jeffreymark

LIBERAL PHARISAISM

New Testament Pharisees were religious leaders whose mindless commitment to their nefarious institution eschewed human need. Liberals, like olden day Pharisees, seem more interested in the health of their waning institution than in the well being of our humanistic society. Often they take on hot button issues such as gay rights for the sake of offering minorities a political home, while at the same time getting their institutional backs scratched. 

And, liberals have identified a cadre of minority sinners much like those conservatives and evangelicals oppose in the opposite party. We call this group the American military. Ever heard of them? Apparently New York Board of Elections forgot to send ballots overseas by the deadline. Its getting to be a regular mantra at election time: Forget the military.  I ask you, in comparison to our brave soldiers what beneficial contribution have gays made to our society? (is there such a thing as a gay gay) Oh, I know. They have passionately fought for freedom. Freedom from what-from moral restraint? 

FALLEN SOLDIERS WITH SOUL

Carrollton, Texas artist Phil Taylor honors fallen soldiers through his American Fallen Soldiers Project. Taylor paints haunting portraits of soldiers who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Some say his pieces possess a soul. Take a look at them and decide for yourself. (click on portrait)

DEAR MR. OBAMA

A powerful message from an Iraq war veteran. Betcha Obama's people track this guy down, use government computers to get into his personal business, and trash him until he's mincemeat.  

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REPORT ON MILITARY RETENTION/RECRUITING NUMBERS

Blogger and military wife Amy Proctor posts the DOD's July 08 military retention/recruitment numbers. Where is the New York Times on this one?

Active duty

Reserves

SELLING AMERICA'S MILITARY SOUL FOR A MESS OF POTTAGE

One of the most theologically compelling and seminal stories of the Old Testament features Isaac's younger son Jacob and eldest son Esau. Traditionally the older inherited the birthright from the father. In this story, however, Jacob, along with his mother Rebekah, took matters into their own hands. They deceived Esau, and to make along story short, stole his birthright over a mess of pottage.

Times have changed, faces look different, but politicians such as Obama, continue the age old tradition of selling out for a mess of political power. This little boy who would be president, according to those with greater experience, seems to care more about personal power than America's strength particularly in regard to foreign policy:

Despite these facts — however the mainstream media chooses to spin them — the operative question is: Will any of this matter to Obama?

I fear it won’t. He’s already shown that his version of fact-finding is to lay out an Iraq plan before going there. And while he conceded yesterday that there has been “enormous improvement” in security, Obama remains unwilling to concede change-I-can-believe-in on his three main Iraq tenets: timelines, political progress, and Iraq as a central front.

The statement he released after touching down in-country reiterates his misguided support for “a clear date” for withdrawal, his confused assertion that “political reconciliation continues to lag,” and his stubborn insistence that America must “refocus” our efforts in Afghanistan. Obama went so far as to tell an interviewer that he would oppose the surge again, despite the fact that the strategy that has saved countless American and Iraqi lives.

Should we fully blame Obama for his stubbornness? We created this immature gaga eyed kid who would be president. Or, at least our collective narcissistic disposition breathed life into his soul.

In addition, not only does Obama seem more concerned with winning an election than a war, the W$J's Daniel Henninger believes Obama possesses the philosophy to establish him as a sort of break the mold Democrat, but the old established 60's liberal Congressional crowd such Hillary, may sweep him right back into their anachronistic agenda. This may explain his inability to form a clearly defined Middle East policy. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Watch the interview with Henninger below.

AN AWE INSPIRING LOOK AT THE BATTLE FOR SADR CITY

While the battle for Sadr City raged on in March and April, the awe inspiring Apache Helicopter, guided by the 4th US Army Division’s 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, provided aerial cover for the troops below. Bill Murray posts the inside story. It's worth reposting in its entirety here so that the reader may grasp the implications of the text I outlined in bold:

There are few pictures of a US Army Tactical Operations Centers, and once inside you realize why. Everything within the walls of a TOC in Iraq -- and there are dozens at the company, battalion and brigade levels -- is more or less classified. Screen after screen of live Unmanned Aerial Vehicle camera footage, high-definition video from floating balloons tethered high above each forward-operating base, high-powered FM radios connected with ground troops, three tiers of desks with sergeants and captains using internal message and email systems to communicate with UAV operators. It’s a bit Hollywood for the uninitiated.

On these screens, the battle for Sadr City in late March and April played out. The 4th US Army Division’s 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, located at Taji Airbase in the suburbs of Baghdad, had responsibility for close-air support and reconnaissance for most of Baghdad east of the Tigris River when between March 25 and mid-May, elements within Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army fought pitched with Iraqi Army and Coalition forces for control of the stronghold.

The spike in violence caused the regiment to keep six AH-64 Apaches in the air over northern and eastern Baghdad at all times as part of coordinated ground attacks with Iraqi National forces and the US 4th Division and 10th Mountain Division. During that time, Apaches from units surrounding Baghdad fired more than 200 Hellfire laser-guided missiles, killing 251 enemy combatants, according to Civil Affairs Sergeant First Class Chris Seaton. Sadr’s forces and the Iraqi government of Nouri al Maliki agreed on a cease-fire in May.

During that period there were "dozens of engagements a day. Now we’re back into where we want it to be," said Lieutenant Colonel Todd Royer, the regiment’s commander. "Iraqi security forces are showing active signs of improvement. Almost all the missions are joint, and almost all of them have been Iraqi led."

The evolution of US Army’s TOCs during the Iraqi conflict may be among the biggest reasons why the military "surge" in the past year has helped cut year-on-year violence in the country by up to 80 percent, according to the Department of Defense.

The near instantaneous, error-free communication between air surveillance and ground troops has allowed much fewer troops on the ground to coordinate with air support and Iraqi forces, making units such as the 10th Mountain Division a potent constabulary force using a fraction of the troops normally necessary for such role.

"The ground units have been ... getting high-value individuals, time-sensitive targets," said Apache pilot Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeffrey Dumond. "They were sporadic before in Sadr City. Then, it became everyday, then, several times a day. It seems to have worked. It’s uneventful out there now."

Doing the job of a unit twice its size, the 3rd Regiment operates 24 Apache helicopters, the US military’s premier attack helicopter, and 10 Blackhawk helicopters -- used for everything from medivac flights to office moves. In the past seven months, the 36 helicopters have flown 14,000 hours, more than a regular unit would fly in two years.

Sadr's forces took a relentless pounding from US aerial attacks and the Iraqi Army, while anecdotal evidence from Iraqi police and Army patrols showed parts of Sadr City decimated of grown men, leaving only 12 or 13-year-old boys to fight. Violent activities in Sadr City have plummeted since the May cease-fire. More than 1,000 members Mahdi Army member are believed to have been killed there, while another 1,300 Mahdi Army fighters from Iraq may have escaped to safe houses in Iran.

US intelligence reports say Sadr is trying to get his leaders to meet him in Qom, Iran, where he may be hiding, in order to reconstitute forces with a focus on attacking exclusively US military targets.

"It’s possible there is a slowdown because of the regional elections coming up" in October or November, said Dumond, speaking after an evening pilot's briefing. "They may feel they need to rebuild trust" after organized bombing in crowded areas angered Shia populations that represent the core of Sadr’s political support.

The exhibition of force by the US and Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki in the past months is not without US critics. A Washington Post article published May 23 criticized the unit and particular pilots for civilian deaths and injuries occurring during the March to May period.

"The Post article did a real disservice to the pilot," said Major Geoff Crawford, second in command of the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment. "It came here with an agenda." Officers in the unit wrote a letter to the Washington Post, complaining that much of the story’s reporting was taken out of context. The letter itself was edited without permission before publication, Crawford said.

Despite the importance of the Iraqi Army’s investiture of Sadr City and Basrah and the dethroning of Sadr’s powerbase within Baghdad, periods of decreased violence in the past have not lasted, while political reconciliation between Shia, Sunnis and Kurds remains incomplete.

"Success now is not determined by the number of engagement, but by lack of engagements," said Captain Matthew Paladino, who operates the regiment’s Tactical Operations Center.

The regiment this month is in the process of transferring south to Baghdad’s International Airport, taking over surveillance and close air support over much of southern Iraq until February, when the 700 soldiers in the unit rotate back to Fort Hood, Texas.

One wonders what the press thinks it might gain by continually distorting facts, engaging in subversive reporting, and undermining the American morale. Makes us think perhaps the real enemy lives not in Iraq or the Middle East, but in the cubicles of the liberal press room. Shame on you Benedict Arnolds.

DORTHY WHERE ARE YOU WHEN WE NEED YOU

This from Move America Forward:

The anti-military organization, Code Pink, is bringing witches out to the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center this Friday 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!"

So we here at Move America Forward decided to have a counter-event. We're calling it a "Witch-Hunt" and we ask you to join us this FRIDAY, May 9th at the Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center. We'll be out there from 8:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and ask you to come and join us for part of the time, or all of the time if you can spare the time.

Bring your buckets of water tomorrow and melt em' down.

VETS FOR FREEDOM SPREADING THE TRUTH

Uncle Jimbo of BlackFive gives an inspiring report from the Vets For Freedom National Heroe's Tour. Listening to these heroes speak brings to mind gain Harry Truman. His fledging poll numbers did a 180 after he left office and the nation retrospectively looked at his presidency with a birds eye view. The same fate indeed awaits President Bush.

JOHN MCCAIN, TROOP SURGE, AND PEACENIKS

John McCain certainly falls short of traditional conservative's expectations. Lately he invoked the class warfare rhetoric of the left. But, he remains consistent in his support for the war in Iraq. Recently the Boston Globe posted this concerning McCain's position:

John McCain asserted yesterday that last year's troop buildup in Iraq pulled the country back from the "abyss of defeat" and "opened the way for something approaching normal political and economic life for the average Iraqi." On the eve of the long-awaited appearance before Congress today of General David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, the presumptive Republican nominee also portrayed calls from his Democratic presidential rivals to withdraw US forces from Iraq as a "failure of leadership." Addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars, McCain insisted that despite a recent outbreak of heavy fighting and a US death toll that has surpassed 4,000, pulling out now would jeopardize recent gains. "To promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests, and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility," McCain said of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "It is a failure of leadership."

On the other hand Obama's position represents a major ideological shift introduced by Walter Cronkite's gaffe following the Tet offensive during the Vietnam war. Tet single handedly gave anti war activists fodder for their position and planted seeds of doubt concerning American interests and capabilities in relation to foreign affairs. Historian Victor Davis Hanson, however, posits a salient point when suggesting:

At the same time, this freedom to distort often can hamper the military operations of the moment, as Thucydides himself saw and Plato feared in The Republic--and as was the case with the Tet Offensive. Frankness and hysteria, in place of reasoned and positive assessment, may have prolonged America's agony in Vietnam and lost battles in the field, but they surely didn't endanger the war against communism. Had America been as closed a society as was Vietnam, then it might well have won the battle but lost the war, much like the Soviet Union, which imploded after its involvement in Afghanistan, a military intervention similar to America's in Vietnam in terms of tactical ineptitude, political denseness, and strategic imbecility, but a world apart in the Russians' denial of free criticism, public debate, and uncensored reporting about their error.

How odd that the institutions that can thwart the daily battle progress of Western arms can also ensure the ultimate triumph of its cause. If the Western commitment to self-critique contributed to the American defeat in Vietnam, then it also was paramount in the explosion of Western global influence in the decades after the war, even as the Vietnamese army fought for a regime increasingly despised at home, shunned abroad, and bankrupt economically and morally.

In the next few decades, it shall come to pass that Vietnam will resemble the West far more than the West Vietnam. The freedom to speak out, the titillating headline, the flashy expose, and the idea that a man in tie and suit, not one sporting sunglasses, epaulets, and a revolver, is the Commander in Chief are in the end more likely to win than lose wars, on and off the battlefield.

Hanson's observation implicitly raises hopes that despite the outcome in our minor wars and the strident tones emanating from the leftist peaceniks such as Obama, the American stamp of freedom will remain imprinted within the global soul. Perhaps this bit of wisdom reminds us that freedom's mission begins at home. All the more reason I choose not to elect left wing socialists who embrace class envy and forced collectivism, a concern which leaves us quizzically scratching our heads over John McCain. Yet, McCain's party affiliation, his defense of the war, and his age, address his philosophical backers, his tenacity, and his seasoned wisdom. Thus, in the end I will vote for him.

For a more detailed comparative look at the Iraqi and Vietnam wars go here and listen to Victor Davis Hanson's hour long lecture on the subject. Good stuff from a conservative historical point of view.

GENRAL PETRAEUS UNDER ENEMY FIRE

General Petraeus comes home to the good old US of A and faces enemy fire from the liberal Dems. Cartoonists Michael Ramirez poignantly hammers home the awful truth.