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War In Iraq: The press is salivating over the prospect of an Iraqi My Lai in the town of Haditha, with ABC trotting out Rep. John Murtha to brand U.S. troops war criminals just in time for Memorial Day. Appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," and with the matter still under investigation, Murtha, D-Pa., decided it would be sentence first and trial later when he proclaimed Marines responding to an attack in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19 guilty of murder of at least 15 Iraqi civilians. The incident began as a Marine convoy of Kilo Company, Third Battalion,...

Those who equate Haditha with My Lai, and Iraq with Vietnam, would do well to remember the last time we gave peace a chance. For millions of innocents, it was the peace of the grave. If there's anyone who condones the deliberate murder of civilians, it is not the U.S. government but the anti-war left and its unindicted co-conspirators in the media. Thanks largely to their efforts, we abandoned Vietnam and ushered in an era of mass carnage, boat people and reeducation camps that resulted in more death after the war than during it. After Saigon's "liberation," summary executions of...

Published: October 13, 2009 11:27 pm 2 former colonels sentenced: Military contract case had ties to Murtha By MELISSA NELSON The Associated Press PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge sentenced two former Air Force colonels to prison on Tuesday for destroying documents, lying to a grand jury and other crimes related to a wider fraud scheme by contractors and defense lobbyists with ties to powerful Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown. The men, both engineers and graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy, are among those accused by federal prosecutors who are looking into alleged wrongdoing by contractors with ties to Murtha, chairman...

If your rely only news sources were the three major broadcast networks, or one of the top major national papers, the name "Van Jones" might prompt you to say, "Who?" But, while the media had difficulty reporting on Van Jones the embattled member of the Obama Administration, it had no such trouble covering Van Jones the anti-Iraq War protestor. Jones, who was President Barack Obama's so-called "green jobs czar" resigned in the middle of the night on Sept. 6 - a Saturday night/Sunday morning on Labor Day weekend. He had for weeks been embroiled in controversy after revelations that he...

The British security contractor accused of murdering two western colleagues in Baghdad and critically wounding an Iraqi appeared in court today and "made a full confession" about his role in the alleged rampage, according to a senior Iraqi official. Daniel Fitzsimons, a former Paratrooper, appeared before an investigative judge who told him he faces the death penalty if convicted. Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Kareem Kalaph said last night that Fitzsimons had confessed during the brief hearing to shooting dead his colleagues.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said he should have "howled harder" on Iraq and that the war was the most "dissatisfying moment" of his life. Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in responding to 10 questions in Time magazine, also said the jury is out on whether Iran was developing nuclear weapons. One of the main justifications for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the administration of President George W. Bush was the assertion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were found in the years since the...

This story deserves more attention than it’s gotten, so I’m going to give it some. The eagle-eyed NZ Bear while running the show at the Victory Caucus noticed a strange little blurb on the website of MoveCongress.org. MoveCongress.org, for those of you fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the group, boasts on its masthead that it wants to “Move Congress to End the War in Iraq.” This morning, the group was scheduled to be blessed with an exclusive briefing from Jack Murtha on how…well, I’ll let you see how MoveCongress.org described Murtha’s agenda: Chairman Murtha will describe his strategy for...

5-2009 5-2009 21 0 0 21 28 0.75 4-2009 4-2009 19 0 0 19 30 0.63 3-2009 3-2009 9 0 0 9 31 0.29

Donald Rumsfeld covered Iraq briefing papers with Biblical texts According to a report in GQ magazine the religious texts were imposed over pictures of the US armed forces engaged in the war. Shown to only a small circle of senior advisers, the pages were first used on the eve of the 2003 invasion and were designed to provide support and encouragement to Mr Bush, a Christian who often cited the Bible while in office. Some Pentagon officials feared that if the documents were leaked at the height of the conflict, the use of Christian language to justify the invasion of...

LATEST:Five US soldiers killed in shooting at American base in Baghdad, US military says. More to follow. _

this video is great, but I'm really annoyed that since the military won't identify the man, FoxNews is requesting viewers to identify him: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518143,00.html

War Resistor Sgt Chiroux successfully challenged his misconduct hearing, facing down the U.S. Army and offering a potential "green light" for other soldiers challenging the legality of U.S. action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Well there is nothing like time to allow one to see the truth. Senator Reid was flat out lying about the war in order to score political points and win the presidency for Democrats and he was lying so that Democrat could increase their control of Congress. [Both objectives accomplished but at what cost to America?]

LAS VEGAS — Ethan Hawke might want to avoid crossing paths with Toby Keith in the near future. The country star lit into the actor for an article Hawke wrote in the new issue of Rolling Stone about Kris Kristofferson. In it, Hawke refers to a blowup Kristofferson had with an unnamed country star back in 2003 that sounds a lot like Toby Keith. But a furious Keith, speaking backstage at the Academy of Country Music Awards, said it wasn't true, and added that Hawke did not name him in the story because he did not want to face him...

'MARKETS without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear." So began Terry McCarthy's report from Iraq for ABC's World News Sunday on March 15, one of a series the network aired last week as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary. A nationwide poll of Iraqis reveals that "60 percent expect things to get better next year - almost three times as many as a year and a half ago," McCarthy continued. "Iraqis are slowly discovering they have a future. We flew south to Basra, where 94 percent say their lives are going well....

The protest remained peaceful until the main group arrived at Civic Center Plaza. There, a couple hundred pro-Israel protesters waving Israeli flags were waiting for the larger contingent, which included many pro-Palestine protesters. The pro-Palestine group broke off from the larger demonstration to confront the Israel supporters, who were carrying signs including "Hamas, stop using children as human shields." Both sides yelled angrily at each other and some protesters got into a physical fight, shoving each other. Police arrested at least two people. About 100 police in riot gear were at the scene, and a dozen police vans were parked...

Have you ever made the point that President George W. Bush kept this country safe after 9/11, only to have a liberal respond: "Nuh-uh! You can't prove Bush kept us safe!" This fallacious posturing is rooted in the ridiculous assumption that, because terrorists have not conceded that Bush defeated them, we cannot not say "Bush succeeded in keeping America safe after 9/11." I reference Article I, Section 53 of The Holy Doctrine of Liberalism, which clearly states, "Insist everything George W. Bush ever did was wrong, or you run the risk of accidentally validating conservatism." I'm here to tell you...

Ever Wonder what ever happened to the War in Iraq? Did our hero's come home? You hardly ever hear about it on the evening news any more. Only in the rare cases when there is a homicide attack. It used to be the top story every day. Where did it go? There has to be some sort of "gag order" on the press. I have never heard the United States issue such a "gag order" but I am now convinced there has to be one in place right now. Why else would the press fail to cover the Good News...

On the occasion of the publication of the paperback version of his book, War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism, Douglas J. Feith participated in a conference call this afternoon with a number of bloggers, including FinkelBlog. Feith served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy for United States President George W. Bush. He worked closely with the President, Vice-President and Defense Secretary Cheney in formulating US policy on Iraq and Afghanistan. Highlights from Feith’s remarks: * Even though the rhetoric of the Obama campaign was harsh toward the Bush administration on...

Over at Big Hollywood Iraq War Vet Sqt. Welch has declared war on Hollywood liberals: Almost 90% of Americans believe the war in Iraq is and was a waste. The Hollywood media feeds the public wasteful, depressing, and horribly fabricated stories. When did the U.S. military become the bad-guys? We are stereotyped “Generation Kill.” I guess that is all we do. All we do is go to Iraq, hunt innocents and slaughter them. I guess that is what I did for eight months while I was there. I guess I really didn’t save Iraqi families from being tortured by foreign...

Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave star Tom Morello has been declared a soldier for peace by a group of Iraq War veterans. The rocker has been presented with one soldier's medals for fighting for an end to war back home in America.

Here is video of Vice-President Dick Cheney making the case that the United States has achieved most of it's goals in Iraq and saying in answer to a question from Jim Lehrer that the Iraq War was worth it . . . . (watch video)

I would like to devote my time to research and post such research that would put to rest any doubts or misinformation about the validity of a link between Iraq's leadership under Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda terrorist network. What I need most is links or references to official documents, relevant source non-biased source materials, and or confirmed quotable information. What isn't needed are posts from other conservative bloggers or "news" sites that are inherently biased towards defending their view. Any help would be appreciated.

Iraq has started to reap the benefits of the status of forces agreement with the United States. The United Nations Security Council voted to set the ground for relieving Iraq from the restrictions of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. In fact, the remaining effects of previous resolutions will from now on serve only to protect Iraq’s assets from claims by other parties, not to impose anything on the people of Iraq. Sovereignty, which was lost two decades ago under Saddam Hussein’s capricious and belligerent reign, is being restored to the nation. The Security Council resolution 1859 states, among other...

The first female U.S. Iraq war resister to seek refuge in Canada has been ordered to leave the country before the end of the month or face deportation. Kimberley Rivera, who served in Iraq in 2006 and fled to Canada in 2007 after refusing redeployment, was told this morning she has until Jan. 27 to return to the U.S., said Michelle Rubidoux of the War Resisters Support Campaign. "It's ridiculous," said Rubidoux, who accompanied Rivera to her hearing at the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre on Airport Road. The decision will force Rivera to uproot her family – her husband Mario...

Here is video of Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid on Meet the Press yesterday, January 4, 2009. He was questioned by David Gregory about his 2007 declaration that the "War in Iraq is lost." Reid refuses to admit that his statement was wrong, and refuses to admit that the United States is winning/has won the War in Iraq. To Gregory's credit, he kept pushing Reid on the issue, leading Reid to make a complete fool of himself (as if he hadn't already done that many times over). . . . . (see video)

President Bush's decision to authorize the troop surge in Iraq has now made the war zone a safer place than the mean streets of President-Elect Barack Obama's so-called proving ground. Last year homicides in Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago substantially exceeded the number of deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. As the AP itself reported: According to a tally by The Associated Press, at least 314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in 2008, down from 904 in the previous year. And the Chicago Tribune reported today: Chicago closed out the year with 509 homicides, an increase of about 15 percent...

The MSM has been too reverential towards George W. Bush. Yeah, that's the ticket. The only thing more absurd than that assertion was Arianna Huffington's willingness to accept it as a fact in answering a question. Here was the exchange between Huffington and Choire Sicha, writing for the LA Times, in today's "Sunday Conversation" feature [emphasis added]: CHOIRE SICHA: It was only recently that this spell of reverence for Bush lifted. Why'd it take so long? ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: I think it took so long because there is something about the conventional wisdom that is very addictive to members of the...

The Associated Press is as much as blaming the victim for the attack again with theirs headlined "Obama says he wants to 'reboot' America's battered image among Muslims." In this report we get the AP saying that the reason the Muslim world is mad at us is because of George W. Bush. But not a word is mentioned about why Bush might have been in a position of interacting so heavily with the Muslim world in the first place. How soon the AP forgets a little thing we like to call 9/11. Why is it that we have to apologize...

CNSNews.com Murtha Maintains He Was Right to Say Marines ‘Killed Innocent Civilians in Cold Blood’ Thursday, December 11, 2008 By Nicholas Ballasy (CNSNews.com) - Although all of the charges have been dropped against all of the Marines – except for one – involved in the killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) said he stands by his May 2006 remarks that the soldiers involved “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” “Yes, I think it was,” the right thing to say, Murtha told CNSNews.com on Wednesday. “That’s my job. My job is due. Listen, the NCIS...

Confederate Yankee has an excellent post on the attempt underway by the New York Times to rewrite history by giving Barack Obama and the Democrats some credit for America's victory in Iraq. Obviously, the truth is exactly opposite that attempt. Here are Videos of Barack Obama and Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid declaring the war to be hopeless, unwinnable -- lost . . . . Watch Videos

Have you noticed lately that mainstream media are giving less attention to the war in Iraq, especially concerning our troops progress? CNSNews recently reported that, "There were only two front page New York Times stories that mentioned "Iraq" in the headline in October 2008 – there were 11 in October 2006 and 17 in October 2004. … The Washington Post ran four front-page stories that had headlines using the word "Iraq" in October 2008 – in October 2006 there were 17 stories, and 27 stories in October 2004." (Was it coincidental timing that, when George Bush was up for re-election...

Veterans in Politics Talk Show Introduces Phil Valentine LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net November 29: Phil Valentine Film Producer and Director of "Who Will Stand": "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you can call in and speak to the guest or/and host at (702) 942-7371. Have A Happy Thanksgiving

A recently released propaganda video by the Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is quite revealing. Not only does the video demonstrate the group’s growing effort to package arguments in a manner designed to appeal to Westerners on the political left, but it also serves as a barometer of radical Muslim groups’ broader shift in rhetorical strategy. The video, “Iraq: Past and Present Colonialism,” appears for the first twenty-seven minutes to be a standard leftist critique of the Iraq war, indistinguishable from Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. The slickly-produced video begins with the history of past colonialism in Iraq—including the Mongol conquest...

A Marine from Boulder accused of faking his disappearance in 2006 to avoid service in Iraq was arrested Sunday afternoon, along with his father, at the Port Angeles, Wash., airport.

"THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:" Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good. "There's nothing going on. I'm with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I'm with haven't fired their weapons on this tour and they've been here eight months. And the place we're at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there's nothing going on. I've been walking my feet off and haven't seen anything. I've been asking Iraqis,...

If not for milestones and anniversaries, I’m not quite sure how much is left for today’s reporter to report. And if not to serve as the veritable conscience of society, then what, pray tell, would his or her purpose be? I suppose that to suggest a reporter’s function is to actually disseminate what is going on is to refute his or her greater role in society – something more than a mere observer, collector and teller of news. Thanks, in part, to the guiding light cast from the Watergate template, those who once simply reported on events now aspire to...

I know, "yawn, another vanity post" but seriously, are not all of our posts, and FR itself, vanity? I just wanted to throw a couple comments out there. Obama responded to McCain tonight, "He's right, I don't understand. I don't understand why we invaded a country that never attacked us...." This view is so seriously flawed. Senator Obama, prior to our involvement at WWII with Germany, where and when did Germany attack the United States? The plain truth is that Germany represented a threat to the region, just as Iraq did under an unstable dictator. Yet no one questions the...

The quote (in which Biden specifically says France and the European leaders KNOW Saddam has weapons) is at 14:17. But Biden spends some more time attempting to convince the audience that the burden is on Saddam to prove he doesn't have the weapons. You can see Biden develop his argument if you have a few minutes to watch the video from 12:00 to 14:30.

September 18, 2008 For G-d's Sake, Give This Deceased American Hero His Medal! By Debbie Schlussel Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta is a role model for all Americans, whether they are immigrants like him or native born. He made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life to save those of his fellow Marines. Sadly, nitpickers in our military are denying him and his grieving family the Medal of Honor. It's a travesty. This late patriot deserves the honor. He earned it in blood and gutted limbs. This is the kind of one-time illegal alien I wish we had more of in America....

Petraeus's Miracle By David Ignatius BAGHDAD -- The night before Gen. David Petraeus turned over command here, a group of senior officers gathered at Camp Victory to say goodbye. It was like a football team's testimonial dinner at the end of a winning season: There were steaks and baked potatoes and a highlight film of the general's 20-month command, scored with rock music, called "Surge of Hope." The signature line of the video was a statement Petraeus made to Congress when he began what seemed to many people like mission impossible: "Hard is not hopeless." That was his closing comment,...

This is the problem with blindly entrusting your future to an individual who has accomplished nothing of any consequence in his past. It’s not hope you’re feeling, its euphoric blind faith. As is always the case with career rabble rousers (aka community organizers), the fact that they have never been in the game does not hamper their ability to talk a good game. Obama says that words mean something and without any deeds to talk about, he’s right. However, compared to action and real experience, or in his case a complete lack thereof, empty words mean damn little. Only those...

WAR MOM PALIN TAKES HARD LINE By CHARLES HURT Bureau Chief September 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON - Vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin saw her eldest son off to war yesterday as she took a hard line on Russia, Iran and terrorists "hellbent on destroying America and our allies." Asked in her first extended interview since becoming John McCain's running mate if she thinks she's qualified to take over the presidency, Palin replied, "I do." "I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink," she told ABC News. "You have to be wired in a way of being...

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw asked Joe Biden if the troop surge in Iraq had made possible the increased security and reconciliation we now see in that country. Here is Biden’s answer: SEN. BIDEN: No. The surge helped make that–what made is possible in Anbar province is they did what I’d suggested two and a half years ago: gave local control.

One-third (32%) of Americans believe the situation in Iraq is getting better, two in five (41%) say things are staying the same and 16 percent say things are getting worse. This is better than in May when only one in five (22%) said things were getting better; and,

With Friends Like US...? by: Daniel Smith, August 26, 2008 After the September 11, 2001 attacks upon the United States, President Bush warned of the consequence of such actions by America’s enemies. Unfortunately, America’s friends report their own set of hazards. Dr. Elizabeth Ferris, Senior Fellow at Brookings, commented on the history of Iraqi refugees and victims of “internal displacement” (ID). “Before U.S. intervention” in 2003, nearly 700,000 Iraqis had been displaced under the Saddam regime, 250,000 of which were Northern Kurds. Since the war, approximately 4 million additional Iraqis have been driven from their homes. Refugees – those forced...

Barack Obama got to be the Democratic presidential nominee in large part because he opposed from the start the use of U.S. military force to liberate Iraq. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, by contrast, both voted for it. But an exchange in Saturday night's forum with Rick Warren raises serious questions about Obama's honesty vis-à-vis Iraq. Here it is: Warren: What's the most significant--let me ask it this way. What's the most gut-wrenching decision you ever had to make and how did you process that to come to that decision? Obama: ...we did not have strong evidence of weapons of...

Interview made by phone on August 14, 2008 Audio excerpts and complete transcript linked above. Bill KRISTOL's opinion on Obama, McCain, a possible comeback of Hillary at the Denver convention, Iran, Iraq, Bush legacy, China.... ENJOY and give a feedback !

IT WASN'T so long ago that erstwhile supporters of the war in Iraq were invoking hindsight to justify their newfound opposition to it. "Obviously if we knew then what we know now," Senator Hillary Clinton said in December 2006, when asked whether she regretted her 2002 vote authorizing military action, "I certainly wouldn't have voted that way." Many of Clinton's colleagues said the same thing. An ABC News survey of senators in January 2007 found that "an overwhelming number" of Democrats who had voted in favor of going to war - including Joe Biden of Delaware, Chris Dodd of Connecticut,...