American Turk rides in the woods

Watch my buddy Murat ride his bike on a tough trail through the woods ! Murat is a fellow blogger I have come to respect a lot . There is a link to American Turk in the right sidebar , go visit him .

Murat's video

Why isn't this in the news?

UPDATE !! And an apology .
I did not verify the facts about this statue before posting about it . According to Snopes ( www.snopes.com ) , Kalat did make the statue , but not out of gratitude , but was commissioned by the US Army to craft it . Some of the other facts are correct . I feel the point is still valid that the media neglects good stories about the war due to their opposition to it , and thus skew the perception of readers and listeners toward opposition to the war .



This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace,
now home to the 4th Infantry division.
It will eventually be shipped home
and put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood, TX

The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat,
who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad.

Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his country;
he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam
and made the statue as a memorial to the American soldiers
and their fallen warriors.
Kalat worked on this memorial night and day for several months.

To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.

Do you know why we don't hear about this in the news?
Because it is heart warming and praise worthy.
The media avoids it because it does not have the shock effect.

But we can do something about it.
We can show it to everyone we know and talk about it .

Drudge - BARBARA DOES HUGO

Drudge , Drudge , I hope not !!
Recent headline on Drudge was possibly intentional , but I hope not . Maybe the writer doesn't know the current slang meaning of X does Y , as in has sex with .
The news item is about Barbara Walters and her interview with Hugo Chavez . Chavez tries to explain why he called Bush "Devil" , and "Donkey" , and was quite rude to Condi Rice in his description of her as illiterate and sexually frustrated .

Chavez also rants about Bush attempting to oust him and attempting his assassination .
Chavez also makes a wild claim -

Chavez refuses to endorse an American presidential candidate for 2008, saying that his support would be a burden for the candidate. He does, however, express great confidence that if he could run for president in the United States, he would have no trouble winning and that he could win over any right wing candidate within six months.

Chavez is continually showing us how out of touch he is . If he weren't a major supplier of oil to the US , he wouldn't get away with his antics . I suppose he will want to come to the UN to join his buddy Ahmedinejad if and when the Iranian leader gats enough visas for his multitude of "support" people he wants to bring along .

Source -
ABC News

NOT a happy camper !!

Iran's leader is unhappy about the draft resolution in the UN that will be voted on soon . I don't put much faith in the effectiveness of UN resolutions , but this one is stronger than recent ones .
Here is Ahmadinejad's comment -

If all of you gather and also invite your ancestors from hell, you will not be able to stop the Iranian nation (from developing nuclear technology ).

The resolution blocks international transactions by Bank Sepah, Iran's fifth-largest bank, and freezes the bank's assets abroad.
Calls on all governments and financial institutions not to make commitments "of grants, financial assistance or concessional loans" to the Iranian government.
Bans Iran from supplying, selling or transferring "any arms or related material" to other countries.
Freezes the foreign assets of 13 additional organizations and 15 more Iranian officials, including the commander of the Quds force, an elite military group the Bush administration has charged with providing sophisticated explosives to Iraqi Shiite militias.
Urges U.N. members to restrict travel by the 15 Iranian officials. Nations would be required to notify a Security Council committee if those officials enter their countries.
These actions , if implemented , and if followed by other nations , may be some deterrent to Iran's progress toward nuclear arms , leaving the door open for them to develop nuclear energy as they claim is their only goal .
It is my opinion that the resolution will only slow them down for a while ,and they will be a threat until Ahmedinejad is ousted and more reasonable leaders emerge .

Source - USAtoday

Dems backing down some more

Nancy Pelosi and her supporters are now backing down on the plan to stop Bush from acting against Iran by cutting funding . They were possibly convinced by conservative Democrats and others that such action would have a great impact on Israel .
From Yahoo News

Top House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit President Bush's authority for taking military action against Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war.

Officials said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the leadership had decided to strip from a major military spending bill a requirement for Bush to gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran.

Democrats are now working toward a test vote in the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday on the overall bill, which would require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2008, if not earlier. The measure also provides nearly $100 billion to pay for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

UPDATE 3-16-2007 The Senate vote Pelosi was counting on to force Bush to get out of Iraq failed to pass by a clearly partisan split vote . The Senate voted 50-48 against a resolution requiring all but essential support troops to leave Iraq by March 2008.
This is a victory for Republicans, who had relied on parliamentary maneuvers for weeks to delay an extensive debate on Iraq. They changed course in recent days, allowing Mr. Reid's proposal to advance and demonstrating that Democrats were unable to muster enough support in Congress to push through sweeping changes in Iraq policy, despite the party's victory in the November election.

More on Iraqi military transition

Here is Brigadier General Dana Pittard , the head of the Iraq Assistance Group on the progress of the transition of Iraq's army into leadership roles in the war .

Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard highlighted the role of transition teams in Iraq and their progress at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone, Baghdad.

Embedded transition teams work side by side with Iraqi Army and Police. The primary goal of these teams is to increase the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces and build their self- reliance, said Pittard.

Performance of the teams is important to success.

“I am very impressed with the performance of the Iraqi Army. There was a time when

Coalition forces had to urge Iraqi Forces to fight that is not the case anymore. They are not only capable of fighting, they want to fight for a sovereign Iraq,” said Pittard.

These teams are embedded with Iraqi Security Forces ranging from battalion to division-sized forces. There are currently 500 transition teams working with Iraqi Security Forces.

The embedded teams vary in size, but a typical team consists of 11 members. The number of teams may not increase, but the actual size of the teams may change, said Pittard.

Eight of the 10 divisions in the Iraqi Army are now under Iraqi control and all divisions are showing evidence of self- reliance, said Pittard.

Six of the divisions are under the Iraqi Ground Forces and two are under the Baghdad Security Command.

While they are under Iraqi control, they still receive some American support, according to Pittard.

Source -
cent.com

Due to the dedication of the embedded transition teams over the last two years the Iraqi Security Forces have seen a dramatic increase in performance.

Good news from Iraq

The media tells us how badly things are going in Iraq daily . Here is some good news they have not told us . I read cent.com articles regularly , they are posted on the Central Command website almost daily and are written by soldier/reporters in the field . Check out cent.com when you want some news not filtered by the US media .

For example -

Iraqi forces control much of northern Iraq

Monday, 12 March 2007
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON — Three of the four Iraqi army divisions in the north are now under the control of the Iraqi Ground Forces Command, and U.S. troops are turning over more counterinsurgency operations to those units, the top U.S. commander in the region said.

This will allow U.S. forces to refocus its combat operations and to continue working with local governments on economic issues, said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North.

U.S. troops are now serving more in an “advise-and-assist role,” Mixon said. U.S. combat operations are more focused on specific targets, such as individuals and groups who finance, make and use improvised explosive devices.

Mixon reported that Iraqi units in the region are manned at about 85 percent. They do, however, have significant equipment shortages, he said.

The final division should fall in under Iraqi command and control by this summer. To help train the Iraqi troops, Mixon has added nearly 400 U.S. soldiers to his military transition teams. To help train the Iraq police, 33 transition teams were added.

I have not read any good news lately in the papers , but things are happening over there , and sort of on schedule . It must be understood that Iraq is building an army and trying to do so in the face of terrorist and extremist opposition hourly . If we back out now , these efforts will be negated in weeks if not days .

Mixon reported that Iraqi units in the region are manned at about 85 percent. They do, however, have significant equipment shortages, he said.

The final division should fall in under Iraqi command and control by this summer. To help train the Iraqi troops, Mixon has added nearly 400 U.S. soldiers to his military transition teams. To help train the Iraq police, 33 transition teams were added.

Work is still needed, however, with the border security forces and with the strategic infrastructure battalions, those that secure critical oil refining and delivery infrastructure.

Mixon put dedicated training teams with the strategic infrastructure battalions but had to “weed out some of the bad eggs” in those battalions who were working with insurgents or stealing oil.

“They still need to make improvements in their overall manning, their equipping and their general professionalism, and we continue to work that each day,” Mixon said.

Mixon noted that the oil refining and delivery infrastructure was in poor condition before the war, so considerable investment is needed to fix those problems.

The general said he is encouraged by progress made in the northern provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk and Salahuddin, but that sectarian violence still plagues Diyala province. He has moved more forces into Diyala province and increased offensive operations to throw the insurgents “off balance” and prevent them from reinforcing operations in Baghdad, he said. In the past two months, coalition forces have seen a 30 percent increase in offensive actions and attacks and have killed more than 175 enemy forces in Diyala, Mixon said.

“We see the Sunni insurgency trying to desperately gain control of Diyala, because it helps in their effort to control Baghdad and to prevent the government of Iraq from succeeding,” Mixon said. “Over time, I am confident that the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police will overcome these security threats in cities like Baqubah, Balad Ruz and Muqdadiyah, and throughout Diyala province.”

Upside down ?

This is from an Argentine Presidential election , but I altered it by putting America in place of Argentina . Read it as you see it , but for the true message read it from bottom to top !

This is the truth
If we turn things upside down
We can’t be the best country in the world
I would be lying to you if I said that
America will have a safe country ahead
Our economy will be strong
That our children will be healthy, and get an education and have jobs
Before anything you must know
Our country does not deserve such things
And I am convinced of this because I know the American people
Corruption and hypocrisy is in our nature
I refuse to believe under any circumstances that
We could be a great country in the coming years
Thanks to the peoples vote
This country is sinking to new depths but
There are even more surprises to come
America has only one destiny
And whether we like it or not
This is what is real

I think some of our leaders need to get the message . They are so busy trying to put their heads where the sun don't shine , they see things upside down !

How Texan are you ?

You Are 96% Texas

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. This ain't your first rodeo!

How Texas Are You?

DISCOVERY backing off "Lost Tomb" ?

Looks like Discovery Channel is not as proud of the documentary they aired about a supposed tomb of Jesus . The airing gained an average of 4.1 million viewers - more than any of their previous documentaries - they refused to put out a press release crowing about it , as is customary . They even aired a panel discussion just after the initial airing to discuss the fallacies involved in the discovery of the "lost" tomb . Ted Koppel moderated the discussion . They then pulled a repeat showing suddenly .
Perhaps Discovery Channel realized the specious claims of the Titanic director , James Cameron .

Discovery Channel's controversial James Cameron-produced documentary "The
Lost Tomb of Jesus" drew the largest audience for the network in more than a
year on Sunday night, but the network has taken several recent steps to downplay
the project.

"This is not one where you necessarily beat the drum, from a business
perspective," said David Leavy, executive VP of corporate communications at
Discovery. "It's not necessarily about making money, or making ratings, or
shouting from the highest office building. Sometimes having some maturity and
perspective is more important than getting picked up in all the ratings
highlights."

Curious to me that they say it is not about money , but are truly basking in the limelight , even bad publicity is publicity , and the show WILL air agin , I can be certain .

Source-http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11681