Afghanistan | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Archive for the 'Afghanistan' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

General Petraeus Recommended for CENTCOM Chief

If anyone’s deserving of a promotion, it’s General David Petraeus.

Army Gen. David Petraeus has been asked to take over the U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press.
…
Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno is expected to take command of coalition forces in Iraq, according to CNN and AP.

CNN has streaming live coverage (so does Fox News) of the press conference, and of course it’s on teevee right now.

More at Hot Air for the moment. Abu Muqawama says the real story, buried by CNN, is that LTG Odierno is headed back to Iraq to replace Petraeus. I’ll be waiting for insider commentary in the comments there, and at the Small Wars Journal and Blackfive.

Kossacks Can’t Read!

ZOMG, BUSH AUTHORIZED TORTURE!!11!

FAIL.

What’s important now we have at least ONE signed memo which establishes George W. Bush as the executive authority making final decisions in the NSC process which established a United States run torture regime; the document shown at the bottom of this post.

Wow, the President is the authority who makes final decisions in the NSC? Stunning news!!! Not.

Here’s the shocking document (PDF) that has all the Kossacks in an uproar. Please take note of items 3 through 5, but read it all thoroughly and tell me–where does he “authorize torture?”

Click the thumbnails to see full-size.

Libs are absurd, hysterical, lying idiots. It must suck having your entire worldview based on lies and fallacy.

(Also not news: Diggtards can’t read, either.)

A note about the Blogads

Okay, I admit I sold out. There’s an ad ~~up there~~ scheduled for tomorrow that says “Support Troop Withdrawal.” To hell with that group. I took their money because it’s money in my pocket rather than in some moonbat’s pocket–or worse, supporting the candidacy of some miserable defeatist like Obama, Murtha, or John F’n Kerry. Besides, I need the money more than the average latte liberal does.

Anyway, I apologize for having that stupid thing–if I could change the headline, I would. Of course, I do support troop withdrawal–WHEN IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN ARE STABLE, and not a minute before then. I’m thankful that Veterans for America “supports the troops,” but they’re unapologetically partisan and their stance on the war reflects it. According to them, the surge has failed. I guess you know what that means–run away! Whatever. Thanks for the money, VFA (formerly Vietnam Veterans of America), but you’re wrong.

The other ads? Click ‘em! The more you click, the better my stats look and I can charge more money for ads. Please?

What I Learned on my Trip

I am back from the OEF theater of operations and I have learned a few things. One, the troop morale is high everywhere I visited. I was at a few different sites in Afghanistan, one in Kuwait, one in Qatar and then Manas, in the old Soviet Union. I didn’t see any despondent troops, and the majority were very upbeat.
I also gained a love for Qatar Airlines. Their service was awesome.
Finally, I learned that women from India and Pakistan can not sit still. I felt I was surrounded by professional mall walkers during both of my long flights. All in all it was a worthwhile trip, and I am more upbeat than ever on our chances for success.

John McCain in Iraq

Via Matt Lewis at Townhall.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and the nutroots are still pushing the “hundred year war” fallacy about Iraq. The McCain campaign responds:

“At a time when Senator Clinton knows that American and allied forces are making real progress in Iraq, it is unfortunate that she would look to score political points by mischaracterizing Senator McCain’s statement with intellectually dishonest attacks. The differences between Senator McCain’s position, that we must win this war, and Senator Clinton’s position, withdrawal and de facto surrender on day one, are important enough to have an honest debate over. It would be the height of irresponsibility to stick with campaign promises to the left-wing of the Democratic Party and proceed with withdrawal regardless of what the situation is on the ground in Iraq in January 2009. The point that Senator McCain was making was one about American troop presence versus American combat presence. He was speaking of a post-war scenario, not a hundred year war, when he suggested that the American people could support maintaining a military presence in Iraq should the Iraqi and U.S. governments determine it to be in their mutual interest, just as the U.S. and German, Japanese, and South Korean governments did after conflicts. One would suspect Senator Clinton is aware that American troops have been present peacefully in Germany and Japan for more than six decades. The American people deserve more than blatant mischaracterizations, and we invite Senator Clinton to participate with us in an honest debate.”

I wonder if Hillary Clinton–and Barack Obama–are ever going to be willing to have an honest debate about Iraq, and fully acknowledge that we are making progress in Iraq. Saturday’s Washington Post carried a column from “boots on the ground” saying just that; will they deny the facts, or are facts too inconvenient for their partisan narrative? (I think we know the answer to that question.)

On Iraq, there is really no doubt who has been right since the very beginning. Don’t we at least owe those who have sacrificed so much–and still do–a Commander in Chief who will lead them well and honor their service and sacrifices?

UPDATE: More, from Beth at Blue Star Chronicles–McCain Was for The Surge Before the Surge was Cool.

Adam Gadahn / Azzam the American–DEAD (?)

Please please please please please God, please let this be true!!!

From what I hear, though, very little of Gadahn is left to recover. A little bit of Gadahn here, a little bit of Gadahn there. The NEFA report also goes on to cite a Dawn story that a mass funeral was held for 12 foreigners two days after the missile attack that killed al-Libi. The implication is that what little remained of Gadahn and the others is now in a nearby mass grave.

Too bad, because I’d rather his rotting corpse be right here in the US, so we Americans would get the honor of destroying what’s left of him and pissing on his grave. Maybe take that dead shit on a US tour so everyone would get to do the honors. I think Hell just got a little uglier with that POS there.

God, I hope this report is true. If it is, Bush should declare a national holiday.

Drop Drudge

Endangering the lives of British troops for a sensational scoop about Prince Harry (about which the mainstream media had surprisingly kept quiet) is taking sensationalism too far. Way too far. It’s hardly different from the New York Slimes exposing secrets to the enemy.

The British people are furious with Channel 4’s Jon Snow for saying “thank God for Drudge,” and many have decided to boycott Snow and Channel 4. Why stop there? Matt Drudge was the one to spill the beans, after all.

Jeff Quinton is urging others:

Since Drudge really isn’t that necessary anymore for news, and his scoops are few and far between anymore, why not drop Drudge? Remove his link from your website, de-link him from your blog and don’t link to him. If you care about letting him know that you’ve done it and why, send a message to drudge@drudgereport.com, otherwise just pull any links to him. Let us know if you’ve gone along with this plan in the comments below.

Count me in.

Dump Drudge. He’s well past his prime, and breaking this story just shows his desperation. Who needs him?

all action, no talk

I’m not a huge Royalist - I’m a republican in every sense of the word - but I have
nothing but admiration for Prince Harry:

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, has been secretly serving as a combat soldier on the front lines in Afghanistan for 2-1/2 months, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

He didn’t have to go - far from it, the MOD has been trying to keep him out of combat since he graduated Sandhurst - and when he did go, he went in secret.

Of course Prince Andrew piloted helicopters on combat missions during the Falklands war, but that is qualitatively different from having one’s boots on the ground, so to speak.

Good for him.

Gold Star mom Debbie Lee slams the Berkeley City Council

Go get ‘em, sister.

Debbie Lee is the mother of Marc Alan Lee, the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. More about her here.

Screw Berkeley. They should secede.

Making Simon Cry

Sorry I didn’t make AI tonight, I was doing Jawa Radio.

Simon would have a field day.

But, Simon’s a fucking jackass, too.

America is at the mall

“Life goes on” for us, while others sacrifice everything.

“It’s kind of hard to explain” how it feels to be part of a small segment of the U.S. population that is “bearing the brunt of the responsibilities” from today’s conflicts, Jackson said as he waited for his flight at Dulles International Airport. “It doesn’t affect society at large in the slightest. Life just goes on, and a lot of people . . . are more concerned about the price of gas than about soldiers fighting and dying,” said Jackson, who has lost several comrades in the wars.

Just go read that, and thank God for those men and women, for they allow you to carry on in complacency. We owe them the very best.

Religion of Peace, Part 666

Ashura.

Pardon me for not seeing how this logically relates to the “Allah” they adore. What it does relate to is the violent, brutal origins of Islam, and the tolerance–and even respect–for brutality among its followers. The Sunni don’t this Ashura ritual, but they, as we all know, have their own violent rituals as well–suicide bombings, beheadings, stonings, murder of “infidels,” crude amputations, and the routine beatings of women and children for “disobedience” or bringing “shame,” if the victims are spared being murdered. There’s a warning for “graphic content” on that video, but that’s nothing compared to unedited reality.

From the accompanying article:

But clearly something about Ashura, in its various forms over the centuries, fulfills a deep, human need. I repeatedly asked Fouad Hussein, the subject of this video, what that was - just what made him beat himself. His answer – “for love” – was baffling at first until I witnessed the ritual.

I began to see Ashura as a test of love and devotion: for the Prophet’s grandson, but also for each other and for the community. Over the course of the morning these young men, who lead remarkably complex lives – often poor, with little job security, and caught between the radical voices in the Islamic world and allure of Western consumerism they see on television or the cinema – manage to resolve their tensions in an act of catharsis.

Give me a break. Love and devotion? For that? NO. It’s love and devotion for aggression, violence, and proving their own “toughness.” There are a million ways to prove “love and devotion” that don’t involve pride, aggression, and violence, but then those ways wouldn’t be 7th Century Islamic. And as far as “fulfilling a deep human need,” yes, humans do have violent primal urges. But you know what? Civilized humans don’t act on every urge, much less try to excuse everything by saying it’s God’s will.

Nice of the writer to be so tolerant and open-minded, but I think his mind’s so open that his brains fell out. Fool.

By the way, this is another illustration of this fraudulent practice–from Wikipedia’s shamelessly pro-Islamic article, no less:

A companion of the prophet, Ibn Abas reports that the prophet went to Medina and found the Jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram. Muhammad inquired of them, “What is the significance of this day on which you fast?” They replied, “This is a righteous day. On this day God saved the Israelites from their enemy. Therefore Moses fasted on this day.” Muhammad said, “I am more worthy of Moses than you.”

From then, Muhammad fasted on the tenth of Muharram.

Just like all the other things lifted from Judaism, Christianity, and paganism to invent a “religion” grounded in violence and insanity.

For those who are or who have served in combat, on PTSD

God bless Grim at Blackfive for this one.

There is a sense that combat changes people, but it really doesn’t. It brings out parts of yourself that were always there, but that you hadn’t encountered directly. Those parts are in everyone else as well. No one has clean hands. No one is different from you. That is important, so let me repeat it. Everyone around you is just like you. They don’t know it, but they are. You are not sick; you are not broken. Everyone else is just the same.

PLEASE go read it. Actually, it’s not just for combat veterans, but for everyone–it’s not just important for those veterans to understand what Grim’s saying because he’s right: “those parts are in everyone else as well.”

PTSD (or whatever you want to call the effects of combat) is not an argument against war; it’s a fact of life just as is the inevitability of war as long as humans exist. I personally think referring to everything generically as “PTSD” oversimplifies things, because it implies disease, destruction–it even says “disorder.” I’m sure everyone who’s been in combat is affected to some degree–somehow, I know this without having been in combat myself–and it’s not always a “disorder.” What these veterans need is understanding from us, and some will need help readjusting to the realities of the non-combat world from those equipped to provide that help, preferably those who have “been there, done that.” There really is no excuse for sending those who have been in combat back into the world without providing them a soft landing.

Be sure to read the comments there, too.

Serve Those Who Served

You know what to do: Repay their sacrifices with a donation TODAY. No excuses.

Read more at the Soldiers’ Angels Project Valour-IT pages and at the Project Valour-IT blog.

Tags: Project Valour-IT, Soldiers Angels, Veterans Day

The Religion of Peace™ has a content warning!

Another Day Goes By:

A music video with pictures from the worldwide islamofascist uprising. It is not meant to insult Islam, but to show the horror of people using a religion as excuse for their sick death cult. If you are a muslim and feel insulted, please answer this question: What have you done today to stop terror? (BTW: The music was recorded by a guy from Australia, who wants to remain anonymous. He is afraid of the Religion of Peace.)

Content warning: Graphic violence. Not like you didn’t already know.