Very, very interesting. A small news snippet from a source that has hardly been a cheerleader for the US mission in Iraq. That part of giving advance notice to the Iraqi police and requesting no US Helicopters is very telling.Ex-Sunni insurgents clash with al-Qaeda DW
NEWS | 11.11.2007 | 10:00 UTC
At least 18 people have been killed in heavy fighting between former Sunni insurgents and members of al-Qaida in Iraq. Sixteen militants were captured. Fighters of the Islamic Army in Iraq staged the surprise attack Friday afternoon near Samarra, north of Baghdad, sending advance word to Iraqi police and requesting that US helicopters stay away. Much of the Islamic Army in Iraq has joined the US-led fight against al-Qaida in Iraq, along with Sunni tribesmen and other former insurgents repelled by the terror group's brutality and extremism.
"Now let's see here if I understand all this correctly. President Clinton has ordered our forces to engage an entrenched, politically motivated enemy, backed by the Russians, on their home ground, in a foreign civil war, in difficult terrain, with limited military objectives, bombing restrictions, boundary and operational restrictions, queasy allies, far across the ocean, with uncertain goals, without prior consultation with Congress, the potential for escalation, while limiting the forces at his disposal, and the majority of Americans opposed to or at least uncertain about the value of the action being worth American lives. So just what was it that he was opposed to in Vietnam?" -- Lt. Gen. Tom Griffin USA (ret.)
ReplyDeleteHe was speaking about Kosovo, not Iraq, but you get the drift.
Giving the Gateway to Europe to the Muzzies was unforgivable.
ReplyDeleteThis is by far the most optimistic report from Iraq in the last couple of years.
ReplyDeleteRight click and save target.
(It works for me, but I am subscribed, please yell if it doesn't for you, I want to know so I can post it elsewhere.)
Yon Interview begins at 10 minutes 30 seconds.
Michael Yon
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If it doesn't work, go here, and you can stream it.
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Transcript is here
The first interview is Ann Romney, AlBobAl!
ReplyDeleteIf you let your wife hear it, she'll have you out in the streets preaching from the Book of Mormon from now til November!
Equally articulate and smart, but not a trace of snake oil fragrence.
Hell of a family.
Rudy'll have to suffer w/settling for being an overachieving Mobster's son on the family front.
Ann assures us they will do quite well if he loses.
...yet another reason to rally to poor old Rudy, who would be devastated, no doubt!
Yon reports many Sunnis often offer their support in "your coming war with Iran!"
ReplyDeleteI've posted an interesting Sratfor article THE PROACTIVE TOOL OF PROTECTIVE
ReplyDeleteINTELLIGENCE
He needs to get her on TV, Every Day! She's his Greatest Asset By Far! She's Awesome.
ReplyDeleteBack On-Topic.
ReplyDeletePetraeus is gonna screw around and win this thing, in spite of "Everybody."
You miss the point, rufus.
ReplyDeleteThe Iraqi are going to "win" this thing. The fact that the Iraqi do not want US involved is more telling than any other data.
The Iraqi will secure Iraq
They always were the lynch pin.
Who the Iraqi are, who will represent them, now that is a problem for which there is not a miltary solution that the US can impose.
On the security level General P engaged the Iraqi on a local level, the Tribal leaders, rather than belittle and ignore them, as was the US policy prior.
Could have done that from the get go, if the US had understood the mission from the beginning.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to point out to Deuce that while he calls the Observanda blog "no prisoners taken" on his blogroll, which is all macho and apple pie and Chevrolet and stuff, Tiger (and/or Whit?) returns the favor by calling the Elephant Bar a "RINO's retreat" on his blogroll, which sounds slightly degrogatory. You know, Republicans In Name Only. Home of checked pants eastern establishment Nelson Rockerfeller types. I don't mind, because I've drifted left since 2005, and I'm a Hillary girl this time around, but Jeez.
ReplyDeleteum, . . . okay :)
ReplyDelete"Rufus da RINO"
ReplyDeletehmnh,
I ain't never been called that, before.
I believe sensei Lind's school of warfare would say: The Iraqi misadventure is entering a new phase, wherein the Sunnis have remembered why Saddam was an ally of the USA, and why Saddam had little truck with aQ, and wherein the shiites will soon remind the USA of the same thing. Predction, if the Sunni heartland continues to be good, wait for ugly ugly surprises in the south and north of Iraq.
ReplyDeleteChecked pants? Shit! Coveralls.
ReplyDeleteWith a flap in the back. For shitting.
ReplyDeleteI guess that means the Bar is not a hot bed of Bushites.
ReplyDeleteOr is Mr Bush a RINO?
That seems oxymoronic, to me.
As he and his father ARE the Republican Party premier members.
They set the tone for the GOP.
Both are from Rockerfeller Country, though Jr transplanted his ass to Texas, carpetbagger that he is.
If one is opposed to open borders, opposed to the "Long War", opposed to Federal funding for a thousand points of compassionate light ...
Then one is not a Republican.
If one claims to be a Republican, regardless of those positions, then yes, it's in name only.
If one believes that Islam is the enemy, he is a Republican in name only.
ReplyDeleteIf one is opposed to an expanding Federal Government, RINO for sure.
As the Republicans have expanded Federal powers and spending more than any other Party in the past decade, or two.
The GOP cannot run from Mr Bush's and the GOP Congress's record on spending growth. Though they'll spin away on how it isn't so, because ...
I knew it would happen! I play that Hewitt interview for the wife, and 'Find out how I can volunteer for the Romney campaign'--she says. Beginning of the end, for me. She'll end up in Salt Lake City.
ReplyDeleteI think Dubya got it wrong on immigration; but, he got it right on a whole lot of other stuff.
ReplyDeleteSo, yep; I'm a Bushite. I'm, also, a Republican.
I'm NOT some Ron Paul-Crazed "Librarian" that believes in fantasies about things that "never were, and "never will be."
Well then, rufus, you're no "conservative".
ReplyDeleteNot an old school one, anyway.
You'll look cute wearing one of them name-tags, standing by the side of the road holding a sign that says, "Honk if you love Mitt," Bob.
ReplyDeleteSend us a picture, will ya?
chuckle, chuckle
giggle :)
A Hubert Humphrey Republican.
ReplyDeleteThat's where the GOP is now, to the left of HHH.
Piss on, "Old School."
ReplyDeleteI'm for what works.
honk,honk
ReplyDeleteI hope This isn't in honor of muhammed. That, and that omen of a comet we have passing by now, would be too much.
ReplyDeleteAn actual article from the NYTimes that has a ring of Truth to it.
ReplyDeleteBobalharb: Checked pants? Shit! Coveralls.
ReplyDeleteIf an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of highway signs, they will eventually produce all the worlds' great literary works in Braille.
I don't know "T". C-4 called me a liberal. Habu called me "radio man." My kids think I am to the right of "Attila the Hun." I think the level of dialogue at the Elephant Bar is as good as it gets for honest, open, tough and intelligent discussions.
ReplyDeleteIt is not a cheering gallery for any dominant politician or party, but it is clearly on the right side of politics. It is not strident or doctrinaire. The comments are often better than the posts and very few posts receive less than a dozen comments.
I do not believe we need a litmus test on Republican credentials when you look at the Republican congress under a Republican president and look at deficit spending, border protection and some other very middle of the road legislation passed by the past congress. I do not expect it will get better under the Democrats.
I will make a prediction. The only way the next president will be a Republican is if he is successful at getting out the RINO vote.
Sooner or later, Ms. T--if you would see some of the signs on the back country roads around here, you'd think, sooner, rather than later.
ReplyDeleteBack OT. Could it be that the Iraqis are looking at the price of oil and thinking they would rather be rich than dead?
ReplyDeleteHillary is going to have to get out that RINO vote--and she might too. You never know what scandals lie wanting to be uncovered. Something might come along to convince even a Trish or Teresita that we don't want a criminal in the White House, a lying enabler for her husbands sexual assaults might be ok, but not a criminal.
ReplyDeleteWho was that bitch in "I, Claudius" ? Whose whole life was given over to schemes? Livia? That's Hillary.
The Spirits Return
ReplyDelete'I'll drink until Judgement Day'
I'm not sure if this is good or not. With some people alcohol mellows out, with others it inflames the passions. An AK-47 amd a six pack of Heineken, temperature 115 degrees....
Baghdadi Rufus,
ReplyDeleteAk in one hand, bottle of Bourbon in the other.
What Could Go Wrong With THAT?
Bobalharb: Who was that bitch in "I, Claudius" ? Whose whole life was given over to schemes? Livia? That's Hillary.
ReplyDeleteThe opposite of a schemer is an oblivious moron like Bush, who let 19 Islamist hijackers take down the WTC and hit the Pentagon, who let the national debt rise $3.25 trillion dollars on his watch, who has seen median household income, adjusted for inflation, remain flat while the poverty rate rose, and who sat on his ass in Crawford for three days after Katrina destroyed New Orleans. He had no problem sending Blackwater into New Orleans to protect the white areas of town but won't even string some chickenwire along the Mexican border to keep the Iranian infiltrators before executing his upcoming plan to shoot some million dollar missiles at baby milk factories in Tehran.
Yikes!
ReplyDeleteT, I like you; and, it's Sunday afternoon. Wail On :)
But, really, wasn't that ol Bubba that liked to shoot up the baby milk factories?
ReplyDeleteWith Hillary advising him, of course :)
chuckle, chuckle
hee, hee
What did Sandy Burglar have in his socks?
ReplyDeleteLatest New Hampshire polls. Here
ReplyDeleteProbly sum of the ugliest ankles in Washington, among other things.
ReplyDeleteThem other things? Pikturs of the Hildebeast, and Teresita doing the Nasty Thang?
chuckle, chuckle
hee, hee
Double Digits in Iowa, and New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteHe needs to make sure Giuliani doesn't slip in there in Michigan, and steal his momentum, and he's got a shot.
He's, also, tied, or slightly ahead, in SC - depending on whether you want to discount the ARG Poll - which I'm inclined to do.
Someone sounds unhappy...
ReplyDeleteI don't know what RINO's retreat means but I like Rat's speculations. I'll have to ask Tiger to clarify.
As for the Bushitler rant, the only thing I could agree with was the border. 9/11, Katrina are just cheap calumny.
If I was engaging enemy and had no ground to air coordination, I would say "No thanks" to air support too.
Jeeze,
ReplyDeleteT for Hill, and it's now the Yellow Peacekeeper!
AlBob-al,
ReplyDeleteYou'll look cute wearing one of them name-tags, standing by the side of the road, in your freshly pressed shirt and tie, carrying your autographed and embossed Book of Mormon!
Muzzies for Mormons!
Does that mp3 download OK?
ReplyDeleteYou'd think Tiger would give the bar a few points based on the fact that I pray every nite that Bush gets run down by a drunk Mexican!
ReplyDeleteDon't laugh, my wife has visited the Romney for President site today, under 'How to Help'--this is getting serious.
ReplyDeleteAs for the economy under Bushitler, here in Idaho unemployment has been about 2% for years. I can tell you it has never been that low before here in my life.
Somehow Librarian Trish is highly upset by the ~4k GI's killed, and not at all by the FORTY Thousand men, women, and children slaughtered by the illegals welcomed in by W.
ReplyDelete...all for "open immigration" (very Librarian, I'd guess)
Is it the Body Bags, Trish?
...maybe innocents killed by illegals should get a special Black Bag Burial?
Bobal,
ReplyDeleteDid the mp3 download for you???
The incriminating Evidence left on the computor by my wife, her particulars deleted to protect her privacy.
ReplyDeleteDoug, I listened under 'go here and stream it'
ReplyDelete""RINO's retreat" on his blogroll, which sounds slightly degrogatory."
ReplyDeleteInsofar as loyalties go, Party's pretty far down the line.
To quote We Were Soldiers (which was on last night: "Attila the Hun was a pussy, Sir."
ReplyDelete^ To deuce.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what This means but the wife brought it up and seems deep deep into the process.
ReplyDeleteTry right cliking the upper link and clik
ReplyDelete"save target" to your desktop, or somewhere, and see if it works.
PLEASE!!!
Somebody Help me Here!
The best program on WWII I've ever seen was on PBR, of all places, the other night. The title was "War," or "At War." It was a long sucker. I came in about halfway through, and watched for a couple of hours.
ReplyDeletePLUS,
ReplyDeleteYour wife will love you even more if you have an mp3 she can listen to over and over.
Could even buy her a little mp3 player to carry in her purse.
That' Pussy fer sher!
What are you babbling about, Doug?
ReplyDeleteIs that the Ken Burns Flick, Rufus?
ReplyDeleteCan get a DVD of that.
I just want to know if the mp3 link works for others:
ReplyDeleteI got mine cause my rss reader is subscribed to Hewitts show.
...plus I want the farmer to get some BEFORE he becomes a devout Mormon!
Doug I can't help you out. mp3--don't know what it means, and my daughter isn't here. sorry
ReplyDeleteBy the way, a great Veteran's day to the vets.
130 BUCKS!
ReplyDeleteIt'd better be good!
80 Bucks at Amazon for
The War
on DVD.
Yeah,
ReplyDeleteHere's to Rufus!
Buy him a double, AlBob.
Being a mere "era" Vet, I just get another Beer.
ReplyDeleteYou think a right clik is tough, AlBob!
ReplyDeleteExplain Anamorphic_widescreen DVD's so all of us can understand, even Librarians and Hillary Supporters!
LIHU'E – In its quest to become energy self-sufficient, Kauai County recently signed a 20-year purchase power agreement with SunEdison, LLC.
ReplyDeleteUnder the contract, the solar energy services company will install and maintain a 72 kW AC photovoltaic system on the roof of the Pi'ikoi Building at the Lihu'e Civic Center.
The power produced by the system will be sold to the county.
"In this type of agreement, the county doesn't have to invest any money upfront, and we pay a lower, fixed price for electricity that's not tied to volatile oil prices," said Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
"SunEdison builds and maintains the system. We get predictable energy pricing over the next two decades, plus SunEdison is always there to service the system," Baptiste said.
NO, NO, Doug, M'Boy; When Rufush drinksh we ALL Drink.
ReplyDeleteDoubles Beertender!
Except for Bobal. He's Mormoo, now, ya know.
*Hic*
ReplyDeleteDoesz anybody know the Marines Corps Hymn? It goes like this:
"Him, Him, Fuck Him"
(Usually sung while gazing at the Duty Roster.)
*Hic*
Now, now, doug.
ReplyDeleteHe can still have a bloody mary, a virgin.
Rufus: Except for Bobal. He's Mormoo, now, ya know.
ReplyDeleteWe had some Mormon missionaries come to the house last month, and we let them come in for a spell, and I humored them a bit and went ahead and read their whole Book of Mormon, and now they keep coming back like two kittens after you give them some fried chicken.
Rufus: Them other things? Pikturs of the Hildebeast, and Teresita doing the Nasty Thang?
ReplyDeleteLaff it up Rufus, but at least Clinton 44 will have the wit and the testosterone to go before something like a 911 Commission without her vice-president there to do a ventriloquist act. It's a good thing a capitalist country like ours can run on automatic, that's the only way we've muddled through the last seven years.
You best watch out Ms. T. they're persistant, almost insidious! Two by two they come, to take you away....
ReplyDelete...to Salt Lake City!
ReplyDeleteSalt Lick City, heh heh chuckle chuckle like Ruf says:)
To the funny farm,
ReplyDeletewhere life is beautiful all the time ...
You're right about that, Ms T.
ReplyDeleteShe'll take her husband.
Doug: 80 Bucks at Amazon for
ReplyDeleteThe War on DVD.
It's a documentary about the Japanese internment camps on the west coast, with a smattering of footage you can get from the History channel plus anecdotes from Senator Daniel Inouye fighting up the Boot sprinkled in. Blink and you'll miss the fall of Berlin.
But she won't take Sandy Burglar,and that's for shore.
ReplyDeleteT, you're in a "Mean, and Spiteful" mood, today. Have a beer with me. We'll talk about that lesbo thang you got goin on.
ReplyDeleteIt's my birthday, ya know.
*hic*
Happy Birthday to you, Rufus.
ReplyDeleteWell, not exactly, "ME," Personally; it's kinda an "group hug," type thing. Birthday Boyz
ReplyDeleteSometimes, I wish I could reenlist every Nov 10, just for the chance to see a drunken lifer fall down the ladder-well. (We enlisted men were easily amused:))
ReplyDeleteThis is the day you want to stay sober, or off the roads around Lejeune. It's dangerous out there.
Amusing USMC b-day video.
ReplyDeleteThe first ballet guy was sticking it to the white guys can't dance meme...until it went on a bit too long and he fell back to type.
ReplyDeleteShameless ol' Abe Lincoln--
ReplyDelete"Things began to change in England in the late Middle Ages, even though the translation of the Bible into English was illegal at this time. John Wycliffe, the English religious reformer of the fourteenth centruy, is often referred to as the 'morning star of the Reformation'. It is an appropriate, if not totally accurate, designation. One of Wycliffe's best known slogans, shamelessly plagiarized by Abraham Lincoln, affirms the fundamentally democratizing consequences of giving people access to the
Bible: this book would give rise to 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people.' "
from 'Christianity's Dangerous Idea', Alister McGrath
Abe!!
shows what I know about the Marine Corps Rufus :)
ReplyDeleteRufus is Southern Baptiste,
ReplyDelete'cept when he's drinkin.
(see my Sun Nov 11, 06:43:00 PM EST)
ReplyDeleteTo Give The Speech, Or Not To Give The Speech
ReplyDeleteNot to give the Speech, for now, but best not to speak about it, according to this writer. Romney decides not to give speech about his religion, for now. Too controversial, at a time when he is making some headway with the 'religious right'.
All campaigns are phoney as hell, the writer says, just don't draw attention to the fact. :)