Marine General supports leaving Iraq.


"The time is right for the Marines to leave Iraq," Gen. James Conway, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said at a breakfast with reporters. Any "sustainment force" in Iraq, he added, will be almost exclusively from the Army.
JTNichols says: Our withdrawal from Iraq can proceed as needed now that we have won the war.  This will also help us in Afghanistan, as it shows we have no desire to occupy any other country.  Taliban insurgents who try to win support by playing the imperialism card will be proven wrong as we voluntarily leave Iraq, our mission complete.
JTNichols
2/21/2009 10:41:00 AM Discuss (0)
Secret, Foreign Money Floods Into Obama Campaign


The FEC has compiled a separate database of potentially questionable overseas donations that contains more than 11,500 contributions totaling $33.8 million. More than 520 listed their “state” as “IR,” often an abbreviation for Iran. Another 63 listed it as “UK,” the United Kingdom.
Jason says: By my count there is $183 Million in unaccounted donations. In comparison Sen. Obama's largest single month of donations was just $77 million.  Funds of that amount can corrupt any organization and should be investigated before do.
Jason
10/1/2008 12:05:00 PM Discuss (0)
A right-wing comedy that's funny? Surely You can't be Serious!


I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.
Jason says:

   Just watched the preview to 'An American Carol', and was amazed that it was actually funny. I was also surprised to see so many famous faces, given that spoofing the Left in Hollywood today requires the same courage as appearing in front of Sen McCarthy wearing a "Lenin Loves Me" ball cap.

  I'll buy a ticket, even if the movie isn't good it will help to support actors/actresses who are brave enough to fight the establishment.  Judging by the fact the movie was made by David Zucker - the same guy who produced 'Airplane' - it's a good bet.
Jason
9/15/2008 6:13:00 PM Discuss (0)
Baghdad's Coming Economic Boom


Inflation, which hit 60% in 2006, is down to 12-15%. Lending by private banks rose 50% from October 2007 to February 2008 as small businesses looked to expand. The Bloomberg news agency reported last month that Iraq's bonds are delivering the biggest returns in emerging markets worldwide, with risk premiums that suggest Baghdad may be safer for bond investors than Cleveland.
Jason says:   This is why history will view the Iraq war as a success.  Iraq's burgeoning econcomy will deny Al-Qaeda it's prime source of recruiting, poor and uneducated Arabs. It will also put pressure on it's neighbors -Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Syria - to expand freedoms and reject extremism.  The war on terror will be won by destroying the extremists true foundation: hopelessness.
Jason
9/10/2008 7:01:00 AM Discuss (0)
Think Again: Remember Iraq?


"..the United States is optimistic. Just this week, General David Petraeus said U.S. troops could be out of Baghdad by July. One might think a tentative agreement to end the Iraq war would lead the news that night. And you’d be half right. On August 21—the day word leaked of the agreement—ABC World News with Charlie Gibson led off with the story and did a long package with correspondent Jonathan Karl. Yet the next night, there was nothing—although the broadcast did find air time for two teenagers who nearly died in a snow cave collapse in Washington state."
Jason says:

This is interesting in that it is from a left-wing think tank; it is becoming so obvious that we are winning in Iraq it's impossible to hide. Currently the mantra to avoid admitting they were wrong all this time is that there isn't enough political progress, or that an Iraq victory isn't important because we should have invaded the country named 'Al-Qaeda' with it's king Osama Bin Laden. 

   The military genious of the Iraq war was that it gathered Al-Qaeda's money, efforts and attention from 80 countries into just one - Iraq - where they were soundly defeated.
Jason
9/7/2008 12:17:00 PM Discuss (0)
How Muslim extremists are turning on Osama Bin Laden


Over the past year, a growing number of very consequential figures in the jihadist movement have publicly and vociferously repudiated Osama Bin Laden. And that is costing Al Qaeda the hearts and minds of many of those radical-leaning Muslims who might otherwise sympathize with the terrorists.
Jason says: This article is one of the few acknowledging the ongoing defeat of Al Qaeda.  Unfortunately it does not analyze the root cause: Muslims are turning on Al Qaeda because Al Qaeda lost Iraq. People have a tendency to go with winners and abandon losers.
 They're abandoning the terrorists for the same reason so many Americans recently opposed the Iraq war.  America wasn't tired of fighting, they were tired of losing.  They mistakenly believed we were losing due to the constant media attacks against our efforts, and unfortunately many still believe we're losing due to the media black-out on current successes in Iraq.  Fortunately, even the combined weight of world media isn't enough to hide the first Arab democracy as Iraq prospers in the coming years.
Jason
6/8/2008 9:46:00 AM Discuss (0)
Why Obama Must Go to Iraq


Earlier this year, I spent five days in Iraq, walking the same streets in Baghdad where I had served two years earlier as an infantry platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division.

The visit reinforced for me not only the immense complexity of the war – so often lost in our domestic political debate – but also the importance of taking the time to visit Iraq to talk with the soldiers and Marines serving on the front lines in order to grasp the changing dynamics of a fluid battlefield.

It is for this reason that the failure of Sen. Barack Obama to travel to Iraq over the past two and a half years is worrisome, and a legitimate issue in this presidential election.

Since his election to the United States Senate in 2004, Mr. Obama has traveled to Iraq just once – in January 2006. This was more than a year before Gen. David Petraeus took command and the surge began. It was also several months before Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government came into office. Although
Jason says:

Sen. Obama has been critical of anyone who has acted to stop the threat of terrorist attacks on US soil, but I have not heard him put forth an alternative. Unless he learns the reality of the threat and admits he was mistaken when he said we could not win, I feel it is unlikely he would be able to effectively lead the military.
Jason
6/5/2008 3:22:00 PM Discuss (0)
The Iraqi Upturn


THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now."
Jason says:

The war in Iraq has prevented more 9/11-style attacks and saved thousands of civilian lives, both in America and in the Middle East. More importantly, it has provided a strategic means to defeat the ideology that created the 9/11 attacks.

It is shameful that the victory in Iraq is being actively hidden for political reasons. The Washington Post is not pro-military by any means, but they clearly provide a more balanced voice than most other liberal newspapers. I encourage you to register to make comments (required to view this article) and leave your opinions.

V/r,
Jason
6/1/2008 6:55:00 PM Discuss (0)
Few states let overseas troops vote by e-mail


"The personnel that fight our wars, the people who are most affected by the decisions on the use of the military, are being systematically denied the right to vote," said Bob Carey, a board member of the Overseas Vote Foundation, a voting rights group. Carey, a Navy reservist who has served in Iraq, noted that ballots are often not prepared and ready to be mailed until 30 to 45 days before an election. And since it can take more than two weeks for troops to get ballots by regular mail, they sometimes get them too late to meet voting deadlines.
Jason says: We in the military often take a hard line on our own shortcomings. We don't vote, it's our fault, no whining allowed!

  The fact is, the responsibility to vote - and get our junior personnel to vote - is ours alone, and pushing for more electronic voting is how we should be doing it.  Electronic voting is not only faster, it allows for instant correction of mistakes so that the ballots are actually counted.  During the Florida elections in 2000, thousands of military votes were denied because of improperly filled in forms. Whose fault is that? Ours. How do we fix it? We insist on being able to vote electronically.
Jason
4/27/2008 6:53:00 AM Discuss (1)
Sunni's return to government proves political progress


"The Front agreed to return in part because of the security offensive that al-Maliki launched last month against Shiite militiamen in the southern port city of Basra...Abdul-Sattar did not elaborate, but the offensive appeared to have signaled to the Accordance Front that al-Maliki was willing to go after the Sadrists, whose support won him the prime minister's job in 2006."
Nichols says:

There has been a lot of political progress in Iraq since the surge began establishing the necessary conditions, but the Maliki government's independent action to reign in the rebel militias has been the most dramatic.  Although it was downplayed and even portrayed negatively in US media, it was seen as a huge success to the Iraqi public and greatly boosted faith in the new government.
Nichols
4/17/2008 3:48:00 PM Discuss (0)
General Petraeus is UK Telegraph's Man of the Year; US Media suddenly unaware of Iraq.


A failed Iraq would not just be a second Vietnam, nor would it just be America's problem. It would be a symbolic victory for al-Qaeda, a safe haven for jihadists to plot future September 11s and July 7s, and a battleground for a Shia-Sunni struggle that could draw in the entire Middle East. Our future peace and prosperity depend, in part, on fixing this mess. And, a year ago, few had much hope. To appreciate the scale of the task Gen Petraeus took on, it is necessary to go back to February 22, 2006. Or, as Iraqis now refer to it, their own September 11. That was when Sunni-led terrorists from al-Qaeda blew up the Shia shrine in the city of Samarra, an act of provocation that finally achieved their goal of igniting sectarian civil war.
LCDR_Nichols says: December is on track to be the month with the lowest US casualties since the Sammarra mosque bombing, and possibly the fewest of any month, and the US media has few, if any reports on it.  The media's silence on Iraqi success, coming so soon after their cacophony of defeatism,  is deafening.

LCDR_Nichols
12/30/2007 11:02:00 PM Discuss (1)
General David Petraeus’s End Of Year Letter To The Troops


Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:

As 2007 draws to a close, you should look back with pride on what you, your fellow troopers, our Iraqi partners, and Iraqi Coalition civilians have achieved in 2007. A year ago, Iraq was racked by horrific violence and on the brink of civil war. Now, levels of violence and civilians and military casualties are significantly reduced and hope has been rekindled in many Iraqi communities. To be sure, the progress is reversible and there is much more to be done. Nonetheless, the hard-fought accomplishments of 2007 have been substantial, and I want to thank each of you for the contributions you made to them.
...
While the progress in a number of areas is fragile, the security improvements have significantly changed the situation in many parts of Iraq.
...
Iraq’s leaders reached agreement on the Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation with the United States,
LCDR_Nichols says: Summary: We're winning, still  lots to do, keep up the good work.
LCDR_Nichols
12/28/2007 9:51:00 PM Discuss (0)
Another war opponent returns from Iraq with a positive message.


In addition to a reduction in violence, she said the government of Iraq has made progress in a number of areas, including a national budget. “From top to bottom, our military and our civilian leadership as well will tell you there is not a tactical military solution to this war. It has to be political,” she said.
LCDR_Nichols says: I've always confused whenever anyone pounds the desk and hysterically insists that "There is no military-only solution for Iraq!". 

     No kidding. Who said there was?

     It's actually a form of accusation, the assumption being that the accuser's political opponents think there is a purely military solution, even though no one has ever said anything to that effect.  You're then expected to admire the accuser's insightful analysis that no, you can't kill everyone on Earth to reach a democratic state in Iraq.

     Curiously, war opponents often maintain that there is a political-only solution to Iraq and we should withdraw our military while leaving Al-Qaeda's forces free reign. Presumably they'll stop chopping off heads and bombing schools long enough to notice the country has voted them to leave, then politely pack up their weapons and depart in an orderly manner.

     Pursuing a military-only strategy or a political-only strategy are equally foolish policies. The difference being only one of these strategies is actually being voiced by anyone involved.
LCDR_Nichols
12/26/2007 6:58:00 AM Discuss (0)
Who Owns the Vietnam War?


Among the new generation of historians of the Vietnam war, important debates and differences still remain—for example, over the efficacy of American tactics of counterinsurgency and pacification. But they overwhelmingly agree on one point: the old account is a myth, and no longer stands up to scrutiny. It is worthwhile reviewing some of the main findings of the new scholarship before returning to the question of their relevance, if any, to our present struggle in Iraq
LCDR_Nichols says:   There's a worry among war opponents that victory in Iraq will prove they were wrong about Vietnam as well.  It's time to change the false narrative that Vietnam was a mistake where failure was inevitable. It, like Iraq, was a just cause that we were right to pursue. Like Iraq, the main threat was attacks on our will and motivation from ideological opponents at home.   Unfortunately in the case of Vietnam, war opponents won and millions of Vietnamese died and further generations lived, and continue to live, under the oppression of socialism because of it.

Vietnam vets have been instrumental, perhaps essential, in our success in Iraq.  Iraq vets can repay their aid by reversing the historical revisionists who have tried to paint Vietnam as a mistake.
LCDR_Nichols
12/24/2007 3:08:00 AM Discuss (0)