Theodore's World

Don’t Abandon Us
By Hoshyar Zebari
Washington Post
Friday, May 4, 2007
The writer is foreign minister of Iraq

Last weekend a traffic jam several miles long snaked out of the Mansour district in western Baghdad. The delay stemmed not from a car bomb closing the road but from a queue to enter the city’s central amusement park. The line became so long some families left their cars and walked to enjoy picnics, fairground rides and soccer, the Iraqi national obsession.
Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening. The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at markets. These days you are as likely to hear complaints about traffic congestion as about the security situation. Across Baghdad there is a cacophony of sirens from ambulances, firefighters and police providing public services. You cannot even escape the curse of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars.
These small but significant snippets of normality are overshadowed by acts of gross violence, which fuel the opinion of some that Iraq is in a downward spiral. The Iraqi people are indeed suffering tremendous hardships and making grave sacrifices — but daily life goes on for 7 million Baghdadis struggling to take back their capital and country.
Today, at an international summit on the future of Iraq in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, my government will ask the international community to maintain its engagement in our country to help us achieve our goals of security and stability. We recognize that our request conflicts with a plethora of voices decrying the situation in Iraq and those in the British and American publics who seek an expeditious withdrawal from a war they claim is all but lost.
So why should the world remain engaged in Iraq?
There is no denying the difficulties Iraq faces, and no amount of good news can obscure the demons of terrorism and sectarianism that have risen in my country. But there is too much at stake to risk failure, and everything to gain by helping us protect our hard-won democratic achievements and emerge as a stable, self-sustaining country.
We remain determined in spite of our losses. Spectacular attacks may dominate foreign headlines, but they cannot change the reality that Iraq has made steady political, economic and social progress over the past four years. We continue to strengthen our nascent democratic institutions, pursue national reconciliation and expand Iraqi security forces. The Baghdad security plan was conceived to give us breathing space to expedite political and economic development by “securing and holding” neighborhoods across the capital. There is no quick fix, but there have been real results: Winning public confidence has led to a spike in intelligence, a disruption of terrorist networks and the capture of key leaders, as well as the discovery of weapons caches. In Anbar province, Sunni sheikhs and insurgents have turned against al-Qaeda and to the side of Iraqi security forces. This would have been unthinkable even six months ago.
Contrary to popular belief, most government ministries are located outside the Green Zone, and employees drive to work every day despite death threats and attacks on colleagues and families. We government ministers are always at risk of assassination. When a suicide bomber attacked parliament last month, the legislators sat in defiance in an extraordinary session the following day. I am particularly inspired by the commitment of the young diplomats in the Foreign Ministry, a diverse mix of Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Arab and Kurdish men and women who serve their country without subscribing to religious or sectarian divisions.
Iraqis are standing up every day, and we persevere because there is no other option. We will not surrender our country to terrorists. They have failed to cripple the elected government, and they have failed to intimidate us into submission. Iraqis reject their vision of a future whose hallmarks are bloodshed and hatred.
Those calling for withdrawal may think it is the least painful option, but its benefits would be short-lived. The fate of the region and the world is linked with ours. Leaving a broken Iraq in the Middle East would offer international terrorism a haven and ensure a legacy of chaos for future generations. Furthermore, the sacrifices of all the young men and women who stood up here would have been in vain.
Iraqis, for all our determination and courage, cannot succeed alone. We need a healthy and supportive regional environment. We will not allow our country to be a battleground for settling scores in regional and international conflicts that adversely affect stability inside our borders. Only with continued international commitment and deeper engagement from our neighbors can we establish a stable democratic, federal and united Iraq. The world should not abandon us.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
An interesting article. I would add this is that the Iraq’s need to do more and more on their own, they are I realize that and that is a BIG thanks to our awesome troops training them. But their hearts need to be in it and a courage to take a stand on their own too is needed.

Sorry had to delete the video
it was not working right.

Thank you

Hillary Clinton 1984 in 2008: The Big Lie That Won Her Election to the Senate

This is a very interesting documentary trailer that exposes the lies Hillary made to the voters and her opponent through the Washington Post and to the FEC in 2000 about who her largest contributor was, ( Spider Man creator Stan Lee’s partner Peter F. Paul) how much he gave and why he gave more then $1 million to her so he could have Bill Clinton work with his public company, Stan Lee Media, when Clinton left the White House.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
Nothing will ever surprise me about either of the Clinton’s. In this video the Clinton’s Travelgate is mentioned and other things as well. TravelGate was one of the gates that really ticked me off, they destroyed lives, but then they always did and will continue to do so.
The Clinton’s are pure evil, criminals,traitors, treasonous, dead bodies strewn along their path to power, and when I saw how they got away with every crime they committed it was the first time in my life that I knew that the America I had known and loved so much was truly doomed as I knew it. And that feeling has never changed. I pray with all my heart it does. I pray the good guys take America back and that people like the Clinton’s and their ilk will one day be punished for their many crimes.

When it came to defeating the Soviets, Ronald Reagan made it simple: “We win, they lose.” Now more than ever, the defeatists in Congress must hear that same message. America will never surrender.
If you would like this is what the Petition says:
To: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Democrat Leader
Congress has passed and President Bush has vetoed H.R. 1591, the Iraq Surrender Act of 2007.
This legislation, which you worked to pass, sets a timetable for surrender. It pulls the rug out from under our troops. That is shameful and wrong.
Your actions have already emboldened the enemy. Violent jihadists now know that the elected leadership of Congress would undermine the troops by holding their funding hostage to demands for surrender.
This Congress would bring us back to the dark days of the 1970s, when the world doubted our staying power. Except only much worse. Withdraw in April 2008, and on May 1, Iraq becomes an unchecked den of terrorism at the heart of the Middle East — a new base for the same people that struck our homeland on September 11th.
I stand with our troops. I stand for victory. I support the President’s veto and will urge my representatives to vote to sustain it.
There can be one and only one outcome in Iraq: We win, they lose.
Please go to their website HERE.

Marine’s father gives Bush pen, support
Washington Times
It was just a regular, black-inked ballpoint pen that President Bush used to sign his veto yesterday, instead of his usual personalized Cross pen.
The pen was a gift from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, who asked Mr. Bush last month to use it when he vetoed a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
Robert Derga, of Uniontown, Ohio, gave Mr. Bush the pen after an April 16 speech by the president at the White House.
Mr. Bush invited a number of “Gold Star Families” — families who have lost a U.S. military member in Iraq — to the speech, and met with them afterwards in the Oval Office. Mr. Derga, 53, had brought the pen with him. It was the pen he had used to write letters to his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga.

“It was just a common run of the mill … I don’t even remember the brand name,” Mr. Derga said, in a phone interview last night. “It was just a $2 pen. Nothing special.”

Mr. Bush met with the Dergas and other families for about 45 minutes, and spoke directly with each family.

“I looked the president square in the eye,” Mr. Derga said. “I looked at him and said, ‘Mr. President, if this Iraq supplemental comes down to a veto I want you to use my pen to do it.”

Mr. Bush “kind of looked at me funny for a moment and then said, ‘Absolutely,’ and then handed the pen to his assistant,” Mr. Derga said.

“He assured me he would use it,” Mr. Derga said.

Dustin was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005, while leading house-to-house searches in Ubaydi, Iraq. He was 24. Dustin was the first Marine killed in Lima Company, with the Marine Force Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, out of Columbus, Ohio.
But Lima Company, a group of 160 reservists, suffered the highest casualty rate of any company so far in the Iraq war. They lost 23 Marines during their seven-month deployment in 2005.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Derga was shutting off his computer at work, around 5:30, when he received a call from Jared Weinstein, Mr. Bush’s personal aide.

Mr. Weinstein was calling “to tell me that the president had signed the veto with my pen.”

“They wanted to again give their heartfelt condolences on our loss of Dustin,” Mr. Derga said. “I was pretty blown away is one way of putting it. I couldn’t believe he actually did it.”

Mr. Derga, a manager for Diebold, Inc., said that it was gratifying to be able to show his support for Mr. Bush and for the war, even if it has not always been easy to support the U.S. mission in Iraq.

“It’s been painful for this nation and me personally but I still feel strongly about getting the job done over there and getting it done right,” said Mr. Derga. “It meant a lot to us that we were able to make our position known, that we continue to support him.”

But Mr. Derga said he is frustrated that many Americans do not believe Iraq is part of the U.S. fight against terrorism.

“I really feel strongly that this nation needs to wake up and understand what’s at risk here and what’s in the balance,” he said.

As for Dustin, his son, Mr. Derga visits his grave in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, about two hours away, every few weeks, he said.

“He had a wonderful smile and a great dimple. He was a great kid. He loved to play baseball. He just loved working with his hands. And he was always interested in military service and public service,” Mr. Derga said.

Dustin was a volunteer firefighter and steel worker. He was working toward a degree in EMS and fire science from Columbus State University.

“Probably his smile I miss more than anything,” Mr. Derga said. “I think about him every day. I know I’ll see him again, so it’s just a matter of time.”

Mr. Derga said that about 80 percent of the other Gold Star Families he knows agree with the president’s decision to send more troops to Iraq to try to stabilize the country.

“We have given the ultimate sacrifice in terms of our sons, and if we can still stand in the trenches with the president and support him, why can’t the rest of the nation do it?” Mr. Derga said.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This Father is an awesome man and so was his son. Thank you President Bush for doing this and thank you for the Veto.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
White House
May 2, 2007
Finally, this legislation is unconstitutional because it purports to direct the conduct of the operations of the war in a way that infringes upon the powers vested in the Presidency by the Constitution, including as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. For these reasons, I must veto this bill.

“Good evening. Twelve weeks ago, I asked the Congress to pass an emergency war spending bill that would provide our brave men and women in uniform with the funds and flexibility they need. Instead, members of the House and the Senate passed a bill that substitutes the opinions of politicians for the judgment of our military commanders. So a few minutes ago, I vetoed this bill.”

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 1, 2007.

The first Republican presidential primary debate for this next Presidential election will air tonight. This first debate for Republicans will be on MSNBC, and the next one on May 15th will be on Fox News Channel.
NBC’s Brian Williams and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews will moderate the debate. Nancy Reagan is supposed to be there.
The Ronald Reagan Library announced that Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Tommy Thompson are all confirmed to attend the Library’s debate on May 3rd.
The debate will take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and will air live on MSNBC from 8:00 to 9:30 pm (ET)

Wild Thing’s comment………
I can’t stand Chris Matthews so I will be busy yelling at him I can promise you that. He is absolutely horrible.

President Bush shakes hands with head of the U.S. Central command, Navy Admiral William J. Fallon before a speech to coalition forces.

On Tuesday, President Bush Addressed The CENTCOM Coalition Conference At MacDill Air Force Base In Tampa, Florida.
America is joined in the fight against terrorists by more than 90 nations, including every country represented in the CENTCOM Coalition. The work of these countries has helped liberate millions of people, has kept brutal enemies on the defensive, and has helped keep millions of our citizens safe.
The Video may be viewed here of Bush speaking to the CENTCOM Coalition.

Wild Thing’s comment………
It is an excellent speech.
It has now been 85 days since President Bush requested that Congress pass emergency funds for our troops.
President Bush vetoed the UNCONSTITUTIONAL pork filled monstrosity of an excuse for an emergency funding bill for our beloved troops.

Liberal totalitarianism
InsightMag.Com……… for complete article
Democrats are attempting to muzzle conservative talk radio: they are assaulting free speech. Like the communists in the former Soviet Union, America’s liberals seek to crush dissent by consolidating control over the media—especially talk radio, which has emerged as the dominant medium for conservative opinion.
Allies close to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are promoting legislation, which if passed, will take off the air prominent conservative radio hosts such as Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly—along with thousands of smaller conservative broadcasters.
The bill, entitled the “Media Ownership Reform Act,” is sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a leftist Democrat from New York. The legislation aims to revive the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” of the 1940’s: “all views” are to be given equal time on radio. In particular, the Federal Communications Commission would have the power to oversee and change radio and television content. The goal is to tilt the ideological balance of power away from the right on the nation’s air waves.
The real force behind the effort to censor conservative talk radio is the progressive–philanthropist, George Soros. The radical leftist billionaire has made no secret of his hatred for conservatives.
He says President Bush has transformed America into a militaristic, “fascist” empire. Moreover, Soros champions many of liberalism’s chic causes: abortion on demand, legalization of drugs, homosexual marriage, euthanasia, unlimited Third World immigration, open borders, and one-world government anchored in the United Nations. He advocates all the issues that are anathema to popular radio talk-show hosts like Savage, Limbaugh and Hannity. Hence, he wants these commentators to be exiled to the political wilderness.
At a recent National Conference for Media Reform, sponsored by Free Press, a Massachusetts-based group heavily subsidized by Soros, Hinchey laid bare his plan to silence conservative voices on television and radio. The anti-war McGovernite attacked Savage, Limbaugh and other conservative radio hosts, saying they were “responsible” for leading the U.S. into the Iraq war, as well as for preparing the ground for future military invasions of Iran and Syria. According to Hinchey, these men pose a “threat” to American national security. Hence, under his bill, they would be fired.
“All of that stuff will end,” Hinchey said.
In the Senate, the legislation is being supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. A self-styled “social democrat,” Sanders is forming a media caucus with the explicit goal of ending conservative hegemony on talk radio.

Wild Thing’s comment………
The bill, known as the “Media Ownership Reform Act” first introduced in July of 2005 by Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is also being co-sponsored by fellow National Socialists:
If passed I would think this legislation will return to bite the ‘Rats and their America-hating affiliates right on the tail – because it means that all of the left-wing programs on PBS, NPR, etc., will be required BY LAW to provide conservative balance. The only problem is the alphabet networks, the major newspapers, the weekly rag-mags, NPR, PBS, etc. will never admit they’re totally left wing.
Any liberal stupid enough to demand equal time with El Rushbo will not only have their ass handed to them, they might end up becoming an apostate to the liberal cause. Of course the preferred result is to see this communist-inspired legislation from a communistic member of Congress strangled in it’s crib.
Co-sponsors of this bill (Traitors to the 1st Amendment all):
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR03302:@@@P
Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
James P. Moran (D-VA)
Major R. Owens (D-NY)
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Janice Schakowsky (D-IL)
Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY)
Hilda A. Solis (D-CA)
Fortney (Pete) Stark (D-CA)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Diane E. Watson (D-CA)
Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA)

Leave Iraq, Sadr tells “Antichrist” Bush
BAGHDAD (Reuters)
The powerful Iraqi cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr called President George W. Bush the Antichrist on Saturday and urged him to heed calls by the opposition Democrats to withdraw from the chaos of Iraq.
In fresh violence on Saturday, 14 people were killed and 39 others were wounded in a suicide car bombing in the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala south of Baghdad, a hospital said. A Reuters witness said he saw tens of casualties.
Sadr, whose ministers quit Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government this month, renewed his demand for a U.S. pullout a day after Bush pledged to veto legislation that would require U.S. troops to begin leaving Iraq by October 1.
Calling Bush “the greatest evil,” Sadr said in a letter read out by a Sadrist MP in parliament that an eventual U.S. pullout would be a “victory for the Iraqi people.”

“Here are the Democrats demanding that you withdraw at least with a timetable and you are stubborn against them,” said Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia fought two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.

“You are like the one-eyed Antichrist. You look with one eye and refuse to look with the other,” he told Bush.

Maliki, under pressure from his Washington supporters to pass key power-sharing agreements to reconcile Iraq’s warring communities, met a Democrat-led Congressional delegation in Baghdad on Saturday.

A statement from Maliki’s office quoted him as telling the delegation that his government is committed “to building its armed forces and taking over the security portfolio all over Iraq in the quickest time.”

Bush has refused to set any timetable for a withdrawal, calling it a “surrender date.” More than 3,300 U.S. troops have been killed in the increasingly unpopular war since the invasion in 2003.
Defying the veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Congress this week approved a $124 billion war spending measure that would require U.S. combat troops to leave by March 31, 2008.
They have promised to send the bill to the White House on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of Bush declaring aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended” after Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003. The aircraft carrier was decorated with a large “Mission Accomplished” banner.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
But, this stuff is PRICELESS for the conservative movement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Imagine TV and video ads and You Tube movements using conservative film and video buffs inundating and saturating the airwaves with: “”This is what the enemies of America are saying,” and, “this is what the Democrats are saying…………..is there any difference?”” type of stuff.
I would just love that to happen. heh heh

Joe Biden, picked up by C-Span answering a man’s question at Jim Clyburn’s fish fry April 27 in Columbia, S.C.
Biden is asked what he’ll do when Bush, as is expected, vetoes the Iraq funding bill.
First, he talks about his son, and the equipment soldiers need — “The idea that we’re not building new Humvees with the V-shaped things is just crap. Kids are dying that don’t have to die.”
And: “Second thing is, we’re going to shove it down his throat.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
If we could harness all the gas and hot air that comes out of Biden’s mouth, we’d solve the so called energy crises!
He always has to be smart alecky! I guess he thinks he is cool or something. Grow up Biden. You’re days with any power are over. President? Yeeshhh, in your dreams smart mouth. In your dreams.

Top Hamas official: Kill all Americans
The Jerusalem Post
Sheik Ahmad Bahr, acting Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, declared during a Friday sermon at a Sudan mosque that America and Israel will be annihilated and called upon Allah to kill Jews and Americans “to the very Last One”.
Following are excerpts from the sermon that took place last month, courtesy of MEMRI.

Ahmad Bahr began: “You will be victorious” on the face of this planet. You are the masters of the world on the face of this planet. Yes, [the Koran says that] “you will be victorious,” but only “if you are believers.”

Allah willing, “you will be victorious,” while America and Israel will be annihilated. I guarantee you that the power of belief and faith is greater than the power of America and Israel. They are cowards, who are eager for life, while we are eager for death for the sake of Allah. That is why America’s nose was rubbed in the mud in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, and everywhere.”

Bahr continued and said that “America will be annihilated, while Islam will remain.”

The Muslims “will be victorious, if you are believers.” Oh Muslims, I guarantee you that the power of Allah is greater than America, by whom many are blinded today. Some people are blinded by the power of America. We say to them that with the might of Allah, with the might of His Messenger, and with the power of Allah, we are stronger than America and Israel.

The Hamas spokesperson concluded with a prayer, saying:

“Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all, down to the very last one. Oh Allah, show them a day of darkness. Oh Allah, who sent down His Book, the mover of the clouds, who defeated the enemies of the Prophet defeat the Jews and the Americans, and bring us victory over them.”

Wild Thing’s comment………
called upon Allah to kill Jews and Americans “to the very Last One”
Well,that’s just mean-spirited. Bring it on, raghead!
Oh Allah, vanquish the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them all..
Umm…Allah is not listening. He is kinda busy downing a ham sammich with a glass of whiskey.