It's going to be all right

I haven't been posting much lately. While I admire the folks that can write succinct opinions on current events or will sometimes debunk liberal "conventional wisdom" that is printed as news, I haven't found this mode of communication to be satisfying for me. I much prefer to listen than to talk.

In February, I started monitoring news of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, KS. I was hoping to post good news about their progress and successes. Sadly, my Google News search has brought mostly tragic news of soldiers' deaths. This week, three more soldiers were killed. The families of Sgt. Joel Lee Murray, 26, Ogden, KS Spc. David J. Lane, 20, Emporia, KS; and Pvt. Randol S. Shelton, 22, Schiller Park, IL are in mourning.

Early this morning, I received a news alert on the battalion's commander Ralph Kauzlarich. It is unexpectedly optimistic and is written by the Sunday Times. Here's just one section:

"The 2nd Battalion soldiers who moved in were the first to base themselves in the area since 2003, the year of the invasion. They set themselves up in Base Rustamiyah, an old Iraqi army school, and implanted small companies of men in the worst neighbourhoods.

By June they were engulfed in all-out war. Mortars and rockets pounded the base and its small outposts relentlessly. Soldiers were killed and wounded by snipers and roadside bombs.

'It was more war than I ever want to see again,' said Major Brent Cummings, the second-in-command. Then the rain of mortars relented and during the past two weeks the roadside bombs, their enemy's most potent weapon, have almost disappeared."

I have been watching the attacks this week on General Petraeus. I've also watched the sometimes hyper rhetoric that is being thrown back by the right. Through it all, Petraeus just keeps stating the facts as he sees them. The American public is likely not impressed by either side - the right or the left. They trust, and I might say - almost adore - the military.

When MoveOn.org insinuates that General Petraeus is betraying the United States, it drives people away from them and the Democratic Party. The folks on the right might benefit from simply being quiet and letting the light shine upon the true nature of those who would find political gain in America's defeat in Iraq.

There is indeed a shift in the events in Iraq. You can hear it from Bill Ardolino, Michael Yon, and Michael Totten. Americans will hear it from soldiers and marines as they slowly start coming home.

In the meantime, babies will be born, entrepenuers will start new businesses, and college graduates will embark on new careers - in America and Iraq. Life always springs anew even after horrific wars. We mourn the dead, we lick our wounds, we carry on.

It's going to be all right.

The "tired" Republican Congress members

Deb at "You Betcha I'm a Proud Army Mom" (aka Yankee Mom) reacts to an AP story on the effort by GOP senators to influence war strategy that includes the following sentence: "But many Republicans, most of whom will face voters next year, say they are tired of the war, which is in its fifth year and has killed more than 3,600 troops."

The title of Deb's post, appropriately enough, is "WTF!!!" Her response is:

"They’re tired of the war??? TIRED???!!!

Tell that to the 20 year old packing 80 lbs of gear in 130 degree heat, walking miles patrolling the streets to keep them safe from the murderous, head sawing off while still alive, blow ‘em up, hate America, wastes of oxygen infesting the Middle East."

Deb continues with more illustrations.

Unfortunately, one of my senators - Norm Coleman - seems to be one of the Republicans who is most tired of the war. Here is the letter I wrote to him on Friday:

"Dear Senator Coleman,

I just read your boilerplate response to my recent email message to you in which I asked you to not 'go wobbly' in the war in Iraq. To my dismay, and in contradiction to your letter in which you state: 'I do not believe politicians should set troop levels,' yesterday you voted to do exactly that.

There will be a vote coming soon in the Senate in which the Democrats will try to set a deadline for troop withdrawal. This, of course, is not within the responsibilities of the Congress. Should you decide to vote for this legislation and it somehow comes to pass, you, sir, will be remembered through history as one of those most responsible for the deaths of perhaps millions. You have heard the warnings of Ryan Crocker and others. I do not need to go into further detail.

You will not remember me, Senator Coleman, but in October 2004 I spoke to you and thanked you for your support of the military. I explained that my son was in Iraq, and you gave me a hug and said: 'God bless your son.'

May God bless you and guide you in this extremely important time in our country's history."

At this critical time for our country, we cannot give in to weariness - nor allow the discouragement of politicians over the sacrifice of someone else's sons and daughters to snatch defeat from the reach of victory. The time between now and the September report by General Petraeus is "crunch time." It's all hands on deck...

Victor Davis Hanson

One of the most clear writers on the war in Iraq is Victor Davis Hanson, a farmer, classicist, and professor of history. I've often wanted to print out his articles and post them on my cubicle wall - sort of like Martin Luther and his 95 theses that were nailed to the wall.

This is the point from Hanson's article: "The New York Times surrenders" yesterday that should be memorized and then repeated when someone claims this is "Bush's war":

"Supporters of the war included 70 percent of the American public in April 2003; the majority of NATO members; a coalition with more participants than the United Nations alliance had in the Korean War; and a host of politicians and pundits as diverse as Joe Biden, William F. Buckley, Wesley Clark, Hillary Clinton, Francis Fukuyama, Kenneth Pollack, Harry Reid, Andrew Sullivan, Thomas Friedman, and George Will."

As they say, read it all.

A journey through Hell

I've been monitoring news of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division since they left from Fort Riley, Kansas in February. So far, five have died, nineteen have been wounded - including such serious injuries as a lost hand, a lost arm, a lost eye, and one soldier has been shot in the face.

David Finkel, a Washington Post reporter, accompanied the unit on an excruciating four mile journey to the memorial service of Sgt. William Crow Jr. Here is the report filed by Finkel in yesterday's Washington Post.

As the American public and our politicians forget that we are involved in a war with a brutal enemy the men of the 2nd Battalion fight for their lives and the lives of the Iraqis they are trying to save. May God protect them and bring comfort to their families. And may God protect one brave reporter, too.

Update: It appears that something happened to the ability to add a title in Blogger right now. Will do that when able.

Still more sad news from Fort Riley

Sgt. William W. Crow Jr., 28, of Grandview Plaza, Kan., died when the vehicle he was in struck a improvised explosive device on June 28. Crow was an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. This was his third deployment.

May he rest in peace in the loving arms of his Creator.

Their sacrifice is not in vain

Sadly, there are two more deaths to report in the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.

Army Pfc. Cameron K. Payne, 22, of Corona, Calif., died June 11 in Balad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. (No photo is available.)

Pfc. Andre Craig Jr., 24, died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device June 25 in Baghdad, Iraq. He entered the Army in October, 2005 and began serving with the 1st Inf. Div. in March, 2006. This was his first deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

Please say a prayer of thanksgiving for their service and one for comfort for their families.

Tired of the war?

Are you getting a little cranky about having to hear about the loss of someone else's sons and daughters in the war in Iraq? Do you think that the threat of al Qaeda is overblown and that if we leave Iraq, al Qaeda's grievances against us will be over? Do you think that the U.S. should just "let 'em fight it out" in Iraq?

Are you just plain tired of the war?

Well, tough.

Read this.

Michael Yon is in Iraq, reporting from the field. Here is an excerpt:

"I told the Iraqi commander, Captain Baker, that it was important that Americans see this; he took me around the graves and showed more than I wanted to see. He said the people had been murdered by al Qaeda. I made video of him speaking, and of the horrible scene. The heat and stench were crushingly oppressive and broken only by the sounds of shovels as Iraqi soldiers kept digging."

It gets worse. This caption is below one of the photos in Yon's post:

"Soldiers from 5th IA said al Qaeda had cut the heads off the children. Had al Qaeda murdered the children in front of their parents? Maybe it had been the other way around: maybe they had murdered the parents in front of the children. Maybe they had forced the father to dig the graves of his children."

There are currently 108 links to Michael Yon's post. You will probably not read about such things in the New York Times or the Washington Post. However, as Yon writes in the first excerpt, it's important that Americans see this.

And after they understand the evil that the Iraqi people face, how could they ever suggest that we just walk away?

Immigrants - Legal and otherwise

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

If you've visited the Statue of Liberty, you may have seen these words which are the last two sentences of the poem "The New Colossus" on a plaque on the inner wall of the pedestal.

Many of my fellow conservatives are high-fiving each other today, happy that they have killed immigration "reform". They are thrilled that there will be no amnesty for 12 (or 20) million illegal aliens who have crossed deserts and oceans to arrive in America. They understand that no further legislation for immigration reform is likely to occur before 2009. By this time, there will still be 12 (or 20 or 40) million illegal aliens who will be working outside the protection of labor laws...because we know that very few of these people will be deported. Even the conservatives admit that we cannot (and do not want to) send back the folks who serve our meals, pick our vegetables, clean our hotel rooms, and landscape our homes and businesses. We have simply kicked the issue down the road for another administration to handle.

I have heard no proposed solutions for what to do with the wretched refuse that has washed up on our shores. Instead, I've heard and read gleeful celebration of "Victory!" and vindication for hurt feelings in a sensitive debate. I have even read one usually moderate conservative voice suggest to the President of the United States that he "had better ask nicely and have a long list of persuasive arguments" when he needs help in the future.

So, immigration "reform" is dead until President Clinton or possibly President Obama is in office. President Bush has been humbled like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput. All the while the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses continue to dream of gaining a place in this land that is their last best hope.

Contrast and compare

There is a video of Rosie O'Donnell's daughter that is posted on Rosie's website. The video apparently tries to make a statement about the lost innocence of her daughter and her transformation from Princess to Soldier.

Well, I have a little soldier picture, too. Look at his bright eyes, his relaxed smile. Will he grow up to be a soldier like his daddy? I hope it's not necessary. But I'll be proud of him if he does. Or if he doesn't.

Better than despair.com

Before there were blogs, there was the great website: despair.com. It provided cynical counterpoint to those sappy motivating calendars that executives would order and give to employees in the hopes of teaching them success. This morning, I ran across a website called "Military Motivator." It's a hoot. (h/t Yankee Mom)

Why I am optimistic

For a few years, I was very active in reading and reacting to news via the "Mainstream Media," conservative blogs and other media outlets. I was fortunate enough to exchange correspondence with some well-known journalists and more than a few times the thoughts that I had expressed would appear in articles in various national newspapers, magazines, or blogs.

Life is much different now. I hardly exchange correspondence with journalists anymore - my days as a quiet activist military mom are quickly coming to a close.

Now, my source of "opinion" is usually sitting next to me on an airplane or in the boarding area of an airport. A few weeks ago, I sat next to a young man whose parents came from Croatia. I don't know how we got onto the subject but we started talking about the Palestinian situation. He was extremely well informed and as we were finishing up our conversation, I asked him if he thought that he was unusual in his knowledge of world events. He said he was, and I told him that I disagreed. Actually, I have had several such conversations on planes.

I have watched the small segment of the population who are now young men and women in their mid twenties to lower thirties. I chaperoned my sons' classes and activities through junior high and senior high. My fellow parents often complained about the bad behavior of this particular group of students. I would venture to say, even then, that we were seeing the greatest generation. The other parents would look at me as if I had two heads.

The nation now watches in amazement as these young men and women willingly and nobly fight Islamic terrorism wherever our national policy allows. Young writers provide a voice of reason with poise and grace at places like National Review and in blogs where there is no barrier to entry for reaching a potentially huge audience.

In private conversations with regular folks, I hear recurring themes: gratitude for the military, disgust at the media, distrust of both political parties.

While men like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declare the "war is lost" and the national newspapers highlight every coalition setback, our young men and women quietly fight our wars, absorb news of the world, and refer to facts that are neither found on the front page of the New York Times nor in network newcasts. They are the thinkers and the doers that their parents were not.

The future is in good hands with "Generation Y" whose coming of age corresponded with the attacks of September 11, 2001. While Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have become bored with the fight and weary at the loss of someone else's sons and daughters in the war on terror, these young men and women will soldier on.

God bless 'em.

I LOVE this man

Christopher Hitchens has been one of my favorite writers ever since the Spring of 2004 when my son was serving in Iraq and I joined the ranks of news/opinion junkies.

Today, one of his best columns appeared in Slate. Titled: "Look Forward to Anger," Hitchens points out how the media are manipulated to amplify the anger of professional Muslim protestors. He writes: "I have actually seen some of these demonstrations, most recently in Islamabad, and all I would do if I were a news editor is ask my camera team to take several steps back from the shot. We could then see a few dozen gesticulating men (very few women for some reason), their mustaches writhing as they scatter lighter fluid on a book or a flag or a hastily made effigy. Around them, a two-deep encirclement of camera crews. When the lights are turned off, the little gang disperses. And you may have noticed that the camera is always steady and in close-up on the flames, which it wouldn't be if there was a big, surging mob involved."

He finishes with this perfect paragraph: "We may have to put up with the Rage Boys of the world, but we ought not to do their work for them, and we must not cry before we have been hurt. In front of me is a copy of this week's Economist, which states that Rushdie's 1989 death warrant was "punishment for the book's unflattering depiction of the Prophet Muhammad." There is no direct depiction of the prophet in this work of fiction, and the reverie about his many wives occurs in the dream of a madman. Nobody in Ayatollah Khomeini's circle could possibly have read the book for him before he issued a fatwah, which made it dangerous to possess. Yet on that occasion, the bookstore chains of America pulled The Satanic Verses from their shelves, just as Borders shamefully pulled Free Inquiry (a magazine for which I write) after it reproduced the Danish cartoons. Rage Boy keenly looks forward to anger, while we worriedly anticipate trouble, and fret about etiquette, and prepare the next retreat. If taken to its logical conclusion, this would mean living at the pleasure of Rage Boy, and that I am not prepared to do."

Mr. Hitchens, nor will our family live at the pleasure of Rage Boy.

News you can use

...but don't expect to find it on the front page of the New York Times.

From the latest Gallup poll on Americans' confidence in various institutions:

"Americans have relatively low levels of confidence in the Fourth Estate. Just 23% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in television news, and only 22% express the same sentiment for newspapers. Neither of these two entities has done exceedingly well in Gallup's history, but both are particularly low this year. "

Oopsie!

Those numbers are even lower than President Bush's in the same poll. Confidence in the presidency is rated at 25%.

Congress' rating? 14%

I think it's safe to say that the self-absorbed press (in general) is becoming less and less relevant by the passing week. Folks are turning off the news because they don't believe what they are being told anymore. One day - perhaps very soon - we will wake up and find out that all is not lost in Iraq. You just won't read about it on the front page of the New York Times..

Pray for them

As you read this post from Michael Yon, you will become informed of the scope of the military offensive that the coalition forces are making in Iraq. At this moment, our young men are engaged in the depths of Hell.

Please pray for them.

Is the war in Iraq lost?

Senator Josepth Lieberman doesn't seem to think so.

From the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal today:

"I recently returned from Iraq and four other countries in the Middle East, my first trip to the region since December. In the intervening five months, almost everything about the American war effort in Baghdad has changed, with a new coalition military commander, Gen. David Petraeus; a new U.S. ambassador, Ryan Crocker; the introduction, at last, of new troops; and most important of all, a bold, new counterinsurgency strategy.

The question of course is--is it working? Here in Washington, advocates of retreat insist with absolute certainty that it is not, seizing upon every suicide bombing and American casualty as proof positive that the U.S. has failed in Iraq, and that it is time to get out.

In Baghdad, however, discussions with the talented Americans responsible for leading this fight are more balanced, more hopeful and, above all, more strategic in their focus--fixated not just on the headline or loss of the day, but on the larger stakes in this struggle, beginning with who our enemies are in Iraq. The officials I met in Baghdad said that 90% of suicide bombings in Iraq today are the work of non-Iraqi, al Qaeda terrorists. In fact, al Qaeda's leaders have repeatedly said that Iraq is the central front of their global war against us. That is why it is nonsensical for anyone to claim that the war in Iraq can be separated from the war against al Qaeda--and why a U.S. pullout, under fire, would represent an epic victory for al Qaeda, as significant as their attacks on 9/11."

There's more. Go read it all.

More sad news

I have not been blogging much lately. Life has been a whirlwind of plane trips and road trips and cruises. I'm home for three weeks and perhaps I will be able to post a few thoughts.

In February, I started following the news of 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

Today, I found the sad news that another of its soldiers has been killed in Iraq. He was Pfc. Shawn D. Gajdos, 25, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. May he rest in peace, and may God grant comfort to his family.

Home at last!

Tonight, I've arrived home from a series of about two months of weekly road trips. Next week, I'm home all week. Yahoo! Now, I can catch up on store visit reports and other projects.

Last weekend, I was able to take my mom on a short cruise for Mother's Day. It was great fun for both of us.

Here we are at dinner on formal night:

An interview with Steven Vincent's interpreter

Nour al-Khal is the interpreter who was kidnapped and shot with journalist Steven Vincent in Basrah in August 2005. Here is an interview that was posted on American Public Media. The interview runs about 40 minutes.

It contains a first person account of the evil our soliders are fighting. Lisa Ramaci, Steven's widow also is included in the interview. Nour and Lisa talk at length about Nour's struggle to obtain refugee status in the United States.

A day in the life

In February, I posted about the deployment of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. Then, I set up a Google News search to follow their story. Sadly, one of the soldiers was killed in action.

A few days ago, David Finkel filed this story with the Washington Post. The headline and sub-headline are: A Grisly Problem, Grateful Iraqis and a Grim Outlook; Unit Planning Outpost Confronts an Obstacle Known as 'Bob'.

It is an interesting, if a bit macabre, story of the obstacles that were encountered when the U.S. Army wanted to set up operations in an abandoned spaghetti factory. This is the kind of writing that the Washington Post is very good at. There's no gottcha, just the sad facts of a day in the life in a war zone.

What I learned at Police Reserve training

One of the best things about being a police reserve is the training that we get. Yesterday, we were shown the usual gory first aid films that implore us to stay calm as blood and tissue flow out of wounds of various types.

For comic relief, we were treated to this film. I thought it was quite funny.

Update: Video clip removed because the incessant and unexpected playing of a boozing song was irritating my faithful reader. (Thanks, Bro.)

Find this and other videos at Guzer.com.

Cheers!