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Aimstraight
Starlite Member
Username: Aimstraight
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:02 pm: | 
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By Philip Sherwell in New York, Sunday Telegraph
President George W Bush has ordered US forces to launch a military offensive against Iranian officials and Revolutionary Guards officers behind a support and funding network for anti-American fighters in Iraq.
US troops have been authorised to use force to tackle Teheran's agents, who are believed to support both Shia and Sunni fighters
Mr Bush signed the clandestine directive after he was given new intelligence on the scale of Iranian operations to foment violence in Iraq.
US troops were operating under the new instructions when they raided an Iranian "liaison office" in northern Iraq last week, detaining five men, in the latest showdown with Teheran's agents.
The swoop, which was condemned by Iran and its political allies in Iraq, came less than two weeks after a senior Revolutionary Guards commander was seized in another raid near Baghdad with documents linked to the bloodshed. It has fuelled fears of direct armed clashes between US forces and Iranian operatives.
In a further development, US intelligence has learnt that the Shia-led Islamic regime is backing Sunni insurgents in Iraq, as well as the murderous militia operated by its fellow Shia clerics.
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Iran's policy of pursuing "managed chaos" in Iraq is mainly conducted by the Revolutionary Guards' Quds (Jerusalem) Force, the military's foreign arm, which also supports the Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Sunni Hamas in the Palestinian territories.
Shia and Sunni armed factions have for months been fighting a vicious sectarian conflict, murdering thousands of civilians. But the top Quds commander arrested late last month - known by the alias Chizari - was carrying documents that showed links with both sides, according to a senior official.
It comprised "a smoking gun," he told The New York Sun. "We found plans for attacks, phone numbers affiliated with Sunni bad guys, a lot of things that filled in the blanks on what these guys are up to," he said.
One document contained a Quds assessment of the Iraqi conflict that throws fresh light on the growing battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia for influence in the region. It said that because Iraq's Sunni neighbours - including Saudi Arabia - were likely to intensify their support for Sunni insurgents in Iraq, Iran should also step up its aid to those groups.
Iran has set up a network of fake import-export companies in Iraq's Anbar province to channel funds to Sunni fighters, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.
At secret meetings, tribal sheikhs with close ties to the insurgents revealed details of the money-laundering to Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and political adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
"Truckloads of Iranian appliances like televisions are shipped into Iraq, apparently legitimately, and then sold for cash that can be channelled to Sunni insurgents," said Mr Rubin, now at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank. "The Iranians are very pragmatic about who they will deal with.
"The underlying assumption of those like Tony Blair and the Iraq Study Group, who back talks with Teheran, is that a stable Iraq is somehow in Iran's interests. But that's not so. Iran does not want a new Somalia on its borders, but nor does it want to live next to Switzerland. They are happy with managed chaos."
Iran has worked with individuals linked to al-Qa'eda-related groups responsible for some of the worst atrocities against Iraqi Shias, including the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra last February.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, the Iranian exile leader who first revealed Teheran's secret nuclear programme to the world, has compiled a dossier detailing the vast network run by Quds in Iraq. Its operations are centred on Basra and Najaf, and use a series of supposed religious and cultural organisations as well as diplomatic consulates across the country to develop, fund and arm militia and rebel groups.
Thousands of Shia militiamen have reportedly travelled to Iran for training and indoctrination, while Quds sends millions of dollars cash in the other direction each month, through diplomatic pouches and border crossings it controls.
British and American officials have also identified Iran as the source of the materials and manufacture of a new, more lethal variety of roadside bomb that has claimed coalition lives.
"New information from sources in Iran further confirms that the Revolutionary Guards Corps and its notorious Quds Force are the biggest threat inside Iraq," said Mr Jafarzadeh. "Unless Iran's influence is curbed, its agents arrested and brought to justice and its proxies exposed, a genuine national unity government cannot take shape in Iraq."
In a sign of Iran's influence at the highest levels in Baghdad, the Quds Force commander captured by US forces last month was released at the insistence of the Iraqi government. He was said to have diplomatic status.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, revealed in an interview published yesterday that President Bush had signed the order authorising force to break Iranian networks in Iraq.
She said: "I don't think there is a government in the world that would sit by and let the Iranians, in particular, run networks inside Iraq that are building explosive devices of a very high quality, that are being used to kill their soldiers."
Some Democrats have accused Mr Bush of using events in Iraq as an excuse to plan military action against Iran. His spokesman, Tony Snow, denied that any "war preparations were underway", but said the president was determined to defend US forces.
Iran later demanded the immediate release of the five captives, who it says are diplomats "involved in consulate affairs".
Iran also demanded compensation for damage to the Iranian liaison office where the men were seized.
(Is it time to invade Iran)
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:15 pm: |
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(Is it time to invade Iran)
You all kitted out and ready to go, Mike, or will you, like all the other chicken hawks, send others off to die in your place?
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Doc_dr_wind
Starlite Member
Username: Doc_dr_wind
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:22 pm: |
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Jen
you really need to stop calling names... really now enough is enough....
give it a rest will you....
chicken hawks |
Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:48 pm: |
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"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Aimstraight
Starlite Member
Username: Aimstraight
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 05:57 pm: |
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A chickhawk is apparently someone who has not served in the military but advocates military action.
Bill Clinton, who didn't serve in the guard or reserve,an as President bombed Iraq and sent troops to Kosovo - Somalia. Dear name-callers thats called hypocrisy.
Ladies,that old rooster was to busy chasing the hens
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 06:13 pm: |
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Well, I'm not expert on testosterone or the penis, but I would think for a guy that chasing hens has to be more "rewarding" than snorting coke and driving drunk.
See, Shari, I wrote the word penis and the world didn't end.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Aimstraight
Starlite Member
Username: Aimstraight
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 07:00 pm: |
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I don’t think I’ll comment on slick Willie –lol ,but I do remember when the rooster said – I didn’t inhale. |
Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 07:14 pm: |
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HA HA HA What I could do with a line like that, Mike. Unfortunately, not the time or place. Can't even say penis around here without ruffling feathers on the hens and roosters.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Njaeok
Starlite Member
Username: Njaeok
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 07:26 pm: |
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Penis! Penis! Penis!
I GOT A PENIS -- AN ITTY BITTY PENIS. I had a midget girlfriend that used cigarette filters for tampex and she thought my itty bitty penis was just ringt.
(Like I said --- I make this crap up as I go along.)
Come on feathers --- ruffel! Dam you Ruffel!
Born with the gift of laughter, aware that the world is mad. -- Jimbo
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 07:32 pm: |
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HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Tess
Starlite Administrator
Username: Tess
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 07:44 pm: |
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Jimbo, I am suprised at you once again. How dare you come in to this site and use such words.
We do not say "midget" here. We say little people. Really.
Also, you might want to check your dictionary cause I can't find the word "ringt" in mine! LOL.
Jen and Jimbo, I tell you what I am going to do. I am going to start a kitty. Everytime someone says penis they have to send Albert five bucks to help off set the cost of the site!
Looks like Jen owes him ten and Jimbo, should we start a running tab?
Tess |
Morning_song
Starlite Member
Username: Morning_song
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 08:04 pm: |
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Hey, Tess. It looks like Jimbo is up to $15.00. I don't owe ANYTHING, because I didn't say penis even once!!!
ROFL.
Hugs.......Jeri |
Tess
Starlite Administrator
Username: Tess
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 08:12 pm: |
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Jeri,
Give Jimbo a re-read. I got him down for thirty. You and me both owe five.
This could turn out to be better than a bake sale!
Calgon, take me away! |
Morning_song
Starlite Member
Username: Morning_song
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 08:19 pm: |
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Njaeok
Starlite Member
Username: Njaeok
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 09:08 pm: |
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Yeah Tess--- run your tab.
I should of known I was stepping off in to deep s*%# when I remembered my "little girl friend".
And my spelling of "RIGHT" was totally a function of my intake of perssimmon wine. *hicup*
The drunker I set here the longer I get. (Wait a second --- I didn't actually say penis. I didn't say my penis got longer. I jus said I got longer. OK? *hicup*)
Did you hear of the arab named Afeah
Who couldn't satisfactorly pee?
He went to Algers
Drank ninty nine beers
And peed all over his knee. *hicup*
Now he had a long one all the way down to his knee.
What was we talking about anyhow?
Somebody clue me in. My muse is off into dirty ditties and won't let go.
Or would you rather hear the dirty ditties?
Born with the gift of laughter, aware that the world is mad. -- Jimbo
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Njaeok
Starlite Member
Username: Njaeok
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 10:04 pm: |
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Ho-kay -- gimmy my tab tomorrow Tess.
No one wants to swap dirty ditti8es so ima a goen to bed. \
As I lay me down to sleep ---
I pray I'll not be counting sheep.
I wish for dreams of peacefull pass
The workd can wait or kiss my tiny little tootsie.
Born with the gift of laughter, aware that the world is mad. -- Jimbo
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Morning_song
Starlite Member
Username: Morning_song
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 10:12 pm: |
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G'Night, JimBob
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 10:59 pm: |
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I’d love to swap ditties
about your itty bitty
and my perky pretties,
but unfortunately, Jimbo,
I no longer have time
to write verses that rhyme,
I’m working overtime
to pay off my fines
to the penis kitty.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 01:05 am: |
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The Sinep Kitty says:Lets invade Iran!!
If we don't ,who can?
Iran,Youran,we allran
So I say Iraq 'em
and you break 'em
I say those F'n Iranians
need to head for the flat lands
so we can get a better shot...eh wot?
When your vertex only looks to the left,you can't get the big picture....can you dig it?
I can't be fined for F'n can I?
Speak to the Kitty....
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Doc_dr_wind
Starlite Member
Username: Doc_dr_wind
| | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 04:21 am: |
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do little people have little penis's
That Kitty looks so much like Tess...
should we throw the Kitty in the tub to see if it is a boy or girl , we know if it has a penis it's a boy....
Jimbo it's not the size that matters.... so hand me a large jug of that moonshine wheel yeah...
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Doc_dr_wind
Starlite Member
Username: Doc_dr_wind
| | Posted on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 04:23 am: |
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We tip cows...
raid cornfields
and make moonshine
for the love of it.
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 06:32 am: |
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WSJ: 50 Active-Duty Officers To Deliver Petition Against More Troops To Congress...
Wall Street Journal | January 15, 2007 at 11:25 PM
Vocal opposition to President's Bush's strategy of sending more than 20,000 additional troops to help secure Iraq has grown to include some of the troops themselves.
A group of more than 50 active-duty military officers will deliver a petition to Congress on Tuesday signed by about 1,000 troops calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. "Any troop increase over here will just produce more sitting ducks, more targets," said Sergeant Ronn Cantu, who is serving in Iraq.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Aimstraight
Starlite Member
Username: Aimstraight
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 09:04 am: |
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There’s about 2.2 million active-duty, National Guard and Reserve troops - so 1000 is a teensy drop in the bucket.
Good luck.
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 11:25 am: |
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"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 11:30 am: |
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3024
Four U.S. soldiers killed by bomb in northern Iraq
BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb in northern Iraq on Monday, the military said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Four Task Force Lightning Soldiers assigned to the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division were killed Monday as a result of an improvised explosive device while conducting operations in Nineveh province," it said, giving no other details.
Nineveh province includes the city of Mosul, Iraq's third largest, and the town of Tal Afar.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:08 pm: |
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"We served in combat and we've seen the futility of this war,'' said Sgt. Jabbar Magruder of Los Angeles, a member of the National Guard who served 11 months in Tikrit, a town northwest of Baghdad. "The soldiers want to resist. The soldiers want to come home now. We need the citizens to back us.''
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:18 pm: |
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"A Michigan air charter company has received an $11 million, six-month contract to bring home the bodies of the American military men and women killed in Iraq."
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Njaeok
Starlite Member
Username: Njaeok
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:49 pm: |
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Another Vietnam?
By Thomas Sowell
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Nothing is easier than to second-guess decisions made in wartime. Anyone who has bothered to read the history of wars knows that very few wars have been without disastrous surprises, often on both sides.
It is not that the people in charge are stupid. Too many things are unpredictable in war, despite politicians who demand timetables, as if running a war is like running a train.
We can now look at the Iraq war with hindsight, as no President or Secretary of Defense could when making decisions that had to be made. Still, it can be useful to determine with hindsight what went wrong, if only to avoid similar mistakes in the future and to see what needs to be changed in the present.
Despite all the politicians who were demanding more troops a year ago, and who have turned around and are now demanding that no more troops be sent to Iraq, the purely military aspects of the war have gone better than in most wars.
We have learned the hard way, notably in the Vietnam war, that military victories are not enough. American troops scored a big victory on the battlefield in 1968 that was presented in the American media as a big defeat -- and that began the political unravelling of the Vietnam war.
Many in the media seem to think that they did something noble, to get us out of an "unwinnable" war. But the war was unwinnable only because they made it so politically. Even after American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam, South Vietnam was able to hold off the invaders from North Vietnam.
Only after Congress cut off financial support for South Vietnam, while the North Vietnamese continued to get support from the Communist bloc, did South Vietnam fall.
Since then, even the Communist conquerors have admitted that they did not win on the battlefield, but in the American media and in the American political arena, surrounded by an atmosphere created by a defeatist media.
Most of the today's media, led by the New York Times, has been even more blatantly one-sided in their reporting. Everyone I have heard from in person who has actually been in Iraq paints a far different picture from that of the gloom and doom of the media.
Make no mistake about it, we can still lose this war, but it will have to be lost politically. Most of the tragic chaos in Iraq today has its origins in politics.
American and other coalition troops in Iraq have had their hands tied with "rules of engagement" based on political, rather than military, considerations.
You cannot have law and order in any country where armed bands of competing militias can terrorize the population. Instead of confronting these militias at the outset with an ultimatum to disarm or be killed, we let the Iraqi government veto what our military forces could do, leaving Shi'ite militias intact in Baghdad's "Sadr City" neighborhood and elsewhere.
Having pushed the "democracy" vision for Iraq, we could not simply disregard the country's elected government. But democracy arose in western civilization centuries after law and order had been established. We tried to do it in the reverse order in Iraq.
When push comes to shove, people will support tyranny rather than suffer lethal chaos that makes normal everyday life impossible for themselves and their children.
The success or failure of the troop surge in Iraq may depend far more on whether those troops can again be hamstrung by politically restrictive "rules of engagement" than on how many troops there are.
The Maliki government is politically dependent on one of the very Baghdad militias that needs to be disarmed. We can pressure and warn Maliki all we want, but his real choice will be whether he can survive -- either politically or personally -- without militia support.
Our choice may become whether we are prepared to sacrifice more American lives in order to prop up the Maliki government or whether we are prepared to sacrifice the Maliki government in order to restore law and order in Iraq.
That government is a product of our "nation-building" under the banner of a "democracy" for which Iraq may not have been ready.
Born with the gift of laughter, aware that the world is mad. -- Jimbo
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 12:50 pm: |
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Keep it up with your propoganda machine and soon you will have no one to defend this country at all. Of course that's what its all about ,isn't it?
Get to the hearts and minds of the very ones that defend our freedom,and once you have that,will they lay down their arms and refuse to fight ever again? Is that what you want?Then who would defend this country against terrorism? Who would protect this country from an invasion?Nintendo?Donald Duck? Do you actually think by just dropping everything and coming home its the answer and cure all?Your constant barrage against this war with cut n paste left wing rhetoric is almost tantamount to
treason.In the old days it would have been. Soldiers always complain of war.I was a soldier once and I complained about the damn thing too.They are soldiers.They fight and die for this country.Don't cheapen their actions or heroics by constantly complaining about what they do....or what they say under stress...They fight so that you have the freedom to condemn and ridicule.Have you ever served this country? If so,in what capacity?
I have two nieces and two nephews over there right now.They are looking forward to our re-enforcements.There is strength in numbers...ahhh,but that would mean victory,and we can't allow that,can we?
Hell no! That would paint Bush in a positive light,and we can't afford that,can we?
I'll bet you have a pinata that looks like Bush in your back yard and you give it a whack every morning.Someday that pinata could be you,and you will scream for the soldiers to help you,but they will refuse.They will be too busy with their play stations.
Of course war is futile,but without an Army,who would defend us against aggressors? Are you saying that we are not capable of being invaded?
As usual,you go straight for the jugular,and your karma will surely repay you.
So go ahead and take your best shot.I've been shot at before. |
Morning_song
Starlite Member
Username: Morning_song
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 01:20 pm: |
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Hmmmm. Usually, I don't like to argue. Especially with my very favorite conservative.
But somehow, I find some faulty logic in this post, Bubs.
Just because the dems are against a war that has nothing to do with terrorism, we would not be willing to defend our freedoms? From what I see, our freedoms are rapidly being taken away. Yes, I am VERY willing to fight that. Quit monitoring my phone calls. Don't put me on any more lists. Don't take my picture when I excersize my freedom of speech at a peaceful demonstration.
I'm so sorry that you are hurt by seeing Bush being painted with such venom. I know just how that feels. I remember well all the ridicule that WE had to put up with when our president was CLINTON. It wasn't pretty then, either.
Is there REALLY a pinata that looks like Bush? Where can I buy one? (ROFL).
Luv ya, Bubs. Luv ya bunches.
Hugs from your favorite little liberal.
Jeri
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 02:06 pm: |
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Jeri, I have to monitor your phone calls...you owe $5.00 for using the word penis.I not only have a Clinton Pinata,I have a Clinton wrist watch that has the numbers on backwards and it runs backwards.I received a call on New Years day from my buddy Gene.A Viet Nam vet that I haven't heard from in three years.I wrote a poem about him a couple of years ago and he is still running from yesterday.24/7/365. We talked and cried and promised to keep in touch.
I need to re-visit the wall.
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 02:58 pm: |
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Invading a sovereign nation that has neither attacked or threatened to attack us and killing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of its innocent civilians is in no way defending our freedom. It's a crime against humanity, and an act of terrorism far worse than what this country experienced on 9/11.
This war is creating a whole new generation of vets like Gene, vets whose quality of life has been forever diminished by the permanent physical and emotional scars war leaves on both soldiers and civilians.
The soldiers in Iraq are not defending our country or our freedom. They are defending the interests of American conglomerates and war profiteers.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 04:03 pm: |
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and Little John and Robin Hood
are still alive in Hollywood
and gasoline's in short supply
the rising cost of getting by...
but I believe in love
I believe in baby's
I believe in old folks
and I believe in_________
fill in the blank.
With apologies to Don Williams |
Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 05:48 pm: |
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From Army Times:
Down on the war
Poll: More troops unhappy with Bush’s course in Iraq
Stories by Robert Hodierne - Staff writer
Posted : January 08, 2007
The American military — once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war — has grown increasingly pessimistic about chances for victory.
For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president’s handling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war, according to the 2006 Military Times Poll.
When the military was feeling most optimistic about the war — in 2004 — 83 percent of poll respondents thought success in Iraq was likely. This year, that number has shrunk to 50 percent.
Only 35 percent of the military members polled this year said they approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, while 42 percent said they disapproved. The president’s approval rating among the military is only slightly higher than for the population as a whole. In 2004, when his popularity peaked, 63 percent of the military approved of Bush’s handling of the war. While approval of the president’s war leadership has slumped, his overall approval remains high among the military.
Just as telling, in this year’s poll only 41 percent of the military said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent in 2003. That closely reflects the beliefs of the general population today — 45 percent agreed in a recent USA Today/Gallup poll.
Professor David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, was not surprised by the changing attitude within the military.
“They’re seeing more casualties and fatalities and less progress,” Segal said.
>
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas Gandhi
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 08:12 pm: |
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New Jersey Tells Veterans to Drop Dead
"to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan"
There has never been a more succinct statement about the obligation and privilege the nation has to care for its military veterans than that brief clause in Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. But the New Jersey legislature thinks setting aside a day on which to remember those who have bought our freedom with their blood is not as important as it used to be.
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks at Delsea Regional High School in Franklinville, N.J. Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007. New Jersey American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars groups have asked Corzine to veto a bill passed last month that would cease requiring New Jersey schools to teach about Veterans Day and Memorial Day. (AP Photo/Jackie Schear) New Jersey legislators have unanimously passed a measure that includes a provision to remove the state mandate to teach about Veterans Day in the public schools. And not only Veterans Day; the bill would also remove requirements to teach about Columbus on Columbus Day, the Pilgrims around Thanksgiving Day, and even Commodore John Barry Day, which commemorates the Revolutionary War hero for whom a bridge is named, which spans the Delaware River to connect Bridgeport, N.J., to Chester, Pa.
It is the possible repeal of the law to teach about veterans on Veterans Day that has upset a lot of people, including, understandably, veterans. There are few enough who serve in today's all-volunteer military and a decreasing number of citizens who have relatives in the military, or know anyone in service. That makes it much more important for students to learn of the contributions made by veterans to secure the freedoms too many of us take for granted. Those freedoms mark the difference between American schools and those in dictatorial societies that are forced to teach state propaganda.
The ban on teaching about such holidays is included in a larger bill that passed the legislature last month. It is designed to help control New Jersey's spiraling property taxes. Gov. Jon Corzine has not indicated whether he'll sign it. He'd better not if he knows what's good for his Democratic Party. Have Democrats forgotten the 1988 campaign during which Republicans hammered presidential candidate Michael Dukakis for vetoing a bill while he was governor of Massachusetts that would have required all public school students in the state to recite the Pledge of Allegiance? Sure, it was wrong to question Dukakis' patriotism, but it worked politically for Republicans, who pounded him with the issue, along with the line about his being a "card-carrying member of the ACLU."
Since 1967, New Jersey schools have been told to observe Veterans Day and related holidays to promote "the development of a higher spirit of patriotism." Under the "law" of political correctness, apparently anything that promotes love of country, or God, or the military is now to be avoided. Thank Jupiter (it used to be "thank God," but He's been out for some time), public schools can still distribute condoms. Maybe a way around the law would be for veterans to teach sex education.
Hank Adams, a New Jersey Veterans of Foreign Wars adjutant and a veteran of the Army and Coast Guard, said of the proposed law, "It's not right. (Students) are not going to know the sacrifices that were made so they can enjoy the protections that they have." Other veterans groups are petitioning Gov. Corzine not to sign the bill. But after campaigning on a pledge not to raise taxes and then reversing himself shortly after taking office, Corzine has already proved how out of touch he can be with average voters.
While New Jersey residents are steamed about their high taxes, they may get even angrier about the message this proposed law sends to veterans and how little governing officials appreciate their sacrifices.
John Adler, New Jersey state senator, who is a co-sponsor of the anti-Veterans Day measure, said, "I don't think the state should be in the business of telling districts to do every single thing." Oh really? As most parents of public school students everywhere know, the state has been imposing its will on schools, students and parents for quite a few years. That New Jersey is close to not doing so when it comes to patriotism and veterans communicates one message to those who have put their lives and limbs on the line for the rest of us: "drop dead."
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Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 10:33 pm: |
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Did you know that the ARMY TIMES is NOT an official Army newspaper? Its owned by the Gannet company who also owns the liberal USA Today Newspaper..... |
Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 10:36 pm: |
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I guess if the military was so upset they would stop re-enlisting at the rates they are. |
Bubby
Starlite Member
Username: Bubby
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 11:21 pm: |
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The Plan To Silence Conservatives
By Cliff Kincaid
Memphis, Tennessee: Media reform sounds like a good cause. But the gathering here of more than 2,000 activists turned out to be an effort to push the Democratic Party further to the left and get more “progressive” voices in the media, while proposing to use the power of the federal government to silence conservatives.
In short, triumphant liberals now want to consolidate and expand their power.
Several speakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Maurice Hinchey, declared that they think Congress should use a new federal “fairness doctrine” to target conservative speech on television and radio.
But while conservatives are not ashamed to be conservatives, because of the popularity of their ideas about freedom, a strong military, economic growth and traditional values, the liberals at this conference wanted desperately to avoid the use of the term “liberal,” apparently because of its association with failed domestic, social and foreign policies. They described themselves and their causes as “progressive.”
If this conference has an impact, and the participants were called upon to put pressure on the media and Congress, we should expect increasing references to the term “progressive” in coverage of controversial liberal initiatives, including the proposed agenda for “media reform.” The only question is when congressional liberals get enough nerve to aggressively push this authoritarian attempt to muzzle their political opponents.
The Soros Connection
Sponsored by Free Press, a Massachusetts-based organization that is generously subsidized by pro-Democratic Party billionaire George Soros, the “National Conference on Media Reform” featured Bill Moyers and Jesse Jackson and Hollywood celebrities such as Danny Glover, Geena Davis and Jane Fonda.
Soros, portrayed by the major media and “progressives” funded by him as a humanitarian and philanthropist, has made billions of dollars through international financial manipulations conducted through secretive off-shore hedge funds. He was convicted of insider trading in France, one of many countries to have borne the brunt of his global financial schemes.
He spent over $26 million in the 2004 presidential campaign trying to defeat Bush and also contributed to groups that have brought Democrats to power in Congress.
His “media reform” agenda is being pursued primarily though Free Press, which has received at least $400,000 over the last several years from the Soros-funded Open Society Institute. But Soros has also poured money into groups like the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Fund for Investigative Journalism, and Investigative Reporters & Editors.
One obvious purpose of such grants is to steer the media away from investigating Soros himself. However, during one media appearance, on the CBS 60 Minutes program, Soros acknowledged that as a 14-year-old Jewish boy in Hungary, his identity was protected and that he actually assisted in confiscating property from Jews as they were being shipped off to death camps. As an adult, he shuns pro-Israel causes and believes in accommodating the Iranian regime.
The Free Press co-founder, John Nichols, has edited such books as Against the Beast, a critique of the “American Empire,” and shares Soros’s opposition to a U.S. foreign policy that targets emerging threats in the Arab/Muslim world.
In addition to the creation of what he calls a “New World Order” under U.N. auspices, Soros’s causes include abortion, drug legalization, and special rights for immigrants, homosexuals, felons, and prostitutes. An atheist, Soros is promoting the complete breakdown of traditional values and morality in America.
In the official conference program, however, there was no mention of the Soros role in funding Free Press. However, thanks were extended to the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, Quixote Foundation, Glaser Progress Foundation, and the Haas Trusts.
“We are grateful also for the generosity and support of many other public charities, private foundations and individual donors,” the conference program said, carefully concealing their identities.
Publications and organizations given credit for promoting the event included The American Prospect magazine, The Washington Monthly, The Nation, and MoveOn.org
Reds Not Under Beds
The Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), which opposes the Chinese communist government as too capitalist, was one of the official exhibitors. Also on hand, displaying banners calling for the impeachment of President Bush, was the so-called 9/11 truth movement, which holds that Muslims were blamed for the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon when U.S. officials actually carried them out.
Other exhibitors included the Newspaper Guild, Consumers Union, Mother Jones magazine, Pacifica Radio, and Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now.”
While the Democratic Party and its political leaders were embraced by most of the participants and usually met with standing ovations, the official conference bookstore didn’t offer any books by or about Hillary Clinton. I was told by the bookstore owner that that she was perceived as too conservative by this crowd and that those books wouldn’t sell.
On the other hand, books by Senator Barack Obama and Al Gore were prominently featured. Books by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Mikhail Gorbachev, former White House reporter Helen Thomas, and Webster Tarpley, a former associate of Lyndon LaRouche, were also available. Tarpley, an “expert” on how 9/11 was a U.S. plot, was a featured guest for two hours on Air America, the liberal radio network now in bankruptcy because of bad management and dismal ratings.
A special screening of the film “Reel Bad Arabs” was held, in order to argue that Arabs and Muslims deserve more favorable coverage from the media and Hollywood. The film is narrated by Jack Shaheen, who recently appeared on Al-Jazeera English making charges of anti-Arab media bias.
Very little was said during various panels about the Islamic terrorists who killed almost 3,000 Americans on 9/11 and are currently killing American soldiers and innocent civilians, most of them Muslims, in Iraq. Instead, Bush was blamed for the violence there.
Showing where conference participants stood on the matter of maintaining a U.S. military to defend America against the global Jihad, one of the books on sale at the official conference bookstore was titled, 10 Excellent Reasons Not To Join The Military.
Former conservative David Brock, of another Soros-funded group, Media Matters, labeled the Bush foreign policy of liberating Arab lands as “criminally insane.” On the same panel with Brock, Norman Solomon of the Institute for Public Accuracy suggested that U.S. foreign policy was immoral and that the media were working hand-in-glove with the Bush Administration to prepare a military attack on Iran, just as they had done with Iraq.
Reaching new levels of hysteria, Rep. Maurice Hinchey said the survival of America was itself at stake because “neo-fascist” and “neo-con” talk-show hosts led by Rush Limbaugh had facilitated the “illegal” war in Iraq and were complicit in President Bush’s repeated violations of the Constitution, such as by detaining terrorists. He warned that the “right-wing oriented media” were now preparing the way for Bush to wage war on Iran and Syria.
His answer, a bill titled the “Media Ownership Reform Act,” would reinstate the federal fairness doctrine and authorize bureaucrats at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to monitor and alter the content of radio and television programs.
Hinchey, chairman of the “Future of American Media Caucus” in the House, was introduced as the new chairman of a subcommittee with jurisdiction over the FCC. For Hinchey and the vast majority at the conference, there was a pressing need for more, not less, regulation of what they call the “corporate media.”
With passage of his bill, Hinchey said that “progressives” would be able to demand and get “equal access” to programs hosted by conservatives and rebut the “baloney” of people like Limbaugh. “All of that stuff will end,” Hinchey said about the influence of conservative media. By name, he also denounced Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting.
Hinchey praised Democratic FCC commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, who appeared at the conference, and indicated that with the election of a Democratic President in 2008, the FCC could be openly used to frustrate the growing popularity of conservative ideas, perhaps under the cover of resisting “media consolidation.”
Later, Hinchey was seen preparing for an appearance on Air America, which had a make-shift studio set up on the premises of the conference.
Protecting Public Broadcasting
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who was just elected to Congress from Memphis, assured the audience that Democrats would protect and possibly increase funding for public broadcasting, which he noted is on the “left hand side of the dial” but has been having problems generating listeners and viewers.
One of the cries of some participants was to “put the public back into public broadcasting,” apparently a plea for even more “public” money from Congress.
Public broadcasting’s Bill Moyers, who spoke to the conference about the “ravenous” nature of “Big Media,” was obviously not referring to public TV or radio’s appetite for U.S. tax dollars, even though AIM has documented how these entities have received over $8 billion from the taxpayers since their creation. The far-left Pacifica Radio, another taxpayer-supported network, had a heavy presence at the “media reform” conference.
The appearance of Moyers, who served as White House press secretary in the Lyndon Johnson Administration before he worked for CBS News and public TV, was curious, at least at this conference in Memphis, because he had been aware at the time of his service to LBJ of secret surveillance of Martin Luther King, Jr.
King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968 and his birthday celebration on January 15 was mentioned by several speakers, most notably Jesse Jackson, a former King aide.
One 9/11 truth movement booth featured a poster claiming that King was murdered as the result of a U.S. Government conspiracy, even though James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison. Ray died in 1998.
Continuing this fascination with conspiracy theories about the deaths of prominent people, a book for sale at the conference bookstore, titled, American Assassination: The Strange Death of Paul Wellstone, claims that the airplane accident that took the life of the liberal Senator from Minnesota was actually deliberate murder. The book claims Wellstone’s “progressive” stands made him a target.
Senator Sanders, the only open socialist in Congress, accused the media of covering up King’s opposition to the Vietnam War. He did not mention that King took that approach because he had come under the influence of identified top members of the Soviet-funded Communist Party USA, who had become his close advisers. This is one of the reasons why the Johnson Administration—and then Attorney General Bobby Kennedy—approved FBI surveillance of him.
King’s radical turn to the left, which detracts from the good work that he did, should not be a taboo topic but it is one of many issues that “progressives” want censored from the media. Another King controversy that is off the table for “progressives” is his well-documented plagiarism.
Socialist Urges One-Sided Coverage
Sanders, who votes with the Democrats in the Senate despite his official status as an independent socialist, claimed conservatives were 99 percent in control of talk radio and that it was time “to open the question of the fairness doctrine again” to restrict what they say and how they say it.
He faulted the media for covering two sides of the global warming debate “when there is no debate in the scientific community.”
Clearly, therefore, the purpose in proposing a “fairness doctrine” is not to offer different points of view but to silence viewpoints liberals regard as unsound or unpopular.
Sanders indicated he would introduce a Senate version of the Hinchey bill.
A similar bill, the “Fairness in Broadcasting Act,” was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter, the chairman of the House Rules Committee that has enormous influence over what bills are brought up for votes.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the object of fawning media coverage despite the scandal of producing a child from an extramarital affair, argued before the conference for “the right to be heard” and insisted that the major media were not telling the real story of pain and suffering in George Bush’s America.
Despite claiming to be for open debate and discussion, he recently urged consumers to boycott DVDs of the Seinfeld comedy show because the actor who plays one of the characters had been caught making racist comments in a night club. Jackson had the actor, Michael Richards, on his radio show to apologize for the remarks.
Suggesting the real agenda behind “media reform,” Jackson said that the key to Democrats winning “is more access to the media.”
That may depend, however, on how the “progressives” market their unpopular ideas, especially when they actively begin their congressional campaign of suppressing viewpoints in opposition to their own.
Making himself out to be a victim, Jackson said that he should be called by the media for comments on foreign policy issues like Iraq, rather than just racial controversies like the Duke rape case.
Clearly staking out a position on the far-left fringe, Jackson accused Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of taking “baby steps” legislatively when she should be exercising “bold leadership.” On Iraq, he said, “you can’t be against the war and for the war budget.” Rather than just raise the minimum wage, he said Pelosi should introduce a massive new jobs program. He concluded his remarks by asking people to watch his TV program on the Word television network and to tune into his “Keep Hope Alive” radio show on 50 stations.
Republicans as Thieves
At a panel moderated by Paul Waldman of Media Matters, Steve Freeman of the University of Pennsylvania argued that the 2004 presidential election was stolen on behalf of George W. Bush. His associate, Jonathan Simon of the Election Defense Alliance, took to the microphone during the question-and-answer period to argue that the 2006 elections were rigged as well and that the Republicans are preparing to steal the 2008 presidential election. Waldman, who claimed to be dedicated to factual accuracy in covering current events, didn’t dispute any of this. In fact, he stated his belief that Al Gore had won the 2000 election and that the media knew it.
Another panelist, Cornell Belcher, the official pollster for the Democratic National Committee, seemed to be taken aback by the conspiracy theories and pointed out that the Democrats had, in fact, made substantial gains on the federal and state levels in 2006.
However, during a conversation over breakfast, Freeman reiterated his belief that the Democrats had won far more seats than they were given credit for in 2006. Asked why they wouldn’t protest the stealing of votes, he said, “Democrats are in on it.” He described Republicans and Democrats as the A team and B team, and that when one team makes too many mistakes, the other goes in for relief. Asked for his opinion on the 9/11 truth movement, he said, “Nothing would surprise me.”
A panel on “Media, War, and Impeachment” featured Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, whose December 2006 magazine features Hugo Chavez of Venezuela on the cover as he addressed the U.N. holding up a copy of Noam Chomsky’s book on the dangers of American “hegemony.” That was the appearance in which Chavez labeled Bush the devil.
The article inside the magazine by FAIR’s Steve Rendall accused the American media of unfairly criticizing Chavez for “challenging the U.S.,” not because he makes absurd charges, chums around with people such as the anti-Semitic and anti-American Iranian president, and threatens press freedom in his own country. Promising “Socialism or death,” Chavez was just sworn in for another presidential term.
On Saturday night, as participants prepared for an event featuring Jane Fonda, they were given copies of a four-page flier advertising Bob Avakian’s book, From Ike to Mao and Beyond. The flier said that Avakian, the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, has been described by Cornell West of Princeton University as “a long distance runner in the freedom struggle against imperialism, racism and capitalism.”
Scott Lee, an RCP “helper” passing out the fliers, told me that he thought the conference was worthwhile but too heavily titled in favor of the Democratic Party. He said he wasn’t aware that global capitalist George Soros had funded the left-wing conference organizers but that the money had gone for a good cause.
This is what passes for “progressivism” these days. It is a clear danger to freedom at home and abroad.
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Jennifer03801
Starlite Member
Username: Jennifer03801
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 12:19 am: |
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"A Michigan air charter company has received an $11 million, six-month contract to bring home the bodies of the American military men and women killed in Iraq."
Ya Estufas
Walk the coffin to the grave,
wipe the tears away,
mourners dressed in black,
an American flag on a simple box,
soldiers with rifles ready for the salute,
the winter sky itself wears gray,
somber clouds hanging overhead,
snowflakes suspended in the trees,
walk the coffin to the grave,
they’ll hand the loved ones Old Glory
and as that old lovable pig says…
Th… Th… Th… That’s All Folks!
-RC
"...I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 (600,000)(650,00)people paid with their lives; 1600 (2952) (2954) (2964) (2969) (2972) (2980) (2983) (2987) (2989) (2990) (2993) (2996) (2998) (3000) (3002) (3003) (3024)of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 (22,032) (22,401) (22,834) (47,657 non-mortal casualties)of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies." George Galloway
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