Phyrfight Intel

This Is Our War: A Soldiers’ Portfolio: GQ Features on men.style.com

GQ is compiling one of the largest collections ever gathered of photos taken by active soldiers.

Sounds like intelligence efforts are starting to pay off.

From: News Telegraph UK

(Filed: 20/11/2005)
“Early on a warm summer morning, a few hours before traffic began to fill the streets, a 16-man SAS patrol took up ambush positions around a Baghdad house, writes Sean Rayment.

The soldiers had been told that the house was a being used as a base by insurgents – and up to three suicide bombers were expected to leave it later that morning.

Dressed in explosive vests, they were fully equipped to hit a number of locations around the city. The bombers’ targets were thought to be cafes and restaurants frequented by members of the Iraqi security forces.

The intelligence was regarded as “high grade” and came from an Iraqi agent who had been nurtured by members of the British Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, for several months.”

(more)

Operation Marlborough – Click to enlarge.

One more example.

Media Ignore Congressman Murtha’s Long History Of Opposition to the Iraq War

Rep. Murtha first voiced his displeasure with how things were going in Iraq on September 16, 2003, when he called for the immediate firing of President Bush’s defense leadership team. The network news organizations this evening chose not to inform their viewers of this, and, instead, implied that Rep. Murtha was a “hawk” that has always supported this war, and that his statements today were recent revelations.

Quite the contrary, the New York Times reported on September 17, 2003 (link courtesy of Common Dreams.org):

“One of the strongest Democratic supporters of the invasion of Iraq joined the growing offensive against the administration’s postwar planning today, demanding that President Bush fire his defense leadership team.

“The Democrat, Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said that he had been misled into voting for the war by incorrect information from top administration officials and that the president had also been misled.

“’You can’t fire the president unless you’re in California,’ Mr. Murtha said. ‘But somebody recommended this policy to him, and he took the recommendation. Somebody has to be held responsible, and he’s got to make the decision who it was.’”

More

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” —John F. Kennedy

Do the Democrats agree with this statement, or not?

So the UN fired some guy implicated in the oil-for-food scandal then took him back and gave him back pay!

Wafflers

From: The Federalist Patriot

“On the heels of the “White House — CIA leak” investigation, which concluded that no laws were broken (but charged one administration staffer with perjury), liberals are attempting to parlay that non-starter into a much bigger political brawl. Their charges have no substance, and are completely contrived to keep Republicans off balance through next year’s midterm elections.

Sens. Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Dick Durbin have accused President George Bush of lying about Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, insisting he “lied us into war.” They are even floating the suggestion that he be impeached.

(more…)

France was against the United States of America enforcing the U.N. resolution that said Saddam must disarm. Later we find out that many French government officials had been promised oil by Saddam. Now France faces an insurrection, from the people they have been “attempting to appease”.

Call it Karma.

Happy people make the world better

By Dennis Prager, Nov 8, 2005

When you think about a Muslim suicide terrorist, is “happy” the first word you think of to describe him?
When you think about Nazis or Communists or Klansmen or child molesters, do you immediately think, “Now there are some happy people”?
Of course not.
It only takes a moment’s thought to realize that while most unhappy people don’t engage in evil, most evil is done by unhappy people. This is true on both the macro and the micro levels. We all know how much more likely we are to lash out at others when we are unhappy and how much we desire to make others feel good when we feel happy.
Given this association of evil with unhappy people, it is quite remarkable how little attention is paid to happiness as a moral, rather than only a personal psychological issue. Too often the pursuit of happiness (not the pursuit of fun or excitement) is regarded as a selfish pursuit, when in fact it is one of the best things a person can do for everyone in his life and for the world at large. The Founders of America were brilliant in many ways, not more so than by enshrining that pursuit alongside the pursuit of life and liberty.
(more…)

This is an email from Daniel Miller

=======================

In the news today:

Iran, which insists its nuclear intentions are peaceful, remains unapologetic — and banners saying “Israel must be wiped off the map” were also seen outside Tehran University.

Other slogans used included “Peaceful nuclear energy is our legitimate right” and “The only way to combat the Zionist enemy is resistance and Jihad”.

But they promise they won’t use nuclear weapons. They’re calling it, “The Marshmallow Jihad”. They say they will wipe Israel off the map gently and peacefully.

OK, I made that part up.

D

_________________

Daniel Gene Miller

“The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist.” Eric Gill

Another Election Day in Iraq. Can Democracy defeat Terrorisim?

From Michael Yon

“I was in Baquba during the January elections. I’d hitched a ride with the US Army to a polling site. There were bombs exploding, mortars falling, and hot machine guns. The fact that the voting was going great despite the violence was something few people expected. When the soldiers dropped me off along with a CNN crew, they couldn’t believe we were willing to go alone. Neither could I.” (more)

New trucks that are extremely resistant to IEDs are replacing Humvees in Iraq. These are honkin’ pieces of equipment.

Wired

Injured Marine defies attackers
BY C. DAVID KOTOK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
“RAMADI, Iraq – Once Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt realized he could wiggle his toes and fingers, he had one message for the insurgents who wounded him – defiance.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt "communicates" with his Iraqi attackers

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt signals defiance at his Iraqi attackers after being injured by an improvised explosive device near Ramadi. Attending to the Marine were Nebraska 167th Cavalry members Spc. John Adams (far left, in front) of Hastings, Neb., and Pfc. Darin Nelson of Fremont, Neb.

Burghardt, of Huntington Beach, Calif., started his third tour in Iraq trying to beat the insurgents to the IEDs – improvised explosive devices – and disarm them before the insurgents could set them off.

As is often the case, Burghardt and his Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were accompanied to a bomb site Monday by the First Platoon, 167th Cavalry of the Nebraska National Guard.

One IED had blown up a Bradley fighting vehicle and killed a U.S. soldier. As often happens, the insurgents left behind more IEDs. Burghardt disarmed two bombs that were found – quick action that probably saved the lives of several Nebraska soldiers.

But he couldn’t get to a third.

When word spread that the third device had been found, 167th Capt. Jeff Searcey of Kearney, 1st Lt. Matthew Misfeldt of Omaha and their men hit the ground as a blast exploded skyward.

Burghardt was wounded.
(more…)

From Iran-Daily.com

SYDNEY, Australia, Aug. 24–Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told Wednesday to get out of Australia as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks, AFP reported.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament.

“If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you,“ he said on national television.
“I’d be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false.
“If you can’t agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practices it, perhaps, then, that’s a better option,“ Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should “clear off“.

“Basically, people who don’t want to be Australians, and they don’t want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off,“ he said. Muslim schools will have to denounce terrorism as part of an effort to stamp out home-grown extremism under measures announced after Howard’s meeting with 14 Islamic leaders Tuesday.

The prime minister called the meeting in the wake of last month’s London bombings by British-born Muslims, amid fears that Australia could be the target of a similar attack by disaffected members of its small Muslim community.

Some think it prudent to reinstate this for a time:

Sedition Act

Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements, or say or do anything except by way of bona fide and not disloyal advice to an investor or investors, with intent to obstruct the sale by the United States of bonds or other securities of the United States or the making of loans by or to the United States, and whoever when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause, or incite or attempt to incite, insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, (more…)

Reporter

Iraqi Constitution

“On Saturday, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops caught 20 militants laying explosives along Kajaki Dam in southern Helmand province, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammed Saher Azimi, said. Thousands of people live downriver from the dam.

Mashal said two of the other thwarted bomb attacks were planned car bombings in Ghazni and Paktika, two volatile provinces. The fourth was near the border with Pakistan, where two Pakistanis, suspected to be Taliban members, were found with explosives.”

AP
Election workers unload ballot papers and other materials from a helicopter at a remote location in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
AOL News – U.N. Urges Afhans to Vote as 12 Killed

The Federal government keeps chipping away at freedoms we have taken for granted for decades. In the post 9/11 hysteria bureaucrats everywhere are pushing for more government control over the most innocuous parts of everyday life. Probably because that’s all they know how to do, make rules and punish those that don’t follow them. The biggest problem with that is that the Jihadists are rarely around to punish after the fact.

It’s the minorities that have to give up their freedoms first because there is no one to fight for them. I’m not talking just race here, I mean any minority. I’m a general aviation pilot and our freedoms have been under constant attack since 9/11. If you are not a pilot you wont understand and you don’t care, but you should care because each bit of freedom belongs to everyone and once its gone you wont get it back. Think of every little encroachment on someone else’s freedoms as setting a precedent for the day that the government wants to take away your freedoms.

This is from the AOPA. ADIZ stands for Air Defense Identification Zone.

———————–

NO ADIZ IN YOUR BACKYARD? DON’T BET ON IT…
Imagine this: Every time you want to fly, you have to file a flight
plan. Before you can take off, you have to get a transponder code,
but the landline you call to get it is busy most of the time. If
there is an RCO (remote communications outlet) frequency for your
airport, you can rarely get a timely response from an overworked
controller. Services are falling off at your local FBO because
business is down drastically. In fact, some of your favorite places
on the field have already closed. Welcome to life in an air defense
identification zone (ADIZ). Can’t happen in your area? Don’t bet on
it. At this moment, New York City has a “temporary” ADIZ. Chicago’s
Mayor Richard Daley keeps pushing for one of his own. Any of the
other Class B airspace areas across the country could become an ADIZ
at a moment’s notice. That’s what happened in Washington, D.C.–where
the “temporary” ADIZ was created on a weekend in response to a
heightened national threat level. But after the threat level was
reduced, the ADIZ remained. Now the FAA wants to make it permanent,
and the same thing could happen anywhere. “That’s why AOPA continues
to fight so hard against the Washington ADIZ,” said AOPA President
Phil Boyer. “And why–very soon–we will be asking all AOPA members
to join the fight. We must work together to prevent an ADIZ in your
backyard.” Stay tuned. See AOPA Online

LTC Erik Kurilla of 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (better known as “Deuce Four”) comments about how news from Iraq is presented here in the states.

From Michael Yon http://www.michaelyon.blogspot.com/

“As the Deuce Four heads home this week, they leave behind a Mosul that, while not yet in the clear, is much closer to security and prosperity than anyone would have considered possible eight months ago. In between the daily secret reports Kurilla has brought to his hospital room so he can track his battalion, the Commander watches television news, increasingly frustrated by what he sees as a clear, and inaccurate, negative bias. ‘When you get the news back here in the states, it’s all doom and body counts. I only wish the American public could see the incredible progress that is being made every day in Iraq, particularly in places like Mosul.’ “

” “The evidence in this case indicates that the conspirators were on the verge of launching their attack,”

“Had these four defendants succeeded in their alleged plots, their attacks would have taken an untold number of Americans,” U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told a separate news briefing in Washington.

…declined to elaborate on the timing or nature of the attack but said it could have included “shooting up military facilities” or bombing a synagogue and may have been planned to coincide with the Jewish holidays in October.”

Top News Article | Reuters.com