'Love my rifle more than you'

I found that title intriquing. It is one of many titles from soldiers stationed in Iraq who are writing books, blogs and memoirs of their time there.

One soldier's terrifying account of a fire fight in Mosul during 2004:
"I observed a man, dressed all in black with a terrorist beard, jump all of the sudden from the side of a building, he pointed his AK-47 barrel right at my focking pupils, I froze and then a split second later, I saw the fire from the muzzle flash leaving the end of his barrel and brass shell casings exiting the side of his AK as he was shooting directly at me.

"I heard and felt the bullets whizz literally inches from my head, hitting all around my hatch and .50-cal mount making a 'Ping' 'Ping' 'Ping' sound.

"I ducked down in the hatch, and I yelled, 'We're taking fire! 9 o'clock!!!'"

His description goes on for 12 adrenalin-fuelled pages, full of cursing, prayers and desperation, before finishing in typical deadpan fashion: "I walked back to my room, thanked God, and passed out on my bed.

"Note: I don't think CNN's report of only 12 dead is accurate."


Tenuous un-civil war
Bill Roggio, over at the Fourth Rail, has more on 'stepping back from civil war in Iraq'

A quiet, rattled cage
Almost forgotten in Afghanistan: Afghan jail riot halted as food supply resumes

The 'anti-Bill'
Victor Davis Hanson expounds on the other Iraq.
I recently listened to members of the newly elected Iraqi provincial council in strife-torn Kirkuk. All were enthusiastic about their new responsibilities. They were unabashedly argumentative with one another over security, electricity and oil production — but still confident that they could govern their own affairs. As the meeting broke up, a female council member whispered, "Tell the Americans thanks, but ask them to have patience with us."

Every cloud has a silver lining...until it doesn't.

Maybe it will not be civil war after all.
"Last night [at] the meeting between the different political parties, we agreed on some important points that might cool things down, like promises not to attack mosques,'' says Saleh al-Mutlak, a leader of the main Sunni front in parliament. "The general environment was not that bad, they are listening now, [the] Shiites know the civil war will hurt everybody including themselves."

"Everyone believes that the prospect for a civil war has diminished significantly in the course of the last several days, and that's clearly a good thing,'' US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters in a conference call on Saturday.

But watch out for the rule of unintended consequences. How far will Al-Sadr's star rise?

Maybe, maybe not: Iraqi forces capture Zarqawi aide.

The Saudis are reporting progress too: Saudi forces kill suspected militants after siege.

And Yemen Executes Islamic Militant.

Perhaps we are making more progress in the war on terror than it seems with the bloody mist that clouds our vision. Perhaps the rest of the world realizes that the violent loose cannons on the world's decks can offer nothing but panic and chaos and need to be dealt with swiftly. Perhaps every cloud has a silver lining...until it doesn't.

Oh! Come on, Bill! Have you been hangin' with the democrats?

Tal Afar: a little closer to home

My kid is stationed in this northern Iraqi (Kurdish) city, so I maybe fixated on this topic more than others over the next year. Since the intense rat killing from last fall, there has not been much reporting about that area. The few recent articles I could find on Tal Afar say the area is relatively quiet for now. My kid says there is still sporadic gunfire on the edge of town and the occasional 'ka-boom' over the next hill, so obviously something is still going on.

One of the few recent articles....
US Commander: Insurgents Driven from Tal Afar in Northern Iraq
By Meredith Buel
Washington
27 January 2006

A senior U.S. military commander in Iraq says coalition and Iraqi forces have driven insurgents from the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, and that reconstruction of the area is well under way. Army Colonel H.R. McMaster made the remarks during a teleconference from Iraq.

A US Marine, left, patrols with soldiers of the Iraqi Army in the streets in Husaybah, Iraq
US Marine, left, patrols with soldiers of Iraqi Army in streets in Iraq
Colonel McMaster says when his forces first arrived in northern Iraq last May, insurgents, including foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists, had choked the life out of the region by conducting systematic attacks throughout the area.

McMaster says many of the insurgents infiltrated the city of Tal Afar, which lies about 60 kilometers from porous Syrian border.

"What the enemy really needed to do is intimidate the population in the area, to give them safe-haven so people would be afraid to cooperate with our forces or Iraqi security forces trying to bring security to the area," he said. "They also hoped to incite sectarian violence, which they did by collapsing the police force, turning the police force, in effect, into a sectarian militia that further fed the cycle of sectarian violence."

A turning point came last September when, for the first time, U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces took the lead in a major military operation against insurgents in Tal Afar.

Colonel McMaster says the Iraqi army and police forces backed by U.S. troops successfully drove most of the foreign fighters out of the area.

"As a result of our combined efforts with Iraqi security forces, some brave Iraqi leaders, soldiers and police I am happy to report to you that the situation in Tal Afar, and in western Niniweh, has fundamentally changed," he added. "What we have been able to achieve there together alongside our Iraqi brothers is to bring life back to this area, to rekindle hope."

Colonel McMaster says the success at Tal Afar means that a major staging area has now been taken from those dedicated to the defeat of coalition forces and the new Iraqi government.

"This was an important physical defeat for the enemy because they lost this safe haven and support base in an area they hoped to use to destabilize the northern region of Iraq," he explained. "It was also a very important psychological defeat to the enemy, because people now understand that these anti-Iraqi forces want Iraq to fail."

Colonel McMaster says basic services, such as water and electricity, have now been restored in Tal Afar, and people in the city feel safe to move around the region.

He says in the recent Iraqi elections some 90 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.

Starting early with the Irish thing

We all need to lighten the load.
I found this over at Cathy in the Wright. Can St. Paddy's day last a couple o' months?

Ireland Declares War on France

Jacques Chirac, The French Prime Minister, was sitting in his office wondering what kind of mischief he could perpetrate against the United States when his telephone rang.

"Hallo, Mr. Chirac!," a heavily accented voice said. "This is Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Sligo, Ireland. I am ringing to inform you that we are officially declaring war on you!"

"Well, Paddy," Chirac replied, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"

"Right now," said Paddy, "after a moment's calculation there is meself, me cousin Sean, me next door neighbor Seamus, and the entire dart team from the pub. That makes eight!"

Chirac paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have one hundred thousand men in my army waiting to move on my command."

"Begorra!" said Paddy. "I'll have to ring you back!"

Sure enough, the next day, Paddy called again. "Mr. Chirac, the war is still on. We have managed to get us some infantry equipment!"

"And what equipment would that be, Paddy?," Chirac asked.

"Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm tractor."

Chirac sighed, amused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armored personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my army to one hundred fifty thousand since we last spoke."

"Saints preserve us!" said Paddy. "I'll have to get back to you."

Sure enough, Paddy rang again the next day. "Mr. Chirac, the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We've modified Jackie McLaughlin's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Pub have joined us as well!"

Chirac was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 100 bombers and 200 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to two hundred thousand!"

"Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph!," said Paddy, "I'll have to ring you back."

Sure enough, Paddy called again the next day. "Top o' the mornin', Mr.Chirac! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to call off the war."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Chirac. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well," said Paddy, "we've all had a long chat over a bunch of pints and decided there's no foo-kin way we can feed two hundred thousand prisoners."

U.S. ports: starboard or port? Or is it stern?

Neal Boortz (asbestos req'd) details more good reasons why this UAE/Dubai port deal smells like yesterday's fish.

Take a lesson from the past week, Mr. President. Don't shoot yourself in the foot.

Its a fickle world

Most of what I have heard and thought about this UAE/Dubai Port hoopla has been in the realm of gut check and knee jerk territory. Tonight, I finally read something that had some enumerated common sense in it. Check it out over at the Daily Pundit.

The secret word is Hutchison Whampoa

Excuse me.
Did I miss something at the previous white-guy-secret-meeting?
Apparently, everyone but the Bush administration missed a lot of things.
Too busy thumbing the thesaurus for 'quagmire', I guess.
A United Arabs Emirates based company, Dubai Ports World purchased Peninsular & Oriental Steam. The British P & O company ran major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia. Now, all these North American ports are to be managed by an Arabian 'ally' outfit rubber stamped by GW's administration.

There's nothing wrong with foreign companies running ports. It's done all over the world. The most notable to North Americans is the Hutchison Whampoa Co.
A communist Chinese company.
Thanks to a deal brokered by the Carter administration and implemented by the Clinton administration, H & W controls most of the world's ship cargo through the Panama canal. It also controls ports in the Netherlands & China with substantial interests in England and now, Russia. Attempts at inroads into the East Indian shipping market have failed as did H & W's attempt last year to buy Peninsular and Oriental which left the door open to Dubai Ports World to purchase. This is a communist Chinese company, folks. Everyone seems to be ok with that. But there is a lot of stink & confusion about GW's current toe jam. An Arab company, not an Arab government, running American ports just ain't good P.R., GW. Did someone mention homeland security?
Of course, there are always differing opinions.

I have this awful vision of Ann Richards all those years ago at the DNC convention going, 'Purr George. He kaint hepp it....his timing sucks!' Or something like that. Let it go, Mr. President. Wait until March madness when no one is looking.
Timing is everything.

Remember, the secret word is 'hutchison whampoa'.

It's the Cheney, stupid!

Believe it or don't, there are bloggers out there more astute than myself.
I'll let that sink in.
I saw this story referenced over at Vodka Dudes place (batman drunk & still relevant). It originally came from The Officer's Club. In a plausibly prophetic sort of way, the post lays out why Iran will get away with it's nuclear show down with the West. Here it is in its entirety:

Seven Lessons Iran has Learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom

7. The media is your friend: Iran has been much better about laying out its case for acquiring nuclear technology than Saddam ever was. Part of this is because of the frequent news conferences they hold. The Western media has been iffy on covering this too much because of the mandatory Jew-hate in each speech, but if war seems likely on the horizon, you can bet that they will be amplifying Iran's warnings and screaming for appeasements.

6. Appeal to the "international community." Like it or not, the people most directly threatened by a nuclear Iran are Europeans. Sure, there are US troops in Bagram and Baghdad, but if Iran goes nuclear, they become the "trip wire" that the 2nd ID serves as on Korea's DMZ. Sure, a nuke could take out some of them, but it would trigger "total war" against Iran. Europe is the target here, with an Islamist insurgency forming that would be protected by an Iranian nuclear shield. Persians, historically, loathe societies they see as weak, but are easily willing to exploit them if they can. Europe seems perfectly willing to negotiate until they have nukes pointed at them, and Iran seems to be comfortable with this as well. Saddam was very bad at this, and preferred isolation to diplomatic engagement.

5. Use the economy, stupid. Yes, Iran threatened to put economic sanctions on itself if it was referred to the security council. That would be ridiculous if it weren’t so possible. Iran has plenty of domestic energy, and sanctions would only harm customers like Russia and China. Saddam was more focused on himself, I believe, than Iraq as a nation. He used the Oil for Food program to sap the Iraqi economy, turning the country into a drying husk before we invaded. Iran can wield their economy as weapon on the international scene.

4. Build up the fanatic side of the military. Saddam's "elite" Republican Guard proved to be the only thing standing between Baghdad and the 3rd Infantry partly because they were furiously devoted to the Hussein Regime and the Baath Party. Iran sees this, and is building up their "suicide brigades" for domestic defense. I think the mullahs are aware that the conscript side of their army/navy/air force probably won’t stand and fight if the US invades, so they need a plan "B".

3. Divide and conquer. Iran knows that Europe poses no serious military threat to them, and that any action would require a NATO (read: US) action, their best bet is to make side deals to turn member countries against each other. Saddam was very successful at this by leveraging France and Germany against the US. Whether the mullahs can pull this off or not is questionable- France and Germany have the Muslim minorities that could cause domestic political problems, and are in range of Iranian missiles- they may be less likely to split apart on this issue.

2. Deter War. Remember the media's insane predictions of body counts before OEF/OIF? Imagine the media speculation about total war with Iran. Iran can shape this information operation by showing off its military at every opportunity. This will no doubt influence the way they are reported in the media, and questions will be raised like: can the US even invade Iran? They have 300 divisions of troops, its irresponsible to invade with only 3! Facts won't really matter here, 300 divisions on paper doesn't translate to operational capacity on the ground.

1. Get that Nuke Tech! No country has ever been invaded that has possessed nuclear weapons. Saddam kept the capacity to acquire WMD, but never (I think) thought the imperialist cowboy president would get around his ingenious scheme of UN manipulation. Suppose Iran is invaded, and the regime vacates Tehran, but leave a ticking nuke there. A week later, it goes off, vaporizing a couple combat brigades. Once Iran gets this (or can bluff they have it) the rules change. Iran knows this, and is frantically pushing their nuke technology forward. Tick tock.

Has anybody here seen Martin Luther?

I am not an expert on Islam.
Heck, I barely know my way around a Christian Bible, but I do know a philosophy in desperate need of reformation when I see one. In the fifteenth century, Martin Luther rassled with the formidable corruption entrenched in the Catholic church. From his simple writings, Europe and the next 500 years was thrust into religious and imperial turmoil in order to purge that ecumenical cancer from Western culture. Awakened with Luther's 95 theses was the obvious power of the printing press and a hint of the modern age.

Sadly, just when the Christian reformation was rampaging in Europe, Islam was extinguishing the light of tolerance and debate. During the middle ages, Islamic scholars, who once embraced a willingness to engage in religious comparison and intellectual criticism, shackled the faith in dogma and repression. Those scholars and rulers effectively closed the practice of ijtihad; interpretation and reasoning based on the sacred texts. Following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 A.D. and for at least the first eight or nine centuries of Islam, there were a wide variety of opinions and schools of thought on almost every issue and question. Ijtihad was developed by Muslim scholars in order to understand and apply the message of the Qur'an to varying societal needs and conditions.

Tragically, in this twenty first century, the faithful and outsiders alike risk their life and property if they dare criticize or comment on the violent and intolerant state of this worldwide religion. Suleiman, a contemporary of Luther's, would think all this anything but magnificent.

Pssst.

Sumpins up and it ain't pretty.
Syria is sensing an ill wind blowing in from the West. In a pre emptive move to protect it's foreign monetary assets, Syria switched to the Euro from the U.S. dollar.
"It looks like a kind of pre-emptive action aimed at making their foreign assets safer, preventing them from getting frozen in case of any conflict."
We're talking billions of dollars.
In a similar move some weeks back, Iran did its own currency tango when it withdrew some assets from western scrutiny.
Oh. Iran has also resumed its uranium enrichment program. Couple all that with this little hint about a pre emptive monkey stomp against Iran's nuclear facilities and I say 'sumpins up. It ain't pretty.

Believe it or not, other brainiacs, besides yours truely, have come to this same conclusion and they don't like the idea much.
"A MAJOR American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East, a report warned yesterday."

Excuse me. But isn't there already a war in the middle East?

A big thank you is in order

Once again the web gremlins have smiled upon this amateur hack. Bill Roggio, over at The Fourth Rail, has been gracious enough to include this lowly blog in his blog list.
Thank you, Mr. Bill!

Hoopla

Yes, I think valentines day is a pretty lame holiday too. It's another one of those chick induced, guilt trip calender days that only makes me want to buy more stock in Hallmark, but would someone please tell these Mohammadans to stop embarrassing themselves?!

In more important news, peace returns to a Pakistani town. I don't think cupid was involved.

And here's how a dead guy is helping President G.W. Bush be a commanding commander. An immediate 'no comment' was issued from Cupid's office.

Another line has been drawn in the sand, again, and that is a good thing. I think.
At least we know that CS monitor Journalist Jill Carroll is still alive. She is doing housework in her captivity, but she is still alive and hopefully will be released very soon. Meanwhile, cupid cannot pacify the continuing cartoon outrage.

Finally, Victor Davis Hanson elaborates more on the abyss of cultures and the self-imposed impotence of Western civilization.
Insidiously, the censorship only accelerates. It is dressed up in multicultural gobbledygook about hurtfulness and insensitivity, when the real issue is whether we in the West are going to be blown up or beheaded if we dare come out and support the right of an artist or newspaper to be occasionally crass.

In the post-Osama bin Laden and suicide-belt world of our own, we shudder at these fanatical riots, convincing ourselves that perhaps the Salman Rushdies, Theo Van Goghs, and Danish cartoonists of the world had it coming. All the while, we think to ourselves about the fact that we do not threaten to kill Muslims when they promulgate daily streams of hate and racism in sermons and papers, and much less would we go about promising death to the creator of "Piss Christ" or the Da Vinci Code. How ironic that we now find politically-correct Westerners — those who formerly claimed they would defend to the last the right of an Andres Serrano or Dan Brown to offend Christians — turning on the far milder artists who rile Muslims.

~Happy valentines day

The Abyss of Cultures

I have been chastised.
An angry knowledge collector reprimanded me for identifying the Dutch as publishing the original offending Muslim cartoons. It was, in fact, the Danes.
I'm obtuse. Mea culpa.

My mistake will not result in violent demonstrations though. And despite pleas from cooler heads in the Muslim world, the death, destruction and calls for western blood continue unabated around the world.

This article gives an insightful look into the frightful void between two cultures.
'One demonstrator (in Afghanistan) questioned freedom of speech, as it is interpreted in the West. "What kind of freedom is that? In the West, insulting religious sanctities is considered freedom, but in reality, freedom should not be something that would allow the questioning of the religion and beliefs of Muslim people," Nur Mohammad said.'

But many Muslims in the west have a more moderated response while the Danes reflect upon this angry hornets nest.

PS: This has nothing to do with wearing tin foil in your hat or dusting off your secret decoder ring, so bear with me. The 'Winds of Change' blog posted an interesting conspiracy theory about the question of timing concerning this cartoon outrage.

Hey. You just can't make this stuff up.

Born to be dumb

This would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.
From Daimnation!'s blog comes the story of a man in England who dressed up like a suicide bomber during a public protest; complete with fake torso bomb; while he was on parole.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Portent

This is another brilliant piece by Victor Davis Hanson. In it he outlines the lunacy, hypocrisy and impending catastrophe that has gripped this new millennium. The war of words, economies and politics is but an adjunct to the looming nebula of war encroaching on the global horizon.
"Three Pillars of Wisdom" by Victor Davis Hanson.
~nuff said.

Man, that's just plain mean

It does appear the Dutch have stepped in it with the publication of irreverent cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad (blessed be his name) and drew the ire of Muslims across Europe in angry public protests.
(No, I'm not going to provide a link to the 'toons).
Now, France's Soir, Germany's Die Welt, La Stampa in Italy and El Periodico in Spain all reprinted some of the drawings in a show of free speech solidarity with the Dutch news agency.
Man, that's just plain mean.
Opining on the right of free speech is one thing, but republishing the insult is like throwing mud: not only do your hands get dirty, but you lose a lot of ground.
That having been said, the Muslim world needs to take a deep breath and grow a thicker skin. If Christians would throw a tizzy like you boys every time someone blasphemed Christ, the western world would have descended into chaos many decades ago. Sticks & stones, boys. Sticks & stones.

Time for an attitude adjustment
Does the phrase 'beat like a rented mule' mean anything to him?

Something silly
Japan appears to excel at most everything better than the Americans. They are even selling us the pot we piss in and getting high dollar for it too.

Thanks for not wasting our time
Google is catching flak about this Chinese censorship thing and I say 'so what'. Just what is China trying to keep from their people anyways? Porn? Gambling? How to make money? Good luck. Digital information doesn't respect borders.
But the U.S. congress wants to do something urgent and decisive.
It wants to investigate. Form a committee. Hold hearings. You know, important stuff.
So it invited Cisco, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to 'slpain' it all. All said, 'No' and maybe even hell no!.
I guess those tech boys didn't want a warm welcome like that given to the oil men a while back when they came to visit capitol hill.
Thanks for not wasting our time, techies.

For men only
Warning! This link leads to a very difficult and demanding test concerning perception and attention to detail. Ingeniously disguised with in this image is a Ford Mustang automobile. Your task is to somehow find it in the quickest amount of time. The world record is 16 minutes and 23 seconds. Most men fail to successfully complete this difficult and frustrating trial, but do not be discouraged. You have been warned!