McCain's Marine son returns from Iraq

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who almost always refuses to speak on the campaign trail about his son serving in the military, got a rousing reception Wednesday when he told a private gathering of House Republican congressman that his son Jimmy — whose Marine unit had been deployed to Iraq — had arrived home safely.

According to three GOP sources present at the closed meeting of the House Republican Conference, the Arizona senator said that when his son first arrived in the country, he reported seeing IEDs everywhere — but when he recently left, some seven months later, Iraq had become so safe he was handing out soccer balls.

According to the sources present, the congressmen greeted the news with standing ovations.

Source

City Calls Marines “Unwelcome Intruders”

The City of Berkeley, California has passed two resolutions attacking the United States Marine Corps, calling the Marines, “uninvited and unwelcome intruders in the city.”

Read more here

Contact the City of Berkeley elected officials here.

Protecting troops in ‘bonus limbo’

By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, January 12, 2008



Pentagon officials and congressional staffs are working together to try to ensure that thousands of bonus-qualified recruits, and thousands of careerists ready to re-enlist, aren’t harmed financially by the current suspension of bonuses and incentive pays.

Bonuses and many special pays stopped Jan. 1 because President Bush vetoed the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill. He refused to sign HR 1585 because of a provision that could expose assets of the fledgling Iraqi government to U.S. lawsuits from victims of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Until the $696 billion defense policy bill is revised, passed and signed, or Congress clears separate legislation restoring bonus and pay authorities, the services must operate without key force-management tools, including all enlistment, re-enlistment and retention bonuses being paid to fill critical skills.

Capitol Hill staffers and Defense officials have been brainstorming how to rewrite the delayed Defense bill to be certain it fully protects recruits and servicemembers from unintended consequences of the bonus limbo. They want to make sure, for example, that suspended bonuses and special pays are made retroactive to Jan. 1 for everyone, whether infantrymen and health care professionals or aviators and nuclear-trained officers.

Defense officials also are pressing Congress to protect tax breaks for servicemembers who might be unable to re-enlist before returning this month from Iraq and Afghanistan. Special language could be necessary to allow war-zone tax exemptions to apply to bonus contracts whose signing must be delayed.

This will be a concern, for example, for re-enlistment-eligible soldiers in two Army Brigade Combat Teams — the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division.

“The language we’re working on with the Congress would protect those situations so there would be no disadvantage accruing to anyone,” said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense for military personnel policy.

With no authorization bill, the military’s pay raise appearing in mid-January checks will be 3 percent, not 3.5 percent as passed by Congress. Standing law allows raises to match wage growth in the private sector, which is the lower figure. Congress had for a 3.5 percent hike to continue to close a perceived pay gap.

When revising the Defense bill, lawmakers are expected to make the larger raise retroactive to Jan. 1. But for it to show up in end-of-month paychecks, the revised bill would have to be signed by January 22.

For most members facing re-enlistment decisions, suspension of bonus authority isn’t a big deal. The services are offering service extensions of a month or two until bonuses are available again. The Army, which in wartime is paying bonuses to 82 percent of soldiers who re-enlist, intends to keep all bonus levels unchanged for several months.

The services were alerted to the veto two days after Christmas. For the Army at least, that was enough in time to advise soldiers with expiring contracts to re-enlist before Jan. 1 to ensure a bonus. This led to a surge of 1,500 re-enlistments in the last days of December.

The effect of bonus suspensions on recruiting is a bigger worry, Carr said. The Army gives bonuses to 68 percent of its recruits. But this month, any bonus agreement that a recruit signs includes an addendum warning that a bonus will only paid if Congress authorizes payment retroactive to Jan. 1. The same document also advises recruits that their own contractual obligation to serve is “valid and enforceable” regardless of whether a bonus is paid.

“It’s legally necessary to say that,” Carr said. “But we all believe the Congress will ultimately give us those authorities and, if they follow history, will give them in a way that the person is not affected by the delay.”

Army officials said using the addendum had not discouraged recruits from enlisting through the first week of January. Carr worries that it could happen. Unlike current servicemembers who have seen these delayed budget drills before, he said, recruits have no basis in experience to be confident Congress will restore promised bonuses back to January.

“Therefore it might cause them to be reluctant to [enlist on] a soft guarantee about a future incentive,” Carr said.

He noted that January is the biggest month for recruiting outside of summer with the Army alone hoping to ship roughly 7,500 recruits. The Navy and Air Force also will need to offer recruit bonuses on certain critical skills, and therefore are selectively attaching the addendum to some contracts.

The Marine Corps doesn’t need the addendum. Its contract, said Carr, already gives recruits some options if the bonus they are signing up for isn’t authorized. A recruit at that point can choose to stay in without a bonus, reduce the length of their contract or simply end their tour in the Corps.

If the other services begin to see a chilling effect on recruiting from the conditional bonus language being used, Carr said, the department is preparing a more reassuring contract addendum that, like the Marine contract, would offer recruits options if Congress fails to approve their bonus.

To comment, e-mail milupdate@aol.com, write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com
Source

Presidential candidates take a stand on military issues

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, January 5, 2008

Stars and Stripes surveyed the 2008 presidential candidates about their positions on issues important to members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Click here to compare their answers side by side.

WASHINGTON — If elected president, Barack Obama would boost foreign language and nation-building training for all troops, John Edwards would create a deployable reserve corps of civilian experts, and Fred Thompson would boost the Army to 775,000 soldiers.

Those ideas are just a few presidential candidates shared with Stars and Stripes on how to improve military readiness and servicemembers’ quality of life.

In a questionnaire sent to the major campaigns last month, five candidates responded to issues of military operations in Iraq, homosexuals in the military, postcombat health care and ways to better help families of deployed troops.

While all expressed an admiration for servicemembers and their efforts, Democratic and Republican candidates offered drastically different views of how to proceed with operations overseas, and how best to prepare the services for the future.

Republicans Thompson and John McCain both echoed President Bush’s assertions that great strides have been made in Iraq in recent months, and opposed any plans calling for withdrawal timelines or a hasty pullout from the country.

But Democrats Obama, Edwards and Bill Richardson all called for the immediate withdrawal of significant U.S. forces from the country, with Richardson proposing all troops be removed as soon as possible because “there can be no political solution while our military remains there.”

All of the respondents except Thompson believe more resources need to be committed to Afghanistan. McCain said he believes NATO should send more troops there, while Edwards would boost U.S. Special Forces in the country.

Obama said he would send “at least an additional two brigades of rested American troops” there, while Richardson proposed deploying 20,000 more troops for border patrol and securing the country’s southern provinces.

Both Thompson and McCain oppose moves which would allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military and allowing overseas military facilities to perform abortions. Richardson, Obama, and Edwards all oppose the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and would make abortions available to overseas troops and dependents.

The candidates all agreed on the importance of military family quality of life in recruiting.

McCain said competitive pay and benefits packages are the best tool to help those families, while Richardson singled out proposals to give deployed parents more legal protections in custody cases and increased funds for marriage counseling.
Source

More from the Bay Area

The link didn't work earlier, but I've fixed it. Sorry about that.
Code Pink defaces Berkeley military recruitment office

W.H. candidate: Troops fuel sectarian violence

By Nedra Pickler - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 19, 2007 17:46:19 EDT

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Wednesday that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq has contributed to the sectarian violence rather than bringing stability to the war-torn nation.

“There’s no question there’s tribal and ethnic hatreds,” Richardson told The Associated Press. “But when those tribal and ethnic hatreds are fueled by American policy of hostility, then you make the situation worse.”

In an interview with AP editors and reporters, the governor of the state of New Mexico argued that all combat and non-combat troops should be removed from Iraq because their presence is only contributing to violence.

“It’s not a guarantee of success, my plan, but at least it’s stability,” Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador, said.

He is not in the top tier of candidates for his party’s nomination in 2008 but is doing better than some others in the race.

“American foreign policy is being bled dry by the invasion of Iraq,” he said.

Iraq was the primary topic of Richardson’s hourlong interview, but he discussed several other issues as well. Among them, he:

* Said he would lift the trade embargo with Cuba in exchange for the release of political prisoners.

* Said he would consider banning assault weapons if there were an effective way to do so, although he said past efforts have been “a joke.”

“I believe you don’t need Uzis to go hunting,” said Richardson, referring to Israeli-made assault rifles. He has been a proponent of gun rights and had the backing of the National Rifle Association. “If there is an effective way to ban them, I’d take a look at it. But past bans don’t work.”

* Said Republicans appeared to be giving up on outreach to minorities by refusing to attend their presidential forums and debates. “Whatever happened to their outreach to Hispanics?” he said.

* Proposed an effort to deal with $83 billion in corporate welfare much like the military’s base closure commission. It “would look at all the goodies that involve corporate welfare and have an up-or-down vote like we do with base closures, because otherwise they nitpick you to death.”

* Said he was making a “mad dash” as the third fundraising quarter ends and would raise about as much as he did in the first two quarters — $6 million $7 million.

* Compared his campaign to the underdog candidacies of Bill Clinton in 1992 and John Kerry in 2004. “I’m going to win this nomination,” he said. “You watch.” He said he knows he needs a strong finish in Iowa and New Hampshire, two early voting states with presidential preference polling, to stay in the race.

“I’ve got to beat one of the top three,” he said.

Richardson criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards * His leading rivals for the presidential nomination — for plans to pull out combat troops from Iraq but leave residual forces behind. He said he would keep the Marines that guard the U.S. embassy in Baghdad but would withdraw all other military personnel.

“Who is going to take care of non-combat troops? The Iraqis?” Richardson asked. He said he would move a small contingent mostly of Special Forces to Kuwait and more troops into Afghanistan, although he would leave the specific number up to military leaders.
Source

What planet is this guy from? Our troops are fueling the violence??? We already know that he does NOT honor our fallen heroes. I don't think he has a snowball's chance... We can either win in Iraq or we can lose. Let's let our troops do their jobs without the so-called support of defeatists like Richardson.

Help for Returning Veterans

Many of our returning Veterans are in a crisis - a mental health crisis. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression and anxiety are just a few examples of the needs that require urgent attention. Some of those especially affected are ones who have been on 2, 3 or even 4 tours. As much as the VA is adjusting and trying to help these Veterans, they have been overcome.

There are two pieces of legislation being considered in Congress related to Behavioral Health Services for Returning Veterans. They are provisions S 38 and HR 2874 in the FY 2008 Mil Con/VA Appropriations bill.

These pieces of Legislation would allow the VA to contract with community mental health centers, especially in rural areas and small towns that the VA has little or no ability to provide mental health services. Some Veterans have to travel long distances to VA hospitals or other facilities to receive care. If there were closer, contracted clinics, many of these Veterans would be able to receive the same or better care closer to home and would be more likely seek that care.

Please take a look at the bills at the following links:

For S 38, go to: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-38
For HR 2874, to: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2874

On July 30, 2007, this bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. The bill now will go to the Senate and then on to the President.

Please, let our Representative know that our Veterans deserve the best of everything that this country has to give. It’s time for us to fight for them after they have fought so hard for us.

Even here in Lubbock...

The war protesters are at work even here in Lubbock. I had no idea this was going on until I saw it on the news last night.

National Take-A-Stand-Day in Lubbock
Reported by: Candace Hutchins
Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 @09:48pm CST

August 28th is National Take-A-Stand-Day and that's exactly what a group of Lubbock citizens did. Dozens lined 82nd street in front of the Lubbock Area Veterans Memorial Tuesday night armed with protest signs and a clear message for congress.

Vigil organizer Robert Polk says "in 2007 we lost 90 Americans a month and its just getting worse and we need to stop this war now." "My husband fought in WWII. We fought an enemy, to protect our nation. This war, I do not feel, is contributing to peace", says Helen Moss.

But others oppose that message saying we need to finish what we started.

"Of course being a Vietnam Vet, I feel a little deja vu. We've heard these things before and I hope these protesters have good and honest reasons for doing this, but I still have thoughts that you can't run a war from the basement of the White House and you certainly can't do it from a city street in West Texas", says veteran Phil Price.



Citizens also took time Tuesday to read from a war toll calendar to honor and remember the soldiers who died over the past year in Iraq.

Click here to watch the video.

Now these protesters are of course entitled to their opinions and I appreciate that their protest was civil and without any name calling. However, as a patriotic American and mom of a Marine currently serving in Iraq I would like to say that I must respectfully disagree. I wonder if these people realize that the fate of the entire middle east hinges on the outcome of the war in Iraq? We did not start this war and we must not pull out and leave the region unstable. I would also like to know where the "its just getting worse" comes from? Even the New York Times' left leaning critics of the war Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack are calling it a War We Just Might Win.

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.

After the furnace-like heat, the first thing you notice when you land in Baghdad is the morale of our troops. In previous trips to Iraq we often found American troops angry and frustrated — many sensed they had the wrong strategy, were using the wrong tactics and were risking their lives in pursuit of an approach that could not work.

Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.

Protesting is NOT supporting the troops.

Please read Understanding "Jihadistan" and Islamic terrorism

The ant and the grasshopper

This was sent to me by one of my Marine mom friends. I thought it was good.

OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
************************************************************
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome."
Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel
of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful
neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote.

How to Catch a Wild Hog

I received this in an email from a friend yesterday who in turn received it from a friend of hers who moved here from the UK.

From an immigrants point of view. It's amazing how foreigners can see this and Americans can't.


How to catch a wild hog


EXCELLENT ANALOGY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE USA !!!!
From The Marion Star
I'm greatly concerned about the agenda of Nancy Pelosi and liberals/socialists in the new Congress. The agenda contains items that will put the security of our country at risk; proposals that will take away the freedom of speech for conservative groups; bills that would give the UN more control over the sovereignty of our country; and promises of more financial handouts from the government. In other words, the government can do a better job of leading our lives, than we can do ourselves. I am reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." I can best explain my concern about the new congress's agenda, by using this analogy given to me by a former student of mine.

Several years ago I was supervising a beginning teacher in a city school system. One day during our end-of-the-day feedback conference, the young man gave a facial grimace and began to rub his back. I asked him if he had strained his back in the school lab. After a long period of silence, he sat down at his desk and explained that he had immigrated to the United States because of political problems in his native country. The discomfort in his back was caused by a bullet wound he had received while fighting the Communists who were trying to take over his country's government. He was then a member of the underground nationalist force. Then he asked me a surprising question:
"Dr. Hedges, do you know how to catch a wild hog?" The question was completely out of context regarding the day's classroom and lab teaching. I replied, "I'm not sure what you are talking about. Tell me." "First," he said, "you find out where the wild hogs are roaming and feeding, and then you put some corn out in the field. Soon they will come to eat the corn. You keep putting out the free corn. More wild hogs keep coming to eat the corn." "So what?" I said. "That's normal for any animal." "Be patient. I will tell you what comes next," he said. "After the hogs get used to your free corn, you put up a length of fence along one side of the feeding area. The hogs get used to it. You keep giving them the corn. Then you put up another section of fence at right angles to the first. You keep giving them the corn. The hogs get used to the second fence. Then you put up another length of fence at right angles to the second section. You now have a U-shaped fenced area. The hogs get used to that section of the fence. You keep giving them free corn. Then you put another section of fence with a gate in it, making a closed area except for the gate. You keep giving them corn. Now, the hogs no longer are out in the fields, working to find their own food. They keep coming into the area to eat the free corn. They get used to the fenced area with the open gate. Then, one day you slam shut the gate when the hogs are inside the fenced area. The wild hogs are caught - they are your prisoners."

I understood then that the wild hogs were really the people of his native country, and that the free corn was the enticements that the Communists were giving to the people. "That's correct," the young man said. "Now, the hogs will not get anything to eat unless you give them food. You are in control. They depend on you to feed them, or they will starve. They can't get out into the fields and forests anymore to find their own food. They have probably forgotten how, as it is. They are your servants, your prisoners. They must obey you. Or else they starve.

"The hogs," he said, "were so accustomed to having the free corn, that they ignored the building of the fences that would eventually trap them. When the gate slammed shut, it was too late for them to realize what they had been blind to. The free corn was enticing, so effortless to obtain, but eventually the cause of their loss of freedom. The fence had been built; the gate had been shut."

At this point in our conversation, the young teacher, in a voice shaking with emotion and with fists hitting the desktop, loudly exclaimed, "This is what I see happening in America today! People are being offered free corn by the government. People are being blind to the fences being built around them by the liberals - the socialists - and that is what frightens me! Just like it was happening in my homeland. The American people do not learn from history. And history shows that socialism/communism does not work. Take note of Russia Has socialism been the best thing that ever happened to that country? Absolutely not! But socialism is what the American people are being fed, and they don't realize it. All they can focus on is the 'free corn.' They want more and more of the 'free' corn. And this free corn is being fed to us little by little, and soon the gate will slam shut. I am very frightened, and also amazed, that the American people don't see what is being fed us, and for what purpose."

With that said, the young man sat down at his desk and continued to rub his painful back. And I was silent in my chair. And afraid. For I could visualize the supposedly "free corn" being fed to our nation's people, and our growing addiction to the "free corn." And I could see the gate being slammed shut. We, the people of the United States of America , because of our ignorance of history, because of our addiction to the supposedly "free corn," could soon be prisoners of liberal socialism.
Along with this fighter for freedom from socialism/communism, I, too, wanted to slam my fists on the desktop and cry out in a loud voice for all to hear, "Wake up, America ! The fences are being built! Don't you see what is happening to us?"

In the agenda of the new Congress governed by the liberal Democrats, there is much "free corn" being promised the American people. In our greed for this "free corn," will we ignore the incremental building of the fences, and the inevitable shutting of the gate? As I ponder the building of the fences now underway by the new Congress, I remember the old adage, 'There is always free cheese in a mousetrap."

It seems the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.

Lowell E. Hedges is a retired associate professor of teacher education and a former superintendent of Elgin Local Schools.

Was Osama Bin Laden Right?

Controversial political video for ya! :) There is a bit of language, so be careful if you are at work or your kids are around. He does drop the f-bomb once I think. As a group, Lubbock Marine Parents is NOT about politics. We are about supporting each other and our military. We rarely even discuss anything political at our meetings. We usually discuss our kids and whatever projects we have going. However, this has sort of turned into a personal blog for me in addition to being about our group, so I'm posting it anyway. I'll take full responsibility. ;)

EDIT: Found it at YouTube so maybe you can actually see it.

Veto Signature

In Veto Signature, a Tribute
Bush Stopped Iraq Bill With Pen From Fallen Marine's Dad

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 3, 2007; A23



When President Bush vetoed the war spending bill, he used Bob Derga's pen.

"It was just a plain old black rollerball," Derga said. "Just a $2 pen."

But it was priceless to Derga, an Ohio engineer who used it to write letters to his son in Iraq.

Cpl. Dustin A. Derga, a reservist with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, was killed in a May 2005 assault just east of the Syrian border. For a grieving father, the pen remained a link to what he considers a young life lost for a good cause, and he wanted Bush to use it for a purpose.

It happened this way: On April 15, Derga and his wife, Marla, drove away from their home in Unionville, where a chiseled stone in Dustin's honor reads, "If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever." Derga was headed for a gathering the next day at the White House, where he hoped to have a minute with the president.

He had two principal objectives: the president's signature on Dustin's Purple Heart certificate and a chance to urge him to use the pen if Congress sent him a bill setting an October date to begin a U.S. Military withdrawal.

After Bush spoke to the cameras and a supportive audience, an aide led the way for the Dergas and about half a dozen other families connected with Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission. When they reached the Oval Office, Bush was standing in the doorway.

"He greeted each family as we came in, gave us a hug and shook hands," Derga said. "Very emotional meeting. . . . He was choked up."

Derga said Bush spoke to the group, then with each family in turn. "He talked a little bit about how he didn't come to Washington to win popularity polls," said Derga, an engineer with Diebold Inc. "He's very firmly behind his beliefs and convictions, and he believes the test of time will prove him correct. He even said whether he lives to see that or not is immaterial. He can leave the White House knowing he did what was right."

During their private meeting, Derga made his plea.

"I handed him the pen and looked him in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, if this comes down to a veto, I want you to sign it with my pen.' He said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' When we left, he was shaking everybody's hand. I said, 'I'm serious. I want you to do it.' He said, 'I will. I will.' "

A call from the White House late Tuesday gratified Derga.


"We very much support the direction the president's taken. It's not a popular one, but he's doing what I feel is morally correct. He's staying the course," said Derga, who aimed "to let him know we fully support him and we can be a little part of it. It's not on his shoulders alone. I'm supplying the ink. He's doing the pen motion. We're in it together."

Thanks to Gunz Up for sharing this story.

From the Father of a Marine

My friend and fellow Marine mom Elizabeth received the following email today from the father of a Marine. The first part is a quote that she has in her signature on all her outgoing emails. As the email states, this is from a person who does not know her, but chose to email her to criticize her for this quote. She has graciously allowed me to share the email as well as her response to it here on our blog.

On 3/26/07, *****@aol.com> wrote:
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."
John Stewart Mill



Elizabeth,

I had an e-mail forwarded to me recently with your name on it. I don't know you and vice versa. As my subject heading relates, my son is currently serving in Iraq with the Marine Corps.

The war in Iraq is no doubt a controversial subject with people of strong opinions on both sides. That is the great thing about our country, we are free to argue and debate as we choose.

It troubles me however when I read quotes such as the one copied above to promote war and criticize those who are working to promote peaceful solutions to this situation.

First of all patriotism is the love of your country, not the blind obedience to a government which lies to its people. Those of us opposed to this war, the majority of Americans by the way (nearly 70% of the population), love this country. We just feel this is not in the best interests of the American people.

There are definitely things worth fighting for. This is not one of them. We invaded a country which never attacked us or our allies based on the lie that they had WMDs (which documentation shows they did not and the government knew this) and the were linked to terrorist organizations responsible for 9/11 (which government studies have proven to be false).

Over 3,200 soldiers dead. Over 25,000 wounded. Half a trillion dollars spent already (just think of what we could have done with that domestically). Over 100,000 Iraqis dead (many being innocent civilian bystanders). The loss of respect within the international community. And no plan for success. No definition of what would constitute a "victory" in this war.


Now, here is her response:

Dear sir,
Thank you for your email. I respectfully disagree with you. The documentation and studies you site are not correct, incomplete and continue to be related to the American people inaccurately.

As a mother of a Marine that has just return from deployment and will more than likely be deployed again, the sister-in-law of an Army officer, and a friend of countless other Blue and Gold Star mothers and spouses, I hate the fact that we are at war. I do however believe that this is a just and necessary war and indeed we are fighting against the exact forces that led to the unprovoked attacks on 9/11 and throughout the world beginning as early as, or even earlier than the 1980s.

We agree that there are things worth fighting for. You, however, do not believe that the fight against a decentralized enemy that vows, at the top of their lungs, to wipe our faiths, cultures and people off the face of the earth is necessary. We are at war with Radical Islam. They spring from multiple sources, multiple countries and pledge their allegiance to many different leaders but they all believe it is their divine mission to wipe us off the face of the earth in the name of Allah.

The war we are in is far more complex than reported on in the media, it is far more complex than reports and dog-and-pony Congressional hearings can outline neatly. We are in a battle for our very way of life, for your right to email me with your opinion. I respectfully disagree with your take on the war. I am saddened that so many Americans are blindly giving credence to the media coverage and the grandstanding, cowardly politicians that have not the courage to defend our country against those that have and continue to repeatedly promise the entire world that Islam will wipe out the evil Americans, English, Jews and all others that do not convert to their radical view of Islam.

I continue to support our President as he defends our country and way of life. I know we are in a worldwide struggle against an enemy that vows our total destruction. I pray that people who believe we should "cut and run" will wake up and realize we can fight this war over there or we can fight this war in our own streets, but it must be fought. We did not start this war, but we must win it! I am devastated for my friends who have lost children or spouses or have had children or spouses wounded, I worried about my son daily while he was Down Range. I am fiercely proud of all our men and women serving our country; we are all so very lucky that we have these American men and women fighting to defend our country. We need to stand together united as a nation to defeat this enemy. We need not call for peace against an enemy that has absolutely no intention of ever backing down or stopping their aggressions. This is war and there is no "playing nice" if we are to survive on this planet.

Sir, thank you for your email. You and your family will be in my prayers. Your son has been in my prayers since day one as I daily ask God to protect our soldiers as they protect us.

God Bless,
Elizabeth

I'm so proud of her! Good job Elizabeth!

Citizens Report on Iraq

I found another great link this morning at Military Families Voice of Victory. They have such a great blog! It is a citizens report on Iraq written by citizens who have been to Iraq and interviewed our troops.

Here's a quote from the introduction:

The American people are woefully uninformed about the situation in Iraq and the political dynamics working in America and abroad to bring about our defeat. It is not the fault of the American people that they are uninformed; the fault lies clearly with the media, politicians and the government in failing to do their jobs of keeping the public adequately informed.

This report is an attempt to bring before the American people facts and observations that have gone unreported, underreported, lied about or not fully explained.

Click here to read the entire report.

"Peace" Rally

I know most of you have probably already heard about this so called "Peace" rally this weekend. We've had other things going on lately, but I can't let this pass without comment. Click here to read the transcript from Hannity & Colmes today and you can get to the video from there too. These people should be ashamed of themselves! Where is their sense of decency? They aren't peaceful! How can they treat a disabled veteran in this way?? He was fighting for their right to be ignorant fools! Their hatred and behavior just turns my stomach.

Retailer Insults troops

Just got a heads up on this from Texas Fred via
Euphoric Reality. I'm appalled!

One of our soldiers emailed a retailer in West Allis, Wisconsin, inquiring whether they could ship floor mats to an APO address. The NCO wanted to buy better gear for his troops to sleep on. You won’t believe the company’s response*. (Their email address is included below, if you’d like to let the company know what you think of their business.):

From: SGT Jason Hess
Sent: Tue Jan 16 3:25

Do you ship to APO address? I’m in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first.

*****************************************************

From: contact@discount-mats.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats.com

SGT Hess,
We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com

Apparently, Discount-Mats prides itself on its customer service: “Outstanding Service - As a customer, you’re part of our family. You can expect friendly, courteous, responsive service before and after the sale.” Unless you’re an American servicemember, that is.

I’m sorry this cheesehead turned out to be such a bonehead. Let’s educate this loser - it’s bad business to insult our troops, doncha know?

contact@discount-mats.com

414-736-8394

Here is their mailing address:

Bargain Suppliers
3259 S.106th Street
West Allis, WI 53227

* Verified by Snopes.

UK Undercover Report

Just found something interesting over at the Military Families Voice of Victory blog that I thought some of you might want to see. I have not seen anything like this before. There are 3 videos. Click here to see them.