Thursday, September 30, 2010

Lance Cpl. Garrett Mellor and Lance Cpl. Zach Martin

Weapons Platoon, Company B, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion checkpoint in Shabu, Afghanistan, Sept. 15.2010.
photo
Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

War Dogs and War Pigs 1LAR

Story by Cpl. Eugenio MontanezSmall RSS IconAlerts Icon

Devil dogs help sniff out IEDs COMBAT OUTPOST SHABU, Afghanistan – Leading patrols and sniffing out improvised explosive devices may seem like a game for Cpl. Twister, but what she doesn’t know, is that this "game" is saving the lives of many Marines.

Twister is a four year-old black labrador used to find IEDs for Marines with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. Many dogs such as her are being used with great success throughout the Marine Corps.

“There are many dogs in the battalion that have found IEDs,” said Lance Cpl. Cody Campioni, a dog handler with the Dog Handler Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. The dogs can find IED’s a lot more accurate and faster than a metal detector can.”

Dogs were first used in the Marine Corps to find the enemy during World War II. The number of dogs brought to Afghanistan to find explosive devices has increased throughout the years.

“Luckily we haven’t encountered one yet, but if we do, I am more than confident she will find it,” said Campioni, a Point Mills, Mich., native.

The dogs can detect more than 10 different types of materials used to make industrial explosives and homemade explosives.

“We’ve had a dog find three IEDs in under an hour,” Campioni said. “We give the orders and they follow them, they’re very obedient to their handler and that makes it so much easier.”

In order to become dog handlers, Marines participate in a six to eight-week course with the dogs at the American K-9 Interdiction School.

“We spend a lot of time with the dogs to build up trust between the dog handler and the dog,” Campioni said. “To be able to operate well you have to trust the dog and the dog has to trust you.”

Not only do they spend a lot of time with dogs during training, but also spend all their time with the dogs during the deployment.

“I have to make sure the dog is well fed, that she has enough water throughout the day and make sure she is medically okay,” Campioni said. “Having a dog with you on a deployment is like having a piece of home with you.”

The dogs also give Marines more options when it comes to tactical searching.

“The dog helps us whenever we search vehicles, buildings and bridges and it makes our job a lot more effective,” said Cpl. James Hammond, a team leader with 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. “Especially when we can’t really reach certain areas we can send the dog in to search.”

Being able to search an area accurately with the dogs makes the Marines more confident in their abilities on the battlefield, explained Hammond, a Redmond, Wash., native.

“I feel we can do more by having the dogs with us,” Hammond said. “The dogs provide us with a sense of security.”

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

On Patrol A1LAR

Checking in-3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion 09/10/2010 Combat Outpost Shabu, AF.
Photo Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

Lance Cpl. Naoto Nakamura C1LAR

Lance Cpl. Naoto Nakamura, team leader 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion vehicle checkpoint
Khan Heshin, Aug. 31, 2010.

Photo Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

Monday, September 27, 2010

Lance Cpl. Demeterius Duncan, B1LAR

Lance Cpl. Demeterius Duncan,Weapons Platoon, B Company,
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in the the village of
Shabu, Afghanistan, Sept. 15. Twice a day the Marines patrol several miles to get to Shabu to maintain village security.
Photo by Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

1st LAR in Union-Trib San Diego

1st LAR in Afgh/story and lots photos
By Gretel C. Kovach
YAKCHAL, Afghanistan — In the deserts of southern Afghanistan, Marines from Camp Pendleton’s 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion are sending a message to insurgents: We are watching.
San Diego Union Tribune

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Cpl. Adam A. Galvez Family Receives Posthumous Purple Heart Medal

Amy, Anthony, Sarah and Travis Galvez view their son and brother's Purple Heart Medal after it is presented to them by the command of 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. Cpl. Adam A. Galvez was killed by an improvised explosive device in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006.
Photo Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sgt. Nathan D. McLain

Sgt. Nathan D. McLain B Company,
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,

Shabu, Afghanistan, Sept. 15, 2010
Photo Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

Friday, September 24, 2010

1LAR-COP Shabu, Afgh


Date: 09.23.2010
LAR Marines keep Shabu safe COMBAT OUTPOST SHABU, Afghanistan – After Marines patrolled through the hot Afghan desert, jumping over canals and traversing cropped fields possibly laden with improvised explosive devices, they finally arrived at the remote village of Shabu.

Marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion have been making this journey for five months.

“Our mission is to win the civilian populace from the Taliban,” said Lance Cpl. Matthew Tipton, a rifleman with 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. “We do this by constantly talking to them every day, asking them how we can help.”

Twice a day, the Marines patrol several miles to get to Shabu and accomplish this mission.

“We try to go to the village as often as possible so we can keep a presence in the area,” said Tipton, from Napa, Calif. “The people see us a lot and so their trust in us has improved greatly since we arrived.”

Having the trust of the locals has paid great dividends for the Marines. It has helped them gather invaluable intelligence on insurgent activity in the area.

“The locals are very cooperative with us and always tell us what’s going on in their village,” Tipton said. “They like telling us their problems because they know we will try to find a solution for them.”

As a result of shuras, or meeting with village elders, the Marines of 1st LAR Bn. recently found the largest drug cache in their area, accounting for approximately 60 kilos of processed drugs.

“We’ve also had great success clearing out the village of caches of weapons and IED’s for the last couple of months,” Tipton added.

The Marines’ strong presence in the area make the people feel safer and more secure, explained Lance Cpl. Kyle Bachman, a mortarman with Weapons Platoon, Company B, 1st LAR Bn.

“We sincerely ask the people how their day has been, or if they have any plans,” said Bachman, from Virginia, Minn. “We also ask them if they like having us around and they always say they’re thankful for what we do.”

Outside the village, Marines stop at random roads and set up vehicle check points to search for drugs or weapons. The Marines conduct night patrols to make sure that the people are safe and to keep the Taliban out of the village.

“We always have to keep the security tight and keep our eyes constantly in our area of operations,” said Tipton, “because if the Taliban start doing whatever they want then we lose everything we have accomplished.”

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Gunnery Sergeant Melissa Rios 3MAG

Gunnery Sergeant Melissa Rios, Third Marine Aircraft Wing, Traffic Control Point Two, Rutbah, Iraq, 5 November 2006 Operation Iraqi Freedom, Al Anbar Province.
photo Sergeant Jennifer L. Jones

Lance Corporal Damon Webb, 3LAR

Lance Corporal Damon Webb, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion,Camp Ripper, Kuwait Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.
photo

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Lance Cpl. Basil M. Callahan, C2LAR

Lance Cpl. Basil M. Callahan, WAR PIG welder/RAVEN Unmanned Air Vehicle operator Charlie Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
Anbar Province, Iraq, April 2008
photo Cpl Ryan Tomlinson,

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Staff Sgt. Joseph R. Justice, LAR

Staff Sgt. Joseph R. Justice, chief mortar instructor, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 03/28/2008, San Clemente Island.
photo Cpl. Dean Davis

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Brilliance of US Army Generals


General Powell-On using illegals at his house for repairs:

Meet the Press-GEN.POWELL: The American people want their borders to be protected. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with making sure that people come across our borders, particularly our southern border, in a legal, safe manner. But at the same time we have millions and millions of illegal immigrants in our country, undocumented individuals, who are working, who are doing things we need done in this country. They're all over my house doing things whenever I call for repairs. I'm sure you've seen them at your house.

Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick On Opposition to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that allows lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender to serve openly in the armed forces.

WATimes:Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick:"Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still racists and bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them," Lt. Gen. Bostick said. "But these people opposing this new policy will need to get with the program, and if they can't, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you're always going to have those that oppose this on moral and religious grounds just like you still have racists today."




Night War Pig Fire

Light armored vehicle A-2 of Company B,
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,
4/11/2008 NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER, FORT IRWIN, Calif.
photo
Cpl. Dean Davis

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Lance Cpl. Marlo Morales, 1LAR

Lance Cpl. Marlo Morales, War Pig Driver,
1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
, 07/02/2009
Camp Pendleton. Photo
Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

Slideshow-Pendelton Marines in Afghanistan

At the San Diego Union/Tribune a veritable plethora of photos and stories from their embedded U-T reporter Gretel C. Kovach and photographer Nelvin C. Cepeda on assignment in Afghanistan.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

POTUS Obama Edits the Declaration of Independence




Thanks to Weasel Zippers:At this weeks Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute gala Mr. Obama deleted "that they are endowed by their Creator" from his quote of the United States Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed with certain inalienable rights:life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness." at 22:40 on the clip. transcript Freudian slip? Choke point?

From US History site:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Found: First LAR in Helmand Photos/Story Sept 17, 2010

At Reuters-lots photos/story "Big chip gamble in Afghanistan" First LAR and the War Pigs on a mission to deliver snacks to Deveelak.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Sergeant Christopher A. Henry Reenlists

Sergeant Christoper A. Henry, LAR mech/tech, reenlists September 10, 2010
atop a War Pig inside the USS Kearsarge.
Photo LCpl. Santiago G. Colon

September 17, 1787-U.S. Constitution Signed-We the People

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Cpl. John Scalfidi A2LAR

Cpl. Joshua D. Scalfidi, designated marksman, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion western al-Anbar province, Iraq Sept 3, 2008. photo Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson

Downsizing the Yankee Govenment-At the Cato Institute

The Cato Institute has a department by department plan for downsizing the bloated Yankee Government. Today they are running ads in all the major dinosaur newspapers. Here is the ad.
This is the Cato Institute website link.

"We will go through our federal budget– page by page, line by line–eliminating those programs we don’t need."

— President-elect Barack Obama, November 2 0 0 8

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Cpl. Matt Davis, C 1LAR

Cpl. Matt Davis, team leader 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Khan Heshin, Sept. 1.
Photo
Cpl. Eugenio Montanez

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Yankee Govn't shakedown AKA "retirement income protection" on Your IRA, 401k, 403b

The next joint hearing for discussing how the Yankee Govn't will steal your IRAs and 401K (2009 Totals$7.835 trillion in IRA, 401K, 457, and 403b) accounts and replace them with Yankee government "Treasury Retirement Bonds." will held September 14th and 15th. A live webcast of the hearing, AKA "retirement income protection" will be available on EBSA's Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Obama Explores Confiscating Retirement Accounts

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Geert Wilder:No mosque here!



Always. Now close your eyes – I know it’s a beautiful day, but close your eyes. I have been told that this day nine years ago was just such a beautiful day -- and remember, or try to remember, or try to imagine the sounds which were heard here on this spot under this same blue sky exactly nine years ago. The sound of shock, the sound of destruction, the sound of panic, the sound of pain, the sound of terror.

Did New York deserve this? Did America deserve this? Did the West deserve this? What, my friends, would you say to people who argue that New York, that America, that the West had itself to blame for those horrible sounds?

There are people in this city who argue this. And they are angry because we are gathered here today to commemorate, to make a stand, to draw the line. My friends, I have come from the other side of the Atlantic to share your grief for those who died here nine years ago. I have not forgotten how I felt that day.

The scenes are imprinted on my soul, as they are on yours.

But our hearts were not broken in the same way as the hearts of the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives here. Many relatives of the victims are here in our midst today.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to them and to all of the people of New York and America. Humbly, I stand here before you as a Dutchman and a European.

I, too, however, cannot forget. How can anyone forget?

Let me remind you of the words from Darryl Worley’s 9/11 song. Have you forgotten how it felt that day?

To see your homeland under fire And her people blown away Have you forgotten when those towers fell?

We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell Worley’s response is our response: No, we will NEVER forget. We are here today because we have not forgotten all the loved ones that were lost and those left to carry on.

And neither has the world. When the forces of Jihad attacked New York, they attacked the world. Among those lost were people from 55 nations, people of every religion and every persuasion. No place on earth had a more multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-lingual workforce than New York’s proud towers.

That is exactly why they were targeted. They constituted an insult to those who hold that there can be no peaceful cooperation among people and nations without submission to Sharia; to those who wish to impose the legal system of Islam on the rest of us.

But New York and Sharia are incompatible. New York stands for freedom, openness and tolerance. New York’s Mayor recently said that New York is “rooted in Dutch tolerance.”

Those are true words. New York is not intolerant. How can it be? New York is open to the world. Suppose New York were intolerant. Suppose it only allowed people of one persuasion within its walls.

Then it would be like Mecca, a city without freedom. Whatever your religion, persuasion or gender is, in New York you will find a home.

In Mecca, if your religion isn’t Islam, you are not welcome. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf claims the right to build a mosque, a house of Sharia here – on this hallowed ground.

But, friends, I have not forgotten and neither have you.

That is why we are here today. To draw the line.

Here, on this sacred spot. We are here in the spirit of America’s founding fathers. We are here in the spirit of freedom. We are here in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, the President who freed the slaves. President Lincoln said: “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.”

These words are the key to our survival. The tolerance that is crucial to our freedom requires a line of defense. Mayor Bloomberg uses tolerance as an argument to allow Imam Rauf and his sponsors to build their so-called Cordoba Mosque.

Mayor Bloomberg forgets, however, that openness cannot be open-ended. A tolerant society is not a suicidal society.

It must defend itself against the powers of darkness, the force of hatred and the blight of ignorance. It cannot tolerate the intolerant – and survive.

This means that we must not give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us. An overwhelming majority of Americans is opposed to building this mosque.

So is an overwhelming majority everywhere in the non-Islamic world.

Because we all realize what is at stake here. We know what this so-called Cordoba mosque really means. Imam Rauf maintains that American secular law and Sharia law are based on the same principles.

He refuses to condemn terrorists because he says terrorism is “a very complex question”. He says America is “an accessory to the crime that happened on 9/11.”

“In fact,” he literally said, “in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA.”

He also says that “terrorism will only end when the West acknowledges the harm it has done to Muslims.”

That is why this man should not play the game he has in mind here in Manhattan. His “Blame the West, Blame America”-message is an insult. Americans – and by extension, all of us whose civilization was also attacked on 9/11/2001 – are not to blame for what happened here nine years ago today. Osama bin Laden is not made in the USA.

The West never “harmed” Islam before it harmed us.

Most Americans do not want this so-called Cordoba Mosque to be built here. They understand that it is both a provocation and a humiliation. They understand the triumphant narrative of a mosque named after the Great Mosque of Cordoba which was constructed where a Christian cathedral stood before the land was conquered by Islam.

An overwhelming majority of Americans is opposed to building an Islamic cultural center close to Ground Zero. There is no lack of mosques in New York. There are dozens of buildings in which Muslims can pray. It isn’t about a lack of space for prayers.

It’s about the symbolic meaning. We who have come to speak today, object to this mosque project because its promoter and his wealthy sponsors have never suggested building a center to promote tolerance and interfaith understanding where it is really needed: In Mecca – a town where non-Muslims are not even allowed to enter, let alone build churches, synagogues, temples or community centers.

Ordinary Americans object to the mosque project because currently no fewer than ten major multi-million dollar mosque projects are being planned in the United States as well as dozens in Europe, while not a single church is allowed in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while Jews are not even allowed to move their lips in prayer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, while the oldest Christians in the world, the Copts, are not free to renovate their churches, let alone to build one in Egypt.

My friends, that is why we are here today. What happens in New York must be seen in the perspective of the world.

The events nine years ago made an enormous impact everywhere. Most people shared your pain, but, unfortunately, some did not.

Nine years ago, when the news of the terrible atrocity in New York reached Europe, Muslim youths danced in the streets. In a poll, two thirds of the Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands expressed partial or full understanding for the 9/11 terrorists.

If a mosque were built here on Ground Zero such people would feel triumphant. But we, we will not betray those who died on 9/11.

For their sakes we cannot tolerate a mosque on or near Ground Zero. For their sakes loud and clear we say: No mosque here! For their sakes, we must draw the line. So that New York, rooted in Dutch tolerance, will never become New Mecca.

But, let us also express our gratitude for the heroes of 9/11, those who went down in that Pennsylvania field, those who were standing freedom’s watch at the Pentagon, and those who were here in New York nine years ago to risk and lose their lives for the victims.

Friends, in honor of these victims, these heroes and their families, I believe that the words of Ronald Reagan, spoken in Normandy on the 40 th anniversary of D-Day, resonate with new purpose on this hallowed spot.

President Reagan said: “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.” And, we, too, will always remember the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones who were left behind; We, too, will always be proud of the heroes; We will always defend liberty, democracy and human dignity; In the name of freedom: No mosque here!

Three LAR-2010 Mojave Viper



MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — Marines and sailors with 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion learned how to properly operate in a defensive stance during part of their Enhanced Mojave Viper pre-deployment training process throughout several training areas here Aug. 31 to Sept. 2.

The Wolfpack refined its skills by standing a unit-sized defense and then pursuing simulated enemy forces until they retreated, said Master Gunnery Sgt. Phillip Bemis, the battalion operations chief.

“[Clear, Hold, Build] 3 gave the battalion a chance to work on our core competency of defensive operations,” said Bemis, a Gibraltar, Mich., native.

More than 70 service members came together for this event. The 10-day activity began on the shore line of Red beach and is scheduled to end at the 41 Area, July 26.

The battalion-sized defense withstood an enemy advance and repelled it with the support of various elements of a Marine Air Ground Task Force, then pursued the enemy forces with a counter-attack.

Marines gained not only refined tactics, but also a sense of how Operation Enduring Freedom could possibly play out, said Lance Cpl. Paul Brooks, a light armored vehicle crewman with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd LAR Bn.

“This training is important because Marines need to take into account that Afghanistan isn’t going to be as kinetic as Iraq was,” said Brooks, a Boston native. “There’s still going to be combat, but not flying through the open desert pursuing the enemy in vehicles. We’ll be moving through the mountains and counter-attacking ambushes.”

Lance Cpl. Christopher C. Matthews, a light armored vehicle crewman with the company, said while it may not be entertaining, it’s vital the Marines stayed focused, which they did throughout all their training.

“Sitting in the defense can get really boring,” the Menifee, Calif., native said. “Everyone I’ve seen has done a good job of staying on top of their mission on guard, and when the counter-attacks came we were all ready to go on a moment’s notice.”

The battalion is scheduled to take their skills downrange in support of Operation Enduring Freedom this fall.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

09/11/2001. . . . . .


"We are not at war with Islam", POTUS Barack Hussein Obama II

*

"A panel of national security experts who worked under Republican and Democratic presidents is urging the Obama administration to abandon its stance that Islam is not linked to terrorism, arguing that radical Muslims are using Islamic law to subvert the United States." WaTimes

*

"One thing never intrudes on our make-believe world: the real 9/11. Before it was Ground Zero, the World Trade Center was a real place, where flesh-and-blood Americans were slaughtered — some of them leaping over 70 stories to their grisly demise because it seemed more merciful than immolation in the fires that raged within. We try not to think about that much anymore, except for a fleeting moment or two every September 11. We just imagine it can never happen again. After all, we’ve got Islam in our corner."
Andrew C. McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, is the author, most recently, of The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America.

Where's Molly? "There is no more Molly," reports Seattle Weekly.
Why? Because, as the New York Times reports, imam Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Islamic supremacist who is himself in hiding in Yemen, issued a fatwa in July declaring that Norris "should be taken as a prime target of assassination" because of a cartoon she drew two months earlier titled "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day."
James Taranto WSJ
***
POPE VISIT: SIX STREET CLEANERS ARRESTED-COPS FOIL PLAN TO KILL THE POPE

A street cleaner last night told of the moment police swooped on his depot and arrested five colleagues at the centre of an alleged terror plot to kill the Pope.

It was feared the men were planning to plant bombs in bins to blow up the 83-year-old as he travelled through Central London on the second day of his UK trip. Thousands of innocent people would have been caught up in the blasts. The Mirror


Friday, September 10, 2010

2LAR Corpsman Benjamin"Doc Stiggy" Castiglione

In the Jacksonville Daily News: Friends and Family of 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Corpsman Benjamin"Doc Stiggy" Castiglione killed in Afghanistan will be in Jacksonville tomorrow, Saturday, to raise funds for a foundation created in his honor for WIA service members. details and photos

Thursday, September 09, 2010

US Marines from the USS Dubuque Retake Ship From Pirates




From a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command News Release

MANAMA, Bahrain, Sept. 9, 2010 – A 24-member maritime raid force from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit today boarded and seized control of an Antigua-Barbuda-flagged, German–owned vessel from pirates who attacked and boarded it yesterday. The Marines serve aboard USS Dubuque, operating under Combined Task Force 151.



The mission secured the safety of the M/V Magellan Star’s crew and returned control of the ship to the civilian mariners.

Nine pirates are under the task force’s control, pending further disposition, officials said, and the ship’s crew has not reported any injuries or casualties. No injuries to the maritime raid force were reported.

The Combined Task Force 151 flagship, TCG Gökçeada, a Turkish frigate, was the first ship on scene, responding to a distress call early yesterday. Two additional warships assigned to the task force -- USS Dubuque and USS Princeton -- arrived in the vicinity to support Gökçeada.


Mr. President, You took an oath....01.20.2013



A powerful painting/video by John McNaughton,(website) I played it several times myself, ;you will too---particularly, in view. with this week's ohh hell headline from CNS News:

Obama Added More to National Debt in First 19 Months Than All Presidents from Washington Through Reagan Combined, Says Gov’t Data
Wednesday, September 08, 2010

By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief


(CNSNews.com) - In the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.5260 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan.

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER


24 US Marines Kick Pirate Butt East Coast Africa

Lt. John Fage, a Fifth Fleet spokesman:

"In a statement, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said 24 Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, attached to the amphibious warship U.S.S. Dubuque, boarded the German-owned M/V Magellan Star, after pirates attacked it the previous day."
details WSJ

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Photo:WaPo-Marine 1stLAR

Karzai must crack down on graft, NATO chief says
Washington Post
Photo:A Marine from the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion greets children during a patrol in Helmand province. (Erik De Castro) By Craig Whitlock Reports .

Lance Cpl. Philip Coleman, F1LAR




Lance Cpl. Philip Coleman Fox Company, Fox Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance 03/06/2009 Al Asad. Iraq.
photo Cpl. Eric C. Schwartz

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Cpl. Galen J. Staats, BJB,2LAR

Cpl. Galen J. Staats, scout, Battalion Jump Platoon, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 8/17/2008 Camp Korea Village. photo Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson

Monday, September 06, 2010

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Baltazar Jr.

Army Staff Sgt. Beatriz Alberts, mother of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Baltazar Jr., touches her son’s name that is engraved on the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, memorial wall. Family members, friends, Marines and sailors gathered to remember five Marines and one sailor with 2nd LAR who paid the ultimate sacrifice, during Operation Enduring Freedom, at a memorial service aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune N.C., March 12, 2010. photo Lance Cpl. Andrew D. Johnston

Sunday, September 05, 2010

War Pig Recovery Exercise II

3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Marines practice vehicle recovery exercise as part of a predeployment training session at Twentynine Palms, Calif., Aug. 12, 2010. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Carlos Sanchez-Valencia/

Esperanza High School Football Team Honors Marine Lance Cpl. Rick Centanni

Via the Orange County Register:Esperanza High School honored the former Aztec football player, 4th LAR, Marine Rick Centanni before the football season opener Friday at Bradford Stadium, Orange County, California in a ceremony retiring his number 30 football jersey. story and photos here

Saturday, September 04, 2010

In Paris:the "Religion of Peace" Prays in the Streets- Forces 2-1/2 hour shut down every Friday



CBN NEWS-PARIS - "Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshipers and enforced by a private security force.

This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene"

War Pig Recovery Exercise

Third LAR Marines practice the delicate technique of placing a downed War Pig back on his feet at 29 Stumps Combat Center Aug. 12, 2010.
Photo LCpl. Carlos Sanchez-Valencia

Friday, September 03, 2010

COP Payne AFG:First LAR Remembers Oratowski

Posted: 09.02.2010 03:26
News ID: 55589
The 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Memorializes Fallen Marine COMBAT OUTPOST PAYNE, Afghanistan – Marines from 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion paused at Combat Outpost Payne, Aug. 28, to honor Lance Corporal Kevin Oratowski. Oratowski was killed in action, Aug. 18. He was 23 years old.

“Every time I saw him he had a smile on his face and was happy,” said Sgt. Henry Coto, a crewman with Headquarters Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st LAR Bn. “He knew how to find the bright side to everything.”

Oratowski graduated from Glenbard South High School in Wheaton, Ill., in 2005 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 2008.

He reported to 1st LAR Bn., Feb. 2009 and deployed to Afghanistan in March 2010.
“I knew him since he got to the platoon,” said Lance Cpl. Jacob Guarnere, a rifleman with 3rd Plt., Co. C, 1st LAR Bn. “He was the type of person that everyone liked and could talk to.”

His fellow Marines remember him as a Marine that always made the best out of each situation, Coto added.

Oratowski was also known for helping his friends without hesitation when asked.
  • The 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Memorializes Fallen Marine
  • The 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Memorializes Fallen Marine
  • The 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Memorializes Fallen Marine

“He always had his doors open when someone needed to talk or just hangout,” Guarnere said. “That’s just how he was. He was a good person and will be missed.”

Oratowski’s personal awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

He is survived by his parents Stephen and Mary, his sister Carrie and brother Michael.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Lance Cpl. Matthew P. Ross, D4LAR

Lance Cpl. Matthew P. Ross, scout team leader,
Delta Company,
4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,
Combat Outpost Akashat, Iraq, July 31, 2008.

photo Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Dubya


"Yet no one can doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. " current POTUS in his "end of the war" speech.

A really generous shout out crumb from Barrack Hussein Obama POTUS for 2 years, 4 months and 19 days from now. You got that right, Mr. Crotch Salute. Through Dubya's eight years, as much as I did not agree with some of his policies, I never once doubted his love for America or his support for our American Fighting Men. Never.

And that is a damn sight more than I can say for himself, The One, whose policies, ideas, motives have in common my total and complete doubt about his love for America or his commitment to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. 01.20.2013

First Day of September-Start Your Border Drone


wiki image: drone with Hellfire missile
border drones will only carry cameras, presumably.


Today, September 1st, marks the arrival of a third border drone added to the two other drones already on duty patrolling the border from Brownsville, Texas to the El Centro Sector in California. The addition of the third drone might, just might, interfere with that Mexican Army chopper that has been scooping across the border, uninvited, to check out whatever over on the Yankee side of the river, here and here. The $15 million dollar flying camera will, I assume, coordinate with ground border patrol units as to where the oncoming human traffic is moving. {Insert Big Whoop here.} The BPmen need more boots on the ground securing the border. Flying Cameras will now tell you how many areas you can not cover. Fox News

For a bugs eye view of the stampede across our border you need to go to the web site called
Border Invasion Pics. They maintain on the ground hidden cameras set on commonly used trails by smugglers. The site is a complete education.

First Day of September-Beslan School Massacre

On this day, the Russian traditional first day of school, 334 hostages were killed, including 186 children:

Wikipedia:
"The Beslan school hostage crisis (also referred to as the Beslan school siege or Beslan massacre) was a three day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 300. It began when a group of armed mostly Muslim Ingush and Chechen terrorists took more than 1,100 people (including 777 children[5]) hostage on 1 September 2004, at School Number One (SNO) in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, an autonomous republic in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation."