Helo Down, IRGC Killed

...IRGC are the more fanatic and nasty Iranian guys. Rantburg has the description. Gateway Pundit has a roundup.

It would be interesting to say that this is a subtle tit-for-tat vis-a-vis the US and Iran, but my guess is more that there's light to heavy fighting in the Kurdish and Azeri parts of Iran. Last year we had several mysterious downings of aircraft with senior IRGC (and journalists, in the case of the Teheran crash into the apartment building) aboard. Connections? Who knows...

Which is also interesting.

Appeal For Redress--Kind of Illegal

While I discussed here how the Appeal for Redress douchers are permitted to petition Congress based on DODD 1344.10, there's a bit of a wrinkle that makes their efforts less than...uhhh....lawful.

First, DOD 1344.10 does not allow an active duty member to:

E3.3.5. Solicit or receive a contribution from another member of the Armed Forces or a civilian officer or employee of the United States for the purpose of promoting a political objective or cause, including a political campaign.

And from the AFR's site?

The Appeal for Redress is sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members.

And what's right up there on the AFR site? A link to where you can "Donate."

As Mel Allen used to say, "How 'bout that!"

ACLU Stands Its Ground, On the Other Side

ACLU: US can't bar terrorism supporters

NEW YORK - A civil rights group asked a judge Friday to find it unconstitutional for the federal government to exclude a prominent Muslim scholar or anyone else from the United States on the grounds that they may have endorsed or espoused terrorism.

The ACLU said schools and organizations who want to invite Ramadan and others into the United States are concerned about what is known as the ideological exclusion provision.
...
The group said the provision violates the First Amendment and has resulted since 2001 in the exclusion from the United States of numerous foreign scholars, human rights activists and writers, barred "not for legitimate security reasons but rather because the government disfavors their politics."

The ACLU said some foreign scholars and writers are now reluctant to accept invitations to the United States because they will be subjected to ideological scrutiny and possibly denied entry.

THe heart bleeds. Of course, so do those that are victims of these scholars curious form of "politics."

Cowboys and Indians, Iraqi Edition

Iraqi kids play make-believe war games

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Toting menacing looking toy guns, young boys swarm around an abandoned car, chanting battle cries of a Shiite militia and pointing their play weapons at the "terrorist" in the driver's seat. Outnumbered, the boy playing a would-be suicide bomber surrenders.
...
"You coward! I will kill you," shouted 6-year-old Haidar Faraj, who played a Shiite militiaman from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia on a recent afternoon in Hurriyah. His younger brother Abbas was the Sunni "terrorist."

Abu Ali, 40, who sells toys in Baghdad's Shorja market, said most of the children who visit his store are looking for the "biggest and most harmful toy guns."

"About 95 percent of the toys I sell are guns," said Abu Ali, who refused to give his full name for security reasons.
...
Kids who can't afford toy weapons simply use their imagination. Take a wooden stick, tie on an empty water bottle with a black sock and presto — a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Boys dart behind parked cars or sprawl on the ground and pretend to fire them.

The names of the games vary depending on the neighborhood.

In Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the "bad guys" are "Wahabbis," or Sunni religious extremists. Sometimes the game becomes "Sadr City vs Azamiyah," referring to a nearby Sunni neighborhood.

Now if we can just get their older brothers to stop playing...

My Son Has PTSD

A hazard of war. Considering that DoD estimates that approximately a quarter of a million soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have served in OEF and OIF have it to a degree that requires treatment, the fact that my son has it may not be big news to some folks. The news might be that we are talking about it openly.

After Noah was well on his way to physical recovery, it was apparent to us that the person we had raised and known -- the bright, witty upbeat spirit with that generally cheery personality and always optimistic outlook -- was not the person that returned from Iraq. Of course, we know that if war did not affect a person, they wouldn't be human; but as my girlfriend S. might say, "if it wasn't the same face and the same name, I'd swear on a stack of Bibles that this isn't my son."

Noah was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder shortly after he was wounded; at the time, however, the treatment of his physical wounds took precedence. And the deaths of so many in his unit while he recovered -- especially the deaths of five of his squad in a single attack -- seemed to numb him for a while. We recognized the short temper and his quick anger as signs of PTSD... and he admitted that sleep was hard to come by and interrupted by thrashing and nightmares when it did come. We encouraged him to seek treatment...

I write about his hospitalization and his continued treatment... and that his PTSD will keep him from deploying with his unit when they leave next month for their third (his second) tour to Iraq... all of it at Some Soldier's Mom

D'jever...

...do a CPX while simultaneously doing weapons qual, CLS, CIF, and RFI while also learning about the approved ROE for the AO and various other issues though your departure date and destination are still not confirmed but half your stuff has to be ready to roll and you also need it for the aforementioned CPX?

Yeah, that's what a "surge" is. I glanced at my watch yesterday to check the time and was surprised to learn it was Thursday. (Date matters, day of week is TMI.)

I love it. God forgive me, I actually enjoy this.

How Did He Run So Fast With The Wheelbarrow?

Because he must need a wheelbarrow to carry certain parts around if he does something like this.