My most interesting commentor

The soldier under oath promises to "protect the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, both foreign and domestic"

Terrorstorm
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5948263607579389947

Sgt Rock

The link takes one to a 9/11 conspiracy movie. The referring URL is a search of blogs with the words Soldier and Iraq.

So far it appears like normal Looney Left nonsense posting links to stuff meant to demoralize our soldiers until...

My army?

John, throw another Pole in the mix.

88% Polish
81% Free French!?!
75% British and Commonwealth
69% American

Bottom 3; Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan.

Who Knew?

You can DRINK BEER during a hunger strike.

re: Muqtada's goons try it on...

I still say that guy is unfinished business.

Phelps and Co

Are in town to protest a funeral today.

No pictures, I refuse to pollute OPFOR or Milblogs with their disgusting rhetoric. Military members have been instructed to "stay away from downtown and avoid interaction with the protestors." Fine with me, although my route home took me past the funeral site. No sign of the Westboro Baptist cult, kind of hard to see past the flag waving supporters and patriot guard riders who were occupying several square blocks.

Guess that means the good guys are doing their job.

Muqtada's Goons Try It On..and Lose

via AP

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office announced that 50 gunmen loyal to firebrand anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had been killed in clashes in the southern city of Diwaniyah with the Iraqi army, which lost 23 troops.

Monday's fighting in Diwaniyah was some of the worst in recent months between the Iraqi army and Shiite militiamen loyal to al-Sadr. At least 10 civilians were killed before the cease-fire was reached.

"Life is back to normal, the shops are open and Iraqi police and soldiers are deployed everywhere in Diwaniyah," said police Lt. Raid Jabir, contacted by telephone.

Better get cracking...

Deadline approaching for filing body armor claims

ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, Aug. 29, 2006) – Soldiers have until Oct. 3 to file reimbursement claims for private purchases of such protective and safety equipment as body armor.

If you've been holding off - get off the dime.

Which Army are you?

Which WWII Army are you?

Heh. I'm... Poland. Followed by the US and Finland. But I'm 94% Poland... and only 70% US and Finland. And definitely not Germany (44%), Japan (25%), or the Soviet Union (19%).

C'mon - y'know ya wanna do this...

Why You Shouldn't Give Secrets To Journalists

A Navy JAG is being charged with sending information about Gitmo prisoners to someone "outside the government". From the linked article:

A Navy lawyer who was stationed at Guantanamo Bay has been charged with copying and sending secret information about detainees in U.S. custody to someone outside the government.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz could face more than 36 years in prison if convicted of three violations of military law. Diaz, now based in Jacksonville, Fla., is tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing in October in Norfolk, said Beth Baker, a spokeswoman for the Navy's Mid-Atlantic Region.
According to the eight specific counts against him, which the Navy released Monday, Diaz deliberately made "a print out of classified secret information connected with the national defense" between Dec. 20, 2004, and Feb. 28, 2005...
...Baker would not identify the person with whom Diaz is accused of sharing secret information. She said only that the recipient was a non government official whose identity likely would come out in testimony. The recipient of the document notified federal authorities, Baker said, and the Navy Criminal Investigative Service began an inquiry in February 2005.

Somebody mention diesel subs?

US diesel subs? Going away?

Six words I never thought I'd say: I could use an actual submariner.

Terrorists Manipulate the Media

So says Donald Rumsfeld.

FALLON NAVAL AIR STATION, Nev. - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is deeply troubled by the success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners.

"That's the thing that keeps me up at night," he said during a question-and-answer session with about 200 naval aviators and other Navy personnel at this flight training base for Navy and Marine pilots.

*****

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is," he continued, launching an extensive broadside at Islamic extremist groups which he said are trying to undermine Western support for the war on terror.

"They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

"They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct.

Is it "manipulation" if one party is willing, even eager, to play along?

The Utility of Kidnapping Journalists

"You know, the thing here is that journalists can't be pawns in covering world stories. And more and more people are becoming aware that the journalists are there to do a job and they shouldn't be used or misused or whatever when they're covering these things. So maybe there's a growing awareness of that."

Those were the words of FOX News headman Roger Ailes in the aftermath of the release of Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig. While it would be nice if he were correct, that journalists can’t be pawns and that there is a “growing awareness” that they shouldn’t be used as such, I don’t think he’s right.

I don’t want this to sound insensitive, but it well may. But I think so long as those taken captive by jihadists fail to denounce, in the most forceful language imaginable, their kidnappers, then the utility of kidnapping Western journalists remains.