This thread was inspired be flydanglers daughter, and her experinces 'over there' not least the frustration she felt when she came back to visit the old man, and saw just how little the positive stories out of Iraq, is getting covered.

*No ruler can survive for long if the people loses the respect and fear of their ruler...*
This was said Machiavelli many years ago, and can still be countet on to hold true, since most off Machiavellis was about basic human nature, it is still worth repeating and learn from.!
The most dangerous game any goverment can start, is starting their relationship whit the people they represent whit a lie and go on from there. Propaganda has always been a doulble edge sword, and nowhere is this more true than in the case of war!
If a goverment has gotten into the habit of lying and manipulating just from old habit, there might not be anyone there when the wolf REALLY comes. Europe in general in the time between the wars is a case in point. After the bleeding that the great nations like France & England had taken during WW1. the populations of these countries had a kneejerk reaction to anyone mentioning the word *War*. that was to kick said person out off public life all together.
It's on this background that Hitlers raise to power in germany have to be seen, nobody wanted to beleive that it could only end whit war. And how those that relatet to our (The western world) situation today?
Unfortunantly fairly simple, the minute you use dirty tricks to smear your opponents in your own country you also belittle and estrange a large part off your own population (Far from unique to the US, it is also happening over here ) and from there to doubt and disbeleif anything what your electet govement might say there is not that far a step. THIS is what is so utterly dangerous about people that wants to win political power by any means possible, they weaken peoples trust and respect for the governing institutions to a point were in the end, nobody bother to listen any more or even sabotage the same institutions.
This worlds Karl Roves is this worlds Osamas greatest allies, since they indirectly weakens the very goverment they claim to serve more than a man like Osama could ever hope to do.

I can't give any universal solutions to this problem other than warn anybody in here, THINK whit your head NOT whit your heart, It's true that little Bush is a catastrophy in waiting, but for better or worse (Mostly worse) he is the representative of the US.
So even throu you want to ignored that little ignoramous, just remember that the big bad wolf might very well be out there wether we want to believe it or not, and it is the nation you will support, NOT the admin and their cronies, you just remember who brought everyone to this point and take names for later reference and payback!

Thanks Alexander for your thought provoking post, methinks she'd appreciate it too.

She has already returned to Baghdad and will be sending me more of her observations. I'll pass them on when I get them. The Gunny's son has also indicated he's going to do something similar, quite soon methinks.

An interesting post, Alexander38. On another thread they are discussing if the next war will be with China, over Taiwan. I think people should consider now whether it is worth a war to help out Taiwan, or whether the US should stick to the One China Policy that it has always held and not allow Taiwan to claim independence, by not offering it support. Whether or not China is right in claiming to own Taiwan, the Taiwanese people do not want a war. In their Government they had a pie fight, literally, while the warmongers were saying one thing and the peacemakers were trying to make them see sense. Food was thrown all around the room. But really they were very angry, and it is not a funny situation at all, but a very dangerous one for the US, China, Europe and Taiwan. I cannot see Europe supporting the USA in a war with China.

Not all the storys are negative, you just need to look in the right places.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/42430.htm
http://www.observer-reporter.com/326089734822313.bsp
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...42?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...B2?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...47?opendocument

And this next one should have special attention paid to it.
http://anyservicemember.navy.mil/downloads/
Take the time to read what millions of American citizens have to say in an open forum to the troops serving in Iraq. It may well change some attitudes about how some people think our nation feels about our military.

As much as FOX is demonized, they do show a lot of the small positive acts by our service people.

This War Walks Among Us
Most of the injured in Iraq are surviving, and their homecoming could undercut Bush

by Norman Solomon

In wartime, the silence of the American dead is a vacuum that the powerful in Washington try to fill. While loved ones are left with haunting memories and excruciating sadness, the most amplified political voices use predictable rhetoric to talk about ultimate sacrifices.
But the wounded do not disappear. They can speak for themselves. And many more will be seen and heard in this decade. Thanks to improvements in protective gear and swift medical treatment, more of America's wounded are surviving - and returning home with serious permanent injuries.

During the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War, 76 percent of American troops survived combat wounds. But in this century, the U.S. military's surgical teams "have saved the lives of an unprecedented 90 percent of the soldiers wounded in battle," the New England Journal of Medicine reported in December.

Back in the United States, thousands of survivors are now coping with injuries that might have been fatal in an earlier war. Many have lost limbs or suffered other visible tragedies, but often the affects are not obvious. The Iraq war is causing an extraordinarily high rate of traumatic brain injury, and the damage to brain tissue is frequently permanent.

This month the Defense Department released data showing that the official number of U.S. troops "wounded in action" in Iraq has gone over the 11,000 mark. Notably, 95 percent of those Americans were wounded after May 1, 2003.

In a bizarre echo of President George W. Bush's top-gun aircraft-carrier speech on that day, the Pentagon still asserts that the U.S. casualties since then have occurred "after the end of major combat operations."

Although the media routinely find space for reports on American deaths in Iraq, news outlets rarely convey the magnitude of injuries.

"More corpses are en route" to the United States, former Marine Anthony Swofford anticipated in late 2004, "and more broken bodies, shattered psyches, damaged souls."

Since authoring "Jarhead," his memoir of the Gulf War, Swofford has continued to probe beneath the popularized war images that drew him to enlist at the end of the 1980s.

"The romance of a combat death evaporates when combat arrives," he wrote this winter, reflecting on photos from the funerals of seven American soldiers who perished in Iraq.

"I wonder, then, when the men and women whose burials we see in these photographs lost their romantic attachment to combat, killing and death, their own death and the deaths of others. Be certain that at some point they entertained such fantasies. Perhaps only for a few days of basic training; possibly, like me, until they landed in theater."

Dead soldiers, of course, can't talk to fellow Americans about that evaporation of war's romanticized mist. But the swelling ranks of the wounded will be heard as they try to resume their lives in the cities, suburbs and small towns of the United States.

The human toll among veterans, extending well beyond those who were physically harmed, includes common chronic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: such as extreme anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares, panic attacks, displaced rage and survivor's guilt. Families and relationships are at heightened risk of falling apart.

The upsurge of newly wounded veterans would not be so potentially explosive in political terms if the public had confidence in the rightness of the Iraq invasion and ongoing war. When so many Americans perceive that the war was built on a foundation of falsehoods, the war's architects are liable to find themselves on thinner and thinner domestic ice as time goes on. The wounded among us will be widely seen as victims whose suffering was avoidable.

Historically, mounting U.S. casualties have not stopped most Americans from supporting a lengthy war - if that war seemed justified. Throughout World War II, public support remained above 75 percent. In sharp contrast, the public's backing for the Vietnam War, with far fewer total dead and injured, spiraled downward to 30 percent.

Even at this early stage, Iraq war veterans are gradually becoming more outspoken. Robert Acosta, for example, is a 21-year-old former U.S. Army specialist who re-entered civilian life in early 2004 - just six months after losing his right hand when a grenade landed next to him in a vehicle on a Baghdad street.

"I was there, and I'm proud of my service," he said. "But I really questioned the war once I was in the hospital. . . . I feel like we - the guys who went in to do the job - were lied to."

Several months ago Acosta joined the fledgling group Iraq Veterans Against the War. He speaks with clear authenticity. "A lot of people don't really see how the war can mess people up until they know someone with firsthand experience," he says. "I think people coming back wounded - or even just mentally injured after seeing what no human being should have to see - is going to open a lot of eyes."

Founded in midsummer 2004, Iraq Veterans Against the War has expanded from eight to 150 members while organizing forums and teach-ins around the country and attracting some appreciable media coverage. The group's national coordinator, Michael Hoffman, joined the Marines in 1999 and participated in the invasion of Iraq.

"War is dirty, always wrong, but sometimes unavoidable," he says. "That is why all these horrible things must rest on the shoulders of those leaders who supported a war that did not have to be fought."

America's physical wounds from the current war cannot be tucked under the national rug. And in the long run, neither can any of the psychological pain that afflicts many combat veterans.

President Bush is likely to face a growing backlash that will further reduce his credibility - and strengthen the healthy skepticism that Americans should utilize when the president insists it's time to go to war.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0313-22.htm

Why Fox News Channel Is An Industry Joke
or
Welcome to Info-tainment Tonight!


http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/networks/foxnews/foxnews.html

Mr. Marine

Let me ask you a question - in your "professional oppinion" (if you have the true Marine guts and glory to not put me on ignore -LOL)

What you listed above in your truly professional post, URL'S included. Are you for the war in Iraq? Do you back the "SHRUB" for such war? Forget the Yellow Magnetic Ribbon BS. Lets here what Mr. Marine has to say about his support for Mr. Bush's war in Iraq. No dancing around the question Mr. Marine - let it fly, openly and honestly. That is how one earns respect!

My personal oppinion of that post above, your glorifying war Mr. Marine. Hang tough if you can-

It's quite amazing what is going on in the middle east right now. That may save us 100's of thousands of lives in years to come. Right now they are talking about more reforms in Jordan and Egypt is moving along well too. Lebanon is tipping the scales and things are looking pretty good. I suspect things are a lot better in Iraq than we know. I'm glad for all of this and if it works out, we will all be a lot safer and have some very heroic military members and families to thank.

We have had different relationships with China over the years. You know before 1971, Taiwan had a seat in the UN and represented China. In 1971, due to Nixon, Taiwan's delegation with tears in their eyes were thrown out of the UN, and Moaist China took their seat. I have recently seen a Chinese map of China and it doesn't even include Tibet as a country, and I think Taiwan must have it's sovereignty protected. It's thte right and moral thing to do, and I could not support an administration that would not protect our allies Taiwan from being taken over by China and made another province. If they are going to reunify, it needs to be bilateral.

I do understand the problem Bush has with credibility. That was the single most important reason for me why this country needed Kerry to win the election (in a foreign policy sense) because this prez has no more credit on his card so to speak.

I just wish though, that some of us could get participation on how to win this war, rather than how to lose it. What's done is done, and what I want to know is how to win this thing going forward. No one that has any credibility on foreign affairs is calling for an immediate pull-out, so how do we win?

Why is everyone complaining? Did the President not already tell us that "major combat operations are over" on the aircraft carrier? All of the troops cheered our victory. It seems that Bush in a way already had a victory parade on the aircraft carrier. From what everyone says the troops mostly voted to support their CIC during the election. Did they not eliminate WMD as Bush said? The victory is even greater!!! So what is the problem? Party on troopers in the sure knowledge thet you are being lead by a great and all knowing leader.

David, LOL - that there is something to dwell on Bro'.

I see hearts post about all going well in the Middle East, etc.

He_l yeah we have Mr. Bush and his administration for four more. Does that mean that as an American citizen that I have to buy all he says, and go along with his policies? I do not think so - not going to happen behind these handlebars.

Does anyone really think that Peace will flourish in the middle East? Kind of like saying the IRA in Ireland will be inviting Tony Blair over for Corned Beef and Cabbage and a pint of Guiness's. Don't think it will happen. Will go as far as callin' this kind of wishful thinking - fantasy. Guess some have to have some sort of dream. But think this type of dream is kind of soaked and far fetched, if you get my drift.

But like it or not, Top Gun is the "Main Man" and will be calling the shots for the sheople of this land. I see Mr. Bush making demands with Iran, Syria, N.Korea and da_n there has to be a few more. Like the War Prez himself would say - "Bring Em' On" - as long as I do not have to fight or my family. Always easy to talk like Macho Man when your not in any danger. But he is our Leader, LOL - Something to be proud about - Livin' in America.

He_l yeah, call China on as well. Be like the invasion of Panama or Grenada - LOL . Do not think the U.S. of A. wants to mess with China over Taiwan or Tibet. I bet any Prez, even the war Prez would curtsy to China before even thinking of any military action. We definately have the Man Power, Reserves, NG'S, he_l why not. Need room in this country anyway for some new jobs and homes. LOL

What the fudge are we winning in "this" war? What is there to win for U.S. interests?? Is it worth losing American blood over and worth the hefty price we are paying? I have to veto that SOB and say definately not!

What is done is done, - agree and what will be done next month or the month after will be done. If that means 60-100 U.S. G.I.'S lives and 300-500 wounded severely is that going in a forward direction? Guess from your post it is because it will be done. Hang Tough

Here's a few more good news stories people seem to have trouble finding.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...BF?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...A8?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...62?opendocument
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?sectio...54&archive=true
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/15...31405193331.txt
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/l...i031505s1.shtml
http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news...._id=18041&rfi=6
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....5256CFB004CE46D

Heart, do you REALLY think it is worth having a huge, distructive, expensive, war with China in order to 'save' Taiwan, especially since I do not think they want to be 'saved' at such an expense?

Do you not support USA's One China Policy?

Was the handover by Britain of Hong Kong so very bad?

The last thing people want is war. They may be patriotic to a point, but when it costs their loved ones lives to defend some ideology very few people would be willing to make the sacrifice. It might be safe to send a nuclear bomb to China as a warning, but they might send one to Japan, a warning to the USA. I do not want to be dragged into a war about a tiny country that does not really care either way, but would prefer to avoid a war. Ideas are not worth warring over, especially in these days of environmentally unsafe weapons in which the effects of the bombs pass through the womb to unborn babies and effect future generations possibly permanently.

Marine...As long as our troops are dieing for nothing, all of that "good news" is just eye wash. Nothing makes one forget selling girl scout cookies like a body bag.

Okay so getting back to the topic at hand - we're all looking forward to hearing from her again and looking forward to the younger's observations.

Alexander - an astute observation, the solution lies in thinking objectively.

david s

Bro', could not dress it any bluer. Right On David, and that here is in "My Professional Oppinion" LOL - Hang Tough

David,
I've tried to be nice to you over the months but sorry, you just made number 3 on my ignore list.

Thanks for the navigational tour on getting back to the topic.

Got to ask you, why do you use the word "we're" ?? Think people in here can speak for themselves. That there is just an astute observation!

Remember about the word objective:

Objectivity

Objectivity means staying in touch with the facts. It means guiding our thought processes by a concern for truth. To some extent, objectivity is a matter of choice: the choice not to indulge in wishful thinking, not to let bias or prejudice distort our judgment, and so forth. But there’s more to it than that. Objectivity also involves a skill. Even with the best will in the world, we can’t really be objective unless we know how to follow and evaluate the arguments we hear, how to isolate the relevant issues clearly, how to avoid ambiguity and vagueness in the words we use.

Do you think the "SHRUB" thinks objectively ? Did he think objective when he invaded Iraq with our G.I.'S ? Is supporting such G.I.'S in an un-objective invasion , which might lead to permanent wounds or death objective?

Being objective and saying it like you really feel it or mean it are two different gear ratios.

Being "OBJECTIVE" in the "SHRUB" America is buying all his BS, putting the Magnetic Yellow Ribbon on your SUV. That is the Patriotic Objective thing to do today. As long as nothing is effecting anybody today, its objective not to give a sheet. Is that what your trying to say? Could be wrong, been there before.

Fill us in on what you call thinking objectively is on the "SHRUB" fiasco in Iraq. Should be quite interesting - for sure. Hang tough -

David my deepest condolences (LOL).

The "Few" - The "Proud" the - your ignored I can not take your oppinion! LOL Give it a rest Mr. Marine with the ignore list, it is kind of ignore-ant !!

David are you going to throw a bash or what? LOL Take all kinds in this world we rest our bones in. The game of life -- r---esumes! LOL

Your point is well taken Sobien.... good solid perception. Looks like you made the honor roll in those lifer's eyes due to your personal point of view.... so keep up the good work.... you are making good common sense.

How can you ignore him? LOL

Just a little more to counter the doom and gloomers, take the time to take a look.

http://www.usmc.mil/magazine/104Special/Family.pdf
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...39?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...51?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...95?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...16?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...23?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...13?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...21?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...29?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...59?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...89?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...30?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...34?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...16?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...16?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...16?opendocument

Discussing objectivity would be a waste of my time. But here's something for you to chew on for today. If you have a personal disagreement with someone, how many times have you changed your mind? If the answer is infrequently, then is that due to superior intellect or lack of objectivity?

Actually you and the SHRUB have a lot in common. You disagree with someone and what do you do - resort to personal attacks, just like the SHRUB.

Now, now Cardanal, one could take the above post as a personal attack.Not very lady like at all. LOL

Don't fret none, I will not put you on ignore. (LOL) In "my professional opinion" (LOL) - just got to consider the "Sauce" where such a post originates.

The "Good Ol' Boys in Reportin' Abroard" (LOL) shipping you down as some type of initiation Cardanal? Hazing in the Lifer club. Wish you well in your quest Cardanal - for sure. Earning your stripes will be not as easy as you think Cardanal.

You will make a great groupee for that bunch. Can see that already, easily led - which is a requirement for your club. Your fiiting the profile Cardanal - for sure.

Thanks for your above post and I take it really serious. LOL Cardanal you be nice and don't let those in the Club you are trying to represent lead you the wrong way. Hang tough and wish you well in getting a permanent stool in the Reportin' Abroad chat room.

The doom and gloomers - take a look! LOL

Mr. Marine, I have to point something out to you Bro'. That sounded to me like an indirect order. LOL

This is not the Corp Mr. Marine and your indirect orders do not mean much of anything anymore. Sorry to break the news to you Mr. Marine, do not hold it hard. LOL

Now for all the homework with the attached U.S.M.C. URL's. Will give you a C- for effort Mr. Marine.

To much predadicial links Mr. Marine. Got to get more links from other places and sites, rather than relying on the Marine Corp "Boys Life" for references. Even "Chesty Puller" would look other places to make his point. But I know your not a Puller.
Mr. Marine, you be well and I wish you the best in your ignoring protest. That there is to be admired. Very brave and bold gesture Mr. Marine - for sure. Trying my best to show you respect Mr. Marine.

The grudge or whatever Mr. Marine - again don't hold on to it. Keeping it up at your age does not do you much good.

Marine... WOW. I feel I have finally obtained a certain statis in life. I made the ignore list! Next I will be on " double secret probation". Grow up guy.

The news worth reading of the day.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=..._id=45529&rfi=6
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/03-05...05/a01lo400.htm
http://www.gazette.net/200511/newmarket/news/265254-1.html
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...12?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...39?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...28?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...37?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...34?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...59?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...57?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...18?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...31?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...13?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...BF?opendocument

NOTE: Some quotes referenced by cardinal have been removed due to derisive names used by The_Bammo

Now, now where's the Bammo sense of humor gone?

I'm truly grateful for that. Glad to see you're being so considerate of my feeling and all. LOL

No, I'm on my own. Guess they aren't interested in what you have to say anymore.

Now, now Bammo, careful about those assumptions. Never know when they're going to come back and bite you in the keister. LOL

No problem bro, anytime you need some advice, just ask.

Would lay odds that Mr. Marine (LOL) makes a few "sense" out of each hit to the jarhead rag listed URL'S.

LOL Must be a little extra pocket jingle for Mr. Marine to help pay for his dues at the local Vet Club, so he can share his "professional oppinion" ! LOL

Checked all of those URL'S out Mr. Marine - honest! (fingers crossed) LOL Hang tough

LOL - Just like bottom fishing in a river, dangle a worm and the "Carp" suck it in and run! LOL -

Definately throwing this one back in. Guaranteed bait taker and will be caught again! LOL Hang in there - using light lb. test line. Next tme you should snap it, no problem at all. LOL

Here's a few more links to right what the nay sayers are saying. Take a little time to look them over, doesn't quite jive with what some folks are claiming.

https://www.m4l.usmc.mil/portal/server.pt
http://www.marineea.org/
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...20?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...23?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...68?opendocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....f/2005317144626
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...53?opendocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....f/2005317202322
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....63?opendocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....79?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...49?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...4C?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...03?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf...6D?opendocument

Time for a new line - you've used this one a few too many times.
Keep an eye on the bettas.
Hang tough then

I don't have time to post this in the other thread, or to read more before I post this.

I was at a workshop today (UbD for the teachers out there) and we were working on a unit concerning WW1. I mentioned that I have used the mnemonic ANIMAL to discuss the causes of WW1:
A = Alliances. China has been working on closer relations with India, Russia, Iran and other nations in closer years, while our alliances have been frayed in recent years. Don't know where else to fit this in, but do you know who is in control of the ports at the terminal points of the Panama Canal? It isn't Panama, and it isn't the US.

N = Nationalism. A feeling of pride in one's country. While some reading this may not feel pride in our nation right now, I think there is a distinct segment of our population that would do anything to prove our nation's supremacy. I do not doubt that the Chinese feel great pride in the leaps and bounds their country has made towards modernization in recent years.

I = Imperialism. Hmm...have we done anything recently that would fit here?

M = Militarism. Building up your military. Once you've built it up, shouldn't you use it??? Look at the male/female ratio of the military age population of China (in part due to the one child policy and their preference for male children). What's the best thing for a totalitarian government to do with a 'surplus' young male population?

A = Anarchism. Both individuals (does Al-Qaeda's efforts to undermine Western governments fit the mold of the "Black Hand" movement that assassinated the Archduke?) and international (US feeling the UN is 'irrelevant'?)

L = Leadership. Or the lack of intelligent, qualified individuals in leadership positions. It appears both our government as well as the Chinese aren't afraid to rattle the sabre, we've shown that we're willing to use our military. What about the Chinese?

Remember, the Chinese missiles only reach "Red" states right now.

Ok, I've read the rest of the tripe. Wish I hadn't wasted my time on a thread that started out with so much promise. Thanks for the effort A38.

Today's bews from the military:

Who says they never ask what we want?
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=17548
yikes!!! Pirates in the 21st century?
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=17550
How you can help the men & women defending you.
http://www.army.mil/howyoucanhelp/
A waste of Army resources? I think not.
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/Stories/03_05/29.htm
How a soldier sees the Hell Hole of Iraq.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2005/20050317_231.html
Pay raises anyone?
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123010074
Iraq, two years on.
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123010073
Someone is making sure you are safe.
https://www.piersystem.com/external/index.cfm?cid=786
and news from my favorite branch of the services.
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....5b?OpenDocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....60?OpenDocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....da?OpenDocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....ec?OpenDocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...27?opendocument
http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000....ef/200531931335
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...12?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...21?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...25?opendocument
OOOHRAHHHHH, ANGLICO
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...40?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...50?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...30?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...21?opendocument
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/...19?opendocument
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Little noticed and unreported

The Washington Post
By John Ward Anderson
BAGHDAD, Iraq — When more than 80 bodies were found last week at four different places in Iraq, a fifth gruesome discovery attracted little notice.

In the violent city of Ramadi, a center of Sunni insurgent activity 60 miles west of Baghdad, the bodies of seven men were found lined up in an unfinished house on the western outskirts of town, according to eyewitnesses.

Unlike the corpses elsewhere, which were mostly Iraqi police and soldiers, the bodies in Ramadi apparently were foreigners, fighters working for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.

Each of the seven had been shot in the head or torso. The bodies were secretly buried in a local cemetery, the witnesses said.

"My cousins are the ones who killed them," said Jabbar Khalaf Marawi, 42, a former army officer and Communist Party member in Ramadi. Marawi said the slayings were carried out by members of his Dulaimi clan in retaliation for the Oct. 2 killing of a clan leader, Lt. Col. Sulaiman Ahmed Dulaimi, the Iraqi National Guard commander for Ramadi and Fallujah, by al-Zarqawi's group.

Dulaimi and three bodyguards were traveling through Khaldiya, a small town about six miles east of Ramadi, where they were ambushed. The bodyguards were shot and killed on the spot, and Dulaimi was abducted.

His body was found two days later in a youth center on the shores of Lake Tharthar, 20 miles north of Khaldiya. Both his legs were broken in multiple places, his fingernails were removed and he had two bullet wounds in his chest, according to his autopsy report.

A statement by al-Zarqawi's group asserted responsibility for the killing, accusing Dulaimi of being an "agent ... who works for the Americans." It said he had "confessed" to giving U.S. forces valuable information about weak spots in the guerrillas' defenses in the southern part of Fallujah.

Witnesses to the finding of the bodies in the house said they never went to the local police or foreign military forces to report finding the bodies, fearing that they would be accused of complicity in the slayings or that the killers would return to punish them for talking.

"I feared telling the Iraqi army because they would detain me and accuse me of being involved in the killings," said Ali Omar, 32, a motorcycle mechanic who discovered the bodies last Saturday.
Instead, he said he went to Ramadi Hospital and told an emergency-room doctor about his discovery, but the doctor refused to get involved. "He told me, 'Why bring problems on yourself? Leave them until they find them,' " Omar said.

A notice from al-Zarqawi's group was posted on the gate outside a Ramadi mosque this week announcing the death of the seven men and calling their killers "blasphemers, far from the religion of God, who betrayed the mujaheddin after they trusted them." It vowed to find the killers, described as "followers of the occupiers," and behead them.

At the Dulaimi family compound this week in the Abu Marie neighborhood of Ramadi, Sulaiman's father, Hamad Dulaimi, 73, sat on a bench as a group of children played in the yard. The surrounding streets and rooftops were crowded with armed men.

"These are the children of Sulaiman, who was killed by those bastards," he said.

Sulaiman's wife joined him: "Now we can talk, because we got revenge," she said.

"If I didn't know that my son was innocent, I wouldn't have sent his cousins for revenge," the father said. "But for we Arabs, the matter of revenge is like honor. Both are the same for us."

As for al-Zarqawi's promise to retaliate, he said: "We got our revenge, and we have our precautions. Let them do as they like."

Today's news.

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And for all you folks who missed going to Fort Bragg, here's a great view.

Special Reports

Enron's eight-year power struggle in India
By Tony Allison

Contents

Introduction

Intrigue, accusations and acrimony

Summary of concerns

Human rights concerns

Enron in India

India's energy sector

1. Introduction
On January 9, the Maharashtra state government in India averted an immediate crisis by coughing up US$24 million for the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to pay some of the money it owed the Enron-controlled Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC) for the purchase of electricity.

The release of the money to the cash-strapped MSEB, the state's electricity utility, has temporarily defused what was threatening to blow up into a major dispute between the DPC and the state authorities. The DPC, which is majority-owned by a subsidiary of the American energy giant Enron Corp, operates a 740 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle power plant, and serves as its fuel manager. The MSEB had not paid the DPC since October 2000. It still owes $48 million in arrears for November and $34 million for December.

However, the crisis is not yet over as the state government has formed a high-powered committee to review the power purchase agreement (PPA) of Phase II of the project, which is already under construction. It is expected to reach a decision in a few weeks.

According to the state's chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, the decision has been taken because the price of power supplied to the state electricity board by the DPC is too high. Power from the DPC averages more than double the price of power the MSEB buys from other suppliers in the state.

However, industry sources say the review is more the result of political pressure from within the coalition government of Deshmukh, whose Congress party heads a fragile coalition. Alliance partners, including the Janata Dal and the Peasants and Workers Party, are strongly opposed to Enron.

The Dabhol power project, located on the Maharashtra coast approximately 180 kilometers south of Mumbai, is Enron's flagship project in India. Dabhol Phase I, generating 740 MW of power, began operating in May 1999. When Phase II is completed at the end of 2001, Dabhol will generate 2,450 MW of power to become the world's largest independent natural gas-fired power plant.

Under the existing power purchase agreement of 1995, which itself is the result of a disputed renegotiated deal, the MSEB has to pay the DPC a minimum of $220 million a year for 20 years whether it needs the power produced or not. The contract, which is controversially counter-guaranteed by both the state and federal governments, threatens to bankrupt the MSEB and the state exchequer itself.

The deal is also designed to pass on the effects of rupee devaluation and rises in international petroleum prices to the MSEB. Over the past year, both of these things have happened, making DPC power increasingly more expensive.

And this has what to do with this topic?

News for the day.

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Are you questioning god_god?

See any parrallels to the Wild West in our own past.....

Tribal culture and the eye for an eye are very much the rule of the day in the middle east and Iraq.

In my view we can not attempt to cookie cut our own "legal structure" "economic principals" etc etc on Iraq. We have to be patient and let them struggle.

Could could be be!

frenchy_frenchy brave_brave man_man.

-P

Yes, its a very good analogy. The townspeople finally get fed up with the bullies who have been terrorizing them and decide to take matters into their own hands. A basic instinct of survival. I don't disagree with you.

how much did the failure to get the unocal pipeline through afghanistan cost enron at that huge power plant?

and wasn't that just about exacly when enron folded up?

maybe it is time to bring all that out as lay begins his spin on the roasting fire of corporate scandal...

i have heard that 'our' government there controls 'part of kabul'...

not enough to make the pipeline safe...the safety of pipelines...the real bottom line in foreign policy...

News for today.

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First I've heard of the silver dollar - very nice.

It seens every time an Iraqie is killed he is called an insurgent. Most convient. You dont like someone so you kill him and tell the Americans he was just an insurgent. They do not know any better and they will call it a great victory. Do insurgents have INSURGENT written on their forheads?