"AND OH WHILE WE ARE AT IT...I'M NOT ALL THAT BRIGHT"

Al Sadr endorses the new government

Despite the violence, the government received an endorsement Friday from an unlikely source -- radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In a sermon read to his followers by an aide, al-Sadr said he was ready for a dialogue with the new government if it works to end the U.S. military presence.

"I support the new interim government," al-Sadr said. "Starting now, I ask you that we open a new page for Iraq and for peace."

Look here, pinhead...me and my friends happen to be pretty doggone familiar with about 20,000 US Soldiers who would have already left Iraq except that YOU and your witless thugs did exactly what you had to do to keep them there (oh...and increase the number of US Soldiers in Iraq, by the way.)

Interesting that this conversion happens after your so-called army has its ass handed to them in various cities around southern Iraq.

I'm amazed that you have as many followers as you do. Me? I wouldn't follow you down the fire escape of a burning building.

REST EASY, MR. PRESIDENT

And Sir...Thank you for your leadership to the military, the nation, and the world.

Until we meet again in that better home up yonder...

AP Photo

PERKS!

A pair of surveys shows military personnel and their families in the States are saving more than 20 percent by shopping at base exchanges, compared with off-base stores.

The latest independent survey found that the Navy Exchange Service Command, which serves the Navy and Marine Corps, saved customers a record 20.7 percent on average, not including sales tax.

A separate study of prices at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service found customers saved 21.89 percent. Customers do not pay sales taxes at military base exchanges, which would mean a greater savings at some locations...

The QRS Corp. shopped for 350 products in eight regions throughout the United States, comparing prices at major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Target and Sears. The products ranged from clothing and intimate apparel to home furnishings and sporting goods.

Customers in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, saved the most at 24.83 percent, while families in Pensacola, Fla., saved the least at 19.11 percent, according to the survey. NEX was shown to be a bargain in all of its 34 departments.

For example, customers saved 39.65 percent on boys clothing and 20.41 percent on sporting goods.

Plus...no sales tax! Whoo Hoo!

And frankly, these savings are modest compared to the savings found at the commissaries (our grocery stores). Those savings are nearer to 30% on average.

LETS SEE...IF WE DIDN'T KNOW HE DISMANTLED AND SHIPPED OUT THE WEAPONS WE KNEW WERE THERE...

The United Nations has determined that Saddam Hussein shipped weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission briefed the Security Council on new findings that could help trace the whereabouts of Saddam's missile and WMD program.

The briefing contained satellite photographs that demonstrated the speed with which Saddam dismantled his missile and WMD sites before and during the war. Council members were shown photographs of a ballistic missile site outside Baghdad in May 2003, and then saw a satellite image of the same location in February 2004, in which facilities had disappeared...

"The removal of these materials from Iraq raises concerns with regard to proliferation risks," Perricos told the council. Perricos also reported that inspectors found Iraqi WMD and missile components shipped abroad that still contained UN inspection tags....

"It raises the question of what happened to the dual-use equipment, where is it now and what is it being used for," Ewen Buchanan, Perricos's spokesman, said. "You can make all kinds of pharmaceutical and medicinal products with a fermenter. You can also use it to breed anthrax."

The UNMOVIC report said Iraqi missiles were dismantled and exported to such countries as Jordan, the Netherlands and Turkey. In the Dutch city of Rotterdam, an SA-2 surface-to-air missile, one of at least 12, was discovered in a junk yard, replete with UN tags. In Jordan, UN inspectors found 20 SA-2 engines as well as components for solid-fuel for missiles.

SATURDAY, JUNE 12th.

Day 398 of CPT Patti's deployment.

She sent me some pictures today.

And after 398 days of hell my darling wife still has the biggest, brightest smile on planet Earth.

How does she do that?

RING THE BELLS! RING THE BELLS!

The U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, the unit delayed from leaving Iraq when a pair of rebel uprisings flared in April, is scheduled to depart Iraq by July 15, the head of U.S. military operations in Iraq said.

Replacing the Germany-based division will be a brigade combat team from the Army's 10th Mountain Division and a pair of U.S. Marine brigades, said Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz. Those units will start arriving in Iraq by the end of June, Metz said...

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was a small possibility 1st Armored's stay in Iraq could be extended again, but Metz said that possibility was "infinitesimally small."

"We're doing everything we can to have all Task Force 1st Armored out of harm's way by 15 July," Metz said on Thursday. "We're on the glide path to achieve that."

The task force includes the Army's Louisiana-based 2nd Armored Cavalry regiment, which has been attached to 1st Armored, and support elements.

We in the community here have been hearing that the return dates would be in July...but had received nothing official to this point. However, I'll take the word of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

(Thanks to Joyce and Barbara for each sending me the link. Whoo Hoo!)

THE FUTURE OF UNCHECKED POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

And a reminder why it is great to be an American. Plus, it makes me wonder how expensive it might be to be a blogger in France?

STUPID REFUGEES, DON'T THEY KNOW ITS A QUAGMIRE?

The United Nations began helping refugees return to Iraq this week after shutting down operations in April...

More than 11,100 have returned since July, mainly from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

This story, and other good news are compactly wrapped up by our friend down under, Arthur Chrenkoff

THANKS FOR THE STRAIGHT TALK, SARGE

"I don't believe people in most of the free world really grasp the magnitude of (terrorism)," he said. "They couldn't imagine some of the things we've seen firsthand. Terrorists perform gruesome atrocities, and I have seen the true horror of war. I have walked in body parts of Iraqi adults and children. While I was in Mosul, terrorists cut the throats of nine Iraqis for working with Americans."

Sparkman said he is infuriated when watching stories of prisoner abuse by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

"Do I condone it? Of course not," he said. "Those were stupid kids in the Army doing stupid things and taking stupid pictures. There were hoods on their heads, but no one was beheaded. In America, everything is about political correctness. In Iraq, it's about life or death."

THE SEEMINGLY NEVER-ENDING GOODNESS OF FOLKS FROM THE AMERICA I LIVE IN

Life is a little easier for an Ashe County unit of the North Carolina National Guard now that a local telephone company has provided them with better tents.

The help for the 1450th Transportation Company came in the form of 44 individual tents that fit around soldiers' cots and shelter them better from sand-filled desert winds.

Members of the Jefferson-based unit move equipment and supplies in Iraq. They have been overseas for about three months and have had the new tents a few weeks.

The gift was made by Skyline Telephone Membership Corporation. Skyline is a cooperative that serves parts of Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga and Avery counties, and Johnson County, Tennessee.

The decision to buy the tents was made after word got back that the unit's soldiers were getting very little rest during missions and were having to bury themselves inside their sleeping bags in the heated climate.

YOU MEAN THEY PAY PEOPLE TO WRITE THIS STUFF?

From a newspaper in India...the editors really worked overtime on this headline:

India News: Left opposes troops to Iraq

Well, we sure appreciate ya'll clarifying that for us...

NO GREATER LOVE

A young soldier honors one of our own.

When Pfc. Matt Medlock first met Army Lt. Ken Ballard in Iraq, he didn't know him as his mom's next-door neighbor. He only knew him as the soldier who saved him from an ambush in Baghdad...

"It was the least I could do for him," Medlock, 21, said after the funeral in Mountain View, where Ballard grew up. "After what he did for us then, I wish I could have been there for him."

SCUM

Further proof that some folks are born without a soul. Please be careful.

Veterans officials are warning of an identification scam aimed at those who served their country.

The veterans returning from Iraq and other service discover someone is trying to steal their identity and shoot holes in their credit.

A phony company is promising benefits as soon as an application containing personal information is sent to a dubious address. It's a deception that preys on the mound of military discharge paperwork, particularly Form DD214, that returning soldiers must complete upon discharge or deactivation, said Brian Steffan, Orangeburg commander of Disabled American Veterans.

"The VA has had dozens of calls from people who sent in their DD214," Steffan said. "Once someone has your information, that's it."

"It" is identity theft -- people who assume someone else's identity, usually to gain access to that person's credit and financial information. Typically, the thieves target the elderly or the careless. This time, veterans are in the crosshairs of crooks.

Steffan said an Orangeburg County veteran recently received the benefits form that promises a monetary return to its recipient on legitimate insurance premiums paid while the service member is still active.

"When I found it's a form to send in your DD214 to a post office box in Philadelphia, I called the VA in Philly," Steffan said. "I found out the post office box is not connected with the VA."

The "benefits form" that surfaced in the Orangeburg area has a return address of Veterans Center, P.O. Box 8079, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101. That agency and address is bogus, Steffan said.

ANOTHER AMUSING HEADLINE

This one from the World Socialist Web Site

UN Security Council rubberstamps Washington’s continuing subjugation of Iraq

Yeah, buddy...the rampant rubberstamping by France, Russia and China has just about gotten out of hand...

HEADLINE: BBC ARGUES WITH ITSELF

You may recall the BBC headline I linked to yesterday.

Arab media lukewarm on Iraq deal

Well, here is a BBC headline from today:

Arab press sees hope for Iraq.

Which includes this statement:

Arabic newspapers are sceptical about the US proposal to encourage reforms in the Middle East, which was supported by leaders at the G8 summit.

But some commentators see the UN resolution on Iraq, confirming the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis, as an opportunity for the war-ravaged country to recover and develop.

They are an often amusing bunch there at the BBC.

WHEN IN CHARGE, TAKE CHARGE

That is one of my very favorite military sayings. And it sure looks to me as if Prime Minister Allawi is attempting to do just that.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said yesterday that he plans to resurrect domestic-intelligence services to combat the country's persistent lawlessness and violence.

He also said ministers in his interim government, appointed June 1, also were considering bringing back the death penalty to combat "the evil forces trying to spread their poison and damage Iraqi society."

"We need to reconstitute or build an internal security apparatus similar to [Britain's] MI5 or the FBI, which has power of interrogation and detention," Mr. Allawi told The Washington Times at a reception honoring Iraqi women.

UPDATE: The Christian Science Monitor agrees:

Iraq has nearly three weeks to go before sovereignty, but its new prime minister is already acting like a sovereign. Since his appointment June 1, Iyad Allawi has defused two explosive issues: the status of US-led forces in Iraq, and the rights of Iraq's Kurdish minority.

Me...I'd have chosen the word "leader" instead of "sovereign", but obviously the CSM was attempting a parallel construction to the lead clause. We won't quibble...they've also noticed an Iraqi taking charge in Iraq.

SENATOR FRIST HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT

Frist also said he has the impression that Iraq is in better shape than is generally reported by the media.

Despite a shooting or bombing at an Iraqi location almost daily, Frist said, “The majority of people around the rest of the country are living well, living comfortably in an improving situation, and are very hopeful.

“The news (in the United States) makes it sound like everything is falling apart there, and that is simply not the case.”

OK...so then it occurs to me, "Hey wait a minute...how can a 'majority of people' be living well, yet the news doesn't say so unless quoting a non-journalist who has been to Iraq."

So, I went looking, and found this:

The view from Iraq is getting narrower just as things are getting worse.

Growing violence is forcing western correspondents to change their approach to reporting, restrict their travel and pass up stories that are now deemed too risky...

More journalists have resumed traveling with military units through the Pentagon's embedding program, which proved so popular during war against Saddam Hussein. The number of embeds jumped from 26 in February to 71 last month during the fighting in Fallujah and Najaf, and is now back to 26, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says.

And I'm finally beginning to get it. There are vast open swaths of this country where people are going to work, growing food, tending livestock, building houses...but the press doesn't go there. They don't go there because they only want to be where things are exploding.

I'm thinking that once one dubs one's self a "war correspondent" it must be a bitter pill to swallow if your beat includes the peaceful regions, and the overwhelming majority of folks in that country who are intent on living peacefully.

OK - so the reporters are re-embedding with the units. That's fine. But lets keep a sense of perspective...where are the Soldiers going to be? Uh...where things are exploding...right? Hence, it would follow that the only stories the press can report is about things blowing up. Even if that involves just the tiniest part of the Iraqi population, it comprises 100% of what that "war correspondent" is going to see and write about it.

So...from the outset the deck is stacked by those who label themselves "war correspondents".

Seems to me what we need are fewer war correspondents and more folks looking at the entire picture. But then, that would mean covering peaceful towns, hundreds of Soldiers not humiliating prisoners and meetings of the local city council. You know...the sorta stuff only covered by cub reporters in very small town newspapers.

Yeah...like that'll happen.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

How much I respect folks like Mr. O'Sullivan for stepping up, and assisting progress.

Mr. O'Sullivan's girlfriend, who was also witness to the ruin, told him the cleanup would be a massive job and that it would be difficult to rebuild the city. He disagreed and decided to prove her wrong. Last October, he returned to Baghdad to establish JumpStart International, a non-profit organization that employs local residents to clean up the city.

Now, Mr. O'Sullivan is supervising a force of 2,700 workers in transforming the Iraqi capital's skyline, cleaning up shattered offices and building housing for the homeless. He is even besieged with calls from coalition advisers hoping JumpStart will clear out their buildings.

"I was really angry," said Mr. O'Sullivan, 39, recalling how the city looked after the war ended. "The U.S. was spending $4-billion a month and you couldn't tell. I just thought that if you really wanted to, you could clean up the city and employ a lot of people -- and it wasn't all that difficult.

"There are skyscrapers in this city that are standing monuments to the American war machine," he added. "Just leaving them standing there is a way to create resentment against Americans and against the West."...

Today, JumpStart is clearing and cleaning out 47 government sites around the Iraqi capital and has already completed more than 450. Labourers are paid about $4 a day and foremen earn $12. All are grateful for the work....

To employees, JumpStart means more than money. "I am serving my country by making it more beautiful," said Luai Salem, 25.

"DON'T WORRY, WE ARE AMERICANS"

Can any other country's soldiers issue such a statement and have it received with such implicit trust?

A rescued Polish hostage said Thursday that U.S. soldiers burst through a steel door to the house where he and others were held captive in Iraq, then assured them: "Don't worry, we are Americans."

Businessman Jerzy Kos arrived home after being freed from Iraqi insurgents Tuesday in Baghdad with another Pole and three Italians.

''I am very moved to be back in Poland and to be alive,'' Kos said at Warsaw airport after stepping off his plane, his face pale and voice trembling. ''I am so moved, I can hardly speak.''

The 64-year-old construction company director described his rescue as a lighting-quick operation.

They were imprisoned in a house in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, until Tuesday, when they heard helicopters approaching. The door was then blown in, kicking up a dust cloud and knocking the hostages to the ground.

''When I opened my eyes, I saw American soldiers,'' he said. ''They said, 'Don't worry, we are Americans.' They held our hands and we ran to the helicopter. I will remember that for the rest of my life.''

''It was fast and unexpected. They did it perfectly,'' Kos said.

STEP ONE: YA GOTTA BE SMARTER THAN THE BAD GUYS

Four Arab men posing as journalists were arrested this week when explosives residue was detected on them as they tried to enter the Baghdad headquarters of the U.S.-led administration, a senior U.S. army officer said.

The officer, a top security official in the compound which hosts news conferences given by senior U.S. and Iraqi officials and houses the U.S. consulate, said explosives were found in the men's hotel room after the arrests on Sunday.

They were posing as employees of an international television company and carried fake identification cards and were trying to drive a van into the compound when they were arrested, he said.

"The IDs looked real. But when we called the organization and asked if they were employees, they said they had not heard of them," the army officer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters.