Todd1:36AMFeb 29th 2008

I cannot believe this! The military really does want to keep "Bushies" and their minions in power! What happened to the concept of "citizen soldiers"? We seem to have things upside down in this country.
And what about taking care of our veterans and the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? We are not doing so hot taking care of them. We need a new GI Bill and more safeguards against suicides of returning soldiers/ National Guardsmen.
You DO NOT have to be a Republican to be patriotic and love this country!

emelpe1:56AMFeb 29th 2008

"[R]apid withdrawl" means, I guess, any period of time less than John McCain's promise of "100 years".

mitchell hirsch3:36AMFeb 29th 2008

It seems we need to remind the military who is in charge in this country. Mullen should be fired immediately for "warning" presidential candidates during an election campaign. period.
the democratic party should appeal to the supreme court. They probably wont do the right thing, but at least we'll know what's happening in this country,
remember Mcarthur vs Truman.

Teri5:29AMFeb 29th 2008

What gains is he talking about, gains for all those private companies the U.S. has in that country??? there is more private security than U.S. solders imagine that, guess who pays for al that private security and contractors??? you guessed it, they still have'nt found the 8 billion in cash.

CAPT John Kirby5:44AMFeb 29th 2008

Adm. Mullen's comments were not a reversal for him. He has always maintained that conditions on the ground in Iraq should dominate any decision about troop reductions, and he has never said at any time that he either favors or opposes a "pause." Indeed, while he continues work on the Joint Chiefs' assessment of progress in Iraq, he has tried to remain open-minded to all options. Nor should his comments be construed as a challenge to any particular presidential candidate. He has consistently and repeatedly resisted a hasty withdrawal from Iraq not based on operational conditions.

CAPT John F. Kirby
Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Public Affairs

JOHN6:53AMFeb 29th 2008

OBAMA BEING LESS THAN HONEST ABOUT NAFTA.DO NOT BELIEVE HIM MY FRIENDS.

Mark Impomeni7:10AMFeb 29th 2008

Capt. Kirby,

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond on Admiral Mullen's behalf.

The characterizations of Adm. Mullen's position made in this article are based on media reports of a dispute between the Chiefs and Gen. Patraeus regarding the need for a strategic assessment in Iraq once U.S. forces levels reach 15 combat brigades in July. Published reports of Secretary Gates' decision to back Gen. Petraeus's plan also contained assertions that the Joint Chiefs as a whole were opposed to the idea.

While I recognize that neither my article on that dispute nor the media source I cite contain a direct quote on the pause from Adm. Mullen, the Washington Post did quote him as having a "different perspective" than Petraeus on the pause.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020103285.html

Additionally, Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, both members of the JCS, were quoted in the same article directly opposing the pause out of concern for the welfare of the armed forces. In light of those comments, I think the characterization of a reversal in position by the JCS with respect to the pause is warranted.

I also recognize that Adm. Mullen is not engaging in the presidential primaries with his response to the ABC News reporter's question. However, it is unquestionably true that a victory by Sen. Clinton or Sen. Obama in the general election would result in a pull out order, whereas a victory for Sen. McCain would not. Therefore, I stand by the article's assertion that Adm. Mullen's comments can be interpreted as particularly directed at the Democratic candidates.

Please do not hesitate to comment further or to provide me with any materials that my support your reading of Adm. Mullen's position on this. I will be happy to correct the record if need be.

Sincerely,

Mark Impomeni

tzada7:15AMFeb 29th 2008

News for the week of Feb 29th 2008
A 21-year-old Clearwater, Florida man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this past weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said. When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible....

Latest terror craze: The 'Sticky IED'
BAGHDAD — A new type of improvised explosive device in Iraq has been taped underneath cars and stuck to fuel trucks, animals and women.
Official said Iraq Army has found a new and much lighter IED typically attached to cars and other vehicles. The weapon, dubbed "sticky IED," has consisted of a small plastic explosive wrapped in duct tape."They are just small plastic bombs that include highly explosive material and they can be moved manually," Iraq Army Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Operation Law and Order, said. "And they are put beneath any car and triggered through a remote control."

Terror trial exposes network of terror camps in picturesque rural England
LONDON: Clad in mud-smeared combat fatigues, the young Muslim men trained in picturesque British farmland, hurling imaginary grenades, wielding sticks as mock rifles and chopping watermelons in simulated beheadings.
Security officials believe hundreds of men — Including a gang of North African men who made a failed attempt to bomb London's transit network on July 21, 2005 — two weeks after the July 7 subway and bus strikes that killed 52 commuters — met and were trained at one of the camps, the official said. The British camps, which gave instruction to about 10 men at a time, also offer a glimpse of the training centers British-based radicals hoped to open in Oregon, in the United States, before authorities halted their plans.

How would YOU fight the war on terrorism? All you arm chair second guessers? The war on terror is NOTHING like the Vietnam war. The do nothing Clinton White House actions or more appropriate non actions emboldened terrorists. If that is the world you want to live in then by all means put them back in Washington. Or elect Senator Obama. Despite the rhetoric of these two, they have the same basic message. Gonna feel safer with a President who Arab Nations want to see in the White House? Or the one who gave the Cray computer to the Chinese? Ya they want them back in. Welcome to the year of the Rat.

HillaryPlaysDirty9:01AMFeb 29th 2008

Whenever the Bushies get afraid of losing their Oil Revenue in Iraq, they pull the "We must stay or else..." propaganda. The Bushies plan to stay in Iraq for 100 years to STEAL THEIR OIL and John Mccain is a continuation of the STEALING OF IRAQ OIL and murdering of their citizens to stay in Iraq policy,.

patriot10:51AMFeb 29th 2008

If we make a rapid withdraw out of Iraq we will be letting down those who died for freedom(the American soldier) please do not forget their sacrifice. by withdrawing from Iraq we could be letting terrorists and dictators have control.

patriot11:02AMFeb 29th 2008

If we make a rapid withdraw out of Iraq we will be letting down those
who died for freedom(the American soldiers who died in service to their country) please do not forget their
sacrifice. by withdrawing from Iraq we could be letting terrorists
and dictators have control of that region.

FP11:31AMFeb 29th 2008

GLAD THEY DIDN'T THROW IN THE WHITE FLAG
GOD BLESS AMERICA
SIX BOYS AND THIRTEEN HANDS.....



Each year I am hired to go to Washington , DC , with the eighth grade class from Clinton , WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave s oldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima , Japan , during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys from?'

I told him that we were from Wisconsin 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'

( James Bradley just happened to be in Washington , DC , to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington , D.C. , but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)
When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.)

'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called ' Flags o f Our Fathers' which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.

'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never would talk to their families about it.

(He pointed to the s tatue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima Boys. Not old men.

'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He kn ew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).

'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best fri end , who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.

'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin , where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir . No , we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell 's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.

'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima , they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.

'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Thre e die d on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice.

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Ter rorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom.

Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world.

STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's sacrifice.


God Bless You and God Bless America


REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day.


One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

Great story - worth your time - worth every American's time.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delicious ideas to please the pickiest eaters. Watch

Steve Seivers12:47PMFeb 29th 2008

Gains in Iraq? The other day I was driving home when the radio news reported the days deaths in Iraq. Counting civilians and soldiers it added up to 97.

Didn't read about it in the newspaper or see it online but the question remains, how is apprx/ 100 deaths a day progress? Well, these deaths did not occur in Bagdad. They were provincial deaths. Since the press is headquartered in Bagdad and since Bagdad has been cordoned off by troops it appears that the violence is occurring elsewhere but still occurring. Its just too hard to report far away bombings and therefore it seems that we are making more progress than we really are.

As Buckley said. All Bush had to do was watch "Lawrence of Arabia" to realize that his plan would never work.

brown.ja20081:37PMFeb 29th 2008

Obama's biggest advantage against ANYONE is the MEDIA! Let’s face it, according to the media, Hillary Rodham Clinton can’t do anything right and Barack Hussein Obama can’t do anything wrong. Poor Obama. I seem to recall Obama recently saying "its all about the delegates". Now he is spouting that the popular vote is what the superdelegates need to vote on. Hmmm which is it? Obama needs less of "yes we can" and a lot of 'how he can'. We need experience in the Oval Office and Obama does not have it. Vote Hillary! She is a candidate of action…he is a candidate of words. We need experience in these hard times.

khaldoun3:22PMFeb 29th 2008

It was big mistake to go Iraq war but it will be a bigger mistake to pull out from Iraq too fast. The best plan to use back door to united nation (like use the allayed middle east countries to police each other. The advantage they have same culture, religion, understand the language and their appearance alone will help solve half of problems. Also the cost of the war will more economic.

Dub4:05PMFeb 29th 2008

To HillaryPlaysDirty....In your piece (below), you parrot the national anthem of the Bush haters - Bush Lied To Steal Their Oil.

HillaryPlaysDirty9:01AMFeb 29th 2008

Whenever the Bushies get afraid of losing their Oil Revenue in Iraq, they pull the "We must stay or else..." propaganda. The Bushies plan to stay in Iraq for 100 years to STEAL THEIR OIL and John Mccain is a continuation of the STEALING OF IRAQ OIL and murdering of their citizens to stay in Iraq policy,.


I ask you: where is your proof? How do you know that Mr. Bush or any other non-Iraqui person has profited from oil stolen from their fields? Give me just one confirmed and provable instance.... just one... one that can be researched and given credibility.

Until that proof is given, your accusations are foolish and shows that you are not thinking for yourself.... just repeating what the conspiracy theorists are feeding you. You should DEMAND the same of them instead of just swallowing their hatred and lies hook line and sinker.

Angel6:30PMFeb 29th 2008

We Know the Clinton’s

We know John McCain

We don’t know Barack Obama.

I don’t like what I know about the Clinton’s.

John McCain is a Clone of George Bush!

I’ll take a chance on Barack Obama.

He has to be better then the other two choices!

(¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)

LKLEX10:33PMFeb 29th 2008

That the votes of white MEN will likely determine the Democratic presidential nominee actually makes a great deal of sense. After all, American participation in the Iraq War has been overwhelmingly the burden of white MEN...or, at least, of MEN. (MEN account for approximately 98% of the 4,000 American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq since March 2003.) Anyone who genuinely supports the principle of equality of rights under the law ought to be asking why Hillary Clinton should even be eligible to be elected President and serve as Commander-in-Chief. Because of her sex, Ms. Clinton was exempt from the most onerous burden of citizenship and was never required to register for the draft. Her male contemporaries, however, were not nearly as fortunate. Because they were male, tens of thousands of them were forced to "serve" against their will in a hideous war in the hellhole that was Vietnam. Tragically, many of them perished. Since being elected to the US Senate, Ms. Clinton has done nothing to end male-only Selective Service registration -- the most egregious extant sex discrimination under federal law. I have little doubt that if elected President, Ms. Clinton (who happens to be the leading recipient of campaign contributions from defense contractors) will readily send MEN -- like expendable drones -- to fight and die to protect and preserve HER freedom. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for hypocrisy...and sexism.

LKLEX10:49PMFeb 29th 2008

That the votes of white MEN will likely determine the Democratic presidential nominee actually makes a great deal of sense. After all, American participation in the Iraq War has been overwhelmingly the burden of white MEN...or, at least, of MEN. (MEN account for approximately 98% of the 4,000 American soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq since March 2003.) Anyone who genuinely supports the principle of equality of rights under the law ought to be asking why Hillary Clinton should even be eligible to be elected President and serve as Commander-in-Chief. Because of her sex, Ms. Clinton was exempt from the most onerous burden of citizenship and was never required to register for the draft. Her male contemporaries, however, were not nearly as fortunate. Because they were male, tens of thousands of them were forced to "serve" against their will in a hideous war in the hellhole that was Vietnam. Tragically, many of them perished. Since being elected to the US Senate, Ms. Clinton has done nothing to end male-only Selective Service registration -- the most egregious extant sex discrimination under federal law. I have little doubt that if elected President, Ms. Clinton (who happens to be the leading recipient of campaign contributions from defense contractors) will readily send MEN -- like expendable drones -- to fight and die to protect and preserve HER freedom. A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for hypocrisy...and sexism.