This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Terror War

  • Blame-storming Honduras

    Hoping something will stick to the United States, the International left is throwing fingers at the US for the coup in Honduras. I wrote earlier that Chavez blamed the US, but Honduran President Manuel Zelaya tells a different story. Apparently the US thwarted a coup on Friday (Reuters link);

    “Everything was in place for the coup and if the U.S. embassy had approved it, it would have happened. But they did not … I’m only still here in office thanks to the United States,” he said in the newspaper interview published on Sunday.

    “Last (Friday) morning, at around 1 or 2 a.m., Congress was passing a decree to incapacitate me and the armed forces were mobilized. But phone calls were made — I can’t say by who or from where — but these calls stopped the coup,” he said.

    Funny how that isn’t a headline across every banner on the internet, isn’t it?
    (more…)

  • Army bans S&S reporter from Mosul

    There’s been a report, mostly from Stars and Stripes, about Heath Druzin, a reporter for the unofficial military perodical, who has been banned from embedding with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division by Col. Gary Volesky, their commander. Volesky claims that Druzin empahsized malcontented Iraqis in Mosul in an article he wrote on March 8th.

    Many residents want only Iraqis to handle security, to show respect for the country’s sovereignty. And some say the U.S. presence actually makes the city more dangerous by offering more targets for bombers.

    “Everywhere the Americans go they get (attacked),” said Sulah Ahmed Azam, a baker in the Shadad neighborhood.

    Even some in the Iraqi military want the Americans gone.

    “The coalition forces, they haven’t done anything bad to the people, but the truth is anyway that they came to invade Iraq and the people don’t like it,” said Iraqi 1st Lt. Asad Mehsin, who works closely with U.S. soldiers. “My viewpoint: I would like them to leave. You’re American, would you like Russia to invade your country?”

    In an article today, the S&S quotes an Army spokesperson on the embed controversy;

    “Despite the opportunity to visit areas of the city where Iraqi Army leaders, soldiers, national police and Iraqi police displayed commitment to partnership, Mr. Druzin refused to highlight any of this news,” Maj. Ramona Bellard, a public affairs officer, wrote in denying Druzin’s embed request. Officials also asserted that Druzin declined to answer a commander’s questions about his future stories and used quotes out of context.

    In another article today, Mark Prendergast, the ombudsman for the S&S wrote;

    In a raft of e-mail correspondence between Stars and Stripes and the military that began May 11, the colonel and the major emphasized that their problem was not with the newspaper but with Druzin — another Stripes reporter would be welcome in Mosul, they said. (Army officials in Baghdad offered to let Druzin embed somewhere else.)

    So, once again, Stars and Stripes becomes the news instead of the events they’re supposed to be covering. Service members can turn to virtually any other newspaper or news source in the world and read how they’re not wanted in Iraq. However, Druzin can’t be bothered to toss in a few lines about successes in the Mosul region into his *yawn* article about how some Iraqis don’t want us there.

    To his credit, he did write an article on March 22d that highlighted how the Kurds want us to stay there, but then, that’s old news, too. There hasn’t been a single American soldier killed in Kurdistan since the 2003 invasion of Hussein’s Iraq.

    I remember when we used to read the Stars and Stripes because we got the news that no one else would write about the good we were doing in the world – how we fit into the big picture. If Druzin wants to write the same old bullshit, let him flak for the New York or Los Angeles Times. If a commander deems it hurtful to morale or the mission, he should have the right to toss one single reporter to the curb.

    And if the story was that important, the Stars and Stripes should have sent another reporter instead of making a stand against their readership.

  • More blood on Islamic Republic’s hands

    Fox News reports that “Reports: Iran Riot Police Shooting Protesters ‘Like Animals‘”

    Twitter users believed to be in Tehran are painting a grim picture there, reporting beatings and gunfire on demonstrators supporting opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. These reports, obtained by Sky News, could not be independently confirmed by FOX News.

    Iran’s supreme leader said Wednesday that the government would not yield to demonstrators who want a disputed presidential election annulled, effectively closing the door to compromise with the opposition.

    One Twitter user I’ve been following, Persiankiwi, stopped Twittering about an hour ago;
    persiankiwi

    Here’s a video from YouTube supposedly from today – WARNING: It’s pretty gory which is why it’s below the fold.
    (more…)

  • New ROE in Afghanistan to save civilian lives

    In reaction to Afghan charges that US forces are careless about civilian casualties in engagements, the US forces are being almost painfully careful these days.

    The rules of engagement are changing to reflect this concern for civilian casualties along with the new US commander according to an Associated Press article;

    McChrystal will issue orders within days saying troops may attack insurgents hiding in Afghan houses if U.S. or NATO forces are in imminent danger, said U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith.

    “But if there is a compound they’re taking fire from and they can remove themselves from the area safely, without any undue danger to the forces, then that’s the option they should take,” Smith said. “Because in these compounds we know there are often civilians kept captive by the Taliban.”

    McChrystal’s predecessor, Army Gen. David McKiernan, issued rules last fall that told commanders to set conditions “to minimize the need to resort to deadly force.”

    But McChrystal’s orders will be more precise and have stronger language ordering forces to break off from battles, Smith said. The order should have the effect of reducing the use of airstrikes, mortars and artillery in villages.

    The following video from Fox News‘ Steve Harrigan demonstrates how careful. It takes an Apache pilot ten minutes to get clearance to fire. WARNING: The video is pretty graphic;

    It seems to me that the best strategy for the enemy to take advantage of this new weakness is to move back into urban areas and surround themselves with civilian shields. Now, I’m no expert, but then neither are the Taliban. It also seems to me that it will cause more civilian deaths because the Taliban casn use photos of civilians they themselves killed and blame it on Americans.

    JD Johannes, Uncle Jimbo and McQ all have opinions on the new ROE.

  • Obama; living up to his reputation as Carter v2.0

    So our President had a short-notice press conference today to rescue his plummeting numbers. From what I read in Fox News it looks like he pretty much told the Iranian protesters “Adios”;

    “What’s happened in Iran is profound and we’re still waiting to see how it plays itself out,” Obama said. “It’s not too late for the Iranian government to recognize that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and legitimacy and prosperity for the Iranian people. We hope they take it.” He said there is a path for the country to engage with the global community.

    Obama also downplayed concerns that he’s not speaking out forcefully enough in support of the protesters, saying the Iranian people can “speak for themselves.”

    DrewM at Ace of Spades answers;

    He keeps saying this is up to the Iranian people…problem is the people trying to ‘debate’ are being gunned down. Obama won’t say that he won’t recognize a government imposed by force.

    Obama pretty much regurgitated what Dianne Feinstein said yesterday;

    “I think the president has it correct. … It is very crucial as I see it that we not have our fingerprints on this. That this really be truly inspired by the Iranian people. We don’t know where this goes. And I sure wouldn’t want to be responsible for thousands of people being killed, which is a distinct possibility.”

    The same type of namby-pamby BS that put the mullahs in power in the first place. Since the Obama administration has already decided to defund the democracy movement in Iran, I’m pretty sure they’ve already made up their minds about who is going to come out on top and they’re fine with the Iranian people being silenced as long as Obama can look like he’s making nice with the mullahs.

    In the meantime, he can’t afford to take his eye off the ball on domestic issues – so a safer world will just have to wait while he takes away our healthcare and drives taxes higher. That’s the priority right now – just ignore the unarmed Iranians facing the Islamic Republic’s thugs.

  • That North Korean ship

    Last Friday I wrote about the USS John S. McCain shadowing the North Korean-flagged ship, the Kang Nam. Today more details about the operations are coming out. Associated Press reports the ship is carrying missiles to Myanmar;

    The South Korean news network YTN, citing an unidentified intelligence source in the South, said on Sunday that the U.S. suspects the cargo ship Kang Nam is carrying missiles and related parts. Myanmar’s military government, which faces an arms embargo from the United States and the European Union, has reportedly bought weapons from North Korea.

    US News and World Reports writes that the North Korean government is issuing some of their usual rhetoric;

    “As long as our country has become a proud nuclear power, the U.S. should take a correct look at whom it is dealing with,” said a commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which is regarded as a source of official viewpoints.

    “It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to think it can remain unhurt if it ignites the fuse of war on the Korean peninsula.”

    The newspaper also blasted President Obama’s recent pledge to protect South Korea, saying it was an attempt to attack the North with atomic bombs.

    SInce the US and the UN both decided to make public that they won’t authorize the use of force against North Korean shipping, is it really surprising that the Norks would engage in illegal arms sales? The crew of the McCain is probably on the decks practicing their fist shaking as I write this.

    We really can’t expect the President to worry about weapons proliferation while he’s busy handing over tobacco regulation to the FDA, can we?

  • Democrat “leadership”

    I was held hostage today at a Walter Reed waiting room for about an hour (I got the cast off, by the way, if anyone is interested) and was forced to listen to CNN while reading my Kindle. As much as I hate Fox, I hate CNN even more. I burst out laughing at one point when they were talking about the Iran protests and Obama’s interview on CBS this morning.

    The news reader at one point reported, deadpan serious, that some Republicans supported Obama’s wishy-washy speech last Saturday. i waited with bated breath to see which Republicans made such a thought public. Ready? OK:

    Henry Kissinger and Pat Buchanan.

    C’mon, admit it, you chuckled, too.

    Henry Kissinger is a Republican in the narrowest definition of the word. He’s famous for detente with the Soviet Union – and arming Jimmy Carter with that massive failure.

    Can anyone tell me the last time Pat Buchanan supported any Republican foreign policy? He’s a cro-magnon-conservative – his brand of Republicanism goes back to the isolationists of World War Two. He criticized both Presidents Bush, so of course he’s going to support a policy that keeps us from being engaged in events in Iran. Hell, Buchanan thinks we should withdraw from Europe and Japan, too.

    Then CNN backed up their new buddies Kissinger and Buchanan with Diane Feinstein making her typical intellectually vacant comments;

    “I think the president has it correct. … It is very crucial as I see it that we not have our fingerprints on this. That this really be truly inspired by the Iranian people. We don’t know where this goes. And I sure wouldn’t want to be responsible for thousands of people being killed, which is a distinct possibility.”

    Ya know what – that’s the same kind of shit that kept us racing troops back to Kuwait every time Hussein farted through the 90s. It’s the same kind of empty thought that allowed the Taliban to take over Afghanistan. It’s the same pretty words that Jimmy Carter thought during the first Iranian Revolution that lost democracy in Iran in 1979. It’s the same empty intellect that tried to force us out of Iraq in 2006-2008. It’s the same idiot ideology that has caused every problem we’ve had in the last fifty years. So let’s do it all again.

    “We don’t know where this goes”. Did George HW Bush know we’d cake walk through Kuwait to the gates of Baghdad? Did Ronald Reagan know for a fact that the Soviet Union would collapse in his lifetime? Did FDR know he’d defeat the both the Nazis and the Japanese in less than four years.

    Feinstein said she didn’t want to be responsible for thousands of deaths – um, she wouldn’t be responsible. It looks like thousands of Iranians are willing to die for their freedom. Don’t we owe it to them to help them try to cast off the chains of the mullahs? The same mullahs who financed the killing of US troops in Iraq and, lately, Afghanistan? Don’t we have a dog in this fight, too?

    It’s no wonder the world is falling down around our ears, if this is how the Democrats plan on “leading” this country for the next four years.

    And ya wanna know why? It’s so the Democrats can buy patronage with their domestic problems and not be distracted by the flames creeping closer to our shores.

    Do they think by keeping out of Iran, that’ll stop terrorism? The mullahs are already blaming us whether we’re involved or not – if we’re going to do the time, we might as well do the crime.

  • Iran protests updates

    It’s kind of hard to blog these days without a post about Iran. So here’s my first for the day. Start with the hour-old AP update for those who tried to ignore Iran this weekend;

    Drew M at Ace of Spades writes that the Islamic Republic’s regime overestimated the number of phony ballots by only a couple of million.

    But they aren’t sure if the 3 million extra votes really matter given how much of a landslide Ahmadinejad won by.

    Iran’s Guardian Council has suggested that the number of votes collected in 50 cities surpass the number of people eligible to cast ballot in those areas.

    Mousavi is continuing to call for protests and volunteering his own martydom. That alone puts him head and shoulders above all of the mullahs and leaders I’ve seen lately. al Sadr comes to mind. But his spokes people deny he said it;

    His camp, meanwhile, denied reports that he had proclaimed himself ready for martyrdom on Saturday.

    “Mousavi has never said this,” his close ally, Qorban Behzadiannejad, told the AP. Mousavi’s Web site also said statements that Mousavi was preparing for death were inaccurate.

    But the Washington Post reports that Ahmadinejad is willing to help Mousavi achieve martyrdom;

    The semiofficial Fars News Agency, which has strong ties to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, quoted a law professor at Tehran University as saying that Mousavi’s actions were criminal.

    “Through uncivil and illegal means, he created an environment for unrest and hooliganism,” Firouz Aslani told Fars News. “Contrary to his claims of lawfulness, he acted against the security of the nation and the interests of the system.”

    Five members of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani family were arrested and released yesterday, ostensibly to send a message to the popular ex-president who reportedly supports Mousavi’s call for a revote.

    Many are upset at our own President for taking his kids for ice cream during this critical moment in time on Saturday – but not me. I’m afraid if we criticize every single thing he does, we risk sounding like the crackpots on the Left did for eight solid years. Sean M makes the same point, sort of, at doubleplusundead. But I will make this point about our President – if he doesn’t start using this unrest in Iran to our advantage (vis-a-vis nuclear proliferation and Iran’s support of the Taliban) he’s going to miss his opportunity and he’ll be blamed for a nuclear Iran and every death of US troops in Afghanistan. It’s Back Obama’s problem now and he can’t blame it on George Bush from this moment forward.

    In an interview on CBS’ Early Show, Obama said;

    President Obama says he does not want to become a scapegoat for Iran’s leadership as postelection upheaval continues, but Republicans are still saying the new president is being too cautious.

    “The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States,” Obama said in an interview broadcast Monday on CBS’ “The Early Show.” (Fox News link)

    “We shouldn’t be playing into that,” he said in the interview, which was recorded Friday.

    In other words, he’s declared the popular movement dead on arrival. If he had confidence in the uprising, Obama would praise them without caring what the mullahs thought – like Jimmy Carter when he bet on the wrong horse in 1979. Ronald Reagan bet on democracy in Nicaragua and Central America and was vindicated. Obama would rather deal with the status quo at the cost of democracy and lives of brown people.