Free Republic

Free Republic's Kristinn Taylor had his excellent first hand report linked to by Michelle Malkin below. --- Spitting at a war hero By Michelle Malkin   ·   January 28, 2007 10:19 PM Readers of this blog will remember the name Joshua Sparling. In December 2005, the Iraq war veteran received a disgusting, anti-war death wish card while being treated at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. for injuries from a bomb explosion in Ramadi. Last month, his right leg was amputated. And this weekend, while participating in a counter-protest against the moonbat convergence, he was spit at by anti-war demonstrators....

<p>E-mail to soldier spurs outrage Military supporters bombard West Allis company with messages; fears for safety arise By ANNYSA JOHNSON anjohnson@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 22, 2007 What began as a brief e-mail exchange between a U.S. soldier in Iraq and a Wisconsin-based online retailer has erupted into an international incident that has pitted military supporters against free speech advocates and threatens to shut down the local company.</p>

Web Site Kicks Sand in Faces of GIs in Iraq Asking for Mats to Ease Hardship of Sleeping on Ground January 22, 2007 An American GI assigned to one of the harshest posts in Iraq had a simple request last week for a Wisconsin mattress company: send some floor mats to help ease the hardship of sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground. What he got, instead, was a swift kick from the company's Web site, which not only refused the request but added insult to injury with the admonition, "If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out...

A soldier based in Iraq got this response when inquiring as to whether or not the company ships overseas. He wanted to get the troops better gear to sleep on. To Whom it may concern: Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first. SGT Hess +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: contact@discount-mats.com [mailto:contact@discount-mats.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats.com SGT Hess, We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did,...

The evening of 30 December, CSM Jeffrey Mellinger talked over dinner with troops about progress and setbacks in Iraq. This was about twelve hours before Saddam was to hang, but that was still a big secret to nearly everyone. American Brigadier General Francis Wiercinksi would later tell me that neither he nor the current governor of Salah al Dinh Province, where Saddam was born, were aware of the impending execution. On the eve of the hanging, Mellinger delivered a no-room-for-BS-talk, the only kind combat soldiers will tolerate without shutting someone out or walking away. One soldier was against the death...

Back from Baghdad By Michelle Malkin   ·   January 17, 2007 04:04 AM The digs at FOB Justice My HotAir.com colleague Bryan Preston and I are back from Iraq. Thanks to Allah and Ian for holding down the fort at HA and thanks much to guest-bloggers Mary Katharine Ham, See-Dubya, and the Big Lizards for filling in here during my absence. Be sure to bookmark their blogs. Our first Hot Air in Baghdad video report is here. Bryan's first post-trip essay, a thorough assessment of "mistakes, fumbles and ways forward to win--and what victory actually looks like," is here. He's also...

My Hot Air colleague Bryan Preston and I have been in Iraq, embedded with an incredibly dedicated Army unit in Baghdad tasked with training Iraqi security forces (both Shia and Sunni) conducting counterinsurgency operations, and carrying out civil affairs work. Yes, there is danger and chaos and unspeakable bloodshed in parts of Baghdad. Sectarian violence--compounded by everyday street crime and tribal conflict--is rampant. Corruption, incompetence, and apathy infect the Iraqi government. You've gotten endless news coverage of all that. But there are also pockets of success and signs of hope amid utter despair. I'll give you more details of...

My blogging has been lighter than usual the past few weeks due to family time, Fox News duties, holiday chaos, holiday illness--and, yes, planning for a trip to Iraq. As you know, ex-CNN newsman Eason Jordan extended an invitation to me three weeks ago to go to Iraq to investigate the Associated Press/"Jamil Hussein" story. He offered to pay for a trip. As you'll recall, I asked if he would offer to cover travel and security costs for Curt from Flopping Aces--who broke open the story of AP's dubious sources on Thanksgiving weekend and continues to lead the blogospheric search...

*** Be sure to read the notes from the troops in Iraq & Afghanistan in the article - they say how they feel about the support they get from homeMoving ForwardAn American supports our troops. An NRO Q&A San Francisco radio-talk-show host Melanie Morgan (KSFO 560 AM) is co-author of American Mourning: A Story of Two Families with Catherine Moy. She is also president of Move America Forward . She recently talked to NRO editor Kathryn Lopez about the book and her troop-supporting work. Kathryn Jean Lopez: What exactly is Move America Forward? Melanie Morgan: Move America Forward (MAF) is...

...a young soldier... (and a Purple Heart recipient) is called upon to serve his country.. twice... leaving behind a young wife and his children. While in Iraq, he hears of abuse allegations and he expresses his wishes and fears to social workers after his 9 year old daughter was hospitalized, only to be told he has no parental say so because he is not in this country, but told that "the wife is the custodial parent.... she is here" and he is expected to carry out his dangerous missions as he is wondering who is helping to protect his own...

Remembering the fallen By Michelle Malkin   ·   December 14, 2006 11:00 AM Maj. Megan McClung was an American Girl. She was the highest-ranking female officer killed in Iraq last week. Watch this video. You will not forget her. (More about Maj. McClung in the OC Register.) Thanks to Ken Noland for pointing us to the memorial video and to the terrific website, Digital Imagery and Video Distribution System , which serves as the public affairs arm for the Third Army and Central Command. Army Capt. Travis Patriquin was killed alongside Maj. McClung. Mike Fumento's memorial is here. Matt at Blackfive...

Troops in Iraq Express Frustration with the Media to FNC's Sean Hannity Posted by Justin McCarthy on December 12, 2006 - 17:00. The bravest and most patriotic of Americans, those who see first hand what goes on in Iraq, can see the liberal bias in the media. On Monday’s Hannity and Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity recounted from his recent trip to Iraq that many in uniform there feel the media paints a grimmer picture than the reality on the ground. Hannity first offered this comment when talking with Oliver North reporting from Ramadi, Iraq. Sean Hannity: "You know Colonel, one...

Iraq Study Group Fails ----------------------- Posted: December 8, 20061:00 a.m. EasternThe Iraq Study Group report was a noble undertaking by well-meaning bureaucrats and former politicians. But the report was a failure – a complete failure. While their intentions may have been good, the group failed to construct a vision for a new way forward in Iraq that is significantly different from what the United States military and her allies are already doing there. What they did manage to do was highlight the current problems in Iraq, and in doing so provide fodder for the news media to repeat the...

theory of the thing is very peculiar indeed. You are in the middle of a war -- a hard war, a war that is going badly. If the government has bogged down, if the people inside have gone stale, you would say that the sound thing, the Churchillian or Lincolnian or Rooseveltian thing, would be, first, to fire a bunch of officials (generals as well as top civilians), promote or bring in fresh talent, and put together a small group of people to take a new and unillusioned look. Those people would report back in secrecy to the president and...

Fallujah Today, and on Route Mobile Patroling one of the two main arteries through the Fallujah region The city of Fallujah and its surrounding environs has both a symbolic and strategic importance to the security of Iraq. Fallujah is the city where al-Qaeda fought the U.S. forces toe-to-toe and lost. Fallujah is a rallying call to al-Qaeda. The city also serves as the gateway to Baghdad, the end of the line of al-Qaeda's Syrian ratlines which are used to run foreign fighters, money and weapons into the capital. Fallujah was where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi set up his first infamous Islamic...

NEWS RELEASE CONTACT:  Robert Dixon - Phone: (916) 441-6197 or Email: robert@moveamericaforward.org December 6 2006 IRAQ STUDY GROUPA COMPLETE FAILURE Report Makes Few Constructive Proposals Advocates Cooperation with Sponsors of Terrorism: Iran & Syria The Chairman of the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization, Move America Forward, has issued the following statement after reviewing the Iraq Study Group’s report.  A complete analysis will soon be posted on the organization’s website (www.MoveAmericaForward.org). ________________________________________ STATEMENT BY MELANIE MORGAN, CHAIR, MOVE AMERICA FORWARD: “The Iraq Study Group has failed.  With great hubris and pomposity, the Iraq Study Group released a report they wrote...

WHAT A STORY OF GUTS AND COURAGE, AND A LOVELY WIFE AND FAMILY

Spc. Ashley Pullen wasn't thinking about the dozens of Iraqi insurgents who had just ambushed the convoy. Or their piles of guns and grenades or the bullets ripping through the air around her. Her bloody comrade lay on the road south of Baghdad, and she had to help the gravely wounded soldier — fast. So she hustled as quickly as her short legs would carry her, ignoring the heat, the ferocious battle and her heavy gear. She ran 100, 200, 300 feet — the length of a football field. It was March 20, 2005, the day Pullen, a member of...

The past four days during which we were under siege were long and rough for Baghdadis. Anxiety and fear haunted us at our homes and a flow of horrible news made the prison feel even tighter…it was a material and psychological siege that will not be easy to forget. Thursday began differently for me, first thing in the morning I received very troubling news that one of our friends has been kidnapped. His shocked, terrified father came to us looking for any bit of information that might be possibly helpful in the search for his son who vanished a day...

Mike Fumento was a guest on the Mike Rosen show on 850am KOA here in Denver Wednesday (Nov. 23rd) to talk about his recent October 2006 trip to Ramadi, Iraq. Mike talks about the REAL story from the one of the most dangerous places in the country. Rosen Replay 11/22/06 10-11AM (about 45 minutes, MP3) Guest: Mike Fumento, journalist for "The Weekly Standard" talks about his latest article, "Return to Ramadi."Click here for part one of the interview Rosen Replay 11/22/06 11-11:45AM (about 30 minutes, MP3) Mike Fumento continued. Click here for part two of the interview --- Mike Fumento's...