6 posts tagged “troops”

.
US Marines fight at close contact with Taliban forces in a fierce battle to secure a compound in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.. Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/itn_news

.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks for coming out to greet me -- at kind of a strange hour. (Laughter.) General, I appreciate your accommodating what I'm calling Rudolph One.

(Laughter.) After all, it is the holiday season. You might have heard, we made a little refueling stop in Baghdad earlier today. And now I'm proud to be back in Afghanistan. (Applause.) You might call it an early-morning wake-up call. Or in some of your cases, I might have cut your evening off. We won't go there. (Laughter.)

In either case, I am proud to be with brave souls serving the United States of America. (Applause.)

And my dear wife sends her very best regards. (Applause.) So, on behalf of Laura, and everybody else back home, merry Christmas, and a happy holidays. (Applause.) Congratulations on your tremendous accomplishments. And above all, thank you for volunteering to defend the United States of America.

You know, they often say, what are you going to miss? I'll miss the airplane, of course. (Laughter.) But I'm mainly going to miss being the Commander-in-Chief of such an outstanding group of men and women.

I appreciate Sergeant Major Vince Camacho for his service. I want to thank Ambassador Bill Wood, the Commanding General of U.S. Forces Afghanistan General David McKiernan; Brigadier General Mike Holmes, Commanding General 45th Expeditionary Wing. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne -- (applause.)

I told the General that I had the honor of going to Fort Campbell the other day. (Applause.) I saw a lot of your comrades, and I saw a lot of your families. And they have a message for you: Air Assault! (Applause.)

I thank the airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. I kind of like your motto: Start right, finish strong. (Applause.) Yes, that sounds pretty good for a guy with 36 days left. (Laughter.)

The soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division -- the Big Red One. (Applause.) Soldiers of the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Task Force Warrior. (Applause.) I want to thank all the troops from our coalition partners.

I appreciate your countries for supporting this noble cause. I want to thank all the civilians, the diplomats, the embassy personnel who are critical to our success. I thank all the other brave Americans here today, including members of the United States Navy, the United States Marine Combat personnel, FBI agents -- (applause) -- and last but not least -- (laughter.) They may sound small, but they're plenty tough. (Applause.)

And last but not least, the 101st Army Band. (Applause.)

You probably played some high notes to keep the folks awake. (Laughter.)

Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago. When I took office in 2001, the Taliban was brutally repressing the Afghan people. Girls were denied access to school. People who did not submit to the regime's radical beliefs were beaten in the public, or executed in soccer stadiums. Al Qaeda had freedom rein to operate the country -- in the country. And it was here in Afghanistan that the terrorists planned the attacks of September the 11th, 2001.

After that date, America gave the Taliban a choice: You can turn over the leaders of al Qaeda, or you can share in their fate. And when they refused, our just demands were enforced by the United States military. And thanks to you, the Taliban has gone from power, the al Qaeda training camps are closed, and 25 million Iraqis are free. And the American people, your loved ones, are more secure. (Applause.)

Removing the Taliban was a landmark achievement. But our work did not end there. See, we could have replaced one group of thugs with another strongman. But all that would have done is invited the same problems that brought us the al Qaeda safe havens and the attacks on America in the first place. Those were the mistakes of the 1980s and 1990s, and we were not going to repeat them again in the 21st century.

So America set an ambitious goal -- to help Afghanistan's young democracy grow and thrive, and emerge as an alternative to the ideology of hate and extremism and terror. This is a difficult and long effort. It's not easy to do this. It would have been so much simpler to say we got rid of one bunch and here's another one. But that's not what we believe is right. We want to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. We want to do the hard work now so our children and our grandchildren can grow up in a peaceful world.

So we rallied good allies to our side, including every member of NATO. We've developed civilian experts in the form of civilian [sic] reconstruction teams. And together with the determined people of Afghanistan, we are making hopeful gains.

Thanks to you, girls are back in school across Afghanistan. Does that matter? I think it does. I think it does. Thanks to you, boys are playing soccer again, and flying kites, and learning to be Boy Scouts. Thanks to you, access to health care is up dramatically. Thanks to you, Afghanistan's economy has more than doubled in size. And thanks to you, the Afghan people are preparing to go to the polls next year for another round of free elections. Thanks to you, Afghanistan has a democratic government that is no longer an enemy of America; it is a friend of America.

The enemies of freedom in Afghanistan are determined, no question about it, and the fight has been tough -- I don't need to tell you. This is a large country; it has a long way -- it's a long way away from a modern economy with a viable infrastructure. It's hard to get around Afghanistan. Yet we have a strategic interest, and I believe a moral interest in a prosperous and peaceful democratic Afghanistan. And no matter how long it takes, we will help the people of Afghanistan succeed.

As a sign of our commitment, we've increased American troop levels in Afghanistan. Our NATO allies have done the same. And so have the Afghan people -- Afghan army and police have grown. I call it a quiet surge. It's a surge that hadn't gotten much attention. But it has an unmistakable message: The Taliban has gone from power, and it's not coming back. Al Qaeda terrorists have lost their safe haven in Afghanistan, and they're not going to get it back. Afghanistan will be a successful society and a hopeful society and a free society. And Afghanistan will never again be a safe haven for terrorists to attack the United States of America.

In recent months, the violence has increased in some parts of Afghanistan. This is partly because we're going into new areas where the terrorists have never been challenged before. And if the enemy are fighting back, they don't like it when we show up. But ultimately, they will be no match for the Afghan people or her coalition partners. And they're certainly no match for the men and women of the United States military. (Applause.)

I am confident we will succeed in Afghanistan because our cause is just, our coalition and Afghan partners are determined; and I am confident because I believe freedom is a gift of an Almighty to every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth. Above all, I know the strength and character of you all. As I conclude this final trip, I have a message to you, and to all who serve our country: Thank for making the noble choice to serve and protect your fellow Americans.

What you're doing in Afghanistan is important, it is courageous, and it is selfless. It's akin to what American troops did in places like Normandy and Iwo Jima and Korea. Your generation is every bit as great as any that has come before. And the work you do every day is shaping history for generations to come.

Because of you, America has a strong friend and partner in the fight against extremism in a pivotal part of the world. Because of you, people across the broader East -- Middle East now have an example of a more hopeful path -- a model of liberty that can prevail over tyranny and terror. Because of you, killers who wanted to take the lives of Americans back home have been brought to justice before they reached our shores. And because of you and all who work to protect our nation, America has done something many said was impossible: We have gone more than seven years without a terrorist attack on our homeland.

This time of year is especially a time when we thank the Almighty for our freedoms. And we think of those who laid down their lives to protect those freedoms. Back home their children are growing up without a mom or a dad. But all of our children are growing up with something else -- the promise of a safer America, the promise of a better world, and the more likelihood for peace.

This is a lasting memorial -- all who have sacrificed here in Afghanistan. And thanks to you, that memorial will be achieved, and the sacrifice of your comrades will not have been in vain. We think of the comrades who have been wounded. Our nation pledges that we will give them all the care and all the support they need to recover.

And finally, we think of your families back home. You've got a loved one wondering what you're doing, how you're doing -- I want you to do me a favor: When you get back to wherever you're getting back to, call them, e-mail them, or write them. Tell them you love them, and tell them the Commander-in-Chief thanks them for their sacrifice, thanks them for loving you like they do, and thanks for -- thank them for standing with you as you serve the noble cause of peace.

I am proud to be with you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. May God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

END 5:54 A.M. (Local)

Tell Me Again the Left Supports the Troops

Duane Lester • January 9, 2008

2,218

I have been told over and over again that the left supports the military. History tells a different story. History shows the left’s contempt for the military, and the present leaders on the left continue that tradition of contempt today.

Higher Learning

Prior to the U.S. led invasion of Iraq, Columbia University hosted a six hour “teach-in” conference attended by around thirty of Columbia’s faculty. They took turns castigating President Bush and his plan to invade Iraq. The leftists also heard from Nicholas De Genova. De Genova is a professor of anthropology and Latin American studies who hates the military.

Nicholas De Genova

During the six hour “protest,” De Genova said “The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the US military.” He encouraged junior enlisted and junior officers to murder their superior officers. He also wished for a “million Mogadishus,” referring to the 1993 battle where 18 American soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded.

We are to believe that this rhetoric does “not in any way represent” the university’s position, but, on the other hand, Columbia University does not allow its students to participate in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) on campus either. Up until 1990, they could participate in ROTC at nearby Fordham University at get credit for it on their transcripts. Now, they do not. They even fought to keep recruiters off campus. And when forced to allow them, advised its students against interviewing.

At the same time, it allows Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a speaking forum. A man responsible for roadside bombs in Iraq that are killing our military men and women is not only allowed on campus without protest from the faculty, but is given a podium and a microphone. Yet a soldier in uniform is unwelcome.

While it seems that Columbia and its liberal elitist staff are no friends of the military, they are not alone. Harvard has banned recruiters. So have many other primary and secondary schools. In fact, members of our military have been harassed by liberals on several campuses.

At Seattle Community College, a group of students chased a recruiter off under protection of campus security. The mob was not reprimanded. In Santa Cruz, recruiters were chased away from a job fair. Antiwar groups brag about harassing recruiters into leaving. But they support the troops.

San Francisco

The epicenter of liberalism, leftism and lunacy. San Francisco has an especially hateful view of the military. At an anti-war rally on October 27, 2007, protesters carried signs that read:

• If we support the troops, aren’t we supporting the terrorist?
• U.S. military bases are terrorist training camps.
• Iraqis Resist the U.S. Occupancy

At a rally in 2004, marchers were seen with signs that read “Long live Fallujah,” “Long Live Iraqi Resistance” and “Support Armed Resistance in Iraq and Everywhere.”

Geraldo Sandoval

But don’t think it is just the flakes. The city government has its military hating moments also. The Board of Supervisors rejected a plan to bring the historic battleship USS Iowa to San Francisco. Supervisor Geraldo Sandoval told Sean Hannity that he didn’t “want a symbol of war in the harbor.” He went on to say, “I don’t think we should have a military. Absolutely.” He later said, “The United States should not have a military. All in all, we would be in much, much, much better shape.” That one left even Alan Colmes stammering.

Another Board Supervisor, Chris Daly, worked with anti-military activists to try to ban the Blue Angels. He failed. But then they stopped the Marines from filming in the city. It was concerns over traffic, not politics at all. Right.

San Francisco voters told recruiters to stay out of the schools there and the school board voted to ban Junior ROTC from all the city’s schools. The board turned around and gave the program a reprieve, much to the chagrin of anti-military liberals:

“I’m really disappointed,” said Martha Hubert, a member of Code Pink who opposed the extension. Students “should have a choice of better things to do.”

Cheer up, Martha. There’s probably a recruiter’s office nearby you can harass. But they support the troops.

The Media

I know, the liberal media is a bit trite, but we have to cover it. Why?

Scott Beauchamp.

According to Scott Beauchamp, our military is full of heartless killers with zero empathy. He described himself mocking a disfigured IED victims, and his friends laughing. He described a private marching around with part of a human skull on his head…and people laughing. And the media lapped it up.

The main problem was, none of it was true. The “Baghdad Diarist” made it all up. And who got to the bottom of it? NBC? CBS? ABC?

None of them. It was conservative magazines The Weekly Standard and National Review. And when the truth came out, the old media left a lot to be desired in coverage of it.

The New York Times gave MoveOn.org a break for their General Betrayus ad. MoveOn.org purchased the ad at a discounted rate that they were not permitted to get according to the Times’ own policies. The Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt:

The ad appears to fly in the face of an internal advertising acceptability manual that says, ‘We do not accept opinion advertisements that are attacks of a personal nature,’

The paper’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr, defended the discount by saying, “”If we’re going to err, its better to err on the side of more political dialogue. … Perhaps we did err in this case. If we did, we erred with the intent of giving greater voice to people.”

An interesting note about Sulzberger, Jr, comes from writer Harry Stein:

(Sulzberger’s father was nicknamed “Punch,” and the none too flattering nickname for Junior is “Pinch.”)

Pinch was a political activist in the Sixties, and was twice arrested in anti-Vietnam protests. One day, the elder Sulzberger asked his son what Pinch calls, “the dumbest question I’ve ever heard in my life.” If an American soldier runs into a North Vietnamese soldier, which would you like to see get shot? Young Arthur answered, “I would want to see the American get shot. It’s the other guy’s country.” Some Sixties activists have since thought better of their early enthusiasms. Pinch hasn’t.

I wonder how he would answer today concerning this war.

Another interesting thing with the media is how they are covering this war. It seems that as the situation improves, the coverage goes down:

Back in September, as reporters voiced skepticism of General Petraeus’ progress report, the networks aired a total of 178 Iraq stories, or just under two per network per night. (See chart.) About one-fourth of those stories (42) were filed from Iraq itself, with most of the rest originating in Washington.

In October, TV’s war news fell by about 40 percent, to 108 stories, with the number of reports filed from Iraq itself falling to just 20, or less than one-fifth of all Iraq stories. By November, the networks aired a mere 68 stories, with only eleven (16%) actually from the war zone itself.

There is no shortage of stories in Iraq that merit coverage. There is plenty of good news that can be reported. Why is there less coverage of the biggest issue in America when things are improving?

A final example of anti-military bias was given to us this Christmas by NBC. The television company initially refused to air a commercial by “Freedom’s Watch.” The commercial was too political for NBC to air. All the ad did was thank the military for their service. Take a look for yourself.

NBC had to be pressured to air an ad that just said, “Thank you.” But they support the troops.

The Current Bunch of Haters

Liberals in their own words:

John Kerry

“You know, education — if you make the most of it, you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well.

“If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

“And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the, of the historical customs, religious customs.”

Dick Durbin

(speaking about our military’s treatment of detainees in Gitmo) “If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.”"

John Murtha

“Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood,”

Barack Obama

“We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there.”

Pete Stark

“You don’t have money to fund the war or children, but you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Rosie O’Donnell

“I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?“

Jim Moran

“Sure, there’s less violence, but that’s because we’ve ethnically cleansed most of Baghdad.”

Harry Reid

“…this war is lost…”

Ted Rall

“Over time, however, the endless war in Iraq began to play a role in natural selection. Only idiots signed up; only idiots died. Back home, the average I.Q. soared.”

Ted Kennedy

“Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management - US management.”

MoveOn.Org

“General Petraeus or General Betray Us? …Today, before Congress and the American people, General Petraeus is likely to become General Betray Us.”

Seymour Hersh

“…there has never been an [American] army as violent and murderous as our army has been in Iraq.”

The left has a hard sell to America to get them to believe that they support the troops when they behave like this. And this isn’t even the complete picture. This is a cropped snapshot. I didn’t even touch the 60s. A person could write a book about the history of liberal hatred and contempt for the military. In fact, someone did.

The whole time the left is undercutting the troops, or pushing bills that threaten the supply lines, or celebrating the number of seats they will win because of military combat deaths, they want us to believe they support the troops.

I have a hard time with that.

     ____________________________________________________________________________________________

If you liked this article, you can find more of Duane Lester's writings at allamericanblogger.com