Theodore's World

This week’s Blogburst was written by Toni at Bear Creek Ledger
Illegal Alien Stole 10 yr old girl’s identity
By Toni at Bear Creek Ledger
How would you like to find out your child’s identity had been stolen? You of course probably wouldn’t know until the child reached adulthood.

Kern found out quite by accident when Hayley’s application for the North Carolina Children’s Health Insurance Program was initially rejected because her earned income was too high. Hayley is 10 years old. She doesn’t have any earned income.
Guess the Social Security Administration doesn’t look at earned income for 10 year olds or 5 year olds for that matter.
What she learned was that a man, an illegal immigrant in his 20s, had been working under Hayley’s Social Security number for the past six years.
[…]
Rosario does not speak English. Through an interpreter, Knight learned that when Rosario came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 22, he was told he needed “work papers” to get a job. The working papers acquaintances provided was a Social Security card with Rosario’s name and a fraudulent number. He believed the number was the “work papers” that allowed him to work in the U.S. Knight said Rosario was at a loss to understand what he had done wrong.

As much as I’d like to empathize with this Mexican man, I can’t. I find it difficult to believe this man has been in the US working for 6 years and is unaware of the political fight going on with illegal aliens in this country. The one consistency with this man though; he has been in this country for 6 years, he can’t speak any English and yet has a drivers license and vehicle. I’m surprised he hasn’t purchased a home yet!

(more…)

Forever-Fearsome F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jet’s Last Official Launch, Flyby, Landing

An F-14D Tomcat, aircraft number 100, assigned to the “Tomcatters” of Fighter Squadron Three One (VF-31) makes a near supersonic fly-by above the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The F-14 will officially retire in September 2006, after 32 years of service to the fleet. Theodore Roosevelt is completing Joint Task Force Exercises with USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Laird (RELEASED).

An F-14D Tomcat, aircraft number 100, assigned to the “Tomcatters” of Fighter Squadron Three One (VF-31) makes a near supersonic fly-by above the flight deck of USS Theodore Roosevelt

Aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), an F-14D Tomcat assigned to the “Tomcatters” of Fighter Squadron Three One (VF-31), aircraft number 112, accelerates down the ship’s number three catapult during the final launch of an F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft.

Tomcat Chapter Draws To a Close
ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) —

A long, storied chapter in naval aviation history came to a close July 28 with the final aircraft carrier flight operations for F-14 Tomcats, fighter jets that have spent more than 32 years in the fleet but are now retiring and making room for F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
The final aircraft carrier operational launch for Tomcats happened aboard the Norfolk-based Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) when aircraft No. 112 from the “Tomcatters” of Fighter Squadron (VF) 31, piloted by Lt. Blake Coleman and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Cmdr. Dave Lauderbaugh, made its way down catapult No. 3 at 4:42 p.m.
“Bittersweet is a perfect term for this,” said Tomcatters’ Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Jim Howe. “As a career F-14 pilot, I would be much happier flying the Tomcat until the end of my days in the Navy. But instead we have to enjoy this as long as we can.”
The Navy’s transition from the F-14D Tomcat fighter jet to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a strike-fighter aircraft, is all but complete, as Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8’s Tomcatters now make up the final F-14 squadron.
As part of the final transition, F-14 pilots and maintainers will take on any necessary additional training and learn the ins and outs of Super Hornets, which Howe said is a much easier aircraft to work with.
“One of the reasons the Tomcat is going away is because it’s so hard to fix,” Howe said. “I’m happy for my young maintenance guys, because they’ve worked their tails off and they can fix just about anything. So, this transition to the Super Hornet, because that particular aircraft is so much easier to maintain, will be an easy one for them.”
Dating back to its initial combat missions during Vietnam and spanning to its most recent combat missions in the Persian Gulf, the F-14 Tomcat has played a vital role in naval aviation.
The Tomcat entered operational service with Navy fighter squadrons VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65) in September 1974. The F-14’s purpose was to serve as a fighter interceptor, eventually replacing the F-4 Phantom II Fighter, which was completely phased-out in 1986.
Although its dogfighting superiority had already been made clear through simulated training missions, the F-14 was first tested in combat operations in August 1981. While on patrol outside Libya, two F-14As were fired upon by two Libyan Sukhoi SU-22s. The Tomcat pilots safely maneuvered from a defensive position to an offensive one before engaging and destroying both SUs.
Four years later in 1985, F-14s were called upon in response to the hijacking of an Italian cruise ship. The terrorists, who were from the Palestine Liberation Organization, attempted to make an escape after going ashore and boarding a Boeing-737 commercial airliner. Tomcats from VF-74 and VF-103 were launched from USS Saratoga (CV 60) to intercept the 737. The terrorists, realizing they were no match for the Tomcat’s air-to-air attack capabilities, allowed the airliner to safely land in Sigonella, Sicily.
In 1989, the Tomcat was once again challenged by Libya when two MiG-23 Floggers engaged two F-14As from VF-32 that were flying combat air patrol missions from aboard USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). The MiG-23s were determined hostile and the eight-minute engagement resulted in the downing of both Floggers.
During its first 17 years of operational service in the Navy, the Tomcat played a vital role as an interceptor with its air-to-air capabilities. However, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, where there was more need for air-to-ground abilities, the need for the Tomcat’s air-to-air capabilities diminished.
Despite its many upgrades over the years, from the F-14A, to the F-14B, and finally the F-14D with its powerful GE F110 engines and more sophisticated weaponry and surveillance equipment, it appeared the Tomcat’s days were fading fast.
However, this state of uncertainty wouldn’t last for long. Shortly following the Persian Gulf War, Navy leaders decided to devise removable bomb racks for Tomcats to allow them to carry MK-80 “dumb” bombs. The Tomcats were also given the Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) targeting system to allow for delivery of laser-guided bombs. With its new upgrades the Tomcat’s were soon dubbed “Bombcats.”
“This aircraft has done a lot for naval aviation history,” said Senior Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic (AW) Fred Parker. “It’s obviously been through, and played a vital role in, many wars and evolutions.”
During the proceeding years, the F-14s took on a new, more effective role as a fighter-bomber.
In Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia, the Tomcats delivered laser-guided bombs while other aircraft painted the targets with lasers. The Navy was credited with 30 percent of the kills against forces in Kosovo as a result of the bombing performance of the Tomcat.
The F-14 also demonstrated its ground attack capabilities in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2002, VF-14 led the first long-range tactical air strike, flying more than 1,700 miles round trip to Mazar-e Sharif, destroying Taliban aircraft on the ground. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Tomcats lived up to their “Bombcat” nickname with their air-to-ground missions, continuing to save the lives of coalition ground forces.
“I will never forget flying a ‘show of force’ over a city in Iraq where our troops were taking fire from insurgents,” said Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Knepper, a pilot for VF-31. “After making a high speed/low altitude pass over the shoot-out, the insurgents fled and hopefully, we saved the lives of some of our Soldiers. The Tomcat has been a phenomenal part of naval aviation. It will be sad to see such a storied fighter decommissioned.”
The Tomcat has been leading the way in naval aviation for some time now, but just like a senior Sailor retiring to make way for a new up and coming junior Sailor, it is time for the Tomcat to retire and make way for the Super Hornet.
“A lot of the guys in the squadron have been upbeat and we’ve been having a great time, but this is bittersweet,” said Lt. Chris Rattigan, a pilot for VF-31 who piloted the final arrested landing today. “Now we’ll transition to the F/A-18E, which is a single-seat version of the Super Hornet. It’s okay though. I’m just glad to have gotten the chance to be a part of this aircraft. It’s been a lot of fun. This is something I’ve always wanted to do growing up, and I was lucky enough to be able to do it.”
TR is currently training as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) in the Atlantic Ocean.

Additional F-14 Tomcat Photos, 28 July 2006, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in the Atlantic Ocean:
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Wild Thing’s comment…..
I think this is sad.
If you want to see one of these beautiful machines, go the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, California. They have on of these aircraft outside and the actual Air Force 1 (Tail # 27000) inside the library. Quite an impressive visit for a VERY impressive man.

Wafa Sultan, a psychologist from LA, speaks with Dr. Ahmad Bin Muhammad, an Algerian professor.

* Conservative Insurgent – Thank you so much Jack for sending this to me.

From Murtha Must Go blog
Information compiled by Leo Pusateri
When Murtha fired his shot heard round the world– when he declared that Marines killed “innocent civilians” in “cold blood”, he admitted that he had not read reports of the incident before making the charge, but claimed that he received his information from sources inside the pentagon. Back when Murtha first made his seditious remarks, according to the Army Times:

“I do not know where Rep. Murtha is obtaining is information,” said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Central Command in Tampa, Fla. “Thoroughness will drive the investigation.”

Well, it may turn out that we may never know how Murtha got his information. But one thing appears for certain–Murtha received his briefing regarding the Haditha incident after he made his proclamation of guilt against the Marines!

WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – The head of the U.S. Marine Corps briefed Rep. John Murtha on the Haditha case after the vocal war critic publicly said Marines had killed innocent civilians in that Iraqi city, the Corps said on Thursday.
A group of Marines, while suspected in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians, has not been charged, and official results from the military’s investigation remain outstanding. A U.S. defense official said on Wednesday, however that evidence indicates Marines deliberately shot to death unarmed civilians.

Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is being sued by one of the accused Marines for libel. He had told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Gen. Michael Hagee had given him the information on which he based his charge that Marines killed innocent civilians.
But a spokesman for the Marine Corps said Hagee briefed Murtha on May 24 about Haditha. Murtha had made comments on the case as early as May 17. On May 17, for example, he said at a news conference, “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” (emphases mine)
A spokeswoman for Murtha was not immediately available.

* Murtha Must Go

 

From
the Pen of Victor Hanson

The Brink of Madness
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online

When I used to read about the 1930s — the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, the rise of fascism in Italy, Spain, and Germany, the appeasement in France and Britain, the murderous duplicity of the Soviet Union, and the racist Japanese murdering in China — I never could quite figure out why, during those bleak years, Western Europeans and those in the United States did not speak out and condemn the growing madness, if only to defend the millennia-long promise of Western liberalism.
Of course, the trauma of the Great War was all too fresh, and the utopian hopes for the League of Nations were not yet dashed. The Great Depression made the thought of rearmament seem absurd. The connivances of Stalin with Hitler — both satanic, yet sometimes in alliance, sometimes not — could confuse political judgments.
But nevertheless it is still surreal to reread the fantasies of Chamberlain, Daladier, and Pope Pius, or the stump speeches by Charles Lindbergh (“Their [the Jews’] greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government”) or Father Coughlin (“Many people are beginning to wonder whom they should fear most — the Roosevelt-Churchill combination or the Hitler-Mussolini combination.”) — and it is even more baffling to consider that such men ever had any influence.
Not any longer.
Our present generation too is on the brink of moral insanity. That has never been more evident than in the last three weeks, as the West has proven utterly unable to distinguish between an attacked democracy that seeks to strike back at terrorist combatants, and terrorist aggressors who seek to kill civilians.
It is now nearly five years since jihadists from the Arab world left a crater in Manhattan and ignited the Pentagon. Apart from the frontline in Iraq , the United States and NATO have troops battling the Islamic fascists in Afghanistan . European police scramble daily to avoid another London or Madrid train bombing. The French, Dutch, and Danish governments are worried that a sizable number of Muslim immigrants inside their countries are not assimilating, and, more worrisome, are starting to demand that their hosts alter their liberal values to accommodate radical Islam. It is apparently not safe for Australians in Bali, and a Jew alone in any Arab nation would have to be discreet — and perhaps now in France or Sweden as well. Canadians’ past opposition to the Iraq war, and their empathy for the Palestinians, earned no reprieve, if we can believe that Islamists were caught plotting to behead their prime minister. Russians have been blown up by Muslim Chechnyans from Moscow to Beslan. India is routinely attacked by Islamic terrorists. An elected Lebanese minister must keep in mind that a Hezbollah or Syrian terrorist — not an Israeli bomb — might kill him if he utters a wrong word. The only mystery here in the United States is which target the jihadists want to destroy first: the Holland Tunnel in New York or the Sears Tower in Chicago .
In nearly all these cases there is a certain sameness: The Koran is quoted as the moral authority of the perpetrators; terrorism is the preferred method of violence; Jews are usually blamed; dozens of rambling complaints are aired, and killers are often considered stateless, at least in the sense that the countries in which they seek shelter or conduct business or find support do not accept culpability for their actions.
Yet the present Western apology to all this is often to deal piecemeal with these perceived Muslim grievances: India , after all, is in Kashmir; Russia is in Chechnya ; America is in Iraq , Canada is in Afghanistan ; Spain was in Iraq (or rather, still is in Al Andalus); or Israel was in Gaza and Lebanon . Therefore we are to believe that “freedom fighters” commit terror for political purposes of “liberation.” At the most extreme, some think there is absolutely no pattern to global terrorism, and the mere suggestion that there is constitutes “Islamaphobia.”
Here at home, yet another Islamic fanatic conducts an act of al Qaedism in Seattle, and the police worry immediately about the safety of the mosques from which such hatred has in the past often emanated — as if the problem of a Jew being murdered at the Los Angeles airport or a Seattle civic center arises from not protecting mosques, rather than protecting us from what sometimes goes on in mosques.
But then the world is awash with a vicious hatred that we have not seen in our generation: the most lavish film in Turkish history, “Valley of the Wolves,” depicts a Jewish-American harvesting organs at Abu Ghraib in order to sell them; the Palestinian state press regularly denigrates the race and appearance of the American Secretary of State; the U.N. secretary general calls a mistaken Israeli strike on a U.N. post “deliberate,” without a word that his own Blue Helmets have for years watched Hezbollah arm rockets in violation of U.N. resolutions, and Hezbollah’s terrorists routinely hide behind U.N. peacekeepers to ensure impunity while launching missiles.
If you think I exaggerate the bankruptcy of the West or only refer to the serial ravings on the Middle East of Pat Buchanan or Jimmy Carter, consider some of the most recent comments from Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah about Israel: “When the people of this temporary country lose their confidence in their legendary army, the end of this entity will begin [emphasis added].” Then compare Nasrallah’s remarks about the U.S: “To President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert and every other tyrannical aggressor. I want to invite you to do what you want, practice your hostilities. By God, you will not succeed in erasing our memory, our presence or eradicating our strong belief. Your masses will soon waste away, and your days are numbered [emphasis added].”
And finally examine here at home reaction to Hezbollah — which has butchered Americans in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia — from a prominent Democratic Congressman, John Dingell: “I don’t take sides for or against Hezbollah.” And isn’t that the point, after all: the amoral Westerner cannot exercise moral judgment because he no longer has any?
An Arab rights group, between denunciations of Israel and America , is suing its alma mater the United States for not evacuating Arab-Americans quickly enough from Lebanon , despite government warnings of the dangers of going there, and the explicit tactics of Hezbollah, in the manner of Saddam Hussein, of using civilians as human shields in the war it started against Israel .
Demonstrators on behalf of Hezbollah inside the United States — does anyone remember our 241 Marines slaughtered by these cowardly terrorists? — routinely carry placards with the Star of David juxtaposed with Swastikas, as voices praise terrorist killers. Few Arab-American groups these past few days have publicly explained that the sort of violence, tyranny, and lawlessness of the Middle East that drove them to the shores of a compassionate and successful America is best epitomized by the primordial creed of Hezbollah.
There is no need to mention Europe , an entire continent now returning to the cowardice of the 1930s. Its cartoonists are terrified of offending Muslim sensibilities, so they now portray the Jews as Nazis, secure that no offended Israeli terrorist might chop off their heads. The French foreign minister meets with the Iranians to show solidarity with the terrorists who promise to wipe Israel off the map (“In the region there is of course a country such as Iran — a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region”) — and manages to outdo Chamberlain at Munich. One wonders only whether the prime catalyst for such French debasement is worry over oil, terrorists, nukes, unassimilated Arab minorities at home, or the old Gallic Jew-hatred.
It is now a cliché to rant about the spread of postmodernism, cultural relativism, utopian pacifism, and moral equivalence among the affluent and leisured societies of the West. But we are seeing the insidious wages of such pernicious theories as they filter down from our media, universities, and government — and never more so than in the general public’s nonchalance since Hezbollah attacked Israel .
These past few days the inability of millions of Westerners, both here and in Europe, to condemn fascist terrorists who start wars, spread racial hatred, and despise Western democracies is the real story, not the “quarter-ton” Israeli bombs that inadvertently hit civilians in Lebanon who live among rocket launchers that send missiles into Israeli cities and suburbs.
Yes, perhaps Israel should have hit more quickly, harder, and on the ground; yes, it has run an inept public relations campaign; yes, to these criticisms and more. But what is lost sight of is the central moral issue of our times: a humane democracy mired in an asymmetrical war is trying to protect itself against terrorists from the 7th century, while under the scrutiny of a corrupt world that needs oil, is largely anti-Semitic and deathly afraid of Islamic terrorists, and finds psychic enjoyment in seeing successful Western societies under duress.
In short, if we wish to learn what was going on in Europe in 1938, just look around.

Thank you Jack Hamilton for sending this to me.
Victor Hanson is excellent, and once again he has nailed it.

Times Online UK
and also FOX News USA
IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.
A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.
Tanzanian customs officials told The Sunday Times it was destined for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and was stopped on October 22 last year during a routine check.
The disclosure will heighten western fears about the extent of Iran’s presumed nuclear weapons programme and the strategic implications of Iran’s continuing support for Hezbollah during the war with Israel.
It has also emerged that terror cells backed by Iran may be prepared to mount attacks against nuclear power plants in Britain. Intelligence circulating in Whitehall suggests that sleeper cells linked to Tehran have been conducting reconnaissance at some nuclear sites in preparation for a possible attack.
The parliamentary intelligence and security committee has reported that Iran represented one of the three biggest security threats to Britain. The UN security council has given Iran until the end of this month to halt its uranium enrichment activities. The UN has threatened sanctions if Tehran fails to do so.

A senior Tanzanian customs official said the illicit uranium shipment was found hidden in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral used to make chips in mobile telephones. The shipment was destined for smelting in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, delivered via Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port.

“There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned with a Geiger counter,” the official said.

“This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of coltan. Each drum contains about 50kg of ore. When the first and second rows were removed,the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium.”

In a nuclear reactor, uranium 238 can be used to breed plutonium used in nuclear weapons.
The customs officer, who spoke to The Sunday Times on condition he was not named, added: “The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away, by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to anyone about this.”
The report by the UN investigation team was submitted to the chairman of the UN sanctions committee, Oswaldo de Rivero, at the end of July and will be considered soon by the security council.
It states that Tanzania provided “limited data” on three other shipments of radioactive materials seized in Dar es Salaam over the past 10 years.

The experts said: “In reference to the last shipment from October 2005, the Tanzanian government left no doubt that the uranium was transported from Lubumbashi by road through Zambia to the united republic of Tanzania.”

Lubumbashi is the capital of mineral-rich Katanga province, home of the Shinkolobwe uranium mine that produced material for the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
The mine has officially been closed since 1961, before the country’s independence from Belgium, but the UN investigators have told the security council that they found evidence of illegal mining still going on at the site.
In 1999 there were reports that the Congolese authorities had tried to re-open the mine with the help of North Korea. In recent years miners are said to have broken open the lids and extracted ore from the shafts, while police and local authorities turned a blind eye.
In June a parliamentary committee warned that Britain could be attacked by Iranian terrorists if tensions increased.

A source with access to current MI5 assessments said: “There is great concern about Iranian sleeper cells inside this country. The intelligence services are taking this threat very seriously.”

Wild Thing’s comment……….
This last week Rummy was put through many questions from the Dems and Hillary in particular. There are polls all over on the internet asking should Rummy resign….should we get out of Iraq and on and on.
I am not afraid of any terrorist or nations who supports terrorist’s. Our troops pushed through enemy lines further and faster and with the least amount of people killed in the history of man kind. Our troops acted with honor and bravery. I love them and I am damn proud of them.
During WWII, the US Gloria was sunk by a German destroyer. We lost over two thousand Sailors that day. Where is our resolve today? We lost three thousand people on 911. I want our country to make sure the terrorists know not to come back over here with more attacks. I want to come down hard on our enemy and I think that is exactly what these people will understand. They worship a death cult, they have no respect for human life and most certainly not their own nor their children’s lives.
When in Rome thinking might very well be the way to go … and the Middle East is not Kansas.
I have been to D.C. and Gettysburg many times. I stood on hollowed ground at Gettysburg. I stood on a piece of ground where 2,400 Yankee Calvary Soldiers gave their lives for freedom in one day.
How long have we been in the heart of the Middle East? We are in the heart of a people who will burn our flag and hate our guts just because we support Israel’s right to exist? They want all Jews and Christians dead, here in America, Israel and the world. We have the posture to take out terrorist on their own turf.
We need to be patient enough to get through the tough times. Tough times never last but tough people do. We don’t need to be making knee jerk decisions and fire people because the Demorats and the media say we should.
IMO, the biggest mistake we can make in Iraq/Afghanistan is to lose our patients, then cut and run ala Murtha and most Democrats.
I want to just add this. Israel has been fighting, restraining, and fighting some more the same terrorists that we have been faced with only much longer then we have. Something like 57 years of it for Israel. I will stand by Israel always and I pray our country does as well. And any fool like France thinking that some agreement will be kept by the Hezbollah needs to get their brain examined. And I include our country as well if we insist on this to be done. Cease fire for Israel is one thing, cease fire for the Hezbollah is never going to happen in anyone’s lifetime.
The Hezbollah, Hamas and all terrorists groups need to be struck down with such a force that their children and their childrens children will tell stories of how the Jews and Christians said they had enough. How the non- Muslims of the world were NOT going to take it anymore and fought back with a vengence.
Respect comes in many forms, it can come from love and admiration, but it also can come from fear of one that is stronger. I may not be saying that exactly right so I hope you know what I mean. It is late here as I am writing this.
Pray for our troops for their safety and for our country and it’s leadership.

Portraits of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are carried by Iraqi Shiites, as some thousands gather for a mass demonstration against Israel’s bombing of Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 4, 2006, in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, Iraq. Over 200,000 Shiites filled the streets of the Shiite dominated Sadr City slum to attend a rally in support of Lebanon after Friday prayers. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Iraqi Shiites Chant ‘Death to Israel’
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) –
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of Shiites chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” marched through the streets of Baghdad’s biggest Shiite district Friday in a massive show of support for Hezbollah in its battle against Israel.
No violence was reported during the rally in Sadr City. But at least 26 people were killed elsewhere in the country, most of them in a car bombing and gunbattle in Mosul in the north.
The demonstration was the biggest in the Middle East in support of Hezbollah since Israel launched its attacks against the guerrillas in Lebanon on July 12. The protest was organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose political movement built around the Mahdi Army militia has been modeled after Hezbollah.
Al-Sadr summoned followers from throughout the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq to converge on Baghdad for the rally but he himself did not attend.
Demonstrators, wearing white shrouds symbolizing willingness to die for Hezbollah, waved the guerrillas’ yellow banner and chanted slogans in support of their leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, which has attained a cult status in the Arab world for its defiance of Israeli military power.
“Allah, Allah, give victory to Hassan Nasrallah,” the crowd chanted.
“Mahdi Army and Hezbollah are one, let them confront us if they dare,” the predominantly male crowd shouted, waving the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iraq. Many walked with umbrellas in the searing afternoon sun. Volunteers sprayed them with water.

“I am wearing the shroud and I am ready to meet martyrdom,” said Mohammed Khalaf, 35, owner of a clothes shop in the southern city of Amarah.

Al-Sadr followers painted U.S. and Israeli flags on the main road leading to the rally site, and demonstrators stepped on them – a gesture of contempt in Iraq. Alongside the painted flags was written: “These are the terrorists.”

Protesters set fire to American and Israeli flags, as well as effigies of President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, showing the men with Dracula teeth. “Saddam and Bush, Two Faces of One Coin” was scrawled on Bush’s effigy.
Iraqi government television said the Defense Ministry had approved the demonstration, a sign of the public anger over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and of al-Sadr’s stature as a major player in Iraqi politics.

“I consider my participation in this rally a religious duty. I am proud to join this crowd and I am ready to die for the sake of Lebanon,” said Khazim al-Ibadi, 40, a government employee from Hillah.

Although the rally was about Hezbollah, it was also a show of strength by al-Sadr, and many worried that the presence of so many Shiite demonstrators – most of them from the Mahdi Army – would add to tensions in the city that has seen almost daily clashes between Shiite and Sunni extremists.
The sectarian violence escalated after the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks on Sunnis nationwide.
In the latest violence Friday, at least 13 people were killed when Iraqi security forces fought street gunbattles with suspected insurgents in Mosul after a suicide car bomber blew up a police patrol, provincial police commander Maj. Gen. Withiq al-Hamdani said.
He said the suicide bombing killed four policemen and eight insurgents were killed in the subsequent gunbattle.
Also Friday, another suicide bomber killed three people on a soccer field in Hatra town near Mosul. An engineer was shot dead and an unidentified body, showing signs of torture, was found in western Baghdad.
The U.S. military said in a statement that coalition forces killed at least three “terrorists” during an air strike and multiple raids southeast of Baghdad on Thursday.
Separately. gunmen shot and killed four people and wounded eight from a Shiite family late Thursday in Dujail, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, police Lt. Hussam al-Dujeili, said.

On Thursday, Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, told a Senate committee in Washington that sectarian violence in Iraq “is probably as bad as I have seen it” and that if the spiral continued the country “could move toward civil war.”

Wild Thing’s comment……
They’re always chanting DEATH to someone, it’s in the DNA of their Quran, their death cult, Islam. It’s a shame we missed an excellent target of opportunity.

A Soldier from the 506th Regimental Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division searches abandoned buildings for insurgents, along the Diyala River in East Baghdad. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Bart Bauer)

BAGHDAD – The clamor and the hustle of a Baghdad market is common throughout the city as hundreds of citizens crowd the local streets to purchase necessities for their homes.
The thriving venues of vendors are comparable to a mall, with consumers waiting in line to purchase an array of fresh produce, clothing, electronics or other commodities.
But here, in a small market in the Doura neighborhood of southern Baghdad, Iraqi police are focused on improving security, said 2nd Lt. Terry Gambrel, a platoon leader with Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
The Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Division, have patrolled Doura for months. Working with Iraqi Police, the Soldiers hope to restore peace to the neighborhood, said Gambrel, a native of Mobile, Ala.
He said police officers from the Doura Police Station are fast becoming more proficient and capable.
Gambrel and his Soldiers are integrating the Doura police into civil military operations, which means conducting more combined patrols.
Conducting raids, running checkpoints and securing the area from terrorists are all ways the police will achieve the public’s confidence, said Gambrel.

Spc. Dana Estacio scales a makeshift fence during security operations in the Doura market of southern Baghdad.
An increased presence on the streets will help provide additional security, but this also means attacks on the IP will increase as well, said Spc. Dana Estacio of the 506th.
“There have been many times when we are out on patrol with the police when they have been attacked. Sometimes only a couple blocks away from us,” said the Susanville, Calif., native while walking between vendors inside the Doura Market.
The best way to learn is from experience, said Estacio.
“They do pretty well when they’re out here,” he said of the police. “Most of them come out here and want to work. They want to do their jobs.
“We find a lot of (improvised-explosive devices) and get into a lot of firefights. It’s just a rough neck of the woods,” Dawson said.
The ability to gain actionable intelligence on terrorists operating in the neighborhood is hard to come by. Most fear that their families will be in danger if they talk to the Soldiers and Iraqi Police, who patrol the neighborhood market daily.
“Usually when we talk to the people on the streets, we try to get information about the terrorists; but most of the time, the conversation twists back about the water and electricity problems they are having,” Dawson said.
The citizens of the neighborhood wait until they are alone with the Soldiers to report violence, Dawson said. In most cases, it is too late to locate the individuals responsible for the crimes.
As the people of the neighborhood become confident in the police force, Dawson said he expects the citizens will start reporting transgressions to the Doura police so they can deal with the problems independently.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday called on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign, hours after excoriating him at a public hearing over what she called “failed policy” in Iraq.

CLICK HERE , for the C-Span coverage (in Real Player).
Scan to 1:45:40 for Hillary’s remarks and to 1:50:45 for Rumsfeld’s response. (If you make the window wider than the default, precise scrolling is easier.)

Wild Thing’s comment……
Hillary is the one who ought to resign. She has a lot of nerve to question anyone about anything. She is disgusting beyond words. She belongs in a dungeon with no food or water for the rest of her sick commie life.
Rumsfeld was at the hearing at the specific insistence of Hillary and a few other Dems. It was not essential, the Generals could have handled it, but they insisted. Then they launch their attacks. Just a pathetic, planned media ploy that gave Rummy a chance to put all in their place.
Leadership is something the Democrats will never be accused of having. Everytime they have an occasion to tuck-tail and run, they do so. They can always be counted on to talk a lot but not do a damn thing. Democrats are such “pattern people”…no good for playing chess or poker, that’s for sure.