When: Tuesday, April 30th, 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific

Where: Confederate Corner with George Neat on Blog Talk Radio

What: Yes there are Confederates north of the Mason-Dixon line, and George Neat is one of them. And we’re happy to bring his views to you in the “Confederate Corner” radio show.

For more information on George and his political views, please drop by the Confederate Corner at GoldwaterGal.com. (http://goldwatergal.com/goldwater-gal-media/confederate-corner/)

Tonight: It’s been a crazy week, and George is on the warpath. More gun talk, of course. Plus, some talk about the ATF, military, the Boston Bombing suspects’ family, and wait for it…. PORN. So, be sure to join us for an interesting ride, and of course, there will be the Soldier Salute, and the infamous “Crack Pipe Moment”!

According to Al-Monitor’s Pulse, tracking trending media in the region, the above video is trending. Of course, a quick search on YouTube leads one to a “greatest hits” version out of Saudi Arabia:

Gotta give credit to the ones that didn’t opt to cover their heads or faces in those! Here’s hoping they duck any persecution or legal difficulties…

….This post will be inspected by the US Department Of Homeland Security, I’m sure.  Because the words listed below raise “red flags” when used on the internet.

So, don’t talk about the illegal immigrant who gave you a denial of service at the deli when you wanted a pork sandwich….. just saying.

Download Full Document here: http://t-j.cc/KIKNMn

TERRORISM
Terrorism, Al Qaeda (all spellings), Terror, Attack, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Agro, Environmental terrorist, Eco terrorism, Conventional weapon, Target, Weapons grade, Dirty bomb, Enriched, Nuclear, Chemical weapon, Biological weapon, Ammonium nitrate, Improvised explosive device, IED (Improvised Explosive Device), Abu Sayyaf, Hamas, FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia), IRA (Irish Republican Army), ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna), Basque Separatists, Hezbollah, Tamil Tigers, PLF (Palestine Liberation Front), PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), Car bomb, Jihad, Taliban, Weapons cache, Suicide bomber, Suicide attack, Suspicious substance, AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula), AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan), Yemen, Pirates, Extremism, Somalia, Nigeria, Radicals, Al-Shabaab, Home grown Plot, Nationalist, Recruitment, Fundamentalism, Islamist

WEATHER/DISASTER/EMERGENCY
Emergency, Hurricane, Tornado, Twister, Tsunami, Earthquake, Tremor, Flood, Storm, Crest, Temblor, Extreme weather, Forest fire, Brush fire, Ice, Stranded/Stuck, Help, Hail, Wildfire, Tsunami Warning Center, Magnitude, Avalanche, Typhoon, Shelter-in-place, Disaster, Snow, Blizzard, Sleet, Mud slide or Mudslide, Erosion, Power outage, Brown out, Warning, Watch, Lightening, Aid, Relief, Closure, Interstate, Burst, Emergency Broadcast System

CYBER SECURITY
Cyber security, Botnet, DDOS (dedicated denial of service), Denial of service, Malware, Virus, Trojan, Keylogger, Cyber Command, 2600, Spammer, Phishing, Rootkit, Phreaking, Cain and abel, Brute forcing, Mysql injection, Cyber attack, Cyber terror, Hacker, China, Conficker, Worm, Scammers, Social media

DOMESTIC SECURITY
Assassination, Attack, Domestic security, Drill, Exercise, Cops, Law enforcement, Authorities, Disaster assistance, Disaster management, DNDO (Domestic Nuclear Detection Office), National preparedness, Mitigation, Prevention, Response, Recovery, Dirty bomb, Domestic nuclear detection, Emergency management, Emergency response, First responder, Homeland security, Maritime domain awareness (MDA), National preparedness initiative, Militia, Shooting, Shots fired, Evacuation, Deaths, Hostage, Explosion (explosive), Police, Disaster medical assistance team (DMAT), Organized crime, Gangs, National security, State of emergency, Security, Breach, Threat, Standoff, SWAT, Screening, Lockdown, Bomb (squad or threat), Crash, Looting, Riot, Emergency Landing, Pipe bomb, Incident, Facility

HAZMAT & NUCLEAR
Hazmat, Nuclear, Chemical spill, Suspicious package/device, Toxic, National laboratory, Nuclear facility, Nuclear threat, Cloud, Plume, Radiation, Radioactive, Leak, Biological infection (or event), Chemical, Chemical burn, Biological, Epidemic, Hazardous, Hazardous material incident, Industrial spill, Infection, Powder (white), Gas, Spillover, Anthrax, Blister agent, Chemical agent, Exposure, Burn, Nerve agent, Ricin, Sarin, North Korea

HEALTH CONCERN + H1N1
Outbreak, Contamination, Exposure, Virus, Evacuation, Bacteria, Recall, Ebola, Food Poisoning, Foot and Mouth (FMD), H5N1, Avian, Flu, Salmonella, Small Pox, Plague, Human to human, Human to Animal, Influenza, Center for Disease Control (CDC), Drug Administration (FDA), Public Health, Toxic, Agro Terror, Tuberculosis (TB), Agriculture, Listeria, Symptoms, Mutation, Resistant, Antiviral, Wave, Pandemic, Infection, Water/air borne, Sick, Swine, Pork, Strain, Quarantine, H1N1, Vaccine, Tamiflu, Norvo Virus, Epidemic, World Health Organization (WHO) (and components), Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, E. Coli

INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY
Infrastructure security, Airport, Airplane (and derivatives), Chemical fire, CIKR (Critical Infrastructure & Key Resources), AMTRAK, Collapse, Computer infrastructure, Communications infrastructure, Telecommunications, Critical infrastructure, National infrastructure, Metro, WMATA, Subway, BART, MARTA, Port Authority, NBIC (National Biosurveillance Integration Center), Transportation security, Grid, Power, Smart, Body scanner, Electric, Failure or outage, Black out, Brown out, Port, Dock, Bridge, Cancelled, Delays, Service disruption, Power lines

SOUTHWEST BORDER VIOLENCE
Drug cartel, Violence, Gang, Drug, Narcotics, Cocaine, Marijuana, Heroin, Border, Mexico, Cartel, Southwest, Juarez, Sinaloa, Tijuana, Torreon, Yuma, Tucson, Decapitated, U.S. Consulate, Consular, El Paso, Fort Hancock, San Diego, Ciudad Juarez, Nogales, Sonora, Colombia, Mara salvatrucha, MS13 or MS-13, Drug war, Mexican army, Methamphetamine, Cartel de Golfo, Gulf Cartel, La Familia, Reynosa, Nuevo Leon, Narcos, Narco banners (Spanish equivalents), Los Zetas, Shootout, Execution, Gunfight, Trafficking, Kidnap, Calderon, Reyosa, Bust, Tamaulipas, Meth Lab, Drug trade, Illegal immigrants, Smuggling (smugglers), Matamoros, Michoacana, Guzman, Arellano-Felix, Beltran-Leyva, Barrio Azteca, Artistic Assassins, Mexicles, New Federation

Rep. Allen West sent a letter to President Obama asking why the Hezbollah leader was being released. Obama’s response was that Daqduq was being released under a Bush-era agreement to release Iraqi citizens. The problem? – Daqduq is from Lebanon.

West wrote, “You had options when dealing with this terrorist. When you were elected president, the American people expected you to provide leadership.”

Prior to West’s letter, Senate Republicans to the Judiciary Committee in early May – just after the Iraqi court cleared Daqduq of criminal wrong-doing. Their outrage based on the reality that the Obama administration hid information in order to protect the anti-American Daqduq.

Eight pages of charges … appears to indicate that either the administration was purposefully withholding information from Congress or it had not done the due diligence required to file charges,

I was an unabashed neoconservative who supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq until I saw, as William F. Buckley aptly pointed out, how this movement grossly underestimates American power.  This was evident in the negligence in the post-war Iraqi reconstruction operations that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government. The planning of the entire reconstruction effort, outlined in National Security Presidential Directive 24 issued in January 2003, gave the Department of Defense complete authority over the post-war operations.  It’s absurd.  Rebuilding Iraq into a modern, free market democracy in three months or less.  No wonder chaos ensued.  This whole notion of liberal democracy proliferating throughout the Middle East, in a region with no historical precedent of such values, is mind numbingly naive.

Even with our involvement winding down in Iraq, it appears the only winner is Iran since we’ve weakened the only nation in the region to curb its growing influence.  The resilience of the new democracy in Iraq and its disposition towards the United States in the future remains to be seen.  However, Syria is still holding out from the so-called “Arab Spring,” Iran still has nuclear ambitions, which would set off a regional arms race, and Egypt has fallen prey to the radical Muslim Brotherhood after we threw our good friend, Hosni Mubarak, under the bus in the hopes that a vibrant democracy will emerge there. Is this our dividend after spending $700 billion in Iraq?  Was this the best use of American political and military resources?

America’s destructive lack a realism is becoming disastrously expensive and straining our military.  Afghanistan and Iraq has cost us a whopping $1.2 trillion dollars in war expenditures.  We could be facing a $4-6 trillion dollar price tag when this whole ordeal is over.  We need to reexamine our financial stability and national interest for future engagements.

Case in point, Libya had nothing to do with American interests.  We do not receive oil from Libya. We don’t have diplomatic relations with Libya.  It was a civil war that was none of our business in a tribal society whose various clans hated Qaddafi more than each, hence the fragile display of national unity.  Like in Iraq, civil institutions were derived from one man and his family creating a power vacuum that will lead to more bloodshed.  The various militias refuse to disarmand the eastern half of the country has declared autonomy.  Did we really stop a slaughter? I feel more bloodshed will ensue because of our reckless engagement in their affairs.

People die in war, especially in the brutal theater of civil war.  Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean it’s our business. Especially when we have become involved in tribal societies before with little success.  We realists do not deny the existence of moral truths and principles, but when applied in the anarchic field of international relations, it is inherently dangerous.  It thrusts a nation, whose only purpose is to survive, into entanglements that are diplomatically obtuse, detrimental to its interests, and leads to prolonging the conflict.

If Qaddafi had squashed the insurrectionists in Benghazi, it would have been over, but we intervened, allied ourselves with rebel elements affiliated with al-Qaeda, and escalated the civil war leading to more deaths. In Somalia, our intervention culminated in the infamous Black Hawk Down incident, despite the fact it was hopeless from the start. There was no government to open up a diplomatic channel, no infrastructure, and clan ties that prevented national unity.  We lost nineteen American soldiers to help feed people in a failed state. A tragic waste of American resources.

The era of nation-building and humanitarian interventions need to end.   If our criteria for involvement is humanitarian based, we will be in a perpetual state of war.  The essence of nation-building, as George Will rightly said on Charlie Rose, is oxymoronic since it’s an organic entity that take generations to perfect.  Just because American marines are on the ground, doesn’t mean the maturation process will be accelerated.  In all, these attempts at social engineering are textbook cases of the irresponsible and arduous tasks that have drained American power over the past decade.  I’m thankful that a growing consensus in this country is starting to view such ventures as nonsensical.  It’s simply not worth the cost.

Iraq President Jalal Talabani

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President Obama and his administration are making preparations to negotiate with Iraq on a possible long-term defense relationship between the two nations.

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Acording to Michele Flournoy, an aide to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the administration is poised to hear Iraqi proposals about how much involvement the US will have, according to a FoxNews report:

“One of the things we’re looking forward to doing is sitting down with the Iraqis in the coming month or two to start thinking about how they want to work with” the U.S. military to develop a program of exercises, training and other forms of security cooperation, Flournoy said.

The U.S. military completed its withdrawal from Iraq in December after nearly nine years of war. Both sides had considered keeping at least several thousand U.S. troops there to provide comprehensive field training for Iraqi security forces, but they failed to strike a deal before the expiration of a 2008 agreement that required all American troops to leave.

Members of the administration, including Vice President Biden are continuing negotiations with members of the Iraqi government in hopes of striking an agreement.

When I hear him speak of auditing or eliminating the FED I stand up and cheer. The Federal Reserve is a non-governmental entity that is destroying our economy by printing money that has essentially no value, thereby lowering the value of the dollar and guaranteeing severe inflation in the very near future. The FED also has virtually no oversight from anyone in Congress. Paul is also correct in his assessment of federal government spending. We cannot keep spending money borrowed from China for building IHOP restaurants, studying ants in New Zealand, teaching African men how to wash their genitals after sex, and certainly can’t keep borrowing to prop up European countries.

I also agree with much of his stand on Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and the other third world hell holes Obama is involving us in. Fighting a war against Islamic terrorists is one thing but this “nation building” farce is only a boon for the military industrial complex and is not helping any aspect of our national security interests. We are wasting money and lives in a venture that will fail because it isn’t about winning a war; it is about being politically correct and propping up a puppet government. As we are leaving Iraq we see the sectarian slaughter returning.

Sunni and Shiite Muslims have been butchering each other for centuries and we are not going to stop it. Until these stone-age animals decide to live like human beings nothing we do is going to change anything. All we do is put our soldiers in the line of fire with a no-win policy that puts their lives in danger with rules of engagement that are insane.

While closing military bases all across the United States we build and expand bases throughout the world. While we are “helping Afghan police and military close their borders to invaders” we leave our own borders wide open to drug cartels and the very Islamic terrorists we are fighting in far off lands.

Ron Paul makes quite a stir when he talks about “legalizing drugs”. I don’t remember everything he has said about drugs but I do know he has some valid points here also. The “war on drugs” has been going on for 50 years and has cost taxpayers billions in wasted money. Not only have we not solved the problem of illegal drugs; this “war” has made it worse. Most of Paul’s position has more to do with leaving this issue to the states, not legalizing drugs wholesale as the story is reported. Ron Paul is a strong states’ rights advocate, as am I. It only took the politicians 14 years to see the problems caused by Prohibition and repeal the 18th Amendment. The war on drugs has been going on for 50 years with the same results we saw during Prohibition. I don’t condone legalizing all drugs but I see a colossal failure that could be handled better at the state level.

Paul has the same ideas on abortion; let the states decide how they want to handle this issue. I agree with him on this matter. If it isn’t in the Constitution the federal government has no business sticking their nose into it. Every time a person or group doesn’t get their way at the state level they run to the federal government to override the states, the place where these issues should be decided. I see abortion as murder, and see murder as a state issue not a federal one.

I hear all of the things Paul writes and says about these issues and I jump up and cheer him on. Then he begins to talk about foreign policy and I scream out in pain. Paul is just as bad as Barack Obama when it comes to blaming America for every ill in the world. I have a cousin who worked in the building demolition business years ago and I had several opportunities to see the activities involved in blowing a building up, or rather imploding them. When I hear Ron Paul talk about 9/11 being an inside job I want to choke his scrawny little neck.

The idea that the World Trade Center was taken down by internally placed explosives is ludicrous to anyone who has even a scant knowledge of building implosions. The amount of work necessary to drill into pillars, place the explosives, wire them together, and tie everything to a detonator cannot be accomplished in a building with thousands of people walking in and out all day every day. A building that size isn’t brought down on itself with a satchel charge tossed into an elevator. The idea that the Bush Administration was involved in setting up the hijackings is equally ludicrous and statements by Ron Paul and his supporters on this issue shows they are well outside the realm of sane or intelligent thought.

While Ron Paul has some very good ideas about what is needed to restore The Republic of the United States of America, he has more than enough crazy ideas to make him a danger to every person in this country. I would love to see Ron Paul be the next Treasury Secretary or Chairman of the Federal Reserve but to put this man in the White House would endanger our nation almost as much as re-electing Barack Obama.

We need a very strong leader with strong conservative values. We need someone who will articulate the conservative message and have the courage of his/her convictions. Now is not the time for waffling or being concerned about “diversity” or “inclusiveness”. The only answer to our nation’s problems is a conservative approach that relies on the Constitution that our founding fathers fought the Revolutionary War to make possible. Anything less will result in the demise of a once great nation and the rise of another Third World banana republic with a dictator such as Adolph Hitler or Hugo Chavez. Ron Paul is not the man for the job.

I submit this in the name of the most Holy Trinity, in faith, with the responsibility given to me by Almighty God to honor His work and not let it die from neglect.

Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma
January 23, 2012

Karim Kadim, Associated Press / December 22, 2011

It was a horrific scene as a grisly wave of bombs swept through Baghdad on Thursday. This comes just days after the last U.S. soldiers left the country. BBC reported:

At least 68 people were killed and nearly 200 injured as car and roadside bombs went off in 16 separate locations, mostly Shia areas of the city.

The first 13 bombs hit as people were going to work in the morning – they were followed by other blasts throughout the day.

Officials said schools and kindergartens had been among the targets.

Associated Press reports:

The deadliest attack was in the Karrada neighborhood, where a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up outside a government office. Two police officers at the scene said the bomber was driving an ambulance and told guards that he needed to get to a nearby hospital. After the guards let him through, he drove to the building and blew himself up, the officers said.

“I was sleeping in my bed when the explosion happened,” said 12-year-old Hussain Abbas, standing in his pajamas. “I jumped from my bed and rushed to my mom’s lap. I told her I did not want to go to school today. I’m terrified.”

Although not confirmed, analyst believe the attacks where carried out by the mainly Sunni Al-Qaeda in Iraq, because of the level of co-ordination and planning behind the attacks.

Ramzy Mardini from the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said “The conditions that perpetuate civil wars are making a hasty comeback”.

The attacks have thrown Iraq’s political community into a crisis. Sunnis are now suspicious that al-Maliki, in the wake of the American military leaving,  is attempting to make a power grab.

Washington condemned the attacks, with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney saying any attempts to derail progress in Iraq will fail, and that other than hatred and murder,  the attacks serve no purpose.

This is not the President’s get, but Barak Obama must address it, and no less than the Secretary of Defense should investigate why the partial remains of 274 Air Force personnel killed in Iraq was dumped unceremoniously in a landfill in Virginia. When culpability is determined, the responsible person should be fired.

There are few memories about my service in Iraq that bring me any happiness, in fact most make me feel the need to take a shower and get clean again. I wasn’t wounded, I didn’t fire my weapon. My job didn’t require it. I was just surrounded with a bunch of TOC snipers (tactical operations center) where the staffers cared more about promotions and medals and careers than for the soldiers they were there to support. Leadership matters and when it is absent, soldiers suffer.

A staff officer writes operations orders that directly affect the lives of soldiers he will never see. And so, when he writes them, he should be cognizant about the second and third order effects of what he has written. I found that many staffers didn’t give a crap. We actually had an officer write himself up for a medal for hiding under his desk during an air raid. The sad thing is; he got it! Meanwhile a senior master sergeant friend of mine who risked his life all the time to make sure the food service at the remote radio relay points on the dangerous supply routes was stocked with safe food was denied a medal after his convoy was attacked because the goddam sergeant major of the brigade didn’t like him. Memory of this fact makes me very, very angry. Master Sergeant was doing his job, keeping up morale and welfare of troops, but a political squabble prevented him from getting the recognition he deserved.

If I had been close enough to the enemy to fire, I hope that I would have had the courage to fire back, vindicating myself with honor. As it was, my job didn’t require it. I was in logistics, pushing papers and making phone calls and trying to get my soldiers and my brigade’s equipment there and back again unscathed. I guess you could say I failed. We lost 25 soldiers dead and I don’t know how many were injured. We lost a soldier on leave in Qatar after he dared in a drunken binge for another soldier to stab him in the chest with his knife. His buddy unfortunately complied and the young fool bled out in a bar room latrine. We lost another one here at home when, drunk again, he crashed a party he really shouldn’t have. I guess he made a scene because the nice people there stole his gun and shot him dead with it. His most recent Facebook posting said that all he wanted to do when he got home was drink himself to death.

I’m getting over what happened to me there, but I will never be the same as when I left. When I returned from my 15-month stint in Iraq, I had all my fingers and toes, and a very bad attitude. I got off the plane at Bangor Maine for a stopover and there received a hero’s welcome. Crusty old heroes of Vietnam and Korea greeted us there, with a hand shake and a hug and a “Well done, my boy! We are so proud of you! Welcome home!” A man with a wrinkled face, a VFW hat, and a smile came up to me with a cell phone in his hand. “Call your people, young captain! Let them know you’re all right!”

Sometimes I choke up, with a memory or a thought, usually coming at inconvenient times. People will say, “Jeremy you look tired. You’re eyes look puffy.” That’s probably one of those moments when a memory has occurred to me and I’d rather be anywhere but in the company of other people. Close friends will tell me, “Get over it! It was a long time ago! YOU FREAKIN’ GET OVER IT! Would be my response, if it had been appropriate to respond. Most of the time I just bite my lip or tell a joke.

The only time I had to duck for cover was when the Hajis fired rockets at my little base at Camp Adder in Southern Iraq. They made a helluva noise, which is why I don’t care for fireworks anymore. Crowds don’t do much for me either as we often would gather on what I would call “Meet Your Neighbor Night”. In the closeness of a dusty bomb shelter we would all cram in together and try not to leave any body parts hanging out over the edge as the 120 millimeter rockets fell from the night sky. “Hey First Sergeant! Captain Griffith here. What were you doing before Haji reminded us that he’s still out there and doesn’t like us very much?” I often joke about the event as just a matter of human nature and routine.

“You see this local Iraqi got an earful from his six wives, for something he did or didn’t do, see?” I’d explain to a co-worker or friend. “So he’d go out and in order to blow steam, he’d buy a couple of rockets from the local Iranian Revolutionary Guard rep. Then he’d gather up some of his buddies and they’d set them up on egg timers and fire them at the base, just for fun. Like fireworks. They’d skitter off, laughing at us as we’d duck and cover. Then Haji would go pick up the kids at soccer practice and head home for dinner! Just an average day in the life of an Iraqi in the middle class.” Routine.

I did go out on a couple of convoys, before I found out that many of my fellow officers were ducking that opportunity for the relative safety of the FOB (Forward Operating Base). My biggest accomplishment I think was to keep two young lieutenants from killing each other. When on patrol, you are supposed to stop if you detect a possible roadside bomb, and everyone behind you is also supposed to stop. Convoys can remain idle for hours while bomb disposal teams come out to determine whether a real threat exists or if that was just another inexplicable mound of dirt left there by nature to freak out the convoy commanders. Jaded lieutenants take risks and bypass other convoys because they’ve been on the road a lot and they’re tired and they want to get home to their FOB and sleep and many of the possible IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) are just false alarms anyway. I guess some take the attitude that when your time is up, your time is up. My lieutenant took offense to being bypassed there in the dark and resolved to tell his peer that very thing at the next opportunity. He caught up to the other lieutenant in a movement control team’s trailer at the next FOB and let him have it. Before it came to fistacuffs, I intervened. I suppose I could have let them go at it, but I felt compelled. Even though I was just a high ranking heavily armed passenger with no responsibility what so ever, I was senior. It was the right thing to do.

I explained to the young officer that he was wrong, and he should follow the procedure and that in the future he should take better care for the sake of his men. He just stalked off, muttering something about HIS unit’s SOP (standard operating procedure) and HIS unit’s way of doing things, and that HE didn’t feel a need to change. Later back in the States, I attended an Army school with another captain with a similar experience. A young lieutenant from an active duty unit was corrected by a National Guard captain after the captain pointed out that he was doing a snap TCP (traffic control point) wrong. The lieutenant thanked the captain politely but assured him that he was following his unit’s procedures and he didn’t need advice from a reservist. The captain smiled and went away shaking his head. Dad always says some of life’s lessons are hard. Really hard sometimes. That lieutenant and eight of his men died minutes after that young captain departed, a victim of a vehicle born IED that got too close to his small cluster of troops. Really hard! I hear stories like this and I catch my breath. Where’s the leadership?

And so I am left with even more anger when I see that a lack of leadership in the political realm has left the remains of our brave servicemembers abandoned unmarked in a trash pile. I wonder what family members of these brave fallen must feel like knowing that their loved one left them to fight for their country and their liberty only to be treated in the end in this shabby manner.

Shame on you, whoever you are who did this thing to our troops! Shame!

They deserve so much better.

It embarrasses me when people thank me for my service, when so many did so much more. They will not hear our thank-yous. Their families are rewarded with tears, and sometimes with jeers as the funerals are met with protesters and signs. So I guess for all their sakes I will be their proxy and listen politely to your “thank you for your service” comments.

Citizens and veterans groups are you listening? We should all contact our legislators with our petitions that this shameful thing should not happen again and that our leaders are held to account for what they have done, or haven’t done. The SECDEF should meet with families to apologize and the President should give a speech to give solace to families and to outline a plan of action. No less action is appropriate.

I’m not a hero, but my brother is. He built a well in Afghanistan, for poor villagers under the thumb of an evil war lord. Before he came, the villagers were paying the thug for the right to use his murky, unclean water. When Jason got there, he robbed the baron of revenue and built a new, clean well, a gift from the taxpayers of America. He built a monument to fallen heroes of the newly formed Afghan Army, men he trained, who died in defense of their country. Their comrades wept and gave anguished speeches at a ceremony in their memory. My brother has the photos.

Jason returns next month to Afghanistan, his second tour there, his fourth overall. A newly minted Major, he leads a team of “Space Cowboys” who will assist the Marine commander there with advanced weaponry and satellite communications and imagery. That is how I know the “war” isn’t over. Thanks anyway, Mr. President. Jason is a rare leader who really cares for his soldiers and the people he serves with. He is my role model, and my best friend. He embodies for me the decency and bravery of the average American Trooper. I would be very unhappy indeed if anything were to happen to him over there.

At one time our mother kept a small flag with three blue stars on it. It was a gift from the local VFW symbolizing her three sons on combat duty all at the same time. Imagine if someone had come to her door and told her that one of those sons had perished in service of his country. Imagine if that were your own beloved service member. Then, imagine how you would feel if someone told you that instead of carrying the honored dead all the way home to you, they instead couldn’t be bothered with the effort and so carelessly and thoughtlessly discarded the remains.

Pray for our honored dead. Remember their families over this Christmas Season. And then tell your congressperson what you think they should do. God Bless our heroes.

Much of the recent bluster has been about the moderator – Donald Trump, but he’s not the only poor choice Newsmax and ION have made. Former CNN News Division Chief Eason Jordan will be one of the producers of the event.

Mr. Jordan was pressured to resign from CNN in 2005 after making statements that our troops in Iraq were deliberately targeting and killing journalists. At the World Economic Forum, Mr. Jordan said “he knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy,” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) who was on the “Will Democracy Survive the Media?” panel with Mr. Jordan.

CNN then furiously spun the comments as having been misconstrued and “taken out of context” by a few bloggers. In the end, Mr. Jordan’s tenure at CNN came to an end.

That’s only the most recent of Eason’s mis-steps. His time in CNN’s Baghdad bureau was tarnished by his cover-up of Saddam’s violent and murderous acts against Iraqis and his own bureau’s staff – all so that he wouldn’t lose his position at the bureau.

Eason is no great model of integrity. Add on Trump and you have a debate more fit to be a circus side-show than a Presidential event.

I don’t blame Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul one bit for passing on this debate. I won’t be watching either – and I haven’t missed one yet.

Before the Marxist elements became more obvious and widespread at the Occupy Wall Street movement, much of their disdain appeared to be aimed TARP and to a lesser extent, the Federal Reserve. Those are two areas of agreement conservatives have in common with them. This also means I have more in common with Occupy Wall Street radicals than I do with mainstream Democrats like Harry Reid and company. Occupy Wall Street seems to oppose the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I too think its way past time for them to end. Democrats have only paid lip service in their supposed opposition to the wars, which is why they didn’t end them when they had total control from January 2009 to January 2011. To be clear, there’s many more areas we disagree on, like their desire to “eat the rich”, forgive all debt, and enact a $20.00 minimum wage. Those are all insanely awful ideas, and while I think most Democrats agree that those are bad ideas, they probably all sympathize with the proposals to varying degrees and would like to move in those policy directions. But even if Occupy Wall Street opposes bailouts because they don’t believe there should be a private sector, if they oppose the Federal Reserve because they’d rather use the barter system instead of using currency, and if they oppose the wars because that they believe that money could be better spent on running petting zoos; their reasoning doesn’t really matter to me. The important thing is that we’d both vote against bailouts, against the Federal Reserve, and to end the current wars.

I was reading a 2011 Heritage Foundation guide that ranked all members of the House and Senate in terms of their conservatism. In the Senate, most Democrats had anywhere from 5%-0%, but Bernie Sanders, the admitted socialist from Vermont had a 14% rating, the highest by far of anyone on the left! That is shocking to most, but not to me. Bernie Sanders is without a doubt an absolute crazy leftist. But, Bernie Sanders introduced the “Audit the Fed” Bill in 2009 that was co-sponsored by ultra conservative senator Jim Demint. Someone who is also like Bernie Sanders in that regard is Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich is another far leftist, but he actually voted against Cap N Trade (because it didn’t go far enough), wants to impeach Obama over his violation of the War Powers Act and assassination of an American citizen (be it a very bad one), and opposes the Patriot Act. Regardless of Kucinich’s reasons, I’m totally with him on those agendas. Policy wise and to a lesser extent, principle-wise, there may be more common ground between the far left and the right.

Establishment Democrats are the absolute worst. Joe Lieberman is many republicans’ favorite democrat. I admire that he has principles, which is unusual for politicians in general, but that’s as far as my admiration goes. Lieberman has a neoconservative foreign policy and is a socialist domestically. What that means is that he is as bad as Barack Obama in terms of spending, if not worse. Speaking of terrible things, Democrats usually say and do whatever they need to, to get re-elected. I’m sure some Democrats are unaware of the harmful effects of their policies and have benevolence in mind. But most are interested in buying votes from every group they can possibly get a hold of. Democrats usually run against things, namely republicans. They will oppose republicans virtually on every policy, not because they necessarily disagree, but as a political tactic. This is beyond obvious when Democrats are in power and their foreign policy is seen by the American people. The only difference between Bush and Obama on foreign policy is that Obama wants Israel to return to its 1967 borders and that he likes to travel to countries and apologize for things America did 50-75 years ago.

Occupy Wall Street could be dangerous in the future. As winter weather comes in for the long haul, it seems the movement would face 2 options, it either dies out or revs up by becoming violent and [even more] lawless. Obviously we should hope that its the former. The latter would bring about the chaos and destruction that we see taking place in crumbling nations like Greece. Most rational people probably look at Occupy Wall Street as disgusting and view it negatively. I don’t see how the Democrats channel the movement into electoral success (by attracting new voters, they have the Occupy Wall Street vote pretty well in hand). The truly sad part of it is that it had some limited potential.

Instead of just voting a straight democrat ticket, a democrat tea party would’ve brought about positive changes for the country. Voting out all the crony capitalist Democrats as well as the ones supporting destructive entities like the Federal Reserve would be fantastic (but painstaking, as that would require replacing most of the ones currently serving). However its likely that the individuals who are currently occupying places are too lazy to bring about such productive change and to do in depth research on the policies that are actually causing the problems they are facing. As Reason Magazine’s Matt Welch pointed out, one of the great aspects of the Tea Party is that they are principled enough to vote for a candidate who they agree with on most policies but who is also a crazy who only dresses in a bunny suit (who obviously has no chance of winning), instead of supporting a worthless establishment republican who could easily win in the general election. Unfortunately, with far left nuts such as Michael Moore, Van Jones, and Cornel West in their ranks and financial support coming from the labor unions, Occupy Wall Street has insured itself as a worthless group of nasty, unemployed, angst filled useful idiots willing to take direction from absolute crazies or the people who promote many of the policies they say they oppose. Instead of a good policy or personnel reform coming from the Occupy Wall Street movement, the only silver lining may be independent voters running even further away from the democrat party.

What Happened and WHY It Happened

President Barack Obama announced Friday, October 21, 2011, that the remaining thirty-nine thousand troops will leave Iraq at the end of the year. But, again, the MSM did not report on WHY Obama is withdrawing troops. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made clear that it was Iraq who refused to let the U.S. military remain under America’s terms. “When the Americans asked for [troop] immunity, the Iraqi side answered that it was not possible.” Maliki, a Shiite, has the political backing of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr‘s forty representatives in Iraq’s parliament who have demanded all U.S. troops leave. Maliki knows his partnership with Sadr has been blessed by Iran, and that making a deal with Iraqiya would lose the Sadrists, enrage Iran, and risk the possibility of eventual betrayal by Iraqiya.

The Obama administration insisted that the Iraqi Council of Representatives endorse the troop immunity deal, a political impossibility. So, Obama, after Iraq’s prime minister said “no” to America, announced that the Iraq war was over and that troops will be leaving by year’s end. Deputy National Security Advisor Dennis McDonough said Iraq is “secure, stable, and self-reliant.” It is none of these things. Its government is not capable of defending itself from Iran in the air or on the ground. Iraq does not possess a ready and equipped air force, or an effective intelligence apparatus.

The Obama administration, BTW, is talking out of both sides of its mouth on Iraq. It says the withdrawal is one of President Obama’s campaign promises, It also says that this is all the Iraqis’ fault, that Obama wanted to maintain troops on the ground after 2011, but the Iraqis wouldn’t accede to his wishes.

Handing Iraq To Iran

The U.S. is handing the Iranians a goal they have sought for years, to remove us from Iraq so Iran can increase its influence for its ends. It once seemed that Iraq could be a strategic ally and base for our influence in the Middle East, but it now may become both things for Iran. Iran’s militias were already active in Iraq. Now, it can use Iraq for bases for its proxy forces to spread its influence to the rest of the Persian Gulf. Political decisions will begin to go more and more Iran’s way as Iraq’s and Iran’s Shiite majority will continue to influence politics. The Iraqi government is quite sectarian, favoring the Shiites, and has thrown itself toward Shiite Iran. Indeed, even Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is Shiite.

U.S. troops withdrawal will most hurt Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Force. The Counter-Terrorism Force benefited from a long-standing partnership with U.S. special forces. For al-Qaeda-inspired groups or Shiite extremists wishing to destabilize the Iraqi government, Iraq’s loss of such training is indeed welcomed.

What Do Iraqis Think?

Seventy Three percent of Iraqis said they believe it is likely Iran will act aggressively after U.S. troops leave. Fifty One percent said they believe the security situation within Iraq will get worse when the U.S. forces leave. Thirty One percent said they were confident Iraqi forces could protect the Iraqi population from terrorist attacks. The survey, conducted by YouGov-Cambridge, interviewed 505 Iraqis from July 12-27, 2011.

What Does Hillary Clinton Think?

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran not to view the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq as an opportunity to try to build its influence in the country. “No one, most particularly Iran, should miscalculate about our continuing commitment to and with the Iraqis going forward,” said Clinton. As American troops prepare to leave Iraq, Clinton issued a warning to Iran, saying the U.S. will continue to have a presence in the region to assist Iraq as a “partner country” into the future.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded, “I think this is going to be a very good idea, and we should have done it sooner, maybe seven or eight years ago, and they would avoid killing so many Iraqi people or Americans, as well. I think they should have done it much earlier.” Ahmadinejad stated that “the government of Iraq, the parliament, we have a very good relationship with all of them … and we have deepened our ties day by day.”

What Does the Military Say?

Gen. Lloyd Austin, U.S. Commander in Iraq, says that without a secure, orderly transition, U.S. successes have been put at risk. Politics does not tolerate a vacuum. Iran’s ability to meddle in Iraqi politics has soared with the announced U.S. withdrawal.

U.S. commanders in Iraq say they believe Iraqi security forces have been trained well enough to defend the country against external threats, but continuing sectarian violence and the threat of Iranian intervention raises questions about the future stability of Iraq.

Many in the State and Defense departments wanted to extended the presence of troops (albeit a small amount) into the next year, but insisted that they continue to enjoy immunity from prosecution in Iraq.  This was rejected by the Iraqi government and Prime Minister al-Maliqi.

The announcing of the timetable for withdrawal raises questions of whether the Iraqi military and police forces are fully prepared to defend the fledgling freedom again Al-Qaeda and other insurrectionist groups.  Anti-democratic forces are likely to take advantage of the deadline to launch a new offensive in the country.  Only time will see if Iraq is ready to stand on its own two feet.

Free missiles in Libya for terrorists

As many as 20,000 shoulder-fired portable heat-seeking missiles are unaccounted for in Libya today, as the Obama Administration is caught flat-footed and left scrambling to do damage control in a very dangerous situation that they have had a big hand in creating. In their zealousness to promote the Arab Spring [supposed] Democracy uprisings in Libya, the Obama administration is shown to be eager to bomb first and deal with dangerous consequences later in this debacle. In the rush to help oust the long-time tyrant and oppressive dictator Moammar Gadhafi, numerous stockpiles of these missiles have been left unguarded and have already in fact, been carted off by who knows what terrorist groups and individuals by simply pulling up and loading them into vehicles. The following ABC News video describes the dangers of not securing these weapons depots, BEFORE removing the Libyan military that was guarding them:</p

These 4 to 5 foot long, portable heat-seeking missiles shown in the above video could now be used against our military aircraft in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe, and were basically left free for the taking in Libya. From the ABC News report, we see that this dangerous situation was brought to the Obama Administration’s attention over 6 months ago:

Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch first warned about the problem after a trip to Libya six months ago. He took pictures of pickup truckloads of the missiles being carted off during another trip just a few weeks ago.

These missiles are deadly from distances up to two miles and do not have to actually be aimed, as they zoom in on an aircraft’s engine heat, and it also doesn’t take a lot of training to fire one. Basically put it on your shoulder and point it in the direction of any aircraft, and the missile will track the aircraft, strike it, and then explode.

Mr. Bouckaert was right there in Libya taking pictures of these missiles, and stated: “I myself could have removed several hundred if I wanted to, and people can literally drive up with pickup trucks or even 18 wheelers and take away whatever they want,” said Bouckaert, HRW’s emergencies director. “Every time I arrive at one of these weapons facilities, the first thing we notice going missing is the surface-to-air missiles.”

Former White House counter-terror adviser Richard Clarke stated, “I think the probability of al Qaeda being able to smuggle some of the stinger-like missiles out of Libya is probably pretty high,”

Recently we have seen The fast and Furious gunrunning scandal in which the DHS, ATF and other government agencies enabled the sale of assault weapons to drug cartels resulting in hundreds of murders on both sides of our Southern border, The Solyndra pay-for-play solar company scam where a good portion of half a billion taxpayer dollars have basically been shuffled into Democratic campaign coffers, and now we have the U.S. government enabling al Qaeda and any other anti-American maniac to acquire up to 20k portable anti-aircraft missiles. Meanwhile the ignorant sheep now known as Obama-supporters following his recent west coast taxpayer-funded campaign trip keep on screaming… Four more years, four more years!   Lovely.