Clipmarks | n2sooners's 'military' clips

Obama's Busy Week

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:37:55 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

The beautiful sand, surf and sun of Hawaii has proved too delightfully relaxing for Senator Obama this week. Sadly, he's had to miss out on an entire war, taking only enough time to elicit compliance from Russian President Medvedev by decree. So overwhelmed with his vacation is the Senator that he cannot even take the time to help the poor, long-suffering clerks at his own State Department of Health to produce a real, 3-dimensional copy of his birth certificate.

Now, he's even going to have miss his "favorite thing to do." His vacation, you see, is the "scheduling conflict" his campaign cited when they decided to snub our troops. Again. As Soren Dayton said last week, "Did he learn nothing in Germany? Could he send a clearer signal to the troops about what he thinks about them?" Well I think he's being quite clear, sweeties.

Of course, no one faults a man for needing a vacation, right?

Tags: obama, vacation, war, military, politics

Military Officials disute Obama's Landstuhl claims

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:09:00 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Last week after blowing off a visit to see the wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the Obama campaign released this statement:

The Pentagon "viewed this as a campaign event and therefore they said he should not come." said Axelrod.

Barack Obama went to workout instead.

The Military Times reported:

All media, including local press and the more than 40 journalists accompanying the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on his eight-day international trip last week, would have been able to photograph the Illinois senator entering and leaving the hospital, said Air Force Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a U.S. European Command spokesman.

under no circumstances may a candidate receive approval to make a campaign or election-related statement or to respond to a campaign or election-related media query

the candidate may appear on camera and in photographs as an official participant and may make a statement or answer questions about the official business being conducted

Tags: obama, military, politics, election, germany

What is success?

Sat, 31 May 2008 19:37:14 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: This doesn't mean it is over. It doesn't mean things can't change. What it does mean is we are on the right path and it would be pure ignorance to depart from that path now.

Clip Source: www.aswataliraq.info

Baghdad, May 31, (VOI) – The CIA has declared that al-Qaeda is virtually defeated in Iraq and that the country is seeing its lowest level of violence for four years, according to the British newspaper The Times.

Nineteen US military personnel have died in Iraq this month, according to the Pentagon, making May the least deadly month for US troops since the beginning of the war, writes journalist Tim Reid in an article.

The deadliest month for US troops was May 2007, when 126 died as the insurgency in Baghdad raged.

Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll, a US spokesman, said violent incidents in Iraq were down 70 per cent since President Bush ordered a “surge” of 35,000 extra troops into the country last year.

In April, 75 Iraqi civilians, soldiers and police were killed, the lowest level since November 2004.

Tags: iraq, war on terror, military, success

McCain broadsides Obama

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:55:58 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.floppingaces.net

He could see the fact that Sadr City is quiet. He could see that the Maliki government is taking control of Basra. He could see that the Iraqi military is leading the fight in these places with the support of American troops. And to say that we failed in Iraq and that we’re not succeeding, does not comport with the facts on the ground.

if we set a date for withdrawal, which Senator Obama wants to do, there will be chaos. There will be genocide. There will be increased Iranian influence there, and we will have to go back with further sacrifice of American blood and treasure.

Senator Obama has said, as you know, that he wants to sit down without any preconditions with the President of Iran, Ahmadinejad. He has said that he wants to sit down with a leader of a country that a few days ago called Israel a quote, ’stinking corpse’.

Now, why is it that Senator Obama wants to sit down with the President of Iran, but hasn’t yet sat down with General Petraeus, the leader of our troops in Iraq?

[Video]

Tags: mccain, obama, iraq, war on terror, military, politics

Obama rejects McCain's challenge

Wed, 28 May 2008 04:17:34 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: minx.cc

Maverick And Barry’s Excellent Adventure: Not Going To Happen

Yesterday McCain suggested that he and Obama travel to Iraq to get a first hand look at what’s going on there.

Obama, who hasn’t been to Iraq since 2006 (when the situation was a weeee bit different) said no thanks.

Apparently Obama learned all he need to know about Iraq from watching Olbermann.

I guess the idea of sitting down with American troops, their leaders and the elected government of Iraq isn’t as interesting as a world tour of thugs and killers. Perhaps if McCain had suggested skipping Baghdad and going right on to Tehran to chat with Ahmadinejad Obama would have been more interested.

Obama '08: Hope, Change and Bitterly Clinging to an Old Narrative.

Tags: obama, mccain, election, politics, iraq, military

More success in Iraq

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:05:48 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.floppingaces.net

Well, wouldn’t you know it. The New York Times has been forced to admit that their doom and gloom reporting on Sadr and his thugs have been wrong. And on the front page of all pages.

Three hundred miles south of Baghdad, the oil-saturated city of Basra has been transformed by its own surge, now seven weeks old.

In a rare success [ed. puhlease, nothing rare about it. plenty of successful stories going on starting with The Surge], forces loyal to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki have largely quieted the city, to the initial surprise and growing delight of many inhabitants who only a month ago shuddered under deadly clashes between Iraqi troops and Shiite militias.

This report comes the same day that Sadr signed over control of the Sadr city to the Iraqi government and they acknowledge that the elected government of Iraq is the sole legitimate authority in Sadr City and everywhere else in Iraq:

Tags: iraq, war on terror, basra, politics, military

Vets for freedom

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 03:17:45 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Pete Hegseth, Executive Director of Vets for Freedom, took on Medea Benjamin from Code Pink tonight on The O'Reilly Factor.

Pete announced that 450 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan rallied this week on Capital Hill in support of the mission... 450! Outstanding!

Several Republican senators including John McCain and Democrat Joe Lieberman joined the veterans at the rally.

here is the Vets for Freedom ad released this week

"The doubters and critics of General Petraeus and his plan six months ago have nothing to say now," said Pete Hegseth, Executive Director of Vets for Freedom. “Their silence is testament to the fact that progress has indeed been made, and it is imperative that we continue to give both the military and State Department time to carry out their plans,” Hegseth continued. “We need to trust the assessment of those that are on ground, and deal with the situation on a day-to-day, first-hand basis.”

remember to support the 17 Iraq War Veterans For Congress

as Republicans

Tags: iraq, war on terror, veterans, petraeus, politics, military

Iraqi demonstrators hit the streets

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:44:29 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Demonstrators display a poster of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during a march in Kut, 172 km (107 miles) south of Baghdad April 3, 2008. Some 1000 protesters took to the streets of Kut supporting the recent military operations of Maliki in Basra, protesters said. (REUTERS/Jaafer Aabed)

Iraq protesters rallied in support of Prime Minister al-Maliki in Karbala. (Reuters)

Iraqi army applicants wait outside the army's recruitment center in Basra some 550 kilometers (about 340 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 1, 2008. About 1000 men from the southern region gathered at the recruitment center to apply to become government soldiers. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Iraqi army applicants walk to the army recruitment centre in Basra, 340 miles south of Baghdad April 1, 2008. (Atef Hassan/Reuters)

You won't see this make any headlines...

Tags: iraq, war on terror, military, politics, government, support

Winter Soldier II, same is the first

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:17:59 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: There is a reason they are afraid of signing an affidavit.

Clip Source: www.redstate.com

Jason Mattera of Young America’s Foundation is at it again. He took to the streets of the Winter Soldier II event hosted by Iraq Veterans Against the War to ask participants if they would sign an affidavit or sworn testimony to the war crimes they claim to have witnessed or committed in Iraq.

The first Winter Soldier crew – John Kerry and friends – refused to do so and it’s clear the next generation is just as unwilling. Only one man in this video said he would sign a affidavit while the others said they would not or simply spoke around the issue.

These men are willing to speak openly on the immoral acts they saw overseas yet they will not commit to their own words:

Tags: winter soldier, military, politics, lies

Good news is no news

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:09:43 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: pewresearch.org

From January 2007 -- when Bush announced the "surge" -- through the end of May 2007, Iraq had been the dominant story, accounting for 20% of all the news coverage measured by PEJ's News Coverage Index. But from the time of that May funding vote through the war's fifth anniversary on March 19, 2008, coverage plunged by about 50%. In that period, the media paid more than twice as much attention to the presidential campaign as it did to the war.

In the first three months of 2008, coverage of the campaign outstripped coverage of the war by a margin of more than 10-to-1 (43% of the newshole compared with 4%).

The reduction in violence on the ground that began late last year has coincided with a significant decrease in coverage from the war zone as well.

In November, stories filed from Iraq began to take greater notice of the surge's success in reducing violence, even as the volume of coverage tapered off, evidence perhaps of the old adage that no news is good news.

Tags: media, msm, bias, iraq, war on terror, surge, success, politics, military

Secret service ejects vet for questioning pres

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:17:57 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.humanevents.com

An army veteran was hauled away by secret service agents from a Clinton rally for disputing former president Bill Clinton’s claim that his wife, Hillary, would make a “great commander-in-chief.”

Last Wednesday, Rick Brown, a Pennsylvania resident and a 1973 graduate of West Point, attended a Hillary Clinton town hall meeting in Bethlehem, PA,

Brown, whose son is a junior at West Point, interrupted Clinton to ask whether Hillary, if elected, would gut the military

“And you gutted our military. You’re a liar,” shouted Brown

“It’s good the secret service got me out of there.” The room was filled with “Hillary lovers” and it could have “gotten ugly.”

Clinton made light of Brown’s remarks: "You know, whenever you find somebody screaming, it's normally because they don't have the facts on their side."

Clinton responded to Brown’s question by claiming that "In every respect, military readiness was greater when I left office than it is today." "The Republicans gutted the military,” Clinton asserted.

Tags: military, veteran, politics, clinton, free speech

Military losses in perspective

Thu, 24 May 2007 20:22:40 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

** The US has been fighting the War on Terror for over 5 years and has lost just over half the soldiers in battle as the Clinton Administration was losing during peacetime in 8 years.

Yearly Military Deaths During Clinton Years Exceeded Iraq War

US war fatalities...

War losses in Iraq compared to other wars when US population is figured in as a factor...

Tags: iraq war, war on terror, military, war, politics

Foreign fighters fleeing Iraq

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:52:46 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

A growing number of foreign fighters are leaving or attempting to flee Iraq as U.S. and Iraqi forces have weakened al-Qaeda and forced its members from former strongholds, U.S. military officials say.

The trend reflects a broad disenchantment among foreign fighters, particularly since al-Qaeda has lost sanctuaries in parts of Baghdad and Anbar, a Sunni province west of the capital, U.S. military intelligence officials say.

"They're being told in their countries of origin by facilitators that, 'Hey, we're basically winning the war against the apostates,' " said Brig. Gen. Michael Flynn, intelligence director for Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East. "They go there and find out it's not quite the case."

Foreign militants constitute about 10% of al-Qaeda's strength in Iraq

they make up about 90% of the suicide bombers.

doesn't mean al-Qaeda is quitting

"We're just starting to see more and more fissures in the morale and leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq,"

Tags: iraq, war on terror, military, politics, al qaeda

42,500 troops home by July

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:29:30 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Gen. David H. Petraeus announced on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that troop reductions in Iraq are "on track" for this year. The US is scheduled to reduce 42,500 troops from Iraq by July due to the great success of the Bush Troop Surge.

This good news didn't make any headlines at CNN.

MNF-Iraq reported:

Appearing on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said the scheduled withdrawal will reduce the number of troops at the height of the surge by one quarter, or roughly 42,500. Further reductions after July will be based on the state of Iraq’s security, he added.

“The guidance that (Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates) in fact has given me -- and the president and my chain of command, what all of them have said -- is that reductions after July should be conditions-based,” he said.

The general said after the upcoming drawdown, Defense Department and military officials will need time to “let things settle a bit” before making further reduction assessments

Tags: iraq, war on terror, military, politics, petraeus

Iraqi forces taking over

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:04:53 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Iraq's army and police could be ready to take over security in all 18 provinces by the end of this year as the U.S. military moves toward a less prominent role in the country, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

"We look at it every month. We make recommendations. I think that if we continue along the path we're on now, we'll be able to do that by the end of 2008," Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said when asked when Iraqi forces could take the lead in all provinces.

He said that a joint operation under way led by Iraqi troops and supported by U.S. troops against al Qaeda militants in the northern city of Mosul was a model for the future.

"That's how I see our role frankly in the future here,"

Iraqi security forces are now in control of nine provinces after assuming control of Iraqi's southern oil hub, Basra, in December. Iraqi forces are also expected to take control in Anbar province, a one-time insurgent stronghold, as early as March.

Tags: iraq, military, war on terror, politics