The War on Terror Continues

Unfortunately with Obama in office the last eight years, the media has dutifully not reported on the ongoing battles that make up the greater War on Terror that started on 9/11. It was on the front page while Bush was in and leveled Bush's wars. The media gleefully reported every death and were giddy as the death toll reached higher levels. That may sound really cold but that is exactly what happened from the invasion of Iraq on. They restrained themselves during the onset of the war in Afghanistan, at least until they felt comfortable criticizing Bush for that affair. They never criticized Obama for the many deaths on his watch.

Then Obama was elected as the anti-war president. He would get the world to understand that peace is the answer and through sheer will and his magical words the world would settle down. That didn't happen. He pulled us out of Iraq without a plan and that's devolved into the mess we now have. He led air strikes against Qaddafi without having a plan to fill the void left by the lack of leadership and he further destroyed any US credibility by drawing a line in the sand with regard to Assad in Syria and then not reacting when that line was crossed.

He labeled ISIS the Jayvee team and paid them no credence until it was too late and they had retaken areas where many US men and women died fighting for. He decided to fight a war where we would send over-worked special operations units in to "advise" with horrible rules of engagement. He said "no boots on the ground" and the media played that up while we had the boots of SEAL's, Rangers and other special operators on the ground.

Now the war has come down to us having troops in more countries than ever. men are dying in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas we will never hear about. Through disjointed "leadership" and men and women advising him who do not believe that we are fighting a true enemy but that we are in fact as bad or worse than they are we have landed in this spot.

President Trump will inherit more of a mess than Obama did and it's all through the sheer lack of a coherent strategy on fighting the greater war.

4 Dead 17 Wounded in Suicide Attack at Bagram

For some reason we continue to believe it's a good idea to allow Afghani's into our bases over there.

"An apparent suicide bomber has taken the lives of two U.S. servicemembers and two U.S. contractors working on the base," said Carter. "The explosion wounded 16 other U.S. servicemembers and one Polish soldier participating in our NATO mission."

Although the media generally stopped reporting much war news during the Obama years, we still are in a war over there as well as elsewhere. Currently we have troops in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, east Africa and Libya. Plus whatever other covert ops we have going on. 

I'm sure the media will once again start reporting on the deaths once Obama is out of office and President Trump is in. 

Prayers to their families. 

Why Do We Ignore Pedophilia in Afghanistan?

One of the dirty secrets the media will never cover is the horrific tradition of Afghani's--especially the Pashtun--sexually abusing little boys. Here's some background:

For centuries, Afghan men have taken boys, roughly 9 to 15 years old, as lovers. Some research suggests that half the Pashtun tribal members in Kandahar and other southern towns are bacha baz, the term for an older man with a boy lover. Literally it means "boy player." The men like to boast about it. "Having a boy has become a custom for us," Enayatullah, a 42-year-old in Baghlan province, told a Reuters reporter. "Whoever wants to show off should have a boy." 

...In Kandahar, population about 500,000, and other towns, dance parties are a popular, often weekly, pastime. Young boys dress up as girls, wearing makeup and bells on their feet, and dance for a dozen or more leering middle-aged men who throw money at them and then take them home. A recent State Department report called "dancing boys" a "widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape." 

...Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law. Women are simply unapproachable. Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can't even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle."How can you fall in love if you can't see her face," 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. "We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful."

Excuse me while I puke.

One US Special Forces soldier had seen enough and decided that he had seen enough of this vile practice and took matters into his own hands. It didn't end well for him because the Army brass is thoroughly neutered:

Martland had faced internal reprimand dating back to a September 2011 encounter, involving him and team leader Capt. Daniel Quinn, and local police commander Abdul Rahman in Kunduz Province. 

According to accounts from both Martland and Quinn, an interpreter came to them saying a boy claimed he was "tied to a post in Rahman's house and was raped repeatedly” for days. The two confronted the commander, who apparently confessed but “laughed it off.” 

They roughed him up. According to Martland, Quinn “picked him up and threw him” while Martland body-slammed him. But according to them, the commander was never knocked out and ran away from the camp.

I give Rep. Duncan Hunter credit for keeping after this, he's an great supporter of vets. watch the video of the interview with Hunter at the link.

Martland did what any moral American would do when seeing a child raped. The DoD is disgraceful in their pursuit and discharge of this hero.

How can we maintain the integrity of our military when elite soldiers are reprimanded and punished simply because they did what should be done by every single person within the military? Screw the politics of the situation and keep it off base. Or better yet, do not let any Afghans within the confines of our bases. There's been numerous cases of them turning on our men and women and killing them, why not use the child rape as an excuse to ban them from bases? Because the Army and other branches are politicized by the most political president in our history and do not have the guts to say enough.

here's to hoping Martland get re-instated.

(Note: I'm having some issues with block quotes, sorry for the inconvenience)

Allen West Sets MSM Straight on Marine Incident

The video of a few Marines pissing on dead Taliban has got the media in full Abu Ghraib mode. Any story that makes the military look bad is, in the eyes of our media betters, a story that deserves to be reported continuously.

This story has it all: hung-ho Marines demeaning the dead they killed and acting all macho, Americans acting like animals and video of the entire episode to boot. It's a media wet dream.

But Lt. Col. Allen West is having none of it and puts it in the proper perspective:

“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

Amen to that, sir.

Yes, these Marines were wrong and deserve to be punished under military law. Instead, the MSM is firing up the Taliban by harping on this incident but refuse to report on the stonings of women and child rape by the Taliban because it doesn't want to incite them. Like the false reporting by Newsweek (a story that even the most simple minded journalist should have known was impossible) claiming a Koran was flushed down the toilet, the media never miss an opportunity to slam those who only wish to protect us.

For those who wish to know how bad fighting is in the war in Afghanistan, watch Sebastian Junger's documentary Restrepo and you'll get an idea of just why Rep. West is exactly right in his assessment.

30 Americans Killed in Taliban Chopper Attack

Horrible.

The details are sketchy even a day later but 30 servicemen were killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down by what is claimed to be an RPG. Most were members of the vaunted Seal Team 6 that took out bin-Laden a few months back:

The death toll would surpass the worst single day loss of life for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001 -- the June 28, 2005 downing of a military helicopter in eastern Kunar province. In that incident, 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four SEALs under attack by the Taliban. Three of the SEALs being rescued were also killed and the fourth wounded. It was the highest one-day death toll for the Navy Special Warfare personnel since World War II.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene. A senior U.S. administration official in Washington said the craft was apparently shot down by insurgents. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated.

Obama Trying to Act Like an Alpha Male

It's kind of depressing when a decidedly beta male tries to be a leader. He's pretty much surrounded himself with yes men and like-minded folks who are in way over their collective heads and now when the Democratic party needs a Reagan they instead get a whiner who channels his inner Jimi Hendrix (a definite alpha male BTW):

"Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time and they're not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true," he told a crowd largely consisting of union members.

Poor baby, these "powerful interests" talk bad about you. How fucking pathetic. We need a man who says here's what I've done and here's how I thought it would work but it didn't and we'll stop at nothing to get people back to work. Instead, we get a guy complaining that he's not treated with the reverence he thinks he's earned when in fact he's earned nothing.

Perhaps he missed the briefing where 22 service members were killed in Afghanistan last week and the total amount killed in that country during Obama's administration now exceeds those killed during the 7+ years Bush was CinC. As an aside, Code Pink has been exposed as the partisan shills they've always been known to be. It was all about power and ideology with these socialist hags and never about our troops. But I digress.

So here's where we are: we have an impotent president who's nothing more than a stuffed shirt academic in the midst of the worst economy we've seen in decades. I fear for the next two years.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan...

Despite the fact that President Obama is taking credit for the Iraq victory, he seems pretty quiet when it comes to discussing the war he did support. Perhaps this is why:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- U.S. forces lost 22 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly to roadside bombs, since Friday, marking a bloody step-up in the insurgency as a major U.S.-led offensive seeks to capture the spiritual homeland of the Taliban movement in Kandahar.

The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said it is gaining ground against the insurgents, but violence is rising across the country, including in areas that were considered relatively safe.

Five more U.S. soldiers were killed Tuesday, while three Afghan workers for the British charity Oxfam were killed by a roadside bomb in Badakhshan, which had been one of the safer places in the country.

The coalition says that casualties are rising as they push against the strongholds of the Taliban in the south and the allied Haqqani network in the east. The majority of casualties - 60 percent - this year and in 2009 came from improvised explosive devices planted on roads and paths.

U.S. and Afghan forces are expected to begin soon an offensive in Zhari and Panjwai, southwest of Kandahar city, the last part of operation "Hamkari," to secure and stabilize Kandahar province. Mullah Omar started the Taliban movement in this area in 1994, and it conquered much of the country in the two years that followed.

Of the 22 American losses since Friday, 17 were the result of IEDs, according to figures provided by the ISAF. In that period, only one non-American coalition soldier was killed.

We are roughly at an equivalent point to that in which Bush ordered the surge. The difference is that the media played up every single death as one in which Bush was solely responsible and Bush kept his faith in our troops when a lesser man would have crumbled. Obama has faced nothing even close to the daily haranguing Bush did because the media are protecting like they've always done. There is no giddy countdown to death number 1000 or death number 3000 like here was in the Iraq war. Instead, there's the death of another 22 that are downplayed for political reasons to protect their favorite while the families of those who died grieve. Are these heroes not as important as those who died in Fallujah or Baghdad? Of course they are to those who are sane but not to media and many in the Obama administration where they are essentially a daily distraction from the important issues like winning in November and setting up a healthcare bureaucracy. Priorities you know.

This is the war we have to win and is at a critical point. You wouldn't know that judging by the amount of time the media has covered it because it's simply an inconvenient issue and makes their favored guy look bad.

Sadly, they are robbing the glory from those who are shedding the blood for us. Ernie Pyle must be turning in his grave.

The Weekly Good, Bad and Really Ugly

Haven't posted in a few days so here's a quick review of the week:

THE GOOD

-US, British and Canadian forces are attacking the Taliban in the Helmand Province town of Marjah. This is the largest offensive in years and the first big offensive since Obama took office. Thank you to our great and long-term allies who are helping us. This will be a tough slog but we have the greatest military in the world and the best soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to get the job done. Two NATO fighters have given the ultimate for the cause.

-NJ Governor Chris Christie was elected to get the Garden State's fiscal house in order. He's living up to that by freezing spending via executive order and pissing off the Democrats in the process. He's making some hard choices and has stuck to his pledge to cut spending and not raise taxes even though the pressure to do so has been intense. Expect to hear some bad things about the guv and expect to read story after story of how people are suffering because of the cold-hearted conservative currently leading the state with the highest taxes in the nation. The Dems/libs will come after him hard led by the left-wing rag the Newark Star-Ledger.

THE BAD:

-A professor whom was denied tenure shot three people in Huntsville, AL. Liberals will paint this as some crazed hillbilly gun nut who clings to religion shooting up a school. They would be lying.

-Obama signs Pay Go--a pay as you go plan-the day after he signs off on a debt ceiling increase of another $1.9-trillion. Yes, with a "t". He's spending us into oblivion.

THE UGLY

-Joe Biden actually had the gall to say the following:

I am very optimistic about Iraq. I think it's going to be one of the great achievements of this administration.

This is the same a-hole who proposed a dumb ass three-state solution and Obama is the one who was vehemently against the surge when President Bush proposed it. The very same surge that cost Bush a ton politically but saved the Iraqi nation and the lives of a great many of our troops. Obama was in the Harry Reid and Murtha camp and didn't trust in our military leaders as capable. After Bush's instincts proved successful and our men and women accomplished the supposed impossible, Biden claims credit for the man who did nothing. The Iraq war wasn't even a campaign issue by the end of the summer in 2008. For the record, the Iraq Victory celebration happened even before Obama was inaugurated.

If I had the ear of prominent Republicans, I would produce ads featuring Obama, Biden, Reid and Pelosi expressing severe doubts about the surge and then add that little claim by Biden at the end. The American people know damn well who won and who will get credit and sure as hell won't be Obama or Biden.

-How much money was redistributed in the name of saving the climate? Trillions and trillions on a claim that has been proven to be hideously wrong. At least we didn't fall for it as much as the Aussie's or Europe did.

Rest in Peace Lance Corporal Jeremy Kane

Jeremy Kane lived one town away from me. I never met him but I feel like I knew him. Jeremy Kane is no longer with us but he is one of my heroes:

At 13, Jeremy Kane was deeply affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The event shaped his life, and led him to a fateful choice.

"He knew he had to do something for his country, and that was join the military," said his mother, Melinda, of Cherry Hill. "He wanted to serve."

To drive home the point, Kane joined the Marine Corps on Sept. 11, 2006, during his freshman year at Rutgers University and served as a reservist.

On Saturday, three months into his deployment in Afghanistan, the 22-year-old lance corporal was killed when a suicide bomber attacked his unit in Helmand Province.

This hits home because my own son is 13. What if 9/11 had occurred today and he had to experience the tension, horror and disbelief we all did that day? Jeremy Kane was affected and that affectation lasted to the point where he joined the Marines. He didn't have to, he wanted to because he thought it was the right thing to do for his country. I did the same and can understand what he felt.

Mr. Kane's father was a pathologist and he went to a good high school and college. He could've have let someone else join and could have rationalized it a million different ways. He chose not to let someone else fight but to do it himself.

I leave you with the words of his mother:

"I want people to know that this was someone from Cherry Hill," she said. "He had options, and this was his choice.

And thank God for people like him. Yes, he's one of thousands who have pay the ultimate price to defend our freedom and they are all heroes. Mr. Kane knew the risks and enlisted anyway because he's a true American who knew what this nation is about and it's about people like him defending people who don't.

Thank you Lance Corporal Kane and Semper Fi.

Thursday Night News and Notes

Here's what's new in this crazy-ass world.

-Ace is kinda, sorta putting out feelers for a Kos-like right-wing summit. Kinda like Yearly Kos (now netroots) with more beer and jokes and less merlot and whining. Frank J. has ideas for the shindig and I have to say I like them. Here's a few of my favorites:

* A panel on hippie punching led by Fred Thompson.

* Guns, guns, and more guns. And then other guns than those.

* Top rocks bands from around the world. And if any of them object to playing for conservatives, we punch them for being hippies.

* Ninja assassins guarding the doors making sure no liberals get in.

Dude, based on that; I'm in.

-Is there any dude in the world you'd want to see get their ass severely kicked or whose ass you'd want to kick than Levi Johnston. Yo asshole, real men stay home and raise their kids. They don't go to Hollywood and pose with their full 3-inches swingin out for Playgirl. Just saying.

-A chart showing competitive House raises. Adler (NJ-3) should most-definitely not be in the "likely Democrat" category. He won simply because of huge Obama turnout and the district was owned by Republican Jim Saxton for decades. Look for Chris Myers to run again.

-The feds moved on Iranian assets in the US.

-One thing a military man or woman hates is dithering and unsuredness from their commanding officer or even platoon leader. It signals weakness and generally dispels all notions of good morale. It's much worse when it comes from the Commander-in-Chief. They want a mission--regardless of what it is. They want a straight-forward assessment and direction will carry the mission out.

-It's good to hear W speaking out on the issues of the day. Of course, he has too much class to criticize the current president as Clinton did as he believes it below the office he held.

-Finally, speaking of George Bush; Hillary supporters finally have figured out what many of us knew: George W. Bush is and was a genuinely kind and caring individual who did things because he thought they were the right things, not for politics.

-Pic at right is my boy throwing out a kid at 2nd at the USSSA World Series in Pace, FL over the summer.

Obama Cedes to McChrystal; Will Send 40,000 Troops to Af/Pak

Credit where it's due: Obama apparently agreed to trust his general and send the troops needed to win a war that was under control a year ago but has spiraled since:

(CBS) Tonight, after months of conferences with top advisors, President Obama has settled on a new strategy for Afghanistan. CBS News correspondent David Martin reports that the president will send a lot more troops and plans to keep a large force there, long term.

The president still has more meetings scheduled on Afghanistan, but informed sources tell CBS News he intends to give Gen. Stanley McChrystal most, if not all, the additional troops he is asking for.

McChrystal wanted 40,000 and the president has tentatively decided to send four combat brigades plus thousands more support troops. A senior officer says "that's close to what [McChrystal] asked for." All the president's military advisers have recommended sending more troops.

Obama had to have thoughts of LBJ going through his brain but he has got to learn that we developed strategies in Iraq that can work well in Afghanistan. If he just gives our boys and girls what they need, they will prevail. Bush authorized The Surge when things were bleak and the country was wary of the war and it worked out better than even I dared hope. Is McChrystal of the same caliber of Petraeus? We shall see but I have faith in our troops and given strength and firepower, they will prevail.

This is a bold move by Obama and one that may end up sinking his hopes for a second term but it was the right one. I suspect the Veterans for Peace-type radicals will hold off...for now. The difference between LBJ and Obama is there was a draft when he committed the troops. Should the death count increase, things could change dramatically. Here's to hoping we can succeed at the cost of very few casualties.

Godspeed to my brothers and sisters there or on their way.

Exit question: Would Rangel still support a draft?

Saturday Morning News & Notes

The Phillies dropped a tough one last night when the always reliable Chase Utley couldn't make a throw on a crucial double play. Utley--in his typical style that endears him to Philly--said there was no excuse, he just made a bad throw. They won one and own home field advantage coming back home so it's all good.

Here's what's happening in the world:

-The communist side of the liberal spectrum is pissed at the socialist side and they are hissing and spitting like feral cats. I for one am enjoying it immensely as it precludes them from pushing their horrid agenda.

-Putting a dress on a pig: The WaPo puts a happy spin on an economy that is on life support:

Still, the figure represents a significant improvement over the darkest deficit projections, which had been as much as $400 billion higher earlier this year, when the economy was wallowing in recession. Since then, the outlook has brightened and a government bailout has successfully stabilized the nation's troubled financial sector. In a report released Friday, Treasury Department officials said the government had spent $132 billion less than expected in August, due primarily to a drop in anticipated spending on the banking bailout.

Er, exactly when was the nation's troubled financial sector "stabilized?"

-Obama threatens to destroy the insurance agency again. It's the "Chicago Way". An industry that has created millions of jobs and only reaps about 3% in profits is overtly being warned by a sitting president and a nation sits on its collective hands.

-California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa takes on the entrenched Democratic establishment.

-Newly minted Nobel Laureate allows our troops to die because he can't make the hard decisions required by the CinC. Obama said this was the right war and since his inauguration has done nothing but hamper the efforts of our brave men and women. They deserve more than that. These heroes and patriots, as well as those of other nations continue to die while their commander doesn't seem to care because dancing with Latina singers and berating the insurance industry is much more important than the lives of men like Specialist Justin Gallegos or the hundreds of others who've died while fighting against al-Qaeda.

-Local firefighter suspended for refusing to remove and American flag sticker from his locker. Can't have any jingoistic patriots in our midst in this new, improved Obamanation, can we?

I leave you with the always good Chip Bok:

Monday Night News and Notes

How y'all doin?

Here's what's goin on in this crazy old world.

-Shocka! States that abided by the time-tested ideals of fiscal conservatism are doing great while those that spent in the time-tested liberal fashion are cratering. The death of conservatism has been exaggerated.

-Sen. Arlen Specter (Turncoat-PA) is finding out that his decision to be politically expedient wasn't such a good idea.

-Things are not going so well in Afghanistan. I trust Michael Yon to give us the straight story more than anyone. I guess we'll start seeing massive protests in San Francisco any day now that the war monger Obama is letting our troops die.

-Big Brother lives.

-Decidedly unstudly stud gets his comeuppance. Not quite sure what they did with the superglue and probably don't want to find out.

-Libs freaking out over the Obama picture plastered around liberal bastion LA pictured at right.

How To Lose a War

The media hasn't been paying attention and Obama neglects to comment on it but we are losing a war that was once won in Afghanistan.

Obama cares about domestic issues such as health care, the failed stimulus and the "cash for clunkers" debacle yet can't summon up words to support our men and women in uniform who are dying at a higher rate than ever before. Three more died today and we hear nothing from the Commander in Chief.

The situation is so bad that our coalition partners have taken the rare step of criticizing the approach we are currently taking:

As for Britain's roughly 9,000 troops in Afghanistan -- who in July suffered their worst month since the 2001 invasion with 22 deaths -- the members of parliament (MPs) said their role has seen "significant mission creep".

They were initially sent to counter international terrorism and are now working on areas like fighting the drugs trade and counter-insurgency, it said, adding the military had not been given "clear direction".

"We conclude that the UK's mission in Afghanistan has taken on a significantly different and considerably expanded character since the first British troops were deployed there in 2001," the report said.

"The UK deployment to Helmand (province) was undermined by unrealistic planning at senior levels, poor coordination between Whitehall (government) departments and crucially, a failure to provide the military with clear direction."

Britain's role as lead international partner on counter-narcotics was "a poisoned chalice", the report said, adding there was "little evidence" to suggest that cuts in poppy cultivation were down to deliberate strategy.

74 coalition troops died while 49 Americans died in July and August has started off even more deadly.

While Obama has a beer with a racist professor, our men and women are fighting with inadequate direction, a dearth of reinforcements and an enemy that is emboldened. We risk alienating our allies who we will need at some future date.

This war is Obama's war. He stressed that we were distracted by the Iraq invasion and that the true battle in the War on Terror was Afghanistan. When he became the CinC, he voted present and the media has been complicit by not splashing every death across the front page as they did in the Iraq conflict.

Iraq showed that a clear, concise approach in concert with strong leadership and changing methods when required can result in a victory over radical Islam. We are doing none of these things in Afghanistan.

During the worst days of the Iraq War, the left was harping that Bush was not providing our troops with adequate armor and sub par protection for humvees. Now they are silent while our president is not only not acknowledging the deaths of these heroes but is ignoring them altogether. That's a slap in the face to each and every person now serving and the veterans who served before them.

Obama's Really Bad Week

It happens with all presidents eventually but usually not in so stunning a fashion.

President Obama got hit with a barrage of bad news this week, some of his own making. Let's review, shall we?

Henry Louis Gates Jr., historian and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University was locked out of his house so he did what most of us would do, he tried to get in by pushing on the door or other means. Unfortunately for him, a neighbor called police suspecting a break-in. Police arrived and did what police are supposed to do, ask questions to try to assert the facts. Professor Gates got belligerent and was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct, the charges were dropped.

Now had this been a simple case of a mistaken arrest, it would have been written up in the back pages of the local papers but Gates is a friend of Obama. During Obama's press conference earlier in the week, he was asked about the issue and said:

"I don’t know – not having been there and not seeing all the facts – what role race played in that, but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two that he Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home,"

Prefacing it by saying he didn't have the facts and then judging that the police acted "stupidly" showed Obama reverting back to his community organizer days where every thing that happens in a neighborhood is the fault of the police. They are always wrong until proven right and even then they are blamed.

Unfortunately for Obama, most Americans either know cops, have one in their family or have generally good feelings toward them. Add to that the cop in question has a sterling record including teaching a course on racial profiling. Add to that that his colleagues, peers and bosses all supported him without question and you have a full-blown case of racial politics writ large that engulfed the administrations message on health care that the presser was supposed to address. The alleged post-racial world is not so much as this issued showed quite with crystal clarity.

Obama also saw his approval drop under 50% this week for the first time. His mealy-mouthed words on the stimulus and the economy have come back to haunt him as people are hurting and not seeing the fruits of Obama's spending.

Finally, we have Afghanistan. The war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda is ratcheting up and more troops have been injured or killed of late. Obama hasn't said word one about the ongoing war, a war he owns after using it to pummel Bush for going to Iraq. He's not said good, bad or indifferent. He's said absolutely nothing of consequence and by doing so has pushed our men and women in uniform to the back burner. An egregious action by a sitting president.

Marines in "Hell of a Fight" in Afghanistan

4,000 Marines are taking it to the Taliban in Helmand Province and are expected to have a tough go. Obama--and by extension the media--haven't talked at all about the war against the Taliban and the fight to wrest control of areas causing problems because they have more important issues to cover like Michael Jackson and faux town hall meetings.

Anyway, our warriors are taking it to the radical Islamic groups in what could be a critical battle. Here's the gist from AFP:

GARMSIR, Afghanistan (AFP) — US Marines are in a "hell of a fight" as they storm into Taliban strongholds in a major assault in Afghanistan, their commanding officer said on Friday.

Nearly 4,000 Marines launched the operation Thursday in parts of the southern province of Helmand, suffering their first fatality in a pivotal test of President Barack Obama's aggressive new strategy against the Taliban.

The 1/5 Infantry Battalion met only light resistance in their push south and had already been able to meet locals at shuras (councils), Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said, speaking to a convoy with which AFP was travelling.

But "for 2/8 there is a hell of a fight going on in the southern quarter of the sector," the top Marine said on arrival at Garmsir, a town along the Helmand River that was a key objective for the offensive.

"2/8 are going to face some challenges," he said. The Marines were in an area called Toshtay about 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Garmsir.

This is a crucial area as the Taliban (and Iran?) are running weapons through the Pakistan border into the province. It's proximity to Quetta makes it a hard slog but it should be a target rich environment. Progress seems to be good:

Nicholson later told AFP separately: "Garmsir is three-quarters quiet but there is fighting in Toshtay. We intend to clear that up today. This doesn't mean it is over. The enemy may be reassessing the situation."

On the launch of Operation Khanjar before dawn on Thursday, Nicholson told his group that 4,000 Marines had been inserted in nearly eight hours, about half of them by helicopter.

Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal was "giggling with excitement" at the progress, Nicholson said. "I know the governor and I have never seen him like this."

No word on the name or rank of the Marine who was KIA. My prayers go out to his family and for him I can only say thanks for giving everything in the pursuit of freedom for the oppressed. No word on the soldier captured yesterday either.

Google map of the area here. AFP map of the operation below:

Update: The word is they are not meeting as much resistance as they thought they would. Good news.

Thursday Afternoon News & Notes

Today is about a close to feeling like a Friday as any day but a Friday can. Enjoy the Fourth, I'm headed down to Virginia for a baseball tourney with my boy.

Here's what's new is this crazy-ass world:

-A joint Russian-Nigerian oil conglomerate chooses a highly unfortunate name.

-Saddam told the FBI that he lied about WMD to fool Iran. He also fooled Dick Cheney, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden...

-Some never-was on CNBC claims he received "veiled death threats" from bloggers over comments against the blogosphere. I've never heard of the guy and he doesn't show up in too many hits on Google. I guess he's going for that cool lib street cred or something. BTW, WTF is a "veiled death threat?"

-WaPo conducts fastest damage control in history after flyer's offering access to top pols for money distributed.

-US Soldier captured by Taliban after being "sold" by insurgents. The terrorists say they will release a video soon. Pray for the man.

Afghani Civilians Die, Media Silent

In our latest installment of "What Would the Media Be Writing If Bush Were Still President", we have this story:

Civilian deaths resulting from armed hostilities between insurgents, the US military, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and government forces have increased by 24 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

In May alone, 261 non-combatants lost their lives in conflict in Afghanistan, John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told members of the Security Council at a meeting on 26 June.

One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May.

The left criticized Bush and us conservatives for every single civilian death. Now that their guy is the one calling the shots, not a damn peep. It's not yet a "quagmire" or "lost" as the esteemed Senate Majority Leader once said of Iraq--a war in which Bush left Obama in a winning position and one he seems to be blowing.

You won't hear me blaming Obama or the military as we are at war and deaths are sad but in many cases unavoidable. The enemy hides among civilians and telling friend from foe is difficult on a good day. My point is that the media is not even reporting this info with Obama in the Oval Office when it would have been front page on the NY Times and WaPo for two days were it under Bush's watch.

Thoughts on the Obama Press Conference

I didn't watch it live as I, unlike a great many in the brave, new Obamanation, still have to work. I did read the transcripts and have a few thoughts as to what was and wasn't said.

Iran:
Obama upped his concern level to "appalled and outraged" after being asked a question by the HuffPo that was clearly planted. "It was heartbreaking" he said that Neda Agha-Soltan was gunned down in the street.

This is clearly not enough and much too late. The protests have ebbed and any chance to oust the regime was lost because Obama refused to step up to the plate and paint the scenes on the streets of Tehran as what they really were; the seeds of democracy and freedom. His non-condemnation was mealy-mouthed and the world knows it. He had the opportunity to have a "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" moment and instead opted to let things play out.

Obama clearly does not believe in American exceptionalism and thus has sentenced the Iranian people to another decade of oppression. Add to that the fact that we were blamed for it anyway and we have an emboldened regime instead of a weakened one that will laugh at the amateur politician from Chicago when it comes time to negotiate the mullahs mad quest for nukes.

All in all a lost opportunity to make an historic statement at an historic time. But don't fret libs, the media will have his back.

Afghanistan and Iraq:
Obama continuously said on the stump that we dropped the ball by invading Iraq and turning our back on Afghanistan. It was wrong then but politically worked. But what about now where we have Iraq in check and a clear path in Afghanistan? He said nothing. This on a day where we took out 60 at a Taliban "wedding". (As an aside, it would have been question #1 as the media would have bought the wedding line and hammered Bush with it)

In fact, he did not mention Afghanistan, Iraq, any branch of the military or the War on Terror. All domestic policy, all the time with the exception of noting that he's essentially in "AA" for smoking. You either smoke or you don't dude. You can't be kind of pregnant or kind of a smoker.

North Korea:
The One didn't broach the subject of NoKo at a crucial time where a NoKo ship is being tailed by a US warship and believed to be carrying nuclear weapons hardware or materials. Add to that the fact that Kim Jung-Il has threatened to launch a missile towards Obama's former home Hawaii next week and one would consider it a topic of importance.

I guess he doesn't want to "meddle" in their affairs either.

All in all it was typical Obama trying to connect with the American people and using his alleged eloquence to make us all feel better while ramming through cap and trade and health care. The thing is, he's on the air somewhere every day so yesterday it was just another news day when it could have been a day where he instilled confidence and garnered some goodwill. people are tiring of his narcissistic act and he didn't help that in the least yesterday.

By the way, for a guy who is full of hope and change, he sure seems pissed off quite a bit, doesn't he? Video below:

Terrorists Read Miranda Rights Now

Al-Zawahiri must be chuckling from his safe house:

If Tenet is right, it’s a good thing KSM was captured before Barack Obama became president. For, the Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, according a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here’s the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting US troops today – foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them…and they’re reading them their rights – Mirandizing these foreign fighters,” says Representative Mike Rogers, who recently met with military, intelligence and law enforcement officials on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan.

Rogers, a former FBI special agent and U.S. Army officer, says the Obama administration has not briefed Congress on the new policy. “I was a little surprised to find it taking place when I showed up because we hadn’t been briefed on it, I didn’t know about it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of it, but it is clearly a part of this new global justice initiative.”

Caught in Afghanistan committing acts of war against us and they are afforded the same rights as criminals in the US. The only hope I'm feeling is that our military can liquidate enough of them on the field and the only change I see is the change in our vigilance against terrorism. Heaven help us.