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

Category: Terror War

  • Sadr City being reshaped

    If you’re only reading the traditional media, the only thing you know about the war in Iraq today is that “US GIs suffer worst week of ’08” and that “Iraq fires 1300 police and soldiers in south“. The Gateway Pundit posts this screen cap;

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    But, Bill Roggio reports at The Long War Journal that Iraqi troops and US troops are reshaping Sadr City;

    The Mahdi Army began seeding the streets of Sadr City with roadside bombs just days after Sadr declared the unilateral ceasefire. “Outlaw groups have planted roadside bombs and other explosives in most of the streets of Sadr City,” the Baghdad Operational Command reported.

    The Mahdi Army has attacked US and Iraqi patrols on a daily basis. The Sadrists are also advertising the results of these operations. “Witnesses and al-Sadr’s office said loudspeaker announcements broadcast from mosques offered updates about Mahdi Army attacks on US military vehicles,” CNN reported, indicating the truce called by Sadr at the end of February and again at the end of March is all but dead.

    US and Iraqi forces have begun to shape the battlefield in Sadr City by cordoning off the main entry and exit points, building new check posts, instituting a vehicle ban, conducting a series patrols and humanitarian missions, carrying out targeted raids against Mahdi Army and Special Groups leaders, and providing a blanket of aerial coverage from unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters from US Army air weapons teams.

    The Mahdi Army has responded violently to the efforts to establish a presence inside Sadr City.

    Without Bill Roggio, we might get the impression that it’s 2006 all over again from the traditional media – that our troops are back in the Green Zone while the Iraq government is in disarray.

  • Jimmy Carter; the Damascus candidate

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    As is usually the case, the first I heard of Jimmy Carter’s impending visit to Hamas’ Khaled Meshal was from Little Green Footballs in Charles’ post entitled Jimmy Carter hits bottom, digs;

    America’s worst president will now apparently meet with the leader of an openly genocidal Islamic terrorist gang: Report: Jimmy Carter to Meet With Hamas Leader in Syria.

    NEW YORK CITY — Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world.

    The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18.

    Well, I’m not surprised – he’s stroked-off every other blood soaked thug in the world. Samantha Sault rounds up bloggers’ opinions at The Weekly Standard Blogs;

    Carter may claim he is working for peace, but bloggers aren’t at all convinced. Allahpundit reminds us of Carter’s view of Israel, so it’s no surprise that he’d consider a friendly little fête with Hamas. Michael van der Galien agrees: “First Carter accuses Israel of being an Apartheid state, then he goes to meet with the leader of an organization [whose] sole purpose is to destroy Israel and to kill all Jews.” And at the American Thinker, Rick Moran adds, “Hamas’s latest peace offering was to send a gunman to a Jewish seminary and slaughter 9 innocent people. I’m sure Meshal and Carter will have a lot to talk about considering the former President’s previous statements about Israel being the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East are perfectly in line with Meshal’s own fantasies.”

    Who’s next? After all, as the Gateway Pundit says, “There’s never been a violent dangerous dictator that Jimmy Carter did not have friendly relationships with or prop up in some way, so it should come as no surprise that he is going to meet with the leader of the violent terrorist group Hamas.”

    Me? Everything that needs to be said about Jimmy Carter, I’ve said before and it’s earned Jimmy Carter his own category on this blog – knock yourselves out and see if what I’ve written before applies equally well this time.

    I’ll just add that I hope TSA checks his bulky overcoat real well when he comes back through US security.

  • Vets for Freedom Rally for troops

    About 480 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan assembled beginning at 8:30 this morning just across the street from the Senate wing of the Capitol. The temperature was about 45 degrees – global warming had struck. In their sand colored polo shirts, emblazoned across their broad chests with “Vets for Freedom”, they renewed old friendships and established new ones.

    There was a blogger or two there, too – most visible was the guy who’s hard to recognize without his cap;

    They were joined by some luminaries of the Senate;

    (Senator Lieberman slapped me on the back after I took this picture)

    And honest-to-goodness war heroes (SSG David Bellavia pictured);

    Pete Hegseth started the speechifying;

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    SSG Bellavia followed Hegseth;

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    Senator McCain addressed the veterans;

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    Then it was Senator Lieberman’s turn;

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    Each Senator took their turn (Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive asked me “Is there anyone left in the Senate or are they all out here?”) Including the only member of the Senate who actually served as a soldier in Iraq, Lindsey Graham (it’s a good thing Crotchety Old Bastard wasn’t there);

    Sam Johnson (R-TX), former POW (thanks to Punditarian for IDing him for me), took his hat off to the vets assembled this morning;

    Congressman Zach Wamp quoted John Stuart Mill;

    “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

    Jeff Sessions spoke about victory being imperative in Iraq;

    LTC Steve Russell addressed what Americans can do to support the efforts in the war.

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    The media actually showed up for this rally, to their credit;

    They actually seemed interested in what the veterans had to say (notice Uncle Jimbo doing another interview in the upper right corner of this picture – or maybe he’s doing another Free Fly);

    Speeches over, interviews concluded, these veterans set out on one more mission – to tell the Senate how much this war means to America.

    These veterans are the polar-opposite of the folks I met at IVAW last month. There was not a selfish bone in the crowd. They fought for their country and their families and now they’re fighting for their friends who can’t speak for themselves. They battled the odds, they battled the uncivilized enemy and now they battle doubt and emotional knee-jerk politicians.

    While I was working on this blog post, the stark comparison between the ideological sides was illustrated for me when (on my TV) some Leftist goober jumped up during General Petreaus’ testimony and shouted “Bring them home!” as he was dragged from the room and pink anti-war signs blocked the cameras. Where would those imbeciles be without a war to protest?

    And I found a new drinking buddy;

    Welcome readers and thank you, bloggers from Blackfive, Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs, The Jawa Report, Civilian Irregular Information Defense Group, 9-11 Families, Infidels Are Cool, Dusseldorf Blog, Buttle’s World and (last, but certainly not least) Baldilocks.

    UPDATED for Identifying speakers – I need a secretary, Thus Spake Ortner won’t last forever.

  • Vets take the Hill Tuesday

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    More than 400 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq operations are expected descend on the Capitol offices tomorrow morning. According to my buddy Thus Spake Ortner, from The Sniper and Veterans for Freedom, the schedule looks like this;

     

    Morning Preparation at the Sheraton National Hotel

    PLAN TO ARRIVE AT THE COMMONWEALTH BALLROOM BY 5:15 AM!

    PLEASE BE SEATED BY 5:30 AM SO WE CAN BEGIN PROMPTLY

    Location: Commonwealth Ballroom, Main Floor

    0530: Welcome and Introduction, Executive Director Pete Hegseth
    0545: Agenda for the Day, National Field Director Joel Arends
    0555: Congressional Meeting Overview, Legislative Director Josh Grodin

    * Continental Breakfast Served *
    0605: Communications Strategy, Communications Director Adam Fife

    0615: Q & A with Executive Director Pete Hegseth

    Guest Speakers:

    0625: Georgetown Men’s Basketball Head Coach: John Thompson III
    0640: Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, USAF (Ret.)
    0700: Final Remarks, Pete Hegseth
    0705: Load buses and depart for Capitol Hill

    0745: Arrive at Union Station/VFF Rally Point (Union Station Theater)

    * Please KEEP your bags on your bus until after the 8:30 event is over *

    0800: Walk to Upper Senate Park (2 blocks away)

    Capitol Hill

    0830: Vets for Freedom Capitol Hill Media Event with Senate & House members

    Attendees:

    Senators: McCain, Lieberman, Graham, Barrasso, Bond, Coburn, Inhofe, Isakson, Roberts, Sessions

    Members: Burgess, Johnson, King, McCotter, Poe, Reichert, Wamp, Whittman, Diaz- Balart, Wilson, Hayes

    Proposed Timeline:

    0830 – Pete Hegseth opening remarks, introduces David Bellavia

    0833 – David Bellavia makes brief remarks, introduces Senator McCain

    0835 – Senator McCain remarks

    0850 – Senator McCain concludes participation in VOTH

    0850 – Senator Lieberman remarks

    0852 – Senator Graham remarks

    0854 – Senator Inhofe remarks

    0856 – Senate Leadership remarks (TBD)

    0858 – Senator Bond remarks

    0900 – Congressman Marshall remarks

    0905 – Congressman Sam Johnson remarks

    0907 – House Leadership remarks (TBD)

    0910 – Marcus Luttrell concluding remarks, introduces Steve Russell

    0915 – Steve Russell concluding remarks

    0920 – Press Availability concludes

    1000: Vets arrive on Capitol Hill for full day of meetings

    * At any time during the day, and preferably before 12noon, vets can return to the VFF Rally Point (Union Station Theater) for free lunch and to unload bags from the bus *

    1700: Meetings complete

    I’m hooking up with them at Union Station with my trusty camera to get all of the pictures and videos I can for you. If you’re in the area, won’t you take a coupla hours off from work to join in?

    The Boston Herald warns that Code Pink plans to be there for General Petreaus’ testimony;

    Pegged to the fifth anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s fall, Congress is set for the latest progress report Tuesday and Wednesday by Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. The hearings will draw overflow crowds, innumerable cameras and kibitzers galore.

    The last time Petraeus and Crocker testified, in September, three tiara-wearing protesters from Code Pink shouted until police escorted them from the hearing room. The anti-war activists will be back.

    “Yes,” Code Pink spokeswoman Dana Balicki said Friday, “we will be there, (and) I know other (peace) groups who will be in attendance.”

    Also in attendance will be Iraq Veterans Against the War, a group that wants the United States to withdraw from Iraq immediately.

    Vets for Freedom brings a markedly different message, representing what the organization calls the “trigger-pulling class.” As it did in September, when some 250 veterans flocked to Capitol Hill, Vets for Freedom is again trying to stiffen the congressional spine.

    It’ll be nice to spend time with the “trigger-pulling class” for a change.

  • Gentile vs. Petraeus

    There’s an opinion piece from March 4th in the World Politics Review by Lieutenant Colonel Gian Gentile entitled “Misreading the Surge Threatens U.S. Army’s Conventional Capabilities” and this morning it’s being used to discredit General Petraeus just prior to his testimony to four Congressional committees this week. Yochi J. Dreazen in the Wall Street Journal summarizes LTC Gentile in a piece today “Officer Questions Petraeus Strategy” mischaracterizes Gentile’s article right from the title;

     “We’ve come up with this false narrative, this incorrect explanation of what is going on in Iraq,” he says. “We’ve come to see counterinsurgency as the solution to every problem and we’re losing the ability to wage any other kind of war.”

    Col. Gentile is giving voice to an idea that previously few in the military dared mention: Perhaps the Petraeus doctrine isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s a big controversy within a military that has embraced counterinsurgency tactics as a path to victory in Iraq. The debate, sparked by a short essay written by Col. Gentile titled “Misreading the Surge,” has been raging in military circles for months. One close aide to Gen. Petraeus recently took up a spirited defense of his boss.

    I don’t completely agree with Gentile, but I see his point – and I think General Petreaus also sees his point. Gentile is preempting the old saw that “Generals are always fighting the last war” by saying that counterinsurgency operations aren’t the answer to every military problem. I get that, and I think General Petraeus gets that – maybe who Gentile is talking to is Congress and the next President.

    Politicians are the ones who get war-fighting wrong. Like Bill Clinton tried to apply Desert Storm tactics to Serbia and ended up bombing them for weeks until they finally capitulated. And Bill Clinton thinking a few cruise missiles would end Osama bin Laden’s designs.

    But it was exactly tactics like that has drawn this war out.  the anti-war crowd, the failed policies of the Clinton Administration (and the previous Bush Administration) made Iraqis mistrustful of the US’ commitment to Iraq. Why would they throw in with u, if at a moment’s notice we’d cut and run.

    In my mind, General Petraeus was the right man at the right time, just like Grant and Sherman were the right men at the right time. Could Grant or Sherman be successful fighting the Great War? Probably not. Would General Petreaus be successful fighting Iran or China using the current strategy in Iraq? Nope. Not even if the wars happened tonight.

    Petraeus and Bush are the combination which made the “surge” work. Before the 2006 election, Iraqis were told everyday that the US would withdraw if the Democrats won the Congress. The day after the election, the president announced he’d send more troops – proving the Democrats to be eunuchs as far as military operations went. The Iraqis then understood how committed we were/are to them – despite the cacophonous chattering from the Left.

    Gentile is right that we can’t sacrifice our warfighting edge – which is what happened during the Clinton Administration when our troops were sent to “Meals on Wheels” Camp in Fort Polk, Louisiana and trained to hand out bags of rice. But I think that Gentile is wrong that the Generals will ever make the mistakes that were made at Bull Run, Kasserine Pass and with Task Force Smith.

    LTC Gentile is just trying to remind us that there’s not a standard solution to every military operation.

  • Yon’s “Moment of Truth in Iraq”; my impressions

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    I just had mine delivered yesterday. Needless to say, I’m reading instead of blogging today – it’s pretty hard to put down. So get yours today while you’re waiting for Spring (and General Petraeus) to get here. I ordered mine months ago, but it’s been worth the wait.

    UPDATE: After having been subjected to the company of the liars, cowards and whiners (including snot-slinging, medal tossing drama queens) of the Iraq Veterans Against War, the Veterans for Peace,  the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, it was a pleasure to spend a day with the soldiers and Marines that Michael Yon met and was privileged  to watch doing their jobs. You know, the troops that the media aren’t particularly interested in.

    If you’re a regular reader of Michael Yon’s blog, you might recognize some of the stories and some of the people – but there are stories I don’t recall reading.

    Yon claims that his book is about the new “Greatest Generation” and they truly are as he describes them. The folks who are working so hard and sacrificing greatly to help us win. Yon’s greatest generation stand in stark contrast to the misfits and crybabies of IVAW who hog the cameras here in the US for purely selfish reasons.

    The book is also an indictment of the US media. They’ve been droning on and on about IEDs, the “grim milestone” watch, the temporary setbacks – and barely a word about the men and women who are doing the heavy lifting. Yon is just one man, but he’s brought more real stories about the real war back from Iraq than the entire media combined.

    When you buy this book, not only are you getting an inscribed book, you’re helping to keep Yon on the job and helping to insure we’ll continue to get the truth about the miracle workers we’ve sent into Iraq.

    Oh, and you’ll be sticking a finger in the eye of every nay-saying clown who call themselves “anti-war”.

  • Zawahri speaks

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    The Associated Press writes about the much awaited softball questions to be answered by Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. Probably the most amazing part of the article is AP’s reference to al Qaida as a “terror network”. Usually they refer to it as a some sort of benign non-governmental activist organization.

    Zawahri, however, displays the worst case of projection recorded in modern history;

    “We haven’t killed the innocents, not in Baghdad, nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else,” al-Zawahri said, according to a 46-page English transcript that accompanied the audio message posted on Web sites linked to al-Qaida.

    The answer was in response to the question: “Excuse me, Mr. Zawahri, but who is it who is killing with Your Excellency’s blessing the innocents in Baghdad, Morocco and Algeria?”

    Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York and Washington in 2001, while its affiliates in Iraq, Afghanistan and Algeria regularly set off bombs in crowded urban areas that have taken thousands of lives.

    “If there is any innocent who was killed in the mujahedeen’s operations, then it was either an unintentional error or out of necessity,” al-Zawahri said.

    He went on to accuse al-Qaida’s opponents of being the ones who kill innocent people. He also charged that “the enemy intentionally takes up positions in the midst of the Muslims for them to be human shields for him.”

    Yep, it’s our fault for sending out troops wearing distinctive uniforms in distinctive vehicles for al Qaida’s bombing of hotels, marketplaces, weddings, etc….

    Once, just once, I’d like to see al Qaida face our troops in a force-on-force engagement instead of their hiding in mosques, traveling about in burkas and bombing children in outdoor markets. But that would probably require some measure of testicular fortitude not normally found among those cowards.

    More at Atlas Shrugs.

  • Iranians mining uranium in Venezuela?

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    This morning, I read in Weasel Zippers about the Chinese ratting out the Islamic Republic to the International Atomic Energy Agency (link to AP article)

    Diplomats say that China has given the U.N. nuclear watchdog intelligence linked to Tehran’s alleged attempts to make nuclear arms.

    The development is surprising because Beijing, along with Russia, has opposed U.S.-led attempts to impose harsh penalties on Tehran over its nuclear defiance of the U.N. Security Council.

    I thought it was pretty strange given the fact that it’s pretty likely the Chinese gave Iran the technology (at least indirectly) for the nuclear program in the first place. But then I read over on The Jungle Hut that there’s some evidence that Iran is mining uranium in Venezuela. Jungle Mom links to this World Check article;

    * An interesting postscript; Nasar’s whereabouts were known to the United States, but no attempts were ever made to capture or neutralise the man who was most likely the most dangerous terrorist to ever set foot in the Western Hemisphere. Claims have been made that he was subsequently captured by local authorities in Pakistan, and subsequently turned over to American agents, but no public confirmation has ever been issued. Exactly where is the man understood to be one of Al-Qaida’s leading theoreticians?

    * Did Al-Qaida take possession of some of the Venezuelan Uranium? most of it is presently being refined in Iranian laboratories, but was some diverted by Nasar?

    * For those who still doubt that Venezuela is now, with the able assistance of Iranian engineers on-site, processing Uranium for eventual use in weapons of mass destruction, please note that a number of Venezuelan publications have detailed the locations of the mines, and a senior Venezuelan governmental officials has, coincidentally, advised that any unauthorised aircraft overflights in the region where the mines are situated, are strictly prohibited, and that such aircraft will be subject to deadly force, and shot down.

    Gateway Pundit wrote about it last September and linked to another article a year older at VCrisis which raised the specter of Venezuela’s plans to help Iran with their program;

    Camilo Ospina, on the day he was sworn in as Colombia’s new ambassador to the Organization of American States, stated in a speech…stated further that “if you were to go straight in the direction of Arauca, arrive at the border and penetrate about 400 kilometers beyond, you will find two factories, one is a bicycle factory and the other a motorcycle factory. These two factories are a façade for a uranium excavation.”

    And he concluded: “Venezuela has no means of enriching uranium, but Iran does. If that came about, we would have a real problem.”

    This article in Spanish from Noticias24 mentions the important fact that Raul Reyes’ laptop mentioned 50 kilos of uranium, but Colombian police only found 30 kilos the other day. UK’s Spectator asks similar questions;

    …Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, is known to be in cahoots with Iran and has given free passage to people associated with al Qaeda, Hamas or Hezbollah. Which makes him a pretty dangerous kind of guy. But a few days ago Reuters reported something which raises the stakes and should ring the loudest possible alarm bells: that the authorities in Columbia have seized at least 30 kg of uranium from the FARC terrorists — who have received financial support from Chavez.

    Since the FARC revolutionaries don’t themselves appear to want to make a nuclear bomb to incinerate Bogota, it is most likely that the uranium stash was destined to be sold to a bidder who did want to make such a bomb. So to where was it destined — and where might other uranium from the same source have ended up?

    It may just be that Iran’s program is advancing faster than China expected due to this new source of uranium.