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POPSWhat Americans owe to those who serve "Each November we are asked to pause and honor them, which is, or should be, an honor in itself. After the events of the last week at Fort Hood in Texas, with their reminder of the sacrifices that the men and women of the military make for us, Veterans Day will hold special meaning this year."
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POPS'The Axis of Idiots' - note from a Retired Marine You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it. John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's butt. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.
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POPS“Apocalypse: The Second World War” ~ Veterans Day November 11, 2009 remember the guys who have been fighting them in the sand, fighting them in the dust, fighting them in the mountains, and now fight on in the hospital wards. The Valour IT push is on, to give laptops to wounded servicemen. At the invitation of Cassandra at Villainous Company, whose Marine husband is forward deployed in Afghanistan, we’re with Team Marines this year. Pushing the Marines ahead is just the fun part of the drive. It all goes to everyone in all branches. Give as you can. Donate via Team Marines Apropos of all of the above, VC offers up a good quick read: "Marines though the Lens of History".
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POPSUS Marines facing reality
They ought to read this blog, they and their inept and idiotic political masters. I had a US former Marine Sgt work for me in Namibia. He could not understand that his two year enlistment did nowhere equate to that of a 15 year regular soldier. Very few of the lessons in soldiering can be gained from the library of military literature. They are gained in the field, from those who have experienced all that service has to offer. The British made an enormous mistake when, after the Falklands, the major slice of experienced senior nco's were forcibly retired. That single instrument allowed second class senior officers to kowtow to their political masters, with disastrous procurement of everything essential from personal weapons to food, through footwear to transport. When General Jackson and his cronies were feathering their pension pots, the skills and loyalty of the squaddie were evaporating on a maelstrom of political correctness and Health & Safety. I heard not a beep out of th
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POPSOct. 23,1983 Lebanese Terrorists Bomb the Marine Barracks in Beirut
. . with Syria. Although the United States had mounted two previous successful peacekeeping operations in Lebanon in 1958 and earlier in 1982 (to facilitate the evacuation of P.L.O. forces from Beirut that had been defeated by Israel), the ignominious end of the MNF intervention brought disastrous consequences. The failure of the peacekeeping mission led to renewed fighting between Lebanese factions and the ascendancy of Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria. Moreover, the Marine barracks bombing, which was the deadliest terrorist attack against Americans before the 9/11 attacks, later inspired Osama bin Laden, who viewed the United States as a “paper tiger” because of its rapid withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from Lebanon and Somalia after suffering casualties. Al Qaeda members were later dispatched to Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon, according to the 9/11 Commission Report (p. 68). Posted October 23rd, 2009 in American Leadership.
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POPS Waiting For Godot “The thunderstorm is there and it’s kind of brewing and it’s unstable and the lightning hasn’t struck, and hopefully it won’t,” said Nathaniel C. Fick, a former Marine Corps infantry officer who briefed Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and is now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a military research institution in Washington. “I think it can probably be contained and avoided, but people are aware of the volatile brew.” Last week the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., gave voice to the concerns of those in the military when he issued a terse statement criticizing Mr. Obama’s review of Afghan war strategy. “The extremists are sensing weakness and indecision within the U.S. government, which plays into their hands,” said Mr. Tradewell’s statement on behalf of his group, which represents 1.5 million former soldiers. Last August, in a speech to the V.F.W., Mr. Obama defended . . .
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POPSThe Few My brother and my Brothers Brother Shall Never be forgotten.
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POPSU.S.Troop Funds $2.6 Billion Taken From Guns and Ammunition For "Pet Projects" Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace." "The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement. RELATED STORIES: • Michigan town lobbies for Gitmo transfers • Top Treasury posts stay empty in financial crisis • VA Dept. hospitals botched treatments Mr. Wheeler, who conducted the study, compared the Obama administration's requests for funds with the $636 billion spending bill that the Senate passed. He discovered that senators added $2.6 billion in pet projects while spending $4 billion less than the administration requested for fiscal 2010, which began Oct. 1. Mr. Wheeler said that senators took most of the cash for the projects from the "operations and maintenance" or O&M accounts. "These are the accounts that pay for troop training, repairs, spares and supplies for vehicles, weapons, ships and planes,
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POPSUSS New York Sets Sail: Commissioning Ceremony in November --photos, slideshow, video The USS New York will soon be defending freedom and combating terrorism around the globe, while also ensuring that the world never forgets the evil attacks of September 11 and the courage and strength New Yorkers showed.” This morning, the ship departed the Mississippi River to make her first journey. The ship departed from Avondale this morning at 7:00 a.m. and headed for the Gulf of Mexico. The ship’s journey has been met with fan fare, salutes, and glorious praise. Beginning with a New Orleans style farewell, the ship passed through Gretna and was met by firefighters and a police honor guard who sowed their honor and respect to those who died heroically on 9/11. As the ship continues to make its way to New York, she will be greeted by those who choose to remember and honor the nearly 5,000 who tragically lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The ship’s motto is “Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget.” View photos-slideshow and videos at website
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POPSChechen, North African and Pakistani Fighters Helping Taliban Defense Minister Requests More International Troops, Says Thousands Bolstering Taliban Insurgency (AP) Thousands of foreign fighters have poured into Afghanistan to bolster the Taliban insurgency, the country's defense minister said Saturday as he called for more international troops. The remarks come as the U.S. debates whether to substantially increase its forces in Afghanistan or to conduct a more limited campaign focused on targeting al Qaeda figures - most of whom are believed to be in neighboring Pakistan. An American and two Polish troops were killed by bombs in the latest violence reported by NATO forces. U.S. military officials said they could not immediately comment on the claim of a recent influx of foreign fighters. Afghanistan's interior minister, who also spoke to parliament, endorsed a strategy promoted by the top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal to focus on protecting civilians rather than simply killing insurgents.
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POPS2009-ConceptOfTroopMoraleDiscoveredByMedia This year PBS,et al,deliver empathetic stories on service personnel. WOW.And to think that they were either poor unwitting victims or outright soldiers of the evil empire before Obama came in. Amazing the mass transformation.
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POPSObama's War PBS Premiere October 13th As the debate in Washington intensifies, FRONTLINE reports the high stakes on the ground in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Martin Smith (The War Briefing) embeds with the Marines of Echo Company for an up-close look at Obama's counterinsurgency strategy. Obama's War airs Tues, Oct 13 on PBS. Video (24:46) Warning: This video contains graphic language and imagery http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/?utm_campaign=ObamasWar&utm_medium=BlogAds&utm_source=Image
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POPS Something In The Water Camp kids have cancer, disorders Jerry Ensminger, a 24-year Marine Corps veteran, said his daughter, Jane, born in 1976 at Camp Lejeune, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 6 and died at age 9. Jeff Byron, a former Marine air traffic controller, moved with his family into base housing in 1982, three months after his first daughter Andrea was born and two years before his daughter Rachel was born. Rachel is developmentally disabled, has spina bifida and was born with a cleft palate, he said. Andrea has a rare bone marrow syndrome known as aplastic anemia, according to Byron's testimony. Dr. Michael Gros, a Navy obstetrician at Camp Lejeune in the early 1980s, was diagnosed with lymphoma after living in Camp Lejeune housing, he said. Gros said he has had to give up his medical practice and his treatment has cost more than $4.5 million. Thomas Sinks, deputy director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, . . .
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POPS Afghan War Units Begin Two New Efforts The moves underline the military's efforts to remake itself in response to the Afghan war despite the Obama administration's signals that it is far from committed to the current counterinsurgency approach. President Barack Obama met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates Monday as part of the ongoing White House review of Afghanistan policy, which is being re-evaluated in light of the country's flawed presidential elections and the Taliban's recent gains. A senior military official acknowledged that the Afghan Hands initiative, the most important of the new efforts, could be modified or scaled back if the White House decides on a new strategy. "None of this is inflexible or set in stone," the official said. The strategic review comes amid worsening violence across Afghanistan. At least 16 U.S. troops have already been killed in October, matching the entire American death toll for October 2008. Mr. Gates, speaking to an Army gathering on Monday . . .
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POPSObama to Meet High-Powered Aides for Afghan Review were the top ranking civilian officials expected for a bracing session on a war some supporters fear could swamp Obama's presidency. War commander General Stanley McChrystal, who warned in a leaked report that the conflict could be lost within a year without more troops, was also due to to take part, either in person or by video link-up, the White House said. Other top military brass included were General David Petraeus who heads US central command, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair. CIA chief Leon Panetta was also due to take part, along with Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as the US ambassadors to Islamabad and Kabul. Obama warned after meeting NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday that the United States could not fight the battle in Afghanistan alone, in remarks apparently aimed at European partners.
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POPSThose Who Ignore History... History didn't listen to us," said Tabeyev, who's now 81. "All our efforts to restore peace in the country . . . this was a flop in the end." The fundamental problem in Afghanistan is that it isn't a country in the way the West thinks of countries, said retired Lt. Gen. Ruslan Aushev, who did two tours there and left as a regimental commander. "There has never been any real centralized state in Afghanistan. There is no such nation as Afghanistan," said Aushev, who's a former president of the Russian Caucasus republic of Ingushetia and now heads a veterans group in Moscow. "There are (ethnic groups of) Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Tajiks, and they all have different tribal policies." As a result, any occupation force will spend much of its time propping up a government that has little relevance outside Kabul and trying to corral disparate ethnic groups and tribes into a national army that's often unwilling to fight, Aushev said.
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POPSAfghanistan is not Iraq, Viet Nam, or Cleveland Seems as though we have to learn and relearn the most common of military lessons. Seems someone has not even watch the iconic Eastwood flick "Heartbreak Ridge" on how to survive and win "You're Marines now. You adapt. You overcome. You improvise," says Eastwood's character. As several marines, one US and one Aussie, advised about the same topic: Trust the terrain, not the map. The plan calls for training Afghans to fight the fight we want them to fight and the way we would fight it. People who care about each other, innovate, adapt, and overcome win - or at least don't lose because they took the advise of someone 10,000 miles away with no eyes on the ground and butt on the line.
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POPSStop Begging Obama and Get Mad
The right wing is not wrong. It is not the problem. We are the problem. If we do not tap into the justifiable anger sweeping across the nation, if we do not militantly push back against corporate fraud and imperial wars that we cannot win or afford, the political vacuum we have created will be filled with right-wing lunatics and proto-fascists. The goons will inherit power not because they are astute, but because we are weak and inept. Violence is a dark undercurrent of American history. It is exacerbated by war and economic decline. Violence is spreading outward from the killing fields in Iraq and Afghanistan to slowly tear apart individuals, families and communities. There is no immunity. The longer the wars continue, the longer the members of our working class are transformed by corporate overlords into serfs, the more violence will dominate the landscape. The slide into chaos and a police state will become inevitable. The soldiers and Marines who return from Iraq and Afghanis
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POPSObama Policy Causes Death of American Soldiers Once again the Obama administration has shown whose side he is on in our fight against terrorism around the world. No it is not the side of America or the American soldier but rather the side of those who wish us harm. Current Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan have hampered our efforts to rout out Taliban insurgents bent on killing American soldiers. The sooner we rid our country of Islamic sympathizers the better off we will be in the end. Is it too soon to call for IMPEACHMENT of this present administration?
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