Free Republic

Note: Received this from an Army friend.... Pay particular attention to item 13! ======================== HELLO TO ALL: This essay is extracted from Ralph Peters' new book, "When Devils Walk the Earth." It is a must-read. The man is prescient. If you focus on nothing else, peruse the last point; Number 25. I added the "bold" and red color to points I thought ought to receive major emphasis.......Ed (Ed is Major General, USA, Ret, Ed Browne) Chapter III. Fighting Terror: Do's and Don'ts for a Superpower: 1. Be feared! 2. Identify the type of terrorists you face, and know your enemy...

It's really a simple story.A Child was Born. Taught us how to live.....and came into this world to right the balance. To pierce the veil of death...and show us in the flesh that there was more to come.It's really a simple story....though men will time and time again try and make it more complicated than it is. Time and time again men will try to change the meanings...convulute the simple basic truths that He taught.It's really a simple story.On this day....we arise in the morning to a new day...fresh with the knowledge that death is no longer the end. But,...

Okay.....so where do you draw the line??? I mean....just how do you decide???? This person did this....that person did that. ALL did as they were asked by their Nation...and yet....some in this Nation are trying to paint some as "Good"...and some as "Bad" based on where they spent their time in the service of their Country. So...where do you draw the line??? The Democratic's are trying to paint one person (John Kerry) with the the words "Good"..based upon his time spent on active duty in Vietnam. They are also trying to paint another (George Bush) with the words "Bad"....based upon...

Sometimes...hell almost all of the time...the Democrats just don't seem to 'get it'.They seem to think that we can just go back to 'politics as usual'. Forgetting to the depths of their tiny souls just what happened to us on 9/11. +...and the Democrats seem to forget the deaths of that day...wanting to just sweep it under the rug...forgetting the people burned to death...or crushed...or who jumped to their deaths.(USA Today estimates that around 200 died that way)For those who jumped, the fall lasted 10 seconds.They struck the ground at just a little less than 150 miles an hour---not enough...

Ok....so I'm considered by some to be a 'Bush-Basher'.I didn't vote for him the first time.I disagree with a LOT of his domestic policies....and ,quite frankly, the 'vision' of him standing on a podium trying to convince the world that Ted Kennedy is a 'decent' man....well makes me want to puke.But, here and now, I find myself pondering what the United States would be like without him as our President.With someone else,say John F. Kerry.........and in all honesty....it would not be a United States that I would like....or even want to live in.So...what has brought a 'Bush-Basher' to the brink...

It's really a simple story.....a Child was Born. Of course, at the time, very few people knew of the importance of that Birth. A few shepards...a few Wise Men....Mary and Joseph...a few others. But one that great and fateful day, which changed the world forever, no one really knew of the importance of that one single Birth. It's really a simple story.....a Child was Born. And for the next 2,000 years plus....we have argued over and over the meaning of that Birth. Men have attempted to change the meaning of that Birth to fit their own ideas of what life...

"The Bodybags of Iraq and Afghanistan" (Roger's Story) He had an old mans walk. Slow steady pace...deliberate. He would walk the neighbourhood 2...3....4 times a day with his aged beagle Fred at his side...always ending up for a least a few moments at the bottom of the hill in the graveyard sitting by his wife who had passed on a few years before. He didn't talk much to the rest of us. But he was friendly enough to always say "Hi!!". He was friendly enough...and patient as he would stand still as the neighborhood children gathered around Fred.(That beagle had...

Gone and Apparently Forgotten: The Marines of Beirut By Patrick Hayes Twenty years ago this week, Shi’ite Muslim terrorists murdered 241 Marines and Navy personnel, and 58 French Paratroopers in Beirut, Lebanon. Does anyone remember? Does anyone care? On the night of Oct. 23, 1983, the Beirut city skyline in Lebanon was filled with the usual flash and echo of explosions, the almost continuous staccato of heavy and light machine-gun fire, and the nightly shouting and screaming between the Lebanese Muslim and Christian Druze factions. As dawn approached on that Sunday morning, the noise of nightly combat dropped off somewhat...

"An Eye for An Eye....Until the Whole World is Blind" Gandhi I heard the news while driving. Another 'suicide for Allah'.....had blown up a bus in Israel. From the first reports....there were a lot of people hurt...and dead. I arrived home...and turned on the news. Pictures of para-medics attempting to keep children alive.....the children laying on the ground...and the para-medics feverishly trying everything they had to breath life back into lifeless broken bodies. ...and watching their faces as they sometimes failed. We have come so far...as humans...as children of God.......as our understanding of our Rights and Responsibilities have grown.....and yet....we...

Wahhabi Islam – the Real Enemy of the West By Robert G. Williscroft In the world most of us know, we have nothing analogous to Wahhabi Islam. This may explain why we appear to be ignoring this ominous threat, despite everything we have accomplished against international terrorism and radical regimes in Southwest Asia in the past two years. The Wahhabi sect is a branch of Sunni Islam. A bit of background will facilitate an understanding of where Wahhabi adherents fit into the overall Islamic scheme. Islam is based on two writings, the Qur’an, believed by Muslims to have been revealed...

"Taps"Composed By Major General Daniel Butterfield Army of the Potomac, Civil War "Fading light dims the sight, And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright. From afar drawing nigh -- Falls the night. "Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. "Then good night, peaceful night, Till the light of the dawn shineth bright, God is near, do not fear -- Friend, good night." ============================ "TAPS is the most beautiful bugle call. Played slowly and softly, it has a smooth, tender and touching character. The...

General Order No. 11 Headquarters, Grand Army of the Republic Washington, D.C., May 5, 1868 I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit. We are organized, comrades, as...

"WELCOME HOME"By themselves....they are powerful words. Conjuring up images of family....of your mother and father....sisters and brothers....of being away for a long time...and having them so glad that you're back.Together.......the words can be so powerful that they can actually heal.===========================I enlisted in the United States Army when I was 17.I had already graduated High school....and had been taught from the time that I was born that each of us has a duty.A duty to serve and protect our Nation....which in reality is serving and protecting our families...and our way of life.Because of my Religious Beliefs..(and because I was 17...and Positive...

President Ronald Reagan's speech during Vietnam Unknown ceremony in Memorial Amphitheater May 28, 1984 President Reagan gave an emotionally-charged speech during the somber funeral service. " Today we pause to embrace him and all who served so well in a war whose end offered no parades, no flags, and so little thanks. About him we may well wonder as others have: As a child, did he play on some street in a great American city? Did he work beside his father on a farm in America's heartland? Did he marry? Did he have children? Did he look expectantly to return...

"Remembering The Reason For Memorial Day " Memorial Day is the day we remember and honor those who lost their lives fighting for our nation. The men and women we remember on Memorial Day demonstrated the highest form of faith in the triumph of good over evil. Just as they had a mission, we, too, have a mission: To teach the young people of today to respect America’s values. History teaches us that our faith in freedom -- readily backed up by our resolve to defend freedom -- has made America -- and the world -- a better place. Today,...

Her little face was scrunched up...as only a six year old can be when attempting to be a 'big girl' and not cry. Her normal reaction to the news that her daddy was finally home would be to run and jump into his arms and hug his neck with all the power her little arms could muster. She would smell the familiar 'Daddy Smell'....and bury her little tiny face into her daddy's neck...happy to be just holding her daddy once again. But this time...it was different. This time there would be no hugs... This time there would be no joy...

"....you can kiss my royal Irish ass."Mike Moran9/11.It happened...and afterwards at the direction of President Bush....we (the United States) full of righteous anger embarked on a quest to eradicate (lets NOT minch words...kill every stinking last one of them) those who either planned or helped in ANY way what happened on 9/11.We sent troops into Afghanistan.We sent the Taliban packing...we killed as many as we could find...and captured lots.We took out the training camps of Al Queida...killing many of them in the process. The rest are hiding (cowards that they are) in the hills.Coming out only when they can strike...

He's finally home: Soldier's remains arrive in Salt Lake By Joe Bauman Deseret News staff writer A hero came home Sunday night. Staff Sgt. James Cawley's casket was draped with an American flag and carried by an honor guard of four Marines and four Salt Lake police officers, representing the organizations he had served. Closely following the casket as they crossed the rotunda of the Salt Lake Airport's International Terminal were Cawley's widow, Miyuki, and their children, Cecil, 8, and Keiko, 6. About 60 family members and friends, plus more than a dozen police officers with black tape across their...

There are Two Wars HereAs published in Ma'ariv (The Ma'ariv Web site is in Hebrew only) By Amos Oz April 1, 2002 There are two wars here. The one is the Palestinian people’s war for its right to free itself from occupation and to establish an independent state. Every decent person should support that cause. The other war is the war of fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Kalkilya, to annihilate Israel and to uproot the Jewish people from its homeland. That is a criminal war that every decent person should despise. The bewilderment, confusion and...

"Braveheart or Weakheart?" David C. Stolinsky, M.D. Monday, Jan. 13, 2003 In the climactic scene of the film "Braveheart," Scottish leader William Wallace as played by Mel Gibson is being tortured to death by the English. The executioner asks if he has any last words, hoping he will beg for mercy and acknowledge the English king. Instead, with his last breath Wallace shouts "Freedom!" The film won awards. But it is easy to cheer for a hero from a faraway place and a long-ago time. In cheering for him, we need not form any personal connection to his heroism. We...