Border security has been a hot topic in the last 30 years, and with good reason.  Unfortunately, a tragedy such as this was inevitable when the politicians charged with providing for the common defense of our nation are more concerned with rhetoric than taking the action necessary to close the borders and protect American citizens.

The issue will certainly play a large role in the Arizona Senate race between John McCain and J.D. Hayworth.

Citing escalating drug violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and the murder of an Arizona rancher found shot to death on his Cochise County property on Saturday, Hayworth said, “It’s not only a matter of national security, it’s a matter of personal security.”

While I respect McCain for his service to this nation as a member of the greatest military in the world,  his service as a congressman is another story.  McCain was a co-sponsor, with Ted Kennedy, of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.  The bill ultimately failed after an outcry from the people who understood the implications of such a measure.  In researching a paper on illegal immigration, I read a book written by J.D. Hayworth called Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration, Border Security, and the War on Terror. Hayworth clearly understands the threat posed not only to our economy because of lax border security, but also to the physical safety and security of Americans.

McCain has spent enough time in DC.  We as a nation must get serious about securing our border and that starts with electing people who truly understand what is at stake and have the principles and fortitude to make the decisions and take the action necessary to defend America and her citizens.  I believe J.D. Hayworth is just such a person.

That said, “desperate times call for desperate measures” as the saying goes.  For anyone who loves the United States as I do and believes in the principles of government which our Founding Fathers clearly outlined in the Constitution, these are desperate times indeed.  Many of our leaders in Washington DC have shown an utter contempt for the wisdom of our nation’s forefathers and their own oath of office by passing the Obamacare monstrosity against the clear will of the majority of the American people.  Our “leaders”, in their arrogance, believe that the American people are not intelligent enough to figure out how to live their own lives.  ”Baloney,” as my 8 year-old recently said.  His proud momma agrees.

In light of this no-holds barred attack on my beloved nation, I have decided that it is time for me to get into the fight.  The time has come to draw a line and take a stand against the tyrants in DC.  If not now, when?  If not me, who?  No less than the very existence of our country is at stake.  I refuse to allow the sacrifices my family members have made in defense of this nation, going as far back as the American Revolution, to be in vain.  It is their legacy which compels me to do what ever I can to pass on the blessings of liberty to future generations.

As Easter approaches, the theme of resurrection seems a fitting one.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a defining moment in history.  I pray the events occurring now will be a defining moment in America’s history, a moment which saw the resurgence of the values and principles which have made America great and not the beginning of the end of the American Experiment.  No other nation in history has been the “shining city upon a hill” like the United States has.  Even with all of our problems, people living outside our borders aspire to come here and experience the unprecedented levels of freedom most Americans take for granted.  We will not have that luxury if we are not willing to embrace our duty as patriots and defend our nation, even against the corrupt leaders in our government as seems to be the most pressing concern of the moment.

One person can make a small difference, but it takes armies to win wars.  I hope you will join me in this fight.

Our military has toppled a ruthless dictator who had no qualms about brutally killing his own countrymen and family members and provided support to terrorists.  They have fostered the establishment of a new democratic government.  They have liberated Iraq from the stranglehold of fear and violence placed on them by Al Qaeda.  Children are now free to play outside and get an education.  New businesses are helping the Iraq economy and providing for families.  Healthcare is now more widely available and is improving the lives of many in the country.  Iraqi military and police are now stepping up and taking over the security responsibilities which were formerly done by U.S. service members.  All of these point to success in Iraq and more importantly that our military will soon be able to come home in victory with a strong ally in the Middle East.  No small feat to say the least.

One of the most significant milestones in the mission in Iraq occurred just over a week ago.  The Iraqis had an election, which was not the first for the country, but is the clearest sign of the difference our military has made and a testament of how far Iraq has come in only five years.

 

Sunnis I-Rock the Vote
For the first time, all Iraq’s sects participated in a post-Saddam election.

By Pete Hegseth 

This weekend, Iraqis once again took to the polls peacefully. While it was not the first election since the invasion, it was an election of firsts: the first vote for a truly sovereign Iraq; the first time Iraqi Security Forces were fully in charge of security at all polling places; the first opportunity for candidates to campaign in the open, walking door to door and holding public events; and the first election in which every major sectarian group participated.

Iraq has held three previous elections, but none of them were truly national, like the one the world witnessed this past Saturday. While turnout may have been down, all segments of the population participated—including Sunnis—in what will go down as Iraq’s first pan-sectarian vote, and the purest form of democracy the modern Arab world has seen. It was a vote which, for the first time, included the old benefactors of Saddam Hussein’s regime—men so averse to such a process six years ago that their participation is nothing short of monumental. 

In January 2005, Iraqis voted for provincial representatives and an interim national assembly that was charged with drafting the Iraqi constitution. I was in Iraq to witness the remaining two elections—an October 2005 referendum on the national constitution, and parliamentary elections that took place in December 2005.

At each of these successive votes, we saw less and less violence at polling places, and more and more Iraqis participate. But none of these elections occurred in a truly secure country. Iraqis—mostly Shia and Kurds—went to the polls in an act of courageous defiance to a strong insurgency, which may help explain the larger turnout in previous elections. 

The elections I witnessed in 2005 were important steps towards forging a political framework for the country, but did not in and of themselves create the conditions for reconciliation. A national constitution and a newly elected parliament holed up in the Green Zone didn’t deter a violent and radical insurgency; nor did they increase confidence in the government at the neighborhood level.

As we learned in 2007 and 2008, it wasn’t until security was established at the neighborhood level that true political reconciliation began to occur. Sectarian killings faded away, local councils sprung up, and young Iraqis took to securing their neighborhoods. On my visit back to Samarra, Iraq, this past August, numerous locals told me: “Al-Qaeda will never come back here!” Military security was the true grandfather of political progress and reconciliation.

However, on that very same trip—which occurred deep in the heart of the Sunni triangle—I once again witnessed the lingering scars of political exclusion. While the streets were safe, shops opening, and the city council holding session, the reconstruction money and coordination needed from higher levels of the Iraqi government were not yet reaching Samarra.

As with all things in Iraq, there are surely multiple reasons for this—ineffectual leadership, corruption, and outdated administrative mechanisms. However, the overarching problem for Samarra—and most Sunni towns—was that its people had largely boycotted previous elections, believing them to be shams of the Shia government.

The result? Samarra—the largest city in Salah ad Din province—has no voting representation in the provincial council. Because the Sunnis in Samarra did not vote in January 2005 during the provincial elections, they have nobody representing their needs at the provincial and federal level, and hence receive a disproportionately small amount of resources.

Despite these lingering problems, the Samarra city council meeting I witnessed in August of 2008 was dominated by talk of preparations for last weekend’s provincial election. Even without funding to support the polling stations, or even a date on the calendar, there was bi-tribal support (if you will) for election preparation. Samarra was finally prepared to vote for representatives who would actually represent them—representatives who would be held accountable. And while voter turnout across the country was just above 51 percent, early reports indicate that most of the northern Sunni provinces, like Salah ad Din, had a higher turnout.

This election is more than just the fourth election to occur in Iraq; it is the purest form of democracy Iraq, or the Arab Middle East, has ever seen. For the first time, Iraqis of all sectarian backgrounds participated in an election they deem fair and vital to their communities. Finally, each according to their aggregate votes, each according to their interests.

And, in the coming months, the same will happen in the national Iraqi parliament—as the country will vote again to choose their national leaders. Again, Sunnis will participate and will gain even more representation in Baghdad.

These votes are enormous victories for democracy and reconciliation in Iraq and the greater Middle East, because unlike the 2005 elections, former Saddam elements—the Sunnis who ruled with an iron fist for decades—will now participate. In effect, Saddam’s Iraq has voted for the first time, with their votes counting no more and no less than those of their Shia and Kurd compatriots. The dictators are now the democrats, and the Butcher from Baghdad is surely rolling over in his grave.

This is the story of the new Iraq, and a reason for immense hope.

— Capt. Pete Hegseth, who served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division from 2005 to 2006, is chairman of Vets for Freedom. 

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmM3OWE3YzdkYTVkOGU5OGRmZjlmM2JjM2MwYTU3ZWM

I am now on Facebook as well and will add a link to my blog to my profile.

I have been doing a lot of reading on the issues facing our nation in the past several months and will be blogging my perspectives on some of those issues in the near future.

In the mean time, I am still here!

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful sunshine today!  THINK SPRING! )

Regardless, I found it rather entertaining.  Enjoy!

I didn’t have anything major to talk about tonight, but it has been a long day and I just wanted to talk to someone that wasn’t a whiny child or one with a bad attitude.  Things like that seem to wear on my nerves worse than anything else.  I think I’m going to pick up the novel I’m reading and chill out a bit before bed.  Nothing like an engaging story to get my mind off a tough day.  Night everyone!

I read a lot on the internet, so some of the posts will be comments on articles concerning a variety of subjects.  I can be very opinionated on many things as some of you know well! D

I also enjoy putting together video and slideshows and will hopefully be posting those from time to time.  Technology can get the best of me sometimes!

I think it is important to give of ourselves to those around us and to that end I will post opportunities that I come across to do just that.

And last, but certainly not least, I think life should be enjoyed.  That is something I am in the process of relearning.  I am looking for at least one thing everyday to make me laugh or smile.  Some days that seems like a tall order, but as the saying goes “laughter is the best medicine”.

I can’t make any promises on how often I will be able to update my blog, but my goal is at least once a week.  Until next time!

I came across the first post at BlackFive.net. http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/11/french-infantry.html

This is a post written by a French soldier after working with some of

America’s Finest in Afghanistan.

 

We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while – they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army – one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent – from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine – they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them – we are wimps, even the strongest of us – and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity lack of privacy and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland – everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark – only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered – everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all – always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch  from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the ennemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge ! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later – which cuts any pussyfooting short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is – from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owned this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers.

 

The other story was posted by CJ on A Soldier’s Perspective.  http://www.soldiersperspective.us/2008/11/20/touching-the-face-of-grace-tissue-alert/

 

 

 

 Touching The Face of Grace (Tissue Alert)

November 20th, 2008 by CJ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this essay, written by the father of a deployed Soldier, on the American Legion website. It was introduced into the Congressional Record by Frank R. Wolf, R-Va, on September 16th. It’s a very touching and inspirational story should be required reading by the defeatists in Congress. Here it is:

“Whatever your political take on the war in Iraq, nothing can alter it more than having a loved one in the midst of it. Nor is anyone’s current perspective balanced until they hear at least some things from a soldier’s point of view.

“My wife and I learned these truths when our son, a 2004 Handley graduate, decided to join the Army in 2006. His reasoning was simple: he wasn’t comfortable knowing that thousands of others his age were sacrificing their own freedoms to protect his. When he signed up to join those thousands, it changed our perspective as well.

“Up to that point, it had always been other people’s sons and daughters doing the fighting. Now it would be our own child. Naturally, no one wants their child to volunteer to go in harm’s way for freedom’s sake. It was something of a conviction, though, when my wife and I had to ask ourselves why it shouldn’t be our own son in the Middle East, why we should be spared the rituals of anxiety, prayer, hope and waiting that tens of thousands of other families over here have already endured.

“In early June, we flew to Fort Hood, Texas, to see our son deploy for a 15-month tour in Iraq. Again, one’s perspective is limited until one attends a deploying ceremony for a unit of soldiers. Spouses, children, parents, siblings and friends, all crowding a gym, all clinging closely to their treasures in uniform, accompanied by flags, prayers, cheers and tears. Our son had joined a ‘band of brothers.’ My wife and I had joined the ‘band of others’ who would be waiting at home. Both those going, and those left behind, carry the war on terror in a personal way.

“Still, those of us left behind need to see something of what our soldiers see, and not only what is offered us in the news. To that end, here is one story our son, Luke, shared with us by phone that must be shared with anyone who claims an interest in what our soldiers are doing in the Middle East.

“Stationed outside a city on the Tigris River, Luke had accompanied his colonel into town as part of a security team, while the colonel spoke with a local sheik. While standing guard, Luke noticed a woman approaching from behind and cautiously turned in her direction, his rifle at the ready.

“An interpreter told our son it was OK – the woman just wanted to touch a soldier. Still uneasy, Luke stood still while the woman reached out her hand and touched his face, tears in her eyes.

“Looking to the interpreter for meaning, our son was told that the woman simply ‘wanted to touch the face of grace.’ It seems this trembling woman, like most of the people in her town, looked upon our soldiers as angels of grace, sent by God to protect her from the violence and oppression her people had come to know up to then. Learning this, our son squeezed and kissed the woman’s hand, and she left, weeping.

“The ‘face of grace.’ How many of us, safe at home debating the politics of the war on terror, have ever seen our soldiers in such a light? How many of us have even read such an uplifting newspaper account of our soldiers?

“To be sure, our soldiers are not virtuous simply by being soldiers. At home in their ‘civvies’ they are as un-angelic as the rest of us. Yet when they voluntarily get into ‘full battle rattle’ (as they call their battle gear) in a hot and hostile land, their job is both protective and sacrificial – as angelic a purpose as humans can take on.

“People like this woman, having suffered years of oppression and fear, have eyes and a heart to see this, and the desire to “‘touch the face of grace.’ Do we have the ability to see our soldiers in the same way? And not merely our soldiers: Can we see the ‘face of grace’ in the police who protect us in every town, day and night? Or in the fire and rescue teams who are ‘soldiers’ in their own right?

“My wife and I obviously pray that our son and his ‘band of brothers’ will come safely home to their personal ‘band of others.’ After listening to our son’s experience, though, we have added the prayer that Americans in every community will be given the eyes and heart to see the ‘Face of Grace’ in all who protect our lives and freedoms – especially in soldiers like our son.”

Well said!  God Bless our Troops!