For Our Soldiers!              Military Humor! 

I took this picture July 3, 2005 in Washington, DC

These Soldiers Are Returning From a Commendations Ceremony.  They Received Their Commendations From President Bush Personally!  Congratulations!

 Dust in the Wind

 " It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."   THEODORE ROOSEVELT  (Paris Sorbonne,1910)

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FROM POWERLINEBLOG.COM

JUNE 26, 2006

The following story appears in this very credible blogsite.  Lt. Cotton has it spot on.  These treasonous acts perpetrated by "The NY Times" should not go unpunished.  Eventually, the system of things will be brought into proper balance.  This evil newspaper (The New York Times) has always had an Communist agenda.  Coupled with those career diplomats at the State Department, treason is exactly the criminal description Lt. Cotton accuses these evil journalists(?) of doing.  Remember!  Paybacks are Hell! One of these days these newspaper reporters are going to make the wrong people mad. Then Bad Boys watcha gonna do when they come for you?   Hoo-Ah to Lt Cotton for this rebuttal!

 

A word from Lt. Cotton

Lt. Tom Cotton writes this morning from Baghdad with a word for the New York Times:

Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:

Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas, operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this unclassified location in a private medium like email.)

Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my 130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states, the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and financial industry, and very successful.

Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.

And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law. By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.

Very truly yours,

Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq

 

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*Hoo-Ah!

John Howard sets a reporter straight (if possible)

Here's how Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was in London with Tony Blair when the two received word of today's explosions, responded to a reporter who seemed to think that British participation in Iraq was to blame:

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.
Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.

Now I don't know the mind of the terrorists. By definition, you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber. I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I've cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq. And indeed, all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggests to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of principles of the great world religion that, at its root, preaches peace and cooperation. And I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.

Via Kathryn Lopez at NRO's Corner

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Military Jokes & Humor

Dictionary Definition of hooah
 

*hooah (hoo ah) adj., adv., n., v., conj., interj., excla. [Orig. unknown] Slang. 1. Referring to or meaning anything and everything except "no". 2. What to say when at a loss for words. 3.a. Good copy. b. Roger. c. Solid copy. d. Good. e. Great. f. Message received. g. Understood. h. Acknowledged. 4.a. Glad to meet you. b. Welcome. 5. "All right!" 6.a. I don't know the answer, but I'll check on it. b. I haven't the foggiest idea. 7. I am not listening. 8. "That is enough of your drivel; sit down!" 9. Yes. 10. "You've got to be kidding me!" 11. Thank you. 12. Go to the next slide. 13. You've taken the correct action. 14. I don't know what that means, but I'm too embarrassed to ask for clarification. 15. Squared away (He's pretty Hoo-ah.) 16. Amen!

 

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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." — Unknown

 

 

"Do or Do Not, There is No Try" Yoda

 

"If you think you can or you think you can't . . . you’re right!" — Unknown

"The ultimate human freedom is the ability to choose one's attitude in any circumstance." — V. Frank

 

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U.S. Soldier Acquitted in Iraqi's Death
- By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer
Friday, May 27, 2005
 

 

(05-27) 03:16 PDT FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) --

An Army soldier has been cleared of killing an unarmed Iraqi he said he shot to save a fellow soldier.

Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, 32, was acquitted Thursday by a jury of four soldiers and two officers. He had faced a maximum of life in prison without parole for the premeditated murder charge.

Defense attorney David Sheldon said the jurors, who deliberated less than three hours, apparently considered evidence that Werst had to make a split-second decision during a nighttime raid in a dangerous environment.

"Soldiers have to be able to know that they're not being second-guessed in the battlefield and in close-quarters combat," Sheldon said.

Before the jury announced the verdict, the judge found Werst innocent of obstruction of justice, so the jury's verdict on that charge was not revealed. Col. Theodore Dixon said he decided to rule on that charge.

Werst's family shrieked, cried and hugged after the verdict was read.

Prosecutors had said the last year's killing of Naser Ismail, a suspected insurgent, was in retaliation for an Army captain's death earlier that day.

Werst, of El Toro, Calif., testified Thursday that he doesn't regret gunning down Ismail because the Iraqi lunged toward another soldier's gun.

"I would still to this day fire on that man, sir," he said.

Werst said he and a fellow soldier went into a house with Ismail because he thought the Iraqi would turn over more weapons. Earlier, Werst found and confiscated a pistol in Ismail's house.

After shooting Ismail, Werst said he quickly fired the pistol into a couch and told the other soldier, Pfc. Nathan Stewart, to put the man's fingerprints on it.

Werst said he was scared because he had never shot anyone and that Stewart also was "freaking out." He admitted he should not have tried to make the shooting look like self-defense.

"It was wrong," Werst said. "I have no idea why I did that."

Prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone said in closing arguments that Werst's story doesn't make sense.

"If this is a legitimate kill, if this follows the rules of engagement ... why in the world would he have to create a lie?" Seamone said in closing arguments.

Seamone also reminded jurors of the testimony of Stewart, who said Werst became angry because he thought Ismail lied about his identity. Werst then said, "Come on, Stewart — we're going to kill this (expletive)," Stewart testified.

Werst was a combat engineer in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colo., part of the Fort Hood-based 4th Infantry Division.

 

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©2005 Associated Press

Thursday, May 20, 2004   OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM Hero's story told on Net Column hailing Marine's deeds in war makes round   Posted: May 20, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern   © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com A column hailing a U.S. warrior in Iraq is making its way around the Internet, as the writer hopes to publicize heroic deeds of U.S. military personnel to counter the media coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse scandal.   Capt. Brian Chontosh, right, receives Navy Cross. "Maybe you'd like to hear about something other than idiot Reservists and naked Iraqis," begins Bob Lonsberry's May 7 column. "Maybe you'd like to hear about a real American, somebody who honored the uniform he wears. "Meet Brian Chontosh." Lonsberry, a talk-radio host in Salt Lake City, Utah, goes on to tell the heroic story of Chontosh, a captain in the Marines, who recently received the Navy Cross for his bravery in combat. The columnist decries the media for failing to report the brave actions of U.S. fighters:   The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing. Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how the world hates us. We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom. But we don't hear about the heroes. Lonsberry relays the story of Chontosh as platoon leader guiding his men into Baghdad a year ago. The unit came under heavy fire – "ambush city," as Lonsberry puts it. Chontosh ordered his humvee to drive directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them, leading his men in a counter-assault. Writes Lonsberry: Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride. … He fought with the M16 until it was out of ammo. Then he fought with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion. When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more. Lonsberry's account of Chontosh's valor has been posted on sites other than his own as his desire to get at least one Marine's story out strikes a chord on the Net. "I was just doing my job; I did the same thing every other Marine would have done," said Chontosh upon receiving his medal two weeks ago. "It was just a passion and love for my Marines."       Courtesy of Powerline.com June 09, 2005 Hollywood mensch   Last week Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit reported on the visit of Denzel Washington this past December to the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio: "Hollywood hero." Readers Janet Nilsen and Tim and Laura Sundvall wrote to remind us of the story, and today the Denver Post briefly reports: "Denzel donation salutes GIs." Janet's email quotes an email whose source I can't peg but that has been making the rounds. It tells the story well: Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troups at Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC). This is where soldiers that have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially burn victims. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the time.   While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He made a donation pledge on the spot, subsquently gave a huge donation, and has since agreed to serve on the Fisher House board. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it. The question I have is why do Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America rhetoric, but this doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the base newspaper in San Antonio. Janet and the Sundvalls included eight photos of Washington touring BAMC. I think the photo inset above best captures the spirit of the venture. What a shame that Washington's recognition of the sacrifice made by his fellow citizens passing through Brooke sets him so far apart from his Hollywood colleagues. http://www.powerlineblog.com/