Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, yesterday renewed a call for charges to be dropped against three Navy SEALs charged with the unspeakable crime of roughing up a terrorist.

The charges grew from circumstances surrounding the capture of Ahmed Hashim Abed, a terrorist mastermind who organized the killing, burning and mutilating of four American contractors in Fallujah, Iraq, in March 2004. Insurgents strung up the blackened remains on a box-girder bridge over the Euphrates River, a grisly event that made global headlines. Abed was brought in by the SEALs in September 2009.

Abed told Iraqi authorities that Special Operations Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe punched him in the gut. That sailor is charged with unlawfully striking Abed “in the midsection with his fist” and with lying to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service officer about the incident. Petty Officers Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe are charged with impeding the investigation and dereliction of duty in failing to safeguard a detainee. Trials for these two sailors are set to begin in Iraq in April, and Petty Officer 2nd Class McCabe will be tried in Norfolk in May.

The piece of crap is a terrorist. He murders. No evidence to support his claims of being ‘roughed up’. Yet some government official has that balls to CHARGE the heroes that brought him in?

Black Water Contractors

Warning! It gets graphic from here!

To say I don’t give a flying F*CK about this piece of sh*t’s fat lip and tummy ache would be to put it mildly.

Saddam Hussein’s notorious cousin “Chemical Ali” was executed Monday, Iraq’s government spokesman said.

Hassan al-Majid was convicted Sunday, Jan. 17, of crimes against humanity, receiving a death sentence for his involvement in a poison gas attack on Halabja — one of several hanging over him.

Families of victims in court cheered when the judge handed down the guilty verdict against Ali Hassan al-Majid in a trial for one of the worst poisonous gas attacks against civilians.

He had received three previous death sentences for atrocities committed during Saddam’s rule, particularly in the government’s campaigns against the Shiites and Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s.

Perhaps I’m just a sick, demented, human being, but wouldn’t it be nice if he could have been hung for each death sentence. I know many don’t believe this was a necessary war, but at least it gave the Iraqis the chance to bring justice for the murder of so many of their fellow countrymen.

Truck bomb destroys key Iraq bridge

A suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden truck destroyed a key bridge Saturday on a highway used by the departing U.S. military, while separate attacks killed nine Iraqis, most of them security force members, police said.

There were no casualties in the blast that destroyed the bridge outside the city of Ramadi, which is about 70 miles (125 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said a local police officer. The highway is used heavily by the U.S. military to transport equipment out of the country. It is also a major roadway for civilian traffic.

I didn’t think it was really the right time to go into Iraq when we did, but once we were there, I believed it was our duty to continue the fight, and finish it with a resounding victory. After all, the purpose of a war is to win. Period. All this PC bull, running a war from a desk in the wilds of D.C is  just plain insanity. That being said, I’m at the point…..I don’t give a flip. Let them blow each other up! That’s what they want, then let them have at it. Will innocents die?  Oh yeah, but then, they’re already dying aren’t they.

Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, the F/A-18 Hornet pilot shot down over Iraq in 1991. His official status has changed several times since his plane disappeared, from missing-in-action to missing-in-action/body not recovered to missing-in-action/captured.
Capt. Michael Scott Speicher’s jet was shot down over the desert on the first night of the 1991 war. The inability to find his body led to nearly two decades of speculation.

I guess I still help out hope, along with a grateful nation, that he would be found, alive, once we went into Iraq and got rid of the scum. As time passed, I knew that had he still been alive, our boys would have found him pretty quick.

The military has identified the remains of a Navy pilot shot down on the opening night of the Persian Gulf War, officials announced early today.

The F/A-18 Hornet flown by Capt. Michael Scott Speicher was shot down on Jan. 17, 1991 while on a combat mission over western Iraq. He was considered the first U.S. casualty of the war.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Captain Speicher.

Having spent this morning catching up on my weekend reading, I came across this Page 4 article from Friday’s New York Times. Here’s the lead paragraph: “BAGHDAD — At least 80 people died and 120 others were injured Thursday in three bombings, one by a female suicide bomber in Baghdad who, Iraqi officials said, held a young child’s hand as she set off her explosives among a group of women and children receiving emergency food aid.”

Even putting aside our baseline revulsion at terrorism, there are three especially hideous things that jump out from this:

1) A mother deliberately taking her (presumed) child with her as she immolates herself. For all the hundreds of suicide bombings that Iraq has already witnessed, this has got to be a first.

2) This was a line for food aid. Islamists have gone from attacking U.S. soldiers, to attacking Iraqi soldiers, to attacking police stations, to attacking the religious ceremonies of rival sects — on down the line of nihilism until, now, they are reduced to blowing up hungry people seeking sustenance.

3) This hideous crime was played on page four of The New York Times. And a quick scan of other media suggests it got similar B-rate treatment elsewhere. This sort of act would have been worth a worldwide banner headline a decade ago. But now, it’s just another demented Islamist senselessly slaughtering fellow Muslims. With her kid. Yawn.

Says a lot about the world we live in, doesn’t it?

These are the people the anointed one wants to sit down and talk with?  These are the people that some on the left feel can be reasoned with?  These are the people about who Rosie O’Donnell says ”Don’t fear the terrorists. They’re mothers and fathers.”  Well guess what Rosie – you were right!  This terrorist WAS a mother, who because of her beliefs, decided that an innocent child would never again see the light of day.  These “mothers” and “fathers” have no other agenda but to kill those who don’t agree with them.  But let’s not be afraid of them, shall we?  After all, they probably came from a broken home/have “issues”/been abused.  Isn’t that the mantra of the left?  Everyone’s a victim?  Except, in THIS case, the real victims were the people who were waiting in line for assistance, and the child that was holding the hand of someone he/she most likely trusted.

When will folks realize that these people don’t give two hoots about peace?  They want what they want, and will kill anyone who stands in their way.  So, while The One is bowing and scraping and apologizing for the country which he is supposed to be leading, our enemies are rubbing their hands together in glee – just waiting for the next opportunity.  They have no interest in diplomatic relations – they’ve already vowed to kill all the infidels.  And friends – that means me and you.

My little brother is in the Oregon National Guard and will go active duty in April and to Iraq in June or July. Luckily he doesn’t burn to a crisp in daylight like I do.

Well, it’s different now, but I still think we can’t leave until the job’s done–can’t create a vacuum for Iran/Syria/Al-Qaeda/etc–and I feel kinda bad that my brother is a much better person than I am. He’s under strict orders to pass along the addresses of buddies in his unit who don’t get packages/letters from home for whatever reason so I can “adopt” them (he has two other sisters who will keep him in Blistex and magazines, not to mention our mother). Maybe I can be a little less useless.

Keep your head down and your powder dry!  God watch over you!

Isn’t it odd that those who swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States are so embroiled in their own hatred for the POTUS that they’d rather see the U.S. destroyed, rather than admit Bush was right initially? Just wondering.

And yes, I do think we should have finished the job in Afghanistan first!  That doesn’t change the fact that we went.  We can play the ‘what ifs’ game all day long, but Americans don’t quit.  Well, REAL Americans don’t!

So, now that there has been serious improvements in Iraq, are the nay sayers going to do another about face, and claim credit?  You know, “the war is lost” Reid types?

Thanks for the video, Connie.

From Ed Driscoll.com:

What is it with Democratic presidential candidates and hyperbole?

• Al Gore inventing the Internet and cleaning up Love Canal.
• John Kerry reliving Apocalypse Now.
• Hillary’s non-existent Tuzla sniper fire.

And now this, from tonight’s debate/interview/conversation/forum/thing:

Obama said the most gut-wrenching decision of his life was to vote against the Iraq War. McCain said it was when he declined an offer to leave a prison camp in Vietnam.

As Dan Riehl writes, “Obama didn’t vote against the Iraq War. He wasn’t even in the Senate! Am I missing something here? Did he somehow qualify this to make it true? Or was it simply made up?”

True–but he made a very personal decision–even if it didn’t count for the record. And it’s seared–seared–into his memory!

Uh….yeah.  Right!

A top Iraqi official visited wounded American troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to thank them for their part in ending Saddam Hussein’s rule in his country.

“We have come … to express our gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by these great warriors, soldiers, in freeing the Iraqi people and in helping us in Iraq recover from tyranny and dictatorship,” Jawad Karim al-Bolani, Iraq’s minister of the interior, said through a translator to a handful of journalists in the lobby of the medical center.

“We also want to express our gratitude to the families of all these great men and women and express how important their sacrifices are for our nation,” he added.

Don’cha find it just a wee bit interesting that this Iraqi officials could take time to visit wounded U.S. troops, to thank them for their sacrifice, but a candidate for the POTUS can’t?  Curious.

The bodies of two US soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families have told the Associated Press news agency.

Spc Alex Jimenez and Pte Byron Fouty were seized in an ambush in May 2007 in an area south of Baghdad.

The body of a third soldier, Pte Joseph Anzack Jr, was found in the Euphrates river a short time after the attack.

The Islamic State of Iraq, a group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, had released a video saying it killed all three men.

The parent’s of Spc Jimenez, 25, of Massachusetts, and Pte Fouty, 19, of Michigan, said uniformed military officials had visited their homes to inform them of their sons’ deaths.

The Pentagon usually waits 24 hours after notifying soldiers’ next of kin before making a public announcement.

Many prayers with the families of these fine young men.

‘Bush Lied’? If Only It Were That Simple.

But dive into Rockefeller’s report, in search of where exactly President Bush lied about what his intelligence agencies were telling him about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and you may be surprised by what you find.

On Iraq’s nuclear weapons program? The president’s statements “were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates.”

On biological weapons, production capability and those infamous mobile laboratories? The president’s statements “were substantiated by intelligence information.”

On chemical weapons, then? “Substantiated by intelligence information.”

On weapons of mass destruction overall (a separate section of the intelligence committee report)? “Generally substantiated by intelligence information.” Delivery vehicles such as ballistic missiles? “Generally substantiated by available intelligence.” Unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to deliver WMDs? “Generally substantiated by intelligence information.”

(…)

But statements regarding Iraq’s support for terrorist groups other than al-Qaeda “were substantiated by intelligence information.” Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda “were substantiated by the intelligence assessments,”“were substantiated by intelligence information.” The report is left to complain about “implications” and statements that “left the impression” that those contacts led to substantive Iraqi cooperation. and statements regarding Iraq’s contacts with al-Qaeda

(…)

After all, it was not Bush, but Rockefeller, who said in October 2002: “There has been some debate over how ‘imminent’ a threat Iraq poses. I do believe Iraq poses an imminent threat. I also believe after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. . . . To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? I do not think we can.”

Rockefeller was reminded of that statement by the committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), who with three other Republican senators filed a minority dissent that includes many other such statements from Democratic senators who had access to the intelligence reports that Bush read. The dissenters assert that they were cut out of the report’s preparation, allowing for a great deal of skewing and partisanship, but that even so, “the reports essentially validate what we have been saying all along: that policymakers’ statements were substantiated by the intelligence.”

(…)

But the phony “Bush lied” story line distracts from the biggest prewar failure: the fact that so much of the intelligence upon which Bush and Rockefeller and everyone else relied turned out to be tragically, catastrophically wrong.

Since we’ve gone into Iraq, many of our brave soldiers have died. Do not trivialize their deaths by continuing the push of the “Bush lied” BS. I’m not a big Bush supporter. He’s not even in the list of my top 100 favorite people right now, but give the man some credit for using the SAME intelligence reports that all those shouting the loudest about the “lies” read, which included Bill Clinton, the left’s almost favorite president. At least Bush did SOMETHING. Clinton did NOTHING. And if B. Hussein sits in the Oval Office, you can pretty much guaran-damn-tee there will be NO “line drawn in the sand”. A serving of tea and crumpets will be his answer.

H/T: ‘Okie’ on the Lam

An Open Offer to U.S. Senators

Whatever we do in Iraq from here forward, we must strive to make better decisions than those made between 2003 and 2006. And one way to achieve that is by making certain that our civilian leaders are fully informed. All three candidates for President are extremely intelligent, but that doesn’t mean that all three are tracking the truth on the ground in Iraq. Anyone who wants to be President of the United States needs to see Iraq without the distorting lenses of the media or partisan politics. I would be honored to visit Iraq with Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, Senator McCain or any of their Senate colleagues.

I hereby offer to accompany any Senator to Iraq, whether they are pro-or anti-war, Democrat or Republican. I will make this offer personally to a few select Senators as well. Our conversations during the visit would be on- or off-record, as they wish. Touring Iraq with me, as well as briefings by U.S. officers and meetings with Iraqis, would provide an accurate and nuanced account of the progress and challenges ahead, so that the Senators might have a highly informed perspective on this most critical issue. Our civilian leaders need to make decisions based on the best information available. The only way to learn what is really going on in Iraq is to go there and listen to our ground commanders, who know what they are doing. Generals Petraeus and Odierno have years of experience in Iraq, and vast knowledge of our efforts there. But the young soldiers who have done multiple tours in Iraq also have unique and invaluable perspectives as well. These young soldiers have personally witnessed the trajectory of the war shift dramatically, and can articulate those changes in concrete and specific terms. It doesn’t matter if a soldier is only twenty-something. If he or she spent two or three years in the war, that person is likely to have valuable insights. The best way to understand what is really going on is to listen closely to a wide range of service members who have done multiple tours in Iraq. Some will be negative, some will be positive, but overall I am certain that the vast majority of multi-tour Iraq veterans will testify that there has been great progress, and now there is hope. Combat veterans don’t tolerate happy talk or wishful thinking. They’ll tell you the raw truth as they see it.

John McFeingold probably would. I think even the Shrilldebeast would consider it, although, no doubt, she’d have to dodge the sniper fire. B. Hussein? Well…..only if it would garner him some votes, and as long as he was totally surrounded by a large contingent of Marines. I’m afraid his opportunity for any respect from me is long past. He could join the military today, and I’d still consider him a “piece of……..work”.

I have worked in or with every Congress since 1970 and it is now clear that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi continue to preside over the worst Congress in living memory. This is particularly true in the most serious area a legislator must tackle: national security. No intelligence bill has been passed, now for the second straight year. The FISA reform bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, continues to be bottled up. And the prospect of a Defense Authorization bill becoming law is also bleak. On the most important duty they are sworn to do — provide for the common defense — the Democratic leadership is AWOL.

Occasionally, it’s a good thing when those who are the “law makers” do nothing. This isn’t one of those times! The Dhimmis were voted into office, with the idea they’d actually do something concerning our national security, which is what their job actually entails. They have done NOTHING to ensure the security of this nation! Is it truly their intent to destroy one of the greatest nations history has ever known? With a B. Hussein, they will ensure such a destruction. Leadership is non existent!

As the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bond, and his colleagues Burr, Chambliss and Hatch have noted, the report — highly politicized as it is — concludes “Statements by the President, Vice President, Secretary of State and the National Security Adviser regarding a possible Iraq1 nuclear weapons programs were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates”, (p.15); “statements in the major speeches analyzed regarding Iraqi ballistic missiles were generally supported by available intelligence”(p. 57); “intelligence reporting highlights more than a decade of contacts between the Iraqi Government and al-Qa’ida based on shared anti-US goals and Bin laden’s interest in unconventional weapons…” (p. 63); “statements…regarding Iraq’s support for terrorist groups…were substantiated by intelligence information”, (p.71); and “statements that Iraq provided safe haven for …al-Zarqawi and other al-Qa’ida-related terrorists…and regarding Iraq’s contacts with al-Qa’ida…were substantiated by intelligence estimates”, (p.71).

But the report, despite stating the obvious that intelligence conclusions prior to the liberation of Iraq were flawed, spends considerable time denouncing the idea that Saddam Hussein had any connection to either terrorism or terrorist groups, especially al-Qa’ida. The report concludes that Saddam never “considered using terrorist groups to attack the United States.”

Obviously, this morning’s headlines were very misleading. Even I was sucked in. That pisses me off.

When the Senate report actually substantiates the the previous intelligence reports, why spend so much time denouncing it? BDS! Plain and simple. The Dhimmi led Senate would rather see the destruction of the Republican president, than Islamofascism.  Even if Saddam wasn’t plotting against the U.S. directly, on our soil, he evidently supported hits on our people.

According to documents revealed after the initial liberation of Iraq, and compiled by the Institute for Defense Analysis recently, and summarized by Eli Lake in the New York Post, “In the same year, Saddam ordered his intelligence service to ‘form a group to start hunting Americans present on Arab soil; especially Somalia.’ At the time, Al Qaeda was working with warlords against American forces there. Saddam’s intelligence services maintained extensive support networks for a wide range of Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations, including but not limited to Hamas. Among the other Palestinian groups Saddam supported at the time was Force 17, the private army loyal to Yasser Arafat.”

Saddam is no longer, personally, a threat to the U.S. in Somalia, an aid to Hamas, or any other terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Western civilization. THAT mission IS accomplished!

Read the rest of the column for yourself.

Personally, if this current batch of weasels are allowed to rewrite even more history, the future of our nation is seriously in the tank!