Vote Matt Burden

I didn't realize today was the day that Illinois was holding their elections. Matt Burden, better known as Blackfive, is running for the state representative in the 41st district.

Best of luck Matt and if you are in his district, get out and vote.

Blackfive Running For Political Office

Matt Burden, known to his friends and enemies by his online name of Blackfive has made the decision to run for office in Illinois for a seat as a state representative.

Matt has been one of the folks whom I have a great deal of respect. I became acquainted with him through his blog by the same name, Blackfive, way back in the early days of our war on terrorism. He was there bringing the stories from Afghanistan and Iraq that our mainstream media were ignoring. For those not familiar with his site, y'all got some catching up to do. He not only provided insight and perspective that was missing from so much of media coverage, he put his money where his mouth was and funded embedded reporters to go to Iraq and bring back reports.

I wish I could vote for him, and with the current state of politics in Illinois, who knows maybe I can. In the meantime I will just help spread the word and encourage others to donate and help send him to a new battlefield, that of the political arena. I am sure among many in Illinois he will be viewed as the insurgent, but he is just the sort of man they need. His knowledge of COIN (Counterinsurgency) operations should prove to be an invaluable tool.

So quit reading this, get over to his site and help fund his campaign.
I just hope Uncle Jimbo ain't his campaign manager.

Warrior Legacy Foundation

I have been waiting until closer to Memorial Day to post this but here is a new organization that is being started by the guys from Blackfive. Uncle Jimbo explains it better then I can so watch the video and then if you haven't already visit the Warrior Legacy Foundation web site and sign up. You don't have to be a veteran to join and the official launch is still scheduled for May 25th, Memorial Day.

The purpose of the group is not a political one, but rather an educational one. It is to make sure that those who are a part of the warrior class are not forgotten, but rather honored and remembered for all that they do.

Among their board of founders are folks like David Bellavia, Matt Burden (Blackfive), and Jim Hanson (Uncle Jimbo).

California Judge Throws Marine in Jail

He put him in jail because the Marine refused to testify about what went on in Iraq, something that is none of this judge's business nor any civilian court for that matter. I have written previously about this case and now Blackfive has the update.

After reading it take a few minutes to calm down, and then write e-mails, letters, make phone calls and get the awareness of this situation out into the public eye.
Write your Congress critter, regardless of what type of stripe they are, write the judge, call the president, but be polite, and anything else you can do to let people know that it is not alright to be freeing terrorists from Gitmo while at the same time some judicial activist judge can put Marines in jail because he obviously doesn't like their haircut or something.

It seems they are right when they say you give up some of your rights when you join the military. Not to the military, but the civilian world you leave behind.

God, I hate civilians!

And now the bad news, things moved slowly, the judge didn't enter the room until 2:30 and immediately called Sgt. Nelson and Mr. Low. [Mr Low is Sgt Nelson's attorney -ed] They once again pleaded their case, and the prosecutor had played a dirty trick. Mr. Low had asked for transcripts from Judge Anderson's courtroom [the previous judge in the hearing]. They were only sent this morning, when Mr Low was not around to review them. But that didn't matter to the judge. Despite some very good arguments by Atty Low (who asked the judge at one point, "what benefit is there to hearing Sgt. Nelson speak, over the transcripts and the tapes already available to the grand jury? The information is no different, why do they have to hear it live from him, when the questions aren't about Nazario, they are about his own conduct?"), the Judge had made up his mind.

Another Marine Needs Your Help

Got this from over at Blackfive. There is a Marine who is now involved a legal case and fighting for his freedom. I am not taking sides in the fight other then to say that by reading the accounts of actions, which were in Fallujah, and of course involve him being charged with the unlawful killing of a non combatant. I do not know all the facts, in fact, I am pretty sure nobody does.

All I do know is that some liberal civilian judge in California now has a chance to put a Marine on trial for something he probably can never understand. The incident occurred at the height of the fighting in Fallujah.

This Marine needs some help and support. Go over to Blackfive and read the post he has up about this case and the information he does have.

Folks, shit happens in war, but when we start having detached personnel start to stand in judgment of those who must make decisions in microseconds or under extreme duress and fear of their lives then we can no longer have an effective military fighting force. Whether the judge or any of the other people pursuing the prosecution of this case realize this or not, that is the chilling effect it will have.

When soldiers are more worried about facing prosecution at home then they are killing the enemy, all you wind up with is more body bags coming home filled with hesitant soldiers.

Petty Officer Second Class Michael Monsoor Awarded the Medal of Honor

Or rather his family will be tomorrow. I wonder if anybody will notice? Will the esteemed members of Congress pause in their grilling of Gen Petraeus to at least mention the actions of this man or will they just keep beating the drum of American casualties with no names and no faces?

Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House April 8, 2008. He will receive the award for his actions in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006. On that day, Monsoor was part of a sniper overwatch security position with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers. An insurgent closed in and threw a fragmentation grenade into the overwatch position. The grenade hit Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Positioned next to the single exit, Monsoor was the only one who could have escaped harm. Instead, he dropped onto the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Monsoor died approximately 30 minutes later from wounds sustained from the blast. Because of Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions, he saved the lives of his 3 teammates and the IA soldiers.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address

And as always Jim Hanson "Uncle Jimbo" from Blackfive brings us his own thoughts on Michael Monsoor. Jim is with the National Heroes Tour recording it for posterity. They will be in Washington DC tomorrow to show their support for Gen Petraeus.
Here is Jimbo interviewing Marcus Luttrell about Michael.

Previous MOH recipients from the GWOT (Global War on Terrorism) here and here.
So far no living service member has been awarded the MOH during the GWOT, although David Bellavia, who is on tour with the Vets for Freedom is nominated.

Tears of Joy, Tears of Anguish at Ft. Stewart

Two stories involving soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), whose members include medal of Honor winners Audie Murphy and Paul Smith.

The first is their homecoming. The 1st Brigade is arriving home this week and over the next couple of weeks.

Brown was part of the first Army division tapped for a third combat tour in Iraq. He was among 500 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade returning Wednesday from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The rest of the brigade of 4,000 troops will return in the next two weeks.

The second story reminds us of the cost of providing real hope and a chance for a better future.

Military authorities say four soldiers based at Fort Stewart have died from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

These soldier are assigned to the 4th Brigade. I do not know when they are scheduled to return.

And meanwhile the National Heroes Tour continues to roll on. This time it is Kansas City. Somehow I think this reception is far different then the one they got in Minnesota.



Thanks to Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive for supplying all of these great videos.

Let's send some messages of support to the soldiers in Afghanistan

Because Matt over at Blackfive asked. The soldiers in Afghanistan often refer to this area of operations as the forgotten front and after the recent news story run by the New York Times and after all of the hullabaloo coming from the news of Prince Harry's deployment to that AO, and now followed by his sudden apparent departure maybe it is time to show the guys and gals in Afghanistan some attention.

Our paratroopers are in the fight of their lives and they need to hear that America loves them.

Please send an email of support to skysoldiers173rd@gmail.com

Or you can mail cards to:

Leta Carruth
P O Box 100
Cordova, TN 38088

Due to security reasons in Afghanistan please do not put addresses or phone numbers on any correspondence. All emails will be printed out here in the US and mailed to Afghanistan as they do not have the resources to receive a large number of emails. All letters and emails will be vetted to make sure there are no negative comments. These are letters of support, so please keep them positive and uplifting.

A Huge THANK YOU to the proponents of (and the leaders of) this effort - Tanker Babe and Mrs. Diva!

Because we ain't all that different after all

Here is the raw video courtesy of Blackfive of that miraculous rescue of an 11 year old boy from the clutches of AQI (Al Queda Iraq) At the end he makes a call home to his mom. Also please note this was carried out by Iraqi forces not Americans. Still don't see any progress Democrats?

The stories they could tell.....

From the Wolf over at Blackfive. Be sure to read his profile while you are visiting.
When the history of this war in Iraq is written it will not be of the anti war, cut and run, American bashing idiots here at home.

Here is what I heard went on at the meeting, which was held in Ambassador Paul Bremer’s conference room at the Convention Center. I don’t know the details of how he did it, but Jerry smuggled both Al Sistani and Sadr into the GZ and organized the much needed face-to-face meeting between the parties.

Now read the rest of the story. One more piece from the story

Before Secretary Powell moved to the podium to address the media, a member of the Arabic press stood up to make a statement condemning the killing of an Al Aribiya television reporter at a U.S. checkpoint earlier in the week. The journalist read off his demands requesting a formal military investigation of the incident and then led the whole Arabic media contingent as they all stood and exited the press conference. Everyone in the room just stared at this spectacle with their mouths wide open because we couldn’t believe they would insult Secretary Powell in the manner they did.

And Secretary Powells response

Media Question: How do you feel about what just transpired Mr. Secretary?

Powell Answer: Well, they couldn’t do that when Sadaam Hussein was in power, could they? Democracy provides the freedom that allowed the journalists to do what they did without fear of repercussion.

That just shut the media up,

E Harmony for political candidates

Having trouble deciding who to vote for? Can't figure out who the ideal match for you is? Take this little quiz consisting of 17 questions and let some anonymous computer program make the choice for you. In the interest of full disclosure here are my results.
78% John McCain
77% Mitt Romney
73% Fred Thompson
72% Mike Huckabee
71% Rudy Giuliani
69% Tom Tancredo
50% Ron Paul
44% Hillary Clinton
39% Bill Richardson
39% John Edwards
38% Joe Biden
37% Barack Obama
37% Chris Dodd
26% Mike Gravel
19% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
I don't have a wide spread among the Republicans and my preferred choice is Fred Thompson, definitely not Mr Amnesty John McCain.
Hat tip to Uncle Jimbo over at my favorite milblog Blackfive.
While you are there read Jimbos take on the Iranian navy.

"Cringe infidels! Kneel before my puny pimped-out Boston Whaler. I spit on your aircraft carriers, your Tomahawk missiles, your PHALANX gatling gun from Hell." "Holy camel shite Mahmoud, not this freakin' close are you insane? Run Away! Run Away!"

Rough translation from Farsi.

JWF here.

Interesting. Here's how I stacked up.

91% Mitt Romney
87% Fred Thompson
84% Tom Tancredo
77% John McCain
71% Mike Huckabee
69% Ron Paul
62% Rudy Giuliani
36% Bill Richardson
27% Hillary Clinton
25% John Edwards
24% Chris Dodd
23% Barack Obama
22% Joe Biden
18% Mike Gravel
12% Dennis Kucinich

Merry Christmas courtesy of the guys at Blackfive