The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Monday night that it had successfully prevented retired Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin from speaking at an upcoming prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

“We welcome Mr. Boykin’s withdrawal from this event and hope that the speaker who replaces him will offer cadets a spiritual message that promotes tolerance and mutual understanding,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement.

When are we going to stop bowing to this terrorist front group????

West Point initially balked at the calls to remove Boykin — a former military intelligence officer — from the event.

Lt. Col. Sherri Reed of West Point told The Associated Press that cadets are “purposefully exposed to different perspectives and cultures.”

I can well understand why our future military officers would be exposed to “different perspectives and cultures”.  Wasn’t it Sun Tzu who said “Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.”  Since we ARE fighting against Islam, who declared war on us a long time ago, our young men and women need to know all they can about the ‘enemy’.

“The National Prayer Breakfast Service will be pluralistic with Christians, Jewish, and Muslim cadets participating,” Reed said. “We are comfortable and confident that what retired Lt. Gen. Boykin will share about prayer, soldier care and selfless service, will be in keeping with the broad range of ideas normally considered by our cadets.”

I’d really like to know why there are Muslims at West Point, and in our military in the first place. Would FDR have allowed Nazis to sign up? Would West Point have accepted Brown Shirts? I see no difference in the two! Muslims were allies of the Nazis, and yet, here we are, trying to suck up to a group that would see our demise.

CAIR and the group VoteVets.org pushed hard for a retraction of Boykin’s invitation to the event due to his “Islamophobic” views.

CAIR and People For the American Way failed to stop a speech Boykin gave in Ocean City, Md., last week. This week it seems they have been successful.

I am completely disgusted that this Lt General would cave to the enemy since they evidently failed from intimidating him previously.  Muslims and socialists working together to silence him, and many others, should give EVERYONE pause!

“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

EXACTLY!

I’d really appreciate it if our government officials would stop whining, quit kowtowing, and knock off the ‘we’re so sorry’ for any and every little thing.  This is a freakin’ war.  WAR!  This trash are killing our young men and women, and honestly, I wouldn’t walk across the street to whiz on a one of ‘em if they were on fire.  They do not deserve any respect, dead or alive!

If the President and the Congress are able to realize their plans for the US military, it will leave American with, as the title to this piece suggests, a hollow force. It will also place America in a great deal of danger because our military will be a great deal smaller in numbers of troops.

Think about that for a moment. Not only will our military lose so much of its war fighting materiel, it will lose many thousands of troops. That’s bad enough but there is something else — and no one seems concerned about it.

You see, when the military cutbacks come, we will lose the experience of troops who have actually been on the battlefield, who have actually looked the enemy in the eye, who have dealt with the pain of taking another human being’s life, and the deep abiding pain of losing a friend or companion in battle, who have fought the fight and lived to tell about it. BUT – they will not be available to train the raw recruits that will always be necessary to keep the much smaller fighting force flush with young, robust, well-trained fighting men.

Everything, these days, seems to have a price in dollars and cents. Not experience. The value of experienced combat soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines is inestimable. It also holds true, not just for enlistees, but for officers as well — mustangs and academy graduates, alike. Experienced officers are a must for a military to even consider executing a victorious military campaign. Book knowledge is absolutely necessary but it can’t hold a candle to experience on the battlefield.

Read the entire column here.

For a country to gut it’s military during a time of war, and yes, we are in a war on several fronts, is not only insane, but extremely dangerous!  You can call what is going on around the world isolated incidents by radical Islamists, but the truth is…they aren’t all that isolated, and they aren’t just ‘radicals’. They are Muslims, plain and simple! Just a few examples of those isolated incidents for the 9th and 10th of January, courtesy of “The Religion of Peace“:

2012.01.10 (Yathreb, Iraq) – Three schoolboys between the ages of 9 and 11 are dismantled by ‘insurgents’ while walking to school.
2012.01.10 (Jamrud, Pakistan) – Three dozen people waiting in line at a gas station are torn to pieces by Islamist bombers.
2012.01.10 (Sharan, Afghanistan) – Civilians and guards are killed during an assault on a telecommunications building by suicidal Fedayeen..
2012.01.09 (Baghdad, Iraq) – Sunni bombers detonate a car bomb at a Shiite mosque, killing five.
2012.01.09 (Baghdad, Iraq) – At least seven people at a market are blown to bits by Jihadi car bombers.
2012.01.09 (Dabori, Pakistan) – The bodies of ten local troops, abducted during a Taliban raid, are found brutally beheaded.

The day isn’t over yet!  And how many so called ‘honor killings‘ have we had right here in the U.S. of A.?  Not to mention the OBVIOUS terror attack on a U.S. military base, the shooting of recruiters, the attempted bombing by the ‘crotch bomber‘, the attempt at Ft Dix, the incident in Florida within the last few days, and the list goes on and on.

Are you aware that the difference in the numbers of males and females in Muslim countries is extremely dramatic?

Yet, the Obama administration thinks it’s a good idea to ‘save money’ by gutting our military.  Calling him the Commander in Chief is beyond laughable, but it reality, he is one very dangerous man/child, and we are ALL put in danger by his actions.  If he truly wanted to ‘save money’, he’d stop creating more bureaucratic BS! And perhaps, he could pay back the taxpayers for all those luxury trips he and the ‘queen’ have taken. There are MANY ways for the government to cut spending, but the military isn’t one of them!

Do we really want to become a third world nation, allow our borders to continue to be breached, and allow a total takeover of the rest of the world by a theocratic dictatorship, and see even more blood of the innocents in the streets?  If Congress would grow a pair, on BOTH sides of the aisle, and stop this stupidity, we just MIGHT have a chance to survive, and save our nation for our children!

A 25-year-old man described as an Islamic extremist was arrested in a plot to attack sites around Tampa, Fla., after taking possession of disabled guns and bombs, authorities said Monday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the former Yugoslavia, was arrested Saturday night.

He has been charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. His first appearance in federal court is scheduled for Monday at 2 p.m. ET.

Sources close to the investigation told Fox News that Osmakac was being “closely monitored by law enforcement” for months in what authorities have described as a “sting operation.”

We will be destroyed from the inside.  It’s no secret, yet so many refuse to actually SEE what is right in front of them!  Between Muslims, who hate us, that become “citizens”, to our own feckless government, we are heading for a serious fall!  Texas Fred use to have a ‘toon on his sidebar:

I can’t think of anything that describes what has been happening during the last few decades, at least during my lifetime.  Much happened before I was even born that headed us down this path of self destruction.  (Think Wilson and FDR!)  Now days, we can’t even pinpoint the threat because it MIGHT offend someone.  Well, to be perfectly honest….if the TRUTH offends, then so be it!  Let them be offended, or get the hell out.  It’s quite simple!

The Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, providing passage for some 15.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, amounting to one third of the world’s seaborne oil shipments. In a word, it is a 34-mile-wide chokepoint, making Iran’s threat this week to shut down the strait all the more serious for the global community.

The Iranian regime’s provocative warnings came on Tuesday from Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi who threatened to close the strait if Iran faces sanctions for its nuclear ambitions. And Wednesday, Iran’s top naval commander Habibollah Sayyari said, ”Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran’s armed forces is really easy … or, as Iranians say, it will be easier than drinking a glass of water.”

Iran’s closing of the strait — and its economic ramifications — is a scenario that has been contemplated before. From December 2006 to March 2007, Heritage Foundation scholars conducted a computer simula­tion and gaming exercise that examined the likely economic and policy consequences of a major oil disruption in the Persian Gulf. Specifically, the war game was based on a scenario in which Iran began blockading the Strait of Hormuz in January 2007.

What did they find? Based on their modeling, if Iran succeeded in fully blockading the strait for up to one week, Americans would see a massive spike in oil prices, a one-quarter drop in GDP of $161 billion, the loss of one million jobs, and a drop of real disposable personal income costing more than $260 billion.

With those threats at hand, the scholars recommended a series of steps to manage the theoretical blockade and its worldwide economic consequences:

A focused but restrained use of military power oriented toward objectives that address vital national interests would demonstrate U.S. determination to uphold freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, help to calm global markets, and reassure American consumers, and measures liberalizing energy policies and rolling back regulatory restrictions would allow the marketplace to work to meet global energy needs.

At the time this war game analysis was conducted, the scholars described why a potential blockage of the Strait of Hormuz would be such a significant threat. Their words ring true today. They looked back to the energy crises during the Arab oil embargo in 1973-1974 and the Iranian revolution in 1978-1979 — both of which led to fuel shortages, long gas lines, gasoline rationing, high inflation, and energy-related dam­age to the overall economy.

In those instances, they wrote, America suffered not only as a result of the changes in global oil supply, but also because of policies emanating from Washington:

At almost every turn, Washington policymakers exacerbated the already challenging energy situation with their own policy blunders. The federal government’s newly created maze of economic and environmental regulations and implementing agencies greatly hampered domestic energy supplies and limited the private sector’s ability to respond to events.

In retrospect, the U.S. government probably caused at least as much harm as any foreign entity did. Much of the energy crisis was self-inflicted by bad decisions made in Washington. The errors of the 1970s should serve as a cautionary tale as Amer­ica again faces similar energy challenges.

Today, Washington is throwing up similar roadblocks to energy independence. President Barack Obama has postponed a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to refineries in Texas, and give a major boost to the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, his Administration has blocked access to shale resources and slowed down and even halted offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which supplies 30 percent of domestic oil production. And the Environmental Protection Agency is imposing new, costly regulations on energy production. And all of this comes as Iran is threatening to cut off a quarter of the world’s energy supply.

As Heritage’s war game analysis showed, there are things America can do to respond to such provocations from Tehran, but no actions can totally eliminate the economic consequences. However, there are things Washington can and should do today to help America become less dependent on the Middle East for its energy and soften the blow should Iran choose to lash out at the West. America’s security depends on it.

The Army will develop a policy allowing Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets to ask for permission to wear religious headdresses with their uniforms.

The decision came in a letter dated Monday, the response to an October complaint filed by the Council of American-Islamic Relations on behalf of a Williamson County student.

Gadeir Abbas, a staff attorney with the council, said the decision was a victory for all.

“This is sending a message that the JROTC is a program for all Americans,” he said.

Well, that message would be real nice, except for one thing.  Muslims and American freedom, fought and won by the U.S. Military, do NOT mix.  They are a total contradiction.  This is just one more example of the wussification of our military, thanks to the politically correct, but utterly ignorant!

The student, Demin Zawity, was the first to challenge the JROTC policy, Abbas said. Demin, Muslim and a freshman at Ravenwood High School, quit the JROTC program earlier this year because she wasn’t allowed to wear a religious headscarf in a parade. She said the scarf protected her modesty.

Give me a flippin’ break! So what if she quit! Here’s a huge WHO CARES! And those ‘headscarves’ are not religious! They are tradition in backwards countries, where women are suppressed. This is the U.S., not some 3rd world country stuck in the middle ages!

In Monday’s letter, Larry Stubblefield, deputy assistant secretary of the Army’s diversity and leadership division, confirmed the policy would change. He wrote that officials from the JROTC planned to contact Demin and offer her the chance to re-enroll in Ravenwood’s program.

“Diversity and leadership division”? Are they kidding? There is only one color in the Army….that’s green, or camo…depending on where said soldier is located at any given time. What’s this ‘diversity’ horse manure? There is no ‘diversity’ in the military, or shouldn’t be! They should be soldiers, ready to defend this country and her citizens, not a bunch of pussified whiners!

Demin said previously that she probably wouldn’t return to JROTC because she was too busy with her studies but that she hoped other Muslims would join. She didn’t return messages left Thursday.

And there, problem solved! Now pull your collective head’s out of CAIR’s hind end, and start acting like strong Americans….again….instead of a bunch of PC bowers and scrapers to the enemies of the country.

To date, five exceptions have been granted nationwide. Four of the exceptions were for servicemen belonging to the Sikh faith, and one was for an Orthodox Jewish rabbi serving in the Army Reserve, Wright said, adding that he didn’t know how many people had applied for an exception.

“Persons who are in active combat are less likely to get granted,” he said. “They have to have a good seal around their neck to prevent the leakage of their gas mask equipment, and a beard and/or a turban could be problematic.”

The turbans of the Sikhs, and the yamaka of the Orthodox Jews, ARE religious. That head scare is NOT.

“We are an emerging group in the U.S., and as we emerge, there are inevitably going to be instances where rules, albeit not intentionally, disadvantage Muslims,” he said. “But there is a difference between possible discrimination and safety. If the rule is designed around safety, that’s just acknowledging a reality.”

And there in lies the problem. An “emerging group” that wants to destroy the U.S. FYI CAIR….I’m one of those who will NOT be bowing to Mecca. I’ve no doubt there a whole lot of us who will push back!

On a Saturday in late October in Kabul, Afghanistan, a car carrying explosives rammed into an armored U.S. military bus, killing 13 Americans, including five soldiers and eight civilian staff. In August, a Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans. Who was responsible? The Taliban. And who now says the Taliban is not America’s enemy? Vice President Joseph Biden.

In an interview with Newsweek, Biden laid out his — and the Administration’s view — of the Taliban:

Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical. There is not a single statement that the president has ever made in any of our policy assertions that the Taliban is our enemy because it threatens U.S. interests. If, in fact, the Taliban is able to collapse the existing government, which is cooperating with us in keeping the bad guys from being able to do damage to us, then that becomes a problem for us.

Just in case there was any confusion over Biden’s remarks, White House press secretary Jay Carney chimed in yesterday for clarification, complaining that the Vice President’s statement was “taken out of context.” His underlying message, though, was essentially the same as Biden’s, that the Taliban is not America’s enemy:

And what the vice president was reflecting is that — and this is related to the reconciliation process that I was just discussing — is that the Taliban, per se — while we are fighting them — it is not the elimination — the elimination of the Taliban is not the issue here.

Need a brief refresher on history, Mr. Press Secretary? Mr. Vice President? Over the past 10 years the United States has waged a costly war in Afghanistan with the purpose of destroying al-Qaeda, eradicating the Taliban regime which gave the terrorist organization safe haven, and creating a viable democracy in that country. For too long, al-Qaeda had operated from Afghanistan with impunity. Osama bin Laden formed an alliance with the Taliban, his forces trained with Taliban forces,  and his relationship with Taliban leader Mullah Omar grew. After bin Laden and his affiliates were found accountable for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, the Taliban refused to extradite the guilty parties to the United States, claiming that “without any evidence, bin Laden is a man without sin… He is a free man.” Meanwhile, bin Laden praised the Taliban as the “only Islamic government” in existence and praised the Taliban’s leader.

Let there be no doubt, bin Laden and al-Qaeda used Afghanistan as a base of attack against the United States, and it was a launching platform for the 9/11 attacks, after which time President George W. Bush declared that in the war against terrorism, neutrality is not an option, and “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.”

Under the Obama Administration, though, a different course is being pursued — one of negotiation and reconciliation with the Taliban. It dates as far back as early 2009, when in a speech before a joint session of Congress, President Barack Obama spoke of combating al-Qaeda but failed to mention defeating the Taliban, signaling his Administration’s policy direction. At the time, Heritage’s Theodore Bromund warned that the President’s path would be a dangerous one for the United States:

The comprehensive strategy that he promises may be one that seeks to reconcile with the Taliban while continuing isolated strikes against terrorist safe havens. Indeed, his strongest promise of all on national security issues was his assurance that he would not allow such safe havens to plot against the U.S. That promise, firm in isolation, foreshadows a return to the Clinton-era policy of counter-terrorism by cruise missile, just as his promise of “swift and certain justice” for captured terrorists implies a return to the view that terrorism is largely a law enforcement issue. If so, he will be returning to a well-trodden and failed path, one that led directly to 9/11.

However, it appears that reconciliation is the Administration’s end game — and Heritage’s Lisa Curtis explains in a new paper that reconciliation should not be an end in and of itself. “The U.S. must make clear that political reconciliation in Afghanistan is desirable–but only if it contributes to the ultimate goal of ensuring that Afghanistan can never again serve as a safe haven for international terrorists.”

In late September, suicide bombers assassinated former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was in charge of the High Peace Council pursuing reconciliation talks with the Taliban. The assassination dealt a blow to the political reconciliation process and reinforced resistance to the notion of political accommodation with the Taliban. And Curtis explained that it should have served as a wake-up call to the United States and that “the U.S. must be realistic about the threat that Taliban extremists and their al-Qaeda allies pose to U.S. interests in the region.”

Unfortunately, the American people are not seeing realism from the White House. Rather, they are witnessing the Obama Administration trying to make a friend out of an enemy all in the name of justifying a premature withdrawal from Afghanistan. America has made tremendous sacrifices in Afghanistan for the sake of U.S. security– the greatest sacrifice being the lives of its sons and daughters lost in waging the war. Ignoring the Taliban’s true nature jeopardizes the successes that our military has won, and it risks turning back the clock to September 10, 2001, when terrorist forces could find safe refuge from which they could plan their attacks.

On this day 70 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and requested a declaration of war against Japan following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor the day before. Roosevelt’s words carried forth across the nation via radio, and the consequences of the actions America would take would be felt around the world–and across history. The lessons America learned in those fateful days should be remembered even today.

Roosevelt noted that the day of Japan’s attack would be “a date which will live in infamy,” and he also pledged the following:

I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.

Just as Roosevelt proclaimed that “hostilities exist” 70 years ago, those words are true today. The United States faces threats at home and abroad–as we were reminded on September 11 and with every man and woman in military who makes the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedoms. The hostilities we face today are different from those we may face tomorrow, and there is no telling what challenges may lie around the corner. For that reason, our military must stand ready, prepared, and adequately equipped and funded to meet all threats, foreign and domestic.

Unfortunately, the U.S. military’s ability to effectively carry out its mission is in jeopardy. Today, there are those who would like America to return to an era of disengagement while also slashing military spending to dangerous levels. Under the Budget Control Act (BCA), the military budget will be cut by almost $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Those cuts come on top of successive rounds of deep cuts in defense dollars and capabilities that Congress and the Obama Administration have already implemented. In a new paper, Heritage’s Mackenzie Eaglen writes that those cuts will undermine U.S. power and influence around the world and reduce the ability of the military to meet future threats:

The military is a vital tool of U.S. foreign policy. Slashing defense spending without any reduction in U.S. foreign policy commitments around the world is not only dangerous, but also more costly in the long run than maintaining stable defense budgets. A review of roles and missions will not change U.S. foreign policy; only the President can do that. Starving the military as part of a deficit reduction plan may cost taxpayers more in the future if it makes the country less safe and increases the risk of another terrorist attack or the likelihood of U.S. forces being drawn into yet another overseas mission.

The only responsible way to fund defense is to identify the nation’s vital national interests, ask what is required to defend the nation and those interests, determine what military capabilities are required to do so, and then build a defense budget to match the foreign and defense policies of the United States.

Eaglen recommends that Congress tackle debt reduction responsibly with American security interests in mind. That means stopping the current rounds of defense cuts, budgeting responsibly for America’s foreign policy needs and objectives, and repealing the debt ceiling deal “trigger.” Other actions she recommends include stabilizing the military’s modernization accounts, aggressively promoting foreign military sales and increasing cutting-edge defense exports to friends and allies, and forcing the Department of Defense to innovate even as budgets fall.

Some would have Americans believe that defense budget cuts required under the BCA would reduce only the rate of increase in the overall defense budget. While precise defense budget projections under the BCA are not possible, it is a certainty that the overall defense budget will decline under its terms. And those are reductions the military can ill afford. Since President Obama took office, more than 50 major weapons programs at a value of more than $300 billion were cut or delayed. On top of this, the Administration told the military to cut almost $600 billion more over the next 15 years. That was even before the BCA took effect.

This is no way to fund a military or to fulfill the Constitution’s prescription that the primary role of the federal government is “to provide for the common defence.” That duty is just as important now as it was 70 years ago when America faced one of its greatest challenges. Just as they did then, Congress and the President should ensure that the federal government carries out its responsibilities today and fully funds our military.

Lebanon filed a complaint in the United Nations against Israel Monday for its retaliation to Katyusha rockets fired into Israel late last month, Lebanese newspaper the Daily Star reported.

In response to the four rockets fired from Lebanon, the IDF pounded the launch sites with artillery shells. The Lebanese report claimed that only one rocket was fired from Lebanon into Israel and that the IDF fired six artillery shells.

So, let me get this straight.  Rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon.  Israel retaliates.  Lebanon files a complaint because after they fired rocket into Israel, Israel fired rockets right back.  Have I got this right?

May I say…… what a load of caca de toro!  You punch someone in the face, they punch you back, and then you have the gall and audacity to go whining to the teacher?

This is a serious incident in violation of UN Council Security Resolution 1701 and is clearly directed at undermining stability in the area,” a UNIFIL statement said.

An organization associated with al-Qaida claimed responsibility for firing the rockets.

A group that can definitely be called “terrorists”, claims responsibility.  Lebanon is giving them a ‘safe haven’, then has the balls to complain when they get slapped back?  Seriously?  Who is it that is ‘undermining stability”?  It sure isn’t Israel.

Reality snap here.  Muslims want to destroy Israel.  Muslims want to destroy the United States.  The Useless Numnuts is nothing more than the mouthpiece for ‘Muslim extremists’.  It’s not surprising the guilty go whining to them on a regular basis.

“We are here away from our families, and the chapel is the one place that feels like home,” a service member at Camp Marmal told POLITICO. “With the cross on the outside, it is a constant reminder for all of us that Jesus is here for us.”

“Not having it there is really upsetting,” added another. “I walk by the chapel daily on the way to chow and the gym, and seeing the cross is a daily reminder of my faith and what Jesus accomplished for me. It is daily inspiration and motivation for me to acknowledge my faith and stay on the right path.”

The service member said he asked the base chaplain, a military officer, what had happened to the cross. “I had to take it down,” said the chaplain, according to the solider, without further explanation.

Pentagon spokesperson Commander William Speaks confirmed the cross was removed and told POLITICO, “The removal was, in fact, in accordance with Army regulations” and pointed out that the Army chaplain manual prohibits permanent display of religious symbols.

“Distinctive religious symbols, such as crosses… will not be affixed or displayed permanently on the chapel interior, exterior or grounds,” reads the manual.

Speaks said the cross had been up since mid-October; the service members said it was longer.

The two characterized the removal of the cross as an attack on their religion and noted that there had been no complaints from Muslims — there are two mosques on the base — or Jews, who had recently conducted a service in the chapel without incident.

“I really don’t understand why Christians are always attacked. If it was a crescent moon on top of a mosque, it would never be taken down,” said an Army serviceman.

“We would just like to know where the line is. The chaplains wear different religious symbols on their uniforms depending on which religion they are. Is that the next thing to be targeted?” added a second service member.

I honestly cannot come up with the words to express my total disgust!

The U.S. military and America’s national security stands at the brink. This week, a congressional “super committee” was due to develop a plan to reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Failing to enact the plan by January 15, 2012, would result in automatic cuts to military spending–a scenario that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta describes as “devastating.”

The super committee’s ability to succeed remains in serious doubt, with reports of its deadlock and failure headlining newspapers this morning. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidates are set to take the stage tomorrow night at Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall in a debate on foreign policy and national security co-hosted by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. With the future of America’s national security hanging in the balance, the question of which presidential candidate would best protect America has more importance than ever.

In letters sent to Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) last week, Panetta detailed the danger of further defense cuts if the super committee fails to meet its target. Panetta said that under the worst-case scenario, “the total cut will rise to about $1 trillion compared with the FY 2012 plan,” which in practical terms means “the smallest ground force since 1940, the smallest number of  ships since 1915, and the smallest Air Force in its history.”

What’s more, as Panetta explained, the Pentagon would face the prospect of terminating the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; littoral combat ship; all ground combat vehicle and helicopter modernization programs; European missile defense; all unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems. It may also have to delay the next-generation ballistic missile submarine; terminate next-generation bomber efforts; and eliminate the entire intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) leg of America’s nuclear “triad.”

And amidst these potential reductions to U.S. forces, Panetta wrote, “Unfortunately, while large cuts are being imposed, the threats to national security would not be reduced. As a result, we would have to formulate a new security strategy that accepted substantial risk of not meeting our defense needs.” Tragically, America’s military is being threatened despite the fact that national defense is the priority job of the national government, as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. The Defending Defense Project lays out three key facts about military spending today that the GOP presidential candidates should bear in mind as they seek the White House.

First, the main driver of America’s growing debt and deficit is domestic spending–especially entitlement spending–and not defense spending. Mandatory and discretionary domestic program spending has experienced almost exponential growth since the 1970s, contrasted with spending on national defense, which has stayed comparatively stable.

Second, defense spending has been subjected to several rounds of reductions under President Obama, with long-term cuts amounting to roughly $850 billion already. Heritage’s Mackenzie Eaglen debunks the myth that the military hasn’t already faced cuts:

Using Washington math, some say there have been no defense cuts. But President Obama’s started slashing military plans and priorities since taking office. His first defense budget canceled or delayed some 50 major equipment programs, including ships, missile defense, cargo and fighter aircraft, and ground vehicles valued at more than $300 billion. Then, behind the scenes, the White House took another $78 billion out of the military’s budget last winter.

Eaglen writes that Obama was so pleased with these defense cuts that he vowed to repeat them by cutting another $400 billion from the military. If Congress fails to pass into law a massive deficit-reduction bill as required, then long-term defense will be again cut–this time, by as much as $500 billion.

The third fact? In order to maintain global leadership, the United States must make commensurate investments in defense of its national security and international interests. Heritage’s Jim Talent explains why that mantle of leadership is so crucial:

Ever since the end of World War II, American power has been the chief deterrent to aggression: the shield under which the tools of diplomacy, trade, and engagement have produced unprecedented progress toward freedom and democracy. But the shield is cracking. America’s global influence is being checked and rolled back, and even the homeland is no longer safe from attack.

The United States continues to face threats at home and abroad, yet slashed military spending would undermine America’s ability to confront these challenges. America’s debt and rampant spending are serious problems that needs to be addressed, but eviscerating the military–which has already been cut–is not the way to do it.

Cheering crowds have greeted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as he arrived back in his northern hometown of Mitzpe Hila after five years in captivity in Gaza.

Sgt Shalit was flown by helicopter from an airbase in central Israel after undergoing medical tests.

I praise God this young man was finally reunited with his family Many prayers have been said for his safe return over his long imprisonment by the terrorists.

He was freed after Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas agreed a deal under which more than 1,000 Palestinians would also be released.

Many thousands thronged the streets of Gaza to greet the former prisoners.

There is one thing I do not understand. Why doesn’t Israel just execute those proven to have murdered innocent citizens? Having Israeli taxpayers to foot the bill to support these animals just makes no sense.

Israel freed 477 Palestinians on Tuesday, including people convicted of murder and of planning suicide attacks.

A few well placed bombs would deal with the problem. I’ve no doubt Israel could handle this issue quite efficiently.

Another 550 jailed Palestinians are to be freed next month under the deal.

Sgt Shalit is now home. Screw letting another 550 back on the streets. How about a bit of justice? sigh… Unlike the terrorists, Israelis are people of honor, and will keep their word.

In his first interview, Sgt Shalit told Egyptian TV he missed his friends and family. Looking drawn and pale, he said he hoped the exchange would help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Sgt Shalit was then transferred to the Kerem Shalom crossing between Egypt and Israel.

He made a phone call to his parents and was later flown to Tel Nof airbase, where the family was reunited.

Initial medical examinations found Sgt Shalit to be in a stable condition.

I pray for this young man’s mental stability. After being held by these animals for 5 years, I can’t imagine that he has not been affected emotionally, and mentally. Physical scars will heal, but the mental and emotional abuse he must have suffered, I’ve no doubt, will have a profound effect on the rest of his life. Continue to keep him in your prayers, that his healing will be whole.

Seeing pictures of the young man shortly after his release, the first thought that entered my mind was the pictures of liberated Jews from the concentration camps.  Granted, thankfully, not quite as bad.  But then, there really is no difference between the Nazis and the Islamic terrorists.

Senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki and another America-born militant were killed in Yemen early Friday morning by a CIA-led U.S. drone strike, marking the highest-profile takedown of terror leaders since the raid on Usama bin Laden’s compound.

Fox News has learned that two Predator drones hovering above al-Awlaki’s convoy fired the Hellfire missiles which killed the terror leader. According to a senior U.S. official, the operation was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under the direction of the CIA.

Al-Awlaki was a U.S.-born Islamic militant cleric who became a prominent figure with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the network’s most active branch. He was involved in several terror plots in the United States in recent years, using his fluent English and Internet savvy to draw recruits to carry out attacks. President Obama signed an order in early 2010 making him the first American to be placed on the “kill or capture” list.

The Yemeni government and Defense Ministry announced al-Awlaki’s death, without giving details. But American sources confirmed the CIA and U.S. military were behind the strike on al-Awlaki, whom one official described as a “big fish.”

Shucks! I’m just all torn up about this. Can’cha tell? 

But, unfortunately, there are a whole lot more al-Awlakis out there.  A lot of ‘em are sitting all nice and comfy in their nice American homes, creeping into our lives, little by little, undermining our Constitution, to bring about their caliphate.  All the while, we sit here with our thumbs up our hinders, allowing it to happen.  Our elected officials are too busy sucking up to the very ones who would see us all dead, or converted.  “Mustn’t offend!”  HORSE MANURE!  I’M offended!  I’m offended that our government can’t do it’s job of protecting our borders.  I’m offended that there are people who think it’s just peachy for them to built a victory mosque just feet from where they murdered our citizens.  I’m offended that those of us who oppose this take over are called racist, bigot, islmamphobic.  I’m offended that any America would think it’s just fine to allow such murderous pedophile worshiping thugs into our country, and then tell us WE have to submit to THEIR wishes, while our Christian children aren’t allowed to even say God Bless you when someone sneezes, or that a teacher can’t put the national motto, “In God We Trust”, up in their classroom, yet many schools are providing prayer rooms for their cultist students.

Have we totally lost our minds?