"War Pigs" aka LAV-25's love to swim ....

What Kind of Back up Have You Got...??? The whole nine yards if you need it...

A Rand study answers the question a young Marine asked me on continued citizen support when the going gets rough for the troops on the ground or will the news "disturb the citizens at their breakfast". "Americans' opinions went on a war footing following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, often matching levels of support for military action seen during World War II, according to the study that synthesizes findings from about 100 public opinion surveys."“

The perceived importance of the stakes was the key belief predicting support for the operation,” said RAND analyst Eric Larson, the report's lead author.

Other major factors influencing a person's likelihood of backing a military operation include: identifying with the same political party as the president of the United States, the occurrence of battle casualties, and beliefs about the prospects for an operation's success, according to the study.

Larson said that U.S. support for the Iraq mission became “far more stalwart” after 16 soldiers were killed when an Army helicopter was shot down in November 2003 by insurgents near Fallujah. This is in contrast to public sentiment after the infamous “Black Hawk Down” battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 that killed 18 U.S. troops and wounded many more.

Polls showed a “stiffening” of public support for military action after the Iraq incident, while polling data showed that Americans preferred pulling out of Somalia by 2-to-1 margins even before the Mogadishu firefight. That sentiment strengthened after the battle, according to the study.


RAND | News Release | Americans Will Back Military Action Overseas If They Believe The United States Has "Important Stakes" in a Battle

Captured thuggies trained to cry torture: al Qaeda handbook via The Washington Times:

Captives told to claim torture - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - May 31, 2005: " In a raid on an al Qaeda cell in Manchester, British authorities seized al Qaeda's most extensive manual for how to wage war.
A directive lists one mission as 'spreading rumors and writing statements that instigate people against the enemy.'
If captured, the manual states, 'At the beginning of the trial ... the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by state security before the judge. Complain of mistreatment while in prison.'
The handbook instructs commanders to make sure operatives, or 'brothers,' understand what to say if captured.
'Prior to executing an operation, the commander should instruct his soldiers on what to say if they are captured,' the document says. 'He should explain that more than once in order to ensure that they have assimilated it. They should, in turn, explain it back to the commander.'
An example might have occurred in a Northern Virginia courtroom in February.
Ahmed Omar Abul Ali, accused of planning to assassinate President Bush, made an appearance in U.S. District Court and promptly told the judge that he had been tortured in Saudi Arabia, including a claim that his back had been whipped. He is accused of meeting there with a senior al Qaeda leader.
Days later, a U.S. attorney filed a court document saying physicians had examined Ali and 'found no evidence of any physical mistreatment on the defendant's back or any other part of his body.'
Larry Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said two Guantanamo commanders told him that al Qaeda detainees are experts in circulating false charges among the more than 500 fighters captured in Afghanistan. "

War Pig and Bravo Four LAR friends at the Tikrit Birthday Palace, Iraq northern most LOA Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Memorial Day

Affectionally known as "war pigs" the LAV-25 carries a letal dose of ammo for the 25mm chain gun and 7.62 machine gun. A beauty. 

Lt. Ilario Pantano is free

The Lieutenant's lawyer describes the classic conflict between garrison and frontline. "Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario's conduct and whether or not he did the right thing," Charles Gittins, Pantano's civilian lawyer, said. "It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they're guilty." Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, commander of the 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune, ends the prosecution of 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano (search), whom prosecutors accused of killing the men without justification.

Too Close To Air Strike

Al Zarqawi in poor health

Ten Percent off at Home Depot as Thanks : via Winds of Change.NET

Winds of Change.NET: " Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced that the company is inviting all active duty, reservists, retired military personnel, veterans and their families to receive 10 percent off their purchases in recognition of Memorial Day. The offer is good on purchases up to $2,000 for a maximum discount of $200 between May 26-30, 2005, at The Home Depot stores, The Home Depot Floor Stores, The Home Depot Landscape Supply stores and EXPO Design Center locations.
'This discount is our way of saying 'thanks' to the brave men and women of our armed forces,' said Bob Nardelli, chairman, president & CEO of The Home Depot. 'The Home Depot has an ongoing commitment to the entire U.S. military community and, during this time of remembrance, we want to show our appreciation to all of those who have served at home and abroad to preserve freedom for our nation.'
To qualify, individuals must present proof of military service to the Special Services Desk at any The Home Depot store, where they will receive a coupon that is redeemable at any cashier's checkout register. Discount coupons are valid on a single receipt in-store purchase only."

MAS's Muslim Brotherhood Problem

MAS's Muslim Brotherhood Problem: "THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD is an international Islamist group that largely operates underground and behind the scenes, with branches in about 70 countries. The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, an Egyptian schoolteacher who--in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and abolition of the caliphate--bemoaned the sickness of the Ummah, or larger Muslim community. The Brotherhood's response to this perceived sickness

was to emphasize doctrinally that Islam encompasses all the affairs of man. As al-Banna wrote, 'Islam is faith and worship, a country and a citizenship, a religion and a state. It is spirituality and hard work. It is a Qur'an and a sword.' The group also emphasizes that Islam is a universal faith. As al-Banna put it, Islam 'has encompassed all aspects of human life, for all peoples and nations, and for all times and ages.'

Because the Brotherhood views Islam as all-encompassing and universal, one of its highest goals is to spread Islamic law. The Chicago Tribune explains that the controversial 'ultimate goal' of the U.S. Brotherhood is 'to create Muslim states overseas and, they hope, someday in America as well.' Brotherhood members did emphasize to the Tribune that they operate within the laws of the countries where they live:

They stress that they do not believe in overthrowing the U.S. government, but rather that they want as many people as possible to convert to Islam so that one day--perhaps generations from now--a majority of Americans will support a society governed by Islamic law.

Despite these pronouncements, the Muslim Brotherhood has not always been known for non-violence. The 'Qur'an and a sword' outlook trumpeted by al-Banna is, for example, evident in the organization's militant motto: 'Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.' Consistent with this motto, Muslim Brotherhood members have been involved in such episodes as the assassination of Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi and the attempted assassination of Gamal Abdel Nasser."
"

Jim Lacey on the Military on National Review Online

Jim Lacey on the Military on National Review Online: "On a recent trip to Iraq I was with a small group of civilians and officers when truck loads of care packages for the soldiers were being unloaded. The boxes were opened for the soldiers to grab what they wanted. Earlier, one of the officers mentioned that he needed to get some razors from the Post Exchange. One of the civilians in our group spotted a shaving kit in a box, grabbed it, and handed it to the officer in need of razors saying, “This will save you a trip.” Without a pause the officer threw the kit back in the box and replied, “That stuff was sent over for the troops to use, not me.” The civilian mentioned that the officer was also a soldier serving in Iraq and no one would begrudge him the kit. The officer did his best to explain and then finally said, “That is not how it works. Just watch.”

So we stood off to the side and watched. Over the next half hour, while a couple of hundred soldiers took what they wanted from the boxes about two dozen Army and Marine officers came over and looked to see what was in the boxes. Every one of them left empty handed. It was as clear a testament as I could personally imagine that they had internalized the idea that the needs of the soldiers came before their own."

"But the lone Iraqi woman in the house wouldn't enter the room without a veil. " Via Pamela Hess (United Press International)

The curious case of the Iraqi woman who refused to refused to join the six men in her own house tipped off one alert Marine Sgt. who kept thinking why should a woman be so adamant about going into the same room with six men who supposedly were her relatives. Marines of the one seven regiment had just been shot at by a sniper who vanished into the nearby houses and now the Marines were questioning residents inside their houses. At one house they found six men and one woman. For questioning, the Marines moved the six men into one room and when they asked the woman to join them she refused. "She was obstinate," said Capt. Andrew J. Nelson, a company commander with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment." The Marines insisted. She refused. Finally, she relented but first put on a veil. Why should an Iraqi woman need a veil in her own house....unless the men were not relatives but strangers. This much cultural awareness encouraged the young Marine Sgt to haul all six men in for further questioning and later discovered that three of the six were snipers. The new combat zone in the 21st. century requires very savvy Marines.

Marines focus on small units - (United Press International): "But the lone Iraqi woman in the house wouldn't enter the room with the men"

Operation Matador Via lgf: pump up the bass, Qusay Read the rest at lgf website

lgf: pump up the bass, Qusay: "On Operation Matador

LGF reader Joe G. forwarded this letter from Marine Colonel Bob Chase, about his experiences in Operation Matador; note the section about his interview with NBC News:

***

Was talking to Gino and he asked for some details on the MATADOR fight. Figured, by now since many of you might have caught some of the interviews, you’d like to hear, ‘the rest of the story...“

Matador is now officially over, supposedly, they were going to fight our way back and ”destroy“ us - guess they missed the turn at the dairy queen. We are back and the final tally was Good Guys - 125 enemy dead, many more wounded, and 39 detainees of some significant value. The bad guys, who talk a real good game - 9 Killed (6 in the one Amtrak) and 30 wounded (most will return to duty). Not a bad weeks’ work.

As we have said, our intent was to make ourselves big by leveraging our firepower and mobility. This area was a real sh*thole for AMZ criminals. We knew it, 1st Division knew it, but working it on a regular basis was tough. We kept some recon there and got the timing pretty well, brought up a bridging unit from the Army in Baghdad, then went across in the middle of the night (that was probably the only part that didn’t go on sked (the bank gradient was poorly assessed) but we had near and far-side security already in and a blocking position near the Syrian Border.

The enemy figured out after about 4 hours that we were there in force. They came down with about 100 fighters (no, scratch that - they were TARGETS) and made the poor decision to take on a battalion in open ground. They withdrew - we went after them into a place called Ubaydi. Many mounted boats and tried to escape N, we pushed Air, and the Cobras sunk a bunch of trash barges that night. Meanwhile, we continued to push west across the river. Our far-side units started to see pockets of insurgents move to key areas to emplace mines/IEDs. They came out, snipers took them out; their friends came for the bodies; they, joined them on the deck - permanently.

The force started getting the tanks and LAVs across later than we had hoped; but when they did! Our first casualties came at a high-rise where the enemy had prepared positions; a platoon moved in under fire, 2 Marines, a SSGT and a LCPL were first in the hatch and received a burst of MG fire. As the unit assumed they were dead (no additional fire/no one came out), they lit up the house and dropped it with a coupla 500-pounders. As we moved to recover our Marines (NONE LEFT BEHIND), we discovered that the LCPL, though wounded was still alive (he is serious, but stable). Unfortunately the SSGT had taken a round to the grape and had been killed by the initial burst"

Iraqi Thuggie Sniper Training via military.com

"7 duties of a sniper Gathered from the pro-insurgency militant website
Baghdad Al-Rashid.com"on 10 May 2005
“Another look into the mind of the enemy”

Thuggie sniper's How to handbook on targets to kill available on line...check it out.

Another word from the America is to blame crowd via:HughHewitt.com

Indra Nooyi, CFO at Pepsi, commencement speech at Columbia University really hit a sore nerve with me and by now lots of other bloggers as well with her America-gives-the-world-the-middle-finger speech. I am swearing off Pepsi and Fritos and I encourage you to join the protest as well. Here are the choice comments by Nooyi found at Hewitt's site:
"As the longest of the fingers, [the United States] really stands out. The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively. This is a really good thing, and has given the U.S. a leg-up in global business since the end of World War 1.

However, if used inappropriately --just like the U.S. itself-- the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble. You know what I'm talking about. In fact, I suspect you're hoping that I'll demonstrate what I mean. And trust me, I'm not looking for volunteers to model.

Discretion being the better part of valor...I think I'll pass.

What is most crucial to my analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents, is that each of us in the U.S. --the long middle finger-- must be careful that when we extend our arm in either a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand...not the finger. Sometimes this is very difficult. Because the U.S. --the middle finger-- sticks out so much, we can send the wrong message unintentionally.

Unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as a part of the hand --giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers-- but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal."

HughHewitt.com: "The Yahoo message board for Pepsico is not happy with the company's ineffective response to consumer anger with COO's Nooyi's 'America is the middle finger' speech. Michelle Malkin brands Pepsi the 'new Eason,' and provides a round-up of links. No mention of the consumer anger at Pepsi for its COO's analogy or displeasure with the non-apology apology in MSM, so the story may seem to PR types at Pepsico to be passing. So it seemed to Eason Jordan. Those Pr types might want to have a look at this, and at this."

Friday's sermon by Sheilk Ibrahim Mudeiris."we will rule the entire world "via:MEMRI TV

MEMRI TV: "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world – except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relived of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew.

"

On Capturing the Zarqawi thug dude Via:Reverse Retna from the Sandlot

One conversation, between an American and an Iraqi, on capturing the the thug dude...discovers a hellava blind spot that can only be healed by freedom.
Reverse Retna from the Sandlot: "A lesson in Diversity
The other day I was in my SSSA (secret secure smoking area) at work and one of the Transitional National Assembly staff stopped to have a smoke. After the regular exchange of niceties I asked how things were coming along with the New Government. The guy told me that things were going well but it would work out a lot better if we could catch Zarqawi. He actually said 'when you catch Zarqawi.' I responded 'Insha'llah' which means 'god-willing' in Arabic. He then asked a question that gets asked a lot around the world...'Why can't you catch him?' I was a bit taken aback. I told him it wasn't for lack of trying. A quick look on google will tell you that we're constantly chasing that nut-case but my reply is that for all the strength and technology in the world nothing can replace the help of a concerned citizen. Most police officers will tell you, short of a stupid criminal, the thing that usually solves a case is an eye-witness or anonymous tip. I explained that we need the help of the average Iraqi. When someone sees Zarqawi he needs to call either the Coalition or the Iraqi security forces and report it. We're not from here...We don't speak the language and can't tell the difference between the people in terms of dialect or dress. We need their help in this as much as they need ours. He said he understood and that it was a strange concept to him. I asked what was strange. His reply was one that I think most Americans take for granted because his answer seems so simple to us. The concept that he found strange? In his words 'That a single man could change the world.' He had a look of revelation in his eyes that told me he just stumbled onto one of the many facets of real Freedom...

Yoshi, Out...."

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi WIA via:Sunday Times - Times Online

The "the" thuggie has been wounded and according to an unidentified doctor who recognized Zarqawi from pictures, (no doubt with $25 million reward). The doctor-dude tried to con Zarqwawi into staying in the hospital for his health, of course, even followed the "smartly dressed thug team" to their get away car when he saw the machine guns and remembered he wanted to breathe the next day. Oh yead, this is a credible lead. Totally believeable dude. Major thug escorted by smartly dressed body guards.


Bin Laden henchman ‘seriously wounded’ - Sunday Times - Times Online

The view of the forest...The Work You as As U.S. Marines are doing... is nothing LESS the liberation of men and women... via:Across the Bay

Across the Bay: "To venture into the Arab world, as I did recently over four weeks in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, is to travel into Bush Country. I was to encounter people from practically all Arab lands, to listen in on a great debate about the possibility of freedom and liberty. I met Lebanese giddy with the Cedar Revolution that liberated their country from the Syrian prison that had seemed an unalterable curse. They were under no illusions about the change that had come their way. They knew that this new history was the gift of an American president who had put the Syrian rulers on notice. The speed with which Syria quit Lebanon was astonishing, a race to the border to forestall an American strike that the regime could not discount. I met Syrians in the know who admitted that the fear of American power, and the example of American forces flushing Saddam Hussein out of his spiderhole, now drive Syrian policy. They hang on George Bush's words in Damascus, I was told: the rulers wondering if Iraq was a crystal ball in which they could glimpse their future.

The weight of American power, historically on the side of the dominant order, now drives this new quest among the Arabs. For decades, the intellectual classes in the Arab world bemoaned the indifference of American power to the cause of their liberty. Now a conservative American president had come bearing the gift of Wilsonian redemption. For a quarter-century the Pax Americana had sustained the autocracy of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: He had posed as America's man on the Nile, a bulwark against the Islamists. He was sly and cunning, running afoul of our purposes in Iraq and over Israeli-Palestinian matters. He had nurtured a culture of antimodernism and anti-Americanism, and had gotten away with it. Now the wind"

ARMOR GEDDON: Unstoppable

Neil Prakash has posted again after leaving thuggie country. He has video footage of the fight into Fallujah- flick called Unstoppable. Awesome. Check it out.
ARMOR GEDDON: Unstoppable