iVia: INTEL DUMP -warrior-leaders and warrior-soldiers AKA POP UPS

In the battle against the Thuggies, there are two kinds of Iraqi forces coming out to do battle against the enemy: planned units and the pop-ups that appear overnight, like mushrooms on the front lawn, however, unlike mushroom these "pop ups" are better led, motivated and first class killers against the thugmasters seeking to take over their country. "Just show us where to go and we will eat the insurgents alive," an Iraqi in one of these units told Maj. Wales earlier this month when he tracked them down at a long-shuttered Baghdad airport."
"Greg Jaffe had an exceptional piece in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) describing the rise of "irregular" Iraqi units around the country, which were popping up on their own, raised by individual officers, funded privately, with little connection to the U.S.-led effort to raise an Iraqi army. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), these ad hoc units appear to be better led, better equipped, and more combat effective than their "official" brethren. And, perhaps more importantly, some U.S. officers are recognizing this, and figuring out how they might co-opt or work together with these Iraqi forces."


INTEL DUMP -

VIA World Tribune.com:Mattis There are the hunters and the hunted

General Mattis, in the World Tribune article by Pamela Hess, outlines your conduct and education via the commanders intent:

"There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. ... It's really a hell of a lot of fun. You're gonna have a blast out here!" he said, with marked glee. "I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn't get to serve with you."

He is also icily clear with what he expects of the new Marines in the theater, who are much needed reinforcements and relief for departing troops.

"You must know the commander's intent: (Our motto) is 'no better friend, no worse enemy.' But I have added: 'First do no harm.' No harm to the innocent. No harm to a prisoner, ever. This is the Marine Corps," he barked.

Referring to the reserve soldiers who abused and humiliated prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Mattis said: "They were undisciplined, sorry-ass excuses for soldiers. We will not cost America one ounce of its moral authority," he said.

"How you treat people is very, very important. We're not gonna become racists. They (the enemy force) want you to hate every Iraqi out here. ... You treat those women and children the way you do your own. You make certain you don't do anything that would smear the Marine Corps.

"It is absolutely essential you know what I won't f--ing tolerate," he said, and related the details of a recent case in which a Marine administered an electric shock to a detaiinee he had in jail. He was swiftly court-martialed.

"He thought it was funny. It is, if you like five years in Leavenworth (prison)," Mattis said.

"You are free men. No one forced you into the Marine Corps. You are going to prove the enemy wrong out here," he said.

Mattis is as likely to mention a battle in ancient Rome as he is in Vietnam when making a point to his troops. Every conversation with his Marines seems an opportunity for some history and criticism, usually so subtly the Marine doesn't realize he has been corrected. He feels like he is changing his path on his own.

Mattis is thoughtful without being calculating, and includes his team — which includes me by sheer proximity from time to time — in on his leadership decisions.

While in Asad after a brief stop on the Syrian border, he learned of a coordinated and deadly mortar attack on his headquarters base at Blue Diamond. It seriously injured five. At least one — a well-loved sergeant — died from his wounds.

Mattis sat on the information for the duration of a solemn helicopter ride. When we landed, he gathered us together and broke the news.

"Now we're going to go in there like nothing is wrong. Cool and calm. Cool and calm," he said, imbuing everyone in the circle with responsibility for maintaining morale.


World Tribune.com: On the ground in Iraq with the U.S. Marines

VIA The State :Tankers to Ride War Pigs

Delta Company, of the 8th Tank Battalion, will be assigned 24 light armored vehicles to take the place of 14 M1A1 tanks, said Capt. B.M. Rodden, the unit’s commander.

Switching from M1A1 Abrams tanks to the smaller vehicles, known as LAV-25s, also will result in boosting the unit’s troop strength to 135 Marines from 117, Rodden said. More troops will be needed because the unit will have more vehicles.

As part of the overall reorganization of the Marine Corps, the reservists will be assigned to Fox Company of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.
The State | 02/20/2005 | Reservists to shed tanks for light vehicles

VIA The American Spectator: General Mattis and the Warrior Code

The American Spectator: "Gen. Mattis regularly showed up to speak with us. He would tell us colorful stories, offer tough-minded advice and counsel, and eagerly solicit our thoughts and questions. We loved him because we knew he loved us.

And Gen. Mattis didn't just talk the talk; he walked the walk. He led from the front. Indeed, on at least one occasion that I know of, the General was bloodied from a firefight or improvised explosive device while out on patrol with junior, enlisted Marines one-third his age. That's what makes Gen. Mattis such a great warrior: He truly respects and cares for his Marines.

'Guardiano,' he told me, 'I don't give a damn about the officers. If they don't like what they're doing, they can get on a plane and leave the Corps -- go back where they came from. But I do care deeply about those 18- and 19-year-old Lance Corporals out on the frontlines.' The General was telling me that, as an officer, I better be concerned with helping younger, junior Marines, not advancing my own career.

That's why all the liberal talk about Mattis being some sort of 'psychopathic killer' is so ludicrous. Nor is he, as the conservative talk-show set would have it, an inhumane 'fighting machine.' Psychopathic killers don't care for their men; and machines don't exhibit compassion for a liberated but frightened people.

Yet, I am absolutely convinced that whenever a Marine died or bled, a part of Gen. Mattis died and bled, too. And whenever an innocent Iraqi was intimidated, beaten or shot, Gen. Mattis was incensed and outraged. But because of our modern-day cultural depravity, we lack the basic vocabulary necessary to identify and understand, let alone appreciate and celebrate, warriors like Gen. Mattis.The American Spectator read

He Has Seen the Elephant

VIA Military.com

Well, I'm here in Iraq, and I've seen it, and done it. I've seen everything you've ever seen in a war movie. I've seen cowardice; I've seen heroism; I've seen fear; and I've seen relief. I've seen blood and brains all over the back of a vehicle, and I've seen men bleed to death surrounded by their comrades. I've seen people throw up when it's all over, and I've seen the same shell-shocked look in 35-year-old experienced sergeants as in 19-year-old privates.

"I've heard the screams - 'Medic! Medic!' I've hauled dead civilians out of cars, and I've looked down at my hands and seen them covered in blood after putting some poor Iraqi civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time into a helicopter. I've seen kids with gunshot wounds, and I've seen kids who've tried to kill me.

"I've seen men tell lies to save lives: 'What happened to Sergeant A.?' The reply: 'C'mon man, he's all right - he's wondering if you'll be OK - he said y'all will have a beer together when you get to Germany.' SFC A. was lying 15 feet away on the other side of the bunker with two medics over him desperately trying to get either a pulse or a breath. The man who asked after SFC A. was himself bleeding from two gut wounds and rasping as he tried to talk with a collapsed lung. One of them made it; one did not.

"I've run for cover as fast as I've ever run - I'll hear the bass percussion thump of mortar rounds and rockets exploding as long as I live. I've heard the shrapnel as it shredded through the trailers my men live in and over my head. I've stood, gasping for breath, as I helped drag into a bunker a man so pale and badly bloodied I didn't even recognize him as a soldier I've known for months. I've run across open ground to find my soldiers and make sure I had everyone.

He Has Seen the Elephant

Professor Ward Churchill on the dead from the 9/11 Twin Towers

Well, really. Let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire – the "mighty engine of profit" to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved – and they did so both willingly and knowingly. Recourse to "ignorance" – a derivative, after all, of the word "ignore" – counts as less than an excuse among this relatively well-educated elite. To the extent that any of them were unaware of the costs and consequences to others of what they were involved in – and in many cases excelling at – it was because of their absolute refusal to see. More likely, it was because they were too busy braying, incessantly and self-importantly, into their cell phones, arranging power lunches and stock transactions, each of which translated, conveniently out of sight, mind and smelling distance, into the starved and rotting flesh of infants. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it.




Professor Ward Churchill on the dead from the 9/11 Twin Towers

Tighting the OODA Loops

Expect the Marine Corps to take up the slack in its OODA loops as the world war induced changes in combat are studied, analyzed and digested. A recent 30 day Force Structural Review conference came up with 60 initiatives to help you and the Corps carry the fight to the Thugees and their Thugmasters.

"These initiatives will create, disestablish and realign units throughout the occupational specialties affecting several thousand active duty and reserve Marines.

"We made some hard decisions," said Gen. Mike Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps. "We are going to realign some force structure in order to increase our flexibility, adaptability and agility to respond to contingencies and the global war on terrorism."

High priority changes will include, but are not limited to, the addition of active duty elements such as two infantry battalions, three light armored reconnaissance companies, three reconnaissance companies, two force reconnaissance platoons, and one air and naval gunfire liaison company. Additions to the Marine Corps Reserve will include one anti-terrorism battalion, two light armored reconnaissance companies and one intelligence support battalion.


Marine Corps News> Changing world inspires structural adjustments

Three More LAR companies

The Stars and Stripes is reporting the creation of three Light Armored Reconnaissance Companies to be added to the active forces
European and Pacific Stars & Stripes

Jordan Untouchable :Vanderleun @ American Digest to Blogsphere.... 'Forget about It!!'

Eason Jordan has the THE diplomatic immunity pass to insult the U.S. military and gets a free pass for life from MSM criticism states Vanderleun and it is "disingenuous" of Blog Leader Hugh Hewett to be so ignorant of the dreaded MSM "Unwrittern Blacklist" whose prime directive is to "keep the MSM gravy train moving down the track.":

To take on an Eason Jordan and expose him would be a noble thing for a major journalist to do, but it would also put a large check mark against his name on the Unwritten Blacklist as a traitor. Even if Jordan were brought down, especially if Jordan were brought down, the journalists behind it would find their chances for other lucrative job offers, for advancement, and for invitations to all the right parties in New York, Washinton, and the Hamptons severely curtailed. Their actions against an Eason Jordan would be quietly noted by those in hiring and assignment positions higher up the media food chain. After all, to take on one is to take on all. It used to be the case that if you "struck at a prince" you had to be sure to kill him. Things are not that simple in the upper realms of the unelected powerbroker's of MSM. Now if you strike at a prince you have to kill all the others around them. Unless, of course, you don't care about appearing on cable news shows to sooth your vanity and pump your book, or care about landing that book deal to begin with, or care about someday having a show of your own, or care about advancing at your institution or receiving a better offer from another newspaper, magazine, television network. Strike at someone like Eason Jordon and all these things will, somehow, just not be offered to you. And, in their hearts, journalists and columnists understand this. Eason Jordan is a member of a caste system and that system punishes those who tell tales out of school by labeling them "untouchable." At the end of the day, nothing's going to happen with the Jordan story. The videotape will be lost and the transcript ...... .

Roger. Copy that. MSM bought and paid for.
Forget about it. EJ will apologize

Easongate: Bookmark New Website on Eason Jordan

The blogsphere is doing a turn and burn on Eason Jordan and his accusations of murder on the part of the U.S. military against journalists. The best of the blog chain has created a new blog watch here
EasonGate is being edited by Blackfive, Brian Scott, Chester, Bill Roggio, and Charles Goggin. Their mission statement:
Purpose

The Easongate blog has been created in light of Eason Jordan's recent statements at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he accused American servicemen of intentionally targeting and killing journalists in Iraq. These are serious charges that should not have been made without supporting evidence, which he did not provide. American servicemen and women are risking their lives daily and it is wholly inappropriate for a man of his stature and influence to make baseless claims in front of an international audience. As an experienced journalist, he fully understands the impact of his words and the effects on his audience. Mr. Jordan has a past history of making such statements.
The purpose of this blog is as follows:
· Act as a clearinghouse for information related to Mr. Jordan's recent and past statement concerning the United States military.
· Provide analysis and commentary on the developing situation.
· Advocate CNN to take real and meaningful disciplinary action against Mr. Jordan.
· Create a petition expressing the public's displeasure with Mr. Jordan's statements.
· Gather information on CNN's advertisers and make this information available to the public.

Our hope is that CNN will launch an investigation into Mr. Jordan's past and recent history, and take appropriate action. The staff of Easongate is not confident CNN will address this situation without external pressure, however, so we hope to provide the means for the public to place pressure on CNN to act.

Signed,

Blackfive from Blackfive
Brian Scott from The Blue State Conservatives
Chester from The Adventures of Chester
Bill Roggio from The Fourth Rail

Easongate

Ad Diwaniyah Responds to the Election

Via Friends of Democracy:

Mouhammad interviews citizens in the city of Ad Diwaniyah:

Mr. Khadir Khayat Khalaf Al Omar, 37: "Elections were good and honest and a real celebration."

Mr. Mouhannad Zaghir, 26: "Elections were good, free and honest without any problems. The turnout was excellent."

Mr. Yaareb Rahim Attiyeh, 34: "I have never seen anything like this in my life, clean with no violations."

Mr. Raad Aziz Al Omar, 37: "Elections were free, honest and honorable."

Mrs. Maysam Badr Al Omar, 21: "Elections were good and reflected the opinion of the Iraqi society after more than 40 years of tyranny. This is our answer to the elections of 1921 which were boycotted by the Shiites."

Mr. Hassan Al MAlki, 31: "Elections were of a high standard. They were a strong response in the face of Al Zarqawi, an indescribable joy, a celebration deserved by Iraqis. I have participated because it is a national duty."

Keeping Track of Entries:Jordan v. Mattis via Stones Cry Out and the Hostess with the Mostest La Shawn Barber's Corner

The Double Standard of the Dinosaurs in the mainstream media is exposed big time with their attempts to ignore the slanderous remarks of media Big CNN Chief Eason Jordan. Rick of Stones Cry Out has a great wrap up so does La Shawn Barber here.

Hugh Hewitt is a master of his craft and proves it with his description of the MSM's disparate treatment of Jordan and Mattis.

It took only 48 hours for four major newspapers to run stories on comments made by Lt. Gen. Mattis this past Tuesday (here, here, here, and here [HT: Hugh]). The General provided the MSM with a meaty sound bite, "It's fun to shoot some people" and they went with it.

But why the blackout of the apparently equally meaty soundbites provided by CNN Chief Eason Jordan? According to one blogger who was present during Jordan's remarks,

At first I was willing to cut the MSM some slack on this one. But they have now run out of rope."
-----------------------------------------------------------

Rick is way too generous. The DMSM should have been brought to task on 09/12 when they sanitized the film from the Towers.

Sergeant Brad Kasal is an American hero

VIA SFTT.ORG

One of the Marines Eason Jordan has slandered.

"U.S. Marine Corps First Sergeant Brad Kasal is an American hero. His story is a remarkable tale of bravery, sacrifice and savagery that adds another page to the great book of American military lore."

Still holding his 9mm Beretta, a seriously injured First Sgt. Brad Kasal is helped
from a Fallujah house on Nov. 13, 2004, after killing several Iraqi insurgents and
with his own body shielding a fellow Marine from a grenade blast.

Jack Kelly: Tip of the Spear In search of Eason Jordan

Jack Kelly, columnist with the Toledo Blade, writes a piece on the Media as Easy Marks. Thats right, the first crack in the blue wall of silence by the dinosaurs in the main stream media.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eight suicide bombers killed 36 Iraqis besides themselves. Of these, seven were foreigners (six Saudis and a Sudanese). The only Iraqi suicide bomber was a child suffering from Down syndrome. That is, as the Iraqi writer Nibras Kazimi put it, "eight against 8 million." And on what basis, one might ask, do the media call seven foreign terrorists "insurgents"?
The terrorists had to do something to revive their plummeting prestige. That they resorted to clumsy frauds is not a sign of strength.
Mr. Jordan's slander has created a firestorm in the blogosphere, but has yet to be mentioned in the "mainstream" media.

Gee, I wonder why not.

Jack Kelly is a member of The Blade’s national bureau.




toledoblade.com

The Plot to Take Over Spain by the Islamic Jihad

An alert reader of Melanie Phillips Diary
has pointed out an incredibly important change in Jihad straight that has slipped under everyones radar to date. As yet, the only reference to the change has occurred in a PBS Frontline film which aired January 25 called Al Qaeda's New Front available here

"

Now, it seems that the belief some of us held at the time that the Atocha atrocity was nothing to do with Iraq and everything to do instead with the aim of the Islamic jihad to retake Andalucia as part of a restored Islamic caliphate was correct. For another, subsequent plot to attack Spain has apparently been uncovered -- and this one would have dwarfed Atocha. According to the Front Line programme transmitted on January 25 by the American TV station PBS, in October 2004 Spanish police disrupted a plot to bomb multiple targets, including a skyscraper designed by the architect who designed the World Trade Center; the offices of anti-terrorism judge Baltasar Garzón; the soccer stadium where the Real Madrid club plays; and, once again, the Atocha train station. 38 suspects are now being held.

This horrific plot was being hatched after Spain had effectively thrown up its hands in surrender over Iraq. According to the programme, the driving force behind these Islamists was the desire to retake Andalucia as an important part of the medieval Islamic caliphate. Well, there's a surprise....the revelation about the October plot comes almost at the end...(of the Front line program)

Yet as far as I can see, apart from this PBS programme there has been virtually no reporting or comment about this. Is this part of the general fatuous -- and potentially lethal -- denial of the nature of the threat we face?"

What do you know? I thought the blue wall of silence around Eason Jordan's insulting lies about our military offing journalists was big enough here is Front line stating on film that world domination by Jihad is on the menu and no one has any comment. Ferris? Anyone. Anyone? Ferris?

Washington Times:How can CNN justify keeping on staff someone who maligns our troops with rumor and innuendo?

The Washington Times is the only main stream newspaper asking the questions that demand answers from Eason Jordan. Thus far, all others are in lock step don't ask, don't tell mode.
"At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during a discussion on media and democracy, Mr. Jordan apparently told the audience that "he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by U.S. troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted," according to a report on the forum's Web site"

According to information on CPJ's Web site (www.cpj.org), between 2003 and 2004, 12 journalists were killed as a result of U.S. fire. None was from CNN. At least a few of those were instances of mistaken identity. In one case, Terry Lloyd of ITV News was in an SUV at the start of the war in March 2003. As CPJ notes, an investigative report in the Wall Street Journal cited accounts of U.S. troops who recalled firing upon cars marked "TV" since it was believed suicide bombers were using them to attack U.S. troops. It appears, however, that Mr. Lloyd's vehicle was caught in a crossfire. Aside from this one dubious case, none of the other reported deaths even remotely resembles intentional targeting by U.S. troops.
Doubtlessly, Mr. Jordan's unsubstantiated comments play well for CNN's international anti-American audience, who grasp at anything damaging to America's reputation. If the CPJ information is wrong, however, we'd like to see the evidence from Mr. Jordan. Otherwise, how can CNN justify keeping on staff someone who maligns our troops with rumor and innuendo?



CNN's line of fire - The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED - February 04, 2005

Roggio at Fourth Rail Declares Call to Arms on Eason Jordan

Bill Roggio wants the videotape and a transcript of Mr. Jordan's comments at Davos and has sent a reply to CNN following the receipt of a "canned" explanation of Jordan's weasel comments on the U.S. military shooting unarmed journalists. The back pedal statement from CNN:

Eason was attempting to speak out on an issue that is important to news organizations all over the world. Unfortunately, he was not clear enough in explaining his assertion. He was responding to an assertion that all 63 journalists killed in Iraq were "collateral damage." While the majority of the 63 journalists killed in Iraq have been killed by insurgents, the Pentagon has acknowledged that the U.S. military on occasion has killed people who turned out to be journalists. Mr. Jordan emphatically does not believe that the U.S. Military intended to kill journalists and believes these accidents to be cases of "mistaken identity."



Roggio's Reply: Hello CNN Administrator,

Release the videotape and a transcript of Mr. Jordan's comments at Davos, and I will be convinced. Until then your apologetic is unconvincing and insulting. Several bloggers in attendance heard otherwise, and based on Mr. Jordan's history, I am inclined to agree with them.

Mr. Jordan has a long history of demeaning the US military and accusing them of targeting journalists. As a former soldier I am personally insulted. Perhaps CNN should launch an investigation into his statements. Your association with Mr. Jordan can be very damaging to your credibility and reputation.

I have suspended citing CNN as a source of material in my weblog, which is viewed by over 1,500 people a day, until I am convinced CNN is honest in getting to the bottom of this story. My readers typically follow the links through on my posts to read my sources. I have copied other bloggers in an attempt to convince them to do the same. Hopefully this will create a noticeable impact on your site hits and give your advertisers pause.

Also, I have begun to compile a list of CNN advertisers and will put together a letter to make them aware of this situation unless I see results.
We demand the transcript of Davos and nothing less.
Kindest Regards,
Bill Roggio

CNN appears to be circling the wagons. Standard gutless defense.


the fourth rail

Dinosaurs at NBC think they scored a gotcha on General Mattis

This what NBC headline reads:Outspoken Marine Corps General Ordered To Watch His Mouth

Nice huh. Can't you just read the respect due a Lt. General. These aiders and abetters of world thuggery wouldn't know an order from a hole in the ground.

This is what the Commandant said:

Gen. Mike Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a statement that "Lt. Gen. Mattis often speaks with a great deal of candor. I have counseled him concerning his remarks and he agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully." Hagee also said, "While I understand that some people may take issue with the comments made by him, I also know he intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war."

What part of ORDER can you read in Gen. Hagee's statement?
NBC 4 - News - Outspoken Marine Corps General Ordered To Watch His Mouth

VIA Free Iraqi Blog :New Voters Kicking Butt and Taking Names

As Keith Toby Says: "Justice is the one thing you should always find You got to saddle up your boys You got to draw a hard line" and check out what the newly empowered voters of Irag have done to some bad boys for all the people to see:

Citizens of Al Mudiryiah were subjected to an attack by several militants today who were trying to punish the residents of this small town for voting in the election last Sunday.
The citizens responded and managed to stop the attack, kill 5 of the attackers, wounded 8 and burned their cars.
3 citizens were injured during the fire exchange. The Shiekh of the tribe to whom the 3 wounded citizens belong demanded more efforts from the government to stop who he described as "Salafis".

Ali comments:Well, it doesn't seem that they needed much protection!
This is such a good news and I never heard anything like it before. I consider it good even if the government forces were not there at the time to do something about it, because it shows that Iraqis are no longer paralyzed by fear from the terrorists and are able to organize themselves and defend their town when it's necessary. I believe that this is one of the good outcome of the revolution that took place in the great Sunday. Iraqis realized at that day that they're much stronger than this bunch of psychopaths that are standing in our way to democracy in freedom. I still wish the government work harder on rehabilitating the IP and building the Iraqi army."

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We've got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down
You can bet he'll set 'em down 'cause.Justice is the one thing you should always find

Keith Toby Beer For My Horses

Free Iraqi

Gen Mattis says its fun to shoot radical Islamic fascists who abuse women. CAIR has a hissy. Seethes

CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, called on the Pentagon to discipline General Mattis for his comments:

"Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot ... You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." The audience applauded the general's remarks.

LGF Comments on CAIR:

It’s mission is also to run interference for Saudi Arabia’s extremist Wahhabi agenda. Far from “encouraging dialog,” their goal is to stop all criticism of Islam by exploiting the weak-minded multiculturalism of the West.

General Mattis was very clearly saying that it is “fun” to shoot people who deserve to be shot—i.e., radical Islamic fascists who abuse women. Good for him.

Muslims Call For Pentagon Action Over General's Remarks

Captain Ed does a one man blog swarm dance on Eason Jordan's Tukus

The Skipper is doing a great job keeping Jordan's feet and tukus to the fire.

Captain's Quarters: "MSM Silence On Eason Jordan

The mainstream media has spent another news cycle ignoring the Eason Jordan scandal, where he has been discovered to have made repeated claims of atrocities deliberately committed by US troops against reporters. CNN felt that Eason's Fables could be so damaging that they took the unusual step of not only e-mailing a statement to those who e-mailed their complaints, but also to bloggers who posted on the story but never sent a complaint to CNN. (We believe they worked off of Hugh Hewitt's link list on the scandal.)

However, despite the obvious concern at CNN, they still have posted nothing on the story, not even their own statement. The Washington Post, where Howard Kurtz was rumored to have been working on this story, likewise has nothing on its pages or website this morning, more than 36 hours after it achieved national prominence from broadcast and bloggers. Likewise, the 'Paper of Record' managed to avoid recording anything on this story. The Los Angeles Times provides nothing on its West Coast pages.

What about CNN's competitors? MS-NBC gives us a goose egg. Ditto for CBS News, although that may well be a case of professional courtesy. ABC News gives Eason a pass. Even Fox carries nothing on the controversy.

Here we have the man running a major news organization who has accused the US military, on at least two separate occasions in the last three months, of atrocities specifically aimed at journalists -- and the news media remains completely silent about it? Does that make any sense to you, other than a deliberate media blackout? Hell, even Eason Jordan responded, if completely inadequately -- doesn't that make the newspaper or the web sites?

The MSM has circled the wagons. Don't let them get away with it.

UPDATE: Fox did have one mention on this from Monday night, when Brit Hume included it in The Grapevine, his blog, after apparently mentioning it on air. However, Fox has not mentioned it since, nor has it"

Eason Jordan , CNN Big Chief, Back Pedals on claim Military stalks and Kills Journalists

At a news conference in Portugal Jordan, who is making a career of claiming the U.S. military deliberately targets journalists, made this statement:

“Actions speak louder than words. The reality is that at least 10 journalists have been killed by the US military, and according to reports I believe to be true journalists have been arrested and tortured by US forces,” Mr Jordan told an audience of news executives at the News Xchange conference in Portugal."

Today, he is trying to weasel out of his statement by claiming at Carol Platt Liebau blog:

"that when he said that the journalists had been "targeted", he didn't mean to imply that the U.S. military realized that they were journalists. (That is, soldiers intended to shoot the people who were killed -- they just didn't know they were journalists.) Perhaps that's true. Perhaps. But why wouldn't he have made the point about mistaken identity clear in the original remarks?"

The blogsphere is on his case demanding chapter and verse citations to his allegations while the dinosaur old mainstream media is totally ignoring the story waiting for the smoke to blow away. Jordan's statements in Europe, to a room full of journalists who only want the very worse to happen to the United States, will provide ample ammunition to those who hardly need an excuse.

So what happened to the mother of all bloody Sundays?

Ralph Kenny Bennett on why the Thuggies were no show at the elections. Media hype and media ignorance and laziness. What a surprise.

The low level of terrorist violence came as a surprise to most observers, but in fact a combination of factors, many of them largely unreported or misreported in the mainstream news media, contributed to this happy turn of events.
"In the turmoil, through happenstance or dumb luck, they may achieve 'spectacular' hits like the possible downing of that British transport aircraft on Sunday. But their ability to have any strategic or tactical effect on operations in Iraq is gone. And millions of Iraqis, simply by walking up to ballot boxes all over the country, have removed any shred of legitimacy that may have been imputed to them by some fevered editorialists.
They are losers. Worse, they are brutal murderers and cowards, who skulked away when confronted by real freedom fighters -- men and women with smiles on their faces and ink stains on their fingers."

Hate Ideology, Anti democracy indoctrination and Fifth Columnist training now available at American Mosques and Islamic Centers

The Saudi goverment, our friends in the war against terrorists, has been busy sponsoring hate ideology in American mosques according to a report (PDF) by the Freedom House Center for Religious Life. Details in the report called "Saudi Publication on Hate Ideology Fill American Mosquess" indicate that the only reason for Moslems to be in the United States is to replace our constitution goverment with an Islamic society.

‘This theme runs through a work published in English by the International Islamic Publishing House in Saudi Arabia and apparently intended for Muslims living in the United States. Copies of this book were collected at the Al Farouq Mosque in Houston, Texas. Chapter 2, of To Be a Muslim [Document No. 31], “The Compulsory Nature of Islamic Activism,” asserts that all available political and economic systems and man-made laws are fundamentally anti-Islamic and “operate functionally to deny the wisdom of Allah on earth.” The book states that the responsibility to change these systems is “binding in principle, in law, in self-defense, in community and as a sacred obligation of jihad.” It is compulsory for every Muslim to establish an Islamic society “in every country on earth and to restore the Islamic way of life taught by all the prophets.” '

So how long before the dinosaurs in the Main Stream Media get over the shock of betrayal by the Saudi's, who are after all, our friends in the war on terror and start giving this report the attention it deserves? Don't wait. Don't hold your breath. After all, the MSM are the same people who sanitized all the film from the World Trade Towers of falling bodies crashing to their death. Doesn't do to disturb the citizens at their breakfast. Might get the idea that we are actually at war for our lives. Follow the link and read it yourself.