Joe Answers the Bell

Ladies and Gentlemen, a nice guy named Joe Bartilucci has decided to present me with that "one single solitary shred of evidence that the Bush administration linked Iraq to what happened on 9/11." Are you ready for his evidence? Here goes:

"Are you serious? When DOESN'T Bush try and link Iraq to 9/11 in order to justify sending over 1800 American men and women to their deaths? Do you just type stupid remarks here without listening to anything Bush says?"

In other words, "because I said so."

Thanks, Joe- thanks for making my point for me.

"Stupid" is such a strong word, isn't it?

I have heard Bush (and many others) talk about how the geopolitical structure of the world changed after 9/11, and with it our need to adjust our strategy in how we deal with lunatic dictators in the mideast. Joe might think that's a stupid approach- I think it's pretty smart. Let's agree to disagree. I've never heard Bush (or anyone associated with him) say anything that even implies that "Saddam orchestrated the attacks on 9/11." These are two completely distinct and unrelated concepts that people like Joe try to equate and manipulate into their own twisted version of reality. How do they do it? Read my post carefully, and then look at Joe's repsonse:

Me: I politely ask you to show me one single solitary shred of evidence that the Bush administration linked Iraq to what happened on 9/11.

Joe: Are you serious? When DOESN'T Bush try and link Iraq to 9/11...

See that? Joe decided to remove two words from my post- I guess he was hoping nobody would notice. By removing those two words, Joe changes the premise of the whole argument- thus allowing him to dodge my challenge, rant about how stupid I am, call Bush an evil murderer, these are a few of his favorite things.

Please note the way in which Joe decides to indict Bush for the deaths of 1800 American men and women without offering any words for the terrorists who killed them. It's a sickness, folks. A disease.

Wow, look at that. I just destroyed someone's argument by presenting thoughtful and factual information- and I didn't even have to call anyone "stupid!"

Moving Forward

I don't anticipate this getting much coverage in the much maligned MSM, so I thought I'd do my part to help spread the good word. Seems our friends at MoveAmericaForward.org are taking action. Make sure you watch the video link at the bottom.

Update:

I was wrong. I thought Cindy Sheehan was doing our country a disservice. But then I read this unbelievable post by one Scott Randolph (via LGF). Cindy Sheehan just might be the beacon of enlightenment that we've been waiting for all this time. Keep up the great work, Cindy- and thanks to Scott Randolph for putting it all into perspective. And you must read the comments. I'm telling you, there's hope for the good guys- no matter how the MSM tries to spin things.

Speaking of the MSM...

Did anybody catch this article that appeared in the NYTimes of all places? Here's a clip (my emphasis added):

Editors Ponder How to Present a Broad Picture of Iraq

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Rosemary Goudreau, the editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune, has received the same e-mail message a dozen times over the last year.

"Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq?" the anonymous polemic asks, in part. "Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated?"

"Of course we didn't know!" the message concludes. "Our media doesn't tell us!"

Ms. Goudreau's newspaper, like most dailies in America, relies largely on The Associated Press for its coverage of the Iraq war. So she finally forwarded the e-mail message to Mike Silverman, managing editor of The A.P., asking if there was a way to check these assertions and to put them into context. Like many other journalists, Mr. Silverman had also received a copy of the message.

Ms. Goudreau's query prompted an unusual discussion last month in New York at a regular meeting of editors whose newspapers are members of The Associated Press. Some editors expressed concern that a kind of bunker mentality was preventing reporters in Iraq from getting out and explaining the bigger picture beyond the daily death tolls.

"The bottom-line question was, people wanted to know if we're making progress in Iraq," Ms. Goudreau said, and the A.P. articles were not helping to answer that question.

Really? Ya think?

I posted the email in question way back when.

John Hockenberry Confuses Everyone

During his appearance on the Daily Show, John Hockenberry mentioned that I was "retired from the Army and living on the west coast." He was just trying to help protect my "secret identity."

Alas, I'm not quite retired- that would mean I'm getting a pension for having put in over 20 years of service. That would be nice, but no- I just resigned (after 8 wonderful years- the 4 years at West Point don't count) and became a civilian. As for living on the west coast- well, let's just say I'm somewhere east of the west coast. Many thanks to all the people who have offered to buy me a drink in Sacremento and have me over for BBQ's in San Diego. Maybe someday!

UPDATE!

An anonymous reader just alerted me to the fact that the Hockenberry interview is online at the Daily Show Video Archives. Go check it out!

Thanks for the tip, whoever you are...

Gunnery Sergeant Darrell Carver Revisited

I always like to see the comments that pop up here in the Forum- some are witty, some are brilliant, some are heartwarming, and some- well, some are just comments. But today a comment surfaced on an old post, and it really struck me. It reminded me of why I started this site, and it reinforced my commitment to keep it going. Since it was an old post- buried deep in the archives- I'm going to repost the entire entry, and I'll follow it with the comment that just surfaced. Trust me, you'll understand exactly what I mean.

Below is a short article [written by Owen West] about a Marine shot 4 times and then fragged in Fallujah. The sacrifice by all the Marines and soldiers in Operation Al Fajr--including those who fought in the April battle--brought extraordinary results. Fallujah has turned from hornet's nest into one of the more peaceful cities in the triangle. Indeed, the excision of the terrorists in Fallujah is directly correlated to the overall drop in violence and the spectacular election. Semper Fi

The Few

The path Darrell Carver chose out of his Salt Lake City high school was similar to that taken by other overachieving classmates. He'd married his high school sweetheart when he was 20, had three wonderful kids by the time he was 27, and was leading an elite team for his company by the time he was 28, sating his mild addictions to fitness and hunting when the occasional free hour presented itself.

But Carver followed a calling imbued in just a sliver of the population. On November 20th, 2004, while most of his peers were in office parks earning money with keyboards, Darrell Carver was approaching a tin-plated door in the heart of Fallujah, Iraq, with his rifle stock held firm in the crook of a shoulder tattooed with "USMC" and two terrorists praying to end him on the other side.

Gunnery Sergeant Carver is a member of an elite slice of America that has emerged on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq: the warrior class. Drawn from across the socio-economic spectrum by an uncommon confluence of duty, adventure, and martial spirit, this all-volunteer cadre has demonstrated that it belongs among history's elite fighting units. That men like Carver choose to serve in combat arms, a deadly profession in which few transferable civilian skills are gleaned, says a lot about the fabric of the country. Before September 11th, America carried a soft and feckless reputation among its mortal enemies. Beyond low-risk tactics skewed toward technology-cruise missiles, invisible bombers-they concluded that America had no will to fight. Now those enemies are meeting America's core strength: young men with an innate desire to carry rifles for a living.

The ferocity and direction of the attack into Fallujah shattered the enemy's initial defensive plan. It was left to infantrymen like Carver to rip the terrorists out of closets and bedrooms were they had scattered in small packs.

On one side of the doors stood men who believed they would be judged how they lived. On the other lay men who believed they would be judged on how they died. How these two groups of men, who were more alike than different as boys, had traveled tens of years and thousands of miles to kill each other was best answered by the professional philosopher. For a professional warrior like Carver, combat was the natural culmination of moral divergence. A murderous enemy had infected Fallujah. Politicians could not excise them. Marines and soldiers could.

Fallujah had been parsed into familial nicknames. Clearing the Upper West Side had been hard enough, but when Carver's platoon was sent to help the effort in Queens, a particularly nasty corner of the city near the Euphrates that was littered with corpses of Iraqi "collaborators" who had been executed, it seemed as if a terrorist was hidden in every third house, hell-bent on dragging a Marine into the ground with him.

It was "tiring work," as Carver puts it. For most Americans, the office is a cubicle tract where conflict is limited to harsh emails. For a Marine, the office is a smoldering, stinking, ear-splitting arena filled with young men who are trying to kill each other.

The battle was an intensely personal, face-to-face fight inside individual rooms where the screams often muted the gunfire and the crawl spaces muted the American technological edge. This meant that a Marine had to burst into a room with his rifle shouldered, steady his barrel on a concealed target, then break the trigger before the screaming lunatic trying to ambush him could manage an aimed shot and a proper "Allahu Akbar!"

If anything, the madness of it just made the Marines angrier. Everything in Fallujah was upside-down. Religious leaders demanded violence. Stray cats feasted on fallen men. Zarqawi had constructed a torture chamber twenty-five feet away from a small amusement park.

Even the smoke settled strangely. In his first firefight on November 20, Carver charged into a room behind a grenade. The acrid dust had climbed the walls and spilled across the ceiling, broiling in the top half of the bedroom instead of falling. He heard the terrorist shuffle toward his men. Instead of dropping into a firing position that might have exposed him, Carver leapt up into the smog and onto a bed. He ended the threat.

In the second house, the door swung open and there were two terrorists lumbering toward Carver like zombies in some horror movie. He and the other force reconnaissance Marines had honed their shooting skills over hundreds of hours and thousands of bullets. Four bullets did the trick.

The day was an hour old.

The Marine team crept down the hallway of the third house in a human centipede stack bristling with rifles. Carver had moved into point position and now he stood outside another door wondering what the hell was waiting for him inside. Hundreds of doors opened already. Hundreds more to go.

He opened the door with his left hand, keeping his front sight post moving with his eyes. Someone coming out of a closet, firing an AK-47. The flat, booming report reverberated under his body armor. Carver had to shoot the terrorist several times before he flopped onto the spent casings.

Now more firing from behind the door on his left. Two rounds slammed into his thigh and another passed clean through his calf. They felt more like baseball bats than hot needles. Carver wheeled to maintain his balance and center his weapon. Saw smoking holes in the door. Another bullet popped through and smacked his shoulder, ending any hope of remaining on his feet.

It was an enemy grenade that saved him. Without it, Carver would have tumbled inside the room, into the kill zone. Instead the grenade came bouncing out toward his boots, as mesmerizing as a giant wasp, and blew him clear out of the room.

Twenty-one minutes later Navy doctors were plucking dozens of fragments from his body and sewing the four quarter-sized holes. Twenty-one hours later Carver checked out of the field hospital with a crutch in his armpit instead of a rifle and the hazy memory of a phone call to his wife, Holly.

Holly got the call in the afternoon. "Honey I got hurt," her husband told her. Of all the casualty notifications given to family members, a phone call from the wounded warrior is the best. Phone calls from doctors or officers are bad. Doorbells are the worst. Darrell was now one of the twelve thousand casualties in Iraq. One of the lucky ones. The untold story of war is the burden shouldered by the families. Devotion to their soldiers is well known. But the hidden buttress of an all-volunteer war is devotion to the cause. Families are serving the country every bit as fervently as their soldiers. Without their commitment to the war, second and third deployments to Iraq would be zero sum decisions for soldiers. "If he had to go back (for a third tour), I support him," says Holly. "It is worth the sacrifice of separation to help the people of Iraq."

The costs of the war on terror may not be spread wide, but they are deep. Families like the Carvers are willing to shoulder the costs of the national interest for the lowest risk-adjusted wage in America and zero fanfare. In other societies, warriors are motivated by externalized power. Ours are motivated by internal duty. Geopolitics aside, the country should be thankful that it has cultivated a tiny warrior class that can dominate an overseas battlefield while upholding its best values.

Owen West, a trader for Goldman, Sachs, served with the Marines in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

And now the comment I was telling you about-

I have just gotten the chance to read this article about my brother and it really brings the reality of what war is. Darrell and my brother dustin and I were all present for the war in Iraq at its opening stages. being from a family with one sailor and two marines is a source of great pride.

My younger brothers and I would like to thank all the families of our Fallen and wounded and wish them our best

-MA2 (AW) Ryan Carver

Thank you, Ryan- and thanks to your whole family for all that they do for this great nation of ours...

Mohammed's Message to Cindy Sheehan

Mohammed from Iraq the Model posted this must-read message to Cindy Sheehan. As I read it, I thought back to all the stories that my Iraqi friends would tell me about the "dark ages" under Saddam's rule. During one supply run in downtown Mosul, the shop owner's sister (a widow and mother of 4) told me about the time she and her young children watched as Saddam's henchmen showed up at their door, dragged her husband into the front yard, and shot him in the back of the head. He was an Iraqi Air Force pilot, and he was suspected of saying "bad things" about the regime. Stories like that found us pretty much anywhere we went. People would wait their turn to thank us with tears in their eyes- sharing stories of loved ones who never lived to see their nation on the cusp of freedom.

Mohammed's post took me back to all that. I wish Cindy Sheehan would go to Iraq. I wish she would talk to the people who gained so much from her son's sacrifice. From where she stands now, she can only hear the voices of the terrorists who so capably use our media as a global megaphone- drowning out the voices of all those good Iraqis who are saying "thank you."

No, you won't find Mohammed's message in any newspapers. You see, he chooses not to precede his message with videos of violent car bomb attacks or grotesque beheadings- so he is ignored. But I'll give him some press- seems only fair, since he represents the vast majority of the Iraqis out there:

Freedom is not an American thing and it's not an Iraqi thing, it's what unites us as human beings. We refuse all kinds of restrictions and that's why we fought and still fighting everyday in spite of the swords in the hands of the cavemen who want us dead or slaves for their evil masters.

We cried out of joy the day your son and his comrades freed us from the hands of the devil and we went to the streets not believing that the nightmare is over.We practiced our freedom first by kicking and burning the statues and portraits of the hateful idol who stole 35 years from the life of a nation.

For the first time air smelled that beautiful, that was the smell of freedom.

His blood didn't go in vain; your son and our brethren are drawing a great example of selflessness.

God bless his free soul and God bless the souls of his comrades who are fighting evil.

God bless the souls of Iraqis who suffered and died for the sake of freedom.

God bless all the freedom lovers on earth.

Read the whole post.

Thanks to Blackfive for pointing the way...

Suicide Bomber Eats Lead

Thunder 6 gives a fantastic account of a suicide bombing that resulted in nothing but a suicide.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the sound we heard in the CP wasn’t a mournful cry - it was the sound of victory. Thanks to the alert soldiers in Demon Company the only life that ended that day was the suicide bombers. All that will mark the bombers bitter existence is a scorch mark on a worthless piece of road. A scorch mark that will forever recount his dismal failure.

Read the whole thing- this guy can write like no other...

Cindy Sheehan

Several people have asked for my thoughts on this, so I figured I'd give it a go. This is one of those ugly subjects that nobody likes to touch, for fear of coming across as callous, cold-hearted, insensitive, etc. Not fun, but it's a subject that needs to be dealt with...

Cindy Sheehan has a right to voice her opinion, and I respect that. If she wants to go to the Crawford Ranch or the White House lawn and claim that President Bush killed Casey Sheehan (her son), then so be it. I have no problem with her. I'll disagree with her (I think Islamofascists killed her son), but I won't argue with or question the actions of a grieving mother. I couldn't even fathom what she's going through...

My problem is with the media vultures who descend on her like a cash cow from heaven. They give her all the credibility in the world (despite some serious credibility issues) and make her the face of the "mourning mother" in America. But why does she get all the attention? Why not give some equal press to the mothers who still support the cause that their son or daughter died for? Clearly the family members who support the war make up the vast majority of those who have fallen loved ones. Just look at Casey Sheehan's other family members.

I'll tell you why these people don't get equal coverage- because it wouldn't sell. It wouldn't stir the "emotional pot" the way Cindy Sheehan's story does. It wouldn't get the big ratings and all those key demographics that the networks so desperately covet. And so now Cindy has become a pawn for terrorist apologists like Michael Moore to exploit beyond the limits of their wildest imaginations. People will listen to Cindy, they gloat to themselves- her son died in the war! Yay for us! We have a ringer! It's sickening.

The one thing we need to remember here is that Cindy's opinion is more controversial than what we typically see from families of the fallen- not more credible. She is using her son, a fallen hero, as a prop in a misguided campaign against her own country- that is her right and she has to live with her actions.

Congrats, Michael Moore- you got yourself another one...

Wow- The Daily Show!

That was really something. If you missed it last night, you have a chance to catch it today at 10 am eastern and again at 8 pm eastern. Watch it.

I just read Kate's take on it, and I think she says it way better than I ever could:

Last night on the Daily Show, John Stewart interviewed John Hockenberry on his upcoming article in Wired on military bloggers. Stewart has been reading milblogs and was enthusiastic and complimentary on the quality of writing - which is no surprise to those who follow the blogosphere. He seemed puzzled that the mainstream had ignored their stories - also no surprise to those who follow the blogosphere.

Hockenberry explained how he became interested - relating an incident about running head to head with a then little known milblogger "2Slick" - and how badly it came back to bite him...

...They quickly made amends, 2Slick is retired and back in the States, and there is a "convert" in the media...

...Hats off to John Hockenberry - I don't know if his email (John.Hockenberry@nbcuni.com) still functions, but I sent him a congratulations and thank you. You don't often see that much humility and integrity in journalism, but he displayed it last night.

So true. He's a class guy, and I'd love to see people swamp him with appreciative emails- his current email address is hockoo@earthlink.net. Seriously, how often have you seen mainstream journalists make that kind of effort to publicize the stories that aren't being reported? Thanks, John- we appreciate it...

Assignment: Daily Show

To all Milblog readers and writers out there:

Tonight you need to watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Yes, he leans a little too far to the left on most issues, but he's usually pretty funny and the show is entertaining. His guest tonight will be none other than John Hockenberry, an emmy-winning journalist who just wrote a great article about Milblogs for Wired magazine. He'll be talking about the article and how he came to be interested in the world o' milblogs.

Sure, Mr. Hockenberry and I got off to a rough start, but now he's a friend of the Forum and a friend of the milblog community- so let's all support him by watching the show tonight.

11 pm Eastern on Comedy Central.

Be there or be square.

Another Email

Since so many people seemed to appreciate my "reader mail" segment yesterday, I thought I'd share a more serious and thoughtful email in today's post. I received it just before I left for my honeymoon, so my apologies for taking so long to respond. Here goes:

Hello:

I purchased a copy of "Desert Sky" awhile ago. I apologize for not watching it yet. The past few months have not been conducive for viewing a DVD about OIF in Iraq. I have some time off, so I plan to watch it sometime over the next 2 weeks. If my husband and I have any questions, are you still willing to answer such questions, via e-mail? I know you mentioned this, but that was many months ago. Is it an invasion of privacy to ask your first name, as you said you were in this film. thank you for your service

"L&H"

Well, thank you L&H! The money you spent on that Desert Sky DVD went to a scholarship fund for children of fallen soldiers- you are great Americans! I am absolutely willing to answer any questions that anyone may have about the DVD. Since much of the film was produced while I was in Kuwait (serving out a second tour), I didn't get to participate in it as much as I would have liked- but I'm happy to report that I (along with some help from my aunt and a few cousins) was able to contribute from afar. Eric did a great job putting that film together, and I'm just proud to be associated with it. As for revealing my "true identity"- I'll give you the same answer that I gave John Hockenberry when he offered to mention my name on the Daily Show tonight:

...As a condition of starting the blog, I had to make a promise to my wife that I would always remain anonymous. Why? She's convinced that if Karl Rove ever leaked my identity, we would immediately find ourselves besieged by crazed anti-war lefties and bloodthirsty radical Islamists- all fighting for first dibs on my spleen. Personally, I find that scenario a bit far-fetched, but as I'm sure you know- the lady is always right...

But trust me- my identity is not a factor. Watch the film, enjoy it, and send me your questions and/or comments. The ones I like will be answered right here on the Forum. Somewhere in my responses, I promise to mention how cool you are for buying the DVD, watching it, and taking the time to write me about it.

Yesterday's Email

"Hockenbone" (Not to be confused with the aforementioned John Hockenberry) seemed to generate quite a response. You'll note a comment from Froggy (of the excellent Froggy Ruminations blog) asking for the guy's email and IP addresses. I was confused when I saw this, because I was certain that I had posted his email address- but then I looked up there and sure enough- no email address. What gives? Can the "Blogger people" take that stuff down? Or am I just getting old before my time? In any case, here's the contact info for "Hockenbone"- fire for effect!

Email address: thockenbone2002@yahoo.com

IP address: 206.190.37.57

I've Got Mail!

Since I started this blog almost one year ago, I've received thousands of emails from good people all over the world. Most of the emails were very kind and from the heart, and I just want you all to know that they are greatly appreciated. As an example of just how thoughtful most of you are out there, I'd like to show you something that came to my inbox just last night:

Subject: thank you

Just a moment of time to say thank you for your service and dedication to our country. God Bless you - and may life bring you the best of everything.

Isn't that nice? Well I'd just like to take this opportunity to publicly say "you're welcome" to Paula (the nice woman who sent me that), and to thank her for the kind words. Thanks, Paula!

Next, I'll share with you a far less typical email- one that I received a while back. I'm sure he's a decent person who means well, but something about his tone made me feel like he might not be a big fan of the United States. Decide for yourself as I answer his email publicly, point-by-point:

From: "hockenbone"

Subject: thanks

thanks for all your courage in fighting GWB's not so secret family fued.

You're very welcome, Sir. I prefer to call it the "Global War on Terror," but we all have our own ways of saying things. I don't know that I'd claim to have any courage, though- I just did my job. But thanks for assuming such a thing. You're very kind!

thanks for helping oust the horrible dictator that our government created.

No problem! I agree that our government is responsible for creating many things in this world (the Internet, ways to fight world hunger, cures for lots of diseases, freedom for those who otherwise wouldn't have had it, etc.), but I'll bet Mr. Hussein's parents had a lot more to do with creating said dictator than our government did. But I'm not a doctor or a scientist, so you may well be correct!

thanks for protecting the saudi royal family and lining dick cheney's pockets once again.

Thank you for giving me so much credit! I feel like I helped to protect a lot of people from a lot of bad things, and of course that makes me feel good. If you were especially concerned for the Saudi royals, then I'm glad to have helped put your mind at ease about that. I, for one, was more concerned about protecting my buddies on the battlefield as well as my friends and family back home, but we all have our priorites. Thanks for assuming wealth and wisdom on my part, but I must confess- I never did make any financial contributions to the Bush/Cheney campaign last year- but- if I'd had any extra disposable income at that time, I think that would have been an excellent investment on my part- Bush and Cheney are exactly what this country needs right now, and I'm glad that you and the vast majority of American voters agree!

thanks so much for not finding osama bin laughin'.

Wow, I could thank you for the same thing, but I actually think it's not a good thing that he hasn't been found yet. Sorry to disagree with you on this one, but I think you and I both should keep an eye out for him- he's bad news, trust me! I think you spelled his last name incorrectly, but who cares, right? The guy's a jerk.

thanks for killing inocent people so you can play out some f***ed up little boy army game that still obviously haunts you to this very day.

I'm sorry, but I think you're thinking about someone else here- never killed anyone (innocent or guilty), never played army games when I was a little boy (but I'll bet that would've been fun!), and the only thing that haunts me these days is the fact that celebrities in California can kill anyone they feel like killing, without having to worry about silly things like "justice" or "rule of law." That's scary, man! If you find yourself leaving a restaurant with Robert Blake, you'd better watch out! He just might have to "go back and get his gun." Whoa!

did your daddy stop the hugging machine a little too early?

My dad never bought me a hugging machine (how much do those things go for, btw?), so he wouldn't have had any way of stopping it- early, late, or whenever. I wouldn't have known those things existed if you hadn't mentioned it- do you still use yours?

thanks for still not getting any pussy.

Once again, you're thinking of the wrong guy. My wife and I own a cat- he's 3 years old and we love him very much. And why would you thank me for not having a cat? I think it's an awesome thing to own a cat! You should go out and get one- seriously!

you suck as a human being for even considering the military.

I know, I know- you got me there. I shouldn't have even considered it- I should have just signed up without ever having given it a thought! Trust me, if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have considered it- I would have just done it. You are obviously wise beyond your years, but some of us "slower folks" learn as we go.

what would your little jesus think of your behavior?

Again- wrong guy. I don't have any children yet, but even if I did- I don't think "Jesus" would be the name I'd choose for my son. Obviously, "Jesus" was an acceptable Jewish name 2,000 years ago, but you just don't find many Jews named "Jesus" these days...

you will burn in hell for your deeds.

No argument there- let's just say I was young and needed the money.

f**k you and f**k the marines and f**k republicans and f**k democrats for that matter.

Hey, no need to get political here- even if you are bipartisan! But I am happy to be connected in some way with the Marines (I greatly admire them), Republicans (I admire most of them) and even Democrats (Joe Lieberman is cool, I guess). So thank you!

f**k you!

Wow, you see fit to give me a 2nd emphasis? Over the Marines and all those politicians! Thanks again, Sir!

you arent protecting my family from anything you c**ks**king warmonger.

True- but if you gave me your family's contact information, I'd be happy to protect them! Just showing them a copy of your email would probably alert them to a few realizations that just might serve to protect them somewhere down the road- just guessing here. And please- I prefer "former Army Aviator."

i cant wait till they send you home in a f**kin bodybag!

Well, I don't know that I was in that much of a hurry to get home- but thanks for your obvious concern, and you'll be happy to learn that they sent me home several months ago!

you deserve to die for your involvement in this dirty f**kin mess.

Well, the way I see it- we're all going to die someday whether we deserve it or not. Thanks for the note, and please write again soon!

Well, that was fun- I hope you enjoyed his email as much as I did!

Bad Blogger

I just read an interesting article about a National Guardsman who recently found himself in some hot water after blogging against his mission while stationed in Iraq. I'm certain that we'll hear some tired old arguments about "free speech" and "every soldier has a right to an opinion" and blah blah words words ACLU blah blah Bush is a big stupidhead words words. Well it's all a bunch of crap.

This man is drawing a paycheck, and he's expected to perform a service in return for getting paid. As a former member of his profession, I'm well aware of what that service entails. Duty, Honor, Country- I won't bore you with the details.

Think of it in terms of football. Keyshawn Johnson wasn't getting paid to simply catch the ball when it was thrown to him- he was getting paid to help win football games. That was the expectation when he was hired. He was paid handsomely for his services. But when he started mouthing off about how bad the coaching was and how miserable his job had become, he was in effect doing the opposite of helping to win games- he had become a distraction to the team, a burden on the coaching staff, and so his employers wisely decided to cut him loose. But that's football. If they don't win games, then oh well- there's always next year.

What happens when Leonard's anti-mission attitude and public denunciation of his own organization cause his unit to become distracted? Can they just suck it up, and hope for a better season next year? No. Unfortunately, when selfish publicity-seeking morons like Leonard infect an organization within the ranks of the military, they can certainly end up getting good people killed. It's simply a matter of fact. His chain of command acted appropriately as far as I can discern, although I'd have probably been less tolerant if I were his commander. I'll have to see how it all shakes out.

Don't be fooled by this clown. Don't commend him for his "service"- admonish him for endangering the lives of good soldiers in a quest for publicity and political gain. That's right- political gain. He plans to run for the U.S. Senate when he returns home. Read all about it, my friends. He's just another pathetic John Kerry wannabe looking to sacrifice good people on his way to fame and fortune. I hope he fails, and I hope he rots in hell for attempting to use our nation's military as a credibility-boosting political podium in time of war.

This reminds me of an old rant I once wrote about the most liberal Senator from Massachusetts. Here's a blast from the past just for you, Leonard- enjoy your Article 15, my friend!

John Kerry Blows
-A Rant by 2Slick

John Kerry served more than most and should therefore be honored, right? Wrong! How about our "heroic soldiers" who abused the prisoners in Iraq and took the photos for all the world to see? They served more than most people. Like Kerry, some of them might have actually performed an act of courage here and there. Should they be honored? Absolutely not!!! Their lame-brained sex games caused countless insurgents to take up arms against us and kill who-knows-how-many American soldiers. To make a blanket statement along the lines of "anyone who served should be honored" is just plain ignorant. There are bad apples in every bunch, and the sad truth is that there is a small minority of soldiers in every American war that did more to hurt the cause than to help. John Kerry is one of those bad apples. "Why" you ask? Well, it has nothing to do with the fact that he lied to get medals.

As a leader/officer in wartime, one must ensure that soldiers know one thing above all else- that their leaders are looking out for them. The soldiers must believe that the ones in charge will devote every last breath, drop of blood, bead of sweat to ensure the soldiers' safety during the course of the mission. John Kerry did no such thing. He got 3 band-aid wounds, and promptly headed home. Remember- great leaders like Ollie North refused Purple Hearts so that they could stay and lead their troops. John Kerry went after those Purple Hearts like a man possessed. One commander refused to give him one, so he waited until he had a different commander and then asked again. What kind of message did that send to his sailors and all the other enlisted sailors in his unit? I'll tell you what message it sent- "officers look out for themselves." Officers will get rattled and say "OK good luck guys! I'm outta here!!"

Apparently a handful (maybe 9 out of about 300?) of the sailors he served with have forgiven him. Understandable, given the fact that he delivered those troops a national cheering audience that was more than 30 years overdue (at the DNC in Boston). But I'll tell you who will NEVER forgive him for what he did- the officers who served with him. He complicated their efforts, he hurt their unit's morale, he put their lives in danger, and he quickly rubbed salt in their wounds by coming home and bashing the ones who were brave enough to stay behind and do their duty. He had an anti-war agenda before he even joined the Navy. He used his credibility as an officer to propagate outrageous theories that hurt the ones who were still held captive, and caused years of unfair bias and hard feelings toward thousands of brave and honorable vets after they returned home.

He did all of this in order to win political fame and favor in the Democratic Party. It was his ticket to the big time, and he cashed it without a second thought. Reprehensible in every sense of the word. Say what you want about whether or not he deserved his medals- I could care less. As a leader in the US Military, he was an insult to our profession. He would have served his country much better by never having gone to Vietnam.

Blogs of War

Some of the folks who have been coming by since the early days of this blog may recall my little "dustup" with a journalist/TV personality by the name of John Hockenberry. Shortly after that interesting debacle I said that "if I ever bring him up again, I hope that it will be because of something positive." Well, I'm happy to report that something positive has indeed happened.

What most of you don't know is that John and I have been corresponding since then- via phone and email- mostly because he expressed a profound interest in writing an article about milblogs and the milblogging milbloggers who write them. I gave him a few leads (Mudville was probably all he needed), and he charged onward. Now that I think of it, I still have all those email exchanges- maybe I should ask for his consent to post a few of them- it would be pretty interesting, I think. But I digress- the article has arrived! You can find it here and in the current issue of Wired Magazine. Check it out!!!

I actually got an email from John last night- he'll be talking about the article on the Daily Show on August 10th- MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Blogger Down

I didn't know Steven Vincent, but I became familiar with his work soon after I heard the tragic news of his death. He was enormously talented, gutsy, and fully determined to make the world a better place. I believe that history will show that he succeeded. He will be missed.

Get the Stories that Matter

The good people at the DoD's Public Affairs Office do a lot of hard work, and too often their great work gets drowned out by the sensationalist "big media" coverage of car bombs and rocket attacks. I spent quite a bit of time with PAO folks while I was in Mosul, and I can tell you that they do their very best to get the word out. The rest is up to us- we need to filter through the sensationalist headlines and find the stories that the bad guys don't want us to see, and the CENTCOM Bulletins are a great place to start. In my left margin, I'm going to place a permanent link to the CENTCOM web page- so now you have no excuses for not getting the real stories behind the ongoing operations.

Michael Yon

There is another courageous journalist/blogger in Iraq- his name is Michael Yon, and I've been following him for a while now. He's fantastic. We can only hope that people like Michael and Stephen Vincent will inspire a new generation of writers who seek to promote truth and hope as opposed to cashing in on hatred and violence.

In Case There Was Any Doubt...

Michelle Malkin is still one of the best out there. Her take on Air America's latest scandal is priceless:

If a conservative radio network had been entangled in a scam to steal from black children to line the pockets of wealthy white con artists, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would already be staging hunger strikes in protest. But both have hefty political and financial stakes in Air America's success -- and the big mouths aren't about to badmouth their friends.

There's simply no better way to say it.

Levity

It's been a while since I posted anything funny, so here's something I found at a site called stephenmphillips.com. It's so funny, it'll make you sick.

A Fired Up Muslim Speaks

This is one of the better articles I've seen in recent times. I found it on LGF, and I think it should be seen by everyone. Read it, email it, talk about it, read it again.

The Muslim Mind is on Fire

Youssef M. Ibrahim
July 26, 2005

DUBAI -- The world of Islam is on fire. Indeed, the Muslim mind is on fire. Above all, the West is now ready to take both of them on.

The latest reliable report confirms that on average 33 Iraqis die every day, executed by Iraqis and foreign jihadis and suicide bombers, not by US or British soldiers. In fact, fewer than ever US or British soldiers are dying since the invasion more than two years ago. Instead, we now watch on television hundreds of innocent Iraqis lying without limbs, bleeding in the streets dead or wounded for life. If this is jihad someone got his religious education completely upside down.

Palestine is on fire, too, with Palestinian armed groups fighting one another - Hamas against Fatah and all against the Palestinian Authority. All have rendered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas impotent and have diminished the world's respect and sympathy for Palestinian sufferings.

A couple of weeks ago London was on fire as Pakistani and other Muslims with British citizenship blew up tube stations in the name of Islam. Al Qaeda in Europe or one of its franchises proclaimed proudly the killing of 54 and wounding 700 innocent citizens was done to "avenge Islam" and Muslims.

Madrid was on fire, too, last year, when Muslim jihadis blew up train stations killing 160 people and wounding a few thousands.

The excuse in all the above cases was the war in Iraq, but let us not forget that in September 2001, long before Iraq, Osama Bin Laden proudly announced that he ordered the killing of some 3,000 in the United States, in the name of avenging Islam. Let us not forget that the killing began a long time before the invasion of Iraq.

Indeed, jihadis have been killing for a decade in the name of Islam. They killed innocent tourists and natives in Morocco and Egypt, in Africa, in Indonesia and in Yemen, all done in the name of Islam by Muslims who say that they are better than all other Muslims. They killed in India, in Thailand and are now talking of killing in Germany and Denmark and so on. There were attacks with bombs that killed scores inside Shia and Sunni mosques, inside churches and inside synagogues in Turkey and Tunisia, with Muslim preachers saying that it is okay to kill Jews and Christians - the so called infidels.

Above all, it is the Muslim mind that is on fire.

The Muslim fundamentalist who attacked the Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands, stabbed him more than 23 times then cut his throat. He recently proudly proclaimed at his trial: "I did it because my religion - Islam - dictated it and I would do it again if were free." Which preacher told this guy this is Islam? That preacher should be in jail with him.

Do the cowardly jihadis who recruit suicide bombers really think that they will force the US Army and British troops out of Iraq by killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis? US troops now have bases and operate in Iraq but also from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.

The only accomplishment of jihadis is that now they have aroused the great "Western Tiger". There was a time when the United States and Europe welcomed Arab and Muslim immigrants, visitors and students, with open arms. London even allowed all dissidents escaping their countries to preach against those countries under the guise of political refugees.

Well, that is all over now. Time has become for the big Western vengeance.

Visas for Arab and Muslim young men will be impossible to get for the United States and Western Europe. Those working there will be expelled if they are illegal, and harassed even if their papers are in order.

Airlines will have to right to refuse boarding to passengers if their names even resemble names on a prohibited list on all flights heading to Europe and the United States.

What is more important to remember is this: When the West did unite after World War II to beat communism, the long Cold War began without pity. They took no prisoners. They all stood together, from the United States to Norway, from Britain to Spain, from Belgium to Switzerland. And they did bring down the biggest empire. Communism collapsed.

I fear those naïve Muslims who think that they are beating the West have now achieved their worst crime of all. The West is now going to war against not only Muslims, but also, sadly, Islam as a religion.

In this new cold and hot war, car bombs and suicide bombers here and there will be no match for the arsenal that those Westerners are putting together - an arsenal of laws, intelligence pooling, surveillance by satellites, armies of special forces and indeed, allies inside the Arab world who are tired of having their lives disrupted by demented so-called jihadis or those bearded preachers who, under the guise of preaching, do little to teach and much to ignite the fire, those who know little about Islam and nothing about humanity.

Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for The New York Times and energy editor of the Wall Street Journal, is managing director of the Dubai-based Strategic Energy Investment Group

To Paradise and Back Again

Thanks for the nice well-wishes and all that. The wedding was fantastic. It happened on July 2nd in NYC- probably the most beautiful day the city will have this year. The honeymoon was beyond spectacular. It kicked off on July 4th with dinner and fireworks on a Maui beach. It only got better from there. My wife is the greatest, and I'm now officially the luckiest man in the world.

Other Important Stuff

I don't think I can say anything about the London bombings that hasn't already been said. What a sad and pathetic culture that breeds such senseless savagery...

Not sure who the next Supreme Court Justice will be, but I'm not in the running- squash the rumors NOW.

The Laughably Lame Valerie Plame Name Game- what an unbelievable joke. If you haven't educated yourself about this media-manufactured non-scandal by now, you must dive into it- it's a great laugh, I assure you. Desperation can be really funny. I think Fox News' John Gibson has the best take on it- I like the way he compared it to the Sandy "Pants" Berger fiasco:

Let's tee up a big screaming match about whether a high official of the White House committed a crime by breaching security in a dust-up over terrorists like Saddam Hussein and Usama bin Laden.

No, I'm not talking about Karl Rove. I'm talking about Sandy Berger stuffing secrets into his socks so the 9/11 Commission wouldn't be able to see what he and Bill Clinton were really thinking and saying and doing about Usama bin Laden.

Let's see now, what happened when Berger got caught with the secrets in his socks?

Hmmm. Did we hear the Democratic senators and congressmen wailing about breaking national security? No, we did not.

Did we hear them harrumphing about how a White House operative was tanking an official investigation, trying to steer the snoopy voters in another direction, away from the officials' own complacency, or moral turpitude?

Nawww, we didn't hear that.

But we're hearing it now.

Even the sainted Amb. Joe Wilson has now admitted his wife was not in a covert status when Karl Rove explained to a Time magazine reporter it wasn't Dick Cheney who sent Wilson off to Niger, but that it was Wilson's wife. She recommended him, telling her bosses he had loads of contacts in Africa.

So Wilson comes back and says no reason to think Saddam wanted to build a nuke bomb out of Nigerian yellow cake — the uranium you need for a bomb.

Evidently, Bush and Cheney didn't believe him. Neither did the Select Committee investigating pre-war intelligence. They said Wilson was wrong and didn't tell the truth — could you say lied — about who sent him to Africa.

But, oh no, sorry Valerie Plame is a CIA agent with covert status. Can't tell the country she was the one who set her husband up to go tank a report on a key question leading up to the war.

No, no no. She's a spook you see. She only acts like a political hack trying to pull strings on national policy from behind a curtain.

The American people aren't allowed to know who she is when she does something like that. She's covert, don't you know. And Sandy Berger, the guy with the secrets in his socks? He just gets a pass.

Why? They're Dems, as in 'Dems' the wrong guys to blame.

That's My Word.

Be sure to check out his rubuttal to his rebuttals as well.

Durbin Must Go- Happy July 4th!

I'm usually a forgive and forget kind of guy.

But I will never forgive Senator Durbin for saying what he said about the brave men and women who put their lives on the line for him on a daily basis.

He is an enemy of the United States and should not win another election. Ever. For any office.

I will gladly assist any and all efforts to ensure that Dick Durbin is voted out of office, and I would ask anyone who would ever consider voting for him to look themselves in the mirror and strongly consider the implications of their actions.

The following post is borrowed from the great people at http://www.moveamericaforward.org/. (Many thanks to Joe Wierzbicki)

****From MoveAmericaForward.Org****

Bloggers, website hosts, and others who support the war against terrorism and our troops who bravely fight it. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

Tuesday night President Bush gave a speech from Fort Hood to rally public support for our troops and the important missions they are serving in the fight against terrorism.

There should be NO DOUBT that the President's opponents will surely use the following days as a staging ground to step up their continuing political insurgency - designed to undermine support amongst Americans for the fight against terrorism just as the terrorist insurgents in Iraq seek to undermine support amongst the Iraqi citizenry for a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq.

The political insurgents of the "Blame America First" crowd in America launched their jihad against Operation Iraqi Freedom before it even began (actually even before Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan when led by Congresswoman Barbara Lee they implored us to "Bomb Them With Bread").

They tell us the war in Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda even as their liberal journalist brethren report on the near daily attacks against civilians and Coalition Forces alike by the group "al Qaeda in Iraq" led by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.

Increasingly, they've resorted to the macabre practice of celebrating "bad news" in the war effort - hoping such news will once and for all discreditthe Bush Administration and anyone who supports the mission in Iraq. They impatiently waited like groupies lined up in advance of a big rock concert for the day the death toll of U.S. Troops in Iraq reached 1,000 - ready with their pre-printed newspaper headlines and NightLine specials to decry thewar effort.

And in recent weeks they've sunk to new lows - orchestrating a multi-front propaganda campaign to make the American public believe that our own sons and daughters serving at GITMO had become infected with some real life "Lord of the Flies" syndrome. becoming the butchers and torturers of the "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime-Pol Pot or others-that had no concern for human beings."

That last quote of course belongs to Senator Dick Durbin - which gets us to our point.

That the Senator from Illinois was able to utter those words and proceed without a slap on the wrist, without censure by the Senate, and with a near media blackout of his abhorrent behavior by the old line liberal media establishment (aka "mainstream media") cannot be something we tolerate.

We must stand toe to toe with the likes of Senator Durbin in the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public, and we must not allow conduct like Senator Durbin's to stand without consequence.

We need the help of you and your readers/followers/admirers/friends/loved ones and others - to make an example of Senator Dick Durbin. We must make the American public (who largely are still unaware of the Senator's initial statements) aware that these are the tactics being used by those who wish to rile them up into a frenzied state of "BRING THEM HOME NOW" Vietnamization.

On July 4th - Independence Day from those who seek to undermine our national resolve - we will begin a television ad campaign to hold Senator Dick Durbin accountable for his denouncement of our troops. The first ad, "TorturedWords," will air nationwide on cable news channels (Fox News, CNN, etc.) and in Illinois on the major broadcast affiliates (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.)

However, we need your help to raise the remaining money for airtime in just a few days time.

We are about $174,832 short of our initial budget for the ad campaign. That means we need another 6,993 Americans to contribute an average of $25 to the ad campaign. (Or less Americans to contribute a slightly larger amount).

We haven't got much time to get our order for airtime in with the networks -will you please help us spread word of our efforts - and need for assistance?

The first ad - "TORTURED WORDS" can be seen at our website:

http://www.MoveAmericaForward.org

Direct link to the first ad is:

http://www.moveamericaforward.org/Video/MAFO-7449-HI.wmv

And individuals may contribute online at:

http://www.MoveAmericaForward.org/Contribute

We plan to keep the pressure up after this initial ad run - with a longer 60-second spot featuring the Senator in his own words - but 60-second ads cost twice as much as our current 30-second spot, so first things first. We must pay for our more modest media budget before we worry about the future.

In the 24-hour media cycle we have a tendency to move on to the next story before the last one has ever been fully told. We CANNOT afford to do this with Senator Durbin. We must push back for once and turn the tables in the war for hearts and minds. Let us return the news cycle to the need to hold Senator Durbin accountable and let us demonstrate to those who relish a return to the 1960's that they best put their plans for Woodstock 2006, their campus riots and their spitting upon returning U.S. Troops on hold. We're not going to let them conjure up that kind of America again.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely, Melanie Morgan & Howard Kaloogian
Move America Forwardhttp://www.MoveAmericaForward.org

P.S. Lest you think our commitment to this cause is not complete, please note that later today we will be sending you an update on "The Truth Tour" -we will be traveling to Iraq July 7th -17th, along with fellow MAF BoardMember, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Buzz Patterson (the man who carried the nuclear football during the Clinton Administration), leading a delegation of talk radio hosts who will interview our troops and allow them to report to America on the accomplishments they are making in Iraq that never get reported by certain media outlets. We're prepared to walk the walk ourselves - and not just ask others to help us in this just cause.

****End Post form MoveAmericaForward.Org****

Have a great 4th, everyone- I'll be honeymooning!!

So Sick of This

I'm so sick of today's so-called "media," I simply had to write something. How pathetic is this article?

Let's examine it, shall we?

FBI Records Cite Quran Abuse Allegations

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison told U.S. interrogators as early as April 2002, just three months after the first detainees arrived, that military guards abused them and desecrated the Quran, declassified FBI records say.


That's the OPENING of the article!! He might as well have written it thusly:

Before you read anything else that I'm about to tell you in this article- I want you to know that I'm about to tell you what the honest and forthright terrorists are saying about the evil US interrogators at Gitmo.

Let's look further into this sordid tale of US atrocities-

"Their behavior is bad," one detainee is quoted as saying of his guards during an interrogation by an FBI special agent in July 2002. "About five months ago the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Quran in the toilet."

Nice work, Mr. Burns!! Let's go ahead and be a sounding board for terrorist propagandists!!!

Better to leave the "evil US" version of events buried somewhere towards the end of the article-

Pentagon officials have said recently that the public claims by released detainees were not credible and that the terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay had been trained to make such false claims.

Indeed, the FBI records cite at least one instance in which a detainee is said to have falsely claimed that a guard had dropped a Quran. "In actuality the detainee dropped the Quran and then blamed the guard. Many other detainees reacted to this claim," the FBI document said, and that sparked an uprising "on or about 19-20 July 2002."

In response to a recent Newsweek story, later retracted, that U.S. officials had confirmed allegations of Quran desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that they have turned up no credible, substantiated claims that U.S. military guards had deliberately treated the Muslim holy book with disrespect.

Wow, that might have been good to have at the BEGINNING of the article. No such luck for the bad Americans.

And then today, we get the same garbage from the same guy.

The newsies want us to believe that a small handful of soldiers who may or may not have "mishandled" the Muslim holy book is a news story. I don't buy it. Why am I supposed to get excited about alleged "Quran mishandling" when I know for a fact that if I attempted to bring a Bible or Torah into just about any Arab state, my head would quickly find itself detached from my body?

You want something worth reading? Read this.

Hypocrisy Most Holy

Muslims should show some respect to others' religions.

BY ALI AL-AHMED Friday, May 20, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

With the revelation that a copy of the Quran may have been desecrated by U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Muslims and their governments--including that of Saudi Arabia--reacted angrily. This anger would have been understandable if the U.S. government's adopted policy was to desecrate our Quran. But even before the Newsweek report was discredited, that was never part of the allegations.

As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Quran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia--where I come from--are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately...(read the rest)

This guy is a Muslim worth listening to. Why do we allow people like him to be drowned out by inciteful accusations made by terrorists who clearly aim to energize their suicide-happy base? Well, it's because of responsible truth-seekers like good 'ol Robert Burns, of course!

Robert Burns hates America. I'm sure Michael Moore is happy to have him in the club...

Haim Harari Wrote a Book!

Hello all. Sorry it took so long to get to this- civilianing is harder than I thought it would be!

I was obviously thrilled when I saw that Haim Harari turned his awesome speech into a book (A VIEW FROM THE EYE OF THE STORM), but I was even more thrilled with the way I found out about it. I got an email from his publicist, who found my blog entry about Haim's speech, and he offered to send me a copy of the book so that I could write a review, and perhaps conduct an online interview with Haim! I thought that was really amazing, and of course I took him up on the offer. He sent me the book the next day, and I plan on reading it this weekend. I'll write my review soon after. I'm certain it will be a favorable review- the guy is a genuis.

More Good News

U.S. Marine cleared in shooting of Iraqi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps has ruled that no charges will be filed against a Marine in the fatal shooting of a wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a Falluja mosque last November in an incident shown in a television pool report, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

After a five-month investigation, the Marine Corps determined that the Marine corporal fired in self-defense and will not face court-martial, spokesman Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said.

Welcome news, indeed.

This Looks Interesting

Sent: 05 May 05 11.06
To: West Point Class Leaders
Subject: Update on 60 Minutes 2005 Coverage

Dear Class Leaders,

I got a return message based on the information I provided on the 60 Minutes piece on the Class of 2005, expressing some concern that the coverage might not be positive. Because I thought there might be some credibility to that concern I contacted our Public Affairs Office and posed the question. The following is what they have provided.

"-We anticipate a positive story from CBS-TV's "Sixty Minutes" that will set the tone for other graduation media coverage. In particular, we are pleased that throughout the project we were able to remain true to our original premise so the segment will focus on how West Point has changed and how cadets (Class of 2005) prepare to meet the challenges of today's OEF/OIF world environment. The segment will feature several aspects of West Point to include interviews with the Dean and several First Class cadets and footage of classes, technology, Sandhurst military skills competition, etc. It will also include interviews with 1LT Andy Blickhahn (former Cadet First Captain now serving in Iraq) and Dr Leonard Wong from the U.S. Army War College on adaptable leaders.

Barring any major breaking news, CBS-TV 60 Minutes is scheduled to air the segment on this Sunday, May 8, at 7 p.m. EST. It should be the second story to run (a Vladimir Putin story may be first) and has quite a long run-time at 12 and a half minutes."

I'll be interested to see what the young Cadets are doing these days...

Paula Abdul...

...is so guilty, it's not even funny. She should start looking for a new job now.

Some Big News- Spread the Word, Please!

As most of you know, I've been a bit scarce during these past few months, so there probably aren't that many people coming by these days- no problem, I understand. For those of you who inexplicably continue to drop by (thanks!), I'd like to ask a favor. Please help me get the following announcement to as many people as humanly possible- it's for a good cause, I assure you.

DESERT SKY IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE!!!!!!!

Please order a copy today, and tell everyone you know about it. I'll be happy to field any and every question you feel like asking about anything you see in this film- just send them to my email or post them in any comments box. I saw a sneak preview a few months ago when I was still in Kuwait, and I think Eric did a great job of capturing our experience on film. Congrats to Eric for bringing this project to fruition...

And Then There's This

Can you believe RightWingSparkle? She's the coolest. Somehow, she thought I was worthy enough to be on the business end of a hard-hitting online interview! I was flattered to say the very least. Check out the first installment here. I'm about to answer the rest of her questions right now, so I'm guessing she'll post the finale sometime this week- subject to current events, I'm sure. Stay tooned! Update: Part II is up already!

And As If That Weren't Enough...

Something very cool happened to me the other day. I can't wait to tell you about it. Here's a hint: it involves Haim Harari- one of those brilliant minds on this planet...more tomorrow.

Jane Takes On Big Tobacco

I don't condone this sort of behavior AT ALL. But I just felt that this story should be shared with as many people as possible...

Missouri Man Spits on Jane Fonda

TIM CURRAN, Associated Press Writer

A man spit tobacco juice into the face of actress Jane Fonda after waiting in line to have her sign her new book, police said. The man ran off but was quickly caught by police Tuesday night and charged with disorderly conduct.

Fonda has been on tour and doing interviews to promote her just-published memoir, "My Life So Far." The thrice-married, two-time Academy Award winner covers a wide array of topics, including her 1972 visit to Hanoi to protest the Vietnam War, during which she was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She has apologized for that photo, but not for opposing the war.

Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department said that although Fonda did not want to press charges against Michael A. Smith, 54, of Kansas City, he was arrested on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct after off-duty officers caught him just outside Unity Temple, where Fonda was signing books.

Lockhart said Smith was released on bond late Tuesday night and is due to appear in municipal court on May 27.

Smith, a Vietnam veteran, told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday that Fonda was a "traitor" and that her protests against the war were unforgivable. He said he normally does not chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress.

"I consider it a debt of honor," he told The Star for a story on its Web site, www.kansascity.com. "She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did."

Fonda drew a crowd of about 900 for her appearance, said Vivian Jennings, whose Rainy Day Books of suburban Fairway, Kan., sponsored the event at Unity Temple in Kansas City. Fonda, 67, spoke for about 15 minutes, answered questions for another 15, then began signing copies of her book.

Jennings said Fonda received a standing ovation when she came out and when she finished speaking. Alan Tilson, one of those who had his book signed but left before the incident, said the crowd was very "warm and supportive" to Fonda and he was surprised to learn what had happened.

Jennings said the actress never got up from her seat and continued autographing books after the tobacco juice was wiped off.

"The important thing is that she was so calm and so gracious about it," Jennings said of Fonda. "She was wonderful."

Jennings said that the man had a book to which the name "Jody" had been affixed as he approached to have it autographed. She said that when Fonda got the book, she looked up and said, "You're not Jody."

"At that moment, he turned his head quickly and spit a trail of tobacco juice," Jennings said. "He immediately jumped off the stage and started running down the aisle."

Fonda, who flew to Minneapolis Wednesday for another appearance on the book tour she began April 5, issued a statement through Jynne Martin of Random House, which published her book.

"In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful and I thank all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me last night," Fonda said.

In Other News

I have some exciting things coming up in the next few days- two interviews. Stay tooned to find out more...

Medal of Honor

Well deserved...