US begins retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria for killed troops

The U.S. military has begun carrying out strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria late Friday night local time. U.S. Central Command said it struck more than 85 targets using more than 125 precision munitions. “The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” CENTCOM said in a statement. Friday’s strikes are in response to last weekend’s deadly attack at the small U.S. military post in northeast Jordan known as Tower 22. Three U.S. troops were killed in the attack, while more than 40 others were injured. The United States has accused the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, of carrying out the attack. U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, indicated that the U.S.’s response would be multipronged and could include multiple aspects occurring over days. “We will have a multitiered response,” Austin said on Thursday. “And, again, we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is.” Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, were the first U.S. troops to be killed in the ongoing attacks carried out by Iraqi militias. President Joe Biden and Austin attended Friday’s dignified transfer, which is the process in which a fallen U.S. service member is returned to the United States via Dover Air Base, hours before the strikes began. Biden spoke with the families of the service members earlier in the week.

War Protesters Frustrated By Apathy

Three protesters, a half-dozen signs and a missing petition.

Last month, nine protesters gathered in front of the Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown, where U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey have offices.

"Please think about this. It's important," Lynne Flavin, 60, of Lawrenceville, told passersby. She held a blood red sign that said, "Support the Troops. End the War."

Few people gave more than a glance.

I'd comment on their being frustrated by apathy, (as well as their idiocy), but I really don't care.


OK. I'll comment. Stupid hippies. Not that I care about stupid hippies.

Global Warming Causes Snowfall In Baghdad

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For the first time in memory, snow fell across Baghdad.

"For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad," said Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old retiree from the New Baghdad area.

"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early 40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad," Abdul-Hussein said, referring to snow as a type of rain. "But snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination."

"I asked my mother, who is 80, whether she'd ever seen snow in Iraq before, and her answer was no," said Fawzi Karim, a 40-year-old father of five who runs a small restaurant in Hawr Rajab, a village six miles southeast of Baghdad.

"This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God," Karim said.

Some said they'd seen snow only in movies.

Talib Haider, a 19-year-old college student, said "a friend of mine called me at 8 a.m. to wake me up and tell me that the sky is raining snow."

"I rushed quickly to the balcony to see a very beautiful scene," he said. "I tried to film it with my cell phone camera. This scene has really brought me joy. I called my other friends and the morning turned to be a very happy one in my life."

An Iraqi who works for The Associated Press said he woke his wife and children shortly after 7 a.m. to "have a look at this strange thing." He then called his brother and sister and found them awake, also watching the "cotton-like snow drops covering the trees."

Bush: I'll Bring Troops Home On JetBlue

Under increased pressure to announce an exit strategy from Iraq, President George W. Bush revealed plans today to bring U.S. troops home on the budget airlines JetBlue.

Mr. Bush received praise for his decision to withdraw American troops, but his choice of JetBlue to transport them raised more than a few eyebrows.

According to most official estimates, with its recent spate of scheduling problems and flight delays, JetBlue could take up to seven years to bring U.S. troops home, and possibly ten years in the event of inclement weather.

But at a press conference at the White House today, the president argued that the selection of Jet Blue was "crucial" to the success of his latest exit strategy.

"Setting an exact timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq would be playing right into the enemy's hands," Mr. Bush said. "By going with JetBlue, our enemy will have no idea when we're leaving."

To emphasizes his point, Mr. Bush added, "And neither will we."

Across Iraq, U.S. GIs were hopeful that the news about JetBlue meant that they would be home by Christmas, or at least by Easter 2012.

At JetBlue headquarters in Forest Hills, New York, CEO David Neeleman said that it was "flattering" to be chosen to play such a critical role in President Bush's new exit strategy, but wondered if his embattled airlines has what it takes to bring troops home from Iraq.

"We're still having a hard time getting people home to Fort Myers," Mr. Neeleman said.

Elsewhere, Britain and Denmark announced that they were joining "The Coalition of the Leaving."

Found Over At: YubaNet

Millions Of Iraqis Vote In Relative Peace

Millions of Iraqis, from tribal sheiks to entire families with children in tow, turned out Thursday to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election - among the freest ever in the Arab world.

Up to 11 million of the nation's 15 million registered voters took part, election officials estimated, though they had no official turnout figure.

"The number of people participating is very, very high, and we have had very few irregularities," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told The Associated Press. "It is a good day so far - good for us, good for Iraq."

Chiman Saleh, a Kurd in Kirkuk, said election day made her think of her two brothers killed by Saddam's forces in the 1980s.

"This is day is revenge for Saddam," she said. "This is one of the times that Iraqis are free to choose their candidates."

Retreat And Defeat

2.2 MB Windows Media Viewer

Democrats Have A Plan For Iraq:
Retreat and Defeat

"No WMDs," over and over...

Besides the underground laboratories with prisons for human testing of bioweapons as well as vials of bioweapons that were found which were of a type that could be surge produced, the objective facts about Saddam's WMDs are there for anyone to research.

What is most interesting to me is when there is an opportunity to study how the Old Press supports its templates regardless of facts as in the case of the report written by the weapons inspector David Kay. The text of his report is available to anyone who knows to look for it. Yet in the Old Press there are thousands of headlines and reporting that read like this: Kay: No weapons yet, but evidence of intent. That's not what he said, simply read it for yourself to see. This is why blogging and other forms of New Media are undercutting the Old Press. It's simple really, they are lying. The Old Press lied and people died and continue to as terrorists work to manipulate journalists and journalists use their standard of if it bleeds it leads. What is truly amazing is how they sometimes snivel that the New Media has no accountability. As opposed to what? As if their form of accountability to liberal editors, ratings or money leads them to write stories closer to the truth?

An excellent post by mynym at Into Good and Evil.

Irony: Peace Activists Taken Hostage

Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video Tuesday showing four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq, with a previously unknown group claiming responsibility for the kidnappings.

The aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that four of its members were taken hostage Saturday.

German television broadcast photos Tuesday showing a blindfolded German woman being led away by armed captors in Iraq.

"The team's work has focused on documenting and focusing public attention on detainee abuses, connecting citizens of Iraq to local and international human rights organizations, and accompanying Iraqi civilians as they interact with multinational military personnel and Iraq's government officials," the group said.

These are the same people that sponsored the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign.

The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, beginning in March 2004, matched individual detainees with congregations, mosques, synagogues, and peace groups in North America and around the world. These groups wrote letters to U.S., Iraqi and other relevant officials on the detainees' behalf.

I wonder who they'll write to now ? Do you think the followers of the "Religion of Peace" will react favorably to a letter writing campaign or simply behead them as they usually do ?

Those who coddle terrorists should not be surprised when they become victims.

Time For Heroes ?

"Heroes Abroad, Unknown At Home" - In today's New York Times David Brooks (a conservative columnist) describes the heroics of Marines in combat in Iraq, then bemoans the fact that Americans aren't getting the hero stories from the frontlines. He blames Americans.

Second, why aren't there more stories about war heroes like Christopher Ieva? The casual courage he and his men displayed is awe-inspiring, but most Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war. That's because despite all the amazing things people are achieving in Iraq, we don't tell their stories back here. That's partly because in the post-Vietnam era many Americans - especially those who dominate the culture - are uncomfortable with military valor. That's partly because some people don't want this war to seem like a heroic enterprise. And it's partly because many Americans are aloof from this whole conflict, and couldn't tell you a thing about Operations Matador and Steel Curtain and the other major offensives.

And whose fault is that ? Our "press" doesn't tell us these things. It's not "Stupid Americans", it's "Stupid American Press".

Readers might be a bit confused if they recall the similar New York Times story from August bemoaning the fact that there are no hero stories from the Iraq war. But the difference between it and this latest version is that in the earlier example the Times blamed the Pentagon for their lack of heroes.

Here's the Marine Corps account of why Captain Christopher S. Ieva received a Bronze Star award.

Great post from Greyhawk at The Mudville Gazette.

Bruce Willis To Make Pro-War Movie

ANGERED by negative portrayals of the conflict in Iraq, Bruce Willis, the Hollywood star, is to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.

It will be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent the past year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.

Willis attended Deuce Four’s homecoming ball this month in Seattle, Washington, where the soldiers are on leave, along with Stephen Eads, the producer of Armageddon and The Sixth Sense.

The 50-year-old actor said that he was in talks about a film of “these guys who do what they are asked to for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom”.

Unlike many Hollywood stars Willis supports the war and recently offered a $1m (about £583,000) bounty for the capture of any of Al-Qaeda’s most wanted leaders such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, its commander in Iraq. Willis visited the war zone with his rock and blues band, the Accelerators, in 2003.

“I am baffled to understand why the things I saw happening in Iraq are not being reported,” he told MSNBC, the American news channel.

He is expected to base the film on the writings of the independent blogger Michael Yon, a former special forces green beret who was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their heroics. Yon was at the soldiers’ ball with Willis, who got to know him through his internet war reports on http://www.michaelyon.blogspot.com/. “What he is doing is something the American media and maybe the world media isn’t doing,” the actor said, “and that’s telling the truth about what’s happening in the war in Iraq.”

I don't go to movies very often these days, but I will be there standing in line opening night for this one. Thank you Bruce !

Bruce Willis comes out fighting for Iraq’s forgotten GI heroes

Willis is likely to take on the role of the unit’s commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Erik Kurilla, 39, a Bruce Willis lookalike with a chest full of medals, more hair than Willis and a glamorous blonde wife.

He was injured in August after being shot three times by insurgents “in front of my eyes”, Yon recorded in his blog: “He continued to direct his men until a medic gave him morphine and the men took him away.”

Kurilla now has a titanium plate in his leg. He met Willis at the ball and said that his men were “very excited and appreciative that he was there”.

When the battalion arrived in Mosul in November last year the city was under threat from insurgents. “We faced very heavy fighting for about three months,” Kurilla recalled. “Every patrol was making contact with enemy forces. We would hit them where they slept, where they worked and where they ate.”

Today the picture was very different, he said. “I have watched a city that was in absolute chaos turn into one that has a viable Iraqi security force, which is taking the lead in fighting the terrorists.”

Yon, 41, went to Iraq after a friend from high school, Scott Helveston, a former navy Seal, was hanged from a bridge in Falluja in an incident that shocked the world. Yon had never blogged before but was the author of Danger Close, a book about his experience as a green beret when he killed a man in a bar-room brawl. He was charged with murder and acquitted on the grounds of self-defence.

Expect the MSM to put him through the same crap they put Mel Gibson through.

Bruce Willis offers $1mn to capture bin Laden

Action superstar Bruce Willis is offering $1 million to any civilian who gives information to help capture terrorists Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Hat Tip: Heidi at euphoricreality.net

The E-mail Weapon: Troops Tackle Bad Media

After my return from Iraq I received phone calls and emails from military friends as they either came back to the US on leave or finished their tours and re-deployed “Stateside.” The typical phone call went like this: “I’m back. It’s great to be home. What’s up? How are you doing?” Then, the conversation quickly moved on to: “What’s with the press and Iraq?” The press usually meant television. On tv Iraq looked like it was going to Hell in a handbasket of flame and brutality; however, the images of carnage didn’t square with the troops’ experience.

Remember this quote: First, there is definitely a terrorism problem. Not an insurgency, not a guerilla war, not a resistance. That is the ground truth in Iraq.

I am sick of the media constantly telling us that this is another Vietnam and that we are in a quagmire. They are lying to us. They want the terrorists to win. Austin Bay Blog gives us a way to fight the disinformation they shove down our throats every day.

Found over at Austin Bay Blog.

al-Zarqawi Toast ?

The Elaph Arab media website reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group, may have been killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.

Al-Zarqawi Rumored Killed

There are rumors circulating in the Middle East concerning the possible death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The rumors originated with Arab television, were picked up by the Jerusalem Post and now are alive in several venues.

What is known is that the United States attacked a location in Mosul in which eight individuals were reported killed and burned beyond recognition. It would appear that the attack was triggered by some intelligence and that the intelligence held open the possibility that the command cell of al Qaeda in Iraq was there. The attack either blew up the site or the team committed suicide.

It is interesting that the attack came on the heels of Jordan's intense attack on jihadists within its borders and on anyone linked to al-Zarqawi. This followed the bombings of three hotels in Amman. Today, for example, al-Zarqawi's own family in Jordan condemned him. Jordanian security has lashed out in all directions after that attack. It is speculative -- but not unreasonable -- to assume that the Jordanians, during their crackdown, secured intelligence on the location of al-Zarqawi's command cell.

Al-Zarqawi's Family Denounces Him And Voices Support For Jordanian King

Family members of al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi say it'll be "doomsday" before they have anything more to do with him.

The Jordanian-born terror leader claims responsibility for the deadly, November ninth hotel bombings in Jordan that killed 59 people.

His family renounced him today, telling Jordan's King Abdullah that they will "sever links with him until doomsday."

The statement said anyone who carried out such violence in the kingdom does not enjoy its protection.

It's a serious blow to al-Zarqawi, who will no longer enjoy the protection of his tribe.

I hope this is true. If it is, this is a great milestone in the war against Dhimmitude.


US hopes al-Zarqawi died in gunfight

US forces have sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaeda members died in a gunfight - some by their own hand to avoid capture.

A US official said that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, according to the US military.

Like so many reports from the MSM, this one was peppered with statistics of how many Americans have been killed in Iraq, how many people died this weekend, we torture terrorists, blah blah blah. They can not even report on the good news without twisting it into bad news. Freedom bad, Dhimmitude good. They are practically rooting for the terrorists. It's amazing that these asshat reporters still feel that they're unbiased.

Ex-cellmate says al-Zarqawi was tortured

Good. I hope it was excruciating.

Offering possible partial clues as to why the Jordanian-born al-Qaida leader chose Amman for triple hotel bombings earlier this month, the former cellmate, Yousef Rababaa, said: "He hated the intelligence services intensely, and the authorities didn't know how to deal with his new ideology."

New ideology ? Mohammad practiced terrorism ! This is not a new ideology.

Rababaa, who spent three years in jail with al-Zarqawi until both were freed under a royal amnesty in 1999, recalled his cellmate's inflexible, radical Islamic ideology.

See what appeasement and tolerance gets you ? They have declared war ! Any gesture of goodwill is seen by them as weakness.

"He divided the world between Muslim and infidels," Rababaa said, adding that al-Zarqawi was quiet at the time and did not show a violent nature.

The Koran divides the world that way. It also instructs Muslims to not show the infidels (us) their true nature until ready to strike.

"I didn't see that side of him, although he had very strong opinions. I am very surprised at where he is today," said Rababaa, suggesting that maybe someone helps al-Zarqawi plan his terror operations.

"He had very little education, only medium intelligence. But he was very brave," Rababaa said.

Sending others to behead and blow up innocent people is brave ? He is/was a coward. Like most Muslims, he had very little education. Only the Koran instructed him. That's what makes them dangerous.

He did not specify how he knew al-Zarqawi had been tortured or offer any specific evidence to back the claim.

Well why should he ? The western press will be only to happy to report this alleged torture as fact ! We all know that the MSM wants the terrorist bastards to win. They prove it every day in their "unbiased reporting".

UPDATE 2-US investigating whether Zarqawi among Iraq dead

Again, true to form the LameStreamMedia fails to name this bastard as a terrorist. He's an "insurgent", a "guerrilla chief". Even though the article admits this:

When an Islamist Web site showed a video last year of a man severing the head of American hostage Nicholas Berg, the CIA said Zarqawi was probably the one wielding the knife.

Oh, and as far as al Qaeda is concerned, it's just an "organization".

Disgusting.

Recognition

Click the pic.

Hat Tip: ZardozZ News & Satire.

I tried linking and track-backing to ZardozZ, but his links and trackbacks are FUBAR. What can I say ZardozZ ? I tried !

Al Zawahiri Threats

I have expressed my opinion before that if the war in Iraq is not part of the war on terror as some westerns think then why do we have almost all the terrorists in the world racing each other to achieve "martyrdom" in our land?
Why not Afghanistan, Israel or their ultimate enemies; the west and America in particular? Sure they have attacked Europe but is that the best they can do there? I really doubt it. The terrorists have shown us that they have people almost everywhere in the world that are waiting for an order to blow themselves up in a bus, a train or a street crowded with civilians. So why are they putting most of their resources in Iraq instead of the west?

From Ali at Free Iraqi.

Web Site Claims GI Captured In Iraq

Turned out be a G.I. Joe Doll, I think The Therapist had the best take on it.

And So It Begins

Iraq Voters Defy Threats, Boycott Calls


Good for them.

You know, the MSM and the Demoncrats predicted disaster for this election just like they predicated disaster for the Afghanistan elections. Actually they seemed eager for disaster. In both cases they were proven incredibly wrong.

I'll bet they still won't get it. I bet the MSM will still wonder why their ratings continue to plunge and the Demoncrats will still wonder why more and more Americans reject them.

It's because they are wrong an incredible amount of the time. Only the most thick skulled person can keep seeing them be wrong time and again and continue to think they're right.

Even now, the MSM continues to focus on what little bad happened during the voting. Forty four deaths. It's unclear if they count the terrorists as part of the count but they usually do. That's pretty much a normal daily body count in Iraq. I'm not saying the deaths weren't tragic, but it's nothing like the blood bath predicted by the Demoncrats and the MSM. The point here is they continue to focus on the wrong part of the story. The big story is the success of the election. They can't even get the focus of the story right.

This is a great day for Iraq.
This is a great day for America.