Category Archives: Soldiers

Mar 24 0 comments
Barbarians, Patriot, Soldiers, Tea Party, Terrorists, War

The Very Best Of Allen West: Shut Your Mouth. War Is Hell.

Islamic-American Flag

Desecration of US Flag

REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN WEST (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sends The Weekly Standard an email commenting on the Marines’ video, and has given us permission to publish it.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

Does anyone besides me believe that Congressman West (Lt. Col. US Army, Ret.) would make one fit Commander-In-Chief one day, especially after eight or four years as Vice President under a strong conservative leader beginning January 20, 2013? Let’s back up the truck a bit.

While serving in Taji, Iraq, Col. West received information from an intelligence specialist about a reported plot to ambush him and his men. The alleged plot reportedly involved Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi, a civilian Iraqi police officer. West, who was not responsible for conducting interrogations in Iraq and had never conducted nor witnessed one, had his men detain Hamoodi.

Allen West

US Representative Allen West (R-FL)

In the process of detaining Mr. Hamoodi, soldiers testified that Hamoodi appeared to reach for his weapon and needed to be subdued. Hamoodi was beaten by four soldiers from the 220th Field Artillery Battalion on the head and body. West then fired his pistol near Hamoodi’s head, after which Hamoodi provided West with names and information, which Hamoodi later described as “meaningless information induced by fear and pain.” At least one of these suspects was arrested as a result, but no plans for attacks or weapons were found. West said “At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It’s possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi.”

West was ultimately charged with violating articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During a hearing held as part of an Article 32 investigation in November 2003, West stated, “I know the method I used was not right, but I wanted to take care of my soldiers.”The charges were ultimately referred to an Article 15 proceeding rather than court-martial, at which West was fined $5,000. LTC West accepted the judgment and retired with full benefits in the summer of 2004. Asked if he would act differently under similar circumstances again, West testified, “If it’s about the lives of my soldiers at stake, I’d go through hell with a gasoline can.”

Wouldn’t you just love it if you heard THESE words coming out of an American President:

“We are going to fill your streets with hundreds of thousands of bicycles ridden by students from the LDS Church. They’ll go to every door, ring every bell, then I’ll send in the Baptists… and that is only the first wave of our troops.

“Don’t make me come over there! When we land, we are going to shoot anyone and everyone who resists us. We are going to piss on every corpse, and then were going to take a dump in your city hall, right on the Governor chair. We are going to teach your people to smoke cigarettes and love Rock N Roll. We are going to take all the minerals out of your soil, drain all your oil reserves, drink all your water, eat all your food and take anything of value back to America.

“We are going to take your currency and burn it in the town square, drink all your alcohol and teach birth control to your society so ‘your people’ will come to the point of extinction in one generation. Then we are going to teach English to everyone in your nation and make them dependent on America for everything, including the air they breathe. But of course we won’t stop there. We are going to fill your streets with hundreds of thousands of bicycles ridden by students from the LDS Church. They’ll go to every door, ring every bell, then I’ll send in the Baptists… and that is only the first wave of our troops.

“So… If I were you, don’t make me come over there! Got it! Any questions?”

Okay, maybe not exactly THOSE words, but…

Next thing you know, some beanie weenie club will be screaming bloody murder that this is a hate site. Guess that’s when we give shout to the turkey buzzards in the fields, peel back the service scars, and let them pick at the toxic scabs given us for our abiding patience. Perhaps then will we never again fail to recognize the desperate identity of the audacious haters who control every nook and cranny of this foolish world.

Sep 27 0 comments
China, Globalization, Soldiers

The Soldier Beetle As Stink Bug

Got these bugs in your air space, and don’t know how they got there. Unlike the experts in the article below, I don’t really think this is such a great mystery. They are native to China, and China ships us hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods every year. Duh. But here is an article I found worth reading.

NO ONE IS SURE EXACTLY when it got here, but the brown marmorated stink bug may be coming to an orchard, field, or attic near you.

Halyomorpha halys, a native of Asia, has been expanding its range since its U.S. discovery in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 8 years ago. It has since been detected in portions of Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Oregon, has infested houses in Maryland, and is showing up in increasing numbers in ARS traps in Beltsville, Maryland.

Jeffrey Aldrich, an entomologist and expert on stink bugs at the ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, is developing a weapon that will use the insect’s own body chemistry: a pheromone-based trap.

Stink bugs are a relentless threat to cotton, corn, soybeans, and other crops. “They’re mobile and not particularly susceptible to insecticides,” Aldrich says.

The impact of H. halys remains to be seen, but ARS researchers in Kearneysville, West Virginia, have seen them feeding in apple orchards, and in Asia, the bugs feed on ornamental plants, weeds, soybeans, apples, peaches, figs, mulberries, citrus fruits, and persimmons.

The biggest problem in the United States so far has been in homes. When the weather turns cool each fall, the bugs look for wintering sites and make their way into houses and buildings. They don’t harm humans, but if they’re squashed or pulled into a vacuum cleaner, they emit an unpleasant odor.

Aldrich was stunned at the degree of infestation he saw at a private home near Hagerstown, Maryland, last year, particularly in the attic. The homeowner was looking for a simple way to get rid of them—and there is none.

Adult male stink bugs often produce attractant pheromones. In Japan, the brown-winged green bug, Plautia stali, a cousin of the new arrival, releases a pheromone consisting of a single compound that is the basis for a lure used in a Japanese commercial trap. Aldrich has been working with Ashot Khrimian, an ARS chemist, who has synthesized the compound in the Japanese trap. Aldrich put the compound in experimental traps he designed to monitor H. halys, and he says the population has jumped from barely detectable levels in 2004 to numbers that now surpass those of the native green stink bug.

“It’s early in this insect’s invasion and things are still unfolding, but it is spreading and it’s going to continue to spread,” Aldrich says. He is searching for a H. halys pheromone that can be synthesized and used in a trap to protect houses, fields, and orchards. Using the bug’s own pheromones would likely make for a more effective trap than using pheromones from another stink bug.

Aldrich is raising the bugs in his lab, inserting them into specially vented tubes, and using gas chromatography to look for pheromones among their emissions. He initially tested clusters of stink bugs, but studies show that some stink bugs emit more pheromone when raised individually, so he is now running his tests on individual H. halys. He’s optimistic the results will pay off. “I find it hard to believe this thing doesn’t have a pheromone,” he says.—By Dennis O’Brien, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff.

The research is part of Crop Protection and Quarantine, an ARS national program (#304) described on the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov.

Jeffrey Aldrich and Ashot Khrimian are with the USDA-ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705; phone (301) 504-8531, fax (301) 504-6580.

“Combating the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug: A New Threat for Agriculture, a Nuisance for Homeowners” was published in the July 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Mar 20 0 comments
Iraq, Soldiers

WHAT HAPPENED IN IRAQ

Did you know that DUE TO THE US TROOPS in Iraq:

  • 47 countries have now reestablished their embassies in Iraq?
  • Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?
  • Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 new schools are now under construction, and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq?
  • Did you know that Iraq’s higher education structure now consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or Colleges, and 4 research centers, all currently operating?
  • Did you know that Iraqi women are now allowed to attend schools?
  • Did you know that 25 Iraqi students departed for the United States in January 2005, for the re-established Fulbright program?
  • Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is now operational? That they have five (5) – 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels, and a naval infantry regiment.
  • Did you know that Iraq’s Air Force now consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and they’ll soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?
  • Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?
  • Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?
  • Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq, that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?
  • Did you know there are now more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
  • Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the series of polio vaccinations?
  • Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid-October?
  • Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone ubscribers in Iraq, and phone use has gone up 158%?
  • Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?
  • Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?
  • Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi residential election had a televised debate recently?

    OF COURSE WE DIDN’T KNOW! WHY DIDN’T WE KNOW? YOUR NEWS MEDIA REFUSES TO TELL US THE TRUE STORY!

    All the above facts about Iraq are verifiable on the Department of Defensewebsite…

    • Mar 16 0 comments
    Barack Obama, Iraq, Soldiers

    THE INSTRUCTION OF TARBABY IRAQ

    “I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave.”

    —King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Jeddeh 1993

    BAGHDAD (AP)—Iraq’s prime minister says U.S. troops will not be withdrawn from areas of the country that are not completely secure. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tells The Associated Press in an interview that he has informed President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials that the Iraqi government must agree to any withdrawals “and must be linked to the security situation.”

    Al-Maliki says that he does not want U.S. troops taken out of any area unless it is “considered 100 percent secure and under control.” Otherwise, withdrawals will be postponed….

    This vulgar exchange is utterly ridiculous and very sad, despite the best intentions or not of the Bush doctrine and this American soldier. The scene immediately draws my attention to the same situation portrayed in a particularly poignant film I once saw where both American soldiers and a highly acclaimed progressive social engineer of the day mandated late 19th century re-education policy while mostly failing to groom the native culture out of certain groups of survivors of the western tribes, making gentlemen and scholars of many when it would only succeed with the rare gifted one who was capable of maintaining his own culture in secret while succeeding in the new white man’s world. Numerous films depicting other colonial empires attempting to train a native population evoke similar feelings of disgust with both sides of the cultural equation.

    I realize I am having a sudden neo-liberal moment of doubt, a small crisis of conscience, with this observation, even as I also realize that life itself is far too often an unrelenting clash of civilizations and ideals, but the brute realities of this clash are indeed troubling to endure. Better these would-be Iraqi policemen understand their dilemma and learn to sort things out, or better these American soldiers leave Iraq to its own pan-Islamic devices, and God help us prepare for the inevitable fallout.

    Sep 09 0 comments
    Global Warming, Peace, Soldiers

    GOOD QUESTION

    Found this on the Washington Times website. If this is the party of Kennedy, why has this party never reiterated his message?

    “We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

    Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy—January 20, 1961

    And I also agree with this next poster:

    “You cannot lead the military when you consider them torturers, murderers and Nazi’s or remain silent while senior members of the party refer to them as such. You cannot support the troops and not the war when a majority of the Congress authorized the war. You cannot expect our military to win the war when the leaders in Congress say it is lost. You cannot remain deaf when the majority of the citizens recognize energy dependence as a national security threat. You cannot build national security integrity with a blame agenda.”

    And there is more…

    The problem is that the current Democrat party is most definitely NOT the party of Kennedy or Roosevelt. In fact, if either of those men were running today the Democrat party would treat them pretty much the way they are treating poor Joe Lieberman. Joe is from the same party as Kennedy, Truman and Roosevelt, and the current Democrats are pretty much throwing him under the bus.

    Lieberman is for a strong national defense and prefers negotiating from strength. The current Democrats, a.k.a. the party of Obama, want to negotiate from weakness, want to cut and run, want to slash our defense budget, our forces, and equipment.

    I think Kennedy, Truman, and Roosevelt would be horrified as to how much their party had been taken over by the fruitcake lefties like Kerry (who is, in my mind, a traitor), Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Jimmy Carter, and other cowards and appeasers. No wonder the country doesn’t trust them.

    Okay, let’s slice this cake another way. The Democrats are the party of Fonda, the party of Streisand, the party of Moore, the party of “Winter Soldier” Kerry, the party of Sheehan. The Democrats HATE the military and feel that it should be used as “supercops” or “the Peace Corp with guns.”

    it is neither, and however you wish to construe the (mis)adventure in Iraq, the military has kicked proverbial butt there. It’s the Jackass Party who made a big deal out of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo and Haditha because it is more important for the Democrats to run down the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines than it is to win the war(s).

    This is why Democrats lose the military vote and the confidence of the American public on national security, and on this one, FDR and JFK roll in their graves!

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