The Obama Legacy

Must-see video:



Four more years OF THIS?

No, thank you.

Condoleezza Rice and Lawrence O'Donnell

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell is a horrible interviewer. HORRIBLE.

Watch former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suffer the disrespect and stupidity of the crazed Leftist propagandist Lawrence O'Donnell.

Video.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Condoleezza Rice showed incredible restraint and patience with the disgraceful, classless O'Donnell.

Rice's brilliance overpowers O'Donnell, a rude and ill-informed hack.

In Memory of Clay Hunt

Iraq and Afghanistan.

These wars don't get a lot of attention anymore.

Why not?

Under Obama, our troops are still fighting and sacrificing. Our veterans are still suffering.

But the focus is off now. They're forgotten.

Where are the anti-war marches? Where are the Hollywood-types, speaking out against the killing and dying? Why have most Democrats, critics previously, gone silent?

All seems quiet, but it's not for those struggling with the realities of serving and returning.

From the Associated Press:

Handsome and friendly, Clay Hunt so epitomized a vibrant Iraq veteran that he was chosen for a public service announcement reminding veterans that they aren't alone.

The 28-year-old former Marine corporal earned a Purple Heart after taking a sniper's bullet in his left wrist. He returned to combat in Afghanistan. Upon his return home, he lobbied for veterans on Capitol Hill, road-biked with wounded veterans and performed humanitarian work in Haiti and Chile.

Then, on March 31, Hunt bolted himself in his Houston apartment and shot himself.

Friends and family say he was wracked with survivor's guilt, depression and other emotional struggles after combat.

Hunt's death has shaken many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those who knew him wonder why someone who seemed to be doing all the right things to deal with combat-related issues is now dead.

"We know we have a problem with vets' suicide, but this was really a slap in the face," said Matthew Pelak, 32, an Iraq veteran who worked with Hunt in Haiti as part of the nonprofit group Team Rubicon.

...Friends and family say Hunt suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But with his boundless energy and countless friends, he came across as an example of how to live life after combat.

"I think everybody saw him as the guy that was battling it, but winning the battle every day," said Jacob Wood, 27, a friend who served with Hunt in the Marines and in Haiti with Team Rubicon.

But some knew he was grieving over several close friends in the Marines who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He was very despondent about why he was alive and so many people he served with directly were not alive," said John Wordin, 48, the founder of Ride 2 Recovery, a program that uses bicycling to help veterans heal physically and mentally.

...Hunt's friends say he was an idealist and voiced frustration that he couldn't make changes overnight. He also questioned why troops were still dying.

"He really was looking for someone to tell him what it was he went over to do and why those sacrifices were made," Wood said.

..."Clay was always a fighter," Wordin said. "He was always a guy to stick things out and he basically quit life, and I was mad that he felt he had to do that at that particular time."

Hunt's friends and family count him a casualty of war—just like his buddies who died in the battlefield.

Prayers for Clay's family and friends.

Prayers for our troops and our veterans.

Prayers of gratitude for their service to our nation.

God bless them.

Code Pink's Witches

UPDATE: May 9, 2008: Spells Cast at Anti-Marine Rally in California
__________________





Have no doubts that Code Pink is a group of complete loons.

The San Francisco Bay Area Code Pink has organized "Mother's Day Women's Week at the Marine Recruiting Station," site of many anti-Iraq war, anti-troops, anti-American protests.

In honor of Mother's Day, Code Pink is putting a call out for witches.

From Monday, May 5th until Friday May 9th, as a build-up to reclaiming the Mothers Day of Julia Ward Howe's Proclamation and as a protest against the $178 Billion more dollars proposed to continue funding the occupation of Iraq, we are planning a week of women-focused daily protests at the MRS! Such as:

Monday, May 5th: Grandmothers Day of Action: we call on Grandmothers to volunteer to be recruited, instead of our youth

Tuesday, May 6th: Mothers Day of Action: we Mothers bewail the loss of all our children, and as Mama Bears, we do not allow recruiters to take our youth

Wednesday, May 7th: Daughters Day of Action: we call on daughters to do a wailing, mourning the loss of our fathers, the toll on the humanity of our fathers, the sorrow and pain of our fathers who have paid the price for destroying and/or harming human beings.

Thursday, May 8th: Sistahs:

Friday, May 9th: Witches, Crones, Sirens: perform rituals of leaving, cast a spell of peace and love over the station, rendering nil the recruiting of our youth to become fodder for this occupation of Iraq.

Then on Sunday, Mother's Day, May 11th, we have the March over the Golden Gate Bridge at noon.

"Witches, Crones, and Sirens" will "perform rituals of leaving, cast a spell of peace and love over the station, rendering nil the recruiting of our youth to become fodder for this occupation of Iraq."

Good grief!

Tomorrow's event is described:

Witches, Crones, Sirens come to the MRS today to cast spells, weave magic, invoke the foremothers, share wisdom, lead rituals to banish war and violence and to bring peace to the MRS, to protect our youth from the powerful spells of pro-war forces, to lead the men of the marine recruiting station off into the oceans of peace! Some witches, crones and sirens are willing to risk arrest, others are not. We call on all crones, witches and sirens to come to the MRS, to bring your energy, your wisdom, your fierce determination to end war now and bring peace to our world. Contact Kali at sylviasoven@yahoo.com or Marie at keeptahoepink@yahoo.com

All actions this week are at the MRS (Marine Recruiting Station, 64 Shattuck Square, Berkeley - on Shattuck Ave just south of University where Shattuck runs one-way north - and two blocks north of the BART)

These people are wackos!

Move America Forward is staging a counter event.

We're calling it a "Witch-Hunt" and we at MAF will be out in front of the Marine Recruiting Center this FRIDAY, May 9th from 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon. Fox News Channel will be broadcasting live reports from the event - so stay tuned to Fox for updates and check back at our website: www.MoveAmericaForward.org for photos and after-action reports.

Finally, we'll be bringing our brooms (the symbol we're using to mock the anti-American witches of Code Pink), American flags and signs.

---Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble...


---Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Unbelievable.

Steven Christofferson

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A Wisconsin soldier has died in Iraq, a family member said today.

Details remained sketchy about the death of Steven Christofferson, 20, of Cudahy. His aunt, Monique Nimphius, confirmed for The Associated Press that Christofferson had died but she directed questions for additional information to Steven's mother, Michelle Christofferson, who was busy speaking with members of the military.

Christofferson was a 2006 graduate of Cudahy High School, where he played football, wrestled and ran track, Principal Chris Haeger said.

"He was a very cordial, approachable kid. He was very, very excited about the military, about the idea of committing himself to his country," Haeger recalled. "It's just really hard. It's a very somber day at the high school."

I'm in awe of Steven Christofferson's courage and devotion to his country.

The young men and women volunteering to serve in the military during a time of war are truly patriots. Their selflessness is inspiring.

My prayers go out to Steven's family and friends.
_________________

More, from the Journal Sentinel.

UPDATE: Bush's "Deal or No Deal" Surprise

UPDATE, April 22, 2008: Politicians as Comics: A Sideshow on Pop TV

Somewhere in between the parade of busty women in low-cut gold lamé minidresses and contestants spinning the wheel, George Bush made a star turn.

“I’m thrilled to be on ‘Deal or No Deal’ with you tonight,” Mr. Bush said from a giant screen in a cameo taped for the Monday episode of one of NBC’s most popular prime-time shows. The president paused a beat. “Come to think of it, I’m thrilled to be anywhere with high ratings these days.”

Even a president can do a stint on a lowbrow entertainment show as long as it is cloaked in a dignified cause. The “Deal or No Deal” contestant Mr. Bush rooted for, Joe Kobes, is a decorated Army captain who served three tours in Iraq. Timing, however, matters. While it may be the first time a sitting president found it fitting to make fun of himself on a game show, that showstopper came at a moment when the Bush presidency is in eclipse.

The New York Times just called Deal or No Deal lowbrow entertainment.

And of course, President Bush is dissed by the Times, as always. It's also a slap at Army Captain Joe Kobes, contestant on a low brow game show.

What a condescending load!

It's funny that an article pointing out that politicians, particularly the presidential candidates, don't want to appear to be "snooty or overeducated," is so snooty.

Kobes ended up taking home $78,000, not a bad haul from the "lowbrow" game show.



Check out this slam:

Some candidates, however, are bigger hams than others. Mr. McCain had a walk-on part on the Fox drama “24” in 2006, and played himself as a wedding guest in the 2005 film comedy “Wedding Crashers.”

He also hosted Saturday Night Live.

Remember, the snooty New York Times endorsed John "Ham" McCain."
__________________

From CNSNews:

President Bush has taped a surprise "good luck" video for a U.S. soldier, Captain Joe Kobes, who is a contestant on the popular television game show, "Deal or No Deal," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Friday.

The president's video will air on Monday's episode of NBC's "Deal or No Deal," and the network will be previewing clips from the video over the weekend.

The president's video will thank Kobes for his military service and wish him luck on the game show, in which he will compete for a top prize of $1 million. "It really is actually an emotional moment for Captain Kobes and his family," Fratto told reporters at the White House press briefing.

The president agreed to make the video when he learned from the producers of "Deal or No Deal" that he is one of Kobes' heroes.

Kobes, however, has his own claim to "hero" status, having served three tours of duty in Iraq and receiving a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained when his truck was blown up in 2004. The 29-year-old Army transportation officer volunteered for his last two Iraq deployments and has signed-up for another three-year stint with the Army.

I am in awe of Captain Kobes. He is a true American hero, a patriot.

What a great surprise for Kobes to receive a message from his hero, the President! Bush should be honored for a man like Kobes to hold him in such high regard.

As far as I know, no contestant has ever won the $1 million prize on Deal or No Deal. I hope Kobes is the one.

HEROES

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Two U.S. Marine reservists with the Milwaukee-based Fox Company were killed and a third wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq's Anbar province, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

The deaths Monday of Cpl. Richard J. Nelson, 23, of Kenosha and Lance Cpl. Dean D. Opicka, 29, of Waukesha were the first during Fox Company's second tour in Iraq, following five fatalities during an earlier deployment in 2004-'05.

The two were assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve's 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, according to a statement on the department's Web site.

A third Fox Company member, Lance Cpl. David Doyle, 21, of Racine was wounded in the bombing but is expected to remain in Iraq and return to duty, said the company's public affairs officer, Staff Sgt. Cliff Turley.

...The last time [Richard Nelson] spoke to his mother was Saturday.

"He said, 'You know what, Ma? I know God had a plan for me to be over here, and it's going to be over soon and I'll be home,' " [Susan Nelson] recalled.

"And he was right."

...[Dean Opicka] joined the Marine Reserves in July 2005, not necessarily following his younger brother into the military but doing something he felt was worthy, she said.

"None of them really want to go (to Iraq)," [Opicka's fiancée, Katy] Bonkoski said.

"But he was more than willing to go and serve our country."

May God be with the loved ones of Cpl. Richard J. Nelson and Lance Cpl. Dean D. Opicka in their time of mourning.

May God be with Lance Cpl. David Doyle as he recovers from his injuries.

May God be with all our military men and women as they valiantly serve our country.

Brandon Hill Suspended from Cove High School

There are some idiots in charge at Cove High School in Texas.

From FOX News:

A Texas sergeant and his son recently found themselves separated not only by an eight-hour time difference, several bodies of water, hundreds of miles and a war, but by a high school official who suspended the boy for answering his dad's call during class.

Cove High School in Texas, where half the students have at least one parent deployed, justified the punishment against Brandon Hill by saying he had violated the no-cell-phone policy when he took the call from his father, who is serving in Iraq.

"I have been going through a lot of stress lately and my dad’s like my best friend, so I go to him for everything," the sophomore told FOX News on Saturday.

"I needed to talk to him, so my mom got a hold of him on Yahoo and told him to call me, so I answered the phone call in class."

When he learned of his son’s punishment, Master Sgt. Morris Hill said he was unsettled.

"When my wife told me, I was pretty disturbed by it," he said in a phone call from Iraq.

"I was pretty shocked, considering that several months before we left I had talked to the … assistant principal and thought everything was fine," Morris Hill said.

...And when his mother, Patricia Hill, tried to contact school officials, she received no response until her son’s story garnered media attention.

It should not have taken media attention for Cove High School officials to respond to Mrs. Hill.

I understand no-cell-phone policies, but getting a call from a parent serving in Iraq should not warrant a suspension.

Gen. Petraeus' Iraq Evaluation

Yesterday, General David Petraeus proved what a poised and patient and patriotic man he is.

WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress Tuesday that hard-won gains in the war zone are too fragile to promise any troop pullouts beyond this summer, holding his ground against impatient Democrats and refusing to commit to more withdrawals before President Bush leaves office in January.

Army Gen. David Petraeus painted a picture of a nation struggling to suppress violence among its own people and to move toward the political reconciliation that Bush said a year ago was the ultimate aim of his new Iraq strategy, which included sending more than 20,000 extra combat troops.

Security is getting better, and Iraq's own forces are becoming more able, Petraeus said. But he also ticked off a list of reasons for worry, including the threat of a resurgence of Sunni or Shiite extremist violence. He highlighted Iran as a special concern, for its training and equipping of extremists.

In back-to-back appearances before two Senate committees, Petraeus was told by a parade of Democrats that, after five years of war, it was past time to turn over much more of the war burden to the Iraqis. Those senators said Iraq will not attain stability until the United States makes the decision to begin withdrawing in large numbers and forces the Iraqis to settle their differences.

Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, a longtime critic of the administration's war strategy, told Petraeus: "The American people have had it up to here."

Petraeus responded, "I certainly share the frustration."

But when it came to promising or predicting a timetable for further withdrawals, Petraeus didn't budge. He said he had recommended to Bush that he complete, by the end of July, the withdrawal of the 20,000 extra troops. Beyond that, the general proposed a 45-day period of "consolidation and evaluation," to be followed by an indefinite period of assessment before he would recommend any further pullouts.

The Dems kept pushing Petraeus to make predictions that are humanly impossible.

Of course, he didn't make any promises he couldn't keep. He's not a politician.

Sen. Carl Levin's questioning of Petraeus was absolutely idiotic:

In exchanges with several senators, Petraeus refused to say when he thought it would be safe to resume troop reductions beyond July without risking "fragile and reversible" security gains.

Asked Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee: "Could that be a month, could that be two months?"

Petraeus began to respond: "Sir, it could be less than that. It could be. ..."

Levin: "Could it be more than that?"

Petraeus: "It could be more than that. Again, it's when the conditions are met that we can make a recommendation for further reductions."

Levin: "Could it be three months?"

Petraeus: "Sir, again, at the end of the period of consolidation and evaluation. ..."

On they went in the same vein, even after a demonstrator — "Bring them home! Bring them home!" — interrupted the hearing and was escorted out.

When Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., started in again later, Petraeus said it would defy logic to establish a timetable before knowing what conditions will be like this summer.

"If you believe as I do — and the commanders on the ground believe — that the way forward on reductions should be conditions-based then it is just flat not responsible to try to put down a stake in the ground and say this is when it would be or that is when it would be," Petraeus said.

Levin was such a fool to press Petraeus.

He clearly said it's impossible to establish a timeable because it's dependent on conditions on the ground.

How difficult is that to understand?

When the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16, 1944, could commanders have declared that troops would be withdrawn by January 1, 1945?

That's ridiculous. The troops were withdrawn when the battle was won.

Of course, a predetermined timetable can be established in war, but that pretty much rules out victory. It certainly puts it in serious jeopardy.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The message to Congress and the American people from the U.S. commander in Iraq boiled down to this Tuesday:

Too much has been achieved to get out.

And not enough has been achieved to get out.

"We haven't turned any corners. We haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible," Gen. David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services committee in the first of three highly anticipated hearings Tuesday and today on Capitol Hill.

"Obviously, I think that there is a way forward," said the general, whose appearance attracted a huge media throng and a corps of protesters who periodically sang, hoisted signs and called out their opposition to the war.

It was a familiar case for U.S. policy that drew a familiar set of reactions, with supporters of the war convinced that the surge has produced vital security gains that would be imperiled by withdrawing too soon, and opponents complaining that it has failed to achieve the political progress that was its chief rationale.

...Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, a member of the foreign relations panel and vocal opponent of the war, said the much larger al-Qaida threat was in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq. And he contended the war was helping Osama bin Laden achieve his stated goal of bankrupting the U.S.

"For us to somehow believe that staying in Iraq is not playing into his hands I think is a mistake," said Feingold.

While Petraeus pointedly defended the mission in Iraq, he said policy-makers were confronted with tradeoffs.

"Iraq has entailed huge cost. Our men and women in uniform have made enormous sacrifices: over 4,000 of them the ultimate sacrifice. And the expenditure has been very substantial in numerous other respects, including the strain on the overall force and the opportunity cost in terms of not being able to focus more elsewhere," he said.

"Having said that, there is no longer a ruthless dictator in Iraq who threatened and invaded his neighbors and who terrorized his own people. Beyond that, the seeds of a nation's democracy have been planted in an Arab country that was the cradle of civilization. And though the germination of those seeds has been anything but smooth, there has been growth," said Petraeus. "I recognize that the overall weighing of the scales is more than difficult, and believe it is best done, at this point, by someone up the chain with a broader perspective. Ultimately, it can only be answered by history, once the outcome in Iraq has been determined."

Feingold is so hawkish when it comes to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and so clueless when it comes to the consequences of a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

As is usual in the case of hearings like this, there's so much political posturing.

It's a shame that the quest for victory in Iraq is a partisan issue.

Charlie Rose and Patriot-Challenged Ted Turner

Ted Turner was Charlie Rose's guest last night.

I didn't watch. I opted for the Magic Bullet infomercial instead.

I wasn't in the mood to hear Turner's drivel.

NewsBusters has some excerpts.

Like Michael Moore, Turner considers the American-killing Iraqi insurgents to be "patriots."

Turner told Rose:

I think that they're patriots and that they don't like us because we've invaded their country and occupied it. I think if the Iraqis were in Washington, D.C., we'd be doing the same thing: we'd be bombing them too. Nobody wants to be invaded.

Turner is clueless. He's no patriot. I guess it does take one to know one.

His prediction of what the world will be like if global warming isn't addressed is priceless.

TED TURNER: Not doing it will be catastrophic. We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state -- like Somalia or Sudan -- and living conditions will be intolerable. The droughts will be so bad there'll be no more corn grown. Not doing it is suicide. Just like dropping bombs on each other, nuclear weapons is suicide. We've got to stop doing the suicidal two things, which are hanging on to our nuclear weapons and after that we've got to stabilize the population. When I was born-

CHARLIE ROSE: So what's wrong with the population?

TURNER: We're too many people. That's why we have global warming. We have global warming because too many people are using too much stuff. If there were less people, they'd be using less stuff.

Over billions of years, the earth has seen dramatic climate changes.

Turner predicts a dramatic change, a catastrophe in just over a generation.

I don't think so.

Turner goes beyond being an eccentric rich guy. He's nuts.

His comments about the insurgents being patriots anger me.

His comments about the age of cannibalism being on our doorstep are so over the top that it's funny.

(Thanks, Dave!)






"[President Bush] said it very clearly, he said 'Either you're with us, or you're against us.' And, I had a problem with that because I really hadn't made my mind up yet."

--TED TURNER

Charges Against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum Dropped

I don't think there's any question about it. The reporting of the alleged massacre at Haditha was an absolute disgrace, the hyping of the incident unconscionable.

Much to the dismay of the anti-Bush, anti-Iraq war, and in some cases, anti-American crowd, Haditha didn't quite turn out to be My Lai after all.

The Leftists, elected Democrats and their mouthpieces in the liberal agenda-driven media, were so eager to believe that U.S. Marines murdered Iraqi civilians in cold blood that they didn't bother to wait for an investigation into the allegations.

They scooped up all the leaks about the incident and splashed them without hesitation.

There were emphatic declarations of the Marines' guilt, with remarks from John Murtha being some of the most disgusting.

Will TIME run a cover story to complement "The Ghosts of Haditha" issue?

I think something like "The Left's Besmirching of U.S. Marines" would be in order. It would be appropriate to counter "The Shame of Kilo Company" with "The Shame of the Foaming at the Mouth Liberal Media."

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. --
The Marine Corps dropped charges and gave full immunity Friday to a serviceman who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in a squad's killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.

The case against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, 26, of Edmond, Okla., was dismissed as jury selection was about to begin for his court-martial. The government has been seeking Tatum's testimony against the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn.

Prosecutors say Wuterich directed the assault immediately after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and wounded two others in a convoy. Wuterich and another Marine shot five men nearby before the squad leader ordered his men to clear homes with grenades and gunfire, killing unarmed civilians.

In February, Tatum received an order to testify against Wuterich and an unrequested immunity order that said anything to which he testified would not be used against him in his court-martial. On Friday, a new immunity order was issued, along with the dismissal of charges.

"Lance Cpl. Tatum will testify truthfully if called as a witness," said his attorney, Jack Zimmerman.

Tatum was relieved by the news and considered it an affirmation of his contention that he and his squadmates responded to a perceived threat as they had been trained to do, Zimmerman said.

"It has been a very happy morning," he said.

Tatum was the third enlisted Marine to have all charges dismissed.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Over time the case has shrunk, including removal of all murder charges.

The highest-ranking defendant is Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani of Rangely, Colo., commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment at the time of the Nov. 19, 2005, Haditha killings. He is the highest-ranking officer to face a combat-related court-martial since the Vietnam War and is scheduled to face court-martial in April.

Chessani, accused of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order, has said he didn't order a formal investigation because he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat.

His attorney said Tatum's dismissal gave additional credence to Chessani's claims.

"This is a house of cards, and it's all falling apart now," said Brian Rooney.

In addition to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, Tatum had been charged with reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.

Zimmerman said there was no agreement with the government before the dismissal.

"Absolutely, there is no deal," he said.

...Wuterich is the only enlisted man still facing prosecution. He faces nine counts of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and obstruction of justice. There is no date set for his court-martial.

Wuterich's civilian defense attorney, Neal Puckett, contended that the Tatum dismissal showed the government has a poor case against his client.

"I think it's a further demonstration of how weak the government's case has become. Of the four Marines who fired weapons that day, only one still faces charges," Puckett said.

So yet another soldier has had the charges against him dropped.

Without question, any Marines involved in wrongdoing should be held accountable and punished. The intentional slaughter of civilians is criminal. I'm certainly not suggesting that the investigation was inappropriate.

But what was so troubling about the Haditha incident was the way the Left and the despicable John Murtha trashed the Marines with their sprint to judgment.

They absolutely drooled over the story of Marines killing innocents in cold blood, yet they don't give much attention to charges being dropped. They don't retract their previous slander. I guess that doesn't fit their agenda.

Jim McDermott, David Bonior, and Mike Thompson

Jim McDermott, David Bonior, and Mike Thompson acted as dupes for Saddam Hussein. That's a proud legacy, isn't it?

WASHINGTON -- Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a Michigan nonprofit group, of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.

At the time, the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq.

The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators "have no information whatsoever" any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.

"Obviously, we didn't know it at the time," McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said Wednesday. "The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That's the only reason we went."

(Really? See the article below by Stephen Hayes.)

Both McDermott and Thompson are popular among liberal voters in their reliably Democratic districts for their anti-war views. Bonior is no longer in Congress.

Thompson released a statement Wednesday saying the trip was approved by the State Department.

"Obviously, had there been any question at all regarding the sponsor of the trip or the funding, I would not have participated," he said.

...Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, the second-ranking Senate Republican at the time, said the Democrats "sound somewhat like spokespersons for the Iraqi government." Seattle-are[a] conservatives dubbed McDermott "Baghdad Jim" for the Iraq trip.

Al-Hanooti was arrested Tuesday night while returning to the U.S. from the Middle East, where he was looking for a job, his attorney, James Thomas, said. Al-Hanooti pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil and lying to authorities. He was being held on $100,000 bail.

Between 1999 and 2006, he worked on and off as a public relations coordinator for Life for Relief and Development, a charity group formed after the first Gulf War to fund humanitarian work in Iraq. FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided the charity's headquarters in 2006 but charged nobody and allowed the agency to continue operating.

McDermott identified that charity as the group financing the Iraq trip. In House disclosure forms, he put the cost at $5,510. Thompson also understood the charity to be financing the trip, spokeswoman Anne Warden said.

Prosecutors said Al-Hanooti was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service. From 1999 to 2002, he allegedly provided Saddam's government with a list of U.S. lawmakers he believed favored lifting economic sanctions against Iraq.

In exchange for coordinating the congressional trip, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, prosecutors said.

None of this should come as a surprise. It's sickening but not surprising.

In the October 14, 2002 issue of The Weekly Standard, Stephen F. Hayes wrote an interesting, albeit nauseating, piece, "The Baghdad Democrats."

IT'S A RARE POLITICAL MOMENT when Terry McAuliffe says no comment. Yet McAuliffe, the garrulous chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said just that last Wednesday at the Brookings Institution after a speech by Al Gore. Asked about the trip to Baghdad taken by three of his fellow partisans--Representatives David Bonior, Jim McDermott, and Mike Thompson--McAuliffe was nonplussed.

"Have we issued anything on that?" he asked DNC spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri, who shook her head.

"I don't think we have," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"We handle the politics, and leave those comments to elected officials," Palmieri explained. "But nice try."

Problem is, the elected officials aren't saying much either. Bonior was until recently the second-ranking Democrat in the House, and yet it's nearly impossible to get Democrats to say anything about his and the others' trip to Baghdad.

But if other Democrats aren't talking about the Baghdad tour, Bonior and McDermott themselves won't shut up. And the more they talk, the more scrutiny they invite.

The controversy ignited on September 29 when Bonior and McDermott appeared from Baghdad on ABC's "This Week." Host George Stephanopoulos asked McDermott about his recent comment that "the president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war."

McDermott didn't backpedal at all: "I believe that sometimes they give out misinformation. . . . It would not surprise me if they came out with some information that is not provable, and they, they shift it. First they said it was al Qaeda, then they said it was weapons of mass destruction. Now they're going back to and saying it's al Qaeda again." When Stephanopoulos pressed McDermott about whether he had any evidence that Bush had lied, the congressman replied, "I think the president would mislead the American people."

An American official floating unsubstantiated allegations against an American president during a visit to Baghdad would be troubling enough. But McDermott compounded his problem by insisting, despite its twelve years of verifiable prevarication, that the Iraqi regime should be given the benefit of the doubt on inspections and disarmament. Said McDermott on "This Week": "I think you have to take the Iraqis on their face value."

But McDermott and Bonior only accept Iraq's more conciliatory statements at face value. They selectively ignore those statements by Iraqi officials defying the international community's demand for unfettered inspections. Even after Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan made clear that inspectors would not be allowed into presidential sites--some 12 square miles of Iraqi territory--McDermott claimed the Iraqi regime really wanted to be accommodating. "They have given us assurances that there will be unfettered inspections," McDermott said at an October 2 press conference he held with Bonior after returning from Iraq. "In the United States, we have a tradition, we have a Constitution that says if there's a bad person there, we give them due process and inspections is the due process in this example."

At the same press conference, McDermott and Bonior retrospectively revised the primary goal of their trip. (Thompson, who wasn't at that appearance, kept a relatively low profile both on the trip and after his return. He was the only one of the three to emphasize that Saddam Hussein, and not the U.S. government, bears responsibility for conditions in Iraq.) "First of all," said Bonior, explaining the objectives of the trip, "we wanted to impress upon the Iraqi government and the people of Iraq how important it was for them to allow unconditional, unfettered, unrestricted access to the inspectors." It was such an important point that he revisited it later.

"The purpose of our trip was to make it very clear, as I said in my opening statement, to the officials in Iraq how serious we--the United States is about going to war and that they will have war unless these inspections are allowed to go unconditionally and unfettered and open. And that was our point. And that was in the best interest of not only Iraq, but the American citizens and our troops. And that's what we were emphasizing. That was our primary concern--that and looking at the humanitarian situation."

But if the return of inspectors was the "first" and "primary" purpose of the trip on October 2, it wasn't quite as important on September 25. In the joint press release all three congressmen issued before their trip, posted on each of their websites, there were many stated goals, and plenty of criticism of U.S. saber rattling and pounding of war drums. But there was no mention of inspections at all.

Instead there was much talk of "gaining insight into the humanitarian challenges another war on Iraq would have on innocent Iraqis and the dangerous implications of a unilateral, preemptive strike on U.S. national security."

It's reassuring to know that these congressmen were concerned about our national security, even if the source of their concern was our president rather than the brutal dictator with weapons of mass destruction the United States is trying to stop. What apparently didn't concern the congressmen was the damage their trip might do abroad to any U.S.-led effort to deal with Saddam. Or any difficulties they may have created for U.S. efforts to fashion a friendly post-Saddam Iraq.

EVEN BEFORE the Baghdad boys left Iraq, media outlets throughout the Middle East gleefully highlighted divisions in the U.S. government and the travels by the "antiwar" congressmen. The Iraq Daily, for example, published by Saddam's Ministry of Information, printed daily updates of the trip and posted them in English on their website.

For example, a September 30 report says, "the members of the U.S. Congress delegation has underlined that this visit aims to get acquainted with the truth of Iraq's people sufferings due to ongoing embargo which caused shortage in food and medicine for all Iraqi people." (That article appeared next to a report on Saddam's continuing financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers or, to use the paper's formulation, "intrepid Palestinian uprising martyrs." Also in that issue is an article by American white supremacist Matthew Hale, "Truth About 9-11: How Jewish Manipulation Killed Thousands.")

Hayes details how the three Congressmen were used as propaganda tools by the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.

On September 27, viewers of Iraqi Satellite Channel Television learned the following (this translation comes from U.S. government sources):

"Three U.S. Congressmen arrived in Baghdad this morning on a visit lasting several days. The delegation will hold several meetings with Iraqi officials and members of the Foreign Relations Committee at the National Assembly. They will also visit hospitals to see the suffering caused by the unjust embargo and the shortage of medicines and medical supplies. Congressman Jim McDermott told reporters upon arrival at Saddam International Airport that the delegation members reject the policy of aggression dominating the U.S. administration."

The video then showed McDermott talking, with a voiceover translation in Arabic. Here is what Arabic-speaking audiences heard from McDermott:

"We are three veterans of the Vietnam War who came over here because we don't want war. We assert from here that we do not want the United States to wage war on any peace-loving countries. As members of Congress, we would like diplomatic efforts to continue so as not to launch any aggression. We will visit children's hospitals to see the negative impact of the sanctions imposed on Iraq. We hope that peace will prevail throughout the world."

So how does it feel to be used as a propaganda tool against your own country? McDermott, who was asked that question by CNN's Jane Arraf when he was still in Baghdad, said it feels fine. "If being used means that we're highlighting the suffering of Iraqi children, or any children, then, yes, we don't mind being used."

The adventures of McDermott, Bonior, and Thompson in Iraq were truly stunning.

In October 2002, George Will commented on "Baghdad Bonior."

Hitler found ``Lord Haw Haw''--William Joyce, who broadcast German propaganda to Britain during the Second World War--in the dregs of British extremism. But Saddam Hussein finds American collaborators among senior congressional Democrats.

Not since Jane Fonda posed for photographers at a Hanoi antiaircraft gun has there been anything like Rep. Jim McDermott, speaking to ABC's ``This Week'' from Baghdad, saying Americans should take Saddam Hussein at his word, but should not take President Bush at his. McDermott, in his seventh term representing Seattle, said Iraqi officials promised him and his traveling companion, Rep. David Bonior, a 13-term Michigan Democrat, that weapons inspectors would be ``allowed to look anywhere.''

Bonior, until recently second-ranking in the House Democratic leadership, said sources no less reliable than Saddam's minions told them that inspectors will have an ``unrestricted ability to go where they want.'' McDermott said: ``I think you have to take the Iraqis on their value--at their face value.'' And: ``I think the president would mislead the American people.''

McDermott and Bonior are two specimens of what Lenin, referring to Westerners who denied the existence of Lenin's police-state terror, called ``useful idiots.'' Perhaps Iraqi officials, knowing fathomless gullibility when they see it--they have dealt with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan--actually said such things. Or perhaps McDermott and Bonior heard what they wished to hear.

...McDermott's accusation that the president--presumably with Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice and others as accomplices--would use deceit to satisfy his craving to send young Americans into an unnecessary war is a slander licensed six days earlier by Al Gore. With transparent Nixonian trickiness--being transparent, it tricks no one--Gore all but said the president is orchestrating war policy for political gain in November.

Gore and many other Democrats who supported the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, with which the Clinton administration endorsed regime change, are now engaged in moral infantilism--willing the end but refusing to will any realistic means to that end. Such evasions define today's Democrats, even in domestic policy, as when Tom Daschle and others say Bush's tax cuts are calamitous, but flinch from saying the cuts should be rescinded.

McDermott's and Bonior's espousal of Saddam's line, and of Gore's subtext (and Barbra Streisand's libretto), signals the recrudescence of the dogmatic distrust of U.S. power that virtually disqualified the Democratic Party from presidential politics for a generation. It gives the benefits of all doubts to America's enemies and reduces policy debates to accusations about the motives of Americans who would project U.S. power in the world.

Conservative isolationism--America is too good for the world--is long dead. Liberal isolationism--the world is too good for America--is flourishing.

Also in October of 2002, Joseph Farah provided some fascinating information on David Bonior.

Rep. David Bonior, a 13-term Michigan Democrat – and until recently second-ranking in House Democratic leadership – worked tirelessly for years leading up to Sept. 11, 2001, for rules ensuring Middle Easterners would not receive any unusual scrutiny at the nation's airports.

He was successful – even at getting President Bush to sign a new law to that effect, one that might have contributed directly to the deaths of 3,000 Americans.

Bonior also championed the case of Dr. Mazen Al-Najjar, jailed before Sept. 11 because the FBI and Immigration officials suspected the Gaza native was a mid-level terrorist operative, and because he had violated the terms of his visa.

He was unsuccessful in this endeavor. Al-Najjar was ultimately deported to the United Arab Emirates.

Bonior, who lost a bid to become Michigan's governor, also took campaign contributions from Dr. Sami Al-Arian, the University of South Florida professor said to be Islamic Jihad's front-man in the United States. Al-Arian and his wife, Nahla, donated at least $3,450 to Bonior's campaigns. Al-Arian also raised funds for Islamic Jihad – an ally of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

What did such campaign contributions buy for Al-Arian? We got a clue in June 2001, just three months before the terror attacks on the U.S. During a White House meeting on President Bush's "faith-based initiatives" that month, a uniformed Secret Service officer felt compelled to remove a 20-year-old Muslim intern working for Bonior. Apparently the young man was seen as a security threat – and understandably so. The intern's name was Abdallah Al-Arian – the son of Sami Al-Arian.

And if all this isn't incestuous enough, it turns out Al-Najjar is Al-Arian's brother-in-law.

In a speech to the American Muslim Alliance in 1998, Bonior urged lifting the sanctions on Iraq, claiming they had killed some 700,000 children. More recently, since returning from Baghdad this week, Bonior has revised that estimate downward to 500,000 – even though four years have transpired since his earlier estimate and even while claiming 50,000 children a year continue to die as a result of U.S. actions.

It's hard to believe, with a record of achievement like this, that anyone would take anything Bonior says as credible. It's hard to believe he is still permitted to serve in the House of Representatives. It's hard to believe that he was so high in leadership within his party for so long.

Hard to believe, but true.

Al-Hanooti certainly delivered for Saddam Hussein when he pegged Jim McDermott, David Bonior, and Mike Thompson as "useful idiots."

As stated in the New York Times:

The Justice Department said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein’s principal foreign intelligence agency and an Iraqi-American man had organized and paid for a 2002 visit to Iraq by three House Democrats whose trip was harshly criticized by colleagues at the time.

The arrangements for the trip were described in the indictment of an Iraq-born former employee of a Detroit-area charity group who was charged Wednesday with accepting millions of dollars’ worth of Iraqi oil contracts in exchange for assisting the Iraqi spy agency in projects in the United States.

The indictment did not claim any wrongdoing by the three lawmakers, whose five-day trip to Iraq occurred in October 2002, five months before the American invasion.

Two continue to serve in the House: Jim McDermott of Washington State and Mike Thompson of California. The other, David E. Bonior of Michigan, has since retired from Congress.

“None of the Congressional representatives are accused of any wrongdoing, and we have no information whatsoever that any of them were aware of the involvement of the Iraqi Intelligence Service,” said Dean Boyd, a Justice spokesman.

I think it's important to draw a distinction between the Congressmen's wrongdoing in terms of the trip's funding and their wrongdoing in terms of how they behaved and the things they said while in Iraq.

In my view, there definitely was wrongdoing.

4000 Deaths

The media have been on death watch again, anticipating the moment they could report that "4000 U.S. service employees" have been killed in Iraq.

When the magic number was reached, CNN broke in to let viewers know.

Watch video of how CNN jumped on it.

The Associated Press reports:

BAGHDAD -- A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000. The grim milestone came on a day when at least 61 people were killed across the country.

Rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone, underscoring the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups despite an overall lull in violence.

The attacks on the Green Zone probably stemmed from rising tensions between rival Shiite groups and were the most sustained assault in months against the nerve center of the U.S. mission.

The soldiers with Multi-National Division — Baghdad were on a patrol when their vehicle was struck at about 10 p.m. in southern Baghdad, the military said. Another soldier was wounded in the attack — less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the conflict

Identities of those killed were withheld pending notification of relatives.

Navy Lt. Patrick Evans, a military spokesman, expressed condolences to all the families who have lost a loved one in Iraq, saying each death is "equally tragic."

"There have been some significant gains. However, this enemy is resilient and will not give up, nor will we," he said. "There's still a lot of work to be done."

...Last year, the U.S. military deaths spiked as U.S. troops sought to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas.

The death toll has seesawed since, with 2007 ending as the deadliest year for American troops at 901 deaths. That was 51 more deaths than 2004, the second deadliest year for U.S. soldiers.

The 4,000 figure is according to an Associated Press count that includes eight civilians who worked for the Department of Defense.

The 4,000 death toll is being called a "grim milestone."

Read more:

MSNBC

CNN

New York Times

Editors’ Note
The New York Times includes in its tally of military casualties in Iraq only deaths that have been confirmed by the Defense Department. The Associated Press includes civilian contractors and some deaths not yet announced by the Defense Department in its count.

Reuters

The number of U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq has reached 4,000, the U.S. military said on Monday, just days after the fifth anniversary of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.

Of course, 4,000 is being exploited, just as other "grim milestones" were.

I don't know why 4,000 deaths in Iraq is breaking news. I guess it's the way we think. We give certain numbers added significance.

We lend some numbers special meaning. They aren't meaningful in themselves.

There is nothing more special about number 4,000 than 3,999 or 4,001.

What about 4,002?

The significance of a human life lost cannot be measured by what number it happens to be. Each death is as newsworthy. The loss of each precious life matters.

Last week, Gateway Pundit posted "Sizing Up Sacrifice- Iraq War vs. Major Battles Since WWII." Figures and graphs of fatalities provide perspective of the human price in Iraq over the past five years compared to the lives lost in past conflicts.

Iraq War (5 years)-- 3,990
Bataan Death March (one week)-- 10,000
Battle of Guadalcanal (186 days)-- 7,099
Battle of Guam (20 Days)-- 3,000
Operation Market Garden (9 days)-- 3,664
Battle of the Bulge (41 days)-- 19,276
Battle of Iwo Jima (39 days)-- 6,821
Battle of Pusan Perimeter (61 days-Korea)-- 6,706

As you can see, the deaths in Iraq over five years have been dramatically less than those suffered in a matter of days during other wars.

So what?

Yes, the comparison offers perspective.

However, it's important to remember that every single life sacrificed in service to our country is as significant as any other.

Should 4,000 deaths in Iraq be a benchmark that warrants special reflection? I don't think so.

Each death deserves special pause from the nation. I don't get the milestone stuff.

Losing a son or daughter, spouse, parent, sibling, or friend in a war isn't about a number at all.

Keeping the Faith

U.S. soldiers of 82 Air Borne say prayers to celebrate Easter at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


A U.S. soldier of the 82 Air Borne sings a song to praise the Lord as others listen to celebrate Easter at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Cornelius Harris, 41, from Rosedale, La., raises his hands in prayer during an Easter sunrise service at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, March 23, 2008. The worship service was briefly disrupted by a car bomb in the city. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

I'm remembering our military men and women and their families in prayer this Easter Sunday.

Milwaukee Army Recruiting Center Vandalized--Again

Vandals recognized the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq by defacing the Army Recruiting Center in Milwaukee.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee police said today that the building, 3133 N. Oakland Ave., was vandalized between 8 p.m. Monday and 8 p.m. on Tuesday with graffiti across the front three windows and brick trim. The front door glass was also shattered.

Vandals wrote, "Expect resistance," "War is offensive" and "Five years too many" across the building, which was also vandalized about a year ago as well as at least once in 2003.

Once again, anti-war activists have targeted the U.S. military.

"We hate war but we support the troops"?

I don't think so.

Photos

Reuters Says Iraqis Want a Dem President

The liberal media are cheerleading for a Democrat to become president. So what else is new?

Reuters reports that Iraqis are on the same page as the lib media. What a surprise!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraqis are avidly watching the 2008 U.S. election race, searching for signs of policy change under a new president and prospects for U.S. troop withdrawals from their country.

"I do not care if the president is a man or a woman, what really matters is the change of American policy towards Iraq," said Muhenad Sahib, a university professor from the southern oil hub of Basra, Iraq's second largest city.

...[Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama] have vowed to start bringing troops home in 2009 if elected, while Republican candidate John McCain has supported President George W. Bush's 30,000-strong troop build-up which has been partially credited for sharply falling levels of violence across Iraq.

Athil al-Nujaifi, a member of a secular, multi-ethnic political bloc in the volatile northern city of Mosul, said a Democrat victory would offer the United States "a new future".

"The current situation in Iraq is tied to President Bush and his inability to admit his mistake in occupying Iraq and his inability to avoid the mistakes the neo-conservatives committed," Nujaifi said.

...Many of those across Iraq interviewed by Reuters over the past week felt U.S. voters could do worse than elect Clinton as the first female president of the United States.

"It would be fantastic because a woman has more sense ... she cares more about her life, her family and her people," said Qassim Tuaima, the owner of a Baghdad curtain shop.

Abdul-Latif al-Dulaimi, a 38-year-old architect, agreed, describing Bush as "hasty and stubborn".

"Bush led his country to be hated and created violence in many parts of the world," said Dulaimi, who is from the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja just west of Baghdad.

While the article cites a couple Iraqis who think the outcome of the U.S. election won't make a difference in America's Iraq policy, nowhere in the article is there a positive word about President Bush or presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Apparently, no one in Iraq supports Bush or U.S. policy. Reuters couldn't find one person to express thanks for what American troops have accomplished in Iraq.

Liberal bias? What bias?

Times Square Military Recruitment Center Attacked

New York police officers with the bomb squad unit inspect the damage done by an explosive device to the military recruitment center Thursday, March 6, 2008 in New York's Times Square. New York City police say some kind of explosive device was set off near a military recruiting station in Times Square. Police also say there were no injuries in the blast early Thursday morning. The recruiting center at 43rd Street near Broadway had a large hole in the front window.(AP Photo/David Karp)

NEW YORK -- A small bomb caused minor damage to a landmark military recruiting station in the heart of Times Square before dawn Thursday, and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away.

The video shows the bicyclist getting off a bike at 3:40 a.m. Thursday and walking toward the building. A minute or so later, the person returned to the bike and rode away. A brief flash and a cloud of white smoke follows.

A bike, believed used in the crime, was later found in the trash on West 38th Street, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame. No one was hurt, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the device, though unsophisticated, could have caused "injury and even death."

"If it is something that's directed toward American troops then it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

...The military's 1,600 recruiting stations nationwide were alerted and advised to use extra caution, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army recruiting command.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said no official higher state of alert had been issued. "We do get occasional vandals at our recruiting stations," Whitman said. "It's unfortunate but it happens from time to time."

..."Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

The recruiting station, located near the theater district on a traffic island, is surrounded by chain stores and restaurants and several TV studios, has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies.

In October 2005, a group of activists who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers with several in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct.

This makes me sick.

It truly sickens me when our recruitment centers come under attack.

A year ago, the army recruiting center in Milwaukee was vandalized by "peace" activists.

Iraq War protesters clad in black, carrying torches and wearing ski masks were reportedly setting off smoke bombs and throwing paint as they approached an Army recruiting center on the block, Sgt. Eric Pfeiffer, of the Milwaukee Police Department, said last night.

Someone threw an object through the recruitment center's window and spread what appears to be human waste inside before running off, Pfeiffer said.

Photo/MaryJo Walicki

It's disgraceful that military recruitment centers are targeted by activists.

These protesters have the right to oppose the war. They have the right to oppose the U.S. military. But they do not have the right to claim that they support the troops as they assault them. They do not have the right to be violent and do damage.

The Marine Corps recruiting center at Berkeley has been the site of numerous protests. It's been defaced by Code Pink and attacked by the Berkeley City Council and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.

Sick.

The recruitment centers in Milwaukee and Berkeley were vandalized and defaced by Americans. The party responsible for the small blast at the Times Square center this morning is still unknown.

Was today's blast the work of homegrown anti-war activists or was it the work of a foreign entity?

It really doesn't matter.

Haters of the U.S. military are haters of the U.S. military.

It's sad that some of the most anti-American people are Americans. Sad, but true.
________________

Flashback to Madison 1970 and the Sterling Hall Bombing.

Until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Sterling Hall bombing had been described as the single most destructive act of sabotage in United States history. Researcher Robert Fassnacht, who was working late in the building, was killed in the explosion. As people protest the current war in Iraq, Bellais says we don't see the element of violence like we did during the protests against Vietnam. "I really do feel, though people could argue with me on this, that the Sterling Hall bombing was sort of the pinnacle of that escalation. Like it kept getting more and more intense on both sides -- the police side and the antiwar side -- so that eventually something was going to have to happen that was big and it happened to be Sterling Hall."

The exhibit at the state Historical Museum on the capitol square examines the bombing itself, the capture of three of the four suspects, and the significance of the event to the antiwar movement and US history. The display features "Free Karl" T-shirts and posters, and an engine fragment from the van that contained the explosives. Bellais says they'll have a book on display into which you can write your opinions about that event.

Bellais says when Karl Armstrong and his brother Dwight got out of jail in 1980, they had a very high "coolness factor" among college students because they didn't just talk against the war, they took action. David Fine was the third person arrested in the bombing, but Leo Burt has never been captured.

In the name of peace, 33-year-old graduate student Robert Fassnacht was murdered in the explosion.

I fail to see the "coolness factor" in that.

The anti-war movement in America has some very dark moments.

Let's call some of these anti-war activists what they really are: TERRORISTS.

Chemical Ali Sentenced to Hang

It looks like Iraq's government is functioning at least to some extent.

It's getting business done.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's presidency endorsed the execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin known as "Chemical Ali," who was sentenced to death for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, a government adviser said Friday.

The backing by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents is the final step for the approval of Ali Hassan al-Majid's death sentence, which must be carried out within 30 days of the decision.

Al-Majid was one of three former Saddam officials sentenced to hang in June after being convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas. An appeals court upheld the verdict in September.

Genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, 200,000 dead -- That's Chemical Ali's legacy.

That's Saddam's legacy.

Justice is being done, yet some say that it was wrong to depose Saddam and end his reign of terror.

Barack Obama has called the U.S. military action in Iraq a "dumb war."

If not for that "dumb war," Chemical Ali wouldn't be paying for his crimes.

And who knows what other atrocities he would have carried out?

But the adviser said the presidency has not yet approved the death sentences against the other two — Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

An adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media -- Democracy is definitely taking root in Iraq.

Feingold Fails Again

Washington -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday pledged to continue trying to end the Iraq war, even though events of the day demonstrated that he still lacks the votes to force a troop withdrawal.

The Senate wrapped up its first round of debate on the war this year with little fanfare. After two days of discussion, Republicans refused to advance a withdrawal bill. As a result, Democrats were forced to shelve proposals by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) that would have cut off money for combat and demanded a new strategy for defeating al-Qaida.

The procedural wrangling left majority Democrats defeated, even without a final vote cast on either measure.

"We'll be back," said Reid (D-Nev.), noting that this spring the Senate is to debate whether to approve an additional $100 billion for the war.

Feingold echoed Reid, saying: "I will continue this fight when the Senate takes up the supplemental soon. As long as the Iraq war continues, more Americans will be put at risk."

Senate Democrats planned to meet Wednesday to discuss their strategy on the war.

This week, Republicans agreed to extended debate on Feingold's legislation - not because they supported the measures, but because they said the debate would offer the opportunity to promote progress in Baghdad.

The hours of Senate speeches that followed included many by allies of President Bush who said Democrats had been wrong about the 2007 troop buildup.

The audacity!

How dare Republicans extend debate to give them the opportunity to highlight the progress our troops have made in Baghdad!

How horrible of those mean-spirited Republicans to point out that the surge has been successful! What an outrage to praise the troops!

Feingold keeps trying to cut off funds to the troops, but he just can't get it done.
_______________

Feingold's statement

Berkeley Anti-War Activists and Patriots

The anti-war activists determined to shut down the Marine Corps recruiting center at Berkeley are a disgrace.

Protester: We have a symbol right in the heart of the most peace-loving city in this nation. And it is a symbol of war. It is a symbol of death. It is a symbol of torture. It is a symbol of rape. It is a symbol of destruction. Are we going to allow that symbol to remain in the heart of this peace-loving city?

Like-minded protesters: NO!!!!!!!

Robert Young, father of a son serving in Iraq, says, "You spend 30 years in service to your country, and you have someone over here calling you a child molester, or child murderer, and yeah I guess I get a little angry when I hear that."



The protesters attacking the Marine Corps this way really nauseate me.

They have the right to oppose the war. They have the right to oppose the U.S. military. But they do not have the right to claim that they support the troops as they assault them.

Maya Nadjieli, 19, youth and student ANSWER: The fact that recruiting center is here and they're defending it to this extent just goes... you know, we are in support of our troops because our troops are us. You know, the troops that are out there fighting are young people of color who have no other option because this government isn't giving them proper education, isn't giving them job opportunities, isn't giving them housing. And the only opportunity that they see is to fight this war that will in no way benefit them.

What a crock!

Nadjieli doesn't know what she's talking about.

She claims that she supports the troops.

Really?

She supports those rapists and torturers?

She says young people are fighting because the GOVERNMENT isn't GIVING them an education, a job, and housing.

Really?

Leaving her Leftist welfare state entitlement rhetoric aside, why did Lee Wolf enlist in the Marine Corps?

Lee Wolf, 21, S.F. State student enlisting in the Marine Corps: I'm out here today really just to be a presence in opposition to what's going on here. This group of individuals is misguided as to what this recruiting station actually does. They're also highly offensive to the soldiers in the Marine Corps and the rest of the military. They call them rapists. They call them war criminals, which are all, of course, false. And it's really disheartening to see a group of radicals go after the Marine Corps like this.

Wolf is not a person of color. He clearly has an education and opportunity and housing. He has a choice and he enlisted.

He's a patriot.