Our soldiers, their troops

Not every soldier in Afghanistan and Iraq wears an American uniform. Our troops not only fight, but train, and assist and break bread with troops that serve their own countries in Afghanistan and Iraq. To those allies that have troops that serve along side American, Afghani and Iraqi troops, thank you and we support your efforts.

In support of the troops

As the weekend approaches and fireworks start to light the sky, remember the rockets red glare are not always for the ooo's and aaaaa's.

For freedom our soldiers serve, I honor them and their efforts.


Today is my brother's birthday. He served in the Air Force for over 25 years. Thank you bro.

In service, in memoriam

The shedding of blood is an integral part of a soldiers life. We should make each drop priceless in our eyes.

No soldier is expendable; no life wasted. I do not want one to suffer, one to die, but I and they know, without suffering and death, freedom withers.

I mourn each death and injury, but honor each sacrifice.

The rot within

It is clear why those that hate Western Civilization do so: from reading our newspapers, watching our news reports on cable, and listening to the various factions of the left, that the United States and it's western allies have degenerated to a corrupt and dehumanizing cesspool not only worthy of disdain and hatred, but in need of good moral humans to destroy it.

It has become the moral imperative of the left and their anti-West allies to destroy the pus filled corpse of western civilization before it infects the rest of the otherwise peaceful and sane world.

No other explanation supports the idea that attacking the US with a force of machete-wielding, lone attacking, suicide-bombing supporters AND winning is possible. Can the left and their western-hating allies reasonably believe that defeat of the United States is possible? Not without the anti-US support of the media. All they needed to do was inflict a little damage (93, Cole, Kobar) and wait til the anti-west media and their liberal supporters began to blame, not the attackers, but the US for causing the conditions in the first place. Then it would be a simple matter of upping the ante and send some body bags back for the media to wring it's hands over.

In a conversation online last night I said that the problem is not the terrorists, it is the anti-West media and liberals that AGREE with them that the US is worse than Hitler, worse than Saddam, is in fact the largest threat to peace and stability. Such rot is what the fanatics of Moslem hoped for. It is the self-hatred of the left that gives aid and comfort to the anti-West fanatics that what they are doing is not political, but moral.

Can anyone suggest any other reason why giving prisoners three-square and a bed and medical care and religious freedom should be more heinous than the decapitating and torture of two soldiers?

There are always monsters in the dark outside, only when those in safety question their right to that safety do the monsters get invited in as honored guests.

Get out of your chairs....

They stand watch, they suffer the heat and dirt and sand, they are far from home, is it so hard to stand when they pass?

I support and honor our troops.

In support of the troops

Can anyone look at a soldier returning home and have any other thought but 'thank you'?

I can not imagine having anything other than the highest regard for those serving.

To all our sevice members, thank you.

In every human endeavor...

there is human error. A failure of an kind will be acknowledged and addressed. No farmer burns an entire field for one bad stalk.

Our troops deserve at least the impression that we afford them the same rights as we 'demand' ourselves.

I honor our troops, unconditionally.

Service with honor

No oath of honor, no oath of dignity, just an oath to serve and protect. Why?

Because it is in their sacrifice that their honor and dignity show, words are unnecessary.

In service

I support our troops and their efforts unconditionally.

Failure to do so aids our enemies.

Our troops

In support of those that sacrifice:

Your sacrifice will not go unnoticed;
Your sacrifice will not go unrewarded;
Your sacrifice will not go in vain;
Your sacrifice will live as long as people live in freedom;

Your sacrifice is our burden, and many of us will accept it willingly.

Bankruptcy Mis-Information

Bankrate posted a wonderful interactive timeline for bankruptcy...too bad it is seriously flawed.

Of primary concern is the idea that you can contact an attorney and be filed within 6 days. Back in the good old days we could do an emergency filing, but not anymore. You must leave at least 30 days to allow time for a thorough review of your finances and verification of information you provide. Any attorney that does less risks their own license.

Further, if you are facing an eviction, bankruptcy no longer prevents it! Once an order for eviction is signed, you are out regardless of a bankruptcy filing.

The other problem I noticed: The average family can experience the issues at the initial point in the timeline for years without facing bankruptcy. Moving from point 1 (6 months) to point 2 (4 months) can take a very long time, or less than a month depending on circumstances. The timeline does not suggest an attorney until 6 days before filing but an attorney should be consulted by the time you hit the issues listed at point 2.

Bankrate has some nice things, but their recent story on foreclosures/delinquencies decrease - despite a reported 38% increase in foreclosure in 2006 Q1 and this obviously flawed timeline begs the question: how much of the other information provided is similarly flawed?

Our troops, our responsibility

As Americans, we have asked our servicepeople to fight for the freedom of Afghanis and Iraqis. They have done so honorable. Having asked, and received their service, we owe them more than casual disinterest, we owe them our support, encouragement and our thanks.

Thank you. Get up the good work, we stand with you and will support and defend you.

My support is unconditional

I support our troops unconditionally. They have answered the call and are serving with honor and distinction. Are our troops 100% perfect? No one is, why should I require such a standard from any group?

I support our troops unconditionally.

In support of our troops

Reports of some troops violating the law have gained traction here. I wish to be clear: I support our troops in their service and their efforts. Troops that violate the law should and will face our justice system. I will not tar the entire effort because of some violations.

I will stand beside any troops that serve.

In support of the troops

I support your efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The majority (I know it seems less, but that is not true) of Americans, Iraqis and Afghanis also support your efforts.

Know that WHEN you return home, we will thank you and honor your service. We look forward to that day with hope.

2996

A project is underway to honor those that died on September 11, 2001 on September 11, 2006.

Please see here and if you have a blog, consider joining us. (HT to Stromata Blog/Tom Veal)

Service, Honor, Courage

I want to share with you some quotes:

"Courage, honor, dedication, sacrifice -- these are just the words they used to get you here. Now the only word that means a damn to you is life -- yours, your buddy's. The one certainty in war is that in an hour, maybe two, you'll either still be alive or you'll be dead." -- T.C. McQueen

When I first heard these words (the opening scenes from the TV show Space: Above and Beyond) I remembered what I used to say as an Air Traffic Controller in the Air Force: 7 1/2 hours of boredom punctuated by 30 minutes of sheer terror.

But it wasn't until Saving Private Ryan that I could put a finger on what about S:AB resonated.

Miller's last words to Ryan — "earn this" — haunt Ryan for the rest of his life.

The Captain, Miller goes through several sets of emotions: fear, anger, revenge, frustration and finally, in those last words, he seems to understand that it is the personal sacrifice that is the issue.

Our troops from Vietnam suffered, what they wanted to know was that we understood and valued that suffering. Most did not. Worse, they considered the suffering of the troops self inflicted and selfish. When Ryan turned to his family and asked if he had been a good man, he wanted to know that he earned the gift that Miller and the others gave him....his life...did he use it wisely?

Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan want to know the same thing: is our sacrifice noted, is it valued? Or is it being throw away, dismissed, demeaned? For many shrill voices, despite their claims of support for the troops, the answer is "your sacrifice is in vain, worthless as the blood you spill".

I state clearly for you, your sacrifice is not in vain, it is not worthless, and many Afghans and Iraqis will spend most of their lives trying to live up to the sacrifice you make. And a great many of your fellow Americans consider your gift priceless and honorable.

I leave you with a final quote from S:AB:

"Loyalty can't be tested by questions and answers. True loyalty can only be demonstrated through the display of manifest actions, often defiant, when confronted by insurmountable obstacles in the form of confrontational and irrational enemies." -- Cooper Hawkes

Today, six senators proved their disloyalty to you, count well that it was only 6

And what will we do?

Item 1: 16,900 murders were committed in the United States last year.

Item 2: Politicians and bureaucrats have been found to be so corrupt that the shear scope baffles their 'colleagues'.

Item 3: $1.4 Billion is found to have been fraudulently spent from Katrina relief funds.

Item 4: The Marines are investigating a Marine serving overseas for writing a song some have claimed is offensive.


Item 1: There were no daily reports, no demands to withdraw police.
Item 2: Didn't anyone notice a secretary buying three houses?
Item 3: When this first was suggested to be occurring, we were racists, now we are just poorer
Item 4: The investigation is offensive. There are WAY too many people with a pea under the mattress.

In support of our troops

How can I make you understand that the appeasement going on behind your lines is a very vocal but irrelevant minority? The person most important to your mission stood on the same soil you serve on. The second most important people to your mission are those you serve with. They are your third eye, your 6th sense.

The next most important people to your mission is your family. With very few exceptions, they stand for the National Athem, are there when you call, send you those extra few necessities that make days of heat and dust a little more bearable.

Finally, the least important people to your mission are the appeasers, those that proclaim false sensitivity to every absurd and vulgar claim of offense. Unfortunately, I know that it is these appeasers, these false sympathizers that you hear most about. I would apologize for them but they are beyond apology.

Your continued service makes a mockery of their very being, it is the reason they protest too much. If politicians and pundits were to be held to the same standards of behavior they claim is appropriate to you, they would find themselves in stocks before the first nightfall.

Remember, the important people to your mission support you unconditionally. And many, many of us outside your chain of support, honor and support your mission.

Volunteers, soldiers, citizens

"No greater love is this, than one should lay down their life for another"

Our troops, all of them, are volunteers for the service. They forego rights they fight to ensure. They are full citizens, serving with honor and justifiable pride. I support their choices, even when I mourn the sacrifice.

When they return home, they deserve the full measure of our gratitude. Until then, they deserve the full measure of our support.

Our troops, their service

Action and reaction. Combat hones skills seldom used anymore in daily life. I am not oblivious to the terror that combat brings. Courage is doing what you need to do when you are scared to death. It is not some movie character standing in the face of make-believe fire. Courage is what you call what happened AFTER you survive it. Sacrifice is what it is called when you don't.

Our troops do what they have to do even when scared. It pays for US to remember what they felt and what we call it, are not always the same thing.

I support our troops, their service, their courage and their sacrifice.

Our troops

They are all of ours, whether we agree with the war or not, those are our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. Anything short of unconditional support denies those ties and leaves them adrift.

I acknowledge their service and their position as our representatives in peace and democracy and support their efforts in battle and in assistance.

I support the troops

Facing the prospect of combat, insurgent attacks, IED's, our troops step out each mission hoping that today, they met people that respect life as much as they do.

I support our troops stationed in harms way, I support those that support them from behind the fences, unconditionally.

Freedom and democracy - Supporting our troops

I support your efforts to combat those that oppose freedom and democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan by opposing and calling hypocrits those that oppose your efforts here at home. We, safe in our little communities, lack the courage and honor of you who face horrors every day.

I for one, support and defend your efforts, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I support the troops

To OUR troops: Congrats for an extraordinary job well done. Your continuing efforts to promote democracy and freedom are not going unnoticed. You face a hydra but standing toe to toe is a losing proposition only to the other side.

My support continues to be unwavering.

In support of the troops

In every battle, in every war, there are heros and villians. Intentions, actions and results are all available to those that don't participate, to those that are faced with death, I shall not second guess.

I support our troops unconditionally in their efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and thank them for the service and sacrifice.

The troops serve at our behest

We have asked the troops to serve in distant lands to provide support, comfort and protection to peoples seeking democracy, we should do no less than support them in their efforts.

I support the troops, their efforts, their sacrifices and do so unconditionally.

I support the troops

I support our troops and their mission in Afghanistan and Iraq. Further, that support is unconditional.

I support our troops and their mission

Every day for the next 200 days, I am going to post this on this blog. I am not going to add it to the sidebar because that would eliminate the need to actively remember and post this. Every day for the next 200 days I will remember the troops that have died, have suffered grievous losses and yet, accept and continue to defend their support and contribution.

The President of the United States has proclaimed that we will stay until the job is done. It is not done yet, and I will be damned if I, in the comfort of my peaceful home and neighborhood, give a seconds thought to anything less than full, unapologetic, unreserved support of our troops and their mission.

Thank you for your service and commitment.

Europe and a real World War 3

So, Russia apparently continues down a path towards re-instituting a large part of it's communist past, South America is increasingly shifting far left towards a brand of socialism thought dead by most reasonable people and Moslem jihad has sprouts in Asia and Europe.

There is almost no way that either Russia or South America would join in a Moslem uprising world wide, but they could join forces. If perchance some type of union of Russian socialism joined with South American socialism, might the jihadist take advantage of a distracted United States and promote a general uprising? There is no evidence that I have seen or heard that such a call would generate anything approaching dangerous - at least not for the majority of people, but what if Europe/NATO called for American reinforcements?

Why should we answer? Is there any reason right now why the United States should honor any previous commitment for troops or material support should a military response be required in Europe?

My general answer is found above. Honor. Over the last 5 years we have found which countries have honor and which do not. Despite the overwelming evidence that most of Western Europe lacks even the basic understanding of the term, WE would honor our commitments.