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Kabul to trade Deadullah's carcass for hostages
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Britain
Mohammed: No 2 in Britain
Posted in WOT, because maternity wards are a battlefront among others.
From the desk of The Brussels Journal
A quote from The [London] Times, 6 June 2007

Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year, a study by The Times has found. The name, if all 14 different spellings are included, was shared by 5,991 newborn boys last year, beating Thomas into third place, followed by Joshua and Oliver.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/06/2007 10:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They breed like rabbits and claim every benefit they can.Part of their Masterplan to takeover and bankrupt the West!!!!
Posted by: Paul || 06/06/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Muhammad in Brussels
Submitted by Xavier Meulders on Wed, 2007-06-06 11:07.
One of the few advantages of the "federal system" in the baffling country of Belgium, is that the national statistic service (Statbel) also possesses regional data (not only for the whole kingdom, but also for Flanders, Wallonia and the Brussels's region). And if you visit the website of statbel (see http://www.statbel.fgov.be/figures/d22a_nl.asp?r=8), one can clearly observate the fact that Muhammad (in Belgium often spelled as 'Mohamed') is the most popular name in Brussels since the very year 2000! The latest data available (concerning boys born in 2005) show us that the five most popular names in Brussels are Mohamed, Adam (a name which also appears in the Qur'an), Ayoub, Rayan and Mehdi. Quite impressive for "the capital of Europe", isn't it? However, I've got more the impression that Brussels is more becoming the new capital of a resurrected Ottoman Empire.

And if you look at the data for the whole Belgian empire, it's very obvious that Mohamed is ranking high. Whereas Mohamed ranked only 32rd in 2000, it's the 8th most popular first name in 2005!

I do not doubt that parents are free to choose the names for their children. However, the fact that 'Mohamed' (in all it's different ways of spelling) is becoming increasingly popular across Europe marks something. To our ruling elite to find out what...
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 06/06/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Its just going to be tougher to tell them apart. So, the only answer will be to kill them all. Wait, isnt't that what Herod, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot tried? If anything, Europe will do what it always does when there is an internal threat to their homogony - become fascists. Its going to be either that or Muslim - I for one see no gray-middle-ground, unfortunately.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Must be some crazy basketball region that Flanders (Vlammse)- since Kobe is now number 2. I wonder if the Lakers would consider trading him to the Antwerp Giants?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Since we are not at war with anyone named mohammed, this is quite off topic for WOT.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/06/2007 13:17 Comments || Top||

#6  just to clarify - I did not above mean there are no people named mohammed we are at war with. Just that not everyone named mohammed is someone with whom we are at war - see mohammed Karzai, for ex.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/06/2007 13:48 Comments || Top||

#7  > Muhammed

The sooner the better.
Posted by: Excalibur || 06/06/2007 15:22 Comments || Top||

#8  not everyone named mohammed is someone with whom we are at war - see mohammed Karzai, for ex.

You mean the same Mohammed Karzai whose people we liberated and managed to help get elected president of Afghanistan? The same Mohammed Karzai who then signed the UN Charter? The same Mohammed Karzai whose nation has Articles 6 and 7 in its Constitution that say:
Article 6
The state is obliged to create a prosperous and progressive society based on social justice, protection of human dignity, protection of human rights, realization of democracy, and to ensure national unity and equality among all ethnic groups and tribes and to provide for balanced development in all areas of the country.

Article 7
(1) The state shall abide by the UN charter, international treaties, international conventions that Afghanistan has signed, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
[emphasis added]
You remember the Universal Declaration of Human rights, don't you? You know, the one with a certain Article 18 (which the current Afghan government even incorporated into its constitution). Article 18 reads:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
[emphasis added]

So, you mean the same Mohammed Karzai that did not face down remnant Taliban clerics in his judicial system while Abdul Rahman was threatened with beheading for converting from Islam to Christianity? Despite affirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

If you can't tell by now, Mohammed Karzai is no friend of the West. He may appear to be one right now, but that is no promise for the future. Like every other Muslim, his allegiance is to Islam first and always. That makes him our enemy. If you fail to comprehend this, there really isn't much hope.
Posted by: Zenster || 06/06/2007 15:31 Comments || Top||

#9  Mohammed: No 2 in Britain

With a bullet?
Posted by: mojo || 06/06/2007 15:43 Comments || Top||


Sat-nav trouble as MoD plans to jam signal
A drive around the Cornish coast could prove an eventful experience over the next couple of days, as the Ministry of Defence tests new ways of jamming GPS signals.

Even in normal conditions, satellite navigation systems seem entirely capable of directing motorists to the edge of a cliff or into the path of an oncoming train. But add the frisson of intermittent interruptions by MoD experts and the effects could be startling.

Accordingly, ambulance crews, firemen and police officers working in and around Portreath, near Redruth, have been warned against relying on their sat-navs. A similar note of caution has been issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to any passing sailors thinking of steering solely by GPS navigation. The MoD claims that any disruption will be limited to a radius of less than two miles around RAF Portreath, where the tests are being carried out.

But coastguards say they have been told to expect disruption "within a clear line of site up to seven nautical miles and up to 30,000ft". Alan Loveday, of the Falmouth Coastguard, said: "I wouldn't expect it to be serious, because if it was they wouldn't be doing it."

But he added: "If there's anyone out there steering a vessel with GPS I'd expect them to go completely blank or give wrong readings.

"You would have thought that all sea-goers would be able to use a chart, but I'm sorry to say that's not the case. We're putting out an electronic warning to ships so that they're aware". An MoD spokesman said the tests had been scheduled to run "for up to eight hours" both tomorrow and Friday. They will be between 9am and 5pm.

She said there was expected to be only minor disruption within a very small area and that it was possible the exercise may be finished in one day. Aircraft were "extremely unlikely" to be affected because Portreath is a radar station and non-military planes are banned from flying over it.

The MoD needs jamming systems because modern command and control networks rely almost solely on GPS. Similar tests have been carried out in the past year in the Hebrides and the Brecon area of Wales. More are scheduled for Lincolnshire and Scotland
Posted by: mrp || 06/06/2007 09:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm telling you sextants, sun compasses and maps are coming back in style - don't sell them on eba just yet.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 11:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "Whaddaya mean, it says we're somewhere near Greece?..."
Posted by: mojo || 06/06/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||


British authorities refuse transit to Hafiz Hamid
Imam Hafiz M Hamid, Jamaatud Daawa chief Hafiz Saeed’s brother, and his family were unable to leave the US on Monday night as UK authorities refused to permit them to transit through London. Efforts are now afoot to have them put on a flight that does not encounter such a problem. The family stayed at the Boston airport until late Monday night. The flight they were supposed to have boarded for London left at 8pm. The reason the British authorities are said to have given is that Imam Hamid does not possess a valid US visa. He and his family had to choose between forced and voluntary deportation. They are believed to have chosen the latter. Hafiz Hamid was imam at the Islamic Centre of Greater Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, and had been fighting immigration regulation infringements for the last several months. His other brother, Hafiz Masood, is also fighting deportation and is now waiting for the next hearing of a US federal immigration court on October 11. On Friday, June 1, a fundraiser was arranged by his friends and supporters to aid him and his family.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The family stayed at the Boston airport until late Monday night.

The poor, suffering darlings.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2007 10:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe the Taliban Navy could transport them directly to the hell hole of their choice.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/06/2007 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  How about a non-stop flight in a B-2 bomb bay?
Posted by: ed || 06/06/2007 12:06 Comments || Top||

#4  if it had been Kansas they could have had nice clean feet at least....
Posted by: USN. Ret. || 06/06/2007 14:44 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Nicoragua's Ortega on tour of Middle East in Khaddafy's airplane
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega set out yesterday on a tour of Middle East countries, including Iran and Libya, aboard a presidential jet provided by Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Col. Gadhafi loaned Mr. Ortega the luxury Boeing in order to "cut costs," according to Mr. Ortega, who began the 10-day trip with a stop in Venezuela for talks with President Hugo Chavez. He will visit Cuba on his way home. Mr. Chavez has encouraged his Latin American allies to strengthen ties with Middle Eastern governments such as that of Iran.

Yesterday Mr. Ortega signed partnership agreements with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. In Caracas, Mr. Ortega told a reporter he would not be worried by any U.S. objections to his visiting Iran. "We are not asking permission from any country, from any president about who we meet, where we meet or what we talk about," he said in response to a question. He told Reuters news agency that the main purpose of his trip was to seek investment in Nicaragua. "We want to improve relations with Iran in all areas," he said.

Mr. Ortega's regional tour was arranged in April when his son, Manuel, visited Libya to hand Col. Gadhafi a message expressing the Nicaraguan president's desire to "work toward the unity of the peoples of Latin America and Africa." Mr. Ortega also told Col. Gadhafi that he plans to emulate Libya's system of "direct peoples' democracy," according to a March 20 dispatch by JANA, Libya's official news agency, which reported a telephone conversation between the two leaders. "President Ortega informed the leader about the formation of People's Assemblies and People's Committees at the municipal level in Nicaragua in order to start applying direct people's democracy and to enable the Nicaraguan people to practice authority guided by the Jamahiriyah theory," the dispatch said.

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, traveled last month to Venezuela and Nicaragua, where he announced plans for an "imminent" meeting between Mr. Ortega and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Ortega has enjoyed close relations with Iranian leaders and Col. Gadhafi since the 1980s, when Libya provided arms to his Sandinista government for its war against U.S.-backed Contra rebels. Mr. Ortega's government was unseated in free elections in 1988, and he remained in opposition until winning elections last year.

Col. Gadhafi reportedly helped Mr. Chavez to consolidate his authoritarian government, which last week took control of Venezuela's main independent television channel, RCTV.

Pappy reminded me that Qadaffi was a major Black September upporter. He had once called for the establishment of a 'Saharan Islamic state' with Libya playing the central role. He also like trying to gain influence in nations with significant Islamic minorities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2007 18:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a major Supporter, too. PIMF!
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2007 20:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Nicaragua

I haver Lipton Tea for you TW.
[so solly, i don't own the fancy stuff]

;-)

and sum Hostess Cupcakes!
Posted by: RD || 06/06/2007 22:43 Comments || Top||


Europe
Swiss court to try two Muslims accused of running terror websites
Two Muslims suspected of running websites showing hostages being slain and giving details of how to make bombs and carry out attacks have been named as defendants in Switzerland’s first Internet terrorism trial later this month.

The two suspects were detained in February 2005 during anti-terror raids in two Swiss states, the Federal Criminal Court said. Swiss media previously identified the two as Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian based in Lausanne, and Malika El Aroud, the widow of an Al Qaida suicide bomber.

According to a schedule posted on the court’s website, the charges include providing support for a criminal organisation. The two suspects are also accused of publicly inciting criminal acts of violence as well as the manufacturing, concealment and transfer of explosives or poisonous gases.

The trial begins on June 20, the schedule stated. A verdict is expected the same day, but may be withheld by authorities until a later point. The court said Garsallaoui, the main defendant, is accused of running different websites with discussion forums that were used by terrorist groups to share information. Prosecutors have said the sites were setup to promote racially motivated crimes.

The sites were also used to publicise claims of responsibility for attacks and threats against Western countries. Swiss media reported two years ago that the beheading of American Paul Johnson, Jr in Saudi Arabia was one of a number of executions aired on the sites.

El Aroud, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan background, has been charged as a co-defendant for operating a jihadi website.

She is the widow of a suicide attacker who killed anti-Taliban warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud two days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, according to Swiss Federal Police.

Swiss authorities shut down all the websites in 2005. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said a forum on one of the sites, ‘Islamic-Minibar,’ was used to publish letters claiming responsibility for a suicide attack in Pakistan in July 2004.

Other postings included a threat to kill Italian aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who were abducted in Baghdad in September 2004. The two aid workers were later freed.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well this should be a joke. They'll probably end up getting a huge settlement from the Swiss govt. before they're done.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/06/2007 10:32 Comments || Top||


Court upholds German state's ban on teachers wearing headscarves
A court on Tuesday upheld a German state’s ban on teachers wearing the Muslim headscarf in public schools, rejecting a woman’s appeal against a decision not to employ her. North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, is one of several regions that have introduced headscarf bans for teachers in recent years. The 28-year-old plaintiff had argued that the state’s law was discriminatory and violated her religious freedom. However, the administrative court in Duesseldorf said regional law did not allow for religious statements that might infringe on the state’s neutrality toward students and parents. Presiding judge Kurt Buechel argued that wearing a headscarf does to some extent constitute an expression of religious conviction. Authorities in Duesseldorf had refused to employ the teacher on the grounds that she was not prepared to go without a headscarf in classes.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bravo!
Posted by: Jan || 06/06/2007 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Major good news!
Posted by: Zenster || 06/06/2007 2:12 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm a little depressed that something like this is considered major newsworthy.

Can you imagine a WWII court decision that said it was OK to ban Nazi armbands? Or better, could you imagine that there might have been any doubt in the way it would rule, so that the decision was news?

[sigh] I'm going to go make some more missiles we'll never use.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 06/06/2007 8:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Good decision. This religion cult of death has to be delegitimized.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/06/2007 11:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Was Plame Covert?
A Robert Novak editorial from March 22, 2007, suggesting she was not. Link found adjacent to a Scotter Libby story at Yahoo News.

The other Republican present -- Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a second-termer from metro Atlanta -- seemed awed by the beautiful woman facing him. "If I seem a little nervous," he began, "I've never questioned a spy before."

Waxman and Democratic colleagues did not ask these pertinent questions: Had not Plame been outed years ago by a Soviet agent? Was she not on an administrative, not operational, track at Langley? How could she be covert if, in public view, she drove to work each day at Langley? What about comments to me by then CIA spokesman Bill Harlow that Plame never would be given another foreign assignment? What about testimony to the FBI that her CIA employment was common knowledge in Washington?

Yeah? So? Does that help us get Karl Rove? Go away boy; ya bother me. [Foghorn Leghorn}
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2007 11:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Didn't the CIA recently report to/thru Fitz that she WAS covert? That must mean that her 'cover' was as a CIA desk jockey. Not the best cover, but about all that was available once she was outed years ago. (It could even be true, but if so, all the CIA needed to do to preserve it would have been to say 'He just mis-spoke; she's an analyst; no big deal,' and move on.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/06/2007 11:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Another Bush failure. Pardon Libby, fire Plame, and do a full IRS assult on Joe Wilson. It would be easy to charge Plame and Wilson with an attempt to embarrass the president with public statements about a pre-planned CIA scam. I do believe it is against the law to run a CIA scam against a sitting president for the opposition political party usage.
Yes, folks, that is what was done in the Plame case.
Posted by: Grusosh Borgia9229 || 06/06/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#3  beautiful

Bleach-damaged hair, a touch of rosacea on the cheeks and chin, botox on her forehead and frown lines... Clearly the honourable Representative and I define that word differently.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2007 13:26 Comments || Top||

#4  TW, mayhaps he's into horses. That would explain his attraction to horsey-faced Plume. Or, mayhaps he was drunk at the time.
Posted by: twobyfour || 06/06/2007 16:16 Comments || Top||

#5  This is the biggest bunch of trumped up nothing. It's not clear any law has been broken. Libby goes to prison about nothing.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/06/2007 18:06 Comments || Top||

#6  No, he's going to prison for lying to a cop. It was a stupid thing to do. That's why I'll never answer a question from a cop.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 06/06/2007 18:18 Comments || Top||

#7  "beautiful" prolly referred to Joe Wilson. He's one of the best-looking bitches I've seen in a while
Posted by: Frank G || 06/06/2007 20:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Dawood loses Mumbai mafia grip

from wiki- The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of thirteen bomb explosions that took place in Bombay (Mumbai), India on March 12, 1993.The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history. The single-day attacks resulted in over 250 civilian fatalities and 700 injuries. The attacks are believed to have been coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, don of the organized crime syndicate named D-Company, which had operated as a terrorist organization.

Mumbai: It’s been over two-decades since underworld don Dawood Ibrahim escaped India and began remote-controlling criminal gangs from abroad. But it now seems that the notorious mafia is loosing grip on his favourite turf.

Dawood’s sister Hassena Parkar, with her five look-alikes made a harried appearance at the sessions’ court in Mumbai last month. Don's sister and close aid bowing down to the law is a breakthrough for sure.

According to the police, this act of desperation shows that the gang, which had it’s close aids in Mumbai doing illegal activities on the gang’s orders—now are running for cover.
At 1:30 p.m. on on March 12, 1993, a powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the Bombay Stock Exchange building. The 28-story office building housing the exchange was severely damaged, and many nearby office buildings also suffered some damage. About 50 were killed by this explosion. About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded elsewhere in the city, and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. a total of 13 bombs exploded throughout Bombay. Most of the bombs were car bombs, but some were in scooters.

"She was scared of law which is why she went underground. Criminal leaders and their families are now scared. This sends out a strong message to their followers that they dare not come out in the open," said Meeran Borwankar Jt CP Crime.

The demi-god status of the 'Don' has eroded over the past few years. Hasina complains to the D-company aid Iqbal Kaskar that the name Dawood Ibrahim fails to strike fear even amongst tenants in her Gordon Housing building, where she lives. The transcripts of telephone conversation between the Don’s sister and his close aid Iqbal revealed this.

Haseena: Bhai this is a big tamasha. People now dare to abuse our people.

Iqbal: Who?

Haseena: The whole building…

Iqbal: Why

Haseena: They say that the D company has no guts. They were abusing us. The chaal committee is now controlled by old people while it used to be with the younger lot earlier. They say, there was a time when Don built stalls for our boys. Now he doesn’t even cares to look at us. We also don’t care and will demolish them. They are demolishing our stalls without any fear.

Haseena: Make it clear to Dawood that we still matter. I don’t care about anything else

Iqbal: Yes, yes

Hseena: We hardly have any respect left. We have got no influence on anyone now.

The fact that the D gang is literally unable to keep its own house in order was amply demonstrated when the tenants of Gordon Hall apartments demolished an illegal stalls that once thrived on Dawood's patronage.

At one point Haseena even managed to get the then local corporator Abu Shahid Azmi and Iqbal kaskar talk directly but not without giving a couple of instructions to the younger brother. Perhaps the story in these transcripts signals end of Dawood worship in Mumbai’s mafia world.
Posted by: John Frum || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan Government to target print media next
ISLAMABAD: The government is planning to introduce another law to restrict publication of “objectionable” cartoons and editorial comments in national and regional newspapers, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday. Sources said that the National Security Council (NSC), which met here with President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday, had decided to promulgate an ordinance to restrict publication of objectionable cartoons or articles in newspapers and magazines that may defame the armed forces or other state institutions. This follows the government introducing amendments in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance 2002 on Monday, placing restrictions on electronic media. The NSC has directed the Law and Justice Ministry to draft the ordinance restricting print media, sources said. Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Salim Saifullah Khan presented the idea of holding phased elections in the country, which was rejected for fear of angering opposition political parties. Sources said the NSC said the general elections would be held on time, while the president vowed not to support any political party or individual found responsible for the violence in Karachi
Posted by: John Frum || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Qaeda and Taliban active in Waziristan, says Sherpao
Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao on Tuesday said that recent intelligence reports suggested that remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda were regrouping and reorganising in Wana and South Waziristan. “Following such reports, law enforcement agencies are in constant contact with the local tribes to ensure that no one would be allowed to destroy peace in South Waziristan, “ he said.

He was addressing a press conference here at a local hotel. Sherpao said a recent meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) was briefed on the situation along the Pak-Afghan boarder, the tribal areas and his recent visit to Afghanistan. “A peaceful Afghanistan will guarantee a strong Pakistan,” he said. He said the joint Pak-Afghan jirga would be held in the second week of August.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Blood & Courage on the Front Lines
June 3, 2007 Sunday Parade Magazine

In the last four years, combat medical personnel—volunteer corpsmen, medics, nurses, doctors and support staff—have treated thousands of wounded troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, saving countless lives. Many serve under fire and, sadly, have even become casualties themselves. What motivates these men and women to leave behind family and friends? Here are four stories :

“They need me there.”
Maj. Timothy Hudson, Critical-Care Nurse


Major Hudson, 35, a critical-care nurse from Macon, Ga., left behind a wife and three sons to serve in Mosul, Iraq, as part of a 20-person Forward Surgical Team. The team—including four surgeons, four RNs and 12 enlisted personnel—sets up a mini field hospital on the battlefield with trailers, trucks and medical equipment. They do it within an hour, in support of various Army units.

“We’ve got an OR and an ICU in tents,” says Hudson. “We can do trauma surgery. Nearly every day there is a casualty.” The top injuries are from sniper fire and IEDs, or “improvised explosive devices.” Often hidden in a car or places where people gather, IED blasts account for 62% of combat fatalities.

“Every few weeks, we’d get 20, 30 patients at once, many Iraqi civilians,” continues Hudson. “I’ve seen men with their dying friend’s blood on their clothes, having to wash it off their bodies. How do you live with that memory? I keep thinking about how devastating it is for their parents. I don’t want my sons hurt like that.”

Hudson returned home to Fort Bragg, N.C., in October but wants to go back. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done is leave my children behind,” he says. “They’re everything to me. They understand that. They also understand that Dad has to be where he can do the most good.

“Iraq is not a M*A*S*H episode with Klinger and Pierce mocking the Army. Iraq is where I fly intubated patients at 2 a.m. in a helicopter without protective escorts. It’s where I’ve seen my ward filled with children because some suicide bomber blew something up, and now I’ve got a 4-year-old who’s looking around with her intestines in her hands. In that war, you are everything to the injured. You make a huge difference. That gives me my self-worth.” He shakes his head emphatically. “They need me there.”

“My job is to give them strength.”
Cmdr. Maureen Pennington, OR Nurse


It never crossed my mind that I’d be treating the combat-wounded,” says Commander Pennington, 45. “It was peacetime when I joined the Navy in 1986. But in Iraq, I was in the thick of it. It changed me.”

Last year, Pennington—who served as an OR nurse during the Gulf War in 1990-91—was put in charge of trauma centers at Fallujah, Ramadi and al-Taqaddum. (These facilities are set up like emergency rooms in tents or hardened structures to perform life- or limb-saving resuscitation. They are within 10 minutes of the battle zone by helicopter.)

“I saw terrible things,” Pennington recalls. “Sniper shots. Burn injuries caused by IEDs. Mortars. Limbs, heads blown away. You see it all.

“I saw so many young Marines dying, their buddies gathered around saying their last goodbyes,” she says, tearing up. “You get angry because there’s so much hurt. Oh, God, what they’ve been through!

“I get emotional now, but I couldn’t do that with the wounded. I remember a Marine captain who’d lost a lot of his guys—about 28 of them. He looked at me and said, ‘Maureen, do not give me one damn ounce of pity, because I need to be strong.’ That was a very good lesson for me. Your job is to give them strength. You can’t fall apart. You just have to suck it up. Then you go home and cry alone.”

Commander Pennington returned from Iraq in November. Married, with two children, she now works at the naval medical center in San Diego. In April, she received the Bronze Star. “I did nothing compared to what the Marines and soldiers do at the battlefront,” she says. “I saw their honor, commitment and courage every day.”


“Everyone I treated, I knew.”
Petty Officer 3rd Class, Benjamin Jensen, Hospital Corpsman


In 2004, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jensen, 24, a native of Los Angeles, was attached to the 1st Battalion, Fourth Marines in Iraq as a hospital corpsman. Serving under fire, Jensen had to quickly assess a wounded warrior’s injuries, stabilize him and get him to a resuscitative facility as fast as possible. It is often in the first 15 minutes after a critical wound that a life hangs in the balance.

“The primary thing my battalion did was the liberation of Najaf,” says Jensen. “We were mortared during 36 hours of continuous operations. The first casualty I treated was in a cemetery. A 120-millimeter mortar hit. I heard a Marine yelling and ran toward him. Then a second mortar hit. Its concussion knocked me to the ground. When I got to the Marine, he was lying facedown. He said, ‘ Get me out of here!’

“I rolled him over onto his back and saw bleeding. He was a little younger than me—maybe 18 or 19. He was screaming in pain. I cut his cammies off. He had a lot of shrapnel wounds. The femoral artery was hemorrhaging. A big chunk of his ankle was missing. Shrapnel had blown through his other knee and shot through his elbow and into his rib cage. I used a tourniquet and pressure dressings to stop the bleeding.” (Massive hemorrhage is a major cause of combat losses.) While still under mortar fire, Jensen got the Marine stabilized.

“Just as I was coming back to the line after helping to evacuate him, another mortar hit. A sergeant in my platoon fell. I lifted his head up and my fingers kind of sank inside. A chunk of shrapnel had come through the back of his skull. He was dead before we got him out.”

A year ago, Jensen and his wife had a baby boy. He has two more years ahead of him in the Navy. After that, he hopes for a career as a fire department paramedic. He does not want to go back to Iraq.

“Everyone I treated in Iraq, I knew,” Jensen says. “I slept in the same room with them. We ate every meal together. They’re my friends. It’s tough to deal with losing them. You talk to other guys. You make bad jokes. You just try to get through it.”

“The rock I hold onto: my training, my family, my brothers-in-arms.” Lt. Col. Rusty Rowe, Doctor

It’s been said that there’s no greater love than to give your life for a friend,” says Lt. Col. Rowe, 39. “I think there’s no greater love than to save a soldier from dying on the battlefield.”

Rowe is the chief doctor for the 101st Airborne Division Air Assault, based at Fort Campbell, Ky. “ I was raised in a military family and trained to be a family physician,” he adds. “I love being a doctor and an officer—two honorable careers.

“Probably the worst things I saw are the mass casualty incidents. They’ll follow the first blast in a crowded market or mosque with a secondary IED to blow up the first responders. That’s dishonorable and evil. You’re rushing in to provide lifesaving medicine, and you are attacked again.

“I know that people are firing around me. I don’t think about it. My main focus is on taking care of the casualties. I rely on our folks to suppress the enemy with overwhelming firepower.”

Rowe has three children, ages 10, 7 and 4. He was first deployed to Iraq in 2004 and expects to go back soon. “When I came home for mid-tour leave, I told my girls, ‘Daddy provides medical care to all the people who need it in Iraq. That’s why I was gone from you for an entire year. I was there to help the little children, the mommies and daddies who get hurt, to help your friends’ mommies and daddies in the military if they get hurt. And sometimes I help the enemy if they get hurt too.’

“I don’t delve into why these things happen. I look for that rock that I can hang onto—my training as a physician, my family, my friends, my brothers-in-arms. It really gets down to this: What is at the core of my being? The moral and religious foundation that tells me people are good and deserve a chance to live. Helping to provide that chance is worth whatever personal sacrifice or risk is required of me.”
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2007 06:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You just can't make this up - which is why I am surprised that a MSM insert would publish it. Must be a mis-step by the editors. Wait until the usefull-idiots write their LTTE's and they realize what a mistake they made.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 11:44 Comments || Top||

#2  It's that G*dd@mn Parade Magazine. We had no editorial control over it. Now we're gonna have to listen to Pinchie doing a Rosie O'Donnell impression for a whole week. I tell you, no job is worth this.
Posted by: NY Times || 06/06/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||

#3  &%$#@?_)(<> you (*&^%@+_)?~! Who let this piece of $#@(*&^% out? OK this $#)(*?>"|@ week I want every (*&^<#@+!>{&^ one of you to cut the legs out from under the )$#>:!@#$"><%$ Defense Department and ruin the morale of every *&(*$<"|}!~~#@ Mother and Father of those God ~%$#@)(*&"?: Men and Women serving America all over the God $#@%^)(*&^"{:<> world!!
Posted by: Pinche || 06/06/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||


Fighting exposes rift between Qaeda, Iraqi groups -
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Clashes on the streets of Baghdad between one of Iraq's main home-grown insurgent groups and members of an al Qaeda-led militant movement have exposed a deepening rift within Iraq's Sunni Arab-led insurgency.

Last week's battle for control of the Baghdad suburb of Amiriya was the first between Sunni Arab insurgent groups, who had previously maintained an uneasy alliance against U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

U.S. and Iraqi officials hope al Qaeda will lose crucial allies and become increasingly isolated in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq, where their ruthless tactics, including bombings that have killed thousands, have alienated many.

After 48 hours of fighting between al Qaeda and the Islamic Army in Iraq, calm has returned to the streets of Amiriya.

But the battle has continued on the Internet.

Until recently, Web postings from different insurgent groups almost always complimented each other for their claims of responsibility for attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces, as well as killing members of the majority Shi'ite community.

Now statements from al Qaeda and the Islamic Army posted on a Web site used by insurgent groups openly attack each other.

Al Qaeda followers also post abusive messages aimed at leaders of the Islamic Army. One called them "dogs", a grave insult in the Arab world

The Islamic Army, a large group of mainly former supporters of Saddam Hussein and ex-army officers, denied al Qaeda allegations they started the fighting in Amiriya by blowing up a man who tried to erase anti-al Qaeda graffiti.

In an audio statement posted on the Web site, Islamic Army spokesman Ali al-Nuaimi blamed al Qaeda leaders for the fighting and said the al Qaeda-led Islamic State of Iraq had turned Sunni cities into "ghost towns".

"We hold Abu Hamza al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi responsible for what their followers have done to Sunnis," Nuaimi said, referring to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri and the head of an umbrella group they set up.

"They should fear their outcome between God's hands on the day of resurrection," he said, adding that al Qaeda had killed 40 Islamic Army militants to date, including senior figures.

A barrage of insults from al Qaeda sympathizers followed the posting of the Islamic Army audio statement on Monday. Pro-al Qaeda moderators closed the page after deleting the message of one outnumbered participant who had cursed the group.

The al Qaeda-led Islamic State, angered by another Islamic Army spokesman's comments to television channel al Jazeera, described members of the group as "backstabbers".

"This has to be settled, either by leaving the backstabber or by confronting him and making him abide by God's laws to repent," the group said in an online statement.

Iraqi analyst Hazim al-Nuaimi said the infighting was not surprising given al Qaeda's increasing unpopularity among Sunni Arabs, many of whom reject its indiscriminate killings and hardline brand of Islam.

This battle was expected because al Qaeda has angered Iraqis by disregarding their well-being during their fight. This could be in the interest of home-grown groups who may increase their popularity by standing up to al Qaeda," he said.

Some Sunni Arab tribes in western Anbar province, long a safe haven for al Qaeda, have fought militants from the group for weeks and say they have gained control over large areas of the desert province.

U.S. and Iraqi officials, eager to end the violence that threatens to fracture Iraq, have sought to isolate al Qaeda, often describing them as "irreconcilable", while other insurgent groups are considered "reconcilable".

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/06/2007 03:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al Qaeda followers also post abusive messages aimed at leaders of the Islamic Army. One called them "dogs", a grave insult in the Arab world...

I rather like dogs compared to these guys.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/06/2007 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  If calling them dogs is an insult, what would calling them "pigs" be?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 11:44 Comments || Top||

#3  They came there to die for allan, so let them die.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/06/2007 12:27 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PCHR's Wonderful World of Gaza: Business as Usual Edition
Refugee camps? We don' need no refugee camps! We gots Paradies right here at home in Gaza

At approximately 06:30 on Wednesday, 6 June 2007, Ahmed Majed al-Habeel, 26, and Ra’ed Sami al-‘Azzami, 28, from al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, were admitted into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The two were wounded by shrapnel when a mysterious object they mishandled exploded.
An Israeli Happy Fun Ball maybe...
At approximately 08:30 also on Wednesday, Mohammed Murad Hmaid, 11, from al-‘Atatra area in Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip, was lightly wounded by shrapnel to the right hand and foot, when he mishandled a home-made hand grenade.
Jeez, mom. Dad said his were as good as the real ones.
Daddy is a lyin bastid and an idiot, Mohammed.

At approximately 09:00 also on Wednesday, 3 children were wounded by shrapnel throughout the body when a home-made hand grenade they mishandled exploded in al-Sikka area in Khan Yunis. Sameer Hamdi al-Masri, 15; Rafe’ Rashad al-Masri, 16; and Rawad Mohammed al-Masri, 12.
I wonder if they know Mohammed's daddy?
At approximately 18:00 on Tuesday, 5 June 2007, Wissam ‘Abdul Karim ‘Oukal, 10, was wounded by shrapnel to the right hand when he mishandled fireworks near his house in Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip.
Fireworks are dangerous, Wissam. Doesn't daddy have any homemade grenades you can play with?
At approximately 19:45 on Sunday, 3 June 2007, Mohammed Hamdi al-Masri, 18, was killed by a gunshot to the back, and Bilal Ameen al-Masri, 16, was wounded by a gunshot to the right thigh, when gunmen fired at them near Jamal ‘Abdul Nasser Street in Khan Yunis. An exchange of fire between armed members of the al-Masri and Abu Taha clan had taken place at 19:00 near the desalination plant, but no casualties had been reported.
Oh, good. The Al-Masri's always make for good copy. And they appear here so often...
At approximately 07:30 also on Sunday, Isma’il Jarad al-Farra, 50, from Khan Yunis, was admitted into Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis, as he was wounded by a gunshot to the left thigh in an inter-clan dispute.
Hold out your leg, Jarad.
What did I do?
Nothing. Clan dispute. It's your turn.

At approximately 19:30 on Saturday, 2 June 2007, a number of gunmen intercepted Mo’on Ramadan Abu Nahel, 39, when he was traveling in his car in al-Karama housing project in the north of Gaza City. They then fired at him. He was wounded by a gunshot to the left leg. According to Abu Nahel, the gunmen are related to him and they fired at him because of old inter-clan differences.
I need that twenty, Abu, or next week it's the right leg.
Okay, mom...

At approximately 17:30 on Friday, 1 June 2007, Tariq ‘Abdul Qader Ahmed, 15, from Khan Yunis, was wounded by a gunshot to the abdomen while he was riding his bicycle in the east of the town. The child was hit by a gunshot when a number of gunmen traveling in a civilian car fired at houses belonging to the al-Masri clan in the context of a clan dispute.
Al-Masri. Your first name in clan disputes.
At approximately 02:00 also on Friday, a dispute among members of the al-Deirawi clan in al-Zawaida village in the central Gaza Strip developed and small arms were used.
...as the large weapons were all in the shop.
Three Palestinians, including a mediator and a woman, were wounded: Hasan Hussein Hamdan, 47, from Nusairat refugee camp, wounded by shrapnel to the back; Sahar Mustafa al-Hawajri, 30, wounded by a gunshot to the back; Mohammed Suleiman al-Deirawi, 37, from Deir al-Balah, wounded by a gunshot to the right thigh.
Nice job "mediating" there, Hasan.
Me? I thought you were the mediator?

At approximately 00:30 on Sunday, 3 June 2007, a number of masked gunmen broke into a house belonging to the family of Hani Ghazi Abu Jom’a, 24, an officer of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City and attempted to kidnap him. As he was able to escape, the gunmen opened fire indiscriminately inside the house. Two of Jom’a’s sisters were wounded.
Oh-oh. Masked gunman headquarters won't like that we screwed up.
We'll tell 'em, "He wuz like Houdini, I tells ya! Houdini!"
Nah. Let's shoot the place up.

At approximately 15:30 on Saturday, 2 June 2007, Mousa Khaled al-Mallahi, 22, from al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, was admitted into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as he was wounded by shrapnel throughout the body when he mishandled a mysterious object near his house.
Hmmmmm...wonder what this is?
Earlier, at approximately 10:00, Mohammed Mustaf al-Bura’ei, 30, and Mohammed ‘Aadel al-Afghani, 27, members of the Military Intelligence Service from al-Boreij refugee camp, were admitted into al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. The two were each wounded by a gunshot to the abdomen when they were on duty, but the circumstances are not clear.
Bet I can clear it up. Looks like they tied at quick draw. Another feather in the cap for the boys over at Military Intelligence...
At approximately 08:45 also on Saturday, a number of masked persons traveling in a civilian car fired at Ra’ed ‘Omar Safi, 37, a police officer, from Beit Lahia, when he was traveling in his car towards his work in Gaza City. The car was heavily damaged, but Safi was not hurt.
Ah, don't worry, Ra' ed. They can probably just buff that all out...
At approximately 17:30 on Thursday, 31 May 2007, a number of unknown gunmen fired at Mohammed Rasmi al-Najjar, 30, a taxi driver from Khan Yunis, after they had seized his car in al-Sudaniya area in the west of Beit Lahia. He was wounded by several gunshots to the feet.
You knew there had to be at least one foot job.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/06/2007 09:54 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He was wounded by several gunshots to the feet.

Wouldn't dance, eh?
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/06/2007 11:39 Comments || Top||

#2  2, 1 more feet in the 2nd para.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/06/2007 11:54 Comments || Top||

#3  I love reading the PCHR's WWoG! It's the literary highlight of my week.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 06/06/2007 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  1 down for the preventive sec serv, and one for "mil intel". The former is Fatah affiliated, and Im guessing the latter is. The "We do TOO have a dog in this fight" brigade officially regrets the results of the days festivities. I want to see more dead Hamasniks, not just Fatahniks.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 06/06/2007 13:16 Comments || Top||

#5  An Israeli Happy Fun Ball maybe...

Great SNL reference! Keep up the excellent inline, tu3031.
And, as always, "Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball."
Posted by: Zenster || 06/06/2007 14:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Tribal Dipshit Olympics
Posted by: mojo || 06/06/2007 15:42 Comments || Top||

#7  when I grow up, I wanna be Tu's snark
Posted by: Frank G || 06/06/2007 22:23 Comments || Top||


'Palestinians are on verge of civil war'
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned Tuesday that his people were on the verge of civil war and said the infighting was worse than living under Israeli military rule.

Israel's capture of the West Bank, Gaza and parts of Jerusalem in the Six Day War was a "black day" for the Palestinians, who paid a heavy price for defeat, Abbas said in a televised speech on the anniversary of the start of the war on June 5.

Abbas focused on the bloody factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas. The two parties have been governing in an uneasy coalition since March, after a year of Hamas-only rule, but another round of deadly gun battles erupted in May.

"Regarding our internal situation, what concerns us all is the chaos, and more specifically, being on the verge of civil war," Abbas said.

He said he has spent hundreds of negotiating hours trying to halt the bloodshed, "realizing that what is equal to or even worse than occupation is internal fighting."

Abbas warned that factional fighting had harmed the Palestinians' standing in the world. He also criticized Palestinian operatives, who captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit a year ago and continued to fire rockets at southern Israel after the 2005 disengagement. Abbas said the operatives only invited Israeli retaliation that had left hundreds of Palestinians dead.

Abbas said he wanted to move forward instead of affixing blame, and was not trying to restore calm by negotiating a cease-fire with Israel.

Hours earlier, a two-hour gunfight broke out between Hamas and Fatah near the Karni crossing in Gaza. A number of Hamas members were wounded, in addition to one of Abbas's security guards.

Hamas blamed Fatah security men for opening fire, Army Radio reported.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Abbas warned that factional fighting had harmed the Palestinians' standing in the world.

Too late!
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2007 6:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Wish they'd quite the posing and get on with it, damn slackers
Posted by: Frank G || 06/06/2007 8:36 Comments || Top||

#3  So when will the press admit hit has gone over the line to civil war?
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/06/2007 9:36 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 So when will the press admit hit has gone over the line to civil war?

They won't because even if Israel disappeared tomorrow this is how these people would still act. MSM can't acknowledge in their bigotry and hatred, that it is not the Israelis who are the problem but the innate nature of Paleos and their enablers.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/06/2007 10:04 Comments || Top||

#5  But they're victims Pro, they're victims.
They've been... well....victimized!



Now they need $$$$ to make it all better.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/06/2007 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  from the book review:
"The Innocents Abroad" by Mark Twain (1869).

Commissioned by two U.S. newspapers to report on the voyage of the steamship Quaker City in 1867, the relatively unknown humorist Samuel Clemens sailed for the Middle East. The realities he encountered there bore little resemblance to the romantic fantasies that he and millions of Americans had imbibed in "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights." Middle Eastern men, Clemens concluded, were "filthy, brutish, ignorant, unprogressive, and superstitious," and the women so ugly that "they couldn't smile after ten o'clock Saturday night without breaking the Sabbath." These caustic observations and a wealth of others were published in a single volume under Clemens's new pen name, Mark Twain. The Middle East made him: "The Innocents Abroad" earned $300,000, a fortune for the time. Yet pre-"Innocents" myths about the Middle East remained deeply ingrained in the American imagination, later inspiring a cavalcade of fanciful movies, from "The Sheik of Araby" to "Aladdin," from "The Wind and the Lion" to "Indiana Jones." America's romance with the region continued until 9/11, the day the fantasy died.

Posted by: 3dc || 06/06/2007 10:36 Comments || Top||

#7  #6 another point from the same book: Twain & co traveled for three days from Yaffo to Jerusalem without meeting a living soul on the way.
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/06/2007 11:36 Comments || Top||

#8  You have to give credit to the Arabs. They had genocidal intent and made no bones about it. They lost and have turned things around so that many think of them as the good guys. It's amazingly adept manipulation of the (willingly led) media and usual suspects.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 06/06/2007 14:06 Comments || Top||

#9  ...the [Paleo] infighting was worse than living under Israeli military rule.

Hey, Paleos living in Israel and are citizens of Israel have represention in the Kneset.

What a dumb bunch of SOBs living in Palestine. If they were any dumber, they would have to be friggin dead.

Get on with the civil war. Purge the gene pool.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/06/2007 18:12 Comments || Top||

#10  I am not sure it can be called a civil war. That would require some modicum of civility somewhere there.

OTOH, matters not what's it called, as long as they will go progress on with it.
Posted by: twobyfour || 06/06/2007 18:18 Comments || Top||

#11  If they were any dumber, they would have to be friggin dead.

Well all-righty then, let's reduce their collective IQ a few more points, emkay?
Posted by: Zenster || 06/06/2007 19:05 Comments || Top||


'Hamas has Grad missiles with 20-km range'
Hamas possesses Grad missiles with a range of 20 kilometers that have yet to be fired at Israel, OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said during Tuesday's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting. Israel Radio quoted Yadlin as saying that the group also had Kassam rockets capable of reaching distances of up to 13 kilometers. Yadlin also warned that shoulder-fired missiles, with a range of 40 kilometers, could soon be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Grad (a Katyusha-type missile) can go 20 km - it will hit something somewhere in a 20 km radius, but nobody knows what.
A 40 km shoulder-fired missile? Must be some mighty big shoulders.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/06/2007 7:11 Comments || Top||

#2  shoulder-fired missiles, with a range of 40 kilometers,

Har! a Pali answer to Davy Crockett?
Posted by: Shipman || 06/06/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#3  All the years of summer camp exercises doing diving somersaults through flaming hoops has paid off for the guys who get to use the the shoulder fired missiles.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/06/2007 12:54 Comments || Top||


'Officers too concerned with soldiers' lives in war'
Israeli commanders' over-concern for their soldiers' lives during the Second Lebanon War hurt the war effort, according to Prof. Asa Kasher, the architect of the IDF Code of Ethics. "Missions were not completed because commanders did not want to jeopardize their soldiers' lives," he said at a conference on military ethics Tuesday in Jerusalem. "Concern about casualties is important," Kasher said. "Soldiers are not robots, they are human beings. But the commander must not underestimate the importance of his mission vis a vis the importance of his soldiers' lives. The Hizbullah were shooting hundreds of rockets at population centers in the North, thus endangering Israeli citizens' lives. So risking soldiers' lives to stop those rockets was perfectly justified."

Military officers from Denmark, Austria, Finland, the UK, Sweden, Romania, the Czech Republic, the US and other countries are attending the three-day International Association for Military Pedagogy conference at Mishkenot Sha'ananim sponsored by the Jerusalem Center for Ethics. Of all the armies in the world with a code of ethics, Kasher said, only the IDF taught the sanctity of life as a value that should be internalized by the soldier. He attributed that to Jewish tradition, which puts pikuah nefesh (the saving of life) at the center of its moral system.
"Commanders on the battle field did not want to risk their soldiers' lives to carry out an order that might be changed in the next hour," he said.
"I'm not saying other cultures do not value life," he said. "I just think that Jews are more willing to openly discuss it, to put it on the table."

The phenomenon of commanders being overly protective of their soldiers' lives was not a result of a general "softening" of the Israeli soldier, Kasher told The Jerusalem Post after his lecture. Rather it was a symptom of the atmosphere during the Second Lebanon War in which different and often contradictory orders were given by the high command within short periods of time. "Commanders on the battle field did not want to risk their soldiers' lives to carry out an order that might be changed in the next hour," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Commanders on the battle field did not want to risk their soldiers' lives to carry out an order that might be changed in the next hour"

Sounds pretty intelligent to me. But then, I was never a politician.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/06/2007 5:52 Comments || Top||

#2  I wouldn't commit my boys to an attack that might be called off and we have to give the target back to the enemy in an hour either.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/06/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#3  at first, I was a bit put off, but by the time I got to the end, I agreed with the commanders on the ground. I fault the upper level command that interfaced with the politicians, who should have demanded clear objectives and unwavering support when missions are launched.
Posted by: ptah || 06/06/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#4  The bastards!!!
Posted by: gromgoru || 06/06/2007 11:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds like the USARV.
Posted by: Sherebmanper Scourge of the Platypi1150 || 06/06/2007 12:00 Comments || Top||

#6  Israeli Officers too concerned with soldiers' lives in war'

Perhaps THe Brass, full bird colonels and above need a NEW Military Hippocratic Oath! [Do No Harm...]

/maybe ours [USA] should too. Since they seem incapable of letting combat troops do combat like they were trained, instead they compulsively keep tinkering and inventing deadlier and deadlier non-combat ROEs for our men and women.

/btw, ima just talkin... ;-)
Posted by: RD || 06/06/2007 23:43 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian MP confirms preparation for war
A member of the Syrian parliament, Muhammad Habash, confirmed on Tuesday that his country was actively preparing for war with Israel, expected to break out in the summer, Israel Radio reported. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Habash said it was no secret that the Syrian military was arming itself for the upcoming confrontation with the IDF. He also claimed that the Israeli government was the one that wanted the war so that it could survive politically.

Meanwhile, Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan (GIL Pensioners) said on Tuesday that in negotiations with Syria, Israel must relate to the matter of the Golan Heights as a real estate issue. "Negotiations need to be about the property value," he said.

National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), said he believed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should respond positively to any offer of peace talks from Syrian President Bashar Assad. However, Shas ministers Eli Yishai and Yitzhak Cohen insisted that the Syrians must take steps to show their intentions were serious before Israel negotiated with them. On Wednesday, the Security Cabinet was set to discuss the question of whether to examine the option of talks with Damascus.
Posted by: Fred || 06/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Preparations for war, troops massing at Israels borders, open threat of attack, these mooks never learn. Didn't the Six Days War teach them anything?
I hope Israel swipes up the whole damned Bekka Valley this time.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 06/06/2007 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Say, isn't that Dr. Zarkov and Flash Gordon? Nice hat - if only they came in tin foil.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/06/2007 12:17 Comments || Top||



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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
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Glenmore
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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2007-06-06
  Kabul to trade Deadullah's carcass for hostages
Tue 2007-06-05
  Terror suspect surrenders in Trinidad
Mon 2007-06-04
  Clashes in Ein el-Hellhole between army and Syrian sock puppets
Sun 2007-06-03
  UAE gives $80 million to Palestinians
Sat 2007-06-02
  Report: Feds arrest 3 in alleged JFK airport plot
Fri 2007-06-01
  Leb army attempts to seize Fateh al-Islam positions inside camp
Thu 2007-05-31
  UNSC approves Hariri court
Wed 2007-05-30
  Maliki is conducting "reconciliation" talks with Izzat Ibrahim
Tue 2007-05-29
  Iraqi Kurdistan to take charge of own security
Mon 2007-05-28
  14 Arrested in Spain on Terror Charges
Sun 2007-05-27
  U.S. Military Rescues 41 Iraqis From Al Qaeda Prison
Sat 2007-05-26
  Nangahar big turban snagged
Fri 2007-05-25
  Dems blink: House Approves War-Funding Bill
Thu 2007-05-24
  Israel seizes Hamas leaders in West Bank
Wed 2007-05-23
  PLO backs army entry into Nahr al-Bared

Better than the average link...



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