 |
|
 |
| [-] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
| [−] |
Prev | List | Random | Next |
Free Lebanon!!
Air force pundit says those in Europe must stop endorsing the Syrian version of the cheat-and-treat game which consists of endless negotiations about Syrian troop "redeployment."
The genie of people power has come out of the bottle and no amount of political chicanery will send it back in.Those who have wondered where next the flame of freedom may rise in the Middle East have their answer. After free and fair elections in Iraq, it is now the turn of Lebanon to break the shackles of tyranny and take the path of democracy.
Raising the Flag
Most Americans don't know the names, but they know the picture of six young men taken on February 23, 1945. On that date, Joe Rosenthal photographed these men raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. This photo became the signature image of the U.S. Marines in the nation's most heroic battle -- Iwo Jima.
Daisy cutter has the names of these men and a great post that you must read.
_____
From Iraq
Readers here are aware that military family members aren't just "left behind" in the States when the spouse deploys - they often wait their loved one's safe return in remote locations all over the globe. But every member of the US Armed Forces faces unique challenges when deploying.
Major K dedicates a post to the spouses of Guard and Reserve members, who are often left at home in the states far from any military installation and the support available there. (Are there any in your neighborhood? Are you sure?)
Mustang 23 at Assumption of Command reminds us Don't Forget The Single Soldiers - those who come home to nobody. (And gosh - I hope all the single women out there don't start bugging this guy...)
By the way, these guys are two of the newer wave of military bloggers in Iraq. Visit often.
Hey Froggy...
You've got moonbats...
I've got a theme song for them (click on '1985' at link).
The War on Terror
Iraq War News has an abundant of resources of the war on terrror. Always informative and always a must read
_____
A Good Thing
Dadmanly gives thanks to Mudville:
Posting a couple of stories about the Iraqi election, as well as the experiences of some of our soldiers got me thinking it was time to try to join the MILBLOG and see if I could get listed on as one of the official MILBLOGs.
<...>
It went from 30, to then 40, then over 50 and even up to about 80 just as we were exchanging emails. I was wondering what happened, but Greyhawk said in one of his emails, "I just linked to your site." Little did I know what he meant. I didn't get it all fixed that night -- and I stayed up WAY too late -- so I figured I'd finish in the morning.The next day (maybe 6 or 7 hours later), my site meter was around 380. I went to Mudville Gazette, and at first couldn't find the link to my site (I hadn't fixed the programming). But when I scrolled down the site, all of a sudden found out Greyhawk had linked to my blog.
...And in my email, I have 7 or 8 emails from people who posted nice encouraging comments on my site! Later that day I fixed my HTML code, and I am now an official MILBLOG blogger, and listed on Mudville and other MILBLOG sites. Just two days in, my Site Counter is over 800. (Exciting to me as I don't think I had an audience previously!)
<...>
Its just that now I get to meet a whole lot more people, and they get to meet me. And that's WAY cool.
You couldn't ask for a better accolade.
MilBlogs, it's a good thing. Join today.
Weekly Indroduction to the MilBlogs Ring
All great additions, go check em out.
Robin Burk:
"Afghanistan opened its new military academy to their first class of cadets recently. Thought you might enjoy these photos, passed along by a US officer who's there for a few months. The Afghans visited academies in a number of countries before deciding to model theirs on West Point."
See them all here.
______
If you're paying attention, you know that the Army is rotating large numbers of troops in and out of Iraq. This means lots of milbloggers headed home, and more "setting up shop" downrange. One of the first of the latest generation of MilBlogs in Iraq is Dadmanly - and now you can say you were one of the first visitors to his blog. Wish him well.
Turning Corners
Bill Faith, with news of progress:
Iraqi security forces foiled a trap set for a local security patrol by 40 terrorist in the village of Abu Mustafa south of Baghdad. After a confrontation between the two sides, the terrorists fled to a near by school. The Iraqi security forces among other forces pursued the terrorists and surrounded the school.
Read the rest here.
______
The media, the military, and professional ethics:
thoughts on topic here.
The troops are returning from Iraq.
With the elections over, a few bloggers (or spouses of bloggers!) in Iraq will soon be "home" in Europe.
New Members
CJ\'s Henhouse (Formerly Chcknhawk\'s Harem)
Let's give them a big welcome with a visit, please.
The original Blogger from the Sandbox
Awesome post from Smash. The original Blogger from the Sandbox is rightfully proud.
_____
Sgt. Rafael Peralta
If you aren't familiar with Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta you should be - he's one of the many heroes of the war on terror, and if not already he should become a legend of the Corps.
You still here?
Targeting Journalists
Roger is right, this sort of stuff may be dismissed by most Americans who see the utter absurdity of it, but it plays very well to an international audience eager to believe that the US is the Great Satan, or something by which their Nazi forefathers might not look so bad in comparison.
I, of course, target journalists all the time. But I use words - the same weapons they do, so all's fair.
Update: Speaking of targeting journalists, in my humble opinion Iraqi and Military bloggers provided the real story of the elections in Iraq, as journalists wrote excuses why they were too frightened to be out on the streets. (So I suppose we could be accused of violating some sort of union rules, or guild rules, or something...)
The latest violations come from The Green Side and Red Six, who also provides pictures here, here, and here.
Update 2:
Here, the coverage of the Iraqi elections from military bloggers. CNN couldn't touch this.
The run-up
Dagger Jag is a military lawyer who's been in Iraq for about a year, most recently helping prepare for the elections. His posts here and here were the earliest I've seen on the topic.
Mudville's countdown to the elections was actually my look at what was going on compared to what was being reported in the media, and ended with my prediction of success:
Eight - Delivering the ballots
Seven - Fighting back against the insurgents, the story the media doesn't tell
Six - Pre-election rhetoric from the media and some American politicians
Five - Democracy comes to Iraq from Ukraine
Four - How to identify a defeated foe, and how the media treats them
Three - Is the left really opposed to democracy in Iraq?
Two - A GI's daughter speaks up.
One - Good vs Evil, and who's on which side
Americans Blogging election day in Iraq (This is the good stuff):
A military photographer in Sadr City
Cigars in the Sand - Note this links the entire January archive with tons of separate posts and photos from election day.
I Should Have Stayed Home... - Once again, the entire January archive.
More
Around Iraq & Around the World - Mrs G provided a great collection of links.
Iraq Speaks - How can I offer my comments on this day when there are so many poets in the cradle of civilization?
The Day After
Greetings from a Land of Bent and Broken Things
We're not targeting journalists - we're just leaving them in the dust.
Are bloggers journalists? The answer is an emphatic "No".
_____
Austin City Limits?
Cruising through Austin Bay's blog today for his insight on Iraq (and there's lots of that there - Col Bay was here, after all) I found this post - which I must admit caught me off guard. But there's something about music and the military, I've rarely met a military person that wasn't a knowledgeable fan of one sort of music or another. And a pretty amazing number are actually talented musicians in their own right, as I witnessed in a recent talent show held right here in the camp I'm at.
Anyhow, for music or military, Austin Bay's blog is a daily must read.
_____
MilBloggers Spring into Action!
_____
Targeting Journalists
Roger is right, this sort of stuff may be dismissed by most Americans who see the utter absurdity of it, but it plays very well to an international audience eager to believe that the US is the Great Satan, or something by which their Nazi forefathers might not look so bad in comparison.
I, of course, target journalists all the time. But I use words - the same weapons they do, so all's fair.
Update: Speaking of targeting journalists, in my humble opinion Iraqi and Military bloggers provided the real story of the elections in Iraq, as journalists wrote excuses why they were too frightened to be out on the streets. (So I suppose we could be accused of violating some sort of union rules, or guild rules, or something...)
The latest violations come from The Green Side and Red Six, who also provides pictures here, here, and here.
Update 2:
Here, the coverage of the Iraqi elections from military bloggers. CNN couldn't touch this.
The run-up
Dagger Jag is a military lawyer who's been in Iraq for about a year, most recently helping prepare for the elections. His posts here and here were the earliest I've seen on the topic.
Mudville's countdown to the elections was actually my look at what was going on compared to what was being reported in the media, and ended with my prediction of success:
Eight - Delivering the ballots
Seven - Fighting back against the insurgents, the story the media doesn't tell
Six - Pre-election rhetoric from the media and some American politicians
Five - Democracy comes to Iraq from Ukraine
Four - How to identify a defeated foe, and how the media treats them
Three - Is the left really opposed to democracy in Iraq?
Two - A GI's daughter speaks up.
One - Good vs Evil, and who's on which side
Americans Blogging election day in Iraq (This is the good stuff):
A military photographer in Sadr City
Cigars in the Sand - Note this links the entire January archive with tons of separate posts and photos from election day.
I Should Have Stayed Home... - Once again, the entire January archive.
More
Around Iraq & Around the World - Mrs G provided a great collection of links.
Iraq Speaks - How can I offer my comments on this day when there are so many poets in the cradle of civilization?
The Day After
Greetings from a Land of Bent and Broken Things
We're not targeting journalists - we're just leaving them in the dust.
Are bloggers journalists? The answer is an emphatic "No".
CornerShot
The Quonset Hut is introducing a new weapon called the cornershot, a pistol accessory that enables the user to see, and fire, a pistol around corners.
Check it out
_____
Finally there
Reverse Retna is finally in Iraq. He arrives a few days before the elections
Talk about a fine how do you do! But I must say it was nice of the Jihadist Welcome Wagon to start my year off with a bang.
_____
Questing Cat Writes for Guardian and BBC
Nicholas Cademartori, aka The Questing Cat, has authored a piece for The Guardian on his Iraq service titled "I want to look back and be proud"
Full story here, in which the author requests "Any way, the link to this site is below, check it out and maybe leave a nice comment. I have a feeling I'm in the lions den over there...;-)"
Some sample comments on The Cat's piece at the Guardian:
Yeah right. And when Allawi is appointed supreme Bush ass kisser to continue running Iraq as has been planned all along you will still not get it. You still wont see the little girl with her legs blown off. If you get back in one piece you wont spend one day caring for the guys in the va hospitals who will never come out. You rah rah guys should be forced to spend one year caring for the wounded Iraqi,s and GI's before you are allowed to write anything. Comments posted by: ron at January 31, 2005 02:22 PMI suspect the ballot papers in the boxes are exchanged to ensure that the winners are pro-Americans. Nothing is impossible when you can even cheat the whole world that Saddam had WMD. Don't you think so!! That is the work of CIA maybe.
Comments posted by: dodi at January 31, 2005 03:39 PMI wonder how much Bush's Department of Defense had to pay this guy to put a positive spin on his opinion. Can anyone say "propaganda?"
Comments posted by: Teri Smith at January 31, 2005 05:15 PMThe elections are now over. Now the Iraqis must stand up to make a unanimous motion to charge King George Bush,Blair and Saddam as war criminals.The three of them are guilty for their heinous actions for causing deaths to thousands of innocent Iraqis.
Comments posted by: oliver twist at February 1, 2005 03:08 AMA leopard will never change its spots. So a liar is always a liar. Knowing how ignorant and naive the American people are, they can be easily manipulated by a liar and a trickster like Bush. So, at the end of the day those who lie most will win the race.
Comments posted by: tom brown at February 1, 2005 03:15 AM
_____
"Combat" Photography
Blackfive with a must read post from a GI photographer who was in the infamous Baghdad neighborhood Sadr City for the elections:
It was late morning and our first trip was to a polling site where a suicide bomber had blown himself and two IHP into pieces (literally). I videotaped as they put the pieces into bags to be carried off. I think this was, without a doubt, the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. But I handled it like a troop- separating myself from the gruesome scene by way of my camera lens.As they carted the men's body bags away, Iraqi people filed back in to continue voting. How about that?
She's Air Force, but certainly you all were reading that with a female voive in mind, right?
And yes, the "must-read" has been applied a lot lately - but this is an historic week for the world, so expect more.
_____
The Complete Russ Vaughn
Bill Faith has compiled an alphabetical list of Russ Vaughn's work. (Formatted as links to the individual poems, of course.) Great idea, Bill!
