35th Street Market open for business

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BAGHDAD — Seven weeks ago, the citizens of east Doura couldn’t walk down 35th Street. Seven weeks ago, there would have been an explosive or gunfire waiting for them.

Seven weeks ago, the Raiders weren’t in the area.

Full Story.

DID I SAY DAT?!?

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Yes, Obama. You did.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan accused Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama of "sheer ignorance" for threatening to launch US military strikes against Al-Qaeda on Pakistani soil.

Obama warned Wednesday that if he is elected president, he would order US forces to hit extremist targets on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan if embattled military ruler President Pervez Musharraf failed to act.

"Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance," Pakistan's Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azeem, told AFP. "They are not fully apprised about the ground realities and not aware of the efforts by Pakistan."

Full Story.

Obama the Magic Negro is a noob. The man has not been in the United States Senate for one full term and his noobness shows every time he opens his mouth. While I am not a fan of anyone running for the party of the Jackass, it is clear that this Urkelesque clown would be an unmitigated disaster in the White House. How fitting that Obama's threat came at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Idealist Idiots.

Obama is desperate. The Tempest in the B-Cup is widening her lead over him in the race to become the next victim of the GOP's Pennsylvania Avenue Express, and she's finding some resonance in her public spat with the Pentagon over imaginary cut and run plans. So a little risk taking is to be expected. What I never expected was to see a brain fart like this. Pakistan has some serious issues to deal with. Pervez Musharraf is hanging on and managing to keep a semblance of peace in Islamabad while he deals with a serious Islamist threat to stability. Having a US Presidential candidate--even a long shot one like Obama--threaten military action against targets within his country is disgraceful to the Pakistani President. As Tariq Azeem eloquently stated: "Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance."

Treachery Exposed

"I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course and if the Republicans were to stay united as they have been, then it would be a problem for us."

So said House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), in a video interview with the Washingtonpost.com website. Clyburn is referring to a report due to be given by MNF-Iraq Commanding General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Clyburn was asked about how a positive report from the two might affect Congressional Democrats' efforts to end the war in Iraq.

WTF? If Petraeus and Crocker come back with a positive report, showing significant progress in quelling the counterinsurgency, Democrats would see that as a problem? Since when does being a Democrat trump being an American?

This sort of treachery is exactly what I wrote about in June.

If America succeeds in Iraq, Bush leaves office as the President who brought democracy to both Iraq and Afganistan, giving the middle east two bastions of freedom for the first time in history of the region. It results in two peaceful, stable and productive allies of the United States. For Iraq, it would place a large chunk of the world's proven oil reserves in the hands of a friendly nation and represent a regional influence with which to check the radical islamists in Iran. Those would be historically significant developments for the United States and southwestern Asia. And, they would provide a formidable legacy for Mr. Bush.

The overarching goal of Democrat shenanigans in Congress is not sound policy--it is all about gaining political points. As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, it's about "winning seats." The Democrats are not interested in winning in Iraq. They are only interested in winning in November 2008. The Majority Whip, in one of those "oops" moments, has exposed the treachery of the left and shown them for what they really are.

My question is simply this: How will the ordinary American who voted for these idiots last November going to react, when he sees this and realizes that he's been played?

Associated Press hit piece debunked

The headline read thus:

"Iraq refuses to take over many projects
Reluctance to assume control could cost U.S. billions, audit finds"

In the story, the Associated Press reported that the Government of Iraq's refusal to take over various reconstruction projects was going to cost the United States billions of dollars, citing a report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

I have obtained a copy of the report, entitled Transferring Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Capital Projects to the Government of Iraq (SIGIR).

At no point in the report does SIGIR claim that the government of Iraq "refuses" to take over the projects, nor does the report state that the alleged refusal stands to cost American taxpayers "billions." Here's what the report does state:

"Delays in transferring completed projects mean that fewer assets are available to the [Government of Iraq] as leverage for loans and could result in additional sustainment expenses for hte U.S. government agencies that completed the projects." (SIGIR-07-004, July 2007)

I have been in contact with project management and finance & accounting officials at the Gulf Regional Division, US Army Corps of Engineers, in Iraq. Corps officials tell me that the GOI is not refusing to take these projects over--the GOI is budgetarily incapable of doing so. In what amounts to a disastrous success, the United States government has completed hundreds of projects worth billions of dollars in less than three years, overwhelming the new government. With insufficient tax and oil revenues flowing in to take over and operate all of the new projects, the GOI has asked for time and suggested turning over smaller, community-based projects to local officials. The US government has agreed to do so with numerous small projects. For the larger projects that exceed the locals' operation and maintainence capacity, the US agencies are carrying the O&M costs until transfer can be accomplished. Officials estimate that one to two years of O&M will be incurred, but denied that those costs would run into the billions even if transfers are further delayed.

Corps officials tell me that no one from AP contacted them for comment on the matter, despite the fact that the Corps is the lead agency in reconstruction efforts.

Clearly, the AP story, which ran on MSNBC, Yahoo! News, CNN and various other websites, was poorly researched and badly reported. While I am stopping short of accusing the AP of deliberately misstating the contents of the SIGIR report, the story stands out as yet another example of shoddy journalism on the part of AP.

Join the Victory Caucus

The Victory Caucus is back online. The site bills itself as a one-stop shop for news and information about the Global War on Terror, and delivers in spades. I strongly recommend that you visit the site, and register.

Asian Cup Champs

Remember how it felt to be an American when the US Hockey Team upset the vaunted Soviets in the 1980 Games at Lake Placid? Full of national pride and unity, Americans of all flavors enjoyed just being Americans.

Today, the Republic of Iraq gets to bask briefly in that light. No matter what happens tomorrow, today they are all Iraqis.

Read the game recap here.

Photo essay below.

Sometimes, it's better to let those thousand words in a row take a backseat to the images that capture a moment in history.

Diyala Turning

KHALIS, Iraq – Approximately 75 tribal sheiks and local leaders gathered at the Iraqi Army Headquarters in Khalis, Iraq, to discuss grievances between tribes, determine solutions for security and services, and unite to defeat al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in the Khalis area.


“Our goal is to be united and cooperate between us to stand between any force that wishes to challenge our unity,” said one tribal sheik. “We have to show the people that we are honest and serious about fighting against al-Qaeda.”


The meeting, led by Staff Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem, commander of Iraqi Security Forces in Diyala; Staff Maj. Gen. Ghanem Abass Ibraham al-Qureshy, the Provincial Director of Police; and Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of Coalition Forces in Diyala, resulted in the signing of a peace agreement between 18 of the tribal leaders in attendance.


“The sheiks are the backbone of Diyala,” said Sutherland. “We are not 25 major tribes with 100 sub-tribes; we are one tribe – the tribe of Diyala.” As stated in the Quran, “And hold fast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves,” the sheiks agreed to eight conditions.


Story here.


Add this to the three developments I wrote about yesterday.


“You are not out there trying to defeat your enemies wholesale. You are out there trying to draw them into a negotiated power-sharing agreement where they decide to quit fighting you. They don’t decide that their conflict is over. The reasons for conflict remain, but they quit trying to address it through violence. In the end, we hope that that alliance of convenience to fight with Al Qaeda becomes a connection to the central government as well.”

Senator Clinton: Enemy Propagandist

"In a stinging rebuke to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman responded to questions Clinton raised in May in which she urged the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces."

Associated Press?!?

Boom, baby...

Precision-guided munitions kills top al Qaeda leader
Multi-National Division – Center PAO

BAGHDAD — The top target for al Qaeda in Iraq south of Baghdad was killed July 14 in Arab Jabour by precision-guided munitions, the Excalibur.

Shortly after 12 p.m., 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received a call that Abu Jurah and 14 anti-Iraqi forces were meeting at a house in Arab Jabour.

Abu Jurah was an AQI cell leader and was responsible for improvised explosive devices, vehicle-borne IED and indirect fire attacks on Coalition Forces in Arab Jabour.

At approximately 1:12 p.m., the house was positively identified allowing 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment to fire two Excalibur rounds destroying the meeting house.

An unmanned aerial vehicle observed persons leaving the house, loading injured individuals into a sedan and fleeing the scene.

An AH-64 Apache helicopter engaged the sedan destroying it.

Three people were observed running from the meeting house to a nearby house.

A U.S. Air Force F16 Fighting Falcon dropped two 500-pound GPS-guided bombs on the second house.

Standoff in Dallas: Two Muslim Women Arrested, Explosives Found

Such nice, peaceful people, those Jihadis...

By STEVE THOMPSON / The Dallas Morning News
stevethompson@dallasnews.com

It started with a routine domestic disturbance, except that the pair involved has recently been under investigation by federal terrorism officials.

Before the day ended, Arlington police had negotiated a six-hour standoff, their robot had been shot at with a paintball gun, and they had called in a bomb squad over four potentially explosive devices.

Dallas Morning News Story

"...this surge is making a difference." The press is, too.

I was naively encouraged to read the following piece from AFPS, thinking "Yeah! finally someone speaks to the American people, with a message of optimism and perserverance!"

Troops See Progress, Grow Weary of Negative Reports on War
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2007 – Troops on the ground in Iraq are not as much tired of the war as they are of those who are not in the fight saying that no progress has been made, a top commander in the region said today.

The troops there see progress every day, said British Army Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, deputy commander of Multinational Force Iraq and senior British representative in Iraq, speaking to Pentagon reporters via satellite.

“They see the water going to people who didn't have it before. They see electricity coming on line. They see stability to the networks. They see all the stuff that no one really portrays,” Lamb said. “While it's so clear to them that we're making progress, it's not reflected by those who are not in the fight, but [who] are sitting back and making judgment.”

Overall, Lamb called the day-to-day work there by coalition forces “hard pounding,” and said that extraordinary things are being accomplished by ordinary people.

“You should be enormously proud of what I see your Marines, your Air Force, your Navy, your Army and the civilians who are in the fight out here, as to what they do, and gladly,” Lamb said.

The British general has served in Iraq since August 2006. This is his second tour to the region. He said, that in the first month of the surge there has been “good progress, steady momentum, hard fighting, [and coalition forces] going places where they haven't been before. I see -- unequivocally -- that this surge is making a difference.”

Lamb compared the complexities of the mission there to playing three-dimensional chess in a dark room – while being shot at.

But, he said, Iraqi forces are making ground in their training and several units own their own battlespace. This is key as coalition forces begin clearing and holding new sections of the capital city.

Only a few years ago, after coalition soldiers would leave cleared areas, insurgents would return and again take control. Under the new strategy, coalition forces now hold sections of the city allowing for local governments to be formed, construction of key infrastructure, training of security forces and the rebuilding of the economy and workforce.

Now, when coalition forces leave, Lamb said, the “vacuum” is not filled with insurgents, but a trained security force and a growing economy.

He said it is a concerted effort on the parts of coalition forces, the local community, Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government. “The sum of the parts is so much greater than where we were before, and the difference should not be underestimated,” Lamb said.

Already, several Iraqi units are holding their own north in Diyala and Salahuddin and south in Babil and Basra.

Still, most units require U.S. help with logistics, command and control and intelligence, he said.

Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government are busy weeding out those who are aligned with the insurgency and sectarian violence, especially within the police force, he said. U.S. forces are arresting, and turning over to the Iraqis, any of their security force who are guilty of using their positions to promote sectarian violence, Lamb said.

“We'll take the individuals, arrest them and put them through the Iraqi criminal justice system,” he said.

Already, 11,000 members of the police force have been removed and 4,000 are in the criminal justice system under review.

“I've seen over my time here people … looking to improve and deliver a force that is Iraqi rather than sectarian,” he said.

Do the American people get to hear this message? Let’s see how the MSM handles it. Keep in mind that AP reporters were on hand at the Pentagon when General Lamb gave his interview.

Associated Press: Hamilton Worries

“British Army Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, deputy commander of international forces in Iraq, said that Iraqis also have a way to go to cleanse a police force infiltrated by Shiite militiamen. Officials have removed some 11,000 police suspected of sectarian bias, Lamb told Pentagon reporters, but he added that the problem won't be ‘solved overnight.’”

No mention of progress whatsoever. No comments on infrastructure development. No mention of what General Lamb sees in the troops’ attitudes towards those “not in the fight.” No mention at all about those who sit in judgement.

There was no AP story reporting on the teleconference with General Lamb. His comments were instead taken out of context and buried in a story about Hamilton's whining.

It is abundantly clear that the United States of America is not losing in Iraq. The enemy can not hope to defeat the U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces in theater. They can only hope to wage a propaganda campaign, and pray for the complicity of the media.

You have to ask: Whose side is the western—particularly the American—media on? They’ll say that they’re not on any side. As full of bullshit as that is, if you’d have asked the question in 1942, the answer would have been vastly different. What has changed in 65 years of “journalism?”

Jihad: The Number One Destroyer Of Mosques In The World

Pat Dollard writes in Young Americans:

"I have a souvenier chunk of a mosque blown to hell by American tanks and air in Fallujah. In Jihad, the most important function of a mosque is as a center of military operations and killing. Throughout Iraq, I saw them constantly used as ammo dumps, torture chambers, egress destinations, IED factories, and forts from which to shoot, rocket, mortar and kill people. Minarets make for great sniper positions. Invariably, ultimately, this brings hellfire down upon the mosque, and it is destroyed. I have seen dozens laid to waste and lying in rubble before my eyes."

Read the post here.

Dr. Mark A. Gabriel, Ph.D, mentions this tactic in his seminal book, Islam and Terrorism. If you have not read this book, you need to. Dr. Gabriel converted to Christianity from Islam in 1994 and fled to the United States, after escaping persecution in his native Egypt. Dr. Gabriel has Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral degrees from the "prestigious" al-Azhar University in Cairo. Al-Azhar is a center piece of jihadist theology in Islam. The use of mosques as centers of jihadist activity is well explained, as are many other aspects of jihad that only a former Muslim can accurately describe.

Bitch Slapping the Times

On occasion, an Op/Ed piece does such a spectacular job of obliterating another that "Bitch Slapping" is the only term to describe the point-by-point refutation. Victor Davis Hanson, writing in City Journal:

On July 8, the New York Times ran an historic editorial entitled “The Road Home,” demanding an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. It is rare that an editorial gets almost everything wrong, but “The Road Home” pulls it off. Consider, point by point, its confused—and immoral—defeatism.

Ouch!

Victor Davis Hanson: City Journal

Principles of Men

Will a Republican in the Senate please grow some nuts, stand up, and be a man? Liberals in the Democrat Party do not give one flying fuck what happens to the middle east if the United States were to end counterinsurgency operations in Iraq. They quite simply do not care if Al Qaeda sweeps in behind withdrawing U.S. forces and transforms Baghdad into another Kandahar. They are as worried about the mass murder that would ensue as they are concerned over the slaughter of Christians in Sudan. Their treachery is focused on one thing only: Damaging President Bush so badly that the GOP is hobbled in 2008 and the first bitch gets elected Commander in Chief. What the weak-kneed girly men in the United States Senate do not understand is that going flaccid and "breaking rank" with President Bush plays right into their perfidious little hands.

Right now, the armed forces of the United States are kicking ass and taking names in Iraq. Fallujah, once a nightmarish scene of death and urban warfare, now sleeps peacefully at night and suffers crime rates that Los Angeles would drool over. The Forat region of southern Iraq has returned to its former status as the breadbasket of Iraq. Anbar, once given up as lost to Al Qaeda, is now firmly entrenched in peace and stability. The northern provinces, pacified years ago by then LT GEN David Petraeus, will have none of Al Qaeda and have not seen any significant activity there in months. School enrollment for Iraqi children has increased each year. That's 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, with another record increase expected for 2007-08.

Operation Phantom Fury, which only began in earnest less than a month ago, has killed or captured 300 terrorists and cleared tons of illicit weapons and explosives. While only a secondary indicator of success, the U.S. KIA rate has fallen so precipitously in the last two months that the MSM is going to have to start calling the last six months "bloody" just to incorporate casualties suffered in April.

Instead of hailing significant military progress--all of which is aimed to foster political progress downstream--spineless Republican after spineless Republican has slithered up to the podium and begged for a reach-around kiss from their liberal counterparts. Not only is this parade of invertebrates disgusting, it perfectly demonstrates that politics take precedent over principle on Capitol Hill. With precious, and I mean PRECIOUS few exceptions, Republicans in both houses of Congress have abandoned their principles and the results are an unmitigated disaster. You expect that from liberals, who have exactly one principled leader among them in the Senate.



I have a few significant differences with the Administration on very important issues. The compromise of conservative principles on domestic spending is one. The immigration amnesty bill is another. The AARP raid on the treasury for prescription drugs is yet another. Each of those has eroded conservative support for the President, while emboldening liberal rivals to push their agenda even harder.

But there are three key aspects of George W. Bush's leadership that I greatly admire the man for: His steadfast prosecution of the Global War on Terror; the tax cuts that will be driving this economic engine for decades to come and the appointment of staunchly constitutional U.S. Supreme Court Justices. For taking such an uncompromising stand on these three issues, the liberal media has subjected the administration to a withering fire of crticism and intellectual dishonesty. The result of the constant barrage of negative press has had its intended result: abysmally low approval ratings.

Mr. Bush's response to a question about his public image: "You know, I guess I'm like any other political figure. Everybody wants to be loved — but sometimes, the decisions you make and the consequences don't enable you to be loved. And so, when it's all said and done, if you ever come down and visit the old, tired me down there in Crawford, I will be able to say I looked in the mirror and made decisions based upon principle, not based upon politics. And that's important to me."

Principle over politics. What an amazing concept. Too bad it's lost on the United States Congress.

DAMN. Why didn't we think of this?

Go. Add him.

And let the friends' comments begin!

http://myspace.com/Ahmadinejad

One, two, three four... I declare a Holy War?

When radical islamists lay down their arms and abandon Jihad, there will be no more Global War on Terror. When we lay down our arms and abandon the Global War on Terror, there will be no more "us."

There is an absolutely silly debate raging in certain circles over why Islamic terrorists target and attack westerners. The two camps are generally divided into what I call the Paulites, who believe 9/11 and other terrorist missions against the U.S. and its allies are a result of our aggressive, imperialist policies in the middle east; and the Sentients, who understand the truth.

The truth is that Islamic fundamentalists hate the west because we are infidels. We will not be forced to proclaim that there is but one God, Allah, and that Muhammed is His prophet. We reject the entire framework of Sharia and we choose to govern ourselves. We will not submit to an Islamic state and we will not be governed by a Caliphate. We completely and utterly reject the Sunnah; we will not ever follow the way of the Prophet. In fact, many among us feel that Allah is not the one true God at all; but that Allah is indeed the one true Satan, and that his followers are being led straight to Hell.

In some countries, I could be arrested, jailed, tortured, even killed just for writing this. In Saudi Arabia, my entire family could be punished. We choose to live in a society where not only am I allowed to write the above, the right to do so is defended to the death. Those freedoms are a precious gift, and very little of the rest of the world enjoys that gift.

Because we believe the way we do, Islamic clerics tell their followers that their ghod commands the faithful to kill us. That is a fact. It has nothing to do with politics, policies, imperialism, or oil. It has nothing to do with the United States' steadfast support for Israel. It has everything to do with the fact that we will not bend to the will of Allah. Because of that, muslims are called to Jihad. They are told to

"Fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism, i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and all worship Allah Alone [in the whole of the world]. (Surah 8:39)

"O Prophet (Muhammad)! Urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast persons amongst you, they will overcome two hundred, and if there be a hundred steadfast persons they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they (the disbelievers) are people who do not understand. (Surah 8:65)

So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. (Surah 9:5)"

If the United States and the rest of the western world stayed peacefully within our borders, yet maintained the system of beliefs I touched on above, then we would still be infidels. The verses of the Qur'an quoted above would still be in the Qur'an, and the radical clerics of Islam would still be sermonizing the faithful that ghod demands our heads. Radical islamists use the policies of the United States as a convenient, modern excuse for their violence, in part because they realize that if they used the real, religious reasons for jihad, the world would declare them all to be zealots. It is much easier, and much more productive, to invoke the "imperialist America" rhetoric. People buy that story. The religious story is a much tougher bill of goods to sell, and the Islamic freaks know it.

Anyone who applies a system of rational thought is capable of understanding and accepting this. But there are those in our society whose first reaction is always to "Blame America First." They blame America for global warming. They blame America for world poverty. They blame America for human rights violations in Sudan. And they blame America for jihad. I have a question I'd like you to ask these idiots:

If we never set foot in the middle east and never consumed a drop of foreign oil, would you still demand the right to refuse to proclaim that there is but one God, Allah, and that Muhammed is His prophet? If so, then that person is an infidel, and there is a radical cleric in a mosque calling for his head.

The Religion of Peace

From time to time, I will post a series of photographs that do an infinitely better job of conveying an analysis of an issue than a carefully crafted 15,000 word essay. Have a look at this short collection of images from the last couple of weeks.

Religion of Peace, indeed.

Pakistan's Powderkeg

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The events of this week in Islamabad, Pakistan came perilously close to a becoming a radical islamic tsunami, threatening to swamp southwestern Asia in a drowning sea of 7th century fundamentalism. Fighting erupted after the mosque's leadership abducted a group of Chinese women for alleged crimes of vice (i.e., prostitution). The government surrounded the mosque compound and firefights ensued. The mainstream media took casual note of the standoff at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, which pitted the group of radical students against Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. The students are led by firebrand imam Maulana Abdul Aziz and his equally outspoken No. 2 man, Abdul Rashid Ghazi. The group professes a "relationship of love and affection with all jihadist organizations," but denies that it has any militants, only "students." Right. As of today, more than 1,100 such "students" had surrendered, but the mosque still contains at least 250 hardcore islamists, armed with AK-47's and explosives that Aziz says were provided by "friends."

The situation in Pakistan is tenuous, at best. President Musharraf is a strong ally of the United States and international efforts to rid the region of Taliban and terrorist influence. Clerics like Aziz (he is far from being the only outspoken radical) are bitterly opposed to the government's support of the Great Satan, and the abduction of the Chinese women was yet another incident in the terrorists' attempts to enforce the Taliban's 7th century flavor of islamic law in Pakistan. Musharraf has also taken intense criticism for his unwillingness to hold free elections in his country, but given the radicals' "relationship of love" with terrorists, Musharraf is navigating between the Scilla and Charybdes. If he holds onto power, he further enrages the radical islamist factions, fuels their violent rhetoric and risks inciting other confrontations. If he gives into international pressures and holds elections, he risks losing power to those who might not take such a hard line stance against terrorism and the Taliban. Musharraf frequently points to the 80/20 rule: That 80% of the country's problems are caused by 20% of the people. But those 20% are increasing the anti-west, anti-secular rhetoric and ratcheting up the violence. While this week's event is likely to end without swamping Pakistan in a sea of bloodshed and radical revolution, there is considerable risk that a future confrontation will have different results. If he wishes to avoid blowing the powderkeg, Musharraf should brutally crack down on the radical imams before they have a chance to push Pakistan into a repeat of the Iranian revolution.

When the Commanding Officer talks, the troops stand at attention. When the top enlisted man talks, the troops listen. Command Sergeant Major Neil Ciotola is the highest ranking enlisted soldier in Iraq.


Follow this link to see what he thinks about the pols on Goat Fucker Hill.

Hoo ahh.

Simon Tisdall
Tuesday May 22, 2007
The Guardian



Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."

More...


This item appeared in The Guardian late last month, foreshadowing developments such as this item from the AP:

"Bergner said Iraqi extremists were taken to Iran in groups of 20 to 60 for training in three camps "not too far from Tehran." When they returned to Iraq, they formed units to carry out attacks, bombings and kidnappings.

"Our intelligence reveals that the senior leadership in Iran is aware of this activity," he said. He said it would be "hard to imagine" that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was unaware of the activity.

More...

MNF-Iraq knows it. The White House knows it. The press knows it. The Iraqi people know it. Does the United States Congress know it?

"The President's 'surge' strategy can not achieve it's goals of securing Iraq and giving the Iraqi government time to reach a consensus, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said on Face The Nation."

Apparently not.

Earlier this month, the American people inundated Senatorial phone lines, fax machines and email servers with a surge of their own, denouncing the Amnesty Immigration Bill and all but forcing the Senate to reject the measure. Perhaps it is time to re-surge the surge, and tell people like Lugar, Voinovich and Warner that we cannot allow a radical islamic state like Iran dictate US foreign policy. Iran is attacking our soldiers in Iraq, and the President should not have to watch his back from attacks on Capitol Hill.