

"Continue to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS, and read the NY Times and Washington Post if you want to be manipulated and let them form your opinion. Start ignoring them or, better yet, challenging them if you truly do “support the troops”! "

"The last thing these guys over here need is all that two-faced “we support the troops” hoopla when people don’t. If you’re not behind the mission, you’re not behind the troops. If you can’t acknowledge what they’re doing is important and necessary, then you’re belittling their efforts and sacrifice. They don’t need and want that. So, thank you to all who truly do “support the troops”."
~"Knox" ~ An American soldier in Iraq

Go read the whole thing..especially YOU, Wanda, and Karlo!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:11 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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A couple days ago, I was commenting in my favorite Progressive blogger's site when she left me the following question in the thread. I knew my response would be far too long to put in the thread, so I've responded to it here.

LC/IB, I'm curious, exactly what is it that you 'believe' we are fighting for over there? Is it freedom and democracy? If so, then you should read A Fist in the Hornets Nest by Richard Engel. You'd see just how much 'democracy' has really been attained.

Yes Wanda, that's EXACTLY what I believe we are fighting for....Most importantly, our own. I certainly hope that Iraq will come through the other side of this conflict with a political system closer to our own than has previously existed, but thats just a part of the strategy. Iraq and Afghanistan themselves are just part of a larger strategy. Neither country will ever be a carbon clone of US style democracy, nor should they be, but it's a historical fact that democracies have never attacked each other. We are trying to affect change in the entire Middle East, and founding an Arab style democracy is just the start in that continuing policy. By showing that it CAN work, it puts pressure on the surrounding countries to force change within their own borders. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Syria,Egypt,Iran, et al. We can't fight all these countries on a military basis (without resorting to nuclear; which NO one wants), but by providing an example of change in Iraq and Afghanistan; we are attacking, and hopefully effecting change, in those regimes.

You might say "what gives us the right to try to foment these changes", and my response would simply be "Our right to survive as WE see fit". These countries have been fighting a clandestine war against us, using the radical groups as proxies for over 20 years; we either wake up, and fight back in the best way possible, or we might just as well start issuing out the prayer rugs and bow five times a day to our masters in Mecca.

I'm gratified that you didn't resort to the old tired meme of "it's a war for oil". The fact is that oil IS a part of it. We depend on it now, and for the foreseeable future, to drive our industrial society. BUT we didn't begin this to steal Iraqi oil, if that were the case, we wouldn't be paying over $3. a gallon for it now would we? Stabilizing the region will ensure that we can trade for it on the open market. The prices will remain high, I fear, due to the increased demand/usage in China and India, but that will be a war fought on the (hopefully)level playing field of international competition. I still have faith that new energy breakthroughs will originate here, moving that field to new areas.

I've not read the book, so I can't comment on Mr. Engel's thesis.

Iraq is a country populated by the Shiite's, the Kurds, and the Sunni's. The hatred between these tribes is so intense there will never be a bridge strong enough to bring them together. There will always be one tribe that will be at war with the other two. This is a fact of life. Read up on your Iraqi history. Iraq will never be a democratic country for at least one of those tribes. Never.

The tribal differences are a serious problem in bringing Iraq into the democratic fold, but I believe that it can be overcome...it might take a generation to come to full fruition, but just dismissing the problem as insurmountable seems to me to smack of the "racism against little brown people" that Progressives are so fond at hurling at my side of the aisle.
You might take note that in our own history, there were similar enmities among various factions of the American population, some of them almost as intense as that between the tribes. IF the (Iraqi)constitution is crafted in the right way, and all parties can agree to submit to the rule of law essential to a functioning democracy, who are you to say that they are any less capable of doing so than we were?

If you STILL believe there were WMD's or that Iraq was somehow connected to Al Qaida, or 9/11 then you should try reading and watching something OTHER than FOX cable news. In fact even several of their news journalist have admitted they no longer believe there were WMD's or a connection between Iraq and 9/11 or Al Qaida.

We've been over this ground countless times, Wanda. If you would take a closer look at what made it into the 9/11 report, you will note that even in that politically charged, watered down, mishmash of results in the report state that Saddam WAS a prime financer/enabler of terrorism. And with some of the Able Danger information coming out, I believe that evidence will be strengthened. Salmon Pak WAS a terrorist training camp.

It's true that there is no evidence that Saddam was directly involved in the planning or implemetation of 9/11, and I've never claimed such. There IS, however an abundance of evidence that he and his regime had close contacts with Al Quaida, and a number of high level A-Q operatives resided in Iraq both before 9/11, and after the fall of the Taliban. Did the two groups like each other? Hell NO, but unlike the average Progressive, they can set aside their differences to progress against a common perceived foe. Should they ever reach the point that their foe is vanquished in their eyes, I have no doubt that they would turn on each other like two packs of wolves, but at the time, they both provided each other something they both wanted and needed, A-Q the funds and training areas to foment terrorism, and in return Saddam got "plausible deniability" of being a terorist himself. They were both using the other for their own separate goals, they were both aware of this fact, and managed to make it work. Some have denied the possibility on the grounds that A-Q is bgased in religion, and Saddam was a secular leader, but this really isn't so. A-Q is a political movement that couches it's terms in a religious framework, and has oft been noted, "politics makes for strange bedfellows".

Just last month a large cache of chemical weapons was discovered in Iraq...I suppose that you believe the "Insurgents" developed and manufactured them? We've found artillery shells containing Sarin and VX...granted, they were old, but then again, according to the Saddam regime, supposedly they had been destroyed. An entire wing of aircraft was found buried in the sand... What else is hidden? Saddam had almost 16 months to transfer his illegal weapons to other countries, or hide them. Saddam's own NBC scientists stated that even the programs that had been "shut down" could have been restarted and going full tilt within a matter of months, should Saddam believe it safe to do so.
Personally, I'd rather not play that kind of Russian Roulette with a state sponsor of Terrorism.

If you think we're fighting over there so that we don't have to fight over here, your delusional. Incidents of terror are UP worldwide since we invaded Iraq. No, there hasn't been another attack here in the US, but there was a seven year lull between the first attack on the WTC in 1993 and 9/11.

And how many other incidents against American resources/facilities in that 7 year lull? The fact is that other than IED's and raids in Iraq and Afghanistan, no American assets have been beset since the start of hostilities.

It's true that Britain, Spain and Indonesia have been the victims of loathsome acts, and there have been reports of thwarted attempts in Australia. Which only goes to prove that we are dealing with an implacable enemy that we either defeat, or be defeated by.

BTW...just WHY did A-Q commit those acts in Indonesia!?, a country with a 99% Muslim population, and not involved in the hostilities? What the Left has failed to realize is that we have been at war with these groups for almost twenty years, it was only after 9/11 that it became an "open" war, indeed the first time the general population even became aware of it at all. Read the stated goals of A-Q, of creating a worldwide Caliphate, and you might come to realize that there is no negotiation that will stop them (at least for any longer than it takes for them to regroup and rearm)

Even the so called "moderate" groups such as C.A.I.R. talk among themselves of replacing the Constitution with Shar'ia Law. (They say in a "peaceful manner", once all us backward infidels see the light.) And time and again we've found that many of these "moderate" groups are channeling funds to Hamas, A-Q, and Islamic Jihad.

So for all we know the plans are in the making for another, even more deadlier attack right here at home. Then what will you say?

The question is not IF there will be another terrorist event in America, but rather WHEN. We could pull every soldier out of every other country in the world tomorrow, and that attack will still come. I only hope and pray that our covert intelligence agencies are up to the task of forstalling as many as possible, but sooner or later, it WILL occur, and then we can only hope that enough citizens have made whatever preparations they could to fend for themselves for the time it will take for authorities to be able to help the situation, and that the Local/State/Federal response will work better than the Katrina fiasco did.

What is it going to take for you to admit this has been an unnecessary, unmitigated war against a country that NEVER committed a single act of war or aggression against the United States?

I would say that firing on US patrol planes on an almost daily basis during the cessation of hostilities between GW 1 and 2 were all acts of war. Thats just me of course...I realize that Progressives may hold a more "nuanced" view of that...

And remember that there was never a peace treaty signed at the end of GW1, merely an agreement to suspend hostilities as long as Saddam complied with the terms laid out; he never did fully comply with those terms, OR the 16 UN resolutions in that period.

If Saddam was an evil bastard, then he was an evil man WE helped create.

If we created him, then it's our responsibilty to take him out as well, No? Can't have it both ways.

The soldiers in Iraq aren't fighting for freedom, democracy, or to protect Americans.

I obviously disagree with that statement for all the reasons I've outlined above.

They are fighting to stay alive.

Thats what ALL soldiers have done since the beginning of time, and will probably do untill the last trump calls.

One day at a time.

Redundant to the above, and same answer as above.

They are understaffed, overworked, underpaid, and forgotten.

Good work Wanda, you're three for three! I would contest the "forgotten", at least insofar as my circles go. Yours, I can't speak to.

Lip service doesn't count. If you REALLY care about THEM, then do something to help them come home.

I want them home as much as you do Wanda, I've lost far too many friends already, but I have this problem with bringing them home before the job is done. Soldiers know the job they have to do, and all the "Jakes" notwithstanding, I believe that the greatest number of them want to finish well too.

The war in my term of service was lost in the newsrooms and on the college campi; the soldiers won every battle they fought and died in despite the fact of being mis-micromanaged by polititians and not by the generals who should have been given the job, but the war was lost in the court of public opinion at home, making those sacrifices all the more painful.

I'd hate to see that repeated. That would spell, if not the end, the beginning of the end of this country, and I love her far too much to let that happen without doing whatever small things I can to prevent it. Even if all I can do is argue for what I believe in on my blog and in comments on other blogs.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:54 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I was all set to esconce myself under my nice warm covers (with the door securely closed against the cat), when i saw this picture

and read the accompanying story at Beth's place.

All I can add is an echo to Beth's Semper Fi, Gunny... Carry on!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The good Chief has spent a complete combat tour each in Afghanistan AND Iraq, and he's understandably upset by some of the antics/tactics of the anti-war crowd.

Matt goes one step furthur and reminds these patchouli soaked morons of the definition of Sedition, under which a great many of these turds would certainly qualify for a large fine or extended stay in the Greybar hotel.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Maine Vetereans for Peace are planning to stage a protest at the BRUNSWICK NAVAL AIR STATION on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005.

The event they're protesting? An air show by the Navy's Blue Angels Flight Exhibition Team.

The goal of the Protest? :

. to protest the false god idolatry of the Blue Angels Air Show, whose "ooh-&-aah"performances have one purpose: to promote badly-lagging military recruitment

.to protest the obscene waste of American tax dollars to stage these Blue Angels' multi-million dollar extravaganzas

. to protest Bush's immoral, monomaniacal Iraq war -- nearly 1,800 U.S. and
100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, at a cost of over $300 billion, and still counting

. to protest NASB's complicity with the war machine, providing surveillance aircraft to target ground forces, which in the end cause horrendous "collateral damage"

. to challenge NASB to convert to peaceful purposes, creating good-paying high-tech/industrial jobs, making products that improve lives, not end them

Lets take these one at a time...

1. The Blue Angels are, indeed a good recruiting tool, but that is only part of their mission. They are also an example of excellence in the military, and a good public relations tool, "showing the colors" in shows all over the world.
As far as "lagging recruitment figures", thats news to the people doing the recruiting:

Enlisted Recruiting from Oct. 1, 2004 - July 31, 2005:

Lets look at JUNE,2005, the last month that statistics are availible for:

Active duty retention: All services met or exceeded their overall retention goals for July and are projected to meet their retention goals for the current fiscal year.

Reserve forces retention: For July,2005, Army National Guard retention was 105 percent of the cumulative goal of 27,664, and Air National Guard retention was 109 percent of its cumulative goal of 8,552.
(in other words, THOSE that are serving are STAYING)

Yep! It's a TOTAL MELTDOWN!, I tell ya!

2. The Blue Angels shows are payed for by the air show sponsors, NOT the tax payers.

The sponsers have to come up with enough cash to pay for the food and lodging of the entire Blue Angel team plus the fuel costs for flying all of the aircraft, including Fat Albert (the team's parts and maintenance supply/ support transportation C-130 transport),to the site of the show.

3. OK, this might be a legitimate place to protest...it is a military installation, and if your of the opinion that the war is bad, a legitimate target.

4. Again, if you are anti-military; what better place to protest than a NAS, Fort, or Base? Don't be too surprised if your seen to be the loony moonbat that you are though, turnabout IS fair play. As far as protesting the NAS from providing survellience aircraft...THAT.....IS......THEIR......MILITARY.........MISSION (did I say that slow enough for them to understand?) And that survellience helps PREVENT collateral damage, NOT increase it. When you start making inane statements, EXPECT to be called a fool.

5. THIS is the looniest one of them all. IT"S a NAVAL AIR STATION, take the military function away and there will be NO jobs whatsoever.
The activities of a military base are not too applicable to most civilian purposes.
So what would you convert it to? A civilian airport for private planes? Thats the ONLY realistic civilian purpose.....are there enough civilian pilot/plane owners to support it?

The Left:"Boosting idiocy to it's highest possible level since 1969"; it's just for Moonbats today.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A couple of days ago, I posited in THIS POST that the Moonbats were attempting to recreate the conditions of the Viet Nam era, wherein the populace was propagandized into an ever louder dissent of what our military was doing. I contend that this was done by a MSM with an Anti-American agenda, along with the active anti-war propaganda from the academic elite.

One of my resident readers from the opposite side of the aisle commented:

We arent' trying to recreate the Vietnam era but rather are trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny is a hard idea to kill.