13 Mar

In Country With Our Troops




ROCKET FIND — U.S. Marines assigned to India Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment carry a nine-foot rocket with a 122mm warhead that they found while excavating the area for weapons and ammunition storage points in Baghdaddi, Iraq, March 3, 2006. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael R. McMaugh)
Zeko is part of the Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment



Zeko, an explosive detection Canine, takes a breather, after his handler puts his specially made balistic “doggles” on for his daily training at the newly built training course at Forward Operating Base McHenry, Iraq. (U.S. Army Photo By: Spc. Barbara Ospina, 1st BCT Public Affairs)
Zeko’s real workout starts when shouts echo through the air, followed by yelping. Silberman holds Zeko tightly, while a volunteer Soldier wearing a protective sleeve runs. Then, at the right moment Silberman releases the now vicious dog. Zeko sprints after the man, leaping into the air and locking his jaw on the Soldier’s protected arm. Attempts to shake him off fail as Zeko just bites harder. Then with a single command from his handler, Zeko releases the Soldier returning to sit next to Silberman. A few seconds later, Zeko is rewarded with playful hugs and praises.
Not only does this furry four-legged Soldier pull his weight in the fight against terrorism, he has become very protective of his new Bastogne comrades.
“We get to spend a lot of time with [Soldiers], he’s really close, and really protective of them,” Silberman commented. “When we are taking rounds, he’s watching and really alert of his Soldiers, so he’s got a pretty good rapport with those guys.”
It isn’t all work and no play for Zeko though. His kisses may be sloppy, and he has doggy breath, but Zeko has become well-known and loved among the Soldiers at FOB McHenry. During a simple strut down the gravel walk-ways, Zeko receives many playful pettings, and sometimes even a rowdy play session.
With loyalty being an Army Value this fury friend strongly possesses, many consider him the FOB pet, and even part of the 1st Battalion team.


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12 Mar

Troll Sighting At Slaglerocks ~ Troll Is For Flag Burning!




First let me say that Slaglerock is active duty Air Force. I am glad I have met him online. I am sure that many of you know who he is and have been to his blog.
Slaglerock had made a post about how he did not agree with Flag burning. That brought on a troll whch as we all know how trolls are. They are anti-military, un-American and just plain jerks to the core. The troll like their name says and land and stay for awhile being a pest and an asshole as best as they can since that is all they have to do in life. My guess is they cannot hold down a job, probably have no life other then trolling and need a fast hard kick in the glutes to send them on their way.
My only hope for them is if they ever try to set our Flag on fire they burn themselves up with it to a nice crispy burnt ash that can be blown away in the wind.
Awhile back I posted about two assholes that hate America and burned our Flag in our front yard. Slaglerocks troll says it is OK to burn thay Flag because it is a form of freedom of speech. So obviously he would rather burn the Flag then have discussions of what he is against in this country. A total jerk!
Here is the link to Slaglerocks.

12 Mar

Marines Carry Six-Pack Attack

CAMP MERCURY, Iraq




Staff Sgt. James C. Sanchez aims in with the M-32 Multiple shot Grenade Launcher, an experimental six-barreled weapon that can deliver six 40 mm grenades in under three seconds. Marines are fielding the new rapid-fire weapon to troops to boost small-team capabilities to deliver greater indirect firepower. (Photo by: Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva)



Lance Cpl. Joshua A. Oldman, a 20-year-old from Ethete, Wyo., tries his hand at handling the M-32 Multiple shot Grenade Launcher at a range near Fallujah, Iraq. Marines practiced handling the weapons before stepping to the firing line. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5 are carrying the new experimental weapons deisigned to deliver more indirect firepower at the small-team level. (Photo by: Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva)
Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to want one.
Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5, based in Camp Fallujah, test-fired the latest in the Corps’ arsenal of weapons’ improvement, the M-32 Multiple shot Grenade Launcher. It’s a six-barreled, 40 mm beast of weapon that has just about enough attitude for Marines.

“I thought it was pretty bad the first time I saw it,” said Cpl. Jason H. Flanery, a 23-year-old mortarman from St. Louis, Mo., assigned to RCT-5’s Personnel Security Detachment.

The M-32 MGL looks like something straight out of an action movie or a weapon ginned up by designers of futuristic video combat games. It’s a bare-bones, shoulder-fired weapon with a bulging six-barreled cylinder. There’s no bones about it. This thing’s all business when the trade is knocking out bad-guys at a distance.

“You can put six rounds on target in under three seconds,” Flanery said. “I thought this thing was sick.”

Sick might be right for the insurgent on the other end of the sight. The M-32 MGL is step up from the M-203 grenade launcher Marines have used since post-Vietnam days. It fires similar 40 mm grenades and at similar distances. It just puts more rounds on the bad guys faster.

“The ‘203 has been around since the ‘60s,” explained CWO4 Gene A. Bridgman, the regiment’s gunner, or weapons expert. “It keeps improving. This is a progression in the weapons system.”

Flanery put the comparison of the two similar weapons in more simple terms.

“It makes it obsolete,” he said. “It’s that much better.”

The idea to bring M-32 was the brainchild of Marine gunners across the Corps, explained Bridgman, a 43-year-old from Garden City, Kan. During an annual symposium, they decided an improvement was needed over the M-203. One option was to bring back a rifle-grenade. The M-32, won out, however, and now each Marine battalion will field them as an experimental weapon.
Bridgman added the M-32 isn’t a new idea altogether, though. Brazilian, Italian and South African military have carried them in the field for years. Marines, though, took it one step further.
A fore-grip was added and a scope was mounted to the top, eliminating the old leaf sights like that of the M-203. The scope allows a Marine to follow the grenade to the target and immediately adjust and follow up with a lethal volley of indirect fire.

“The ‘203 was on shot at time,” Bridgman said. “The ‘203 became a signal weapon. This is more of an offensive weapon. With this, you shoot, adjust and fire for effect.”

The average Marine said it’s just about that easy to shoot. Lance Cpl. Alexandro R. Raymundo, a 20-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., isn’t an infantryman. He’s a network administrator by trade. He shot the M-203 before during initial training, but this was his first time picking up the M-32 MGL.

“I thought it might be like the ‘203,” Raymundo said. “But is shoots more rounds, faster. It’s really simple. I had ‘hands-on’ once. I picked it up really quickly.”

As far as how it felt shooting it, Raymundo said the weapon was about as beefy as it looks.

“I felt like there’s more recoil than the ‘203 and the trigger’s a lot heavier” he explained. “It’s heftier than the ‘203.”

His likes about the weapon included the small scope added to the rail-mount system on top of the weapon.

“The optic was nice,” he added. “It’s a lot easier to sight in.”

Of course, there’s the part about lots of things going “boom” downrange too.

“My favorite part was being able to fire out so many grenades and not have to reload between each shot.”

Sgt. David G. Redford, a 35-year-old from Kennebunkport, Me., has more practical experience when it comes to what grunts like in the field. He’s an infantryman by trade and has logged in his own hours carrying the M-203.

“I didn’t know what to think about it before we came out here, but it’s nice,” Redford said. “It’s easier to shoot. You don’t have to constantly load. If you run into something, you’re already loaded.”

Redford predicted that most infantry Marines will welcome the addition of the six-pack attack weapon.
That’s exactly the reaction Bridgman wants to see. Adding the M-32 MGL could realign the way Marines operate at the small-team level. Fire teams could become more lethal, more mobile and more independent. The idea of a dedicated grenadier might just be reborn.

“Now you have your own indirect fire support right in the fire team,” Bridgman explained. “You have someone who can lay down (high explosive rounds) against someone in a trench. It would be used against enemy in fighting holes or behind cars, because of the indirect nature of the weapon. It’s the only weapon aside from mortars,” at the small team’s disposal.

Still, Bridgman stressed the weapon is only experimental. Marines will be gathering data about its’ effectiveness and durability from experiences on the streets of Fallujah.
For Flanery, though, the M-32 is already welcome.

“I think it’s one of the most simple and effective weapons systems,” he said. “I just want buckshot rounds.”

12 Mar

Thanks For Telling Us Where It Is

Iran builds a secret underground complex as nuclear tensions rise




Iran’s leaders have built a secret underground emergency command centre in Teheran as they prepare for a confrontation with the West over their illicit nuclear programme, the Sunday Telegraph has been told.
The complex of rooms and offices beneath the Abbas Abad district in the north of the capital is designed to serve as a bolthole and headquarters for the country’s rulers as military tensions mount.
The recently completed command centre is connected by tunnels to other government compounds near the Mossala prayer ground, one of the city’s most important religious sites.
Offices of the state security forces, the energy department and the Organisation of Islamic Culture and Communications are all located in the same area.
The construction of the complex is part of the regime’s plan to move more of its operations beneath ground. The Revolutionary Guard has overseen the development of subterranean chambers and tunnels – some more than half a mile long and an estimated 35ft high and wide – at sites across the country for research and development work on nuclear and rocket programmes.
The opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) learned about the complex from its contacts within the regime. The same network revealed in 2002 that Iran had been operating a secret nuclear programme for 18 years.
The underground strategy is partly designed to hide activities from satellite view and international inspections but also reflects a growing belief in Teheran that its showdown with the international community could end in air strikes by America or Israel. “Iran’s leaders are clearly preparing for a confrontation by going underground,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh, the NCRI official who made the 2002 announcement.
America and Europe believe that Iran is secretly trying to acquire an atomic bomb, although the regime insists that its nuclear programme is for civilian energy purposes.
As the United Nations Security Council prepares to discuss Iran’s nuclear operations this week, Teheran has been stepping up plans for confrontation. Its chief delegate on nuclear talks last week threatened that Iran would inflict “harm and pain” on America if censured by the Security Council.
US intelligence believes that if Iranian nuclear facilities were attacked by either America or Israel, then Teheran would respond by trying to close the Strait of Hormuz with naval forces, mines and anti-ship cruise missiles.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline president who has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”, also said that the West would “suffer” if it tried to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. As the war of words intensified, President George W Bush said that Teheran represents a “grave national security concern” for America.
You can read the rest of the article HERE…..thanks.
Wild Thing’s comment…….
Ahmadinejad is a mad man but he will learn what our military is like and he will learn it first hand.


11 Mar

Sir Winston Churchill In 1899 On Islam




Thsi is a quote from an 1899 book by Winston Churchill, “The River War”, in which he describes Muslims he apparently observed during Kitchner’s campaign in the Sudan against the jihadists of that day (not to be confused with the same sort at work there today). It’s a bit of history which seems as apropos today as it apparently was then:

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedans law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled,the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”
Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).

11 Mar

In New York Alarm Spreads Over Remarks Of Jail Imam



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New York Post
Extremist remarks made by the head imam of the city’s jail system are generating alarm about whether inmates are being recruited as Islamic fundamentalists.
Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the city has suspended Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil of the city’s Department of Correction until officials can get more information about his remarks and determine whether he violated any regulations.

“We can’t prejudge but we are going to look at it this afternoon,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters yesterday. “Having said that, this morning, so that he would not go back into the jails, we put him on paid administrative leave at least for the day.”

The move by the city came after the New York Post reported that Mr. Abdul-Jalil declared in a speech that the White House is run by terrorists and that Muslims were tortured in Manhattan prisons after the World Trade Center attacks.
He also reportedly urged Muslims in America to stop letting “the Zionists of the media to dictate what Islam is to us.” The Investigative Project on Terrorism obtained a recording of his speech, a senior researcher with the organization, Tamar Tesler, confirmed yesterday.
The imam, who has been with the department since 1993 and has been overseeing all clergy members at the agency since 2004, could not be reached yesterday.
Abdul-Jalil, 56, who is also imam of the Masjid Sabur mosque in Harlem, initially denied making the comments – but later admitted to The Post that the tape was most likely accurate and said his words are being “taken out of context.”
The outlandish remarks were made by one of the city’s most prominent Islamic leaders, Imam Umar Abdul-Jalil, the executive director of ministerial services for the city Department of Correction.
Abdul-Jalil is the latest Muslim chaplain working for city and state agencies to come under fire.
Last year, the city Fire Department forced Imam Intikab Habib to resign as chaplain for publicly doubting that al Qaeda hijackers brought down the World Trade Center towers and suggesting there was a broader “conspiracy.”
Three years ago, Pataki fired Imam Warith Deen Umar, the former chief Muslim chaplain for the state prison system, after it was reported he was expressing support for the 9/11 terrorists.
The director of Simon Wiesenthal’s New York Tolerance Center, Mark Weitzman, said, if true, the statements are cause for worry about possible recruitment of Islamic fundamentalists in city jails.
Wild Thing’s comment…….
Chuck Colson, co-founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries,”…the Islam being preached is neither “noble” nor “peaceful.” The “Islamic prison outreach, as recommended by Al Qaeda, is taking place – the most prominent ministry being the National IslamicPrison Foundation.”
Their report indicated “there are approximately 350,000 Muslims in Federal, state and local prisons -with 30,000-40,000 being added to that number each year.” Interestingly, the prisoners came to prison as non-Muslims.
And guess who is the main provider for funds to the National Islamic Prison Foundation is? Saudi Arabia
“Al Qaida continues to recruit members in U.S. prisons despite a government crackdown, FBI officials told a congressional panel.” This from the World Tribune

10 Mar

Al-Jazeera Network Plans American Station

Al-Jazeera, the television network that many call the propaganda wing of the radical Islamist movement in the world, is scheduled shortly to launch their network in English aimed at Americans with their new studios being in Washington DC. The United American Committee objects to the establishment of the network in America; “It’s as if Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minster for Hitler, were to have set up a station in America during WWII.” says Lee Kaplan, member of the UAC executive committee. Al-Jazeera plans on launching their 24 hour 7 day a week channel in America this spring.
Al-Jazeera has drawn criticism from the U.S. for broadcasting footage of killed and captured American soldiers, and has failed in assisting the U.S. Government in tracing sources of video footage provided to the network by Al-Qa’eda operatives. Yosri Fouda, of Al-Jazeera said in a BBC News interview the reasons for Al-Jazeera’s popularity;

“For western audiences, part of the shock is in seeing American and British dead bodies and POWs.”

The network often broadcasts exclusive messages from bin Laden and other top terror leaders involved in the global Jihad against the West. Messages which are not screened by any government terror experts.

“They can be broadcasting messages from bin Laden in which he commands his followers to take specific actions, and these messages would not be at all screened prior to its broadcast.” says UAC founder & Chair Jesse Petrilla, “We must not let this happen.”

United American Committee member Robert Sandoval reacts to the news of Al-Jazeera America and the UAC’s planned protest;

“I support a free media, and do not wish for the government to interfere, but when that media is planning on broadcasting to my children messages from our enemies and videos of beheadings, it’s the peoples right to stand up against it.”

Al-Jazeera website in English

10 Mar

Treasury Issues Final Rule Against Commercial Bank of Syria

Germany Says 9/11 Hijackers Called Syria and Saudi Arabia
Chicago Tribune

The Sept. 11 hijackers made dozens of telephone calls to Saudi Arabia and Syria in the months before the attacks, according to a classified report from the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Some 206 international telephone calls were known to have been made by the leaders of the hijacking plot after they arrived in the U.S. – including 32 to Saudi Arabia and 66 to Syria.

And this one also related to Syria
Feds Order U.S. Banks to Sever Syria Ties
WASHINGTON

Acting to crack down on terrorist financing, the Treasury Department on Thursday ordered all commercial banks in the United States to end their relationships with two Syrian banks.
The order covers the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria and its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank.
The department said that all U.S. banks must close any accounts they have with the two banks.
“Today’s action is aimed at protecting our financial system against abuse by this arm of a state-sponsor of terrorism,” said Stuart Levy, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
“The Commercial Bank of Syria has been used by terrorists to move their money and it continues to afford direct opportunities for the Syrian government to facilitate international terrorist activity and money laundering,” Levy said.
The order makes final a preliminary order against the two banks that Treasury issued last May.
At that time, Treasury issued a finding that the Commercial Bank of Syria was a “primary money laundering concern” under provisions of the Patriot Act that allow the department to cut off dealings of U.S. banks with foreign banks that receive such a designation.

Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National Intelligence for the Senate Armed Services Committee
Statement by the Director of National Intelligence, John D. Negroponte to the Senate Armed Services Committee”
28 February 2006

Wild Thing’s comment……
I think this is a good sign and helping to cut off the funding and money laundering operations of the crime family that runs Syria.

10 Mar

Dubai Company To Give Up Stake In U.S. Ports Deal

Fox News
WASHINGTON
After Republican leaders warned President Bush that the House and Senate appeared ready to block Dubai Ports World from taking over some U.S. port terminal operations, the company said it would give up its management stake in the deal.
The Thursday announcement was a blow for Democrats, who were pushing for a Senate vote on an amendment that would halt the deal. A few minutes later, the Senate voted to ignore GOP requests to wait until a 45-day review of the deal is completed before they try to stop it.
“This should make the whole issue go away,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, holding up a copy of the DP World press release. “The [review] process is underway … we should not have to interrupt it on the floor of the United States Senate.”..
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., read a statement from DP World executives on the Senate floor Thursday, announcing the concession.
“Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve that relationship, DP World has decided to transfer fully the U.S. operation of P&O Operations North America to a United States entity,” DP World’s chief operating officer, Edward H. Bilkey, said in the statement…

09 Mar

Patriot Guard Riders For Our Troops

One of our friends here at Theodore’s World is Cuchieddie. He was with the 4/23rd 25th Infantry Division and then with the Robin Hoods for his second tour, as a Huey door gunner. He decided to stay just so he could do that and was up almost constantly during Tet, 1968. All told he was there from 66-68. He wasn’t drafted, he asked to go.
Our friends, Cuchieddie and Tom another dear friend of ours here at Theodore’s World, sent me this, and I am sure you all will remember the post on here about the Patriot Guard Riders that came to the funeral here in Sarasota for Chief Warrant Officer Kyle Jackson. That is when I learned about the Patriot Guard Riders and I joined immediately to give them my support. It is such a great group.
Well they showed up again as they do at so many of the funerals for one of our troops. This time one of the riders was a Tomahawk bud of Cuchieddie that attended the burial of a recently deceased soldier in Kokomo, IN.
For more information on this soldier my post…..Sgt. Ricky Jones.

The Patriot Guard Riders were in attendence due to the actions taken by the vile man Fred Phelps and his church.
I thought you would like to see the report that Cuchieddie’s friend sent him. It is very moving and so very special! Thank you for sending this to me.

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The Patriot Guard Riders sign-in sheet showed 200+ bikes and 100 cages with over 800 riders names registered for Monday’s mission.




assembly point 0730 HRS)
06 MAR 06
THE MISSION:
0430 HRS: Reveille. Temps; 37 degrees. Snow accumulation; 2 inches. Streets; wet but not frozen. Cold mist in air.
0730 HRS: Departed bivouac area. Traveled 5 miles to checkpoint Kilo (Kokomo High School).
0805 HRS: Riders meeting with local law enforcement.
0845 HRS: Convoyed 8 miles to checkpoint Charlie (church) (Convoy length: 2 K)
OPLAN:
To arrive ahead of mourners and get 400 flags set up along the church drive.
Crowd of over 1000 began arriving immediately on the convoy’s trail motorcycle.
Troops deployed in skirmish line.
Flags set up along the drive and around church before Ricky’s mother arrived.
0930 HRS: heavy fog set in. Visibility under 100 meters.



view of church from OP during service)
Due to inclimate weather, protestors’ 150 meter set-back would be well beyond visible range.
(God’s Fire Mission: Fire For Effect.. Fire mission complete and provided the ultimate cover to protect the Jones family.)
1010 HRS: Funeral conducted with 4 honor guard units (101st Airborne, VFW, American Legion, Air Force)
1110 HRS: Sgt Jones’ procession embarked on 16 K (10 miles) procession to his final resting place under full escort.
1115 HRS: Fog lifted just before convoy cleared their emplacements. Visibility 800 meters.



THE PROCESSION:
What an awe inspiring sight!
I was riding rear guard on this leg of the mission.
The city of Kokomo and all businesses were literally shut down at 1030 HRS on Monday.
The funeral procession traveled from the Crossroads Community Church, on Kokomo’s far Southside, 3 miles, up US 31 North, then turned west onto Business US 31 (Washington St).
The 3.5 mile long procession was viewed by thousands of flag bearing mourners, along the entire 10 mile route through the heart of downtown Kokomo.
At every intersection, there were law enforcement officers from every agency in the city and state.
At every major street intersection there were two Fire trucks with honor guards, in full dress, standing at parade rest.
At Defenbaugh and Washington St (BUS 31) the Fire Department had two Snorkel Trucks with a cable strung across the street and a 20 X 40 US Flag hanging vertically above the intersection.
Along the route were all types of signs displayed in honor of Sgt Jones, in support of his family and in support of all of America’s heroes in uniform.
AAR:
Sgt Ricky Jones’, his last patrol for his country, in one huge patriotic gesture, brought the entire city of Kokomo, the State of Indiana, the surrounding States and this great Nation together in unison for a lasting tribute to his life.
He was rewarded with a true heroic send off, that many of us can only dream of..
Epilog:
Due to community sentiment over vandalism done in their name, the Westboro Baptist Church cancelled it’s appearance.
The WBC stated, that they were not behind the vandalism of Ricky’s families homes and have offered a reward of $5000 for the capture and conviction of those responsible…
YEAH RIGHT!! Like someone would actually try to claim their filthy reward money!
God have mercy on whoever these vandals are.
They will be caught!
Considering the local sentiment, they had better hope and pray, they are caught by law enforcement.
Final report:
Almighty God. (Supreme Commander)
Mission Complete Sir!
We transfer Sgt Ricky Jones to your command.
Take him into you fold with love.
He is a good soldier with a loving and pure soul.
In Gods name we pray
AMEN

Rest your head now,
weary soldier.
Cast your weapons to the ground.
Close your eyes and feel the peace.
The light of Jesus fold around.

Heed not our earthly
battle cries.
There is no post for you to stand.
So rest now as he carries you,
within His loving hand.

Do not look back upon
us.
Disregard our selfish tears.
Walk in the sunlight of the spirit,
free of war, pain and fear.

Your duty here is
done now,
as ours will someday be.
so, go with Him now,
to places, only heroes ever see."

 

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The Patriot Guards are a wonderful group. I thank you for all your efforts. And please thank your friend Cuchieddie.
They objective first is : Honor and Respect