Theodore's World

Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’

IRAN has formed battalions of suicide bombers to strike at British and American targets if the nation’s nuclear sites are attacked. According to Iranian officials, 40,000 trained suicide bombers are ready for action.
The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a military parade, dressed in olive-green uniforms with explosive packs around their waists and detonators held high.
Dr Hassan Abbasi, head of the Centre for Doctrinal Strategic Studies in the Revolutionary Guards, said in a speech that 29 western targets had been identified:

“We are ready to attack American and British sensitive points if they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.” He added that some of them were “quite close” to the Iranian border in Iraq.

In a tape recording heard by The Sunday Times, Abbasi warned the would-be martyrs to “pay close attention to wily England” and vowed that “Britain’s demise is on our agenda”.
At a recruiting station in Tehran recently, volunteers for the force had to show their birth certificates, give proof of their address and tick a box stating whether they would prefer to attack American targets in Iraq or Israeli targets.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned last Friday that Israel was heading towards “annihilation”. He was speaking at a Tehran conference on Palestinian rights aimed at promoting Iran as a new Middle Eastern superpower.
According to western intelligence documents leaked to The Sunday Times, the Revolutionary Guards are in charge of a secret nuclear weapons programme designed to evade the scrutiny of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
One of the leaked reports, dating from February this year, confirms that President George W Bush is preparing to strike Iran. “If the problem is not resolved in some way, he intends to act before leaving office because it would be ‘unfair’ to leave the task of destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities to a new president,” the document says.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an opposition group, said a secret, parallel military programme was under way. According to sources inside Iran, the Revolutionary Guards were constructing underground sites that could be activated if Iran’s known nuclear facilities were destroyed.
The NCRI is the political wing of the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, which is deemed a terrorist organisation in Britain and America. However, much of its information is considered to be “absolutely credible” by western intelligence sources after Jafarzadeh revealed the existence of the Natanz plant in 2002.
Within the past year, 14 large and several smaller projects have been created, according to Jafarzadeh. Several are designed to be nuclear factories; others are for the storage of weapons, he claimed.

Wild Thing’s comment…..
The government in Iran needs its ass kicked hard. 40,000 trained suicide bombers? Good grief! Their rhetoric is on overkill!
Hey all you Revolutionary Guard Guys, most of us Amuricans hang out at a place in New York called the United Nations. But, please don’t bomb that, we use that as a place to make our films about your culture being bad and we use that as a place to plan wars against your country. We’d be really unhappy if you bombed our United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Let me know if you need the address.

Iran prez arrests 4 over text message
Fires head of phone company, sues over claim he doesn’t wash
Hey how about maybe get this stenciled onto a missile headed his way.- Wild Thing
Story here
When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got an anonymous text message suggesting he didn’t wash enough, he did not take it lying down.
He fired the president of the phone company, had four people arrested, took other legal action and accused those involve of conspiring with the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, according to the Iranian opposition website Rooz Online. …..( you can click at the top of their page on the left to read it in English)
The website says Ahmadinejad, known throughout the world as a hard-liner who has threatened Israel with destruction and questioned the Holocaust, is the target of many barbs among the populace in his country.
But the mullah regime doesn’t show much of a sense of humor. Of particular concern are jokes comparing Iran’s nuclear ambitions with sex. Several people have reportedly received court summonses for sending nuclear-related jokes, according to the website.
Tehran has taken a tough stance against opposition on the Internet. Many of the nation’s estimated 70,000 to 100,000 bloggers have faced harassment or imprisonment. The regime has acknowledged monitoring text message traffic.

Wild Thing’s comment………
Thank you to the Mossad! Hey Stinky Ahmadinejad
Lesson here for you
This is a bathtub
use water and soap
little yellow rubber duck is optional

Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime’s boldest challenges yet to the United States.



Breitbart.com

“You can start a war but it won’t be you who finishes it,” said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime’s most powerful figures.

“The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush’s administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one,” General Safavi said with a grin.

“We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack.”

Iran announced this week it had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, despite a UN Security Council demand for the sensitive work to be halted by April 28.
The Islamic regime says it only wants to generate atomic energy, but enrichment can be extended to make the fissile core of a nuclear warhead — something the United States is convinced that “axis of evil” member Iran wants to acquire.
At a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati simply branded the US as a “decaying power” lacking the “stamina” to block Iran’s ambitions.
And hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told AFP that a US push for tough United Nations sanctions was of “no importance.”

“She is free to say whatever she wants,” the president replied when asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action.

“We give no importance to her comments,” he said with a broad smile.

On Thursday, Rice said that faced with Iran’s intransigence, the United States “will look at the full range of options available to the United Nations.”
“There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community,” Rice said, after Iran also dismissed a personal appeal from the UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief must give a report at the end of April on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand. In Tehran he said that after three years of investigations Iran’s activities were “still hazy and not very clear.”
Although the United States has been prodding the council to take a tough stand against the Islamic republic, including possible sanctions, it has run into opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China.
Representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany are to meet in Moscow Tuesday to discuss the crisis.
In seeking to deter international action, Iran has been playing up its oil wealth, its military might in strategic Gulf waters and its influence across the region — such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
At the Tehran conference, Iran continued to thumb its nose at the United States and Israel.

“The Zionist regime is an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat,” Ahmadinejad told the gathering of regime officials, visiting Palestinian militant leaders and foreign sympathizers.

“Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is on the road to being eliminated,” said Ahmadinejad, whose regime does not recognise Israel and who drew international condemnation last year when he said Israel should be “wiped off the map.”

Unfazed by his critics, the hardliner went on to repeat his controversial stance on the Holocaust.
“If there is serious doubt over the Holocaust, there is no doubt over the catastrophe and Holocaust being faced by the Palestinians,” said the president, who had previously dismissed as a “myth” the killing of an estimated six million Jews by the Nazis and their allies during World War II.

“I tell the governments who support Zionism to … let the migrants (Jews) return to their countries of origin. If you think you owe them something, give them some of your land,” he said.

Iran’s turbaned supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also accused the United States of seeking to place the entire region under Israeli control.

“The plots by the American government against Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon aimed at governing the Middle East with the control of the Zionist regime will not succeed,” Khamenei said.

There was no immediate reaction from Washington, but French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy severely condemned Ahmadinejad for his latest remarks on Israel.
“As I have had occasion to do before, when the Iranian president made similar statements, I condemn these inacceptable remarks in the strongest possible terms,” Douste-Blazy said in a statement.
“Israel’s right to exist and the reality of the Holocaust should not be disputed,” he added.

Command Sgt. Maj. Mark Schindler stands beside the “Bandit Skull,” the unit crest for 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armor Division. The grinning skull is the subject of “The Bandit Song,” the unit’s official rock anthem.
Stars and Stripes
Mideast Edition
by Monte Morin
SINJAR, Iraq — Maybe there’s something in the clank of steel caterpillar treads or the roar of turbine engines that turn a tanker’s mind to musical composition.
That might explain why the U.S. Army’s most decorated tank battalion once owned rock ’n’ roll star Elvis Presley and now may well be the only unit of its kind to write and record its own alternative-rock anthem.
“The Bandit Song,” as it’s known, is the official unit song of the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. It’s a raucous ode to the “Bandit” battalion’s distinctive death’s head crest and its World War II legacy.
The lyrics describe the Bandits’ banner as “just a fearsome skull and brazen ivory smile,” and they promise that “If tyrants test our freedom, then the tanks that roll to meet ’em, will wear the broad black smile of the Bandit skull.”
While the lines are the stuff of centuries-old battle hymns, it’s the song’s edgy, contemporary treatment that gets them bobbing their heads in rhythm.
“You hate to like it,” said Sgt. Jonathan Thompson, 21, of Beaverton, Ore. “It’s addictive.”
More than just a musical novelty, the song is one of a growing body of works written and recorded by Bandit soldiers attempting to capture the pain and earthy humor of life in Iraq — their own combat rock.
Unit commanders have encouraged the musical forays, saying they help soldiers cope with stress and boost their spirits. There are even plans to build a recording studio at this Spartan base, which stands at the foot of the Sinjar Mountains in Iraq’s lush northwest.

The song was originally penned by Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who sang it at a welcome home tribute to his tank crews following their first deployment to Iraq. While Dempsey performed it as an Irish drinking song, Bandit soldiers recast it.
The tune may not win a Grammy anytime soon, but it certainly tops the charts at the Bandits’ tactical operations center at Camp Nimur. The song blasts over radios before each day’s battle update and kicks off all battalion functions.
“I love it,” said Lt. Col. V.J. Tedesco, commander of the Friedberg, Germany-based unit. “Music is important for soldiers and for people in stressful situations in general. Most of us go to sleep listening to our iPods or CD players because it’s therapeutic. … It also helps rally the unit, it gives them an identity.”
The song was performed by Company C 1st Sgt. and lead guitarist Aaron Jagger, Headquarters and Headquarters Company Pvt. and lead singer Joshua Revak, and Company A Spc. and drummer Soli De La Cruz. The song’s gritty quality is due, in part, to the fact that Revak practiced singing it so much that he had grown hoarse and nearly voiceless before it was recorded.
Written under extreme emotional duress, within hours or days of their friends’ deaths, the songs were as much for relatives back home as they were for the grieving battalion.
“It was really hard to play at those memorials,” Revak said. “Our main purpose though was to help the soldiers mourn. We wanted to help the guys who had to roll out of the gates in soft-skinned Humvees right after the memorial. I think it helped.”
Thank you Troops!

There are a number of people who have seen both wars — men who served in Vietnam and now work in Iraq. In just a few weeks, I found more than 80 of these veterans working throughout Iraq. From 1964 to 1971 they served in the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy from the Gulf of Tonkin to the DMZ. Their present ages range from 51 to 70.
Their tours of duty in Iraq range from six months to more than 18.

In 1967, Buddy Algood was a second lieutenant with E Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry of the 199th Infantry Brigade near Binh Chan. Following the loss of his lower right calf and foot and recuperation from his injuries, he was the first amputee to graduate from the Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga. A month later he returned to Vietnam.
Thirty-eight years later, as a civilian, Algood came to Iraq with the Project and Contracting Office (PCO). He explained that, in Iraq, part of his early work was “identifying reconstruction projects in 10 strategic cities that would put Iraqis to work and make an immediate improvement in their quality of life.”

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Lt. Col. James Zucarelli is a member of the 42nd Infantry Division serving as liaison officer with the PCO. He was a Marine lieutenant in Vietnam 1968-69, and will leave Iraq at the age of 59.
“There are former Iraqi soldiers who will accept $25 dollars to take a potshot at a passing patrol, plant an IED by the road, or shoot a mortar from their backyard at night.”

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Henry Bunting, lead acquisition analyst in the Joint Contracting Command – Iraq/Afghanistan, was a staff sergeant in Vietnam with Company A, 75th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized).

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Chief Warrant Officer 5 Gregory McManus, a test pilot with the 135th Aviation Regiment in Iraq, has 39 years of flying with the Army under his belt. The Springfield, Mo., pilot flew helicopters in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, during which he was shot down six times, he said. (Jeff Schogol / S&S)
CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq — His navigation systems had failed. Visibility was limited. And he could be heading toward the Iranian border.

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Gregory McManus, a test pilot with the 135th Aviation Regiment, said he wondered if he was about to end his 39-year career flying with the Army as the first American pilot shot down in Iran.
“For a few seconds, you kind of wondered, ‘I could have been retired,’ ” said McManus, 57.
The Springfield, Mo., man was a full-time pilot again after several years in the Missouri National Guard and one tour in Vietnam on active duty.
McManus said he feels “blessed by God” to be able to keep flying at his age.
“There’s not many pilots my age not in a state of decrepitude that can continue doing what I do,” he said. “I’m afraid if I stop, maybe I will become decrepit. My brain won’t work.”
McManus is modest about how he was able to land his plane without navigation systems.
“I just climbed up until somebody saw me on radar and told me where I was. I told them where I wanted to go and they gave me a direction and I flew that way until I got to where I think we were and landed uneventfully,” he said.
But his battalion commander gives him more credit for being able to get the stricken plane on the ground safely.
McManus was able to navigate the plane to safety using only a map, clock and compass, a method known as “dead-reckoning,” said Lt. Col. Mark McLemore, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment.
McManus joined the Army in 1967 and flew helicopters in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, during which he was shot down six times, he said.
“First week I was there we got shot down … just took a hole in the oil line and just landed on the other side of the trees as soon as we knew we couldn’t fly. So a few of them were like that. A couple of them were more spectacular,” he said.
McManus said he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after his gunship came upon an enemy regiment on the Cambodian border.
His helicopter took fire from all directions, but he and his crew used every weapon they had until they ran out of ammunition, he said.
“We ran out of rockets and machine-gun [bullets] first, and then the door gunners ran out of their ammo. I shot all my pistols and dumped everything else, threw all the grenades overboard at them. If there was anything on the aircraft, I would have thrown boxes of crud on them but I didn’t have anything else,” he said.

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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Guerrilla warfare then: In the deep undergrowth of a jungle path, it was a trip-wire attached to a grenade.
Guerilla warfare now: In an Iraqi city, it’s an improvised explosive device (IED) planted beside a busy highway and detonated by cell phone from a nearby roof.
Brutality now: Three construction workers enroute to work were stopped and pulled from their vehicle. Two were shot in the head, the third was beheaded.
Surprise attack then: In Saigon, a smoke-spewing motorbike wove through heavy traffic and the rider threw a grenade into an open jeep before darting away.
Surprise attack now: A new BMW with a trunk full of explosives rams a convoy of up-armored HMMWVs.
And some things never change: A midnight mortar or rocket attack sounded the same at a forward operating base in Phu Bai in 1967 as it does in North Babil in 2006. An AK-47 or rocket-propelled grenade does the same damage whether the gunner is Viet Cong or Iraqi.

The snipers are playing an ever-increasing role in security operations

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CNN reporter, while interviewing a Marine sniper asked, “What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist.”

The Marine shrugged and replied, “Recoil.”

John Kerry Roughing it with Butler
Responding to criticism that he had a laundry list of demands when he stayed in luxury hotels on the campaign trail, Sen. John Kerry said yesterday that he recently took a trip where he slept every night in his truck – accompanied only by his motorcycle, a friend and his butler, “Marvin.”
Asked about the trip by radio host Don Imus, Kerry explained:

“Marvin and Teddy and myself . . . We had the best damned time, I’ll tell you.”
“It was wonderful,” the top Democrat declared. “We didn’t stay anywhere. We actually drove all night. We slept in the truck. We cruised through, you know, a couple of little pit stops early in the morning. It couldn’t have been nicer.”

Kerry insisted that he and his butler were really roughing it, painting a picture right out of the hippie rebel movie, “Easy Rider.”

“We didn’t have any pillows. I’ll tell ya, man. It was really funny cause I blew into some little gas station around midnight or two in the morning, whenever it was, and some guy would do a double take and look at ya. They just couldn’t figure out what I was doing there at that hour of the morning.”
“I couldn’t figure it out either,” the born-to-be-wild senator added.

Kerry didn’t explain who “Teddy” was – or why, if he wanted to rough it, he brought his manservant, Marvin Nicholson, along for the ride.
In 2004, Mr. Nicholson detailed some of his responsibilities to the New York Times, which began its report by noting: “Mr. Kerry is comfortable being catered to.”
“When he wants that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I’m ready,” Marvin explained.
Among the items Nicholson carries at all times for the rough and ready Democrat: Swedish hand cream, Scope mouthwash, Handiwipes, two packs of Band-Aids, Tylenol, Advil, Advil Liquid Gels, Advil Sinus pills, a sewing kit, a can of diet milkshake ,Kerry prefers strawberry, a tube of Blistex and a myriad of other accouterments.
The Times noted that Kerry, husband of billionairess Teresa Heinz, pays his trusty manservant a mere $45,000 annually.
Wild Thing’s comment……….
LMAO ….. whew, ok my side has stopped hurting from laughing so hard. First we had Gore getting input on how to be macho and he got the training from a woman of all things. Sorry but I have never in my life met a guy that had to learn how to be macho. hahahahaha Thank you God!
Now we hear how Kerry, attempts to rough it. Not without his butler though, and then slept in a truck at night. Roughing it? Oh dear me!

I am sure it is for security purposes, but as of right now there are no photos available of Operation Mountain Lion. As you all know I am extremely careful about what I post about our troops. To be supportive is what Theodore’s World is about and I will continue to be careful as always when it comes to information and photos that are placed on here.
So I am going to put one here from 2002 of the area where Operation Mountain Lion is going on. It will give you an idea of the landscape and what our awesome troops are dealing with. – Wild Thing

Afghanistan operation targets insurgents near Asadabad
Friday, April 14, 2006
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition
Afghan and American troops have killed at least six suspected insurgents in an offensive near Asadabad, Afghanistan, dubbed Operation Mountain Lion, U.S. military officials said.
The operation targets insurgents’ “sanctuary and … their ability to resupply” in the Marawara District of Kunar province, according to a news release. The operation includes more than 2,500 Afghan and coalition troops, including members of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, and the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Afghan troops include members of the 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Corps, American officials said.
The U.S. troops are part of Task Force Spartan, which launched the “predawn air-and-ground assaults Wednesday in the Pech River Valley, an area notorious for terrorist activity,” according to the news release.

“However long it takes to rid this area of extremist activity, we’ll be there,” Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore, the Task Force Spartan top enlisted soldier, was quoted in the release as saying.

According to Air Force officials, the service is providing 24-hour close air support for ground troops in Mountain Lion.

“This operation is helping the government of Afghanistan set the security conditions so democratic processes can take root,” Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy Combined Forces Air Component commander, said in an Air Force news release. “Our job is to bring airpower to bear on the anti-Afghan forces and support the coalition troops on the ground.”

U.S. Air Force F-15s, A-10s and B-52s are being used in the operations, along with Royal Air Force GR-7s.
Global Hawk and Predator drones also are providing intelligence and reconnaissance, with KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft providing refueling support, Air Force officials said.

And this as well……………
“Operation Mountain Lion” To Hit “Terrorist’s Backyard” In Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) – Over 2,500 Coalition and Afghan forces have launched “Operation Mountain Lion” to enhance the security of new government with a round predawn of air strikes.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy air component commander for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, says, “This operation is helping the government of Afghanistan set the security conditions so democratic processes can take root.”
However, Peck is quick to add that this effort does not constitute a return to major combat operations for American troops in Afghanistan, saying, “Our job is to bring airpower to bear on the anti-Afghan forces and support the coalition troops on the ground.”
Peck adds, “Our objective is to assist the coalition forces and Afghan national security forces in defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda.”
“The coalition employs airpower every day to support Afghanistan’s democratically elected government in establishing regional stability and long-term economic and political development.”
Officials add that the mission will help establish security, deter the re-emergence of terrorism, and enhance the sovereignty of Afghanistan, and that this is only a part of the ongoing series of offensives that aim to disrupt insurgent activities, deny them sanctuary and prevent their ability to restock.
U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore of Task Force Spartan, says, “We’re taking the fight to the terrorists in their own backyard.”
“They gave their victims no sanctuary. They’ll receive none from us.”
Combat operations included predawn air-and-ground assaults in the Pech River Valley, an area notorious for terrorist activity.
Officials confirm soldiers from 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Corps are fighting alongside servicemembers from the coalition’s Task Force Spartan, made up of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division and 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment Marines from Task Force Lava.

From Army Mil.
Coalition launches ‘Operation Mountain Lion’ in Afghanistan

Coalition forces, in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, began “Operation Mountain Lion” yesterday to establish security, deter the re-emergence of terrorism and enhance the sovereignty of Afghanistan, military officials reported today.
Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents today while conducting offensive operations in the Marawara district of Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
Military officials in Afghanistan said Operation Mountain Lion is part of the coalition’s ongoing series of offensives that aim to disrupt insurgent activities, deny them sanctuary and prevent their ability to restock.

“This operation is helping the government of Afghanistan set the security conditions so democratic processes can take root,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, deputy air component commander for Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. “Our job is to bring airpower to bear on the anti-Afghan forces and support the coalition troops on the ground.”

Operations today began with predawn air-and-ground assaults in the Pech River Valley, an area notorious for terrorist activity, Combined Force Command Afghanistan officials said.
Soldiers from 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army’s 203rd Corps are fighting alongside servicemembers from the coalition’s Task Force Spartan, made up of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division and 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment Marines from Task Force Lava.
More than 2,500 Afghan National Army and coalition forces are involved in the operation.

“We’re taking the fight to the terrorists in their own backyard,” said Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore of Task Force Spartan. “They gave their victims no sanctuary. They’ll receive none from us.”

Coalition leaders described the operation as a comprehensive effort to kill, incapacitate or capture terrorists operating in the region. It will continue as long as necessary, they said.

“Together, with our ANA brothers-in-arms, we’re eliminating the enemy’s remaining sanctuaries in Kunar province,” added Army Col. John Nicholson, Task Force Spartan’s commander.

U.S. Air Force F-15s, A-10s and B-52s are providing close-air support to troops on the ground engaged in rooting out insurgent sanctuaries and support networks. Royal Air Force GR-7s also are providing close-air support to coalition troops in contact with enemy forces. U.S. Air Force Global Hawk and Predator aircraft are providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, while KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft are providing refueling support.

“Our objective is to assist the coalition forces and Afghan national security forces in defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda,” Peck said. “The coalition employs airpower every day to support Afghanistan’s democratically elected government in establishing regional stability and long-term economic and political development.”

Anti-terror efforts like this will extend the reach of the Afghan government, allowing legitimate governance to perform valuable work on behalf of the people in this region, Nicholson said. Stability and security will, in turn, permit nongovernmental aid and reconstruction organizations to work more efficiently.
(Information provided by the Armed Forces Press Service. Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)

Wild Thing’s comment…….
I will share a part of an email from a soldier in the 10th Mtn.Division………..
….”from the Konar Province. I’ll share a bit. . . The road is good but the officers feel it is a little too bumpy. I guess I need to go faster to smooth out those bumps. All is well here except the MRE’s are all starting to taste the same. Home made ice cream sure does sound good.”
To all those in Operation Mountain Lion this is for you as you ……just CLICK HERE…..go after the terrorists in Afghanistan. God bless our soldiers and America. My heart is so thankful for the men and women in our awesome military.
“Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist,
And the Eagle will fly and it’s gonna be hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringin’ her bell,
and it will feel like the whole wide world’s rainin’ down on you,
All brought to you Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!”

Please note….Everyone of of these complaints is coming from a Democrat!
Retired Generals Band Together in Criticizing Rumsfeld on Iraq War

WASHINGTON – The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have criticized harshly the secretary of defense’s authoritarian style for making the military’s job more difficult.
“I think we need a fresh start” at the top of the Pentagon, retired Army Major General John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-05, said in an interview. “We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork.”

Here are some of Rummy’s quotes. I love how he stands up to the press.
Tah dah!
I don’t do quagmires.”
“I don’t do diplomacy.”
“I don’t do foreign policy.”
“I don’t do predictions.”
“Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I’m an old man, it’s early in the morning and I’m gathering my thoughts here.”
“If I know the answer I’ll tell you the answer, and if I don’t, I’ll just respond, cleverly.”
“Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin’s still learning (laughter)”
“Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.”
“Cluster bombs are being used on frontline al Qaeda and Taliban troops to try to kill them is why we’re using them, to be perfectly blunt.”
“We aren’t running out of targets; Afghanistan is.”
“The only way to defend against terrorists is to go after the terrorists.”
Q: “Sir, there’s a widespread perception in this town that when it comes to the Iraqis and the Palestinians, you are a hard-liner. Are you comfortable with that? (Laughter.) And –”
A: “Look at me! I’m sweet and lovable.”
Q: “Secretary Rumsfeld, do you want to catch (Bin Laden) dead or alive or either way?”
A: “Well, the president’s policy is dead or alive. And, you know, I have my preference…”
Q: “Secretary Rumsfeld, can you give us — or maybe even General Pace — can you give us any idea of what’s happening…”
A: “What do you mean ‘even General Pace’? (Laughter.) (To the general) You don’t have to take that from him!”
Q: Mr. Secretary, at the White House last night, a senior White House official after the president spoke said that the decision to make the strike was made some time between 6:30 and 7:00 Eastern time. It’s apparent that that decision to strike was not in line with what we have been led to believe about the war plan. Was the intelligence you got fragile enough where you felt you had to go at that moment and not start with, say, shock and awe or some other phase of the war?
A: “Well, Dick, calibrate me, but the first thing I’d say is I don’t believe you have the war plan — (laughter) — a fact which does not make me unhappy. (Laughter)”
Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, “The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind.”
Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was – by a taxpayer.
With the press there is no “off the record.”
Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.
“I can’t think of anything funnier than a handful of congressmen walking around (Iraq). They’d have to be there for the next 50 years trying to find something. It’s a joke.”
Press Briefing by the Secretary of Defense March 30,2003
One day soon Americans will say, “We came, we saw, we kicked Iraq’s least hungry non-civilian elite all over that dust-filled patchwork toilet of a European colonialist abortion!”
We have not been surprised by the simple psychological fact that ill-informed and abused people instinctively defend their homes from invading hordes. But once the mobile Taco Bell kiosks arrive, the Iraqi populace shall doubtless transform into a Western-style pasture of grazing, glassy-eyed moo-cows. Not the pretty polka-dot Holsteins of course – the other ones – the ugly brown ones.
Continue referring to “suicide bombers” as “homicide bombers.” Remember that these acts of desperate war are war crimes. War itself, if we are waging it, is not a crime.
When reporting about anti-war protestors, refer to them as “the same old protestors” or “pro-terrorist GI Joe-haters” or “hippy asshole mobs.”
Send a memo to all your affiliates to stay true to the five rules of journalism: Who, what, when, why, how. Who: America, the infallibly righteous. What: Saddam Hussein, who sprung fully-formed and evil, from the anus of Lucifer himself. When: We will finish punishing the Iraqasaurs when we’re damn ready to finish and not a decade before. Why: Everyone but us is evil. How: With the might of the American military, and with the blood of common citizen soldiers whom I would normally avoid like the plague in public.
And that’s a wrap. No questions. I’m late for brunch.

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Wild Thing’s comment……
Rumsfeld does not suffer fools gladly at DOD. Period – and why should he – peoples’ lives are at stake, in the country and among the troops.
With so many complaints about Rumsfeld by ex-generals appointed by the Impeached Rapist! I actually find that quite refreshing. It tells me he’s getting the job done!
These people are orchestrated. The Dem strategy this year is an unending drumbeat leading to November. They don’t care about any of this.
These generals are all Clinton groomed people who were told when promoted that they would have a role post retirement. To their chagrin, Bush was elected twice and they are out in the cold — and will stay there unless Dems return to power. that when one demands results and is hard charging in the process …one is going to ruffle some feathers and hurt some feelings.
That is all that has happened here with some of these ex-Gen’s….it speaks volumes about them. Not the SecDef.
The difference between the Dem Generals and GOP Generals is pretty simple. Numbers. There are a handful of them who the DNC has orchestrated and ensured would get press coverage. There are hundreds of conservative retired generals who actually have jobs and are busy in their lives and don’t spend those lives in front of a camera.
The media wants Rummy to have:
S pecial
H igh
I ntensity
T raiing
Uh oh. They’re saying the Secretary is – gasp! – arrogant! And that one must be prepared when meeting with im. For gosh sakes, he’s the Secretary of Defense! Here’s another report on Secretary Rumsfeld:
Source for letter posted belo.:
My brother, a captain in the National Guard, recently returned from Iraq. His unit, which provided security for convoys originating in Kuwait and traveling to any and all parts of Iraq, had one casualty — a soldier who lost an arm to an IED.
While at Walter Reed, the injured soldier was having a conversation with a general and mentioned — somewhat in jest — that he wanted Rumsfeld to deliver his Purple Heart.
Well, the next day, who shows up in his hospital room — without security or photogs — but Rumsfeld? Rummy sat and talked with the soldier and his mother, who happened to be there, for about 45 minutes.
My brother says that the vast majority of the soldiers would crawl through broken glass for either Bush or Rumsfeld. What Rumsfeld did for that soldier — that simple act of kindness — was heartfelt. It cannot make up for the loss of a limb, but it says something about the secretary of defense and how he thinks about the men who serve under him.