Posted on 05/17/2004 4:45:22 AM PDT by The Mayor
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THE WEEKEND THREAD
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Amen dansangel
Thank you,I enjoy posting Military Mondays, it's the least I can do. At 48 I can't go help out in the fighting..
Massachusetts Wedding Day will be splattered all over the front pages.
YUP!
Thankyou Victoria, I love that pic..
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!
GOD BLESS PRESIDENT BUSH!
GOD BLESS DONALD RUMSFELD!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Amen Donaeus!!
A big salute to the Iraqi army who is dedicated to fighting the insurgents. Signed, a sister of a US soldier
Have you missed me? LOL. I've just been incredibly busy. I almost always find time to read the thread, but sometimes just don't have time to post.
Today was an exception. I have enjoyed being able to post a bit here and at Amy's Place.
(((((((((The Mayor))))))))))
I can certainly understand your concern, (((((Pippin))))). I will keep your loved ones in my prayers.
I understand, It's nice to see you !
It's nice to be seen.......and to see you too! :-)
That is super
It is always good to hear from you, Gert.
Weinie
P. S. That *%&#* neighbor who put out the squirrel poison that I ate has moved. lonestar is glad she's gone.
Thanks, CG - you and Bob have both written some unbelievably moving poems about our military.
There's something Norman Rockwell about that image, isn't there?
Billie, is it derived from Uncle Norman's work?
Hey, CG, do you agree with my line?
With Generals Like This, Who Needs Cheerleaders?
We carried on page1 of the July/August 2003 Follow Me a heartfelt Major General 1. N. Mattis to the 1st Division Marines entering combat in here is another letter from General Mattis to Marines, this one on their ret. He is indeed an eloquent letter writer-and cheerleader extraordinaire.
Subject: FW: MGen. Mattis' letter to Marines-Return to Iraq
Letter to All Hands,
We are going back in to the brawl. We will be relieving the magnificent Soldiers fighting under the 82nd Airborne Division, whose hard won successes in the Sunni Triangle have opened opportunities for us to exploit. For the last year, the 82nd Airborne has been operating against the heart of the enemy's resistance. It's appropriate that we relieve them: When it's time to move a piano, Marines don't pick up the piano bench - we move the piano. So this is the right place for Marines in this fight, where we can carryon the legacy of Chesty Puller in the Banana Wars in the same sort of complex environment that he knew in his early years.
Shoulder to shoulder with our comrades in the Army, Coalition Forces and maturing Iraqi Security Forces, we are going to destroy the enemy with precise firepower while diminishing the conditions that create adversarial relationships between us and the Iraqi people.
This is going to be hard, dangerous work. It is going to require patient, persistent presence. Using our individual initiative, courage, moral judgment and battle skills, we will build on the 82nd Airborne's victories. Our country is counting on us even as our enemies watch and calculate, hoping that America does not have warriors strong enough to withstand discomfort and danger. You, my fine young men, are going to prove the enemy wrong - dead wrong. You will demonstrate the same uncompromising spirit that has always caused the enemy to fear America's Marines.
The enemy will try to manipulate you into hating all Iraqis. Do not allow the enemy that victory. With strong discipline, solid faith, unwavering alertness, and undiminished chivalry to the innocent, we will carry out this mission. Remember, I have added, "First, do no harm" to our passwords of "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy." Keep your honor clean as we gain information about the enemy from the Iraqi people. Then, armed with that information and working in conjunction with fledgling Iraqi Security Forces, we will move precisely against the enemy elements and crush them without harming the innocent.
This is our test-our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City. Fight with a happy heart and keep faith in your comrades and your unit. We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead. Stay alert, take it all in stride, remain sturdy, and share your courage with each other and the world. You are going to write history, my fine young Sailors and Marines, so write it well.
Semper Fidelis,
J.N. Mattis
Major General, U. S. Marines
> 
I'm not sure - it does look like Rockwell's style, but I always think of his work as drawings, or paintings, not photographs. I found the picture of the baby inside the old man's hands on a 'free' Christian website, but it was on a purple background. I like the flag behind them better, and of course added the text. :)
That makes sense, hands are very difficult to draw.
As for your image source, what do you think they would think if we sent it back? (I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for "borrowing" it!)
Revisting Alice's Wonderland - Jack Kinsella - www.omegaletter.com
The news from Iraq, as it is being presented in the major media, is all bad. Car bombings, firefights, mounting US casualties, massacres and torture of American civilians, the prison scandal and the beheading of Nick Berg by al-Qaeda operative Abu Musad al Zarqawi.
The most recent atrocity occurred when an al-Qaeda jihadist drove a car bomb into a line of Iraqis waiting to enlist in the new Iraqi Army. At least fifteen potential recruits were killed in the attack; scores more were wounded.
The attack underscores both truths about Iraq in a single stroke. The first is that we continued to be engaged in a real, honest-to-Pete hot war with the Iraqi jihadists under Zarqawi's command, while simultaneously fighting Iraqi insurgent forces organized under the banner of Moqtada al Sadr's militia.
The second truth was ignored by the press. The attack took place at a coalition-friendly Iraqi army recruiting station. It was selected as a target-rich environment. But what MADE it a target-rich environment were the hundreds of Iraqis waiting in line to enlist in the Army -- to fight the insurgents alongside the coalition.
The news is bad to begin with; it really doesn't need any assistance from the anti-administration propagandists, but they just can't help themselves. For example, when the Boston Globe ran out of authentic photographs from Abu Ghraib Prison they used fakes that originated on a porno Web site.
The Washington Post and New York Times are unable think of anything else for their front pages.
Somebody should be devoting a little column space to the Anybody-But-Bush side's principle ally in the War Against Bush, Abu Musad al Zarqawi.
The al-Qaeda leader who beheaded Nick Berg is also affiliated with two Iraqi terrorist groups, the Tawhid and Jihad Group. Zarqawi is also linked to the Islamist terror organization Ansar al Islam, which has stepped up operations in post-war Iraq. Many of the group's members had fled to neighboring Iran and are returning to fight the coalition forces.
Zarqawi is believed to be the field commander of most of the Islamist terrorists in Iraq.
Assessment:
It was about thirty years ago that I read Hal's 'Late Great Planet Earth' and discovered God's Plan for the end of the Church Age. I had always suspected that there really WAS a God, but it was my nature to hold off on making a commitment until I had proved His existence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Witnessing the unfolding of specific events foretold thousands of years in advance was the evidence that convinced me. I was fascinated by the Bible's description of the Tribulation Period. Back in the 1970's, it seemed impossible.
From the Bible's description, it seemed as if society would have to first take a journey through Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass.
The Bible describes a world in which everybody is spiritual and all religions acceptable, but God is not invited. A world operating under the auspices of a global government, controlling both a global economy and a global religious system. Thirty years ago, not only did it appear unlikely, it was technologically impossible. And even if it were possible, Americans would never accept it.
The characteristics of the society pictured by the Bible in the last days were foreshadowed by the hippie movement and the communal society of the Haight-Ashbury District, but back then, those values were antithetical to the American Establishment. Thirty years ago, people DIDN'T expect their politicians to lie, and if they did, and got caught, they were harshly dealt with. That was then. This is now.
The world is currently embroiled in a religious war pitting the forces of God against the forces of Allah. In the aftermath of every war, mechanisms are developed to prevent future conflicts arising from the same cause.
Both League of Nations and the United Nations came into being as an effort to prevent a future world war. History tends to repeat itself. One thing certain to come out of this war is a kindler, gentler, more inclusive, -- and global -- religious system in an effort to prevent future fundamentalist religious wars.
We live in that Looking Glass world now. The war in Iraq is a perfect example. It began as a global popularity contest between the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein and the President of the United States. When the votes were tallied at the UN. . . the winner was Saddam Hussein? Does that make sense?
The March Hare announced the UN was opposed to removing Saddam Hussein on the grounds twelve years and 17 resolutions authorizing military force were insufficient justification for USING military force.
al Zarqawi is the most dangerous terrorist in Iraq. He sawed Nick Berg's head off as Berg lie screaming on the floor. He is credited with being the number one al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, and was the mastermind of an aborted chemical weapons attack in Jordan that authorities there say would have killed tens of thousands of innocents.
But he is a footnote in most news broadcasts. The White Rabbit anchoring the news desk assigns primary responsibility for al-Zarqawi's actions to Donald Rumsfeld or George Bush. Why is that?
If the mainstream press put the spotlight on al-Zarqawi, it would steal the thunder from the antiwarriors who continue to claim the war in Iraq was unjustified. There is no point in highlighting al-Zarqawi's ties to al-Qaeda, since directly tying al-Qaeda to Iraq nullifies the charge that George Bush trumped up justification for invading Iraq.
Instead of blaming al-Qaeda, or even al-Zarqawi, the blame gets shifted to the White House. Since this is war, and not some game, it amounts to giving aid and comfort to America's enemy in time of war -- and about half the country, and almost the entire rest of the world -- is ok with that?
US society has stepped through the looking-glass. The Queen of Hearts is running for president and doesn't care whose head gets chopped off in the process.
The Cheshire Cat smiles from his perch in Iraq as the partisan politicians help divide America while the mainstream press vies with al-Jazeera to see who can make the US look worse. In the meantime, every attack he plans against the US gets blamed on his enemies, George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld.
Last month, the 9/11 Commission slammed the Bush administration for not being vigorous enough in its intelligence-gathering efforts, this week, the Bush administration is being slammed for being TOO vigorous in its intelligence-gathering efforts.
Up is down, black is white, our enemies are less responsible for our casualties than our leaders are, and decapitating an American is a less heinous offense than humiliating a captured Iraqi terrorist.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof . . ." (2nd Timothy 3:1-5)
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." (Matthew 10:36)
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