(Baghdad) A roadside improvised explosive device exploded today and killed two crew members and injured a correspondent who were in a convoy on patrol with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

From WAPO:

A cameraman and soundman for CBS were killed and a CBS correspondent was seriously injured Monday after their convoy was struck by a roadside bomb, the network said.

Veteran cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and soundman James Brolan, 42, were killed, CBS reported on its Web site. Correspondent Kimberly Dozier, 39, was in critical condition at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad after undergoing surgery.

From Interested-Participant.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 05:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is my special American flag that I only fly twice a year. Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

What makes it special?

My wife bought it for me at a charity auction. It was donated to the auction by our Congressman after it had flown from the Capitol building June 11th, 2003.

That alone makes me proud to own it. But what makes it special to me is knowing that had the passengers of United 93 not counterattacked against their Muslim hijackers, there may not have been a Capitol building to fly it from, and I may never had had the chance to own it.

Posted by: Vinnie at 09:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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What good is the Internet if it can't be used to humiliate one's children? The boy on the diving board in this 12 year-old photo is my son. The others have visited our house over the years and will be just as mortified to see this pic on the Web.

You can enter here and/or at The Dread Pundit Bluto. Winners from each site will be announced Monday.

Shocking final note: all of the boys in this photo grew up to be straight!

Posted by: Bluto at 09:16 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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I just received an e-mail from my mother inviting our family to take a moment of time to reflect on her father who was a Marine killed in the Pacific during WWII. My mother never knew her biological father because she was so young when he went off to war.

I never knew my maternal grandfather, but I am proud of his voluntary service and of his supreme sacrifice to our country. RIP.

To my paternal grandfather, who was a pilot in WWII, and a career Air Force officer, thank you for your service. RIP.

To my father who was a Marine--once a Marine, always a Marine--thank you for your service. To my niece, currently a Marine, may God's protection and blessings be upon you in the service of your country.

The image above is from the Punchbowl National Cemetery, where my maternal grandfather is buried. The image below is from the National Archives of my grandfather's service record. If one of your relatives was KIA during WWII, you can visit the National WWII Memorial website and look up their information. Their, you can also find where your loved one is buried. Perhaps, like me, you will be able to visit their grave someday.

Posted by: Rusty at 03:09 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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Usually I find the AP's daily death tally creepy, but, this weekend it does have some relevance. It's the only source with information on the sacrifices made by our unilateral coalition allies.

The British military has reported 111 deaths; Italy, 31; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, Denmark three; El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Romania, one death each.

Who knew Latvia sacrificed a native son in the name of Iraqi freedom?

I don't think the fact that the U.S. shoulders most of the load in Iraq matters much to the family in Kazakhstan that lost a son in defense of liberty.

It doesn't matter to me. God bless them all, and thank you.

Posted by: Vinnie at 03:07 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Terrorists kill because they believe it is the right thing to do. That is, they are acting out of moral conviction. This is why much terrorist propaganda is laced with quotes from popular Leftist writers.

The Left, Islamists, and terrorists essentially share the same world view: The U.S. is an Imperial power which systematically exploits the developing world, oppresses them, and which has no interest in bettering the lot of humanity.

The difference between your run of the mill Leftist or Islamists and terrorists is that terrorists act on the convictions they share.

If the U.S. is the power it is made out to be by Noam Chomsky, then insurgents in Iraq are doing the right thing in killing American soldiers. And if George Bush is as bad or worse than Hitler--as he is often accused of being by the Left--then a moral person, by definition, would be forced to use any means necessary to kill him.

The Independent:

"Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?"

Mr Galloway replied: "Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did."

But the logical conclusion flowing from that premise cannot end at "justified", for if Tony Blair continues to intentionally order the deaths of innocent people in Iraq, then he must be stopped. If the premise is true than one has no other choice but to kill Blair given that no other method has worked at stopping the war.

See how this all works? Once you've swallowed the worldview of the Left, then the road to terrorism is only stopped by one of two things: lack of opportunity or cowardice.

So, why haven't George Galloway or others on the hardcore Left assassinated Tony Blair or George Bush? They are cowards.

Hat tip to PJ Media in Sydney.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:37 PM | Comments (34) | Add Comment
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Report are conflicting, some saying the shots were from the Rayburn building, others from a garage at the Rayburn building. Click image on the right to see map of Capitol Hill.

Developing....scroll down for updates.

UPDATE: The longer this goes on, the less I know what to make of it. Over lunch I watched the news coverage. Nothing new. False alarm?

Update: Kingston, reporting from the Rayburn building, that the SWAT team has just moved in.

VOA:

Police in Washington, D.C say they are investigating reports of the sound of gunfire at a Congressional office building on Capitol Hill.

The Rayburn building holds offices of members of the House of Representatives. The building has been sealed off and staff requested to stay in their offices for the time being. Click the image to the right for a map of Capitol Hill. Developing.....

Posted by: Rusty at 09:33 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Have you ever seen Murtha & MacBeth in the Same Room? Think about it......

Let me just add that abuses happen in war. In all wars. U.S. soldiers participated in massacres in WWII. The fact that soldiers do bad things in war says nothing about the morality of that war.

The proper response to misconduct in war is court martial, not condemnation of the war. Those wishing to condemn the war in Iraq because of the misconduct of soldiers are engaging in deceptive propaganda. They will still oppose the war, even if it turns out soldiers are innocent of the charges.

The morality of the U.S. is demonstrated over and over again each time someone is charged with abuse or other war related crimes. The fact that we actually prosecute such criminals is quite revealing.

Contrast this to our enemies who praise the very same behavior they condem us for. Hostage taking, the execution of prisoners, and the targetting of civilians are all things the so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq boast of. Not only are 'martyrs' praised for targetting civilians, to add insult to injury, their 'glorious deeds' are video taped and then distributed on the internet to much fanfare.

We at The Jawa Report unequivocally condemn any actions by U.S. soldiers which violate the customary rules of war. If any U.S. soldier participated in the massacre of civilians, they ought to receive the harshest of punishments.

But unlike extreme Leftist who want to believe the worst things about our soldiers, we reserve judgement. We do not believe any and all accusations of 'war crimes' against U.S. soldiers because we are very aware that most of these accusations are unfounded and made by people with a political agenda.

If we were to believe, prima facie, all of the accusations levelled against our troops by Islamists and Leftists, then we would be forced to believe that the U.S. nuked the Baghdad airport, that our soldiers rape and pillage, and that they kill infants while mocking crying mothers. So excuse us if we are sometimes dismissive of accusations of war crimes when each and every time a U.S. soldier kills a terrorist cries of Geneva Convention violations are raised.

As Aesop's fable of the Boy Who Cried Wolf teaches us, though, sometimes there really is a wolf.

Was there a massacre in Haditha last year? We do not and cannot know the answer to that based on the information at hand. We should let the investigation continue. If military investigators substantiate the claim, then those soldiers involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But there is another moral to Aesop's fable. One that is often overlooked. That moral is that any person that would believe the boy who cried wolf after so many false alarms are naive. In the end, no one in the village believed the boy because of his long track record of deception.

In Aesop's time, wolves really were a constant threat to a flock. They were not uncommon, so the plausibility of a wolf stalking the village flock was very believable. The fact that wolves were a real and common danger made the boy's initial lies seem all the more likely.

But what if wolves were a threat, but a very an uncommon occurence? What if the boy had cried lion or tiger instead of wolf? Do you think the villagers would have been fooled more than once?

Those that prima facie accept the Haditha massacre allegations are actually worse than the villagers described by Aesop. They want to believe that U.S. soldiers are the big bad wolf. They want to believe the very worst about those that risk their lives on their behalf.

There is no other explanation. Either the U.S. routinely massacres civilians or it does not. If it does not, then why condemn soldiers before a full and complete investigation has been carried out?

There are wolves out there, but since they are so rare these days, to believe the boy before sending out independent investigators to verify his less than stellar track record would be stupid, naive, or worse.

Previous: Censure Jack Murtha

UPDATE: Could the accusations be true? Like I said, yes. One of the moral of the boy who cried wolf story is that even liars sometimes tell the truth. If the NY Times story is correct that charges are forthcoming, then whoever is found guilty ought to be strung up.

UPDATE: Allah and The Commissar have additional comments. I agree. Except, what do you do with a messenger who has an agenda?

As Orwell noted, the quickest way to end a war is to lose it.

Update: Bithead, who I haven't heard from in ages, agrees.

UPDATE: Let me clarify something: When I began writing this post, I only knew of Murtha's conveying the allegations. That's what started the post. After writing the post, I've learned that there is strong evidence against at least two Marines.

I still do not want to believe the allegations are true. But that's just me, I want to believe the best things about my country. But, those allegations may turn out to be true. Even so, my point remains valid: there were those on the Left who have been screaming about this from the beginning, from the very day it happened--they wanted it to be true. They have been beating on the "war crimes" drum for a long time now. They may be right, in this instance, but with such a track record, can you blame me for being dismissive?

In any event, I personally volunteer to pull the trigger at the execution of any Marine who intentionally killed women and children.

UPDATE: Captain Ed, "This makes me physically ill." Me too, buddy, me too. In fact, I have been in a foul mood all day over this.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:14 AM | Comments (116) | Add Comment
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"I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut..."

The staff at LGF were surprised when the threatening email traced to a Reuters account. They were further shocked when subsequent comments by Bungalawa offered circumstantial evidence that Bungalawa himself was the author.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

UPDATE: Nordish has a screenshot of more evidence implicating the Reuters author.

Posted by: Bluto at 08:20 AM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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Judge claims child molester "too small" for prison.

Nebraska AG sez: "he ain't too small for a good ol' fashioned corncob party"

Posted by: Vinnie at 11:13 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Would you please STFU.

You want torture? Torture is listening to or reading about these dingbats.

Could we please be granted just a one day amnesty from Amnesty?

Maybe I'll start my own group. Amnesty From Amnesty International. Then I can send out press releases chronicling, yet again, Mike Farrell's repeated torture of my eardrums every time he goes on t.v. excoriating the inherent evil of the United States.

Posted by: Vinnie at 11:02 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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So you think Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are about to be sent to a minimum security prison with conjegul visits?

Conjugul visits? I don't know about that. Try federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

Hey Ken and Jeff. Watch out for your cornholes.

Posted by: Rusty at 07:51 PM | Comments (24) | Add Comment
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Dogs and cats, living together in Kurdistan! Iraq the Model on the news that hundreds have openly converted to Christianity:

The report quotes an interesting statement of the PM of Kurdistan Nejervan Barzani (a Muslim himslef) who commented on the news by saying "I'd rather see a Muslim become Christian than to see him become a radical MuslimÂ…"

A friend of mine who just returned from Iraq tells me he was surprised at meeting so many Christians. He's not sure to what extent they were openly Christian, but it wasn't uncommon for a local to confide that they were Christian in private.

Hat tip to Allah.

Posted by: Rusty at 07:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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There is a reason the U.S. is supporting a coalition of warlords fighting in Mogadishu. There is little doubt that the Islamist militias fighting for control of Somalia are associated with al Qaeda. This would not be the first time al Qaeda linked forces battled the U.S. in Mogadishu.

As the U.N. begins to fret over the growing violence in Somalia, do not let their equivocations fool you--while both sides may be filled with people who do bad things, at least one side is filled with our SOBs. The other side is led by bin Laden's SOBs (if not bin Laden himself).

Keep your eyes open, this one is getting hot. [Image right: Somalians carry pictures of Osama bin Laden during a 2002 protest against the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan] more...

Posted by: Rusty at 04:14 PM | Comments (27) | Add Comment
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In this fascinating article at the Jamestown Foundation, Michael Scheuer analyzes the strategic writings of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia leader Abu Hajar Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin. It seems that al-Muqrin has given a lot of thought to the "long war" against the United States--yes, al-Muqrin apparently is in agreement with the Bush Administration that this will be a long and protracted war.

The following is an analysis of the evolving tactics of al Qaeda and their "grand strategy" for winning the war against the U.S. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 03:07 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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Shahawar Matin Siraj has been convicted by a NY jury for a plot to blow up the Herald Square subway station. I'd recommend reading the NY Times story, but--and you might just be *shocked* by this--the Gray Lady writes the story in such a way as to suggest that the would-be-terrorist was really set up.

Instead, go read Chad's synopsis of it. In the place of equivocation between the story told by a convicted terrorist and the FBI, you'll get an unabashidly pro-American bias.

With the added bonus of a conversation about Mr. Siraj's small penis size. Let's see the NY Times beat that!

Posted by: Rusty at 02:06 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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"Pimp Daddy", and Iraqi detainee at Guantanamo Bay, claims that the reason he joined the jihad was because he had a very very very very small penis. I. Kid. You. Not.

After swearing up and down that he's not gay (again, I kid you not), Ali claims because of his small penis size, he wasn't able to get married. Right, Ali, we believe you're not gay. Anyway, the small penis induced lack of poon apparently got to Ali's head, and so he up and joined the Taliban.

Nope. Nothing gay about the Taliban.

See Dubya, always fascinated with small wangs, thinks that maybe if we were to give one of those new bionic penises grown in rabbits that I wrote about earlier to Osama bin Laden, that this whole "war on terror" thing might be solved immediately.

I think it's going to take a lot more than a rabbit sized penis to end this thing. But until the horse-grown artificial penis becomes a reality, we'll have to stick to good ol' cruise missiles, bunker busters, and MOABs. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 01:44 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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Why did we go to war when everybody knows it was based on lies? Because it wasn't based on lies, and those making the claim are just nuckin futs! READ. THE. WHOLE. THING.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Finally a sign that biotech is meeting consumer demand. And by consumer I mean me. And by me I mean Mrs. Shackleford.

Fox News:

It's now possible to replace a defective, damaged, or diseased penis with a penis grown in a laboratory -- in rabbits....

In the rabbit study, Atala's team removed the penises from rabbits and entirely replaced the organs with penises grown from the animal's own cells.

Atala says the new penises have blood vessels and nerves that allow them to become fully functional. Indeed, the replacement penises worked like a charm. The rabbits were able to get erections, mate with females, and get females pregnant with normal, healthy pups.

UPDATE: Must. Stop. Laughing. From Graeme in the comments.

I'll think more of this project when they announce that the replacement penis needs to be grown on something a bit bigger than a rabbit......like a horse.

Update: Apparently Grame is a dude! My apologies to Grame. Maybe you can e-mail stuff like this to Oyster and let her post it in the future!

Posted by: Rusty at 12:11 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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What is so ironic is that when the Iranian Mullah regime falls, it will because of university students like these---the same group that brought the Mullahcracy to power in the first place.

Iran Focus:

Stone-throwing Iranian students fought police and Islamic vigilantes on Wednesday in protest against restrictions imposed by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, witnesses said.

Students who covered their faces with scarves lit fires outside dormitories through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, photographs showed. By dawn the streets were littered with hundreds of stones they had thrown.

Deputy Tehran Governor Abdollah Roshan told the ISNA students news agency 40 policemen and four students had been injured. He said the police had arrested six people.

Senior student leader Abdollah Momeni said up to 2,000 students had gathered for the protest over the expulsion of some students and the way authorities had been handling critics.

He added 20 had been seized by Islamic vigilantes who broke into the dormitories.

"The main reason for the objections in recent days goes back to the limitations imposed on universities and political students after the new government came to power," Momeni said.

UPDATE: More info here (thanks to Agent Meatball)

Posted by: Rusty at 11:02 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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