Al-Sadr Calls For Truce

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtadr al-Sadr has ordered a 6 month suspension of hostilities for his Mahdi Army Militia. He has ordered the militia to not attack US or Government forces and they will use this time to re-organize.

The Mahdi Army has broken into factions over the last couple of years, with certain factions bombing civilians and this has given al-Sadr a black eye. Most recently, a faction of the Mahdi Army was involved in an attack on a Shiite mosque in the holy city of Karbala.

The streets of Sadr City were extremely quiet today as the cessation of hostilities has taken effect. The question is, what role did the "surge" play in these developments. The US Military has been hitting the Mahdi Army pretty hard these past couple of months, and a suspicious person might say that this "rehabilitation" is just an excuse for al-Sadr's forces to get some breathing room and lick their wounds. We shall see, but in the meantime, this gives our forces in Sadr City a little break from the constant fighting.

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Maybe There Is A Chance

Unbelievably good news today from the town of Jenin, in the West Bank. An Israeli Army Officer mistakenly drove into this town, known as a stronghold for Palestinian militants and was almost immediately surrounded by a mob. Palestinian police rushed to the soldier and escorted him through the mob and to Police Headquarters. He was later turned over to Israeli authorities unharmed. The mob however burned his car.

Seven years ago in the town of Ramallah, two Israeli reservists that accidentally strayed into town were taken by Palestinian Police to their headquarters. A mob then stormed the building and threw the soldiers out of a second story window. The soldiers died.

What a difference a few years makes (along with having the moderate Fatah party in charge on the West Bank. If this had happened in Gaza, that officer would have been toast. Kudos to the Palestinian Police for acting like real peace officers and it is our hope that this governmental cooperation continues. If only the rescue would not have been needed in the first place, this would have been perfect ... oh well, for now we should be happy for this very, very positive sign.

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Free At Last

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation this morning, effective September 17th. The Attorney General has been under pressure for years, starting with interrogation techniques and finally culminating in the firing of US attorneys. Was Alberto Gonzales a villain? Was he a man in a job that he was unqualified for? Was Alberto Gonzales the victim of a rabid Democratic Congress that found him an easy target? Or was he the victim of an Administration that had gotten too smug and refused to explain things to the American public?

Gonzales was for the first part of his career, the epitome of the American Dream. Born of Immigrant parents in San Antonio, and a product of public schooling, Gonzales attended Rice University, Harvard School of Law and the United States Air Force Academy. He served on the Texas Supreme Court before being picked as White House Counsel and finally US Attorney General.

A villain, I think not. Alberto Gonzales has never done anything illegal to benefit himself. Unqualified, if graduating from some of the top schools in the country and being a state supreme court justice isn’t enough for your resume, I don’t know what else is. A victim, not really. He was attacked by the Democrats because he seems to have a problem communicating. Not good for an Attorney General, but not a crime. Yes, the House was very enthusiastic of its’ persecution of the Attorney General, and the White House sometimes feels it doesn’t have to answer to anyone, but the problem was with the Attorney General himself. Instead of giving evasive answers, he should have stated fact. The fact was that some of the questions asked could only have been answered by revealing information that had not yet been declassified. That he would happily answer questions behind closed doors to those that were cleared for the information.

I don’t know how Alberto Gonzales got up each morning, knowing how he was going to be persecuted when he got into the office, but I say to him, thank you for your service … I wouldn’t have wanted your job.
Symbolically, Gonzales should have left on the 16th of September instead of the 17th. That is after all Mexican Independence Day, and he is finally free of Washington DC.

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Native American Immigration

Just when you thought you had heard everything, we now have a “sham” American Indian Tribe selling membership to illegal aliens.

The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs denied the Kaweah Indians recognition back in 1985, because it was “not a real tribe”. The Kaweah tribe did exist at one time, but it is unrelated to this one.

The Kaweah Indian Nation, Inc., of Wichita, Kansas took up to $400.00 each from an unknown number of illegal aliens for the guarantee of a Social Security number and a “Certificate of Citizenship” card that was supposed to bring protection against deportation. They further told the illegal immigrants that once the tribe was recognized by the federal government, they would be US Citizens. Immigration authorities have said becoming a member of a tribe (even a real one) gives no protection against deportation.

The tribe’s secretary, a woman from El Salvador, and her Guatemalan husband were charged last week in Wichita for federal immigration violations in what prosecutors called a multi-state immigration scam.

I hope these two are not US Citizens … So we can deport their asses.

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As the War Turns ... Dems Spin Iraq News

It looks like the Democrats are launching a pre-emptive strike in advance of the September 15th release of General Petraeus’ review of the situation in Iraq.

Yesterday, in front of a VFW audience in Kansas City, Mo, Presidential Candidate, Hillary Clinton admitted that the troop surge is working … then proceeded to try to spin this information into troop withdrawals. Mrs. Clinton stated, “It’s working. We’re just years too late in changing tactics.” She also stated, “New military tactics in Iraq are working, but the best way to honor US soldiers is by beginning to bring them home.”

Mrs. Clinton, if we are finally getting our act together in Iraq, how can our pulling out possibly honor those service members who have given their lives? The only way I see to honor our fallen heroes is to succeed in the mission for which they gave everything. If we truly want to honor them, Iraq must become a free nation, awash in the prosperity that comes from a fair and equitable government.

Is the specter of the US winning the war in Iraq so scary to the Democratic Party that you will do anything to make sure we lose? Regardless of polls, I can guarantee you that the American (Republican, Democrat and Independent) people do not want to lose this war, and will not look kindly on the people that bring this nation down.

So, Democrats, if you want to win the next election, do not screw this nation for political gain … we will remember.

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The French Arrive In Iraq

No my friends, France hasn't sent its' storried foreign legion into Iraq, but France's Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner is making a symbolic visit to Baghdad today. This visit is the first by a French official since the war started, and is seen by US officials as a gesture by the Sarkozy government to heal relations with the US that have been at an all time low. Kouchner timed his arrival in Baghdad to coincide with the 4th anniversary of the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Iraq that killed UN special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello (a close friend) and 21 others. When asked by reporters if France is now willing to help American forces, the top French diplomat stated that he was simply on a fact-finding mission.

Hey France, remember when you were mired down in a similar situation? I think the US came in to help. The place was called Viet Nam. So lets get the foreign legion in here and start kicking butt.

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Fred Thompson The Conservative?

The name Fred Thompson has been bandied about as the Conservative alternative to Rudy Giuliani. But just how conservative are his credentials?

Fred Thompson was a DC lobbyist for 20 years prior to entering the Senate in 1994. A couple of his clients just might give the Republican base pause. He lobbied for an abortion rights group, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and for deposed leftist Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide. During his lobbying career, Thompson made well over $1,000,000.00 representing his clients.

Fred Thompson claims to strongly oppose abortion, but he makes no apologies for fighting for abortion rights on behalf of his client. He says, "there is nothing wrong with a lawyer representing a client with views different from his own".

I would like to counter Mr. Thompson's assertion ... there is nothing illegal with representing a client with views opposite your own ... but in this case it is morally wrong. This is a man that wants to be President of the United States, we already know he will sell his soul for money, what else will he sell? Sorry Mr. Thompson, you will not be receiving my vote. You had more of a chance if you had told me that you were pro-choice. One of the qualities that America needs in her leaders is the courage of their convictions. Your convictions seem to be for sale.

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Tragedy In Utah

The rescue mission for 6 trapped coal miners was suspended indefinitely today, as 3 rescue workers were killed in a cave-in as they were trying to reach the trapped miners. They will continue to locate the miners by drilling down from the top of the mountain. So far 3 holes have been drilled to no avail. Seems there was a bit of seismic activity that caused the cave to collapse. This is known as a "mountain burp" and registered 1.6 on the Richter scale. With all the seismic activity and the unstable nature of the mine, a decision was made not to risk any more rescue workers.

Of course, the environmentalists are already spouting off about how dangerous coal mining is and we should be using alternative forms of energy instead of coal. Why does everything have to get political with these people? I understand they have their "save the planet" agenda to push, but we are talking about people who have just lost their lives and families coping with the deaths of loved ones, or the uncertainty of the fates of those still trapped. To these environmentalists, I say that if you hadn't blocked the opening of every proposed nuclear plant in the last 25 years, we would have clean nuclear power and these men wouldn't need to risk their lives mining dirty, polluting, coal. So just shut-up and let the relatives grieve in peace ... there will be plenty of time for spewing your hair-brained ideas later.

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Toyota Stretches The Truth

We have all seen the commercial of the Toyota Pick-up with the big trailer that goes up this ramp (teeter-totter) and then barreling down the other side stopping before it gets to the end of the ramp. Very impressive!

Seems the company that does the in-house competitive comparison training for General Motors has discovered a couple of secrets. Sandy Corp. wants you to know a couple things.

At the beginning of the ad an announcer states, "It's tough pushing 10,000 pounds up a steep grade". Toyota wants us to think that the trailer that the truck is towing weighs 10,000 pounds ... the reality is that the trailer weighs 5,000 lbs and the truck weighs 5,000 lbs (gross combination weight is 10,000). Is this misleading ... yes, an out and out lie ... no.

On the way down, the camera zooms in on the brakes as they lock up and stop the truck right before it hits the end of the ramp. If you look closely before the zoom, you can see that the trailer is equipped with trailer brakes ... the truck doesn't stop the trailer, the trailer stops itself. Misleading ... you bet

Guess Toyota decided that since it wanted to play with the big boys in the full-size truck market ... It would learn how to lie to the American Public. Must be taking notes from our politicians.

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Holy Cow!!!

Former NY Yankee shortstop Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto died today at 89 years of age. He was the oldest living Hall of Famer. Rizzuto played his entire 13-year career with the Yankees (interrupted by Naval Service during World War II), and won 7 World Series Titles, an AL MVP award and was a 5 time All Star. After his playing career, he broad casted Yankee games for 4 decades. As a broadcaster, he became known for his signature exclamation “Holy Cow”.

Most Rock and Roll fans have probably heard his voice (though they may not have known his name). Rizzuto was the man doing the play-by-play on Meatloaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Lights”.

Phil Rizzuto was the little guy (not because he was only 5’6) in a Yankee line-up that featured Joe Dimagio, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yoggi Berra. He was the guy that could always lay down that perfect sacrifice bunt, would always move the runner from second to third with less than two outs and would make that diving catch in the field to save a run. Basically he was the guy that could always be counted on to set up the “Big Guys” to be the stars. His career numbers were not the greatest with a career batting average of only .276, and he was passed over for the Hall of Fame 15 times by the writers and 11 times by the old timers committee. Finally, it took an impassioned speech by former Red Sox legend, Ted Williams to convince the committee to let Rizzuto in. Ted Williams was fond of saying, “If we’d had Rizzuto in Boston, we’d have had all those pennants instead of New York”. That’s quite a tribute, from one of the greatest hitters of all time.
It’s a shame that kids look up to Barry Bonds, and the Scooter is often forgotten.

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It Was Bound To Happen

It's back to school time for all the kiddies. Have you gotten your paper, pencils, erasers and Kevlar-lined back packs yet? That's right, you heard correctly ... I said Kevlar-lined as in bullet-proof.

Two dads in Massachusetts started developing the back packs after the shootings at Columbine HS, and now they are ready for the market. These back packs retail for $175.00 and can protect your child from bullets up to a 9mm in size. They also offer protection against knives.

My question is, how did we let it get this far? The gun-control lobby would say it is all the fault of guns. The NRA would say, "guns don't kill people ... people kill people", but I say ... I really don't know. I guess on a very basic level it is the result of a lack of parenting. Yeah, sure, kids are being desensitized to violence by television, video games and the internet ... but who is monitoring what our kids are exposed to?

I can definitely tell you that I won't be buying these back packs for my grand kids. I have 8 grandchildren and to tell you the truth, since they go through back packs at least yearly ... I can't afford it. But if I was in a better position financially, I just might buy them. What are your feelings?

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The UN Returns To Iraq ... Maybe Not

The United Nations Security Council voted today to expand its' role in Iraq. The UN had pulled most of their personnel out of Iraq in October of 2003, after two bombings of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad killed ton UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others. The UN allowed 35 staffers to return in August of 2004, but the numbers remain small because of security concerns.

The role that the UN will play is in promoting talks among ethnic and religious rivals and winning support from Iraq's neighbors. The UN is tasked with promoting political talks among Iraqis and a regional dialogue on issues such as border security, energy and refugees. This is a role that the UN is actually well equipped to play. The UN is seen by most of the world as a neutral entity and at the very least will be given the chance to present its' case. The resolution expands the UN's involvement in Iraq in three ways:

• Providing assistance and expertise to the Iraqi people and government on domestic reconciliation leading to a national compact.
• Promoting regional understanding that promotes Iraqi reconciliation.
• Marshaling resources to help Iraqis affected by the humanitarian crisis.

Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynne Pascoe stated that UN staff in Iraq will be raised to 95 by October ... Just a couple hours later, the UN Staff Council called on the Secretary-General to pull all UN personnel out of Iraq until security improves.

Talk about mixed signals.

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Forget History ... And Be Doomed To Repeat It

I always bristle at comparisons between the United States and Ancient Rome, after all, we all know what happened to Rome. Unfortunately, the United States is once again emulating that great Empire. I don’t know how much everyone is aware of the use of mercenaries in the Iraqi War, but it is impressive.

There are thousands of private “security contractors” currently keeping the peace in Iraq. Most of these are former US and UK military, but with a smattering of South Africans and even Gurkhas. In fact, mercenaries are fast becoming South Africa’s biggest export.

Now, private security companies are starting to recruit mercs out of Latin America. Peruvians guard the perimeter of a US installation in Basra, Chileans protect the Green Zone in Baghdad and Hondurans provide security at the terminals in Baghdad International Airport. Salvadorians and Ecuadorians have also provided mercenary services. These security companies are going after Latin American recruits hard. Where a US mercenary commands a $10000.00 to $15000.00 monthly salary, Latin Americans are paid from $1000.00 to $1500.00.

Now, back to Rome … towards the end of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire was comprised of a large majority of Barbarian mercenaries. Flavius Orestes took advantage of this by turning the mercenaries against Rome and taking over the Western Roman Empire in 475 AD.

Let us hope there is no Flavius Orestes lurking in the shadows of the US Government … has any one seen Dick Cheney recently?

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Remember History ... Or Be Doomed To Repeat It

I always bristle at comparisons between the United States and Ancient Rome, after all, we all know what happened to Rome. Unfortunately, the United States is once again emulating that great Empire. I don’t know how much everyone is aware of the use of mercenaries in the Iraqi War, but it is impressive.

There are thousands of private “security contractors” currently keeping the peace in Iraq. Most of these are former US and UK military, but with a smattering of South Africans and even Gurkhas. In fact, mercenaries are fast becoming South Africa’s biggest export.

Now, private security companies are starting to recruit mercs out of Latin America. Peruvians guard the perimeter of a US installation in Basra, Chileans protect the Green Zone in Baghdad and Hondurans provide security at the terminals in Baghdad International Airport. Salvadorians and Ecuadorians have also provided mercenary services. These security companies are going after Latin American recruits hard. Where a US mercenary commands a $10000.00 to $15000.00 monthly salary, Latin Americans are paid from $1000.00 to $1500.00.

Now, back to Rome … towards the end of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire was comprised of a large majority of Barbarian mercenaries. Flavius Orestes took advantage of this by turning the mercenaries against Rome and taking over the Western Roman Empire in 475 AD.

Let us hope there is no Flavius Orestes lurking in the shadows of the US Government … has any one seen Dick Cheney recently?

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Remember History ... Or Be Doomed To Repeat It

I always bristle at comparisons between the United States and Ancient Rome, after all, we all know what happened to Rome. Unfortunately, the United States is once again emulating that great Empire. I don’t know how much everyone is aware of the use of mercenaries in the Iraqi War, but it is impressive.

There are thousands of private “security contractors” currently keeping the peace in Iraq. Most of these are former US and UK military, but with a smattering of South Africans and even Gurkhas. In fact, mercenaries are fast becoming South Africa’s biggest export.

Now, private security companies are starting to recruit mercs out of Latin America. Peruvians guard the perimeter of a US installation in Basra, Chileans protect the Green Zone in Baghdad and Hondurans provide security at the terminals in Baghdad International Airport. Salvadorians and Ecuadorians have also provided mercenary services. These security companies are going after Latin American recruits hard. Where a US mercenary commands a $10000.00 to $15000.00 monthly salary, Latin Americans are paid from $1000.00 to $1500.00.

Now, back to Rome … towards the end of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire was comprised of a large majority of Barbarian mercenaries. Flavius Orestes took advantage of this by turning the mercenaries against Rome and taking over the Western Roman Empire in 475 AD.

Let us hope there is no Flavius Orestes lurking in the shadows of the US Government … has any one seen Dick Cheney recently?

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Good Police Work

In Goose Creek, S.C., near the site of the Naval Weapons Station, two college kids were stopped for speeding. The student’s demeanor caused the police officer to ask further questions. The students admitted to having fireworks in the car.

Seems like a normal scene, re-played over and over again during the summer months. Except this time, the fireworks turned out to be pipe bombs, and the two students, Ahmed Abda Sherf Mohamed of Kuwait and Yousef Samir Megahed of Egypt were arrested for possession of an explosive device.

I found this story buried on page 5 of my local paper, and the only reason it caught my eye at all was it was next to a sporting goods ad with a pretty good sale on running shoes.

The PC thing to say is that just because these two young men were Muslims, and they had bombs, and they were near a military base (this naval station is also the site of a brig where enemy combatants had been held), doesn’t mean that they were engaged in any terrorist activity. GIVE ME A BREAK I have already heard this crap on the radio as well as one talk show host wondering if the search of the car was a case of racial profiling .
I’m sure that thousands of kids speed down US 176 every summer on their way to the beach. But how many of those kids are Arabs, carrying home-made pipe bombs?

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What Is Wrong With The Republican Party

Now, if you notice, I did not end the title with a question mark. Rather, I am going to tell you what the GOP is doing wrong. This post may get a little long (though it will be a lot shorter than if I were to tell you what is wrong with the Democratic Party).

The Republican Party was established in the early 1850's as a third political party (the Democrats and Whigs were the two-party system at the time). The party was established by anti-slavery activists and people that believed the government should give free land to people willing to settle out west. In it's first presidential election, the GOP (Grand Old Party) managed to get 33% of the vote ... In it's second attempt in 1860, the first Republican was elected President ... his name ... Abraham Lincoln.

So, how did the GOP get from being the party of Lincoln to the party of Bush? Seems almost unbelievable that it went from a party that believed in freedom for all men to a party where the presidential candidates won't even show up to speak at the NAACP annual convention. What were they afraid of? Tom Tancredo was the only Republican to address the convention, and guess what ... he was politely received. He was not tarred and feathered for being a Republican, and he probably scored some points, if not some votes for bothering to show up.

The problems with the GOP begin with the base. The fundamentalist Christian Coalition has hi-jacked the party to the extent that pro-choice candidates like Mitt Romney feel they have to change their stance to get elected. On this point, kudos should be given to Rudy Giuliani for not sacrificing his beliefs for political gain. I understand that to this group, one of the most important things is protecting the life of innocent unborn children, but this, while important, is only one of the things that the President has to deal with.

The NRA is another big pain in the GOP butt. Convincing me that we need machine guns for personal protection and sport hunting is never going to happen. We have the 2nd amendment, and we are going to keep our rights to own handguns and rifles ... but we do not live in Baghdad and don't need military-style assault weapons to protect ourselves (we do after all have some of the finest police officers in the world working in our cities).

Lobbyists ... When special interests give things to our Representatives, even if it does not influence any decisions ... the appearance of impropriety is as damning to the politician as the impropriety itself would be. We as a nation must demand that lobbying in Washington DC (and in State Houses across the nation) be severely limited.

Pollsters ... How often have we seen our politicians change their positions every time a new poll comes out. Republicans have lost the courage of their convictions. Democrats lost this a long time ago ... and for a while it was a Republican strength. Even though many people didn't agree with Ronald Reagan, most could admire him as a man and a leader ... the GOP needs to get this back.

Pork ... For years the Democratic controlled Congress was accused (and rightly so) by the GOP for loading spending bills with Pork-Barrel Projects to benefit their districts. When the Republicans took over Congress ... they proved that they could out pork the Democrats and opened themselves to accusations that these fiscal conservatives (in word) were two-faced when it came to the actual deed. These Republicans need to remember that they are playing with the people's money, and spend wisely and account for every dime ... just as if it were their own money.

Pride ... we all know the old saying, "pride goeth before the fall". Well, the GOP has fallen and the causes are pride and arrogance. No member of the Republican Party displays these traits like our President. This is what led him to stick with a failed plan in Iraq for 2 years and this is what leads the Republican Party to write-off entire segments of the population, leaving them to the Democrats. Having pride in your vision and your ability to lead is fine, it is when that pride interferes with your ability to sell your vision to others, or a feeling that you know better than others that it becomes one of the deadly sins.

Republicans, if you do not get your act together and go back to your roots, another upstart party is going to take your place and you will go the way of the Whigs in 1860.

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Vacation Time

The Iraqi parliament is now officially on vacation. Though if you ask me, they have been on vacation since they took office.



So, if you are an Iraqi legislator, what do you do on vacation? Well, the largest Sunni political bloc has decided that they will leave Prime Minister al-Maliki's government.



The Accordance Front controls 44 of parliament's 275 seats and is the second bloc to quit the al-Maliki government. The first was the Shiite bloc controlled by radical imam, Muqtada al-Sadr. The biggest reasons for the Accordance Front to leave the government is that the Prime Minister has not addressed their concerns. After trying for 15 months to get their grievances addressed, the Accordance Front presented some demands to the Prime Minister a week ago that were not addressed at all. These demands included:

• A pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes
• the disbanding of militias
• participation of all groups in the government in dealing with security measures.

As far as demands go, these were really reasonable. For the first one, defense lawyers in the US have a saying ... either charge my client or let him go. Well, at least that's what they say on TV. On the second, if armed militias were terrorizing your neighborhood ... wouldn't you want to see them disbanded? And finally, what do you think would happen, if the Democratic controlled Congress didn't allow any Republicans on the House or Senate Intelligence Committees (the committees that have oversight on security measures)?

But al-Maliki must have thought they were bluffing and let the deadline pass.

What's next for the parliament's vacation plans? Well, it seems that the Kurds are ready to jump ship too. They were promised that a census would be done in Kirkuk, and if the Kurds were the majority, that Kirkuk would become part of the Kurdish region. So far plans for the census have not even started.

It might even be a good thing for the Kurds to leave the government. Then maybe we could get a new Prime Minister in there that could get something accomplished. On the flip side ... what if we get some one that wants to turn Iraq into a fundamentalist Theocracy?

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