Be Not Afraid

Be Not Afraid

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst. You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way. You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand. You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid.
I go before you always;
Come follow me, and I will give you rest.

from a prayer card given to Michael Yon in Anbar Province here.

I pray for all those who are in foreign lands fighting against our enemies. You are protecting us at home. Thank you so much for your sacrifice. God bless you all.

One more Korean Hostage is killed

I read over at Michelle Malkin and Jawa Report that one more S. Korean missionary has been killed in Afghanistan. I feel outraged not one MSM is reporting this at all! It seems good ol' One Eye himself is in on this.

Monday’s first deadline was issued by the Taliban leadership council, led by elusive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, giving the threat to kill the hostages more weight than several other deadlines that have passed without incident.

I just wish the tribal leaders didn't let Omar go when they caught him at the beginning of the war. I hope and pray the hostages are freed. I pray for those who have died and peace to their families.

If only Patton were alive today! (He'd be about 122!)

A change of heart...

WE might just win this war over at NYT Option page....

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

Like what we've been saying all along! Victory is Ours!

President Bush and A-Q in Iraq

I saw the presidents speech today on FOX. He's on the offense and that's good. Some say its too late and nobody is listening. But I still think we can win this war. We have to give Petraeus a try.

Nearly six years after the 9/11 attacks, America remains a nation at war. The terrorist network that attacked us that day is determined to strike our country again, and we must do everything in our power to stop them. A key lesson of September the 11th is that the best way to protect America is to go on the offense, to fight the terrorists overseas so we don't have to face them here at home. And that is exactly what our men and women in uniform are doing across the world.

The reason we are in Iraq is to fight terrorism. Bush is right by saying so.

You might wonder why some in Washington insist on making this distinction about the enemy in Iraq. It's because they know that if they can convince America we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida there, they can paint the battle in Iraq as a distraction from the real war on terror. If we're not fighting bin Laden's al Qaida, they can argue that our nation can pull out of Iraq and not undermine our efforts in the war on terror. The problem they have is with the facts. We are fighting bin Laden's al Qaida in Iraq; Iraq is central to the war on terror; and against this enemy, America can accept nothing less than complete victory.

It makes me mad the defeatacrats like Harry Reid say we are loosing. It emboldens the enemy. It feeds to their propaganda machines. I wish we would unite as a nation and just win the war. Remember 9/11 did unite us for a while.

Our top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said that al Qaida is "public enemy number one" in Iraq. Fellow citizens, these people have sworn allegiance to the man who ordered the death of nearly 3,000 people on our soil. Al Qaida is public enemy number one for the Iraqi people; al Qaida is public enemy number one for the American people. And that is why, for the security of our country, we will stay on the hunt, we'll deny them safe haven, and we will defeat them where they have made their stand.

Hopefully, it will be A-Q's last stand!

South Korean Hostages

I've only just heard about these South Korean Christan Missionaries this week on Michelle Malkin's site and on the Jawa Report. Bless your servants, oh Lord! Please grant them freedom from their captors. May they return safely to their home and families soon. AMEN.

Eisenhower Says We Must Back Victory, 1946/06/03 (1946)

Victory!

Fight For Victory Tour

Join the Fight!

The book arrived by Owl Mail yesterday!

I'm happily reading the last Harry Potter book. It is sad but it seems like every chapter there is a death of a character. My friend Jim has reviewed the Order of the Phoenix. I agree that each book has become more and more mature as readers are getting older.

I think J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Potter series of books, has created a timeless and classic collection of stories, one that will be enjoyed by children and adults for decades to come. I also find part of the genius of her creation to be that she has taken into account the advancing years of the original fans of the series. In the beginning, with �Harry Potter and the Sorcerer�s Stone,� the story and adventures were for children. As each book was written, and each film produced, the stories have taken on an increasingly more adult tone, so much so that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is rated PG-13. It also means that the films are now more appealing to an older audience.

I haven't seen Order of the Phoenix yet. I'll probably do it next week on a date with the Husband. (The children can go to grandma's for the evening!)

The 9/11's

The generation of the 9/11's are our greatest generation yet. I guess the greatest of those who fight always skip a generation (WWII and 9/11). The boomers were the love and peace generation that protested the Vietnam war and avoided the draft.
A great article over at Weekly Standard talks about the 9/11's by Dean Barnett. I like the "chowdar head" who blogs at Hugh Hewitt.

Confronted with a generation-defining conflict, the cold war, the Boomers--those, at any rate, who came to be emblematic of their generation--took the opposite path from their parents during World War II. Sadly, the excesses of Woodstock became the face of the Boomers' response to their moment of challenge. War protests where agitated youths derided American soldiers as baby-killers added no luster to their image.

Few of the leading lights of that generation joined the military. Most calculated how they could avoid military service, and their attitude rippled through the rest of the century. In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, military service didn't occur to most young people as an option, let alone a duty.

But now, once again, history is calling. Fortunately, the present generation appears more reminiscent of their grandparents than their parents.

Bill Kristol says of the 9/11's:

Having turned against a war that some of them supported, the left is now turning against the troops they claim still to support. They sense that history is progressing away from them--that these soldiers, fighting courageously in a just cause, could still win the war, that they are proud of their service, and that they will be future leaders of this country. They are not "Shock Troops." They are our best and bravest, fighting for all of us against a brutal enemy in a difficult and frustrating war. They are the 9/11 generation. The left slanders them. We support them. More than that, we admire them.

I'm from the boomer generation. But I never thought bad of the Military. I always felt that to serve your country was the highest honor. Our freedom to live and work is dependent on protecting our country from the enemy. When I met my husband he was in the NAVY. He was a "Cold War" warrior, fighting against Communism. (Now Retired) He told me he always wanted to serve his country. And before he retired he told me if he was deployed again he would do it no questions asked. And I supported that decision totally. We both support the MISSION And the TROOPS!

Blog mission

I saw this on Hugh Hewitt.com by Dean Barnet this morning.
This has the same MO as the "Genghis Khan" of Lt. Kerry. The New Republic prints an article of an anonymous "Thomas" telling of war atrocities in Iraq. Called "Shock Troops" here. (registration required) Micheal Goldfarb asks the Blogosphere for help investigating the story. We smell a fish when we see one!

But we believe that the best chance for getting at the truth is likely to come from the combined efforts of the blogosphere, which has, in the past, proven adept at determining the reliability of such claims. To that end we'd encourage the milblogging community to do some digging of their own, and individual soldiers and veterans to come forward with relevant information--either about the specific events or their plausibility in general.

Does anyone who has served at FOB Falcon remember hearing about or seeing the humiliation of this woman? Do they know her name and how we might get in contact with her to confirm the author's account of the events that day?

Is anyone familiar with a combat outpost a few miles south of the Baghdad airport where a mass grave of Iraqi children was discovered? What about the other parts of the story? And does anyone else know of Bradleys careening wildly through the streets of Baghdad?

Top A-Q captured in Iraq

This is good news. Let's see how the MSM treats the story. (Not!) It looks like we are turning the tide on the war.

The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

Isn't great we captured an enemy on our Independence day! Kudos to the troops. They are doing a great job. Too bad the senate is not doing their jobs. Wasting our time and money whining about cutting and running. We should be rejoicing our troops victories not demeaning them.

Progress in Iraq

HT at Riehl World View

The senators and congress need to watch the progress of turning over the security to Iraqi forces from a good visual at Riehl World. I think we are winning the war, don't you think?

Go Lindsey!

I did not agree with Sen. Graham with the immigration issue but he rocks when it comes to supporting our troops. Let them win!

Vets for Freedom

I just saw this on Powerline here about Vets For Freedom. This is a group of veterans from Afghanistan and Iraqi Wars. I think they got the right idea from The Swift boat Veterans from Vietnam. They will be storming DC on July 17. We need to support these vets. Call, E-mail or fax your Congressional Representative. Also go over to Hugh Hewitt and contact the chicken hawk Republican Senators.

1) We have the support of numerous other vets organizations -— American Legion, Troops Need You, Gathering of Eagles, Appeal for Courage, Move America Forward, Troop Talk, and more.

2) If we do this right, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans —- and the blog and talk radio communities -- could transform the Iraq war debate, much like they did for immigration. And this event could be a starting point.

3) We need vets to show up -— despite time constraints and financial constraints...it’s too important.

We all should Blog storm next week! Our country needs to win this war. We need to bat down the defeatists Reid and Pelosi! And go to Victory Caucus too. Fight the Fight and Win the War.

Michael Yon on Hugh Hewitt today

I hope this gets to the MSM because the public needs to hear it. We need to expose Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi for the lies they are saying about the surge not working.

HH: Now yesterday, Harry Reid said on the floor of the Senate that the surge has failed. Do you think there’s any factual basis for making that assertion, Michael Yon, from what you’ve seen in Iraq over the last many months?

MY: He’s wrong, he’s wrong. It has absolutely not failed, and in fact, I’m finally willing to say it in public. I feel like it’s starting to succeed. And you know, I’m kind of stretching a little bit, because we haven’t gone too far into it, but I can see it from my travels around, for instance, in Anbar and out here in Diyala Province as well. Baghdad’s still very problematic. But there’s other areas where you can clearly see that there is a positive effect. And the first and foremost thing we have to do is knock down al Qaeda. And with them alienating so many Iraqis, I mean, they’re almost doing it for us. I mean, yeah, it takes military might to finally like wipe them out of Baquba, but it’s working. I mean, I sense that the surge is working. Reid is just wrong.

Don't call it a failure...yet

From a David Limbaugh's townhall column:

Despite their unconvincing protests to the contrary, it's painfully obvious liberals just don't believe in our cause in Iraq. Their behavior cannot be explained any other way. They're clearly rooting against, indeed trying to preempt the surge and otherwise thwart our mission.

If they wanted the surge to work, they wouldn't be declaring it a failure prior to the date Commander David Petraeus set for fairly evaluating our progress -- especially considering that many signs are pointing to the surge's success.

Reports coming out of Iraq indicate that our new strategy of rooting out terrorists and holding the areas is working. Evidence is accumulating that even if our homegrown liberals aren't, the Iraqi people are increasingly turning against Al Qaeda, largely because of their brutality. Sectarian violence, for now, is declining.

Please wait for Septembers report. Let our troops complete the mission.

Apache crews thwart rocket attack on IZ

Another one bites the dust!

Bush won't pull troops yet....

Bush does not plan any major changes in war strategy despite increased calls from Republican lawmakers to begin a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"Congress oughta wait for General Petraeus to come back and give us his assessment before they make any decisions," Bush told the crowd in Cleveland.

In a brief statement earlier there, Bush said, "Troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C."

Give the troops and General Petraeus a chance.

Another Carrier to the Gulf

MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy has sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes Gulf waters close to Iran, the navy said on Tuesday.

"Enterprise (aircraft carrier) provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan," a U.S. Navy statement said.

The move comes weeks after a flotilla of U.S. warships sailed through the narrowest point in the Gulf to hold exercises off Iran's coast in a major show of force.

Tension over Tehran's nuclear ambitions has raised regional fears of a military confrontation. Recent U.S. naval presence in the Gulf has been the largest since the 2003 Iraq war.

The Fifth Fleet area of operations includes the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.

more Harry Mania

Check out the photos here.

Ken Johnston Sr., a former test pilot for NASA who said he helped train astronauts during the Apollo era, has now found a new calling in dressing as Dumbledore. The Belen, New Mexico, resident put his alter ego to use when he helped auction a signed copy of a Harry Potter book on his eBay store to benefit a local library. The buyers came down from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Belen to claim their book, and they were greeted by Johnston in full costume. He was accompanied by a local cub scout dressed as Harry Potter.
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He said he has attended past film openings wearing his outfit and was making plans to attend the latest film opening in character.

I was at the World Science Fiction Convention when 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone' won the Hugo for Best Novel. I was not impressed back then. But since reading the books I'm such a big fan. (Got sucked right in.)

At 870 pages, this is JK Rowling's longest book, and by consensus, it's not her best. Director David Yates and screenwriter Michael Goldenberg (Peter Pan) have been more ruthless with the red ink than their predecessors, for which movie fans should certainly be grateful. In fact, at 138 minutes this is the shortest of the Potter movies to date.

I disagree with some of the reviews of The Order of the Phoenix book saying it was not Ms. Rowlings best. On the contrary I've read it the most out of all the 6 books so far I think it is her best.

The Surge and Politics

Over at Blackfive and the politicians talk about failure when it is working!

The whole point of the Surge is to address this particular problem. It is six months in the making, if you count from the start of the buildup. If the politicos in Washington set goals that Iraq could not realize, that is their own fault. It is the fault of those whose goals were set without bothering to take any account of military reality.

We've got people who are risking their lives every day to give Iraq the chance embodied by the Surge. There are 25 million people in Iraq whose lives depend on the outcome. These games in DC and among the press, they are beyond reprehensible. Real lives are at stake here -- better lives than the ones lived by these politicians and journalists.

The troops are doing a great job. A-Q is leaving in droves from the areas our troops are fighting in. Micheal Yon's reports about the A-Q bastards aren't being reported in the MSM. And I'm discussed at the republicans who are dropping their support for the war. We are winning over there. We are loosing the PR war over here. Mr. President get up on your bully pulpit and speak out. The troops need it to continue on with the mission and win the PR war too. Victory is the only way to win.

After that Wookie.....

The Chewbacca impersonator was wanted on suspicion of grabbing the Monroe impersonator's hand and placing it on his groin about four weeks ago, said Sgt. David Torres, spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.

The Monroe look-alike called police on Sunday after complaining of a separate incident that day between the two impersonators, Torres said.

The brown, hairy Wookiee fled just as police arrived at about 12:30 p.m. on Hollywood and Highland boulevards.

More Potter Mania

Is Ron's shirt reflecting the terrorist plot?

Weasley is our King!

Camo Couch

HT from LGF reader here.

I had to laugh at this one. When a soldier wants to be concealed at home.

Harry Mania

I've picked up the Order of the Phoenix to review before the flick comes out in less than two weeks. I found a great site here at MSNBC here on Harry Mania.

The Knight Bus will be in LA today and the weekend. I'm hoping we can make it.

Happy 4th!

50 Stars
I want to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July! We live in such a wonderful country. I would not live anywhere else. I Love America! Let's honor our troops and the freedoms they sacrificed their lives for. To Keep the USA free!

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Some links for this holiday here:

Happy Birthday America

The Declaration Of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Our National Anthem

Support the Troops here:

America Supports You

Soldiers Angels

Network for the Good

Send your e-mail to the Badgers RCT-6 here.

From Mudville Gazette on why Freedom is Not Free:

The Fourth of July is a special time to celebrate the freedoms we have, hard fought and won at a great cost. Well we all should enjoy this day, and every day we have to live free, for to do less would be to waste the high price paid that we might.

Robert Stokely

Iran's proxy War

Sen. Lieberman statement is correct. Iran has been at war with us since 1979.

The United States government has a responsibility to use all instruments at its disposal to stop these terrorist attacks against our soldiers and allies in Iraq—including keeping open the possibility of using military force against the terrorist infrastructure inside Iran.

Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us. And while I sincerely hope that diplomacy alone can convince the Iranian government to stop these attacks, our diplomatic efforts are only likely to succeed if backed by a credible threat of force.

At the very least, I hope that these latest revelations about Iran’s terrorism in Iraq will prompt some of my colleagues in Congress to reconsider their demand that U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq.

Iran’s purpose in sponsoring these attacks against our soldiers is clear. The Iranian government wants to push the United States out of Iraq. For Congress to mandate a retreat from Iraq will give the Iranians exactly what they want most. A retreat would not only represent a catastrophic defeat for the United States, but an epic victory for Iran, Hezbollah, and the forces of Islamist terrorism.”

Nancy's not too happy with her House!

"I'm not happy with Congress, either," Pelosi, of San Francisco, conceded.

She pinned the blame on "the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate."

Immigration has joined Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other promises in the dustbin of the current Congress. Heading into a July Fourth recess after a bruising failure on immigration, Congress has a public approval rating in the mid-20s, lower than Bush's and no better than Republicans' ratings on the eve of their catastrophic election defeat in November, when the GOP lost control of the Senate and the House.

So little has been achieved that Reid threatened to hold the Senate in session during the August recess, the congressional equivalent of torture.

And Uncle Harry's going to slap his children's hands! Shame on you Senators for not passing the Immigration bill when the rest of us (80%) Don't want it. You can't shove it down our throats without the committee hearings and you didn't even have the bill ready for voting on!