Lt. Col. Kenneth R. Kassner, CO, 3rd LAR

Making friends with Iraqi Munchkins with treats, May 16, 2009

photo LCpl. Brian Kinney

Marines and Soldiers-Grappler Third LAR

Gather round the War Pig for a photo by Lcpl. Brian Kinney June 5, 2009, Nineveh Province, Iraq.

Take a Break

War Pig, Grappler Company, 3d Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in the Nineveh province, June 5, 2009. photo LCpl. Brian Kinney

Class

Marines receive a class on first-aid before a zone reconnaissance with Grappler Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in the Nineveh province, June 5. 2009. photo LCpl. Brian A Kenney

Jump Platoon, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,

Cpl. Paul J. Weeks, left, and Petty Officer 3rd Class David Leutzinger
saddle up the War Pig for a recon patrol patrol of the Ninawa province of Iraq May 16, 2009.
photo Lance Cpl. Brian A. Kinney

B4LAR Ends 7 Month Deployment

By Megan Eckstein
FrederickNews-Post Staff

Company B of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion arrived in California just after 2 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time Wednesday, after a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan.

The Marine unit of about 100 men will remain at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, until the end of the week. The battalion's Company C, stationed in Utah, also returned to the U.S. on Wednesday morning, along with some members of Company D from Virginia and Company F from South Carolina.source

Bravo 4thLAR and Charlie Back at Camp Pendleton 2:30 am PST-WooHoo!

Corporal Rhett Buford First LAR FOB Payne/ Fox News

Rick Leventhal has a news story, here, and short video clip, here, on Cpl. Rhett Buford a mechanic with First LAR at FOB Payne.

Corporal Donald L. Kirksey,Scout , Alpha TWO LAR

Corporal Donald L. Kirksey, a scout with Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, places the helmet on the memorial stand during the memorial service, May 18, for Sgt. Frank J. A. World.
USMC photo LCpl. B. Crilly

Desert Memorial for Sgt. Frank J.A. World

Sgt. Derek J. Macpherson, a vehicle commander with Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, salutes the memorial stand of Sgt. Frank J. A. World after placing the dog tags of his fallen comrade on the stand, May 18. Sgt. World was killed, April 1, in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Sgt. World was from Buffalo, N.Y. and is remembered by his fellow Marines as an non-commissioned officer who embodied the best qualities of what a Marine NCO should be. He could always uplift those who were feeling down. Sgt. World was a musician and above all a caring husband and father. Marines of 2nd LAR took time to remember their fallen comrade at the end of their five-month deployment.

USMC photo LCpl B. Crilly

1st Lt. Gary S. Darby, XO, Echo First LAR

Echo took over Helmand operations from Alpha , Two LAR, May 19, as Alpha will re-deploy to Camp Lejeune, N.C., after five months in the desert. photo LCpl B. Crilly

Staff Sgt. Jose E. Garcia, Apha Two LAR

The Comm Chief of Alpha Two LAR works out on the War Pig. When the beast is not being used as a gym or home it is also the Company C-square aka operations center. photo LCpl. B. Crilly

Home on the Range

Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, May 16, 2010, lived out of their War Pigs for five months in the desert of Helmand province, Afghanistan. photo LCPL B.Crilly

Two LAR Wrap Up Helmand Ops

Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion wrapped up five months of security operations in Helmand province, turning their area of operations over to the Marines of 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. LCpl. B. Crilly/story-photos DVIDS

The company was in the far western deserts of Helmand province, maintaining a screen line and pushing across the deserts. They pushed through the deserts, conducting interdictions and cutting off drug lines. This allowed them to prevent drug smuggling and weapons trafficking to and from Marjah. They were able to prevent Taliban fighters from fleeing to the desert from Sistani.

"Everyone that was coming out of Marjah knew that the tanks and LAVs were out here," said Capt. Jared A. Laurin, the commanding officer for Alpha Company from Xenia, Ohio. "Nobody was able to out run us. We owned the desert with those vehicles."

During Operation Moshtarak, 2nd LAR took a new position, providing security in the Sistani Gap as well as the western and southern fronts. This enabled the company to provide a security presence in the gap that was unique, since their vehicles are so mobile.

The company formed a screen line in the desert, south of Marjah along Route Red, for the later portion of their deployment. Moving their presence to the region and running vehicle checkpoints improved the security of the region, and also afforded Marines the opportunity to establish a connection with the local nationals.

Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse.....

1st Platoon, Alpha , 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, rehearse taking care of your wounded under fire scenario during an immediate-action drill Sept. 8, 2009, in Twentynine Palms, Calif. USMC photo Chief Warrant Officer 2 Keith A. Stevenson

Staff Sgt. William Eddy-Fiddlers Green

Sgt. Ahmed Khan and Staff Sgt. William Eddy, Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion 11th Marine Regiment, carry their national ensigns during a flag dedication ceremony at Fire Base Fiddler’s Green in the Helmand province of Afghanistan July 19, 2009. USMC photo Sgt. Christopher R. Rye

24 per 100,000 USMC Suicide rate First In Nation

The Marines, smallest of the Nation's military services, has an unenviable record.

The Marine Corps is first among the Nation's warriors for suicides per one hundred thousand. Not. Acceptable.. A Marine that is contemplating suicide is wounded. No more. No less. He needs all the help he can get. The idea in your head that you want to off your self is not a career crasher. So why is the msg. not getting down to the ranks. Why is the Marine Corps leading the way in suicides? What are the Marine Corps sub titles saying? What is the big green machine saying that the ranks are hearing? Does the Corps stop to pick up Marines who have fallen ?

The Marine Corps' suicide rate has reached 24 per 100,000, a rate that surpasses all the other services. The rate was 13 per 100,000 in 2006. The latest available figures put the civilian suicide rate at 20 per 100,000.
North County Times

Thank you Scotty B--You @#$%&*! for the financial regulation bill

Scotty B can't take the pressure. He can't take the pressure, captain, he's breaking up. He's a liberal, Captain. Going back to his roots. Your vote presents Kenyan American President Obama a major victory. You're a chump, champ.

The 59-39 vote represents an important achievement for President Barack Obama, and comes just two months after his health care overhaul became law. The bill must now be reconciled with a House version that passed in December. A key House negotiator predicted the legislation would reach Obama’s desk before the Fourth of July…

Democrats succeeded in breaking through the Republican block by winning Brown’s backing. The Massachusetts Republican, who had voted against ending debate on Wednesday, met with Reid Thursday morning to voice his concerns regarding the bill’s effect on Massachusetts banks such as State Street and insurance firms such as MassMutual. House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, also of Massachusetts, weighed in Thursday with letters to Reid offering his own guarantees that the final bill would resolve Brown’s concerns.

Forest Greens In the Desert 2003

Civilians trying to leave Baghdad are stopped and checked by Two LAR just make sure they are civilians and not, etc, etc you know the drill, near the town of Al Fay 04/01/2003. USMC photo CPL MACE M. GRATZ,

Foot Patrol-Rawah Two LAR

2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion conduct a foot patrol through the town of Rawah, Iraq 22 October 06,
Photo by LCpl Andrew D. Young

First Platoon, Alpha Co Two LAR ISO

1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, ISO May 22, 2008 in Iraq, Salad Ad Din province.
USMC photo Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus

Patrol

First Platoon, A Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance in northern Anbar province, Iraq, May 2, 2008, Operation Iraqi Freedom. USMC photo Cpl. Tyler W. Hill

Census Duty

Two LAR on census gathering mission in the town of Rawah, Iraq, 10/25/2006
USMC photo Photo LCpl Andrew D. Young

Lance Corporal Chris Castro, FO

Lance Corporal Chris Castro, Forward Observer, Charlie Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion Exercise KERNEL BLITZ 2001/ 3/26/2001.
USMC photo LCPL BRENT T. HARVEY

4th LAR Meets Governor Masoud Ahmad

"The people of Khaneshin and their district governor, Masoud Ahmad, have been working with 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion over the past few months and are transitioning to working with 1st LAR over the coming months. Police retention has been an issue in the district. It is also the only of the four districts that has a border police. The district has made progress toward development, but still has more projects in the works, to include their new district center and shura hall. The region is a common location for Taliban operation given the more open area." DVIDS

"Carlos Aragon & Nigel Olsen Enduring Freedom memorial Scholarship"

"THKS CC": The first scholarship named for two 4th LAR Marines to honor their memory has been awarded to Miriam Cruz:

4th LAR Carlos Aragon and Nigel Olsen website for Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Daily Herald:

"Miriam Cruz [center], a student at Mountain View High School whose heritage spans Central America and the Middle East, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for an essay written about what patriotism means to her. In her essay she wrote, "To live here in this country and have the rights and freedom to be educated and live with a sense of peace is the biggest blessing for me." On Monday, Cruz accepted the "Carlos Aragon & Nigel Olsen Enduring Freedom memorial Scholarship" from the families of the two fallen soldiers.

Nigel Olsen and Carlos Aragon graduated from Mountain View High School just one year apart and were killed in Afghanistan in March 2010, just days apart.

"As Nigel and Carlos' parents, our heart's greatest desire is that our sons not be forgotten and that their sacrifice be remembered," Kim Olsen said in her speech.

Olsen called Cruz's essay moving, and Cruz was equally touched when she learned that she was the first recipient.

"I understand what it means to lose a relative," Cruz said. "I'm so grateful for their sons who fought for our freedom."

The Olsens raised $500 and it was matched by the Alpine Foundation. On May 31st the Olsen family will host a fundraiser for the continuation of the scholarship at Orem City Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a barbecue and live entertainment."

Marine ---Dale Peterson-Alabama USA

Delta First LAR

AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters provides close air-support during a firefight between elements of D/Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (LAR) and Iraqi Forces 4/3/2003
USMC photo LCPL ANDREW P. ROUFS

Taps for PFC James Dillon 3/14/2003

US Marine Corps (USMC) Bugler from the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion plays Taps, during the Memorial Service for USMC Private First Class (PFC) James Dillon Jr., 3/14/2003 Camp Ripper, Kuwait Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. USMC photo LCPL KENNETH E. MADDEN

First Platoon, Alpha Co Two LAR

1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, Marines and the 82nd Airborne, Anbar province, Iraq, May 2, 2008, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
USMC Photo Cpl. Tyler Hil

Hanes-Third LAR

Lance Corporal Christopher Hanes, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion Camp Ripper, Kuwait 3/15/2003
USMC photo LCpl. KENNETH E. MADDEN

Hopkins-LAR Chief Scout

Sgt. Clarence Hopkins, a chief scout for the Light Armored Reconnaissance,
Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 7, 2007

USMC photo Sgt. Ezekiel R. Kitandwe

Zagorskas-Two LAR

Sgt. Joseph Zagorskas, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Task Force Mech, clears an abandoned house in northern Anbar province, Iraq, May 5, 2008. USMC photo photo Cpl. Tyler Hill

Honest and Refreshing! Gov. Chris Christie Republican NJ

Lance Cpl. Chris T. Wright

Lance Cpl. Chris T. Wright, Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, changing the barrel on an M-249 squad automatic weapon, Aug. 18, 2009, MCB Camp Pendleton
USMC photo Pfc. James M. Bala

Gunny Williams, First LAR

Gunnery Sgt. Joseph R. Williams, Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
USMC photo Pfc. James M. Bala

Early- Way Early- Father's Day Flick-AKA Taking the Hit

A 82 year old driver suffers a heart attack and smashes in to the Leitch family at 40 miles an hour. Dad takes the hit for his son: "I was thinking I can take the hit. I can repair, but there's no way my son is going to repair," said Andrew. His elderly mom and dad were tossed into the air and have finally recovered after months in the hospital.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Xin Qi, 4TH LAR

"Petty Officer 2nd Class Xin Qi, 25, of Cordova, Tenn., died Jan. 23, while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. Qi was assigned to Fourth Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion"

Basic Question: For or Against

David Horowitz from the Freedom Center asks a "Muslim student activist" at UC San Diego if she supports Hizbullah's aim of eradicating Jewry from the face of the planet. For it, she replies.
That's ok, isn't it...I mean, after all, isn't all hate speech, under the umbrella of academia, protected speech under our Constitution.

Horowitz: Okay. Will you condemn Hamas, here and now?

MSA member: I'm sorry, what?

Horowitz: Will you condemn Hamas?

MSA member: Would I condemn Hamas?

Horowitz: As a terrorist organization. Genocidal organization.

MSA member: Are you asking me to put myself on a cross?

Horowitz: So you won't. I have actually had this experience many times. You didn't actually read the pamphlet, because the pamphlet is chapter and verse. The main connection is that the MSA is part of the Muslim Brotherhood Network as revealed...

MSA member: I don't think you understood what I meant by that. I meant if I say something, I am sure that I will be arrested, for reasons of homeland security. So if you could please just answer my question.

Horowitz: If you condemn Hamas, Homeland Security will arrest you?

MSA member: If I support Hamas, because your question forces me to condemn Hamas. If I support Hamas, I look really bad.

Horowitz: If you don't condemn Hamas, obviously you support it. Case closed. I have had this experience at UC Santa Barbara, where there were 50 members of the Muslim Students Association sitting right in the rows there. And throughout my hour talk I kept asking them, will you condemn Hizbollah and Hamas. And none of them would. And then when the question period came, the president of the Muslim Students Association was the first person to ask a question. And I said, 'Before you start, will you condemn Hizbollah?' And he said, 'Well, that question is too complicated for a yes or no answer.' So I said, 'Okay, I'll put it to you this way. I am a Jew. The head of Hizbollah has said that he hopes that we will gather in Israel so he doesn't have to hunt us down globally. For or Against it?

MSA member: For it.

Sgt. Justin M. Cuomo, 4th LAR

Sgt. Justin M. Cuomo, Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (4th LAR), comforts a sick child outside of Akashat, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, April 16, 2008.
USMC photo Cpl. Seth Maggard

F.O.

Lance Corporal (LCPL), Chris Castro, Forward Observer, Charlie Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, 03/21/2001, Exercise KERNEL BLITZ 2001.
USMC photo LCPL BRENT T. HARVEY,

War Pigs In Egypt

First LAR (Light Armored Reconnaissance) Wolfpack Platoon War Pig out of Camp Pendleton, California, with five Marines on the top as they book down the road in an Egyptian military base en route to a live fire and maneuver exercise aka Brightstar 1999 October and November. USMC photo LCPL Christopher Vallee

We are all Americans-'cept, of course, obama who is Kenyan

Happy Mother's Day!

U.S. Army Maj. Kristina Walich, orthopedic surgeon from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, working with the 555th Forward Surgical Team at Forward Operating Base Wright in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Walich is mother to 4-year-old and 11-month-old daughters.

DVIDS--Of the 11 Soldiers with the Forward Surgical Team, several are mothers. This Mother's Day, rather than being home with their own children, they will spend their time here, possibly saving someone else's.

"They think the American doctors do miracles, that we do magic," said U.S. Army Maj. Kristina Walich, an orthpedic surgeon from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, and mother of 4-year-old and 11-month-old daughters. "They think we're miracle doctors because we're providing care that they've never had exposure too. So that is very rewarding when I see how just a little thing I did changed a child's life."

The primary mission of the FST consists of providing lifesaving measures to wounded servicemembers, both U.S. and Afghan. When time provides, the medics also reach out and help locals in the neighboring villages.

"I just don't see it as a sacrifice, I really don't," said U.S. Army Capt. Nancy Emma, the FST chief nurse, who was also deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004. "This is my job and if I had to come back again, I would, because there is no one better than us to take care of them."

Both Emma, who is also from San Antonio, and U.S. Army Capt. Mari Groebner, FST operations room registered nurse, have three children and two grandchildren.

After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso, her hometown, Groebner joined the military in 2004 while her son, a Marine, was on his second tour serving in Iraq. When she finally received deployment orders her son teasingly told her, "It's about time you go."

Her husband spent the first ten years of their marriage serving in the military and told her if it was what she wanted, go for it. So at the age of 41, she followed her heart and joined the Army, signing up for a career field that the military was in need of.

Attached to the FST and stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, where she works in the operating room, she said seeing the Soldiers here immediately coming from the battlefield gives her a different perspective.

"I look at these kids and that is exactly what they are, they're the same age as my children," Groebner said. "You're just glad to be able to do what you can."

For 56-year-old Emma, after serving 27 years in the military she also sees the majority of Soldiers as her children. Not just the ones coming through the hospital, but all the servicemembers deployed here. The troops go to her for advice or just for someone to talk to.


For Walich, who arrived in Afghanistan in December after leaving her daughters with her husband, an Air Force psychiatrist, she knows the deployment presents many challenges but said the rewards are greater. Over the winter time in Kunar province, trauma cases have slowed down, and she was able to spend time working with local Afghan children needing medical attention.

"What is interesting to me is a lot of the children come in alone, the parents are not with them," Walich said. "Or they come in with their big brother, who in this society can be eight years old and works and earns a living. So for decision making, you have an 8-year-old who is not very mature but yet they are a guardian for the 3-year-old."

This was the situation when Soldiers brought in a child from a nearby village. The child broke his finger and developed a severe infection. Walich explained to the child's 8-year-old brother that he needed to have surgery or the infection could spread and he could die, but the brother adamantly refused.

"There was nothing I could do so they left," she said.

Fortunately, the Soldiers returned to the village to look for the parents. Two days later they brought the child and parents back in, and Walich was able to perform surgery-saving the child.

"For all the children we see here who have gone through these terrible things, I've been able to help so many of them. You cannot save every life, but for the few you do make a change for, it makes it worth it," Walich said.

The most common cases with the children are burns and broken bones, but they also get children who are 5 and 6 years old with correctable physical deformities, but have never seen a doctor.

Even though the team agrees the risk is worth it, the price they pay is still a high one and every mother has her own way of dealing with the pains of separation.
Some have left special photos behind and videos for their children to remember them by while they are gone. They all agree using Skype over the computer is one of their most valuable commodities. With this, Pellerin sings to her baby boy and even if the connection is bad and he cannot see her, he still quiets down and listens.

"I want to be the one to comfort Cardaye and reassure him that everything is okay, but I'm not there and it's pretty hard," Pellerin said. "But I do this so one day he won't have to work as hard and go through what I have gone through. It's to make it better for him so he can have a better life."

Walich's family has a "flat mommy" – a life size photo her husband made that sits at the table to share all the meals. She also has a jelly bean jar for her oldest daughter, Adeleine, that represents the number of days she will be gone. Adeleine gets a bean a day while her mother is deployed.

Additionally, the support they receive from back home they all say is tremendous. From friends, to family members, to husbands, it's their loved ones that enable them to keep going. Simple tasks like registering the children for school or scheduling doctor's appointments are things these mothers all have to rely on others to do while they work grueling hours thousands of miles away.

Walich's in-laws moved to San Antonio to help with their two girls. As for Pallerin, her mother is helping to raise her son while she is deployed.

"During my whole military career, my mom has been there for me," Pallerin said, who sent her mother flowers for Mother's Day. "I never thought I would have gotten to the point I am right now, and I wouldn't have without my mom. She's my rock and that is my intent, to be all that I can be just like my mom."

For Walich, her time is short. She returns to San Antonio next month, and her daughter Adeleine knows mommy is coming home because, she said, "the jelly beans are almost gone." For the rest of the FST, they still have many months left of doing "magic" before they return home to their own little miracles.

Two LAR and CAAT 1&2

2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Platoon, and Combined Anti-Aircraft Teams 1 and 2, conduct a combined arms live fire weapons training Djibouti March 13, 2010 . photo Lance Cpl. David J. Beall

Time To Pick Up the Shitty End of the Stick

Caroline Glick

So much for US President Barack Obama's famed powers of persuasion. At the UN's Nuclear Non-Poliferation Treaty review conference which opened this week, the Obama administration managed to lose control over the agenda before the conference even started.

Obama administration officials said they intended to use the conference as a platform to mount international pressure on Iran to stop its illicit nuclear proliferation activities. But even before the conference began, with a little prodding from Egypt, the administration agreed that instead of focusing on Iran, the conference would adopt Iran's chosen agenda: attacking Israel for its alleged nuclear arsenal.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that US officials were conducting negotiations with Egypt about Egypt's demand that the NPT review conference call for sanctions against Israel for refusing to join the NPT as a non-nuclear state. The Journal quoted a senior administration official involved in the discussions saying, "We've made a proposal to them [Egypt] that goes beyond what the U.S. has been willing to do before."

Among other possibilities, that proposal may have included a US agreement to appoint a UN envoy responsible for organizing a UN conference calling for the Greater Middle East to become a nuclear-free zone. In diplomatese, "Middle East nuclear-free zone" is a well-accepted euphemism for stripping Israel of its purported nuclear capability while turning a blind eye to Iranian, Syrian and other Islamic nuclear weapons programs. Egypt's demand, which it convinced more than a hundred members of the Non-Aligned bloc to sign onto, is for Israel to open its nuclear installations to international inspectors as a first step towards unilateral nuclear disarmament.

On Wednesday the US joined the other four permanent members of the Security Council in signing a statement calling for a nuclear-free Middle East and urging Israel, Pakistan and India to accede to the NPT as non-nuclear states. Following the US's lead, on Thursday Yukiya Amano, the new Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote a letter to IAEA member states asking for their suggestions for how to convince Israel to sign the NPT.

So as Iran -- an NPT signatory -- makes a mockery of the treaty by building nuclear weapons in contempt of its treaty obligations, the US has actively supported Iran's bid to use the NPT review conference as yet another UN forum for bashing Israel.

It bears recalling that the primary goal of the NPT is to prevent nuclear proliferation. From the amount of attention Israel is receiving at the NPT review conference, you could easily get the impression that Israel's purported nuclear arsenal is the gravest proliferation threat in the world today. But history shows that this is nonsense.

Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal, which it has reportedly fielded for four decades, has not led to a regional nuclear arms race. Notwithstanding their protestations to the contrary, Israel's neighbors fully recognize that the purpose of Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal is to guarantee Israel's survival and consequently only threatens those who would attack the Jewish state with the intention of annihilating it. This is why although it is four decades old; Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal has never caused a regional nuclear arms race. It has never harmed or called into question the relevance or usefulness of the NPT's international non-proliferation agenda. Moreover, as a non-signatory to the NPT, Israel has the right to develop a nuclear program.

Iran on the other hand gave up that right when it joined the NPT regime. So too, in sharp contrast to Israel's alleged program, it is clear that Iran's nuclear project is aggressive rather than defensive. Consequently, it is universally recognized that if Iran becomes a nuclear power, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states will begin developing their own nuclear arsenals in short order. That is, it is absolutely clear that if the NPT is to have any relevance in the coming years, if there is to be any hope that counter-proliferation regimes can be useful; preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons must be its signatories' chief aim.

But due to the Obama administration's diplomatic fecklessness and ideological blinders, administration officials were incapable of making these points. And so, instead through its actions, the administration has advanced the cause of nuclear proliferation. The US has now joined the ranks of fools who claim that nuclear weapons in the hands of states like the US and Israel are as problematic as nuclear weapons in the hands of states like Iran and North Korea.

BUT THEN, in the end it makes no difference that the US has followed Iran's lead at the NPT conference. Even if the administration had managed to make Iran's nuclear weapons program the focus of debate, it wouldn't have mattered because diplomacy is no longer a relevant tool for preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Appeasement has failed. Sanctions are dead in the water in the Security Council.

And even if the Security Council passes a sanctions resolution, they will have no impact on Iran's behavior. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made that much clear in his speech on Monday and in subsequent remarks to the media. As he put it, "While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either. Sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation."

What all of this demonstrates is that the diplomatic track - from appeasement to sanctions - is irrelevant for contending with Iran's nuclear program. The only way to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear bombs is to use military force to destroy or severely damage its nuclear installations.

And this of course is something Obama will not do. His begging-to-shake-hands policy towards Iran and the one hand and his iron fist policy towards Israel on the other makes it absolutely clear that Obama will do nothing to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Rather than correct his abysmal failures, Obama seeks to hide them by minimizing the seriousness of the threat.

In remarks to the media this week, a White House official downplayed the Iranian threat. He told the Financial Times that Iran's "nuclear clock has slowed down. They are not making dramatic technical progress given the difficulties they are facing in their [uranium] enrichment program and the fact that their efforts to build secret facilities have been disclosed."

The fact that the US's published intelligence estimates of Iran's nuclear program contradict this claim didn't seem to faze the official.

The US's abdication of its responsibility as the leader of the free world to prevent the most dangerous regimes from acquiring the most dangerous weapons means that the responsibility for preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has fallen on Israel's shoulders. Only Israel has the means and the will to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. And the message the NPT follies convey is that Israel must develop contingency plans for attacking Iran as quickly as possible.

Daily reports of weapons build-ups and military exercises in Iran and among Iran's clients Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas expose the contours of their war plans.

Syria and Iran have armed Hizbullah with some 40,000 missiles and rockets, including hundreds of Scud missiles and guided surface-to-surface solid fuel M600 missiles with a 250 km range and. This week Hizbullah threatened to attack Israel with non-conventional weapons. Syria itself has a formidable chemical and biological arsenal as well as a massive artillery and missile force at its disposal.

As for Hamas, since Operation Cast Lead Iran's Palestinian proxy Hamas has expanded its own missile arsenal. Today it reportedly has projectiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond.

As for Iran, as its seemingly endless military exercises make clear, the mullocracy has the capacity to use conventional weapons to imperil global oil shipments from the Persian Gulf. So too, this week's report that Osama Bin Laden may have decamped to Iran in 2003 merely served to underline Iran's ability to utilize jihadist terror forces throughout the world.

From the open preparations for war that Iran and its clients have undertaken, it is clear that if they initiate the next round of fighting they will fight a four front war against Israel. That war will be dominated by missile attacks against the entire country aimed at breaking the will of the Israeli people while forcing the IDF to divert vital resources away from Israel's primary target - Iran's nuclear installations - to contend with Iran's proxies' missile stores.

AS THEY CONSIDER Israel's options going forward, Israel's political and military leaders have to take two considerations into account. First, the side that initiates the conflict will be the side that controls the battle space. And second, there is a real possibility that the Obama administration will refuse to resupply Israel with vital weapons systems in the course of the war. The fact that Israel will be roundly condemned by the UN and its component parts is a certainty regardless of who initiates the conflict and therefore is irrelevant for operational planning.

Armed with these understandings, it is apparent that Israeli contingency plans for war must have limited goals and should be guided by the overarching aim of beginning and ending the war quickly. Luckily, Israel excels at limited, swift campaigns.

Responding to one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent threats, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman promised last month that if Assad attacks Israel, Israel will bring down his regime. While bringing about the utter defeat of Iran's regional proxies is a reasonable goal, it cannot be Israel's goal in the coming war.

In the coming war, Israel will have only one goal: to destroy or seriously damage Iran's nuclear installations. Every resource turned against Iran's proxies must be aimed at facilitating that goal. That is, the only thing Israel should seek to accomplish in contending with Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas is to prevent them from diverting Israeli resources away from attacking Iran's nuclear installations.

This means that Israel must launch a preemptive strike against Hizbullah's missiles and missile launchers, Syria's missiles, artillery and launchers, and Hamas's missiles and launchers. As for their short-range rockets, Israel should do its best to intercept them and otherwise hunker down to weather the storm of Katyushas and Qassams. Life of the homefront won't be easy. But it won't be impossible either, as we saw in 2006.

Almost every assessment of a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear installations has assumed that Israel will use its air force to strike. All that can be said of that analysis is that, just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, so there is more than one way to destroy Iran's nuclear installations. An Israeli strike should utilize all of them to keep the Iranians off balance and on the defensive.

These are dangerous times. Iran, which seeks to position itself as a regional superpower, has been emboldened by the Obama administration's abdication of US global leadership. Only Israel can prevent Iran from endangering the world. But time is of the essence.

HEH....Never AsK a Barber If you need a Haircut....

GATES TO NAVY:"Do we really need 11 carrier strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one?" Gates asked the annual conference of the Navy League, a supporters' group.

NAVY TO GATES: Hell YES!

(Reuters) - The U.S. Navy told Congress it wants to keep 11 aircraft carriers through 2045, just days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates called into question the need for that many.

"The Navy remains firmly committed to maintaining a force of 11 carriers for the next three decades," Sean Stackley, the service's warship buyer, told the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee on Thursday.

The 11-carrier force structure is based on "world-wide presence requirements, surge availability, training and exercise, and maintenance" needs, he said in an opening statement.

Gates stirred the waters on Monday with a speech in which he asked whether the United States could afford "a Navy that relies on 3- to 6-billion-dollar destroyers, along with 7-billion-dollar submarines and 11-billion-dollar carriers."

Makes you wonder just WTF the sub titles look like-don't it-I mean as the least among bill payers aka taxed paying American-I would like to know just why would GATES stir up the hornet's military-industrial nest NOW when the PRC Navy is getting or going to get their very own aircraft carrier. Humm. Good luck with that one. (growing pains will be called Major Factor) This will be the second time the Chinese will have had a ship with a rudder that big. The first was before Columbus.

Lance Cpl. James McGhee, 4th LAR AFG

Date Taken: 05.06.2010
Posted: 05.07.2010 11:28
Lance Cpl. James McGhee, of 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Bn., in Afghanistan, response on the Toby Keith United Service Organization Concert. Video Location: Helmand Province, AF

a moment for prayer

1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance, Haditha Dam, Iraq, May 10, 2008. photo Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus

Abby's In

Abby, 16 years old, and yead, apart from scouring the web for news of our War Pigs, I follow the perilous adventures of Abby; Abby was forced to pull into port because of a failed auto pilot 100 days out on a circumnavigation of the globe. Columbus eat your heart out. Hey, OBL and yead Obama. This! Is. A. 16 year old American.That's what I'm talking about... Abby's Blog

Djibouti Terrain

TWO LAR platoon and Combined Anti Aircraft Teams 1 and 2, conduct a combined arms exercise using their ground forces and air assets during a simulated attack through the mountainous terrain
of Djibouti March 13, 2010.
USMC photo Lance Cpl. David J. Beall

Today-War Pigs At Work-NaTGEOTV 6PM

National Geographic Explorer series will rebroadcast Camp Leatherneck at 6PM Wed. Set your TiVo's. This time I have mine set for catch. Except for a short bit that had the War Pigs at work, I have yet to see the entire hour. Check out their website for Two LAR War Pig photos. Some from the Castle, also.

"In January 2009 it was a patch of lawless Afghan desert, riddled with Taliban fighters. Today, Camp Leatherneck is home to more than 10,000 troops. Go inside the epicenter of the war in Afghanistan and meet the men and women who work in and pass through the camp. Learn what daily life is like for the people who find themselves in this place. How violence, boredom, excessive heat, separation from family and cultural differences affect the mind-set of the warriors."

Read NATGEO TV:

Two LAR Pfc. Mathew J. Daniels

Pfc. Mathew J. Daniels from 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Task Force Mechanized on guard as fellow Marines conduct a meeting in the Salad Ad Din province of Iraq on May 20, 2008. USMC photo Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus

Grandson At COP Sher

This for the Grandmother reader who just found us and left a note that she has a grandson who is a Navy Corpsman at Combat Out Sher. Digging thru the D. I. files I found a recent photo of COP Sher. Many good lucks to y'all. "Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier on guard outside Combat Outpost Sher in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 11, 2010. The ANA stand guard during construction."(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Joshua T. Greenfield

Barnett, Bravo Co., Weapons PLT

Lance Corporal Barnett, of Bravo Company, Weapons Platoon, carries an M-220 E/4 TOW 2 rocket during the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Re-qualification at Fort Pickett 03/30/1998 . (LAR-REQUALEX) '98. USMC photo LCPL Timothy A. Pope

If You See Something-Say Nothing-US Army

Patrick Poole at Pajamas Media:"Willful Blindness- US Army Unprepared for another Jihadist attack" has the distressing analysis that pinpoints the reason why more base massacres are inevitable. See something-say something at the risk of your career. Disgusting. How many more body bags need to be filled before serious Higher ass kicking takes place.

Immediately following the Ft. Hood massacre, I offered some initial thoughts here at Pajamas Media (“Why There Will Be More Military Base Shootings”) on where the problems lie. Chief among those was the long-institutionalized culture of political correctness that allowed Maj. Hasan’s full display of his hostile intentions to his fellow soldiers to be willfully ignored — his now-infamous PowerPoint presentation. Had any one of those who protested his open hostility and violent ideology pressed the matter beyond their immediate chain of command, they would have seen their military careers come to an abrupt end. That remains true today.

Having been privy to some of the internal discussions since the Ft. Hood massacre, some additional interrelated problems need to be addressed. The first is what I call “classified blindness.” Not just in military circles, but throughout law enforcement there is a widely held belief that if information isn’t classified in some manner, it isn’t worth their attention. And if the information isn’t classified as at least top secret, it certainly isn’t actionable intelligence. Even though ninety-five percent of what they need to know is available through open sources.

Admittedly, there are important snippets of information only available through classified collections. Having seen some of this “classified” material, I have to admit that I’m not impressed. The fact remains, however, that both Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, the Little Rock killer, and Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Ft. Hood killer, were already known to law enforcement before their attacks and still nothing was done to diffuse the threat. So there must be other forces at work.

Another culprit is what I term “analysis blindness.” As I speak with military anti-terrorism and force protection officials, I’m finding that many, if not most, don’t have the subject matter proficiency to even be able to understand what they are reading.

One real world example was a discussion I had with a senior analyst for a top military anti-terrorism group. This well-paid analyst, who is no doubt dedicated to the job and trying to do it to the best of his ability, could not tell the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah. And yet this individual is daily analyzing intelligence required to keep our military forces safe and secure.

As my colleague Lt. Col. Joseph Myers has repeatedly observed, the military’s force protection staff are rarely well-read in the field of Islamic terrorism, though many have graduate degrees in national security studies and the like.

An additional problem I have identified is “bureaucratic blindness,” meaning that the military force protection leadership spends the bulk of their time engaged in paper shuffling, budget requests, and staffing issues. Not to discount the necessity of planning and stewarding scarce resources, but when our force protection leaders are required to be little more than administrators and bureaucrats we shouldn’t be surprised when the focus on protecting the troops falls to the wayside.

Finally, there is a larger systemic problem at work. At its root, our military leaders do not understand the threat they are facing. Officers who have been trained in counterinsurgency tactics and exemplified courage in the face of a lethal enemy in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere seem completely unprepared to deal with the same enemy at home.

Senior Pentagon commanders have labored to define the threat out of existence –see the Department of Defense’s Ft. Hood report. Rather than acknowledge the proliferation of jihadist ideology and the threat it poses to our U.S.-based troops, these officials describe the problem as random, and ultimately unknowable, “violent extremism” (the favored term of the Obama administration).

Pretending that the threat is random and unknowable gives them license to do nothing. The fact is that the jihadist threat can be precisely defined, studied, and identified. It is the ability to understand the ever-evolving problem and the will to do something about it that is sorely lacking.

What my first-hand experience has taught me these past few months speaking with and to our military leadership concerning the domestic jihadist threat confirms that the status quo with respect to force protection has cost soldiers their lives. By doubling-down on those failed policies, our troops are now more vulnerable than ever.

And by ignoring the need to counter the jihadists’ tactics and targeting, many

more will die.

Katrina II Gulf Oil Disaster-WH: President Obama's reaction was swift and sure. AAHH...SURE

America's first Kenyan President is trying to cover all bases to reassure you all that his finger was on the pulse and have no doubt: Mr. Wonderful is on the case. OK. What ever. Powerline has great analysis of did POTUS have his pants on or not. NOT. You read. You decide. From my corner. Dude-POTUS Kenyan baby. You are so SOL. This bad boy is 5000 feet down under water. I know that means dew-dew-lee to a paper cut refugee from Harvard but let me give you the bottom line. Ixtoc I, remember Ixtoc I, yead I know you do, Ixtoc I was the last blow out we had in the Gulf aka 100 km north west from Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche June 3, 1979, damn thing blew out. Lost circulation. Bad. Blow up your kids balloons for their birthday party and you have the delicate chemistry of a well. Your air pressure keeps the kids balloon inflated. As long as the balloon stays intact--hey everything is copacetic. This is the same as a well. You hit a porous shale( kid's balloon hits a pin)--there goes your well drilling circulation mud and there goes your balloon and well. Nature abhors a vaccumn and here is where that explosive gas goes to take the place of the missing mud and blows up. Ixtoc took a year to cap off in 169 feet of water. This sucker is 5000 feet deep. Five thousand. That's 280 feet short of a mile. SOL

Sgt. Michael J. Beaver, Two LAR

Michael J. Beaver, Task Force Mech Operations Chief Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Salah Ad Din, Iraq, May 2, 2008, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Jason W. Fudge-USMC photographer

"I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money."

So what else is new?

We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda against the will of the American people-Voight

A LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

April 10, 2010

by Jon Voight

In one year the American people are witnessing the greatest lie that is cleverly orchestrated by Pres Obama and his whole administration. The lie is a potent aggression that feeds the needs of people who either have not educated themselves enough to understand the assault upon us all, or the very poor and needy who live to be taken care of. President Obama feeds these people poison, giving them the idea that they are entitled to take from the wealthier, who have lived and worked in a democracy that understands that capitalism is the only truth that keeps a nation healthy and fed.

Now, the lie goes very deep, and president Obama has been cleverly trained in the Alinski method, and it would be very important that every American knows what that method is. It is a socialistic, Marxist teaching, and with it, little by little, he rapes this nation, taking down our defenses, making new language for the Islamic extremists.

The world who looked up to us, as a symbol of hope and prosperity, now wonders…“What will become of the entire world if America is losing its power?”

The American people who understand exactly what is taking place have come together in the thousands, vowing to try to stay together as a unit of love and freedom, for all men and women, from all walks of life, shivering to think that this once great nation will be a third world country.

This will be the first president to ever weaken the United States of America. President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda against the will of the American people, when he should be using his will and aggression against our enemies. Every loving American for peace, and truth, and the security of our nation, must come out and join the Tea Parties in their states. The opposition will continue their tactics: they will lie and plant their own bullies amongst us. Everyone must pay close attention to who stands next to them. We can weed out the liars and agitators.

Let us all stay in God’s light.

Let no man put us under.

We can and we will prevail.

God bless us all!

Colors

Lance Cpls. Edgar Ramirezcastro (left) and Brian Johnson (right) assist Sgt. Nathan A. Goodland, platoon sergeant, Security Platoon, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in lowering the American flag, April 21. USMC photo Sgt. Shawn Coolman