Natural Family Blog

October 7, 2008

Thoughts on War and Presidents

John Glenn (DEMOCRAT) said this ----- It should make us all think a little:

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January. In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq .

When some claim that President Bush shouldn't have started this war, tell them the following :

FDR (DEMOCRAT) led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us; Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ... an average of 112,500 per year.

Truman (DEMOCRAT) finished that war and started one in Korea . North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ... an average of 18,334 per year.

John F. Kennedy (DEMOCRAT) started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

Johnson (DEMOCRAT) turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ... an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton (DEMOCRAT) went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

This one is a fact that makes me mad..

In the years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and, North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people. And the Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking.

But Wait, There's more.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno (DEMOCRAT) to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton (DEMOCRAT) to find the Rose law firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida !!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! The Military morale is high!
The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 4:53 AM

Front Page: Geert Wilders War

The kicker in this article was here:

"At one point, Wilders presented what he called a lesson in “Islam 101.” It went like this: “Islam is not a religion. It’s a political ideology. If you want to compare it then the only thing you can compare it to is communism. It’s a totalitarian ideology.” Lest there be any misunderstanding, Wilders added that there was no such thing as moderate Islam. “Sure, there are moderate Muslims,” he said. “But there is no moderate Islam.”

Kindred themes feature in his film “Fitna.” To say that Wilders does not present Islam as a religion of peace is to put it mildly. “Fitna” juxtaposes graphic footage of Islamic terrorism – including the 9-11 attacks, the Madrid train bombings, and the beheading of Nicholas Berg – with Koranic verses and clips of Islamic clerics preaching murder of non-Muslims and Jews. Low-budget and unabashedly one-sided – Wilders seems uninterested in the possibility that there is more to foundational Islamic texts than murderous calls to arms – it is not exactly a polished work, something Wilders readily concedes. “I’m a lawmaker not a moviemaker,” he says. But like its creator, the film is nothing if not direct."

I have long believed that the terrorists are using religion to cover their communism from the blind in the west. Arafat was a revolutionary marxist and only agreed to tone down the political rhetoric when convinced that it was the best way to fool the west.

I pray for Geert Wilders, that he will be protected from harm and able to stand up for Freedom and Democracy in Europe.

Jenny Hatch

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 4:38 AM

September 25, 2008

Michael J. Totten at Commentary Magazine: Al Qaeda’s Defeat In Iraq

Click on the banner to get to Tottens Blog

Al Qaeda’s Defeat In Iraq

Al Qaeda lost in Iraq partly because American soldiers and Marines outsmarted and outfought them, but also, just as importantly, because the Iraqi people themselves rose up in resistance.

Iraqis aren’t the only ones who have soured on Al Qaeda lately.

Last year the Pew Research Center surveyed Muslims in 16 different countries. Support for suicide bombers has declined in nearly every country that was also surveyed in 2002, and the decline is dramatic almost everywhere. The only Muslim communities surveyed where support for suicide bombers remains at greater than 50 percent are, unsurprisingly, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

The United States could not have prudently allowed itself to yield the field to Al Qaeda in either Iraq or Afghanistan by being wholly distracted from one or the other. Both fronts were crucial for Al Qaeda, which means both were crucial for the United States. It doesn’t matter if we like the fact that we have been embroiled in a hot war with Al Qaeda in two countries at once. That’s just how it is.

If Al Qaeda hadn’t poured all those resources into Iraq, they likely would have poured them into Afghanistan. And the U.S. very well may have lost the war by this time. Afghanistan, at the very least, would be in much worse shape than it is. And it’s not looking good even now. Independent foreign correspondent Michael Yon, who is hardly known as a pessimistic defeatist, still insists we’re losing the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the U.S. has all but won the war in Iraq even though Iraq was in much worse shape recently and the war there did not last as long. Iraq, as it turned out, was an easier place to fight Al Qaeda and other sundry insurgent and terrorist groups than Afghanistan.

Obama is rightly worried about the safe havens Al Qaeda has created in Pakistan, and it’s to his credit that he refuses to let up about it. But for years he’s been entirely blasé about the safe havens Al Qaeda created in Iraq–in Ramadi, Fallujah, Baqubah, Mosul, and parts of Baghdad. For years he has aggressively promoted a policy of abandoning the fight in that country which quite obviously would have allowed Al Qaeda to preserve those safe havens and possibly even expand them.

He finally admitted the surge worked after wallowing in denial about it for a year and a half while those of us who actually worked in Iraq knew he was wrong. It’s time for him to admit that one of the results of the surge is that Al Qaeda lost its war in Iraq and was not given time to reconstitute."

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 2:19 PM

September 10, 2008

NRO: David French Bearing Witness to Virtue

Bearing Witness to Virtue

Defending the honor of those in uniform.

By David French

Diyala Province, Iraq — Every now and then I get e-mails from friends and family members with subject lines like “Can you believe this?” or “This will make you mad!” Invariably they link to some form of radical rant that either slanders soldiers or so completely departs from the reality I see and experience on the ground in Iraq that I laugh out loud. I typically read and dismiss these messages. In a nation of 300 million, there will always be “those people” — individuals so consumed with ignorance, dominated by hatred, and obsessed with the political cause of the moment that they lose all perspective. But as I prepare to wrap up my deployment and head back home, I’ve changed my mind.

We simply cannot let lies pass unopposed.

Those of us who have been here — who have spent a year (and typically more) of our lives in this place — must speak the truth. Unless we do, yesterday’s slander can become today’s conventional wisdom and tomorrow’s history.

One week ago, I opened one of those e-mails which linked to an insidious article not from some fringe blogger fond of words like “rethuglican” or “Bushitler,” but from a respected member of the mainstream media, a self-described conservative who has occupied space in the most coveted perches of political commentary. Andrew Sullivan, writing from The Atlantic Monthly’s website, compared Russia’s aggression against Georgia with the United States Army in Iraq with the following words:
Just imagine if the press were to discover a major jail in Gori, occupied by the Russians, where hundreds of Georgians had been dragged in off the streets and tortured and abused? What if we discovered that the orders for this emanated from the Kremlin itself? And what if we had documentary evidence of the ghastliest forms of racist, dehumanizing, abusive practices against the vulnerable as the standard operating procedure of the Russian army — because the prisoners were suspected of resisting the occupying power? (Emphasis added).
I was appalled. As an officer in the 2d Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment (LTC Paul T. Calvert, Commanding) in eastern Diyala Province, I serve in a unit which is at the very tip of the spear in the Diyala Province, arguably now the central front of the war and one of Iraq’s bloodiest provinces. As a judge advocate, one of my core functions is detainee operations. So I know and have lived our “standard operating procedure.”

I first wanted to write to enlighten Mr. Sullivan about the way our soldiers truly behave. I wanted to tell him of the young men who risk death to capture men they could have killed. I wanted to tell him we are so careful with our detainees that the single worst injury ever suffered by any of the hundreds of men our squadron detained even momentarily was a scraped knee. I wanted to describe our procedures for collecting evidence — procedures so demanding that soldiers have braved IED-laden roads to obtain sworn statements from troops in the field so that detainees could be prosecuted according to the rule of law.

But I realized that all of that would be futile. I realized that Sullivan (and others like him) would slander the 99 percent of soldiers who do the right thing by reference to the 1 percent (or less) who commit crimes. And in the minds of many who inhabit Beltway coffeehouses, cubicles in Brussels, and university lecture halls, we could die doing right . . . but they will still define us by those who do wrong.

So if I can’t persuade Andrew Sullivan, perhaps the Iraqis can. After all, they’ve lived with our “standard operating procedure” every day for more than five years. Who knows the Army better than they?

So, Mr. Sullivan, I have a few questions for you: If “the ghastliest forms of racist, dehumanizing, abusive” practices are our “standard operating procedure” why do the al-Qaeda terrorists I’ve seen (and I’ve personally been face to face with more than 100) often visibly relax when they enter Coalition custody? Why do they so frequently and readily surrender rather than even try to escape our allegedly vicious detention? Why do they sometimes plead to remain in our facilities? If individuals are arbitrarily “dragged off the streets” for “torture and abuse,” why do civilians, including the smallest children, pour out of their homes to see and greet American soldiers when we walk through their villages? Why do they hide behind their mud and stone walls only when they fear reprisals from our enemies or suspect an imminent firefight? If we are such monsters, why do sheikhs and everyday citizens beg for us to stay with them, rather than living in dusty combat outposts in the heart of their communities?

Perhaps Iraqi citizens would shut their doors in fear if they learned about the army from Mr. Sullivan’s columns rather than from their personal interactions. Perhaps insurgents would fight to the death every time rather than face our “racist, dehumanizing” detention if they attended a panel discussion at your average university. Perhaps children would run screaming in fear if they saw almost any of Hollywood’s recent “important” films about the war. But they don’t see any of that. Instead, they see and experience the U.S. Army as it is, warts and all. And while they chafe at the presence of foreign soldiers (as any proud people would), they are making their choice. For more than five years they have seen the contrast between our soldiers and the terrorists and militias. And unlike Andrew Sullivan, they can tell the difference.

Because nothing less than history is at stake (and so few have seen the truth with their own eyes), it’s time for those of us who’ve been here to set the record straight. We must testify to the brutality of our enemies — just two days ago, al-Qaeda thugs in our area of operations shot a two-month-old infant in the face. More importantly, we must bear witness to the courage and virtue of our brothers- and sisters-in-arms.

Some try to define the 99 percent through the actions of the 1 percent.

We can never let that happen.

— David French is a senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund and a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is winding down his first deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 11:57 AM

September 9, 2008

Jewish World Review: Thomas Sowell: The Vision of the Left

The Vision of the Left

"Very few people have either a vested interest or an ideological preference for a world in which there are many inequalities.

...For those who bother to study history, it was precisely the opposite policies in the 1980s — pouring tons of money into military equipment — which brought the Cold War and its threat of nuclear annihilation to an end.

The left fought bitterly against that "arms race" which in fact lifted the burden of the Soviet threat, instead of leading to war as the elites claimed.

Personally, I wish Ronald Reagan could have talked the Soviets into being nicer, instead of having to spend all that money. Only experience makes me skeptical about that "kinder and gentler" approach and the vision behind it."

Peace Through Strength!!!

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:54 AM

Debbi Lee speaks to Blue and Gold Star families at the RNC

Debbie Lee, mother of Navy Seal Marc A. Lee, who was killed in combat in Iraq, addresses a rally of Gold Star and Blue Star families, sponsored by FamiliesUnitedMission.com, in St. Paul, Minn., on September 1, 2008, the opening day of the Republican National Convention.

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:47 AM

September 1, 2008

International Herald Tribune: U.S. hands back security of Anbar Province

U.S. hands back security of Anbar Province
By Dexter Filkins

Iraqi security forces carrying Iraqi flags during the handover ceremony in Ramadi, Anbar Province, on Monday. (Pool photo by Wathiq Khuzaie, via Reuters)

Monday, September 1, 2008

RAMADI, Iraq: Two years ago, Anbar Province was the most lethal place for American forces in Iraq. A U.S. marine or soldier died in the province nearly every day, and the provincial capital, Ramadi, was a moonscape of rubble and ruins. Islamic extremists controlled large pieces of territory, with some so ferocious in their views that they did not even allow the baking of bread.

On Monday, U.S. commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police. The ceremony, including a parade on a freshly paved street, capped one of the most significant turnabouts in the country since the war began five and a half years ago.

Over the past two years, the number of insurgent attacks against Iraqis and Americans has dropped by more than 90 percent. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has been severely degraded, if not crushed altogether, in large part because many local Sunnis, including former insurgents, have taken up arms against it.

Since February, as the security situation improved, U.S. commanders have cut the number of marines and soldiers operating in the province by 40 percent.

The transfer of authority codified a situation that Iraqi and American officers say has been in effect since April: The Iraqi Army and police operate independently and retain primary responsibility for battling the insurgency and crime in Anbar. The United States, which had long done the bulk of the fighting, has stepped into a backup role, going into the streets only when accompanied by Iraqi forces.

But the dynamic that has brought such calm to Anbar, welcome as it is, seems fragile. Many former insurgents now man the local police forces, or remain on the U.S. payroll as loosely supervised gunmen working for the so-called Sunni Awakening Councils.

But with most of the Sunni population having abstained from voting in 2005, many are now claiming that the present arrangement leaves them unrepresented. Local Sunni leaders have warned that provincial elections must go forward if violence is to be averted.

Still, as the parade marched along Ramadi's Main Street on Monday, the signs were mostly good. The ceremony was a primarily Iraqi affair, with the U.S. marines wearing neither helmets nor body armor, nor carrying guns. The festive scene became an occasion for celebration by Iraqis and Americans, who at several moments wondered aloud in the sweltering heat how things had gone from so grim to so much better, so fast.

"Not in our wildest dreams could we have imagined this," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, who flew in from Baghdad. "Two or three years ago, had we suggested that the Iraqis could take responsibility, we would have been ridiculed, we would have been laughed at. This was the cradle of the Sunni insurgency."

Indeed it was. Anbar Province became the most intractable region after the toppling of Saddam Hussein in April 2003. More than 1,000 American marines and soldiers have died in the province, a quarter of the total U.S. toll.

Anbar's second city, Falluja, was the scene of the biggest battle of the war, in which nearly 100 Americans died and more than 500 were wounded.

Bordering on three countries, Anbar was also considered the primary transit point for foreigners entering Iraq.

The fighting devastated much of Anbar. Falluja, a city of 250,000, was razed, and large parts of Ramadi, a city of 500,000, were reduced to ruins.

By the summer of 2006, insurgents had tried to kill Anbar's governor, Mamoon Sami al-Rashid, 29 times. They failed with Rashid, but that was an exception. Rashid's immediate predecessor, Raja Nawaf, was kidnapped and murdered. His deputy, Talib al-Dulaimi, was shot and killed. The chairman of the Anbar provincial council was also murdered. Rashid's personal secretary was beheaded and most of his ministers went into hiding.

What finally broke the stalemate, according to former insurgents and local leaders, was a local revolt against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the radical insurgent group believed to be led primarily by foreigners. As the group began to expand its goals beyond killing Americans to include sectarian assassinations and imposing a fundamentalist Islam, local tribal leaders struck back and reached out for help to U.S. forces. The "Sunni Awakening" was born, and it soon spread across the Sunni areas of Iraq.

Saadi al-Faraji used to be a gunman for a local group called the Islamic Movement of Holy Warriors, which focused mainly on attacking Americans. Then, in 2006, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia tried to take over his group and force them to kill Iraqis who worked for the government, including police officers.

"Qaeda declared that we were apostates, and they demanded our heads, because we would not kill Iraqi soldiers or Iraqi police," Faraji said.

The Islamic Movement of Holy Warriors began attacking Qaeda fighters at about the same time that a local Sunni sheik named Abdul Sattar abu Risha struck a deal with the Americans and formed the first Awakening Council. The Islamic Movement formed its own Awakening Council, and today, Faraji is a colonel in the Iraqi police.

As for his view on Americans, Faraji said they had evolved.

"They made mistakes, and so did we," he said. "The past is past."

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:20 PM

August 26, 2008

Denver DNC: Hippy Hygiene Kits

Lots of Hippies roaming the streets of Denver this week.

I passed out a few Hippy Hygiene Kits to Moonbats during our Pro Troop Rally on sunday.

Go read this Hillarious Westword Article written by Jared Jacang Maher, he pretty much nailed it. (Except for the Anti Abortion Mockery, I completely agree with his analysis) - From anarchists to aging hippies, they're all part of protestation nation. Slide Show: Ten Protestors you'll meet at the DNC.

Here is the replay of the movie I made last year:

Jenny Hatch

Hot Air Correspondent Jason Mattera goes undercover at the 2008 Democrat National Convention

More Photos, movies, etc....at Peoples Press Collective

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 9:01 AM

August 24, 2008

American Victory Coalition, Brian Ivers Speech and Ward Churchill is a criminal!

Why was this person following me around my home in Louisville the past few days???

This past week I helped to promote this rally in the local media. I did not take many pictures or videos because I was interviewed by so many news outlets and did not have time. I did happen to get this footage of Marine Brian Ivers. His amazing speech was the highlight of the rally for me. Here is a clip from it, with a few photos that I took of the demo.

You Tube Version

Jenny Hatch

Dale Lanhams Slide Show on Flicker

The Rocky Mountain News got a picture of me wiping my nose with my UN Flag Hankie. It is picture number ten in this slide show.

Rocky Mountain News Coverage of our Rally

El Marco's photos at Looking at the Left.

The only question I really have is why did a couple of young anti-war activists start hanging around my house as soon as I put info about our Pro War Rally on my blog and at Free Republic? Just what were you dudes doing following me down South Boulder Road while I biked my son to kindergarten???

And what was that guy in a car with a Colorado License plate number 415-MZE doing following me from my house to the rally? (Did you see me blow you kisses out my window and wave when you were waiting at the light by South Boulder Road and Hwy 42?) Yes you, in your green peace shirt, short black hair, and sunglasses. I reported your car to the Denver Police. And I will be carrying my camera with me these next few weeks, so if you show your ugly face around my house or my family again, I will be making a stalking report to the Louisville Police.

I was looking at the videos put together by the Denver Post and saw this familiar face in the crowd. What exactly were you going to do when you quickly walked up to my bike last thursday?

You really should take lessons from Ward Churchill on how to intimidate and threaten a political oponent. He stalked me to Wal Mart and then waited for me and my sons to come out and threw some nasty chemical on us.

Much more effective than just simply following us around town for a couple days. See he thinks it is OK for him to use American Free Speech to cover his ugly heiny, But he believes it is just fine to bully and intimidate a woman and her children. I was sick for a whole year after his attack. You are all a bunch of miscreant losers to me.

Here is a picture of me taken a week after the chemical attack.

It was when I watched a report like this one of Griff Jenkins getting roughed up by Churchill's body guards that I decided to publicly accuse him the same way I did the night of the attack on Free Republic.

BARF! "Nobody touches Ward while he's here."

If you would like to learn about real bravery, real valor, and honest to goodness real american values,

Go Here to Learn More about Brian Ivers

Brian Ivers bravery entered into the Congressional Record by Marilyn Musgrave

HONORING BRAVERY OF MARINE
STAFF SGT. BRIAN IVERS
HON. MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE
OF COLORADO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today
to honor Marine Staff Sgt. Brian Ivers for his
bravery in the face of combat during Operation
Freedom in Iraq. Mr. Ivers is a resident of Fort
Collins and is a Police Officer of that fair city.
Serving his country on active duty in the
Fox 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 1st
Division, his company was ordered to rescue
a group of Marine artillerymen who took a
wrong turn in the town of Al Gaharraf. Encountering
a near blinding sand and rain storm
as they entered the town, no air support could
be provided.

Staff Sergeant Ivers’ platoon came under
fire as they entered Al Gaharaff. As the first
platoon dismounted, they immediately engaged
with the enemy. Sergeant Jim Cawley’s
platoon worked to suppress the enemy long
enough to allow Sergeant Ivers’ platoon to
enter the town.

Sergeant Cawley’s platoon fought a gun
battle while occupying a building. A grenade
was launched into the building and leveled
many of the marines because of the concussion.
Enemy fire had increased all around
them while they were returning fire. One of the
marines was trapped inside the building.

Staff Sergeant Ivers attempted to rescue
him. In his own words, Brian said, ‘‘I got up to
get him as I thought I could just grab his hand
and drag him out. As I moved along the wall,
rounds began to punch holes out of the concrete
in front of me. I turned to go back to
where I had just come from and was struck in
the side with a round. The force of it spun me
around and at the time I thought I had been
hit in the kidney.’’

Later, Brian would realize that the bayonet
had taken the impact of the round, deflecting
it to his flack jacket, thus saving his life. His
platoon was in contact with the enemy for over
a half hour and was running low on ammunition.
They were finally told to pull out because
air cover was expected. A tank showed up
about 40 minutes later.

Brian’s ribs were blue with bruises. Months
later, Brian found out that he had broken the
eleventh rib—a good reminder that their battle
had saved a unit of the eleventh Marines.
Because he received a wound while in combat,
Staff Sergeant Brian Ivers will receive the
Purple Heart. Mr. Speaker, we are so fortunate
to live in this great country where freedom
is something that we rarely have to think
about and often take for granted.

Denver Post Moonbat Video

A few more videos, this was the one where I noticed the person who had been stalking me for the past few days.

Fox News smack down....(F bomb alert)

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 7:53 PM

August 21, 2008

American Victory Coalition organizational thread at Free Republic

Go to This Thread at Free Republic to learn more about the American Victory Coalition and the organizational efforts around the Pro Troop Rally in Denver this sunday!

Jenny Hatch

More Links Below:

Footage from the DNC in Chicago in 1968

The moonbats want to recreate 1968 this weekend in Denver:

DNC Disruption

Michelle Malkin: Recreate ‘68 threatens Democrat convention in Denver

Human Events: Recreate 68

This would be an ideal time to join Patriots in Denver who plan to stand up for our Troops, Our President, and The War on Terror.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:03 AM

August 20, 2008

Press Release: Pro Troop Demonstration during DNC in Denver

Pro-Troop Demonstration brings Iraq / Afghanistan Vets and Military Families to Denver
The American Victory Coalition brings a Pro-Victory/Pro-Troop message to Denver and the
Democratic National Convention

Where: Pioneer Monument, on the northwest corner of Colfax Avenue and Broadway
When: Sunday, August 24th 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Invited participants include Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, and Vets for Freedom.

Americans from near and far will assemble in Denver, CO to show their support for our troops and their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For details and updates: www.LookingAtTheLeft.com

"One of the rally’s organizers recalls “One of my best friends went on three tours to the middle east, and died last year. His mom told me that when she told him she saw my pro-troops activism on a Denver Nine news story, he burst into tears while serving in Iraq.” Our troops need to know that the American public and our representatives in Washington have the resolve to see their missions completed. Public demonstrations of support on the home front boost the troops’ morale."

I have been helping Rona to organize the rally this week and was thrilled when she mentioned my friend Joe Mangus in the press release for our event.

Go Here to Learn More about Joe.

Joe and Jen just before he deployed to Iraq. Joe served in the first gulf war, and went to Iraq twice during this recent conflict before he died an untimely death last year.

He was a hero to our family long before the War started though. When our son Andrew was born in 1996, Joe was one of the first volunteer firemen to show up at our house after our home birth. Both Andy and I needed Emergency Transport and Joe ended up in the Ambulence with Andrew. He offered a prayer for our son that made an immediate difference in his vital signs as they traveled to the hospital. We will always love Joe for the hero he is.

The whole press release is located below:

Pro-Troop Demonstration brings Iraq / Afghanistan Vets and Military Families to Denver
The American Victory Coalition brings a Pro-Victory/Pro-Troop message to Denver and the
Democratic National Convention

Where: Pioneer Monument, on the northwest corner of Colfax Avenue and Broadway
When: Sunday, August 24th
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Americans from near and far will assemble in Denver, CO to show their support for our troops and their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For details and updates: www.LookingAtTheLeft.com

One of the rally’s organizers recalls “One of my best friends went on three tours to the middle east, and died last year. His mom told me that when she told him she saw my pro-troops activism on a Denver Nine news story, he burst into tears while serving in Iraq.” Our troops need to know that the American public and our representatives in Washington have the resolve to see their missions completed. Public demonstrations of support on the home front boost the troops’ morale.

Our enemies understand that military strength is nothing without national support. George Orwell put it best in his 1941 essay Pacifism and the War "If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other...Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense."

Anti-war demonstrations today are generally organized by surprisingly radical anti-democratic groups. Even the most benign sounding organization in the coalition organizing the anti-war protest in Denver, a Quaker group called The American Friends Service Committee, supports America’s unilateral disarmament and supported the Vietnamese Communists, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, and the PLO. This is but one example.

The rally location is adjacent to the anarchist/pacifist groups' main anti-war demonstration. The rally will also be face to face with Democratic Convention Delegates gathering for the DNC Host Committees Welcome Party.

Dynamic speakers from Vets for Freedom and prominent Colorado vets, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will speak at the rally about their experiences and the importance of never surrendering to those who have vowed to destroy America and our allies. Debbie Lee, mother of the first Navy Seal to lose his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom, will also address the crowd. She has been a leading spokesperson supporting the efforts of U.S. troops fighting in the war on terrorism.

Invited participants also include Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission, a not-for-profit, non partisan organization consisting of Gold and Blue Star families (whose loved ones have been killed or injured in battle, or who are still in harm’s way) and Americans who share a deep appreciation for our men and women in uniform. It is also comprised of patriotic Americans who have a desire to show their support for America’s heroes and their families.

The rally's purpose is to show the world America’s true colors: strength, compassion, and resolve in the war on terror. This is an opportunity for patriotic Americans to fight for the troops that are fighting so courageously for America. The organizers welcome everyone who wants to show their support for victory in the war against radical Islamic extremists and the regimes that support them.

Press contact for information: Rona Wronker, American Victory Coalition, 303 459-4931, rona@images76.com
Debbie Lee is available for interviews. She is very articulate and would make a great guest for your show / subject for an article.
She can be reached at 623-537-5322 , cell phone 541-400-0177 or crazilee007@msn.com

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:38 AM

August 15, 2008

Weapons of Mass Destruction? Jack Cashill shares the facts

I have heard rumors that Edwards mistress gave birth to a child who looks remarkably like him:

I wonder if the press would have covered National Enquirer salacious speculation if it was about Mitt Romney.....hmmmm

Naw...they could not even cover a dead girl in DC - Mary Mahoney

Ann Coulter has some choice words about Sleazebag Edwards...

Go here to read the conservative version of The Onion.

Here is Cashills whole article from World Net Daily: My comments are in italics.

What Rielle Hunter can tell us about WMDs
Exclusive: Jack Cashill points out media have dealt with 2 stories remarkably similarly

Posted: August 14, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

By Jack Cashill

There has been a little buzz surrounding John Edwards and his alleged affair. Because the only source has been the National Enquirer we have decided not to cover the rumors or salacious speculations.

– Tony Pierce, Los Angeles Times, July 24

When the media refuse to look for something, whether that something be a high-profile bimbo or a low-yield nuclear bomb, the result will be the same: They won't find it.

The saga of Saddam's WMDs is chock-a-block with Rielle Hunter's, people with extraordinary stories to tell if only someone would bother asking. A sampling:

Richard Butler

In the year 2000, Richard Butler wrote a book called "The Greatest Threat." The subtitle of the book spells out its stark thesis: "Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Growing Crisis of Global Security."

Butler was not exactly a neocon. A leftist and an internationalist, the Australian arms-control expert had overseen UNSCOM, the unlovely acronym for the United Nation Special Commission on disarming Iraq.

After being booted from Iraq in late 1998, Butler considered Iraq's ongoing plea of innocence "the blackest lie."

"It would be foolish in the extreme," he writes of Saddam, "not to assume that he is developing long-range missile capabilities, at work again on building nuclear weapons, and adding to the chemical and biological warfare weapons he concealed during the UNSCOM inspection period."

The people who breakfast on the New York Times, snack on NPR and dine on the "CBS Evening News" know as little about Richard Butler as they did about Rielle Hunter a week ago, which was nothing at all.

Click on the image of Liar Joe Wilson to get the facts on the Yellow Cake.....It must suck being Joe Wilson today. I wonder which Hollywood actor will play him in the movie? we already know Nicole Kidman will play Val....but who is going to go pay nine bucks to watch this lie of a farce at the movies???

Here is the rest of Jack Cashills column:

Spencer Abraham

In July 2004, the BBC reported on a press conference in which U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham claimed that the U.S. had removed 1.77 tons of enriched uranium from Iraq the month before.

Abraham called the removal a "major achievement." Just as suddenly as the story appeared, however, it disappeared. Not a word was heard of it from the major American media.

Liberal bloggers, as expected, would labor to dismiss the importance of the find as they do all finds, but the mainstream media did not want to know about it at all.

The fear that the uranium find might have been as "major" as Abraham suggested kept them even from asking him why the story had been withdrawn.

Douglas Feith

In his exhaustively documented 2008 book, "War and Decision," former Undersecretary of Defense Feith provides the single best account of the role WMDs played in the planning for war.

The New York Times and Washington Post, among others, could not trouble themselves to review it. The Post gave two reporters a one-day deadline to cherry pick excerpts from an unedited manuscript of Feith's book and write something up. And that, the Post decided, was enough.

To keep its readers informed about WMDs, the Post did review Scott McClellan's comically mistitled, "What Happened." McClellan had not a clue as to what happened in Iraq. Feith did. Better to feature McClellan.

Gen. Georges Sada

I was able to question the former Iraqi air force general when he visited the Kansas City area. I came away totally convinced of his character and his credibility.

In his 2006 book, "Saddam's Secrets," Sada revealed that Saddam had many of Sada's pilot colleagues ferry WMDs to Syria in the run-up to the war – a strategy that would have made perfect sense.

The major media had no time for Sada and even less time to follow the trail to Syria.

Don Bordenkircher

Bordenkircher served two years as national director of prison and jail operations in Iraq. In that capacity, he spoke to about 40 prisoners, who "boasted of being involved in the transport of WMD warheads to Syria."

WorldNetDaily found Bordenkircher's revelations worth sharing. The mainstream media apparently have not.

Paul Gaubatz

Working with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Gaubatz began searching for WMD soon after Baghdad fell.

His sources confirm what Bordenkircher and Sada had been told: namely that Iraqis and Syrians, with Russian supervision, moved the bulk of the WMD to Syria.

With the help of Iraqi civilians, Gaubatz identified four WMD sites. The external signs of chemical activity were unmistakable: missile imprints, decontamination kits, atropine needles and the like.

Says Gaubatz, "The Iraqis and my team had no doubt WMDs were hidden in these areas." Extricating the materials from deeply fortified bunkers in an unsecured war zone would prove to be no easy matter.

The insecurity of the situation in Iraq may help explain why the Bush administration has not spoken out about these and other WMD revelations.

In his memoir, "At the Center of the Storm," former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, a Clinton appointee, sheds some light on White House reticence.

"Sometimes," he writes, "it is even useful to have positive accomplishments misperceived as failures, to throw foreign governments and rogue organizations off the scent."

The major media seem to have played right into the White House's hands. Having taken the political hit in 2004 and survived, the Bush administration likely used the media's willful blindness to keep the bad guys in the dark about Iraq's WMDs.

The administration's openness about the recent removal of a 550 metric ton yellowcake cache suggests a change in strategy in a newly secure Iraq.

To be sure, the major media and the liberal bloggers have done their best to downplay the potency of the material and the political significance of its removal. After all, they tell us, everyone knew the yellowcake was there all along.

But the question has to be asked: If everyone knew it was there, why were the Democrats so eager to pull American troops and cede the yellowcake to whoever controlled the ground?

The fact that a Canadian uranium producer was willing to pay tens of millions of dollars for the yellowcake suggests its potential for future harm in the hands of al-Qaida or other terrorists.

The Democrats, however, did not want to know the potential of the yellowcake any more they did the paternity of Ms. Hunter's baby. They don't want the public to know either, and the media have obliged them.

For several years now, the Democrats have inflamed the passion of their governing coalition around the treasonous falsehood that "Bush lied."

The truth about Iraq's WMD program, they rightly fear, would only cool that passion before a more useful lie can take its place.

"Truth," they say, "is the first casualty of war." But historically, at least, a nation's leaders have sacrificed the truth to help their side win.

Not this time.

Thanks Jack!

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 9:51 PM

August 14, 2008

Claudia Rosett at NRO: Georgia and the American Cowboy

Georgia and the American Cowboy

I watch something like the invasion of Democratic Georgia on my television screen and all of my Libertarian impulses are out the window and I just want to go smash some Marxist Heiny.

Rosetts article is a great read and my Neo Conservative tendencies and impulses are fired up when I read about emerging democracies being bullied and rolled over by Russian tanks.

She wrote:

"With Russia’s military blasting its way into neighboring Georgia, this sure seems like a moment when the world could use a democratic super-cop.

Good luck. Right now, we don’t have one.

America effectively resigned from the much-reviled role of lone superpower five years ago, after toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002, and defying the Oil-for-Food devotees at the United Nations to overthrow the tyranny of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003. Since then, President Bush, to his credit, has stuck with the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq — a display of determination and firepower which goes far to explain why almost seven years have passed since September 11 without another major attack on U.S. shores.

But in dealing with other major threats to the free world, the White House has hung up its spurs, turned in its badge, and handed over the remaining items in the global-security portfolio to the soft-power ministrations of our globe-trotting diplomats."

No easy answers in these difficult times. One side of me would love to bring all the American Troops home and let the nations fight it out amongst themselves, but my other side understands how many families around the world are grateful for so called American Imperialism and intervention, and I would hate for them to feel like we had abandoned them to the thugs just so we could enjoy our freedoms and luxuries without one of our soldiers dying or being permanently maimed.

I honestly don't know what is best in the Georgia situation. No doubt thinkers much more intelligent than me are already on it, going through every possible scenario for the best outcome. I am simply praying for peace and that this wonderful country is able to retain its sovereignty.

Jenny Hatch

UPDATE August 15, 2008

Phyllis Schlafly balances out the argument with her take on territorial integrity.

And Pat Buchanan talks about blowback and chickens coming home to roost from bear baiting.

No easy answers....

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:22 AM

June 7, 2008

Fox News: Greta Van Susteren interviews Jenny McCarthy "On the Record" on her sons Autism

I thought this interview was the best one Jenny has done so far. Thanks Fox and Greta for taking the time to do such a great interview.

Jenny Hatch

PS Who does not bother to be "fair and balanced" on this blog, and thus will NOT share the recent letter from the American Academy of Pediatrics on Autism and the Green our Vaccines Rally.

My blog Mission Statement is "Healthy Families Make A Healthy World". Vaccines are being used by Globalist Elitists to implement a Population Reduction Agenda in our society. Because of that fact, I do not, nor will I ever trust a Big Pharma Vaccine for me or my children and will go to jail rather than allow my little ones to be poisoned.

Here are three documentary movies that will help educate you about these statements of fact:

David Ayoub, M.D. goes through the relations of Mercury to Autism as well its connections to “National Security Study Memorandum 200”; for population control. Showing its shocking connections to today’s G.A.V.I. Are powerful forces really trying to help the poor people or could it be for another agenda; the sterilization of the poor?

This is an upsetting video, so brace yourself.

Endgame by Alex Jones

We Become Silent

These are my three favorite videos that expose the frauds of the Pharmaceutical Companies.

Take the time to give them a look. Then the Vaccine Story will make sense to you as a consumer of health care. These movies and the types of information they contain explain WHY I call the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical companies that give them their marching orders, the Whore of Babylon as described in the Book of Revelations in the Bible.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:59 AM

May 27, 2008

Debbie Lee Memorial Day Message

Hello, my name is Debbie Lee, and my son, Marc Alan Lee was the first Navy Seal killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, so you can imagine that days like today - Memorial Day - are tough days for me. I miss Marc so deeply, yet I am so proud of my Hero, my Mighty Warrior! He loved his country and was so proud to serve in the military and to dutifully undertake the missions he served on - he understood how important it is for America to win the war on terror.

Jenny Hatch

Memorial Day is not a once-a-year holiday for me - everyday is Memorial Day for me as I remember the little boy who grew into a Hero. I remember his smile, his love, his laughter, his hugs, but most of all his sacrifice. As a nation we have declared this as a day to remember those who have given their lives serving their country in the military. We can never fully repay their sacrifice.

I'm not sure if you've heard the news reports or not, but a contingent of liberal, spineless, gutless politicians in Congress have decided to hold up funding for our troops - and are using them as pawns in their political playground to force our military to surrender to the terrorists.

I spent last Christmas with our troops in Iraq, and I can't even put into words just how amazing these young men and women are. It's such a dishonor and disservice to our honorable men and women in uniform to be thousands of miles away from family, friends and their homes, while here on the home front anti-military radicals and anti-war politicians are trying to undermine their missions.

My son gave up his voice in service to his nation -- but I can be his voice, and work to make sure that those still serving on the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan have the support of Americans back home. Let's show our troops that they are unconditionally supported by the American people - and let them know not to be distracted or depressed by the shameless acts of some Members of Congress.

Move America Forward, the nation's largest pro-troop organization, has put together an effort to send the largest number of care packages to U.S. troops in history. Between now and the 4th of July we are asking Americans to sponsor care packages that we will send to our heroic military men and women who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need you to join us by sponsoring care packages and helping us reach this historic goal.

** SPONSOR A CARE PACKAGE - CLICK HERE **

My son gave up his life for this country because he knew that the series of attacks against Americans by Islamic jihadists/terrorists had to be stopped. Our country could no longer look the other way and pretend that there wasn't an enemy that was determined to destroy our nation. So Marc volunteered to serve his nation, as an elite Navy Seal, and he and so many others joined our military knowing that they might have to sacrifice their own lives for the freedoms of our nation, for you, for me.

The United States of America is a great nation thanks in large part to all those in uniform who have shed blood and given their lives to ensure that this remains the shining city on a hill that President Ronald Reagan once spoke of -- a land of freedom, of liberty, of decency, of opportunity.

Let's use this day to show our military men and women currently serving overseas how much we appreciate them. Please, join me in this wonderful effort to send the largest shipment of care packages in history to our troops.

** SPONSOR A CARE PACKAGE - CLICK HERE **

Thank you for taking the time to read my note. I wish you and your family a blessed Memorial Day, and I thank all of you who have supported Move America Forward's pro-troop activities to date, and those to come in the future.

- Debbie Lee
Gold Star Mom, Move America Forward

P.S. Also, be sure to mark your calendars for June 26th! On that day we're going to have a huge special broadcast hosted by Melanie Morgan & Michelle Malkin and featuring radio giants Sean Hannity & Mark Levin and all sorts of celebrities - plus reports from our troops on the frontlines. It's called "From the Frontlines" and it will mark a sort of Grand Finale push to our historic care package drive. We'll tell you more about this incredible effort in the days to come, I just had to give you a little sneak peak as to what was in the works!

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:34 AM

May 20, 2008

Real Clear Politics:IRAQ WRAPUP 1-Al Qaeda crackdown yields 100 "critical" militants

Top Sadaam General Arrested in Mosul.

BAGHDAD, May 19 (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. forces have arrested about 100 suspects thought to be crucial to the operations of militant groups in al Qaeda's last haven of north Iraq, the commander of U.S. forces in the area said on Monday.

The Iraqi military launched an offensive against al Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province on May 10. It has been largely Iraqi-led, with U.S. forces playing a support role.

Gunmen from Sunni Islamist al Qaeda regrouped in Nineveh after being pushed out of other parts of Iraq. The U.S. military says Mosul is its last major urban stronghold, from where its fighters still stage suicide bomb attacks and asassinations.

"They have arrested upward of about 1,250 individuals, of which about 100 are critical targets," Major-General MarkHertling told Reuters in a telephone interview from Mosul.

"In the last several weeks, we have either captured or killed several AQI (al Qaeda in Iraq) emirs (commanders), some suicide cell leaders, some military cell leaders," he said, adding that some were from other groups with loose links to alQaeda.

"Some of them are very senior. I'm talking about militaryemirs, battalion level commanders in al Qaeda," he said.

Mohammed al-Askari, spokesman for Iraq's Defence Ministry,said Iraqi forces had captured one of the Mosul leaders of al Qaeda on Sunday.

Abdul Khaleq al-Sabawi, head of al Qaeda's military organisation in Mosul, was arrested near Tikrit, half-way between Mosul and Baghdad, in Salahuddin province and taken back to Mosul, he said.

Many of the others arrested in the raids were criminals, Hertling said, but the operation had also yielded some al Qaeda fighters the government had not previously known about. Two hundred on a list of al Qaeda targets were still at large.

"We are getting some intelligence that they have been very disrupted," Hertling said. "We've significantly reduced the number of attacks in the city."

The number of attacks attributed by the U.S. military and Iraqi officials to al Qaeda has fallen notably in recent weeks.

U.S. officials blame al Qaeda for most big bombings in Iraq, including an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 that set off a wave of sectarian killings that nearly tipped Iraq into all-out civil war.

An influx of U.S. troops last year and a decision by Sunni Arab tribes to turn against al Qaeda enabled U.S. and Iraqi forces to push the militants out of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar, their former strongholds.

The U.S. military says al Qaeda in Iraq is largely foreign-led but that its foot soldiers are mainly Iraqis.

Jenny Hatch

al Qaeda links to Sadaam? Naaaaah. Every thinking person in America knows there is no connection between Sadaam Hussein and Terrorists.

The Bush Doctrine which Helen Thomas absolutely refuses to believe and understand:

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 9:16 AM

This just in from Melanie Morgan at Move America Forward

Go Here to read Melanies Blog

The Jihadists Admit Defeat in Iraq

"A prolific jihadist sympathizer has posted an ‘explosive’ study on one of the main jihadist websites in which he laments the dire situation that the mujaheddin find themselves in Iraq by citing the steep drop in the number of insurgent operations conducted by the various jihadist groups, most notably Al-Qaeda’s 94 percent decline in operational ability over the last 12 months when only a year and half ago Al-Qaeda accounted for 60 percent of all jihadist activity!

The author, writing under the pseudonym ‘Dir’a limen wehhed’ [‘A Shield for the Monotheist’], posted his ‘Brief Study on the Consequences of the Division [Among] the [Jihadist] Groups on the Cause of Jihad in Iraq’ on May 12 and it is being displayed by the administration of the Al-Ekhlaas website—one of Al-Qaeda’s chief media outlets—among its more prominent recent posts. He's considered one of Al-Ekhlaas's "esteemed" writers.

The author tallies up and compares the numbers of operations claimed by each insurgent group under four categories: a year and half ago (November 2006), a year ago (May 2007), six months ago (November 2007) and now (May 2008). He demonstrated that while Al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq could claim 334 operations in Nov. 06 and 292 in May 07, their violent output dropped to 25 in Nov. 07 and 16 so far in May 08. Keep in mind that these assessments are based on Al-Qaeda's own numbers.

More here:

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CODE PINK SUFFERS PR MISFIRE
AS MEDIA MOCKS THEIR
COVEN OF WITCHES

When Move America Forward learned that the media would be covering Code Pink's day of witches, crones and sirens to protest the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley, CA we decided to mobilize our staff and some supporters to stage a counter demonstration.

We figured this was a perfect opportunity to help Code Pink make a fool of themselves, and that is exactly what happened.

We stood there with our American Flags, and brooms (so that Code Pink witches could jump on them and fly away to a country more to their liking... perhaps Iran or Syria or the like). We sang patriotic songs, and most importantly we talked to reporters to give them the other side of the story.

This video covers yet another Code Pink protest at the Marine Corps Recruiting Office in Berkeley, this time dressed up as "witches and crones," on May 9, 2008. It is part of a larger report on the protest at http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=20

Note: Invoking a little fun from the Wizard of Oz, one of our signs said "Dorothy would drop her house on Code Pink witches!"

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TOP AL QAEDA IN IRAQ LEADER
IS ARRESTED IN MOSUL!

Photo: Iraqi Security Forces in Action

This story is good news for those who support the U.S.-led Coalition in the war on terror, and it's also tricky for opponents of our troops' missions (including the news media).

>>> READ THE NEWS STORY - HERE

A senior Al Qaeda in Iraq leader has been arrested in Mosul, where Iraqi Security Forces have been cracking down on Al Qaeda forces who have been driven out of almost all other portions of the country. Here's the best part - he was a general under Saddam Hussein before joining Al Qaeda in Iraq.

But the tricky part for the media and anti-war activists is that if we captured a senior Al Qaeda in Iraq operative in Iraq, then that means we are fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq, despite what the media and some anti-war leaders have tried to convince you wasn't happening.

Turns out they've been caught lying - yet again!

Go Here to read Pete Hesgeths report about the Sons of Iraq at National Review

Jenny Hatch

YOUR VOTES HELPED MAKE
MILITARY MOM, PATTI PATTON-BADER,
"AMERICA'S FAVORITE MOM!"

We sent out a notice to all MAF members and supporters asking them to cast their ballots for Patti Patton-Bader, the founder of the pro-troop charity, Soldier's Angels.

We were hopeful Patti could win the category of America's Favorite Military Mom.

But we were pleasantly stunned when so many of you (along with members of Soldiers Angels, Gathering of Eagles, Free Republic, et. al) that Patti was voted America's Favorite Mother - period. No category win for Patti, she won the entire package.

NBC even had a live video feed from Iraq where her son who is in the Army was able to congratulate her, wish her a Happy Mothers Day, and let her know how much he loved her. Way to go everyone!

OUR TROOPS FACE ENEMIES
OVERSEAS & AT HOME

While our troops are fighting Islamic terrorists overseas, they face anti-war activists here at home who constantly attack them and their missions.

Support Move America Forward's efforts as we defend our troops and their missions here on the home front, while our troops bravely defend us all on the frontlines overseas.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:38 AM

May 13, 2008

Blog: I never get tired of being right all the time...

How many communists does it take to discredit an Anti War Movement???

Really great post about the under belly of the anti war moonbats

Jenny Hatch

QUOTE

I'll be discussing ANSWER's communist origins.

But first, let's review. ANSWER was formed three whole days after 9/11 and immediately organized a protest against our efforts to capture Osama bin Laden. Since that demonstration of their allegiance to al-Qaeda, their work on behalf of America's enemies has continued unabated.

Now let's have a look at the people behind ANSWER.

ANSWER was founded by members of the International Action Center (IAC), a front group for the Workers World Party.

And if you think "Workers World Party" sounds like the name of a communist organization, you're right! It is.

The purpose of the IAC is to put together "grass-roots" organizations that will further the goals of the Workers World Party. Among these organizations are ANSWER and a few of the groups that make up ANSWER's "steering committee."

Other organizations founded under the aegis of the IAC include supposed anti-war groups like Vote No War Funding, Stop War On Iraq, and People Judge Bush; a self-described "Marxist Youth Organization" called FIST ("Fight Imperialism Stand Together"); the Committee to Stop the U.S. War in Colombia, which supports two communist rebel groups in that country; the New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five, which advocates the release of five Cuban agents convicted of espionage in the United States; the Association of Mexican American Workers, which fights for the "rights" of Mexican invaders; two producers of communist propaganda, the People's Video Network and Leftbooks; and No Draft No Way, which seems to be made up of people who haven't figured out that the draft was abolished over thirty years ago.

The IAC is also behind several groups devoted to freeing convicted cop-killer and left-wing cause celebre, Mumia Abu-Jamal. These include the Mumia Mobilization Office, Youth and Students for Mumia, Rainbow Flags for Mumia, and Millions 4 Mumia.

Betcha thought I was going to post a picture of Mumia here, didn't ya? Nope, that's Daniel Faulkner, the cop Mumia murdered. And here's Maureen Faulkner, the woman Mumia made a widow.

By the way, ever notice how the leftists who claim Mumia was framed for Daniel Faulkner's murder never seem all that concerned about finding the real killer? If I were a cynical man, I might believe the whole "free Mumia" thing was politically-motivated.

Anyway, many of the organizations started by the IAC seem to exist only on paper. They're run out of the same New York offices, use the same phone numbers, and have many of the same members. So why does the IAC go to the trouble of setting up these phony organizations? Simple. To create the illusion that there are teeming multitudes of people who support their little crusades and causes.

In addition to its other pet projects, the IAC is mixed up with something called the International Anti-Occupation Network.

This "network" was put together by the Brussels Tribunal, a collection of self-described "academics, intellectuals, and artists" from all over the world.

Actually, they're just a bunch of pompous, self-righteous leftists pretending like they have some authority to pass judgment on the United States. In their literature, they refer to the people murdering our troops in Iraq as a "popular national resistance" which "deserves the support of people everywhere." So much for supporting our troops.

Believe it or not, the International Action Center is headed up by a former Attorney General of the United States, Ramsey Clark.

Ramsey was the AG from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson (a Democrat, of course!)

A few years later, Ramsey took a little jaunt to North Vietnam to offer his support to the communist government of that country, at a time when we were at war with them. Amazingly, when Red Ramsey returned to US soil, he was not arrested, tried, and executed for treason. Instead, he was invited to come before Congress and talk about his Asian adventure, like some kind of returning dignitary.

Ramsey told Congress the American POWs in Vietnam were well-treated by their communist captors. The returning POWs, themselves, gave somewhat less positive accounts of the treatment they received. At least, the ones who actually survived long enough to come home.

Not content to collaborate with our North Vietnamese enemies, Red Ramsey's spent the last thirty years providing support and legal counsel to just about anyone who expresses a desire to kill Americans. These have included Middle Eastern dictators like Ayatollah Khomeini, Moammar Gadhafi, and Saddam Hussein.

Ramsey was pretty tight with Saddam, actually. On the eve of the Gulf War, he traveled to Iraq to console Saddam personally. He did so in his capacity as the head of the National Coalition to Stop US Intervention in the Middle East. This "coalition" opposed the liberation of Kuwait by our military, but, tellingly, refused to condemn Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Naturally, it was another front group for the Workers World Party.

Years later, when Saddam was facing prosecution for crimes against humanity, Red Ramsey volunteered to serve on his defense team. Here he is making an ass of himself at Saddam's trial, seconds before he was forcibly removed from the courtroom.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 3:56 PM

May 7, 2008

War Protestors Frustrated

Boo Freaking Hoo

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 8:11 AM

May 1, 2008

Townhall: Victor Davis Hanson - The half won/half lost war

Go Here to read Hansons latest. Really good analysis of the current state of the war.

"After years of learning how to fight an unfamiliar war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and to protect us at home, we are finally getting most things right. But if our soldiers and intelligence agencies have learned how to win, our politically correct diplomats and the American consumer haven't — and are doing as much at home to empower radical Islam as those on the front lines are to defeat it."

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 6:13 PM

April 19, 2008

Wall Street Journal: Michael Yon - Let's Surge Some More

Another great Yon Piece in the Journal....

QUOTE:

A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America.

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 1:22 PM

The Long War Journal: When Sons of Iraq grow up

Sons of Iraq Story

During General David Petraeus' testimony to Congress on the progress of the war in Iraq, he referred to the great security gains of the last year, which largely hold even in the face of clashes between Shia militias and government forces in Sadr City, Basrah, and much of the South. General Petraeus credited a substantial portion of those security gains in many areas of Iraq in the last year to the duel phenomena of Sahawa (Awakening) councils and the formation of local security teams from out-of-work men fed up with violence.

The Anbar Awakening started in Ramadi as armed opposition to al Qaeda in Iraq. The movement grew and morphed into a political and military movement that expanded throughout Anbar and swept west, north, and south throughout the largely Sunni areas of Iraq. As the Awakening Councils formed, they raised paramilitary security forces with assistance and instruction from the Coalition forces in their respective towns.

In some areas these local security fighters were directly raised and employed by a town’s Awakening Council; in others, local security groups developed on their own without a connection to the Awakening movement. As the trend spread, Coalition commanders began to adopt the local security model to provide jobs and protection for the Iraqi people in their areas.

At the beginning, the names of different security groups were as mixed as the outside opinions of them. The first local security fighters appeared in Ramadi and Fallujah, where cynical soldiers called them the “Good Bad Guys.” As the trend grew, Americans in other areas dubbed groups “Concerned Local Citizens” or “Neighborhood Watch”; Iraqis in Baghdad called themselves “Knights of the Two Rivers.”

Local forces were variously lauded as patriots and vilified as opportunistic militiamen. American civilian leaders and the press worried that the military was “arming both sides in a civil war.” Many military leaders appreciated the extra temporary security, but worried what would happen when the local forces were inevitably asked to stand down in favor of Iraqi government forces.

Almost a year has passed since the rise of the local security forces, which now number more than 91,000. The Government of Iraq refers to all armed groups contracted by the Coalition as “Sons of Iraq” regardless of origin, and has stated the intention of integrating about 20 percent into the security forces and disbanding the rest when they are no longer needed for security."

Praying for Iraq....

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 1:14 PM

March 18, 2008

Ron Paul Revolution: Thoughts on the war: Does Iraq have the right to fail as a Democracy?

I was a strong Romney supporter until he left the presidential race. Now I am 100% behind the platform of Ron Paul of Texas.

How is that possible for a Bush supporter who has vocally supported the war and is a self described neo con? Wether we have a socialist like Bill Clinton using the American Military as a Meals on Wheels, or a George W. Bush using the military to support our Allies and financial interests, the fact is that the American Tax Payers have payed for all of this military intervention and our economy is shaky.

I believe it would be a wonderful experiment to see what would happen if we brought all of our troops home, placed them on our border, and focused on fixing our problems here on the homefront. And if anyone attacks us (terrorist or otherwise), we respond quickly and unapologetically with our military, wether the attack is in America or towards Americans abroad.

I agree with Dr. Paul that quote:

"They claim they will eventually get the troops out of Iraq, but the danger is that they simply plan to move them around to other countries, not bring them home."

The last thing I want to see is our troops being used by the United Nations to help them set up a World Government. And the globalists in our government believe this is the year to take huge steps towards that goal. Dr. Paul is the only candidate left who will protect American Sovereignty and defend the constitution from the Socialists who are working overtime to get a someone elected who will further erode American Independence, and get our economy and people under the iron fist of an unelected world court and world government.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Ron Paul is not electable, but I will continue to cheer for him and his platform until he is completely out of the race.

A recent message from Ron Paul:

I agree with this analysis from Dr. Paul written today at WND

Monday, March 17, 2008

TEXAS STRAIGHT TALK
The crumbling U.S. empire
Ron Paul blames worthless currency, exhausted military for nation's fall

Posted: March 16, 2008
6:57 pm Eastern

By Ron Paul

House Democrats recently adopted a budget with massive tax hikes, many of which are directed at those Americans who can least afford them.

By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010, this budget will raise income taxes not only on those in the highest income brackets, but raises the lowest bracket from 10 percent to 15 percent as well. Estates would again be taxed at 55 percent. The child tax credit would drop from $1,000 to $500. Senior citizens relying on investment income would be hurt by increases in dividend and capital gains taxes. It's not just that the Democrats want to raises taxes on the rich; they want to raises taxes on everybody.

The problem is, policing the world is expensive, and if elected officials insist upon continuing to fund our current foreign policy, the money has to come from somewhere. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have already cost us more than $1 trillion.

The Democrats' budget gives the president all the funding he needs for his foreign policy, so one wonders how serious they ever were about ending the war. While Democrats propose to tax and spend, many Republicans aim to borrow and spend, which hurts the taxpayer just as much in the long run.

Supporting a welfare state is expensive as well. More than half of our budget goes to mandatory entitlements. The total cost of government now eats up more than half of our national income, as calculated by Americans for Tax Reform, and government is growing at an unprecedented rate. Our current financial situation is completely untenable, and the worst part is, as government is becoming more and more voracious, the economy is shrinking.

The bottom line is that Washington has a serious spending addiction. While both parties debate how to raise the revenue, both parties seem happy to spend more than $3 trillion of your money in various ways.

While some in Washington criticize the war in Iraq, very few are criticizing the interventionist mindset that got us into the war in the first place. Many so-called "Iraq war critics" criticize this administration rather than truly oppose the decades-old policies that led to war. They claim they will eventually get the troops out of Iraq, but the danger is that they simply plan to move them around to other countries, not bring them home. The American people want peace. Minding our own business is the best way to achieve it. Not only is it also a whole lot cheaper, but free trade and friendship with other countries benefits all involved.

This spending spree is exactly the wrong policy for an economy on the brink of recession. History has shown that all empires eventually crumble under a worthless currency and with an exhausted military.

Since too many of our nation's leaders haven't taken the time to learn from history, we are seeing mistakes repeated through recently enacted policies such as the new House budget.

I have spent the past few months thinking about Iraq and Afghanistan. I am not a military leader and I have not visited those countries. Nor do I know anyone who lives in those countries. But I have studied history. When I was pondering this blog entry last night, for some reason the documentary biography about Gandhi kept coming into my mind. I went to You Tube to find a couple of clips from the movie starring Ben Kingsley and share them with you dear reader to make a point.

Can anyone doubt that Indian Independance has been a resounding success???

The women in India are even getting into Unassisted Childbirth!

I suppose there are some members of the United Kingdom who even sixty years later believe it would have been best for the Brits to have stayed in India to "keep the peace", and prevent the civil war that errupted once they left.

And the temptation to be the Peace Keepers of the world is a mighty temptation for the west.

Where to put the line between nation building, spreading democracy, and giving our brothers and sisters living under tyranny a helping hand to pull them out from under the boot of godless socialism and communism?

That is the great debate raging today.

How much should we who live in freedom do? How many lives lost? How much money spent? Will all of this effort be wasted if we pull out now? I know these are the questions that plague our society.

I am someone who believes it is a form of bigotry to say that certain peoples are not able to govern themselves. That certain personalities and temperments are not fit for Democracy. This is the most crass form of bigotry, because it denies our God Given endowment as articulated in the Declaration of Independence.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

I have been pleased to watch family and friends serve in Iraq, and have been grateful for the efforts of the American Military. And I do not want our soldiers pulled out before Iraq can take care of its own security. I acknowledge the efforts to help each province of Iraq to become independant and able to provide the rule of law for the citizens of Iraq. Some have said that Shia, Sunni, and Kurd cannot co-exist. I don't know wether they can or not, I like to think they could. Some nations are not able to reconcile ethnic and religious differences, and that is why Pakistan came into existance after India became free.

Yet I have to listen to the words of Gandhi when thinking about Iraq and the future of the middle east:

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right."

So, who gets to decide when to step back and let the ebb and flow of democracy make a stand in the middle east? Some say that the next American President will be the one to decide, and so that means the future of Iraq is in the hands of the American Voter.

After thinking long and hard about this topic, going back and forth in my own mind, I have decided to side with Ron Paul on this issue. His stance is the Constitutional Rules of Engagement for war. His belief is the protectionist and isolationist view that has always been my political view. It is why I voted for Pat Buchanan a few years back, and why I was for Alan Keyes when he ran for president in 2000. I voted for Bush because he wanted to pull back from too much involvement in international affairs. And an Al Gore as president was nauseating.

I understand why President Bush took on the task of fighting jihad. And I am not naive about the threats to our security. Neo NeoCon, the blogger wrote a great piece about pacifism last year, and I agree with her analysis.

QUOTE:

"Cal Thomas has written an article at RealClearPolitics entitled “Unending War,” in which he discusses the tendency of Bush’s opponents to ascribe the longevity of the war against Iraq to the President’s warmongering desires. But Thomas rightly points out that the warriors who are really unlikely to give up until decisively defeated are our opponents in this war."

All presidential candidates have outlined what they plan to do about the war if elected. I am curious to see what would happen if Ron Paul was elected and he brought our troops home and set in place his Foreign Policy of Freedom.

QUOTE:

"Ron Paul has always believed that foreign and domestic policy should be conducted according to the same principles. Government should be restrained from intervening at home or abroad because its actions fail to achieve their stated aims, create more harm than good, shrink the liberty of the people, and violate rights. Does that proposition seem radical? Outlandish or farflung? Once you hear it stated, it makes perfect sense that there is no sharp distinction between the principles of domestic and foreign policy. They are part of the same analytical fabric. What would be inconsistent would be to favor activist government at home but restraint abroad, or the reverse: restraint at home and activism abroad.

Government unleashed behaves in its own interests, and will not restrict itself in any area of life. It must be curbed in all areas of life lest freedom suffer. Ron Paul's singular voice on foreign affairs has done so much to keep the flame of a consistent liberty burning in times when it might otherwise have been extinguished. He has drawn public attention to the ideas of the Founders. He has alerted people to the dangers of empire. He has linked domestic and foreign affairs through libertarian analytics, even when others have been bamboozled by the lies or too intimidated to contradict them. He has told the truth, always. For this, every American, every citizen of the world, is deeply in his debt. We can't but be deeply grateful that Ron Paul's prophetic words have been collected in this book. May it be widely distributed. May its lessons be absorbed by this and future generations."

-- Foreword to "A Foreign Policy of Freedom" by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

I have not turned my back on the war, nor do I believe that it has been a total failure or a mistake. I believe the Iraq war has been an important step in the fight against radical jihad, and something had to be done to avenge those who died on 9-11 and during the past attacks on our soil ie: the first world trade center attack and the oklahoma city bombing. (Read Jayna Davis: The Third Terrorist to learn of the middle east connection to the bombing of the Murrah federal building.) I have studied her work and believe Sadaam recruited two americans to assist with that bombing in the heartland of our country.

I am curious to see what General Petreus says at his congressional testimony next month. I KNOW that the surge is working, and I know that the hard work of our soldiers this past year made it happen.

Yet this analysis by Alain Gresh, editor of Le Monde diplomatique and a specialist on the Middle East makes me ponder and question stated goals for the future.

"So, does anybody care? As Michael Massing reported in The New York Review of Books, the US press group McClatchy set up an office in Baghdad and started a blog, "Inside Iraq," dedicated to the lives of the ordinary Iraqis in whom the US press has no real interest. As troop casualties have fallen, US media coverage of the war has diminished, reinforcing the idea that the war is being won; if it’s not on television, it can’t be happening.

Leila Fadel, McClatchy’s bureau chief in Baghdad, said: “Americans believe their soldiers are working for the greater good. The Iraqis don’t see that. They see people who are here for their own self-interest -- who drive the wrong way on roads, who stop traffic whenever they want to, who they have to be careful not to get too close to so that they won’t be shot.” A contributor to "Inside Iraq" described how US soldiers beat a schoolboy who threw a stone at them. Why had he thrown it? “These are foreign soldiers,” he said. “This is an occupation.” Fadel says it is a common feeling among Iraqis: “Everybody I speak to thinks this. They don’t have power in their own country.”

The late Jean-François Revel, of the French right, was outraged that the Iraqis did not turn out to greet their liberators with flowers. A few months after the invasion he wrote: “As in all Arab countries, the Iraqis demonstrate a generalised xenophobia, directed against all westerners... We are dealing with people who are incapable of governing themselves but who won’t let anyone else do it.”

US leaders were unable to understand the reaction of Iraqis: their rejection, despite their hatred of Saddam Hussein, of colonialism, rooted in a painful history and the memory of the long British occupation. The White House didn’t listen to Iraqis in 2003. Is it ready to listen now? Recent successes, however limited, have reduced domestic pressure on the Bush administration to withdraw troops, and have mollified international hostility. But this respite has not persuaded the outgoing president to change strategy; quite the contrary.

The UN mandate, finally granted to coalition forces in 2004, a year after the invasion, expires next December. The White House does not seek to renew it, preferring to replace it with a bilateral agreement (negotiations with the Iraqi government are expected to end before the summer). There is confusion about the nature of this agreement and the Senate has insisted on its right to ratify it; but the administration claims that since it does not explicitly cover US participation in the defence of Iraq or the construction of permanent bases, such ratification is unnecessary."

Mr. Gresh's analysis and acceptance of the Surge and the fact that it has reduced the violence in Iraq does make him a credible voice in my mind. I too question American plans to set up military bases and assign "Peacekeepers" in a region that has written its own constitution and has set up an elected government of the people. And while I have been proud that people like my brother made it happen by helping this new Democracy, I don't like the overbearing assumption that they are not capable of doing it without our help. Our own Benjamin Franklin replied "a republic, if they can keep it" when asked what the Constitutional Congress had created. It may take Iraq a hundred years to reach a level of stability that feels like "peaceful co-existence of Kurd, Sunni, and Shia" to Americans. But I believe if the people of Iraq want to do the work of preserving their own toddling democracy, they should have the power and authority to do it in their own way without American Busybodys interfearence.

I agree with Dr. Paul, that our own troubles at home need our focus and attention. Our own republic is shaky And I would like to see a complete return to constitutional principles and accountability.

While I believe detente was a collasal failure and gave a wink and a nod to various muslim tyrants to do whatever they wanted at home, I believe the other extreme of American Nation Building that would stomp all over the rights of individual citizens of various countries is untenable and I personally don't want to pay for it.

We are living in interesting times and I look forward to the upcoming election and am curious to see how it all plays out.

Jenny Hatch

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 4:29 AM

March 17, 2008

The Daily Show spanks Code Pink

I was cracking up as I watched this report. Too Too funny.

Code Pink exposed at Front Page Magazine

QUOTE

"Unless you travel in Marxist circles or work for the FBI or CIA, the names of the Code Pink moms may not ring a bell with you, though you’ve probably been reading news reports about their collective exploits for years. In the wake of their war against capitalism and self-determination, they’ve left a trail of anarchy and destruction that has cost property owners, corporations and consumers millions of dollars.

Naturally, they’ve toned their Marxist rhetoric down for their stint with Code Pink. Though they’ve taken great pains to differentiate themselves from the other, more radical anti-war protesters, they are one and the same. The leaders of Code Pink didn’t merely take part in the Washington and San Francisco protests that made international headlines – they also organized them. In the process, they’ve provided a rare public glimpse of the faces behind the modern, highly organized American Marxist movement. Needless to say, these women have little in common with the carpool moms of America."

Jenny Hatch

Here is a montage I put together last year to support my friends who were going to the anti war demos to counter demonstrate.

And my friend Dale Lanham of the Colorado Gathering of Eagles sent a recent email sharing his own activism around the Berzerkley Event. A whole group of Coloradoans traveled to California to stand up for the Marines in Berkley.

Debbie Parish, Colorado Marine Mom kicks some moonbat hiney, questioning the military credentials of the dude she was yelling at. And Dale Lanham states the fact that all of the Winter Soldier Attrocities were fabricated during the Viet Nam War.

Dales Words on his blog about these two moonbats:

"Later I found out that this IVAW member was a deserter from the Gulf War, not just any deserter, but the FIRST DESERTER…. Before the first shot was fired, he was running away because he was scared. Debbie’s words were right, “he’s not a real man, and a phony Marine”. The short person in the end claims to be a Vietnam Vet and proud of his sabotages during the Vietnam War. These two are typical of those who will be lying to the media event at Winter Soldier. They are indeed Coward’s and Saboteur’s, dishonorably discharged and have spent time in the Brig for their disgraceful actions — who will attempt to dishonor our current warriors next week."

Colorado Eagles to Berkley Part One

Colorado Eagles to Berkley Part Two

Colorado Eagles to Berkley Part Three

Gathering of Eagles vs. the Iraq Vets against the war

Debbie Parishs After Action Report

Sgt Eamon Kelly and his mom Elizabeth Kelly.

Jenny Hatch
Retired Patriot Street Activist, but proud supporter of our President, Our Troops, and ALL of The Missions around The War on Terror.

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 5:19 PM

March 15, 2008

Email from Kimberly Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War

I am a fierce supporter of this Institute and the work of Kimberly Kagan. She gave a powerful speech last year at GOE III in Washington DC. I hosted the film from C-span on my blog last spring. Here is a replay: (With a few minutes of editorial commentary put together by yours truly)

And her email:

Dear Institute Supporters -

We're approaching another critical juncture in the debate over Iraq and the courses of action available to the United States. As many of you know, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will be testifying before Congress in early April. With this in mind, we are working hard to produce detailed and informational reports to contextualize the situation on the ground and help shape that debate. There are a number of products on the ISW website to check out in advance of their testimony. Here are a few of the highlights from www.understandingwar.org:

While al-Qaeda in Iraq networks have largely been degraded in central Iraq, the fight against al-Qaeda continues in the north. The city of Mosul, in Ninewah province, has been central to the fight, as U.S. and Iraqi Forces are preparing for a large offensive. Eric Hamilton’s commentary, Targeting the AQI Networks in Southeast Mosul, details the preparatory operations in Mosul from January to March. Elsewhere in Iraq, Coalition Forces have continued to batter al-Qaeda networks under Operation Phantom Phoenix, the follow-on to the successful Corps offensives of late 2007.

Last month, General Ray Odierno redeployed from Iraq. As Commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq from late 2006 to early 2008, he played an integral role in designing and implementing the successful 2007 campaign plan. In their recent article, The Patton of Counterinsurgency, ISW President Kimberly Kagan and Frederick W. Kagan detail his success in reducing violence in Iraq over the last year.

In early March, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Iraq, in what was the first visit by Iranian leadership since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Yet, his visit highlighted the growing Iranian influence in Iraq and the region. ISW has produced several research products on the issue of Iranian activity. Marisa Cochrane’s backgrounder on the Growing Threat of Special Groups in Baghdad details the spike in the destabilizing activity of Iranian-backed militias in the capital since January 2008. She has also created an interactive Map of Special Groups Activity, which charts incidents of Iranian-sponsored activity throughout Iraq over the last year. For a comparative study of Iranian activity in the region ISW President Kimberly Kagan, Frederick W. Kagan, and Danielle Pletka have co-authored a report on Iranian Influence in the Levant, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The role of Sons of Iraq groups has also received much attention in recent weeks. Farook Ahmed details the importance of these local security volunteers throughout Iraq and some of the controversy surrounding them in his backgrounder on the Sons of Iraq and Awakening Forces. Farook has also commented on the recent protests by Sons of Iraq Groups in Diyala Province, where they have clashed with the Iraqi Security Forces in the area. ISW will continue to cover the issues surrounding these groups because, as Coalition Forces draw down troops in the next few months, the Sons of Iraq will become increasingly instrumental in augmenting the Iraqi Security Forces and maintaining security gains.

Finally, we have added new reference materials to our website that are certainly worth a look. Nathaniel Rabkin’s Arabic News Summaries are updated weekly and provide reporting, analysis, and insight on relevant stories in the Arabic press. For the latest data on violence trends, check out the Iraq Statistics Reference-March 2008.

You can find all of ISW’s products on the site: the lengthy and fully documented Iraq Report, which narrates the most important developments in the campaign; backgrounders, which are shorter essays on narrower aspects of the war; static and interactive maps developed by ISW to help readers navigate the war; webcast interviews with U.S. commanders in Iraq; historical background on earlier phases of this ongoing conflict; geographic and thematic overviews that aid learning about the war; and the monthly order of battle describing the disposition of Coalition forces.

We encourage all of you to take time and visit.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Kagan

President

Institute for the Study of War

1900 M Street NW, Suite 810

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 293 - 5550

kkagan@understandingwar.org

www.understandingwar.org

Kimberly Kagan

Here is the second half of the Gathering of Eagles III rally in Washington DC

Posted by Jenny Hatch at 9:32 PM

February 21, 2008

Gold Star Mother Spanks the Berkeley City Council

Round up of all of the recent controversy swirling around Berkeley California and the Marine Corp Recruitment Office found here at Move America Forward.

Berkeley Report - Protest of the City Council

PATRIOTS IN BERKELEY: AFTER-ACTION REPORT

We had someone holding up our silenced marine sign all day

MONDAY – February 11th

For Move America Forward staff, our pro-troop demonstration against the Berkeley City Council actually started the day before when we sent off MAF Director of Operations Ryan Gill in a 10-foot moving truck. His mission was to secure supplies, and pick up MAF spokesperson and Gold-star mom Debbie Lee who flew in from Arizona to the Oakland airport.

The remaining staff spent the day in Sacramento faxing and emailing out last minute press releases and media advisories. Most of us went home around 11 pm, with plans to leave Sacramento by two in the morning to get there before five. I slept for about an hour and a half, woke up at 1 in the morning and was in the office by about 2:15. Some of our staff bypassed sleep altogether, as there was much prep work to be done in the final hours before we stood our ground in support of our troops. We weren’t packed up and on the road until about 3:00 AM and we stopped for a quick breakfast at Denny’s before hitting the road again and arriving in Berkeley at almost 5:00 AM.

Other supporters were traveling via car and caravan from Oregon, Nevada, Colorado and Southern California. People went to great efforts to make it to this important event.

TUESDAY – February 12th

By 4:30 AM Ryan Gill arrived at the rally location along with Debbie Lee. Blue Star Mom,Deborah Johns – whose son