Tag: Military

Updated – Latest News on Haiti Earthquake – As many as 100,000 feared dead

As I reported last night, a 7.0 Earthquake hit Haiti.

Now the death toll and damage tolls are being shown. Reader GWSSDelta told me about a video, that comes via CBS News:

CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all have in depth coverage. Memeorandum has an excellent Blog roundup on the political front.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper is in Haiti now:

No word on death tolls yet; but this does sound very bad. I will have more in a bit.

Update: Here is how you can help with the relief effort, via DIPNote:

For those interested in helping immediately, simply text “HAITI” to “90999” and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Or you can go online to organizations like the Red Cross and Mercy Corps Mercy Corps to make a contribution to the disaster relief efforts.

The State Department Operations Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about family members in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. We’ll provide more details and opportunities to help as we learn more. To stay up-to-date, follow us on state.gov.

Update #2: The Anchoress Reports a list of Relief Organizations helping: (H/T Malkin)

Catholic Relief Services
United Methodist Committee on Relief
The Red Cross
Salvation Army
Providence in Haiti
American Jewish World Service
Lutheran World Relief
Cross International
World Vision
International Orthodox Christian Charities

Ya’ll know what to do. 😀

Update #3: As Always, our awesome Military is “on it!” Military Times is reporting:

The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson was rerouted Wednesday to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, according to U.S. Southern Command. The carrier is expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday.

The command confirmed additional Navy ships are underway to Haiti, but did not specify what vessels would be going.

The command, based in Miami, also deployed a team of 30 people to Haiti to work with U.S. Embassy personnel as well as Haitian, U.N. and international officials to assess the situation and facilitate follow-on U.S. military support, according to the press release. The team includes military engineers, operational planners, a command and control group and communication specialists. They will arrive in Haiti today on two C-130 Hercules aircraft.

Elements of the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing were deploying to the international airport at Port-au-Prince to provide air traffic control capability and airfield operations. They are expected to arrive in Haiti on Wednesday afternoon.

Early Wednesday morning, Coast Guard helicopters evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to hospital at Naval Station Guantanamo, Cuba, for further treatment.

A U.S. P-3 Orion from the Forward Operating Location at Comalapa, El Salvador, also conducted aerial reconnaissance of the affected area.

SouthCom has supported 14 major relief missions in the region since 2005, including assistance to Haiti in September 2008. During that mission, forces from the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge and other units airlifted 3.3 million pounds of aid to communities that were devastated by a succession of major storms.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people and all those affected by this devastating earthquake,” said Army Col. James Marshall, SouthCom spokesman.

Vinson and its crew of approximately 3,200 sailors left Norfolk on Tuesday en route to their new homeport in San Diego. The carrier, which is commanded by Capt. Bruce Lindsey, was joined by Carrier Air Wing 17 and the cruisers Lake Champlain and Bunker Hill. As flagship of the newly established Carrier Strike Group 1, Vinson was to provide maritime security as it circumnavigates South America and provide humanitarian assistance or disaster relief, if required.

The call came fewer than 24 hours later.

Major Kudos on our Armed Forces for being ready for the call; wherever it might be from. Good Job men!

Update #4: The Daily Caller is linking to a story in the Daily Mail in the U.K. that as many as 100,000 are feared dead.

It is times like these, when I do wish that my Ham Radio Station was Operational… 🙁

Fox News also gives the background as to why this happened. Simply put, the earth is just old.

Update #5: The Anchoress links in. Thank you! 😀

Update #6: ….and of course, the Stupidity of the Christian Right Starts.

Update #7: Man, 2 two days and about 5K viewers later and I realize, I have the Country misspelled in the headline! D’oh! 🙄

BREAKING NEWS: Michael Yon arrested at Seattle airport

(H/T Ed @HotAir)

That’s right, Michael Yon, famed independent war corespondent was detained at the airport, handcuffs and all.

For not disclosing how much money he makes…. 🙄

From his facebook fan page:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.

and…:

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies.

and….:

When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect can that can be expected from our border bullies.

Jazz Shaw asks, “WTF??!?!”:

Very strange. Even if you’re into profiling, Yon would hardly fit one you’d be interested in. Of course, his passport, by now, doubtless has a list of countries stamped into it which could give an inspector pause, but that’s no excuse. Very, very strange. I expect this one will be high profile enough that you’ll see an apology coming from the government.

Ed Morrissey weighs in:

Unless there is more to this story, an apology would be the least owed to Yon.  When an American citizen with a valid passport presents himself for travel, there should be some reasonable screening to verify identity and to determine whether there is a physical risk, ie, weapons and the like.  Why should border security be interested in Yon’s annual income?  How does that relate to national security and border protection?  Unless this is an arm of the Internal Revenue Service, it doesn’t, and Yon was right to refuse to answer the question.

Instead of hassling American citizens about their income or watching the ice melt, how about paying attention to actual security and intelligence issues?  Please?

I must say that I agree with both of these assessments, and I personally believe those responsible for detaining Mr. Yon, ought to be fired. I honestly have to ask this question, that neither Jazz nor Ed would even ask. If Michael Yon had been, say, Arabic or even black; would he have been detained? I somehow doubt it. But, because he’s a White American, he gets asked a stupid question and because he refuses to answer it, which was well within his rights; he gets detained. Welcome to Obama’s America people. Where white men are oppressed, interrogated and harassed; by the black power establishment. You say this isn’t about race? I disagree. This is all about race and as long as Barack Hussein Obama is President, you will continue to see this sort of nonsense happening in America. Bank on it.

Others: Michelle Malkin, Outside The Beltway, Gateway Pundit, Mudville Gazette, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, JammieWearingFool, Moonbattery

Breaking News: At Least Six Americans Killed in American Afghanistan Base Attack

In Case anyone has forgotten; Yes, we are still at war:

KABUL — At least six Americans were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest made his way into an American base in Khost Province in southeastern Afghanistan, according to NATO military officials.

The bomber managed to elude security and reach the base’s gym, said one official, who did not want to be identified because the official was not authorized to speak about the incident.

The official said the attack took place at Forward Operating Base Chapman, which one official described as “not a regular base,” meaning that it was used by American intelligence agencies. It was unclear exactly where on the base the explosion occurred.

The suicide bomber died in the blast and six Americans were also wounded, some of them seriously, suggesting that the death toll could climb, the officials said.

Khost Province borders Pakistan and has been prime operating ground for insurgent groups with links to Al Qaeda and for other extremists hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

via At Least Six Americans Killed in Afghan Attack – NYTimes.com.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the injured and those who were killed. I think it would be a nice time for everyone to say a prayer for those men, who put their lives on the line on the front lines of the battle against terrorism and for freedom.

Update: Socialist liberals use Detroit attempted Terrorist attack to sound the horn to cut and run

As skeptical as I am; these morons are just pure bat shit crazy:

What is needed now are not partisan fights about whether the Obama Administration was doing enough to guard against terrorist attacks in the wake of shootings last month at Fort Hood, Texas. Instead, we should question whether our overreaction to the crimes against humanity on 9/11–including the creation of an endless “war” against terrorism–has done more to undermine our security than enhance it. American safety will be better ensured through common-sense counterterrorism and homeland defense measures, including extensive intelligence cooperation expert police work and border control.

via Are US Wars Fueling Domestic Terrorist Threats?– The Nation.

Oh yes,Katrina, let’s just cut and run and stop trying to fight the war on terror — so, that Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan can regroup and come back stronger. Not only in the Afghanistan region, but also in Yemen and other regions as well. What a pathetic bitch.  🙄  What more living proof do we need, that the Socialist Far-Left Liberal Democrats are nothing more than terrorist sympathizers? Which is why I will never vote for them again, ever. Give me a politico that gives a flying flip about National Security, please. Not some terrorist coddling asshat.

Oh, and… Police Work. Police work?!?!?!? That is another little bitch and gripe that I have with the Socialist Liberal Democrats. They see some Negro Muslim terrorist, who tried to blow up a damned plane, most likely at sixty thousand feet over my damned house, as nothing more than some common criminal thug. Sorry Liberals, this stupid idiot negro terrorist, was an non-uniform combatant. He should be at Gitmo. Actually, he should be strung from a damned tree! 😡 But, I digress.

There is much hubbub about why the system to failed. There is also news that the Government knew about this dude, and did nothing at all. All of the media outlets; including Fox News are asking, “why?” Hello! It does not take a damned rocket scientist to figure that little problem out. It is the elephant in the room, that nobody and I mean NOBODY wants to talk about.  Has anyone else in the world bothered to notice the skin color of this terrorist suspect? Uh, Duh. He is a black person. Our President is also a black person. One plus one usually equals two! It seems that nobody is either willing or even possibly able to make that connection. Our Government officials new about this guy and knew that plans were being made; but they did not do anything about it. Why? I will tell you why! Because they knew, that if they acted upon this little piece of evidence, that it would possibly upset the President; because the mean ol’ United States Government was picking on some poor young black man — of whom the the white man oppressed and the Government did nothing about it for so many years. I mean, if you were employed by the NSA or CIA and you were aware of this situation, would you want to risk angering a black President, who was all down with “The Struggle”(tm)? I think you all know what I mean.

There is your answer, the reason this piece of intelligence slipped by, was the same reason the Ft. Hood shooter went by, unstopped. political correctness gone horribly bad.

Update: It seems that my resident gay stalker from Grand Rapids does not like what I wrote. Sorry fag boy, but some of us, do not have our heads stuck up the socialist Democratic Party’s “P.S. Police” ass; Unlike you. Because of this, some of us can see things for what they really are. Unlike some men with homosexual tendencies.

2009 Worst Political Decade Ever?

I present two videos; the first by reason magazine, which is a very funny take on the past 10 years. Which comes via HotAir.com, who has a poll up with this decade versus a few other notable decades:

The second video comes via Jack Hunter, who video blogs over at the American Conservative. Here Jack lays out a very compelling case for the fact that starting with George H.W. Bush, continuing with Bill Clinton and finally with George W. Bush; the entire big government, got even bigger:

As Jack says, and yet, conservatives are now griping about Barack Obama’s big government agenda. However, it is to be said, that Jack Hunter does point out the hypocrisy of the Democrats, when it comes to the wars. They were, in fact, loudly condemning of Bush’s Wars, but now, they’re all but silent. (Except for a few… and I mean very few…)

One point that I will offer a rebuttal to, is Jack’s point that Bush touted a more peaceful Foreign Policy, when he ran back in 2000. Jack points out that this suddenly changed after 9/11. What he fails to realize is this; on September 11, 2001, the game changed. Terrorists slammed two planes into the World Trade Centers, one plane into the Pentagon, and one plane that was headed to the White House; ended up in a field in Pennsylvania.  As someone who had a terrorist almost blow up a plane near my house. I can fully understand why this game changed. However, because I am not a overly partisan blogger, I will say this; I do fully realize that Iraq, in hindsight was, in fact, a mistake. I have yet for anyone at all, to convince me otherwise, that Iraq was a direct threat to our Republic. I personally believe it was because of this massive screw up of the Bush Administration, that Afghanistan is now possibly a lost cause, and why Al-Qaeda is now attacking us once again. If I were Jack and those who agree with him; I would be watching the Yemen situation very closely. Because I tend to believe that Yemen is going to become Obama’s war, especially if he does not root out that Al-Qaeda group there.

As a fiscal Conservative; I must say that I wholeheartedly agree with Jack’s assessment of the G.O.P. and Republican establishment’s hypocrisy on spending; the same very people that are bitching to high heaven about Obama’s spending, were all but silent during the eight years of George W. Bush and his reckless drunken sailor like spending, which was primarily on a war in a country that really, when you get down to it, had zero to do with 9/11.  But, yet, you have Bloggers, who are pro-war, bitching about Obama’s socialist agenda and take over of health care, plus his screwing of the economy into the ground. My question is, where were these people back in Bush’s day? Oh, that’s right, partisanship —- Which is such a horrible disease.

In fact, just here the other day; I was ripped by a “so-called” Conservative blogger, because I went to his blog and left a rather nasty message about Obama, because I was quite pissed off about his handling of the attempted terrorist act here at the airport, which is less than 10 miles from my house. (I also e-mailed him and apologized for it too..)  This man goes out of his way to rat me out, and offers to give my damned IP address to anyone that wants it. But yet, on that same blog, he does the rather unfunny Osama/Obama joke on his blog. He removed it, presumably after one his readers bitched at him about it, but just the same, this idiot is going to bitch at me for being a ‘so-called’ racist and he does the same thing? That is hypocrisy and I think he knows that, because it was changed, I wish I had screen capped it and posted it here. But, I didn’t. Also, one of his commenters proceeded to give out my real name and drudge up crap that happened years ago. She also went out of her way to say that I, according to her, criticized the right more than the left. Which is, of course, stupid. I have pointed out stupid stuff on the far right and I will continue to do so; as much as I criticize the left.  My point that I am trying to make is this here. Just as much as I am not drinking the idiotic socialist Kool-Aid of the Democrats; I am also not drinking the idiotic Kool-Aid of the far right either, I consider myself to me a critical, or dare I say it? A free-thinker.

I will admit, that I am a supporter of the United States Military; but I will the first to admit, that I beginning to be very skeptical of the war in Afghanistan; and I will go out of my way to say that this is NOT the fault of the United States military. It never was, it is the fault of the jackasses in Washington D.C. who could not define a damned military mission, if their lives depended on it.  This is nothing new, it was the same way during the Bush Administration, much worse in fact. The problem is, our lives do depend on it. Al-Qaeda is still a damned threat and what does Obama do? Gives a half-assed speech as to the fact, that the government  is on it. Yeah, uh-huh, sure. You mean, like the Government has been on the hunt of Osama Bin Laden for the last damned eight years? I call B.S. people, big time.

So, to those who come here and think this is a far right, rabid Conservative Blog. Be forewarned; my criticism and skepticism of Government and politics; and those who engage in that profession, is NOT on a partisan basis. I am quite bi-partisan on my criticisms. This blog has always been that way, and always will be.

The foiled terror attack, what it really means

This little article has been festering in my brain all day today. I finally believe that I might have enough here to really convey a thought or two. The recent information on the foiled terror attack here in Detroit is quite startling. First off, it is being reported that the terrorist’s father had notified the U.S. Government that his son was becoming ever increasingly radical in his Muslim beliefs. Second, the United States Government knew about this person for over two years and was either unable or unwilling to do anything about it.

This is a glaringly obvious deduction that anyone, with any kind of common sense and reasoning should realize, and that is that the United States Government cannot and will not totally protect the American people from a terrorist attack. The only people that can prevent such an event from happening, is the American people themselves. This is one instance when the “Nanny State” just does not work. A perfect example of this is the person that prevented this horrific act of cowardice from taking place. His name is Jasper Schuringa and he is not even an American. Jasper knew that it was either the terrorist or him; and he acted accordingly. Jasper deserves the highest of honors from our Government that is because he did, what our President has not seem interested in doing, and that is to tell the terrorists that the battle is on and that are willing and able to fight them in any capacity that is required to defeat them. Jasper did not wait for the big “Nanny State” government to do their job; he simply took care of business and for that, he should be commended. To any progressives reading this — I am sorry, but dithering around on the issue of Afghanistan is not what I consider leadership. By dithering, I mean delaying the increase needed in troops and then not sending the number of troops asked for, by the commanders on the ground. That is not leadership — that is a sad joke, which sums up this President in a phrase.

Another thought is this; for all of the errors in the thinking of the Libertarians and their idiotic Party, they do have one thing right, and that is that these terror attacks are result of war. As along as the United States of America has forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, there will be these sorts of attacks on our soil. The problem is that the libertarians believe that we should just pull out of the Afghanistan war and admit defeat. This would be grave error on the part of our Government, it would prove to Al-Qaeda that the United States is weak and can be easily defeated. If anything; at this point, the United States should step up its attacks on the hiding places of the Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan and other places abroad. Ronald Reagan believed in peace through strength, and the United States should continue that policy now, by not allowing these wretched terrorists win the battle. We should do this by making these Islamic thugs lives a living hell and chase them to the ends of the earth, as President George W. Bush pledged to do in the days after 9/11.

The United States of America has a rich history of defending the homeland, and we should continue that traditions until these turban-wearing thugs are thoroughly defeated and victory is realized.

Yemeni Cleric Who Reportedly Inspired Ft. Hood Shooter supposedly not killed in Airstrike

Here’s some pee on your holiday news:

A U.S.-born radical cleric is alive and well following reports he may have been killed in a Yemeni airstrike against suspected al-Qaida hideouts, friends and relatives said Friday.

The government said it targeted a meeting of high-level al-Qaida operatives in Thursday's airstrike in the remote Shabwa region. It claimed at least 30 militants were killed, possibly including Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been linked to the shooter in last month's attack at the Fort Hood military base in the U.S.

On Friday, a friend of the cleric, Abu Bakr al-Awlaki, told The Associated Press he was not among those killed. He refused to say if the cleric was attending the meeting.

via Yemeni Cleric Who Reportedly Inspired Ft. Hood Shooter Believed Unhurt in Airstrike – ABC News.

Yeah, I was quite thrilled to hear this news. Guess they were wrong. Ah well, try again later, I suppose.

How long before the left starts using this as a Meme to say that we should just pull out and forget about getting these guys?

AWESOME BREAKING NEWS! : Radical Cleric who inspired Fort Hood Shooter, Nasser al-Wahayshi, killed in Air Strike in Yemen!

Awesome!

Reuters Reports: (H/T HotAir)

SANAA (Reuters) – A Yemeni air raid may have killed the top two leaders of al Qaeda’s regional branch on Thursday, and an American Muslim preacher linked to the man who shot dead 13 people at a U.S. army base may also have died, a Yemeni security official said.

Nasser al-Wahayshi, the Yemeni leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and his Saudi deputy, Saeed al-Shehri, were believed to be among 30 militants killed in the dawn operation in the eastern province of Shabwa, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may also have died in the air strike which targeted a meeting of militants planning attacks on Yemeni and foreign oil and economic targets, he said.

If all the deaths are confirmed, the air strike would appear to have struck a severe blow against AQAP, seen as the most dangerous regional offshoot of Osama bin Laden’s network.

“Anwar al-Awlaki is suspected to be dead,” the official said of the cleric who was on the run in Yemen, where he was on the government’s most-wanted list of terrorist suspects.

According to U.S. officials, the U.S. army psychiatrist who ran amok at the Fort Hood army base in Texas on November 5 had contacts with Awlaki.

The Yemeni official said one leading figure in AQAP, Mohammed Saleh Omair, was confirmed dead in Thursday’s raid.

The United States cooperates closely with Yemen in combating al Qaeda militancy. Pentagon officials were not immediately available to comment on any U.S. involvement in the raid.

The Yemeni official mentioned only one air strike, which a government website said had taken place at 5 a.m., but Al Arabiya television reported four raids.

Resurgent al Qaeda attacks have stirred fears that worsening instability in Yemen, an impoverished country struggling with multiple security threats, might enable militants to launch renewed attacks in neighboring oil superpower Saudi Arabia.

Al Qaeda’s wing in Yemen, where Osama bin Laden’s father was born, announced in January it had changed its name to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — in an apparent attempt to revive the group in Saudi Arabia, where a tough counter-terrorism drive had halted the group’s three-year armed campaign in 2006.

Wahayshi, the new group’s Yemeni leader, threatened attacks against Westerners in the oil-exporting region. AQIP has also called for the overthrow of the U.S.-allied Saudi royal family.

This should send a message to these turban wearing bastards; you mock our Country, after one of yours does something stupid like open fire in a military base, your stupid ass is going to get hit. Kudos to the Military and President Obama for authorizing this strike. If you’ll pardon my frank speech; one ‘towel head’ terrorist down, many more to go. They should have done this to this bastard after 9/11, but the military did not. Finally, he gets justice, about damn time. Again, Hats off to our awesome Military for a job well done!

I would be willing to bet, that there are some families at Fort Hood, Families of the Victims of 9/11 and many other victims of terrorism; who are smiling broadly today. Merry Christmas to them, hope this brings a little happiness. 😀