Posted on 08/20/2005 4:49:50 PM PDT by Gucho
The lady that wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing interior design and home planning. She recently wrote a letter to a family member serving in Iraq.
WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?
"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, as well as across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in addition a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they? And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?? Well, I don't. I don't care at all! I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.
I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana (or Allah's Paradise) care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
I'll care when judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.
And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed? it -- I don't care!"
Written by Pam Foster
BAGHDAD, Aug. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The Iraqi government on Sunday defended its decision to reinstate the death penalty, saying it is a must to guarantee security.
"I understand the position of international organizations such as the United Nation, which is against the death penalty," government spokesman Leith Kubba told reporters.
"But we want a sentence which punishes the person who commits murder crime," he insisted.
UN special envoy to Iraq Ashraf Qazi on Saturday urged the Iraqi government to withdraw from the country's first executions since 2003 which will take place in the next few days.
Iraq's Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi has authorized on Wednesday the execution of three men for kidnapping policemen and raping Iraqi women.
IRAQ WRAPUP 2-Impasse on Iraq charter as new deadline looms
David Leppard, London
August 22, 2005
SCOTLAND Yard believes it has thwarted an al-Qa'ida nerve gas attack aimed at ministers and MPs in the British parliament.
The plot, hatched last year, is understood to have been discovered in coded emails on computers seized from terror suspects in Britain and Pakistan.
Police and MI5 later identified an al-Qa'ida cell that had carried out extensive research and video-recorded reconnaissance missions in preparation for the terror attack.
The encrypted emails are said to have been decoded with the assistance of an al-Qa'ida "supergrass".
By revealing the terrorists' code, he was also able to help MI5 and GCHQ -- the British Government's eavesdropping centre at Cheltenham -- to crack several more plots.
The discovery of the suspected House of Commons nerve gas plot was behind the decision to increase security around parliament this northern summer.
A senior officer said that the scheme had led to the intervention of MI5 head Eliza Manningham-Buller to assess parliament's security.
The minutes of a meeting of senior police officers held last month at Specialist Operations 17 (SO17) -- the unit responsible for protecting parliament -- reveals the team was waiting to be briefed on the plot.
At the weekend, a senior officer disclosed that the thwarted plot involved a gas or chemical "dirty bomb" attack against the British parliament.
"The House of Commons was one of their targets, as well as the Tube," the officer said.
"They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it."
However, despite the successful police operation and upgraded security measures, senior officers are worried that security at parliament remains "unacceptable".
The police security memo, drawn up after London's July 7 attacks, reveals high-level fears that suicide terrorists could use a black cab or a visit to an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot -- the supposed attempt by Guy Fawkes to kill James I and those assembled in the British parliament on November 5, 1605, in retaliation for laws against Catholics.
The memo discloses that a military unit -- said to have been special forces -- recently carried out a secret examination of security measures at the House of Commons.
It is believed the exercise highlighted the ease with which terrorists could kill dozens of MPs in the debating chamber.
"(It was) felt all SO17 contingency plans should be reviewed against the new threat -- a plan for a Kratos (suicide bomber) incident was required," the minutes record.
A senior officer said that he "felt particular attention should be paid to cabs entering the (parliamentary) estate".
The memo records: "(A senior official) expressed grave concern at the shortage of security officers. He was worried that commitments, such as the forthcoming exhibition on the Gunpowder Plot, just could not be covered.
"He felt that an unacceptable number of posts were being closed down."
Police leaders respond to listeners' calls during a broadcast of 'The Cops Show' in Kirkuk, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 15, 2005. This weekly television reality show featuring Kirkuk officers in action is the first of its kind in the country and is breaking new ground in Iraqi television. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
Police leaders respond to listeners' calls during a broadcast of 'The Cops Show' in Kirkuk, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 15, 2005.This weekly television reality show featuring Kirkuk officers in action is the first of its kind in the country and is breaking new ground in Iraqi television. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
The USS Kearsarge leaves the Red Sea port of Aqaba in Jordan, 19 August 2005. Jordanian police detained two Egyptians suspected of involvement in a rocket attack on US warships moored off the southern port of Aqaba, a day after arresting an Iraqi, security sources said.(AFP/HO/File/Abraham Faroujian)
Iraqis look at the banner reading 'Islam is our constitution' in english and arabic, in predominately Sunni city of Ramadi, 113 kilometers (75 miles) west of Baghdad, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2005. Sunni Arabs warned they will reject the new constitution if Shiites and Kurds push it through parliament without Sunni consent. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A vehicle that was damaged in a blast in Paghman, a resort area located some 20 km (12 miles) west of the Afghan capital Kabul, is seen in this August 21, 2005 image taken from television footage. Two U.S. embassy officials were hurt by a roadside bomb that hit their convoy near Kabul on Sunday, a spokesman said. AFGHANISTAN OUT (REUTERS TV/Tolo TV/Reuters)
Neema Suratgar Formule, deputy of the Afghan Basketball Federation, member of the Asia Olympic committee and a candidate for upcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, holds a tennis racket at an international club in Kabul August 21, 2005. Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday urged candidates in next month's parliamentary and provincial polls to work for national unity and promised that his government would not interfere in the vote. REUTERS /Zohra Bensemra
A US soldier of Ironhawk Troops, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment walks beside a highway during a cache explosives searching mission on the outskirts of Baghdad. Senior US politicians sparred over America's military presence in Iraq as lawmakers in Baghdad struggled to meet a second deadline to craft a new constitution.(AFP/Liu Jin)
US soldiers search a suspected chemical weapons factory in Mosul. Iraqi politicians warned of political turmoil after failing to meet a deadline on the country's new constitution, but Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari and US officials sought to downplay the crisis.(AFP/Mujahed Mohammed)
A U.S. soldier takes photos of a suspected chemical weapons factory in northern Iraq city of Mosul August 15, 2005. U.S. troops said they discovered the suspected chemical weapons factory containing over 1000 gallons of toxic chemical during a raid on Monday. Military officials said they believed the chemicals were being produced to be used in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces. REUTERS/Namir Noor-Eldeen
Police officers stand near the covered bodies of a colleague killed by a bomb explosion in downtown Makhachkala, the capital of the troubled Caspian Sea region of Dagestan, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2005. A remote-controlled bomb in Makhachkala killed at least three police officers and wounded several more, officials said Saturday. Near-daily attacks on police and authorities in Dagestan have raised fears that violence is spreading from neighboring Chechnya, where Russian forces have been battling separatist rebels. Some of the violence is believed to be linked to criminal gangs.(AP Photo/ News Team, Sergei Rasulov)
Southern Russian Bomb Blast Kills 3 Police
By ARSEN MOLLAYEV, Associated Press Writer
Sun Aug 21, 1:33 AM ET
MAKHACHKALA, Russia - A bomb denonated by remote control killed at least three police officers on patrol in Dagestan on Saturday, the latest violence to hit the troubled Russian region amid continuing fears about spreading violence in the Caucasus.
The bomb exploded Saturday afternoon as a four-man patrol walked past a grove of trees along a downtown street in Makhachkala, the capital of the Caspian Sea region, said city police Lt. Col. Akhmed Magomedov.
An Associated Press reporter saw two dead bodies with police uniforms lying on the street as armed police, firefighters and paramedics rushed to the scene. Dazed residents watched as workers swept broken glass from the street.
Two officers died at the scene, and one died en route to the hospital, officials said. A fourth officer was hospitalized in serious condition.
"I was walking by the fence, and suddenly I heard the explosion. I ran up and saw four police men on the ground. Two of them were dead," Timur Aliyev said.
NTV showed footage of a partially collapsed blue fence and a blue van with its windows blown out.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
Near-daily attacks on police and authorities in Dagestan have raised fears that violence is spreading from neighboring Chechnya. Since the beginning of the year, a series of explosions has killed more than 30 police and security officers and wounded scores of others in Dagestan.
Some blame Islamic militants working with Chechen rebels, while others say the violence could be rooted in rivalry between the region's more than 100 ethnic groups or among feuding criminal gangs.
Last month, a radio-controlled bomb tore into a truck carrying federal Interior Ministry soldiers outside a bath house in Makhachkala, killing at least 11 troops and wounding over 20 other people, including civilians.
A group calling itself Islamic Jamaat of Dagestan "Shariat" claimed responsibility for that explosion and promised more attacks on what it called "Russian occupiers."
Makhachkala is 1,000 miles south of Moscow.
Chechnya, to the west of Dagestan, remains plagued by violence and rampant abductions nearly six years after Russian forces re-entered the province to end a separatist insurgency there.
Thanks for all the updates TK.
Thank you Gucho!!
Your welcome.
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