Theodore's World

A Marine was attending a college course between missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The professor, an avowed atheist, shocked the Class one day when he walked in, looked toward the ceiling, and said loudly,

“God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you exactly 15 minutes.”

The lecture room fell silent and the professor began his lecture. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed,

“Here I am God – still waiting.”

It got down to the last minute when the Marine stood up, walked toward the professor and threw his best punch knocking him off the platform and out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat down. The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence.
The professor came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked,

“What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?”

The Marine calmly replied,

“God is busy today protecting America’s soldiers who are protecting your right to behave like an idiot and say stupid stuff. So He sent me.”

Thank you Jack (Conservative Insurgents) I LOVE this!

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday as the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season quickly gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico.
The warning from Longboat Key near Sarasota to the Ochlockonee River south of Tallahassee means Tropical Storm Alberto was expected to produce hurricane conditions within the next 24 hours.
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Longboat Key to Englewood.
At 11 a.m., Alberto’s winds had increased to 70 mph, up from 50 mph just three hours earlier. The storm was centered about 190 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola and was moving north-northeast at about 7 mph, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.

I live in Sarasota and so far just lots of much needed rain and some wind.

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Fox News host to guest: ‘You’re going to hell!’

“You are the devil!” Banderas exclaimed to Shirley Phelps-Roper. “If you believe in the Bible, miss, you’re going to hell!”

Phelps-Roper, who believes America’s sinful behavior has resulted in God’s cursings rather than blessings, was appearing on “The Big Story” last night to talk about why members of her Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., protest at funerals for slain U.S. troops with slogans such as “Thank God for 9-11,” “Thank God for IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” and “God Hates Fags.”
“What would you do if you had a son in the military?” an outraged Banderas asked. “Would you damn him to hell as well? Because you’re gonna join him there if you had a son!”
“I have eight sons and I have three daughters,” responded Phelps-Roper, “and none of them would dare, dare fight for a nation who has made God their No. 1 enemy.”
Banderas engaged in a heated, rapid-fire, name-calling exchange with Phelps-Roper, which included:
Banderas: “The Bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil,’ [from the Book of] Proverbs. ‘Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.’ Perverted speech like yours: ‘God hates fags.’ You are preaching absolute B.-., and you know the final letter.”
Phelps-Roper: “If you don’t tell them that this nation is full of idolatry, full of adulteries …
Banderas: “Full of insane people like yourself, ma’am.”
Phelps-Roper: “You’re proud. You’re proud of your sins. You can’t do enough sinning. You think ‘gay’ pride, bimbo. You have sinned away your day of grace.”
Banderas: “OK, you are an abomination.”
Phelps-Roper: “America is doomed. America is doomed. … Before your eyes, missy, you’re gonna see the destruction of America.”
Banderas: “If America is doomed, then why don’t you get out? Why are you in this country? Why are you an American? Are you an American?”
Phelps-Roper: “I am exactly where my God put me to tell you plainly, that you are going to hell, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Banderas: “Why don’t you take your church to another country, then, ma’am? Thank you so much. You should not be proud to be an American, and thank you. Good-bye.”
Last week, a Pennsylvania man filed a lawsuit against WBC for its “intentional and outrageous” conduct during and since services were held for his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, who killed in a noncombat vehicle accident in Iraq.
The WBC is planning another protest tomorrow in New Castle, Del., at the funeral of Army Staff Sgt. Darren Harmon, who was killed by an IED.
Wild Thing’s comment……
Thank you Julie, you did GREAT! And thank you Patriot Guard Riders for all the work you do to counter this evil group of military haters.

* Michelle Mallkin
* Stop the ACLU

Sergeant Describes Hunt for Insurgents in Haditha, Denies Coverup
Washington Post
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 11, 2006; Page A01
A sergeant who led a squad of Marines during the incident in Haditha, Iraq, that left as many as 24 civilians dead said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings, his attorney said.
Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his attorney that several civilians were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house. The Marine said there was no vengeful massacre, but he described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.

“It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines,” said Neal A. Puckett, who represents Wuterich in the ongoing investigations into the incident. “He’s really upset that people believe that he and his Marines are even capable of intentionally killing innocent civilians.”

Wuterich’s detailed version of what happened in the Haditha neighborhood is the first public account from a Marine who was on the ground when the shootings occurred. As the leader of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Wuterich was in the convoy of Humvees that was hit by a roadside bomb. He entered the house from which the Marines believed enemy fire was originating and made the initial radio reports to his company headquarters about what was going on, Puckett said.

“I can confirm that that version of events is consistent with our position on this case,” Myers said. “What this case comes down to is: What were the rules of engagement, and were they followed?”

Puckett said that while Wuterich was evaluating the scene, Marines noticed a white, unmarked car full of “military-aged men” lingering near the bomb site.
Wuterich told Puckett that no one was emotionally rattled by Terrazas’s death because everyone had a job to do, and everyone was concerned about further casualties. As Wuterich began briefing the platoon leader, Puckett said, AK-47 shots rang out from residences on the south side of the road, and the Marines ducked.
A corporal with the unit leaned over to Wuterich and said he saw the shots coming from a specific house, and after a discussion with the platoon leader, they decided to clear the house, according to Wuterich’s account.
There’s a threat, and they went to eliminate the threat,” Puckett said.
A four-man team of Marines, including Wuterich, kicked in the door and found a series of empty rooms, noticing quickly that there was one room with a closed door and people rustling behind it, Puckett said. They then kicked in that door, tossed a fragmentation grenade into the room, and one Marine fired a series of “clearing rounds” through the dust and smoke, killing several people, Puckett said.
Although it was almost immediately apparent to the Marines that the people dead in the room were men, women and children — most likely civilians — they also noticed a back door ajar and believed that insurgents had slipped through to a house nearby, Puckett said. The Marines stealthily moved to the second house, kicking in the door, killing one man inside and then using a frag grenade and more gunfire to clear another room full of people, he said.
Wuterich, not having found the insurgents, told the team to stop and headed back to the platoon leader to reassess the situation, Puckett said, adding that his client knew a number of civilians had just been killed.
Neighborhood residents have offered a different account, saying that the Marines went into the houses shooting and ignored pleas from the civilians to spare them.
For the complete article please click HERE , I only put some pieces of it here at Theodore’s.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
The press and Murtha decided to execute Marines before a complete investigation.

N. Korea threat on US spy flights
Seoul, June 11: North Korea’s Air Force Command on Sunday threatened to “punish” the US for its spy flights over the communist state, recalling the fate of a US Navy plane it shot down 37 years ago.
In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the Air Force said that a US RC-135 reconnaissance aeroplane had made flights over its territorial waters on June 6, 8 and 10.
Describing the alleged US espionage flights as “openly crying out for a pre-emptive attack” on the communist state, the command warned of a possible repeat of 1969, when it shot down another US Navy plane, killing all 31 crew. “The (North Korean) Air Force seriously warns the US imperialists that it will sternly punish the aggressors if their planes continue illegally intruding into the sky on espionage missions,” it said.
“They had better not forget the miserable end EC-121 met in the 1960s.” North Korean fighters shot the reconnaissance aeroplane down off the country’s east coast in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in April 1969.
Another US-North Korean incident occurred when North Korea fired missiles at an SR-71 spy plane in August 1981. The Blackbird jet was undamaged.
North Korea has been sensitive to US spy flights, with its media citing military sources as issuing a monthly report on US aerial espionage. Sunday’s statement was rare in that it was issued in the name of the Air Force Command.
North Korea has claimed the US is preparing to invade the communist country despite repeated US denials. The two sides are locked in a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. Pyongyang declared in February 2005 that it had built nuclear weapons. During six-way talks in September, North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its weapons programme in exchange for diplomatic and economic benefits and security guarantees.
But North Korea has boycotted the talks since November when it said US financial sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over allegations of money laundering were blocking progress. Pyongyang has said that it would return to talks — which involve both Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia — only after the sanctions are lifted. One North Korea expert here said on Sunday’s strongly-worded North Korean statement may have been designed to draw US attention back to the deadlocked nuclear issue after Washington snubbed Pyongyang’s offer of bilateral talks.
“Given North Korea’s traditional pattern of diplomacy, it is time to get tough to bring the US interest back,” Nam Sung-Wook, a North Korea expert and professor at Korea University, said.
The US has rejected an invitation from Pyongyang for US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill to visit the country and has urged the communist state to come back to six-way talks unconditionally.
Wild Thing’s comment…..
How about if we send a couple of F-22’s along as escort. They had better not forget this is not the 1960s. There’s a new Sheriff in town. He’s not up for re-election and the U.S. public loves to see creeps like Kim Jong-Il get theirs. The MSM has already whined NK is more dangerous than Iraq was. They’d look awfully stupid for criticizing a reprisal on NK if they took hostile action against our Armed Forces.
I just wonder if they took hostile action against a reconnaisance plane, as they threatened, that is the first thing I would target. Their little “trophy” would be Tomahawked to oblivion. It’s still a commissioned vessel with the U.S. Navy, so technically it’s ours….we can do what we want with it.

Some Wounded GIs Opt to Stay in Iraq
MAHMOUDIYA, Iraq — Parallel scars running down 1st Sgt. Rick Skidis’ calf tell the story of how he nearly lost his leg when a roadside bomb blew through the door of his armored Humvee.
The blast shredded muscle, ligament and tendon, leaving Skidis in a daze as medics and fellow soldiers rushed to help him. Skidis remembers little of that day last November except someone warning him that when he woke, his foot might be gone.
After five months and six surgeries, the foot remains intact but causes Skidis haunting numbness and searing pain caused by nerve damage.
CountryWatch: Iraq
Skidis, 36, of Sullivan, Ill., fought through the surgeries and therapy to return in April to Iraq, conducting the same type of patrols that nearly killed him.
He is not an exception.
Nearly 18,000 military personnel have been wounded in combat since the war began in Iraq more than three years ago, according to Defense Department statistics. Some have lost legs and arms, suffered horrific burns to their bodies and gone home permanently.
But the vast majority have remained in Iraq or returned later — their bodies marked by small scars and their lives plagued by aches and pains.

“I wear my scars proudly,” said Skidis as he gingerly lifted his pant leg to show the railroad-like tracks where doctors made incisions to save his foot. Why didn’t he stay home? “I felt guilty because I wasn’t sharing the same hardships that they were,” Skidis said shyly, while another soldier nodded at his side.

For some soldiers in Iraq, it was a roadside blast that muffled their hearing or peppered their body in shrapnel. Others have been ripped by gunfire, sometimes leaving them with jabbing pains in their limbs and compromised movement.
Their wounds are often similar but there are many reasons for remaining at war when their wounds are a ticket home.
Some can’t imagine any other job than being a soldier. Some know no other life. Others, like Skidis, feel the guilt, an obligation to their fellow soldiers.
Staff Sgt. Katherine Yocom-Delgado, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., lost 70 percent of the hearing in her left ear weeks ago when an artillery shell landed just a few feet away from her. Her teeth still hurt and she has frequent headaches, especially in the morning.
Yocom-Delgado tilts her head when she listens to people talk.
But she hasn’t considered leaving — the wounds are not as important as the mission.

“I’m alive and I’m happy to be alive,” she said with a smile. “I don’t hurt every day.”

As a woman, Yocom-Delgado represents just two percent of those injured in Iraq, a figure she quotes and has read in new articles. It’s an odd distinction, she said, just her luck.
Spc. Steven Clark’s luck is worse. The 25-year-old has been shot three times and wounded by shrapnel from a grenade that tore into his legs and back. He has been awarded three purple hearts — a fourth is on the way — and a bronze star with valor.
His friends have nicknamed him “Bullet Magnet” — but he won’t consider leaving.
Clark, of Fitzgerald, Ga., says getting wounded was a mistake and his pain is punishment for letting people down. He won’t show the scars on his calf or shoulder or back. He calls the attacks “incidents.”

“I have pains. I have numbness from nerve damage. But it’s just something I’m going to have to live with,” Clark said. “I’m not going to change what I am just because it’s dangerous.”

Soldiers in the battalion, the 502nd Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, have been struck by more than 230 roadside bombs since they arrived in Iraq last October, leaving 15 dead. They’ve discovered about 350 more on the roads that crisscross their swath of desert.
More than 100 of the soldiers have been wounded, mostly on patrols in their sector south of Baghdad where Shiite and Sunni Arab tribes often clash with coalition forces. Twenty-seven of those wounded were evacuated from Iraq and remain at hospitals in the United States.
Pfc. Salvadore Bertolone, 21, of Ortonville, Mich., was injured when a roadside bomb blew glass shards into his face and arm. A scar curls down his cheek, but he dismisses his injury.
There are perks to staying in the fight after an injury, he said.

“I get free license plates for the rest of my life,” Bertolone said. “And I’ve got people who are definitely going to be buying me drinks when I get home.”

Though proud of their fellow soldiers, medics fear long-term health problems lie ahead.

“The soldiers here are so focused on staying in the fight that they suck up the pain and push through,” said Capt. Dennison Segui, 33, a medic and physician’s assistant from Browns Mills, N.J. “I know I’m busy here, but I’m nowhere near as busy as I will be when we get back.”

Many of the injured soldiers have begged their commanders to let them come back. One soldier was sent home after a bomb exploded in his face and damaged his eyes. He likely will never return to Iraq, but still asks. Another was sent home because of a heart condition, but returned to Iraq three times, according to Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, a commander in the 502nd Infantry Regiment.

Maj. Thomas Kunk, center, is “The Bald Eagle,” the basso-profundo (deep bass) voice of “The Eagle has landed; the Strike Force is in your house.”

Kunk, who is not a doctor, decides every week which wounded soldiers can return to duty. Often the soldiers research regulations and argue endlessly, he said.
It’s heartbreaking when he has to say no, but he does.

“Sometimes there’s too much ‘Hooah!’ in us guys,” Kunk said. While he doesn’t want to dampen that enthusiasm, he said, “I don’t want to hurt the guy the rest of his life.”

Kunk has injuries of his own, so he understands a soldier’s conviction to fight. His leg swells and throbs by the end of the day, the lingering effect of a roadside bomb that damaged nerves and muscle. But he, too, won’t think of leaving.

“I’m a father. Heck, I’m a grandpa to be honest with you. So I just kind of look at it from that perspective,” said Kunk, 48. “I want to do right by them.”

Wild Thing’s comment…..
Thank you Jack H. for sending this to me. This is Jack H.’s old unit from Vietnam.
I rememebr them from my visit to Camp Eagle with Bob Hope.
As Jack H. said……” it’s the good old 50duce or for people that dont know the 502nd inf.”
Courage isn’t something you can see or touch. It comes from deep within us, it comes from deep within our troops. We can never thank them enough for all they do.

British troops from the 20th Armoured Brigade in Basra celebrate England’s goal against Paraguay. Photo: Corp. Anthony Boocock RLC

Nuremberg protest over Iran visit
By Ray Furlong
BBC News, Nuremberg
Demonstrations are due to take place in Nuremberg on Sunday ahead of a World Cup match in which Iran faces Mexico. The Iranian vice-president is attending the match and protests have been announced by the local Jewish community as well as Iranian exile groups.
One of the biggest fears the Germans have for the World Cup is that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come here to watch his team play.
His comments casting doubt on the Holocaust caused outrage in Germany.
This match is serving as a focus for protests against him, even though he is only sent his deputy, Vice-President Mohammed Aliabadi.
Historical reference
Nuremberg is where the Nazis promulgated their infamous race laws and the head of the German Jewish community has declared that the Iranian president is “a second Hitler”.
Another leading member of the community said this demonstration would also be a protest against the proposals made for resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, which he described as latter-day appeasement.
The protest will also be supported with speeches by important German politicians such as the interior minister of Bavaria and the leader of the Green Party.
And with exile Iranian opposition groups planning a separate demonstration, the authorities are deploying extra police to ensure security.

Castro: Al-Zarqawi Killing a ‘Barbarity’
Sunday June 11, 2006 4:01 AM
HAVANA (AP) –

President Fidel Castro called the U.S. airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a “barbarity,” saying he should have been put on trial.
The United States acted as “judge and jury” against the leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq, Castro said late Friday.

“They bragged, they were practically drunk with happiness.”

“The accused cannot just be eliminated,” he told a literacy conference. “This barbarity cannot be done.”

The U.S. military has said al-Zarqawi initially survived the dropping of two 500-pound bombs on his hide-out Wednesday, but died a short time later.
Castro said if Cuba used the same logic, it could bomb the United States to kill its No. 1 enemy, Luis Posada Carriles, who is being held in El Paso, Texas on immigration charges.
The communist government accuses the Cuban-born Posada of masterminding numerous violent attacks against the island, including the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people in 1976. Posada denies involvement in the bombing of the plane.

Wild Thing’s comment….
Laughable coming from this champion of human rights. It can’t be long now, till Jimma Carter jumps in.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and now a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq,
Special ops units had role
Fort Bragg special operations forces played an integral role in the air strike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to a congressional source.
Al-Zarqawi was al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq and the mastermind behind a bloody campaign of terrorist attacks on U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
Army officials in the United States and Iraq would not discuss the role of special operations soldiers, but a congressional source confirmed that Fort Bragg special operations soldiers took part in the operation.
President Bush said in a statement Thursday morning that special operations soldiers played a role in the bombing of al-Zarqawi, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s office confirmed that special operations forces from North Carolina were involved in the hunt for him.
Andrew Cochran, founder and editor of The Counterterrorism Blog, said special operations soldiers from Fort Bragg “are on the front lines. They are right up to their eyeballs in this.” His site is the first multi-expert blog dedicated solely to counterterrorism issues.
“Reliable reports have said that the (task force) is divided into four teams, three U.S. and one from the U.K. The teams have been occasionally augmented by Army Rangers and paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, and have been supported by special operations helicopter and combat units, as well as by fixed-wing aircraft units operating in support of quick reaction targeting.”
See Video HERE……….I LOVE this! Thank you Hot Air!

Comments by a U.S. soldier in Baghdad this morning to his parents here: “I know it is the middle of the night there, but have you heard the news? We got Zarqawi. We bombed his place just outside of Baqubah and got a lot of them. It is so great! The guys really needed this. We are all so proud.”

Wild Thing’s comment…..
I am so proud of you, thank you troops!

* Hot Air ( Michelle Malkin) the video
* Counterterrorism Blog