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The U.S. Cannot Abandon Georgia
The United States must intervene in the current conflict between Russia and Georgia. We have spent billions training Georgia’s military and have done everything to assist that young democracy. Now in the face of outrageous aggression by Russia, President Bush is going to let that country be destroyed?
If we allow Russia to seize control of Georgia and its valuable oil pipeline then all the President’s talk about spreading freedom and democracy ring hollow. Georgia has been a staunch ally of the U.S. and now their country is being stolen by Russia.
Georgia’s U.S. trained military is vastly superior to Russia’s in terms of training, but with a force of less than 50,000 they are no match for Russia’s 750,000 poorly trained, poorly led, and poorly equipped drunks. The real problem for Georgia is air power. Georgia has no fighter aircraft or attack choppers while Russia has more than 1,200 attack aircraft.
The latest reports out of Georgia are that more than 50 Russian aircraft are flying above Georgia. With no aircraft the only thing the people of Georgia can do is hide.
Georgia had the third largest troop commitment in Iraq behind Great Britain until this week when the Pentagon began flying Georgian troops home to fight the Russians.
Russia’s intention is to seize control of Georgia’s valuable oil pipeline that carries oil to Turkey. It’s the only pipeline in the entire region that the corrupt Russian government doesn’t control — at least not yet.
I understand that we “need” Russia to back us on UN sanctions against Iran, but that rationale is really pretty absurd. The Russians play lip service to President Bush about the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, while at the same time building a nuclear reactor for Iran.
The situation is undoubtedly complicated, but what we absolutely must not do is sit around jawboning at the UN forever. The United Nations is one of the most ineffective and corrupt organizations on the planet and what’s worse is that it’s largely funded by us.
Barack Obama’s tepid response in the beginning and the moral equivalency he drew between a democratic ally of the U.S. and Russia speaks volumes about how he would conduct his foreign policy. His call for UN peacekeeping troops is also ridiculous, because if history is any indicator UN peacekeepers are nothing more than props. UN peacekeepers have never ‘kept peace’ anywhere, and as with everything involving the UN it takes years to see a boot hit the ground.
What the U.S. should do is give Russia a simple ultimatum. Either Russia immediately and unconditionally withdraws from Georgia or we will make Ukraine a part of NATO as early as next week. Russia’s biggest fear is having Ukraine become a part of NATO, and this above all else is our biggest leverage on Russia.
Russia is surrounded by young democracies and if the U.S. allows Russia to topple one democracy it will weaken them all. Georgia has done everything it can to create a free and democratic society after decades of Soviet tyranny.
America has a moral obligation to help its friends when they’re in need, and right now Georgia desperately needs our help.
-Chris Jones
Video: Air Force Pilot Who Flew Clinton To Bosnia Speaks Out
Israel To Gaza: It’s On
From Hot Air:
The Israelis have sent a warning to Gaza and its Hamas leadership after the latest rocket attack on Ashkelon. If the attacks continue, Israel will invade Gaza and conduct large-scale military operations to eliminate the threat:
Israeli leaders warned Friday of an approaching conflagration in the Gaza Strip as Israel activated a rocket warning system to protect Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 people, from Palestinian rockets.Ashkelon was hit by several Grad rockets fired from Gaza on Thursday, a sign of the widening scope of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. One hit an apartment building and another landed near a school, wounding a 17-year-old girl.
Located 11 miles from Gaza, Ashkelon had been sporadically targeted in the past but never suffered direct hits or significant damage.
“It will be sad, and difficult, but we have no other choice,” Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense mister, said Friday, referring to the large-scale military operation he said Israel was preparing to bring a halt to the rocket fire.
“We’re getting close to using our full strength. Until now, we’ve used a small percentage of the army’s power because of the nature of the territory,” Vilnai told Army Radio on Friday.
Israel had tried using softer methods to stop the attacks, including a lockdown on the border between Gaza and Israel. That resulted in a breakout at Rafah, which took the Egyptian government several days to resecure. Other nations had pressured Israel to end the embargo or at least loosen it for food, energy, and medical supplies, but the rocket attacks continue.
Hamas says that Israel’s return fire has killed 15 civilians and blames Israel for the rising tensions. Apart from the absurdity of blaming someone for hitting an aggressor in return, Hamas and other terrorist entities have no one but themselves to blame for civilian deaths. Even the AP acknowledges that Hamas launches its rockets from densely populated civilian centers, drawing fire onto their own people.
Israel cannot stand idle while terrorists rain rockets onto civilian populations, and the escalation to Ashkelon is a deliberate provocation by Hamas. The IDF has to take action, and this time it cannot be constrained by proportionality. They need a massive response to the Gaza provocateurs, one that leaves them no ground to hide. If Gaza’s civilian population wants to avoid that, then they need to rid themselves of the terrorists before Israel’s military does its work.
Hot Air has it right as usual. Israel needs to quit taking this crap from the terrorists and take care of business. The sooner they move into Gaza and lay waste to the place the sooner the violence will end. Anyone who thinks Israel can ever coexist with Hamas is living in a fantasy world.
Every single member of Hamas should be systematically hunted down and killed. The same goes for Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, and any other gun toting, missile firing, Islamic group.
All the pretend cease-fires and half measures on the part of Israel only prolongs the violence. They need to get in, level the joint, and get out.
-Chris Jones
Pictures: Prince Harry At War
Here are some pictures of Prince Harry serving his country in Afghanistan:
(Click photos to enlarge)
Prince Harry Serving On Front Lines In Afghanistan
From the AP:
Prince Harry has been serving on the front line in Afghanistan with the British Army, calling in airstrikes on Taliban positions and going out on foot patrols, the Ministry of Defense announced Thursday.
Officials said the prince, a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, was still deployed in the country.
“His conduct on operations in Afghanistan has been exemplary,” said the head of the army, Gen. Richard Dannatt. “He has been fully involved in operations and has run the same risks as everyone else in his battle group.”
Harry, who is third in line to the throne, has been in Afghanistan since December.
The planned deployment had been disclosed to reporters, with no specific date, and was not reported previously under a pool agreement between the Ministry of Defense and all major news organizations operating in Britain, including The Associated Press. The news blackout was intended to reduce the risk to the prince and his regiment.
The news embargo was broken, however, after reports of the prince’s deployment were leaked by an Australian magazine and a German newspaper, and then reported on a U.S. Web site, the Drudge Report.
Dannatt, the military commander, said he was “very disappointed” that the story had leaked.
Harry, 23, has been deployed in the restive Helmand province for 10 weeks, where most of the 7,800 British troops in Afghanistan are based, according to the military’s statement.
In a recorded interview, Harry said he was happy to be standing shoulder-to- shoulder with his colleagues.
“It’s nice just to be here with all the guys and just mucking in as one of the lads,” said Harry, who had expressed bitter disappointment when he was banned from going to Iraq with his battalion last year. Army chiefs said publicity surrounding his deployment could put him and his unit at risk.
Pooled video footage of Harry in Afghanistan showed the prince dressed in camouflage fatigues patrolling arid and dusty terrain and firing a machine gun.
Harry graduated from Sandhurst military academy in 2006 and trained as a tank commander. After the decision not to send him to Iraq, he retrained as a battlefield air controller, the job he has been filling in Afghanistan.
The fact that Prince Harry actually wanted to fight is a very noble thing. He has more honor and guts than a lot of people both in Britain and in America. He and his brother are a credit to their country and will make exceptional leaders one day.
-Chris Jones
Veterans Day
As I watched the reading of the names of the fallen at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C., it was obvious how many different families were affected. Some of the names were first and last name only, then there were first middle initial and last, but the most frequently called names were first middle and last with around a fifth of those followed by “the second” or “the third”. What was also obvious was the multinational or ethnic complexion of the names. America is truly a melting pot for the entire world.
As we honor the dead, significantly seen in honor guards, taps, and rifles discharged, we should keep the wounded in mind as well. Besides the physical wounds with their handicapped results and amputated limbs, there are the psychological wounds, with their therapy modifications and untreatable states. My wife’s uncle came back from WWII and sat in a chair until the early fifties, staring straight ahead not talking or responding in any manner.
Armistice Day, November 11, 1918 was the day the guns finally stopped on the front line. In the hours just prior, over 10,000 had to die from orders to fight until the appointed hour. When the hour arrived soldiers from both sides dropped their guns and jumped up out of their trenches to mingle with their mortal enemies just seconds before.
The name has been changed to Veterans Day, I guess because the world never left the guns on the ground after the “War to End All Wars”. Too bad the world didn’t get that war over with early in civilization like 5000 B.C.
No other word in our language carries as much pain as the word war; the fallen, the wounded, the disabled, the families, the refugees, the ongoing hatred and resentments which usually lead right into the next war. God help us all from becoming the next victim of the word war.
By Lloyd H. Frye
Op-Ed Columnist
The Hot Joints
Premature Evacuation
The pundits for King George III say the surge in Iraq is showing signs of succeeding and the American people are now in favor of the war. The king himself recently gave a speech in which he outlined the importance of winning the war, defeating the terrorists, securing the oil fields for future generations and that if we withdraw we will be in grave danger at home. Basically, what he’s said all along as he does whatever he wishes with US troops worldwide.
The thing I don’t understand is if we withdraw the terrorists will all of a sudden be able to find America on the map and bring devastation and genocide to our shores. Do they not know where the troops came from? Will they have to wait until troops are airlifted and shipped back to the States to know where to attack next? Wouldn’t it be smart to strengthen our borders if terrorists are coming? What stops them from coming across with the millions of Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans that stream into the Border States to a point of complete chaos currently? Does this mean terrorists can only fight on one front at a time? Are they waiting for airlines to have fare wars so they can afford to come here? Are they saving their money for nukes? Hasn’t the current policy of 100 million new workers that the wealthy can take advantage of driven all domestic agendas?
Why after years of the war on terror is the state department have less than a couple dozen employees that speak Arabic? Is it possible we never intended to negotiate with the Arab world? Is it that important that we use up trillions of dollars of weaponry the military has stock piled up over the last couple of decades? Must we continuously act like a big, fat loudmouth, bragging and threatening everyone in the world except the British to get our way on every issue, all the time, all over the world, demanding everything imaginable, and giving nothing in return? In a school yard we would be the obnoxious bully everyone hated, which explains our place in the world today. I didn’t catch but a one liner the other day where he said something about nuclear war with Iran I think. Jesus, can’t anyone get a muzzle thrown over that guy’s mouth.
The phrase that keeps coming to mind is “not in my name”. I’ve never let my mouth overload my ass and I don’t appreciate others doing it for me. Our troops deserve better than this. Their lives should be placed in the line of fire only when we are actually under attack not just because someone plotted to kill our daddy. But I guess kings have never given a shit what the people think or feel. Life doesn’t change. History always repeats itself. The good die young. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.
By Lloyd H. Frye
Op-Ed Columnist
The Hot Joints
Video Flashback: “Baghdad Bob”
I forgot all about this guy! Iraq’s wily former Information Minister affectionately known as “Baghdad Bob.”
-Chris Jones
Report: 430 Troops Committed Suicide Since 2001
Research by the Veterans Affairs Department provides the first quantitative look at the suicide toll on today’s combat veterans.
The ongoing research reveals that at least 283 combat veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the end of 2005 took their own lives.
Today’s homefront suicide tally is running at least double the number of troop suicides in the war zones as thousands of men and women return with disabling injuries and mental health disorders that put them at higher risk.
A total of 147 troops have killed themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began, according to the Defense Manpower Data Center, which tracks casualties for the Pentagon.
That means a total of at least 430 of the 1.5 million troops who have fought in the two wars have killed themselves over the past six years.
That number doesn’t include those who committed suicide after their combat tour ended and while still in the military, a number the Pentagon says it doesn’t track.
-Chris Jones
General Wounded by IED in Iraq
Pentagon officials have confirmed that Brigadier Gen. Jeffrey J. Dorko, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division in Baghdad, was one of two soldiers wounded Monday by an improvised explosive device (IED) in northern Baghdad.
Military officials said Dorko suffered shrapnel wounds and was flown to Landstuhl Army Hospital in Germany for treatment. His wounds were described as non-life threatening.
The other soldier was treated for his injuries and has since been released.
-Chris Jones
Satellite Imagery shows cleansing of suspect Syrian site
New satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor.
Two photos, taken Wednesday from space by rival companies, show the site near the Euphrates River to have been wiped clean since August, when imagery showed a tall square building there measuring about 150 feet on a side.
Romney Says He’s Open to Iran ‘Bombardment’
I apologize for the incendiary headline, because I don’t really think this is much of a story. I think it was Mitt Romney’s choice of words that is the bigger story.
Romney said Thursday he would be willing to use a military blockade or “bombardment of some kind” to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.
I took that to mean he would be willing to bomb Iran to prevent them from acquiring nukes. Almost everybody on the Republican side is prepared to do that with the exception of Ron Paul.
The former Massachusetts governor’s comments came as the Bush administration announced new sanctions designed to isolate the government in Tehran.
John Edwards used the occasion to remind people that Hillary Clinton voted to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, and he would never do anything like that.
“I learned a clear lesson from the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2002: If you give this president an inch, he will take a mile and launch a war. Senator Clinton apparently learned a different lesson.”
Edwards went on to reassure worried voters that he is far too big a pussy to ever go to war with Iran or anyone else for that matter.
In a statement Thursday, presidential rival Chris Dodd echoed Edwards’ argument.
“The aggressive actions taken today by the administration absent any corresponding diplomatic action is exactly what we all should have known was coming when we considered our vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, and smacks, frankly, of a dangerous step toward armed confrontation with Iran,” Dodd said.
Dodd said he wanted all Progressive voters to know that he is quite possibly an even bigger pussy than Edwards, and would certainly never threaten to drop bombs on anyone.
-Chris Jones
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