Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Democrat Party's Insurgency against America

I know that is a heavy-duty headline and charge. I wish it weren't true, but I believe it is right on and unfortunately the evidence and their actions fully support this allegation.

To be fair, I should have also included a few Republicrats like Hagel, Snowe, Lugar, Voinovich, and Warner; the ones that are throwing in with the Dem's and are piling on the President during his fight to win this War On Terror. These Republicrats are now complicit with the Lib's in the goal of defeating America in it's War On Terror, and specifically on the war's Iraq front. So now for my purposes they are included when I refer to the "Lib's" "Dems" and so forth. They have now allied with Democrats in the Insurgency against America's win in Iraq and the larger War On Terror.

Here are my 2 main reasons why Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, et al are guilty as charged:

1. Undermining the Commander-In-Chief during a time of war.

Constructive disagreement, and dissent is one thing. But to be so blind in your hatred of our nations leader in a time of war to the point where you will affect our troops morale, sense of mission and duty is quite another. Pelosi's Mideast Tour in Feb. was also a prime example of undermining the President and his branch of power and authority and it's policies, publicly and on a world stage.

2. Putting Democratic Party interests before AMERICAN National Security and interests.

It's all about the politics, not the truth or to the benefit of America and it's citizens. Whatever hurts Bush goes, regardless of the effects on our troops or National Security. During the funding bill showdown in April they actually removed funding for new Up-armored vehicles, equipment, and training for the deployment of the surge strategy. They tried to replace the funding for these items with Billions in Pork spending to entice the farthest left members of the party to not vote for de-funding the war.

There is mounting evidence, and news reports from Iraq to indicate that George Bush has, just as Abraham Lincoln had with Ulysses Grant during our Civil War, found his General in one David Petraeus. The progress is so encouraging that even the most strident of liberal critics, staff fellows of the ultra-liberal Brookings Institute writing for the leftist organ NY Times no less; have done an about-face and see great improvement and even a win for us in Iraq.

Actually our liberal left media is about 4-6 months behind the curve. Michael Yon, the independent embedded journalist has been reporting concrete and tangible progress starting in January and February when the initial surge strategy was implemented. Michael was not alone in what he saw and reported.

Petraeus' validated tactics and philosophy of counterinsurgency he proved in Mosul for winning the trust and the hearts and minds of the Iraqi's are paying dividends. Sunni tribal chiefs and local leaders are turning to U.S. and Iraq Army and Police commanders and forging alliances and partnerships against Al Qaeda of Iraq. Iraqi citizens are pointing out IED's and enemy weapon caches and safe houses. The Iraqi military and police forces are becoming much more effective.

Captain Combs said this particular Iraqi unit, the 3-25, has never run away from combat, and never refused to close on the enemy. Combs said, “I’ve fought with 3-25 for 10 months in Diyala and they have always come when I am in trouble. They always go on patrols when I ask. They never back down.” Michael Yon Interview- Bless the Beasts and Children

With their increase in training has come an increase in Sunni percentages of the forces, the trust factor has increased greatly as a result. With the increased efficacy of Iraq security forces comes the luxury of purging and eliminating the corrupt and ineffective commanders and officials. With that increase so goes the trust factor and faith of the Iraqi citizens in their new Army and Police. American commanders also have real confidence in their abilities to carry out operations and stand toe-to-toe with the enemy.

The U.S. Command in Iraq also released many statistics that went unreported and ignored by the US media, though the real data and reports went right to Congress and they knew exactly where things stood with the gains and improvement that were really occurring. The liberal main stream medias failure to leave the green-zone, and actually go somewhere besides the latest Baghdad car-bombing has skewed the public perception of the reality of the situation and vast improvements on the ground in Iraq.

This dereliction of duty by our supposedly independent press has given the liberal Dem's the audacity needed to invert real progress being made to one of perceived failure. They have given Democratic leaders the cover of plausible deniability enabling the Dem's to expand their insurgency against America's victory in Iraq with their inaccurate and lazy reporting of the truth. This has made them in effect unwitting co-conspirators of collusion via their incompetency with the Democratic insurgency. An insurgency targeting the President and the troops he leads; our very sons and daughters, as well as our Iraqi and coalition allies.

They did this with the funding bill delays, the endless resolutions that had no authority or purpose except to embarrass the President, damage the troops morale and conviction in our support and only served to strengthen the terrorists resolve and zeal.

I will say it. These Democratic leaders of the Insurgency against America are directly responsible for deaths of American, Coalition and Iraqi troops and civilians. They have done this by impeding our full effort toward victory. Their actions have also encouraged states in the region like Iran into involvement and surreptitious support with weapons like the deadly and sophisticated shaped-charge IED's and with technical know-how provided by Iranian military experts that have infiltrated in to assist insurgents; because America displays it's political rancor, discord and lack of resolve.

Why are the Liberal Democrats mounting this insurgency against America? Because things are going too well in Iraq, we are winning in Iraq and we will win in Iraq. This is a horrible prospect for the Democrats, so horrible they can't even keep from saying it out loud, and on the record. One Democratic Congressman last week was quoted saying that victory in Iraq will be "a disaster for Democratic plans for 2008 elections" specifically on their designs for the White House and further majorities in the House and Senate.

While we are defeating the Insurgents in Iraq. We are killing the enemies of our goals and the opponents to the establishment of peace and security for the Iraqi people. As the Iraqi's continue to seek peace and tranquility the Democrats strive harder to undermine these efforts and actively oppose and work to defeat America's plans simply to further their narrow partisan political agenda and appease the hard-left wing and it's rabid hatred of Bush.

As a result, they now share the same aims and goals as Al Qaeda and the Terrorists. With the success of the surge and the increase in stability there is a new urgency on their part to present the war in Iraq as Harry Reid has said "Lost." The cry to pull our troops out is increasing even with the evidence of their mounting effectiveness and progress. Like a swimmer starting across the Niagara River a mile above the falls, the Democrats would have us turn around and head back to where we started when we are 3/4 of the way across as we begin to tire and drift downstream near the edge of the falls; instead of pushing forward the final short distance to victory.

They will try everything to delay funding, pull out troops, and undermine the morale and support from our brave young men and women. When that fails along with the desperate acts of Al Qaeda in it's death throes, they will then attempt to redefine the established goals and disqualify the concrete gains of our brave men, women and leaders when Petraeus presents his September report.

As we continue to defeat this insurgency in Iraq; the Insurgency here against America led by Pelosi, Reid and Murtha, will surely grow. We will defeat the insurgency in Iraq. When we do, and because the Democrats are so heavily invested in our defeat in Iraq; the Democrats Insurgency against America will also be defeated.

Michael R. Bednarz

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Bless the Beasts and Children

The Following story is by the independent journalist Michael Yon. Michael has
spent the best part of the past 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan bearing first hand witness to
the efforts of our men and women on the front lines of the war on terror. This article details his recent documentation of Al Qaeda's brutal inhumanity they wrought on the population in areas where they are being eliminated by U.S. and Iraqi forces with the aid of the local Sunni population in an offensive that is part of the larger "Surge" strategy currently underway in the Baghdad and Sunni triangle. Michael has been frustrated by the complete lack of interest by the major main-stream media outlets (with the exception of Fox News, Newsmax and some conservative newsblogs) in a massacre of civilians and children by Al Qaeda in a small village near Baqubah. Because Michael is independent and not a "stringer" with any major news outlet or wire service he has offered full permission to reprint to any person, or news media network or outlet for use of any of his dispatch, posting, photos, or video clips once he as them posted of this story.

Please share this story, and his Blog with your friends, and family. He is an amazing writer, and photographer. I truly believe he will be to the record and history of the War on Terror, what Ernie Pyle was to WWII. Be sure to use his RSS NewsReader linkage- you will automatically see headers for new postings on his blog by just putting you mouse over the RSS logo in your web browser, and do consider contributing to his efforts on his blogsite, it is his only support for his labors. You will be duly impressed should you spend a few hours going through his dispatches and stories. You WILL learn the truth and the answer to the simple
question: Why we fight.




Bless the Beasts and Children

Where did they go?

On 29 June, American and Iraqi soldiers were again fighting side-by-side as soldiers from Charley Company 1-12 CAV—led by Captain Clayton Combs—and Iraqi soldiers from the 5th IA, closed in on a village on the outskirts of Baqubah. The village had the apparent misfortune of being located near a main road—about 3.5 miles from FOB Warhorse—that al Qaeda liked to bomb. Al Qaeda had taken over the village. As Iraqi and American soldiers moved in, they came under light contact; but the bombs planted in the roads (and maybe in the houses) were the real threat.

The firefight progressed. American missiles were fired. The enemy might have been trying to bait Iraqi and American soldiers into ambush, but it did not work. The village was riddled with bombs, some of them large enough to destroy a tank. One by one, experts destroyed the bombs, leaving small and large craters in the unpaved roads.

The village was abandoned. All the people were gone. But where?

On 30 June, soldiers from 1-12 Cav allowed me to go to the village in one of their M-1 tanks.

LT Baxter, Tank Commander.

As often happens in Iraq, the first time I meet American combat soldiers, we are going off to do something serious. Although the soldiers usually do not know me, they are courteous and professional, and always watching out for me. And so it was with LT Baxter, who was commanding the M-1 tank that I’d be riding along in, and who made sure I didn’t break my neck getting into the tank. I nearly pulled him off the tank while climbing aboard.

The tankers drove off FOB Warhorse, and only a few miles later, we arrived at the outskirts of the abandoned village.

American soldiers began unloading dozens of body bags, which the Iraqi soldiers, with grim looks, carried into the village.

Captain Clayton Combs has been fighting hard in Diyala for about ten months, much of it side-by-side with Iraqi soldiers from the 5th Division. Each time I’ve come into contact with the 5th, they seem far better than most. American officers and sergeants who work with the 5th have good things to report about them, saying that although the 5th still has far to go, and cannot sustain itself logistically, it can fight.

Captain Combs said this particular Iraqi unit, the 3-25, has never run away from combat, and never refused to close on the enemy. Combs said, “I’ve fought with 3-25 for 10 months in Diyala and they have always come when I am in trouble. They always go on patrols when I ask. They never back down.”

I asked Captain Combs to repeat what he said, making sure he knew I was planning to quote him directly. A veteran like Combs would be unlikely to append his name to such words if he weren’t dead serious. Captain Combs repeated his words and stuck by them. He then demonstrated that faith when we took off deeper into the danger zone with nine soldiers from 5th IA: just Captain Combs, Iraqi soldiers and me. As we passed through the village, Captain Combs pointed out the nice houses, saying the people had been simple farmers with comfortable homes and lives.

Until al Qaeda came.

The houses all were empty. We passed by two donkeys each shot in the neck. Al Qaeda had killed their livestock.

Al Qaeda often plants bombs inside the dead bodies of the animals and people they’ve killed. They have rigged children’s bodies with explosives.

Some steps later, we passed by a crater—one of many in this village—made on 29 June when bomb experts destroyed an IED.

Then a few steps beyond the crater, Captain Combs pointed out a car that had been filled with explosives. American soldiers had destroyed it with a Thermite grenade.

A short walk later, as we passed more abandoned homes, I saw an empty AK-47 magazine on the ground. The houses were in shambles: broken glass and ski masks littered the area. The Iraqi soldier with the goggles saw a photograph on the ground, and picked it up.

We walked into the palm groves nearby. There was a terrible stench. The heat and the vegetation reminded me of the Killing Fields in Cambodia where I had visited shortly before the most recent trip to Iraq.

Soldiers from 5th IA said they’d found some of the villagers: They were dead.

Iraqi soldiers were excavating several graves.

The bodies were fresh, and the smell was overwhelming. A small group of American soldiers were keeping a respectable distance, but the area was filled with Iraqi soldiers from 5th IA.

I told the Iraqi commander, Captain Baker, that it was important that Americans see this; he took me around the graves and showed more than I wanted to see. He said the people had been murdered by al Qaeda. I made video of him speaking, and of the horrible scene. The heat and stench were crushingly oppressive and broken only by the sounds of shovels as Iraqi soldiers kept digging.

There were bodies of men, women and children. Al Qaeda slaughters families everywhere: as these graves were being unearthed, more bombs were found in London.

There was no sign of the sacred at this gravesite.

Stashed in shallow graves. The stench felt like punches in the stomach.

Some of the bodies seemed fresh. The air temperature was about 115°F.

One of the graves.

By the time I arrived, 5th IA had uncovered parts of six bodies. But from what I could see, they did not all appear to have been murdered at once. In one grave, there were exposed ribs and other bones, although there was still flesh on the bones.

The digging was the first part of the gruesome job.

Hot, hard work and as it progressed, the stench got worse and worse. An Iraqi soldier carefully sprinkled water on the corpses.

Soldiers from 5th IA said al Qaeda had cut the heads off the children. Had al Qaeda murdered the children in front of their parents? Maybe it had been the other way around: maybe they had murdered the parents in front of the children. Maybe they had forced the father to dig the graves of his children.

Feet of a woman.

Iraqi soldiers were barely talking. All had grim looks and everybody seemed to want to be a million miles away. Yet these Iraqi soldiers helped me do my job.

Later in the day, some of the soldiers from the unit I share a tent with, the C-52, told me that one of their Kit Carson scouts (comprised of some of our previous enemies who have turned on al Qaeda) had pointed out an al Qaeda who had cut off the heads of children. Soldiers from C-52 say that the Kit Carson scout freaked out and tried to hide when he spotted the man he identified as an al Qaeda operative. Just how (or if) the scout really knew the man had beheaded children was unknown to the soldiers of C-52, but they took the suspected al Qaeda to the police, who knew the man. C-52 soldiers told me the Iraqi police were inflamed, and that one policeman in particular was crazed with intent to kill the man who they said had the blood of Iraqi children on his hands. According to the story told to me on 30 June, it took almost 45 minutes for the C-52 soldiers to calm down the policeman who had drawn his pistol to execute the al Qaeda man. That same policeman nearly lost his mind when an American soldier then gave the al Qaeda man a drink of cold water.

While that was happening elsewhere in Baqubah, we stood around the stinking graves of people who had gotten a close-up view of al Qaeda-style justice. The villagers’ bodies were rotting in the heat before us.

The blade of the shovel struck more fingers, and the Iraqi soldiers stopped and pointed to the fingers so I could film them. But I had seen enough and pulled back into the palm groves.

Captain Baker, commanding the 3-25 of the 5th IA.

Captain Baker gave an important interview on video. Captain Baker, who in Captain Combs’ words is “an excellent soldier,” is from the Kurdish north, but Baker said he is Iraqi first, Kurdish second. He told me American Special Forces had trained him, and he shared some interesting details about the killing of Zarqawi which occurred back in 2006. Zarqawi had been the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was killed nearby by U.S. bombs.

Soldiers from the 5th IA continued with their task as Captain Combs and I departed, heading back to the M-1 tank.

Along the way we passed fresh craters. The bomb that made the water-filled crater above would easily have destroyed the Bradley in the photo.

LT Baxter, the tank commander, was concerned that the heat was getting to me, and checked my uniform for sweat, asking several times if I was okay. They always watch out for me. But I was okay from the heat; I can take the heat as well as our soldiers can. Still, I felt very sick, the kind of sick that no amount of cool water can fix. I put on the comms in the tank, then ripped them off and left off my helmet and held the jet hose of the air conditioner on my face as the tank rumbled back to base.

Michael Yon does not receive funding or financial support from Fox News, movie, book or television deals at this time. He is entirely reader supported. He relies on his readers to help him replace his equipment and cover his expenses so that he may remain in Iraq and bring you the stories of our soldiers. If you value his work, please consider supporting his mission.


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