Heroes: Chairman Celebrates Unsung Heroes at ‘Angels of Battlefield’ Gala

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff praised the Army medics and Navy corpsmen who risk their lives on the battlefield to save others at the 2nd annual Armed Services YMCA gala here last night.

“You could see in how (the medic) talked and how they talked about him, how special he was, how much they depend on him and how confident they were they could carry out their mission because he was there,”

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Winning in Afghanistan

Another top NATO general is going on the record about our success in Afghanistan, though you are unlikely to hear about such things from the mainstream media that prefer a narrative of failure.

Last week I reported that comments from Army Gen. Dan McNeill, the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan went nearly unreported in the US media. The General claimed that the rise in violence in Afghanistan was not an indication of Taliban resurgence but of increasing NATO aggressiveness. In short, that we are winning, albeit there are challenges ahead.

This week, Gen. Michel Gauthier, who is commander of all Canadian forces overseas, spoke out as detailed in this excellent piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by Graeme Smith. The General said that where his forces are concentrated, in the populated areas in and around Kandahar, there is no question that they are winning.
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Such biased media reporting is not only hurting US national security, it is hurting the innocents in Afghanistan. It is time for President Bush to come out of hiding and take the case directly to the American people. The President must lead by letting his senior military officials speak to the people directly to dispel this "losing in Afghanistan" media myth.

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House Passes Democratic Terror Surveillance Package, Does Not Grant Immunity

The House on Friday approved a Democratic bill that would set rules for the government's eavesdropping on phone calls and e-mails inside the United States.The bill, approved as lawmakers departed for a two-week break, faces a veto threat from President Bush. The margin of House approval was 213-197, largely along party lines. Because of the promised veto, "this vote has no impact at all," said Republican Whip Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri.

[incorrect: it delays, once again, reimplementation of this authorization which is currently expired - i.e., we're currently without the abilities it previously provided while the the House is once again on vacation]

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"It doesn't matter to Democrats that these companies patriotically responded to the president's call to assist with surveillance and relied on his assurances that they would be acting legally. What matters is that trial lawyers are among the biggest contributors to the Democratic Party — the party that supposedly eschews special-interest politics. The trial bar must be paid back whenever possible, even if it means telecoms will not cooperate in the future for fear of stepping into a malicious litigation trap."

— David Limbaugh, Author, Syndicated Columnist

China baffles world with mystery bomber

China's H-8 stealth bomber may be more advanced than the American B-2A and capable of delivering a 350-kiloton nuclear warhead to the continental U.S. Although it's ''top secret,'' Chinese quasi-official Web sites brag that the Xian H-8 is a carbon-fiber, ''special nanotechnology''-coated, stealth, strategic, heavy bomber all rolled into one.

Oh, and it was made possible by stolen American technology.

[more likely untrue than true - but need we wait until true to recognize China's stated ambitions and prepare accordingly?]

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FBI raids house in Chinese spy case

A Defense Department analyst and a former engineer for Boeing Co. were charged Monday in separate spy cases for allegedly handing over military secrets to the Chinese government, the Justice Department said. (Snip) The arrests mark China's latest attempts to gain top secret information about U.S. military systems and sales, said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein. He described China as "particularly adept, and particularly determined and methodical in their espionage efforts."

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Iran enriching uranium twice as fast

Iran said Sunday that it had started using new centrifuges that can enrich uranium at more than twice the speed of the machines that now form the backbone of its nuclear program. The announcement confirmed reports earlier this month by diplomats with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency that Iran was using 10 of the new IR-2 centrifuges.

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There'll be consequences - Iran

Tehran - Iran warned on Monday of ''serious consequences'' if the UN Security Council adopts fresh sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work. ''If a resolution is passed... it will have serious and logical consequences and we will announce them later,'' Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki Mottaki (Snip) Despite a four-year probe into Tehran's atomic drive, the IAEA has so far been unable to determine whether the program is peaceful.

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The Genocidal Threat to Israel

The real nature of the ''Arab-Israeli conflict''-a genocidal assault by Arabs and other Muslims on a peace-loving democracy-was on horrific display Thursday evening when a Palestinian entered a Jerusalem yeshiva and shot to death eight young men while wounding nine others before
being shot to death himself. The nature of Gazan society was also on horrific display; that same evening Gaza's streets filled with joyous crowds of thousands.... In mosques in Gaza City and northern Gaza, many residents went to perform the prayers of thanksgiving.

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Muslim nations: Defame Islam, get sued?

DAKAR, Senegal - The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots. Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital. The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month.

[meanwhile, Mary splattered in feces is publicly funded 'art']

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U.S. looking into terror list for Venezuela

The Bush administration has launched a preliminary inquiry that could land Venezuela on the U.S. list of nations that support terrorism because of its alleged close links to Colombian rebels, a
senior government official has confirmed. The inquiry, by government lawyers, is the first step in a process that could see Venezuela join North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Iran as countries designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism.

[which it is {I don't have the procedural barnacles to deal with}]

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Our Strategic Interest in Trade with Colombia

[HT: U.S. Chamber of Commerce {via Comment to Bush-related Brief Friday}]

Five former commanders [Generals all] of the U.S. Southern Command have sent an open letter to Congress supporting the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. The letter clearly lays out why the agreement is in our national interest...

The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will build upon Colombia's remarkable transformation over the past decade, which has advanced the the long-term prospects for peace, stability, and development in Central America. It is in our national interest to help Colombia progress along the road toward democratic consolidation and economic development. This trade agreement will advance U.S. security and economic interests by forging a deeper partnership.

Finally, approving this agreement will meet our duty to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Colombians as they have stood by the United States as friends and allies. For all of these reasons, we strongly urge Congress to approve the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.

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The Triumph of OPEC

For much of its 47-year existence, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been a cartel in name only. It could not control oil prices because many of its members regularly breached the production quotas that were intended to regulate the market. So OPEC followed oil prices up and down, as supply and demand shifted. But now OPEC may be the real deal: a cartel that works. If so, that's bad news for the rest of the world...

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AMBER WAVES OF GREEN

[meanwhile, what do we do about developing our own reserves?]

Though last year was one of the best ever for farm incomes -- up 44 percent to $87.5 billion -- farmers are about to score the most lavish subsidies in American history. ... farmers will get about $26 billion over the next five years in subsidies:

• Corn producers will get subsidies of $10.5 billion over five years, which is on top of the deal of a lifetime these farmers were handed when Congress expanded ethanol subsidies.

• The handouts make growing corn so profitable that last year some 15.3 million acres were converted to new corn production, according to the USDA.

The giveaways are so large that the House version is the first farm bill ever that would raise taxes to pay for it -- by $14 billion.

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"It's easy to understand how the public, looking for cheaper gasoline, can be taken in by the call for increased ethanol usage. But politicians, corn farmers and ethanol producers know they are running a cruel hoax on the American consumer. They are in it for the money."

— Walter E. Williams, Author, Economist and Professor of Economics

[at the risk of seeming another internet smut peddler...]

[available for purchase {no affiliation} HERE ]
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Senate votes to sink earmarks moratorium

WASHINGTON -- Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch joined a majority of their colleagues late Thursday to vote down a one-year moratorium on earmarks. The proposed ban on any earmarks in the fiscal year 2009 budget failed on a vote of 29-71 during a late session Thursday night.

[as despicable as this arrogance is, the much sadder critique is that the 18 billion dollars in earmarks last year is virtually mice nuts in the context of a (now) 3 trillion $ budget. Washington's spending can ruin this country]

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Now Democrats propose to raise taxes?

WHEN it comes to the federal budget, there is a lot Washington can learn from American families. (Snip) Yet we have a Democratic majority in Congress seeking to enact the largest tax hike in history in an apparent monument to fiscal irresponsibility. Their proposal would raise taxes by a whopping $683 billion over the next five years. Put in perspective, this amounts to a tax hike of nearly $2,500 for the average family...

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Military Rocket Falls Off Jet, Lands At Tulsa Apartment Complex

Residents of a Tulsa apartment complex are extremely lucky to be unharmed this morning after a military rocket crashed nearby after apparently falling off a passing jet. It happened Thursday afternoon near 51st and Lewis. Police showed up after the power went out at the Canyon Creek Apartments. When they arrived, they found what appeared to be a bomb. They called out the bomb squad, who quickly identified it as a military ordnance. The military later took over the scene and said it had indeed lost a rocket...

http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0308/503781.html

Stealth Fighter
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