Tag: Military

Cartoons of the Day

See No Evil?
See No Evil?

For more fun visit the website/blog at www.diversitylane.com or go directly to the blog at www.diversitylane.wordpress.com.


BREAKING NEWS: Shooting Massacre at Fort Hood, Texas Military Base

No word of motive. But the report is that there are at least 3 shooters involved.

CNN reports says one gunman has been caught and injured. The other two are still on the loose.

Fox News reports that the FBI is on the way.

AllahPundit at HotAir is covering as well. I am quite disappointed that the word “Terrorism” is being used. I wish AllahPundit would delete those comments. As we have no idea yet. It sounds planned. But there’s no proof that it is Islamic terrorism at all.

Update #1: Gah! I holler at AP and look what I see on Fox News, never mind…:

“It could be a terror attack, it could be a disenchanted soldiers, it could be a varity of people,” said Maginnis.

Update #2: Killeen Daily Herald is providing updates on twitter.

Update #3: Austin American-Statesman has a special twitter account on the shootings.

Update #4: I’m seeing on Twitter that the death count has been raised to 9. Looking for confirmation. Update: CNN Confirms.

Update #5: MSNBC is reporting now, that four swat team members have been injured.

Update #6: It is being reported by the FBI that terrorism is not involved. FOX Confirms:

The FBI said they don’t believe terrorism was involved.

Although, they are not ruling it out.

Update #7: Killeen Daily Herald is reporting that Scott & White Hospital in Temple, TX is in desperate need for Blog donations. Go give, if you’re close.

Update #8: AllahPundit Reports:

Update: Am hearing via Twitter that Fort Hood’s public affairs office says the earlier reports of a third shooter were wrong and were based on a second eyewitness report of the second shooter. Which means everyone’s in custody now.

When I hear this from Fox News, I will believe it.

Update #9: BNO News reports that New Gunshots have been heard. Waiting for Confirmation. (H/T AP) Nothing on the wires, yet. Take that with a grain of salt.

Update #10: Killeen Daily Herald is now reporting that 10 are dead, news conference is now saying 12 Dead 32 Injured. Goodness.

Update #11: Uh-Oh….: (H/T AllahPundit)

A senior administration official told NBC News analyst Roger Cressey that the suspect who was in custody was an Army major with an Arabic-sounding name. The official said the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.

Update #12: From the local Fox Affiliate, how it all happened:

According to a spokesman from Fort Hood, a soldier carrying two handguns opened fire at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Soldier Readiness Center.

“It would be an environment that would be very susceptible to casualties or injuries,” Killeen City Manager Connie Green said.

Officials said the gunman was shot and killed after quick response from security officers.

At least two other soldiers were taken into custody.

Update #13: Shooter has been ID’ed as Major Malik Nadal Hasan and that he was convert to Islam:

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.

The gunman used two handguns, Cone said. He wasn’t sure if the shooter reloaded the weapons during the attack.

The general called the attack “a terrible tragedy, stunning.” He said the community was “absolutely devastated.”

Update #14: Fox News is saying that Hasan was “upset” about being deployed to the war. But they have not mentioned his conversation to Islam; why not? Update: They just did. Scratch that.

Update #15: Video of the first presser at Fort Hood: (H/T Gateway Pundit)

I will post the video of the second presser, when it get it.

Update #16: In a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said: (H/T to Think Progress — Yes, I do thank them. This IS NOT about politics, this is about America!)

We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law. No religious or political ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.

Update #17: It Begins! Vox Day Cracks:

I’m sure we are all shocked: “The suspected gunman was identified as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.” More of the joys of multiculturalism.

Update #18: Think Vox is bad? Go check out the comments over at Socialist Liberal Blog Crooks and Liars….and they say that that liberals don’t hate America….riiiiiiiiiiight. 🙄

Update #19: Ugh, Looks like National Review has dug up a big time nasty comment over at Salon.com:

The Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld nazification of the United States military — turning it into nothing more than a worldwide force for unmotivated aggressive war — leads to the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis/Pakistanis/Afghanis (and many, many more of those to come) — and this clown Benjamin asks why?

Because there were no towelheads around to mass murder, that’s why.

Unreal. 🙄

Update #20: Predictably, The Nation waves the Islamic victim flag.  Personally, I do not think the guy is a “Terrorist” in the traditional sense.  I think he just did not want to go to war; and he flipped out. But I do know one thing, he is going to either Military Prison or civil prison for a LOOONG time or, seeing that it’s Texas —- He will most likely fry.

Update  #21:  Fox News and The New York Times are now reporting that according to the Army, the shooter is still alive.  That is until he is convicted and sent to the chair for his cowardly actions.

Update #22: The clip has been around a bit, but the Congress observed a moment of silence. I believe that showed class:

Update #23: Here’s the second presser:

Update #24:  AllahPundit has much more. I just zonked out last night, I was just wore out from all the horrible news.

Update #25: Pamela Geller has some good info and, believe it or not Debbie Schlussel does too… Normally I wouldn’t agree with either. But, this is just too much. Needless to say, I am very seriously having to reconsider what I wrote here. Because this is just too much. Because if it is a Religion of peace, why would someone do this sort of a thing? Anyhow, this will be the last update for this posting. I will create a new one, if and when new information comes out.

Give to Project ValourIT Today!

Just a reminder, these guys need your help.

This comes via From My Position….On the Way!

Click here to give to Soldiers Angels. You will be getting voice activated laptop’s to our war injured. Let’s help those who put thier lives on line; for our President and for all of us.

Matthew Hoh resigns over Afghanistan

I have to give this man credit; he is a man of conviction, for that alone, he is a true patriot.

Via the Washington Times:

When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.

A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.

But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.

“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,” he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel. “I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.”

The reaction to Hoh’s letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer,” Holbrooke said in an interview. “We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him.”

While he did not share Hoh’s view that the war “wasn’t worth the fight,” Holbrooke said, “I agreed with much of his analysis.” He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that “if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure,” why not be “inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won’t have the same political impact?”

Hoh accepted the argument and the job, but changed his mind a week later. “I recognize the career implications, but it wasn’t the right thing to do,” he said in an interview Friday, two days after his resignation became final.

“I’m not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love,” Hoh said. Although he said his time in Zabul was the “second-best job I’ve ever had,” his dominant experience is from the Marines, where many of his closest friends still serve.

“There are plenty of dudes who need to be killed,” he said of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. “I was never more happy than when our Iraq team whacked a bunch of guys.”

But many Afghans, he wrote in his resignation letter, are fighting the United States largely because its troops are there — a growing military presence in villages and valleys where outsiders, including other Afghans, are not welcome and where the corrupt, U.S.-backed national government is rejected. While the Taliban is a malign presence, and Pakistan-based al-Qaeda needs to be confronted, he said, the United States is asking its troops to die in Afghanistan for what is essentially a far-off civil war.

As the White House deliberates over whether to deploy more troops, Hoh said he decided to speak out publicly because “I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, ‘Listen, I don’t think this is right.’ “

“I realize what I’m getting into . . . what people are going to say about me,” he said. “I never thought I would be doing this.”

The underlined parts up here are the parts that I think are the most inspiring. Some Conservatives and even some MilBloggers might want to slam this guy. Well, I will not be counted among that group.  I have said on this blog many times that I felt that Bush basically screwed us in the long run, for trying to fight two wars at the same time. That belief is becoming clearer now, eight years on and we’re still trying to catch Osama Bin Laden —- and that task is becoming more of a difficult task everyday. There is plenty of blame to go around; Bush is not the sole person responsible for this terrible screw up. The whole “We have to fight them there, so, we don’t have to fight them here..” line is a bit worn thin now, seeing that there has been people arrested on terror plotting charges here now.

Again, I applaud this man for having the courage to stand up and dissent. Some may knock him, but not sane thinking Americans, who see things through the long lens; like me.

The Round up for ALL sides of the Political fence: The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Top of the Ticket, Abu Muqawama, Matthew Yglesias, JustOneMinute, New York Times, Neptunus Lex, Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, MoJo Blog Posts, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, The New Republic, Salon, The Atlanticist, BLACKFIVE, Jules Crittenden, The Daily Dish, Guardian, Mudville Gazette, Rethink Afghanistan, Newshoggers.com, Atlas Shrugs, Chicago Boyz, RedState, Newsweek Blogs, LewRockwell.com Blog, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, MyDD and Politics Daily

14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

A sad bit of news: (H/T Gateway Pundit)

KABUL (AP) – A series of helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans in insurgent-wracked Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for U.S. troops.

In the first crash, a chopper went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight with insurgents, killing 10 Americans—seven troops and three civilians working for the government. Eleven American troops, one U.S. civilian and 14 Afghans were also injured.

In a separate incident in the south, two other U.S. choppers collided while in flight, killing four American troops and wounding two more, the military said.

U.S. authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other fatal crash in the west. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claimed Taliban fighters shot down a helicopter in northwest Badghis province’s Darabam district. It was impossible to verify the claim and unclear if he was referring to the same incident.

via BreitBart:  US: 14 Americans killed in 2 helicopter crashes.

I think it would be a good thing to remember all of our service men in our Prayers this day.

I just hope this is all worth it.

Vice President Joe Biden should resign says… Arianna Huffington??

Oh, this is too rich…..

Seems that socialist Liberal Blogger Arianna Huffington; the marble mouthed, little miss “unicorns and rainbows” of the progressive Blogosphere, thinks that Gaffe Master Joe Biden should resign as Vice President if President Obama decides to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

From the Article:

I have no doubt that Joe Biden is a loyal guy — the question is who deserves his loyalty most? His “team” isn’t the White House, but the whole country. And if it becomes clear in the coming days that his loyalty to these two teams is in conflict, he should do the right thing. And quit.

Obama may be no drama, but Biden loves drama. And what could more dramatic than resigning the vice presidency on principle? And what principle could be more honorable than refusing to go along with a policy of unnecessarily risking American blood and treasure — and America’s national security? Now that would be a Whisky Tango Foxtrot moment for the McChrystal crowd — one that would be a lot more significant than some lame, after-the-fact apology delivered in a too-late-to-matter book.

I have a better idea; although it involves stuffing a sock in that feckless bitch’s mouth and duct tape. I mean, is not this is same group of people that declared the Iraq War to the unjust war and the Afghanistan war the good war? But yet now, they want to stop fighting in Afghanistan too?  What more living proof that we need that Progressive Blogosphere is siding with the terrorist? I mean, Republicans and Conservatives said that about them during the Iraq War and they were Poo-Poo’ed by the media and the Progressive Blogosphere for saying it. Well, guess what kids? It looks like that it is absolutely true.

However, I will give here one little once of credit for writing this:

This is indeed very tragic, and I share her concern. But missing from the discussion was the fact that “Sharia law with all of its violence” has just been made the law of the land by President Karzai — you know, our man in Kabul. The Sharia Personal Status Law, signed by Karzai, became operational in July. Among its provisions: custody rights are granted to fathers and grandfathers, women can work only with the permission of their husbands, and husbands can withhold food from wives who don’t want to have sex with them. On the plus side, if a man rapes a mentally ill woman or child, he must pay a fine.

Of course, even with America standing guard, only 4 percent of girls in Afghanistan make it to the 10th grade, and up to 80 percent of Afghani women are subjected to domestic violence. As one of the Afghan women interviewed in Rethink Afghanistan sums up the current situation: “The cases of violence against women are more now than in the Taliban time.”

So can we please put to rest the nonsensical rationalization that we’re there for women’s rights? And don’t be surprised if that reason is soon replaced by another — those pushing for escalation in Afghanistan seem to have learned the Bush administration’s old tactic of constantly moving the goal posts.

Now this here, I do share her feelings on this. This is where the Bush Administration screwed up. One of the worst things that George W. Bush did was allow that sitting Government in Afghanistan to stay there. What we should have done in Afghanistan was put in someone that was not going to enact the same Islamic sharia law in that country, after the defeat of the Taliban.  However, her reasoning on our presence in that Country is flawed; we are supposed to be —- emphasis on the word “supposed” — to catch or kill Osama Bin Ladin and defeat Al-Qaeda.  What happened was this; the Bush Administration thought that they could fight two wars, at the same time; with an all voluntary force. This was because the people that planned this war out; were under the impression that Iraq was going to be a cake-walk. Well, needless to say about that little thought, they were horribly wrong.

The same goes for Afghanistan; I believe those who originally planned to go into Afghanistan thought that the conflict was going to be an easy one. That the Taliban was just going to hand over Osama Bin Laden and it would be over. Well, that also proved to be false. So, now, we are stuck in this position that we have to do a little dance over there; because if we move the wrong way, the U.N. would be all over our backs.

Of course, I think Miss. Huffington might not have been informed of this, But there about to be a huge eslation in forces from Pakistan in that tribal region. Pakistan’s Military is planning a major military operation in that tribal region over there. So, we might not have to do anything major at all; except wait for Osama’s body to show up. Which would be a good thing for us, seeing that have already lost a good number of troops already in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

So, while I think Miss. Huffington is noble for trying to challenge her party. I think her reasoning is quite flawed. She has a obvious lack of understand of how Military operations work. Which is quite common amongst the Progressive Community.

Does Bank of America have a problem with the American flag and our war dead?

It sure seems that way to me.

First of all a very big tip of the hat to John Sykes on twitter for bringing this story to my attention.

The Video:

The Story: (H/T Captain’s Journal)

Via Greenville Online:

Only the faint sound of lightly marching feet could be heard as hundreds stood silent on the Greenville-Spartanburg International tarmac Wednesday while fully adorned Marines carried Lance Cpl. Chris Fowlkes’ flag-draped coffin.

The solemn arrival began an afternoon-long procession that ultimately wound through the streets of the 20-year-old Marine’s hometown of Gaffney, where businesses shut down and mourners lined the streets.

The homecoming came six days after the former Gaffney High School football player died in a military hospital in Germany from injuries sustained a week earlier in an explosion in the Helman province of Afghanistan.

Well-wishers waved flags, saluted and shed tears as an army of police cars escorted Fowlkes’ family along the 40-mile stretch from the airport to the town.

Among them were those who knew Fowlkes and remembered his life fondly.

Dan Phillips, a family friend who waited for the escort outside the Blakely Funeral Home in Gaffney where Fowlkes’ body will remain until a memorial service today and burial on Saturday, said that Fowlkes had spoken with his grandmother not long before he was killed.

She had talked with her grandson over the phone, Phillips said, and asked him if he missed being home as school was getting started again.

“He told her, ‘No, I’m right where I want to be,’” Phillips said. “That’s a very powerful statement.”

Indeed it is a powerful statement, many of our finest, bravest and best young men are going and fighting in a war; so that the rest of us can be safe from terrorists, who want to harm this Nation and our people in it. You would think that everyone in this Nation would be proud of something like that, and would want to honor their bravery and sacrifice. Well, it seems that some, in the interest of political correctness, want to dishonor our war dead.

That “some” is Bank of America.

The Story via The Palmetto Scoop:

A South Carolina Bank of America branch is drawing criticism Thursday after an employee reportedly ordered the removal of American flags placed to honor a fallen Marine over fears that people would be offended.

The Palmetto Scoop received one eyewitness email claiming that the branch manager at Bank of America’s Gaffney branch at 1602 West Floyd Baker Blvd. “told a citizen who was preparing the route for a U.S. Marine killed in action in Afghanistan by placing small American flags along the roadway that the flags might upset some of her customers.”

Said the outraged tipster, “[The branch manager] took them down and made the citizen go in to get them if she didn’t want them thrown away.”

The flags were part of the funeral procession of Lance Corporal Christopher Fowlkes, 20, who died last week after an explosion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

WSPA-TV has also received similar tips about the “flag flap.”

A teller at the branch confirmed to TPS that the branch manager had been there around the time of the incident but had left for the day.

Bank of America released a statement apologizing for the incident and celled it a misunderstanding.

“We want to ensure the community knows how deeply proud we are of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to our country,” the statement said. “The bank does fly the American Flag at our locations throughout the country and flags were displayed in front of our banking center in Gaffney the evening prior to our dedicated Marine returning home.”

___________

UPDATE: WCBD in Charleston reports that Bank of America said the incident was a “miscommunication in corporate policy.” That raises the question, which policy would require employees to remove American flags that are part of a funeral procession for a fallen Marine?

Mis-communication my hind leg. Someone in that damned bank was some sort of hippy liberal and was offended by the very damned site of Patriotism.

Herschel Smith over at Captain’s Journal weighs in:

So should BofA rename their corporation to bank of Russia?  Is it Bank of America, or is it not?  With whose offense were they worried?  Really.  Who, exactly, would have come into the bank and demanded that an American flag be removed for a Marine who perished in Afghanistan?  And why would Bank of AMERICA have cared?

What corporate policy was in effect?  Was this a branch-specific issue, or is there a corporate policy that forbids the displaying of American flags for the fear of causing offense?  Who was responsible for removing the flags?  Has corporate policy been changed?  If so, why was the policy in effect?  If not, what is the justification for the policy?  Will Bank of AMERICA issue a formal apology to the Fowlkes family first and then to AMERICA?

There are many unanswered questions concerning this ugly incident.  I feel that it’s necessary for a BofA official to formally comment on this article to enlighten my readers.

Indeed, I would like Bank of America to enlighten the rest of the Conservative Blogosphere as well. I would like to also see this Branch Manager terminated as well. A simply apology is NOT enough this man needs to be fired from his Job. He disrespected the war dead; there is no excuse, he must go, now.

Here is the contact information for Bank of America Corporate Office:

Bank of America Corporate Center
100 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28255
Tel: 1.800.432.1000

REMEMBER: Be Civil, No Threats or anything stupid like that! Simply ask to speak to someone in charge; and ask them if they believe that ordering people to remove American Flags respecting the Nation’s War dead is acceptable corporate policy and if not, why they would continue employ someone who would feel that way; and why they would allow this to happen. You could also kindly suggest that if this person was not terminated that you would take your business and money elsewhere.