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POPSMarines March in Scorching Afghanistan Sun July 4
Some 4,000 Marines are moving through southern Helmand to take back Taliban-held territory and pinch the insurgents' supply lines. Bravo Company has seen a lot of walking but up to now little fighting, though other Marines in the operation have had extended battles. So far, the worst danger facing Bravo is the heat. Temperatures are well above 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius), and medics treated several heat casualties Saturday. "When (body) temperature goes up past 104, your brain starts cooking, and that's what we're trying to prevent," said Simon Trujillo, an HM3 Navy Medic from Dallas. The high heat, heavy packs, limited water and three straight days of walking through tough farmland terrain were taking a toll, he said. Several Marines threw up or were dry-heaving from the heat. Three passed out, and other Marines rushed to share the weight and pour water on overheated bodies. "It's pretty taxing on your body. There's no way to prepare for this," said Trujillo.
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POPS Missing Agence-France Press quoted a Haqqani commander as saying his militia had captured the soldier in the Yousuf Khail district of Paktika province, along the porous border with Pakistan. “Our leaders have not decided on the fate of this soldier.” the AFP quoted the Haqqani commander, identified only as Bahram, as saying. “They will decide on his fate and soon we will present video tapes of the coalition soldier and our demand to media.” These situations have not ended well. It’s a dirty war and it is likely to get ugly, as the enemy uses it to its fullest propaganda effect. Don’t want to get political about it, but it inevitably will become another political problem for our president. Too bad we don’t have a wartime one http://www.julescrittenden.com/2009/07/02/obama-to-troops-wtf/
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POPSA Modest Proposal for Garrisoned Lands Whatever the costs turn out to be, they will not be included in our already bloated military budget, even though none of these structures is designed to be a true embassy -- a place, that is, where local people come for visas and American officials represent the commercial and diplomatic interests of their country. Instead these so-called embassies will actually be walled compounds, akin to medieval fortresses, where American spies, soldiers, intelligence officials, and diplomats try to keep an eye on hostile populations in a region at war. One can predict with certainty that they will house
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POPSTaliban commander shot dead in northwest Pakistan "Whatever Baitullah Mehsud and his associates are doing in the name of Islam is not a jihad, and in fact it is rioting and terrorism," Zainuddin told the AP after a mosque suicide bombing attack, blamed on Mehsud, killed 33 people. "Islam stands for peace, not for terrorism." Zainuddin's motive for criticizing Mehsud was not clear, but there was speculation that he was trying to portray himself as a more moderate alternative to the Taliban leader, although there appeared to be little or no differences between the two over fighting U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Daily bombing runs and artillery barrages have been softening up militant targets in South Waziristan for about a week and ground troops have moved into position, the military says, though it says the main offensive has not yet started.
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POPSCrowd Watched Silently I see from various news reports that Secretary Clinton, and therefore Obama, will no longer use the phrase “War On Terror.” Too bad no one has told Bin Laden and the Taliban and Iran and Hamas and Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Meanwhile, Americans’ confidence in the “War Against Bad Men Of Unspecified Religious Origin Who Like to Plot The Death of Westerners” effort has plummeted. We will rue the day we go back to the September 10th-Clintonian mindset.
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POPSPhotos: Bomb Blast Hits Peshawar Hotel " Nobody seems to learn. Again and again, states imagine that they can use and control Islamist extremists. Then the terrorists turn against their "masters." "That's what happened Monday in Pakistan, when Muslim militants brazenly struck a police academy near the Indian border -- far from the lawless tribal regions. The terrorists killed seven cops and two civilians. Nearly a hundred officers suffered wounds during the siege." "The terrorists blew themselves up, rather than be captured. They knew Allah would welcome them. The one captured fanatic meant to die. "
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POPSGabon Le fils Ali succédera t'il à son père Omar à la tête de la dynastie BONGO
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POPSObama Reaches Out To Apartheid Regime Purging Jewish Families From Yemen the Palestinian and Israeli, stopping building settlements and his confession of the Palestinians' rights and that security of Israeli is linked to a just solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Less high on Yemen's list: closing the terrorist camps that their intelligence services use for political ends, up to and including the targeting of domestic opponents: Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh faces crises on many fronts. A southern populist uprising in the six governorates of the former PDRY has taken on separatist overtones. At the same time, the northern Saada war with Zaidi Shiite rebels may erupt for the sixth time since 2004. As a result, Saleh has embarked on a strategy of empowering Islamic militants who, in exchange, have been given a free hand over some local populations. At least those camps don't then become safe havens for international terrorism. Think how awkward that would be.
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POPSThe REAL World today As militants attack his home with burning tyres and drive workers from his land, one of the last white farmers in Zimbabwe feels betrayed by the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. I remember an old friend of mine, still living though in poverty, in what was the finest country in the world, Rhodesia, now a ruin in the middle of a catastrophe, Zimbabwe. He was born in the isolate district around Gokwe, his family struggled to PAY for his education and he eventually left the army to run several ranches and farms in the Central district. His dad said to me, "Engelsman, there are just three things that ruin Afrika. Mombies. Goats and kaffirs, but in the reverse order." Will those who have never lived in Africa listen those of us who have before Africa is replicated in Britain?
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POPSThe truth about Africa I remember an old friend of mine, still living though in poverty, in what was the finest country in the world, Rhodesia, now a ruin in the middle of a catastrophy, Zimbabwe. He was born in the isolate district around Gokwe, his family struggled to PAY for his education and he eventually left the army to run several ranches and farms in the Central district. His dad said to me, "Engelsman, there are just three things that ruin Afrika. Mombies. Goats and kaffirs, but in the reverse order." Will those who have never lived in Africa listen those of us who have before Africa is replicated in Britain?
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POPSSarah Palin, like most right-wingers, doesn't get it: Abortion-clinic violence is terrorism
But in 2004, anti-abortion militants in the Army of God -- the violently anti-abortion organization with which Scott Roeder, Tiller's assassin, was associated at one time -- openly celebrated their status as terrorists: Pleading, politics and pandering have done precious little to stop the holocaust against the innocent. But the Christian terrorist is not so inadequate. Dead abortionists don't kill babies, and a fire-bombed death camp can no longer facilitate the holocaust against them. As cream rises to the top, so the Christian terrorist rises above the huddled masses of churchgoers and the many voices that denounce their violent attempts to defend the innocent from their murderous assailants. The people committing these acts see themselves as terrorists and embrace the notion. Unfortunately, their fellow right-wingers who don't condone or share their behavioral extremism -- but do share their belief that abortion is murder and that Dr. Tiller was a "mass murderer" -
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POPSPakistan's mystics targeted by Taliban "If you want to understand the inclusiveness and tolerance of Islam, you have to visit the shrines of Sufis," Qureshi said. "I believe that if you want to counter terrorism in long term, the strongest weapon is not the Kalashnikov, it is education, it is a changing of hearts and minds."
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POPS4 Muslims Terrorists Arrested ~ Plot To Bomb NYC Synagogues BREAKING: More on the "overseas contingency operation". What are we supposed to call in when Muslims attack it America? The FBI busted a homegrown New York terror cell late Wednesday night as the men sneaked around a Jewish temple in Riverdale planting what they thought were packages of C-4 explosives, sources told the Daily News. The four men also allegedly had what they believed was a working Stinger missile in their car: officials said they wanted to shoot down a plane near Stewart Air National Guard Base. Sources said the four men were arrested after a year long investigation that began when an informant connected to a mosque in Newburg said some militants wanted to buy bombs. FBI agents posing as militants sold them what they thought were C-4 and a plane-downing Stinger missile. The weaponry was all phony.
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POPSDeath From Above, Outrage Down Below Nevertheless, every one of these dead noncombatants represents an alienated family, a new desire for revenge, and more recruits for a militant movement that has grown exponentially even as drone strikes have increased. Second, public outrage at the strikes is hardly limited to the region in which they take place — areas of northwestern Pakistan where ethnic Pashtuns predominate. Rather, the strikes are now exciting visceral opposition across a broad spectrum of Pakistani opinion in Punjab and Sindh, the nation’s two most populous provinces. Covered extensively by the news media, drone attacks are popularly believed to have caused even more civilian casualties than is actually the case. The persistence of these attacks on Pakistani territory offends people’s deepest sensibilities, alienates them from their government, and contributes to Pakistan’s instability.
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POPSGhosts of Democrat Presidents Past Here's the wrap: Clinton did take a stab at redemption, shooting a missile at an aspirin factory—oh, and at an intern named Monica Lewinsky. One missile missed its mark. Thankfully George W. Bush stepped in and re-established America's position on "Don't Mess with Texas," by kicking some Iraqi tail. Bush also told the world that the US is not beholden to anybody when it comes to our sovereignty and protecting our citizens. With all the potential world hot spots looming, is there any sane person who believes Obama to be the right man for the job? I know he was recently battle-tested in Somali with that confrontation...with the four Somali pirates.
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POPS"We Are Helping The Taliban"
As our bombings follow them, beleaguered villagers have little choice but to leave their homes and join the swelling numbers of refugees or take up arms and join the fight against us. Nonetheless, instead of recognizing the cascading unintended consequences of trying to deal with Pakistan’s problems, all signs in Washington point to further escalation. Both the House and Senate have newly introduced bills to triple foreign aid to Pakistan, from $500 million to $1.5 billion, with every indication that the leadership in Pakistan is taking advantage of the situation with the Taliban to milk more aid from the US taxpayer. We are broke. This is money we don’t have, and it is an insult to the American people to run up the national credit card for this type of military adventurism after many Americans thought they were voting for peace. The bottom line is our involvement in Pakistan’s internal problems is not making us safer. In fact, we are adding to the numbers of our enemies and incr
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