Our friend Jordan at Cheese and Crackers is providing some unbelievable amateur video footage along with some great links that can help you to help the victims. His great work was even recognized by Drudge. Nice job, Jordan.
For the Last Time- Leave the Guy Alone
Bryan G. Whitman sticks up for his boss:
Re the Dec. 21 story Rumsfeld is faulted for Iraq abuse: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld never has approved interrogation methods for Iraq. As they have testified before Congress, military commanders approved the procedures in use in Iraq, and it is within their authority to do so.
The FBI document mentioned in the article attributed Iraq interrogation guidelines to a presidential executive order. But the document made no mention of Rumsfeld. The headline conveying that the order came from the secretary was based not on the FBI document itself, but on two anonymous sources who claimed that the FBI official was really referring to the defense secretary.
BRYAN G. WHITMAN, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, Washington, D.C.
Mark Shields Gets the Smackdown from Lawrence Di Rita
Mark Shields stepped on it- and got caught:
Mark Shields' Dec. 18 op-ed column ["Our 'Best Equipped' Army? Baloney!"] distorted or ignored statistics and history to make baseless assertions about how our troops in Iraq are equipped and protected.
Because he cited figures only for armor installed on Humvees in factories, Mr. Shields would lead readers to believe that less than a third of the Humvees in Iraq are protected. In fact, when counting vehicles that have had armor added in the theater, that figure rises to about 75 percent. Military commanders have noted that not every vehicle requires armor at all times, such as those confined to operating within military bases.
Mr. Shields' praise of the manufacturing prowess of the "greatest generation" -- which built America's military might and industry essentially from scratch -- is well founded. His attempt to belittle the performance of today's effort by comparison, however, is invalid.
Consider what the Defense Department, working with industry, has done since the Iraq insurgency -- and with it, roadside ambushes and bombings -- started last year. The production of armored Humvees has increased from about 35 per month to about 450 per month. In addition, since March 2003, the department has spurred production of body armor from 1,200 sets a month to more than 25,000.
Officials in this department at all levels, military and civilian, are doing their best to ensure that our troops in combat have the best protection available. The president has budgeted more than $1 billion in additional funds to ensure that we have sufficient armor, and defense spending overall is up nearly 40 percent since 2001. As our adversary adapts his tactics, military commanders are revising their own procedures and rethinking their equipment requirements. Mr. Shields' op-ed did a disservice to those responsible for providing for the national security.
LAWRENCE Di RITA
Pentagon Spokesman
Washington
Yeah, what he said.
Oops- I Married a Terrorist!
Like many people, I found this unbelievable story at LGF. She claims that she "tried to tell everybody, but nobody would listen"- that just rings a little hollow with me. Her son supposedly went to "terrorist meetings" with the guy. How about bringing a tape recorder or wearing a wire? There are a million different things they could have done, but the truth (as I see it) is that this woman was sad and desperate and she allowed herself to be a victim.
She's now coming clean in an effort to clear herself of any complicity. Again- my $0.02.
Beautiful Atrocities has my all-time favorite take on this one. You must go there and check out the pictures and read the comments.
Mission Accomplished
Thanks to all who inquired- my mission went well. It will be my last mission during this deployment, as I am set to leave in just a few days. I am happy about that. Best thing about this last mission- I got to sit in this cockpit:
Anyone know what this is?
Moore Joke for the Day
I love this.
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