Help Welcome Home the 173rd Sky Soldiers

We’re honoring the memory of a warrior by throwing a party to welcome his unit back to Italy after living and fighting in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Visit the new site for the effort started by the parents of fallen soldier SSG Matt Blaskowski.  Let’s make sure our boys are welcomed home properly!

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Remembering a Warrior: SSG Matthew Blaskowski

Blackfive has a series of posts today about SSG Matthew Blaskowski, who will be the newest addition to our American Heroes section (which admittedly needs to be enlarged and updated a LOT).  Make sure you read the whole thing…because at the end is a way for you to give back to this warrior one last time.

As the enemy maneuvered against Blaskowski’s men, the staff sergeant repositioned his machine gun teams to keep them from being overrun.  That’s when Specialist Tyler Wilson was hit three times.  Realizing that a wounded man becomes an even bigger target than the machine gun teams, SSG Blaskowski ran to get Wilson.  When he got to Wilson’s position, bullets were hitting all around him.

That’s when SSG Blaskowksi was shot.  Hit in the leg, Blaskowski evacuated Wilson to a safer position where his soldiers could treat them.  Even though wounded, Blaskowski continued to direct his paratroopers until more help could arrive.

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F-117 Nighthawk Retired

I was lucky enough to not only see the Nighthawk fly on several occasions, but also to get an up close and personal tour as a scrub mechanic at an airshow in 1995. It was an amazing, beautiful aircraft in many ways, and it doesn’t seem right that it’s retired already when the F-15 and F-16 are still kicking after so many more years in the fleet. However, the F-117 Nighthawk was built almost with “spare” technology from earlier fighters, and was obsolete very early on.

From Wikipedia:

The F-117 has been used several times in war. Its first mission was during the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.^[23] During that invasion two F-117A Nighthawks dropped two bombs on Rio Hato airfield.

During the Gulf War in 1991, the F-117A flew approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on 1,600 high-value targets in Iraq^[1] while flying 6,905 combat flying hours.^[24] The F-117 comprised only 2.5 percent of the American aircraft in Iraq yet struck more than 40 percent of the strategic targets.^[25] “During their mission, the F-117A pilots delivered over 2,000 tons of precision-guided ordnance with a hit rate of better than 80 percent. Although the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing Provisional and its 42 stealth fighters represented just 2.5 percent of all allied fighter and attack aircraft in the Gulf, the F-117As were assigned against more than 31 percent of the strategic Iraqi military targets attacked during the first 24 hours of the air campaign.”^[24] However, during the war, it performed rather poorly in its dropping of smart bombs on Iraqi military targets, achieving a success rate of only 40%.^[26]

It was among the only U.S. or coalition aircraft to strike targets in downtown Baghdad. Among the aircraft the Nighthawk shared this distinction with were the F-16s which attacked Baghdad during daylight on 19 January 1991 during the “Package Q” mission - the largest single strike flown during the war.^[27]

Since moving to Holloman AFB in 1992, the F-117A and the men and women of the 49th Fighter Wing have deployed to Southwest Asia more than once. On their first trip, the F-117s flew non-stop from Holloman to Kuwait, a flight of approximately 18.5 hours – a record for single-seat fighters that stands today.^[1]

It has since been used in Operation Allied Force in 1999, Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

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Bush taps Petraeus for head of CENTCOM

Worst. Possible. Decision.

WASHINGTON — Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and the public face of the war effort there, Wednesday became President Bush’s nominee to supervise U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia as head of Central Command, putting him in position to oversee American strategy in Iraq for years to come.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who worked closely with Petraeus as the No. 2 commander in Iraq until two months ago, was nominated to receive a fourth star and take Petraeus’ current job.

Why is this a bad call? Because putting 50,000 more troops in Iraq and tying their hands as tightly as the ones already there doesn’t win a war. Taking the handcuffs off the ones over there now and letting them do what needs to be done would.

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75th Ranger Regiment Takes First at Best Ranger 2008

I have a special place in my heart for the 75th Rangers, and so I was quite pleased to see a team from the 75th won the Best Ranger Comp this year.

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Staff Sgts. Michael Broussard and Shayne Cherry of the 75th Ranger Regiment crossed the finish line Sunday in first place after a grueling weekend to win the 25th Best Ranger Competition.

Brothers Capt. Jeff Soule and Maj. Greg Soule took the second spot representing James Madison University ROTC; and Sgt. Jeremy Billings and Sgt. Jeremiah Beck took third representing the 75th Ranger Regt.

This year’s field of competitors included almost 30 teams from force generating units in Training and Doctrine Command to operational units from Forces Command, and both active and reserve components.

The core 2008 Best Ranger Competition events involved foot movement, engaging and destroying an enemy target, evaluating, treating and evacuating a casualty, and the demonstration of physical and mental toughness. Upon completion of the three-day competition, during which no sleep was scheduled, each Ranger team moved in excess of 60 miles, with equipment, and fire nearly 250 rounds of ammunition using multiple weapon systems.

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The Effects of Politically Correct War

Over the last few years, I’ve been asked many times why I have spent so much time and energy on what I call ROE/Laws of War cases: The ones where soldiers and Marines get charged with murder for doing their jobs during combat operations. It’s not just a hobby where I play around, read my Google alerts, and write up a story now and then. This is what I do, perhaps one of my raisons d’etre. Who I am and what I believe demands that I do this–sometimes at a cost of sleep, health, and even personal relationships.

The answer to the question of “Why?” is simple, yet complex, and while I could explain it in a sentence, it could still take me days to really go into the depth of why these cases matter so much–not just to me, but to the nation’s future.

Then again, even writers have to admit that once in a while someone comes along and says something far better than you ever could. Lt G of Kaboom: A Soldier’s War Journal has done that for me. In recounting his own experience in one particular combat scenario, he drives home the terrifying effect of allowing JAG lawyers to step onto the battlefield armed with nothing but nonsensical laws that attempt to pigeon-hole conflict and the men who live in it.

Lt G caught two insurgents, IED supplies in hand, crawling toward their intended emplacement position. What would you do? Shoot them before they can plant the roadside bomb? Or wait and detain them? Suddenly the choice isn’t clear–but not because you’ve faltered…only because someone in the rear doesn’t understand your job.

I didn’t come here to kill, and never felt the impulse or desire to truly end a man’s life. But here it was, arriving as quickly as the crawling terrorists had. Kill or be killed. Never has this war been so clear, so pure, so obvious, so clean. And yet …

The platoon leader in me knew we couldn’t shoot yet, and tugged at my brain like a giant anchor holding in place a battleship on full throttle. Escalation of force. Fuck. Rules of engagement. Double fuck. They haven’t technically dug anything yet, thus, haven’t begin emplacing anything. [...]

SGT Axel was ready, certainly, zeroing in on the two human silhouettes with a long-barreled machine gun of raw destruction, but the Iraq War has become so PC, so cluttered, so trigger-shy five years into the war, that any round fired — no matter how justified or understandable at the time of the incident — yields paperwork inquiries and scrutiny more fitting of a Senate Judiciary Committee report. Staff monkeys have found new purpose in this combat zone as Monday morning quarterbacks, conducting investigations with omnipotent spotlights to cut through the fog of war days after the storm passed. [...]

Part of what makes an American soldier an American soldier is that he fights with rules that sometimes hinder him, in an attempt to keep sight of the ideals and principles which led him to fight in the first place. That’s all gravy. I am stating, however, that the fact that these thoughts clouded my mind in a decisive moment of combat — and not just my mind, as it would turn out — proves that we are officially no longer on the offensive here. To repeat a new mantra of some of my NCOs, “Uncle Sam has gone soft.” (emphasis added)

The story gets much worse, however, and though Lt G makes the hard call, he’s stopped by his superiors from engaging the enemy. That’s right…stopped. Just chase, don’t shoot.

This is not war.

“Three years ago, fuck yeah, those guys would be rotting corpses on the side of the road, and nobody would blink an eye. Things are just fucking different now. Everyone’s so scared to make a mistake, convinced they’ll end up on the cover of Time.”

And that is why I do what I do– because no soldier should ever worry about being on the cover of TIME when his mind should be on not getting killed.

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Back Up After the Hacking Attacks

At about 1800 hours yesterday, ER was hacked. (For photos of the damage, click here.) It looks like a Jordanian Muslim group, right? All the points are in place: The broken English, references to Allah and infidels and the rest of it. But let’s take a closer look at the attack.

a) The wp-posts database was not fully deleted. But two years’ worth of posts were wiped out. Why is this significant? I began writing about the Pendleton 8 two years ago this month.

b) The user database was deleted.

c) Backups were deleted.

d) Tag and category database tables were deleted, while everything else was left alone.

What’s the point of all of this? The hacker deleted everything on my site having to do with the Pendleton 8 case. Every tag, every category, every post, everything. Don’t believe me? Do a search.

I had most of the site (sans the two years’ of articles, of course) back up last night but this morning they hit me again, this time taking more posts and altering my actual Wordpress files to redirect my site to one of my subdomains.

Long story short is, we fought back and forth for control of the site all morning. I finally deleted it all and rolled back my WP version. That seems to have stopped the attacks (someone needs to look into WP 2.5’s security holes). I’m working to get stuff back online from hosting company backups. Will update as I can.

Oh, and to the parties who put so much time and work into making sure my Pendleton 8 material was vaporized–Never fear. It’s going back up. In fact, by Saturday’s episode of The Front Line, there will be an entire archive of case material, including the NCIS work product from their “investigation,” statements, reports, photos of the body after the incident, and even documentation showing the Iraqi witnesses and “family” members to be terrorists–NOT innocent Iraqis who had just lost a loved one. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and he’s been making sure I have the information I need to get out the truth about this case.

As for the other things we’ve been known for over the last few years, such as Brother Against Brother, the Ilario Pantano case, and even the Israeli-Lebanon War coverage…it’s gone. Backups were destroyed. If you have anything on your blog that you maybe posted at some point from ER, please let me know. I’d love to recreate what I can.

Regardless of who is responsible for the total loss of four years worth of writing, you can be assured of one thing: I will not stop writing. I will not stop exposing Islam as the piece of trash, pedophilia-loving, goat-f***ing, baby-cutting, insane world domination bulls*** that it is. I will not stop exposing the current military justice system as the broken, ridiculous, corrupt, farce of an idea that IT is.

As my friend Ilario says…”Molon Labe!” You want my weapons?

Come and get them.

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Still You Served

Written for a special Marine I know, who to me embodies all that a warrior should be.

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Ryan’s Song

Written in memory of Ryan Bishop, a soldier from the 10th Mountain Division who was killed in Iraq.

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Over There

Written in 2006 for the men of the 75th Ranger Regiment Association. God bless those men and their many sacrifices.

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Prepared and Loyal

Michael Yon does it again with another tear-jerker update from Iraq. I am so damn proud of these men.

Around the corner, the CSM and I walked up to one of our Valorous Award winners who suffered a severe hip injury in that same attack. The first thing he asked me was if I thought he would be able to recover and get back to his platoon before we redeployed. A few days earlier, two other Cavalry Troopers were in the emergency room being treated. CSM Jones and I walked in together and as we approached our first soldier he yelled out,”Prepared and Loyal, Sir”. His face, arms and legs were speckled with shrapnel but all he could think about was the unit. As the nurse wheeled himout for further examination, he unashamedly told his fellow injured platoonmate that he loved him and he got the same response back. I have seen the toughest men I know cry for one another and encourage each other through some difficult times. Whoever you know in this unit, know that they are heroes. This is a very personal endeavor, indeed.

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Weapons of Missing Soldiers Found

Good news on the missing soldiers in Iraq:

Weapons that once belonged to a missing Soldier and two others who were killed in action were recovered outside of an Iraqi’s house in Fetoah Village, Iraq Oct. 9.

Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., followed Concerned Local Citizens to the cache site just seven miles north of where 2nd BCT Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment were killed and kidnapped May 12.

The cache consisted of 28 blasting caps in their original packaging, 50 pounds of home made explosives, three 60mm mortar rounds, an AK-47 and matching rigged pouch, two U.S. M-4s (one with a M-203 grenade launcher attached), a single M-203 and a M-249 squad automatic weapon.

After finding the M-4s and the M-203, analysts checked each of the serial numbers to identify to whom they belonged.

The M-249 belonged to Spc. Alex Jimenez Jr., who was abducted by terrorists after his position was attacked May 12 in Qarghulli Village.

Currently, Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty are classified as missing-captured.

One of the M-4s with the M-203 attached to it belonged to Sgt. Anthony Schoeber, who was killed in the same attack.

Another M-4 belonged to Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., a Soldier who was classified as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown for 11 days after the May 12 attack until he was found dead near the Euphrates River.

The Soldiers’ identification cards and wallets were found in an al-Qaeda safe house in Samara, Iraq, in Multi-National Division -North’s area of operations, but these weapons are the first piece of physical evidence in the 2nd BCT’s area of operations.

During the search, Soldiers also discovered a man-made hide site near the house that the weapons were discovered.

During this latest search, nine locals who were in the area were detained and are being held for questioning.

The weapons that were found will be turned over to the Criminal Investigations Department for fingerprints and DNA samples.

2 BCT Soldiers will continue to patrol the area of operations in search of more evidence that can lead them to the missing Soldiers or the attackers.

This find comes only weeks before the 2nd BCT will be replaced by the 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky., who will continue the search for the missing Soldiers and their attackers.

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The Next Haditha

By now you’ve probably heard about the ruckus this week in Iraq, when U.S. forces killed 25 in an airstrike on a town north of Baghdad.  The NY Times can barely contain its glee, with headlines like “Accounts Differ Sharply on U.S. Attack in Iraq.”  Don’t you just love that?  “U.S. Attack.”  If you read the actual account of what happened, it was hardly an “attack.”  More like a stomping out of a bunch of holed-up terrorists who were using everything from RPGs to automatic weapons and even an anti-aircraft missile.  They were advancing on U.S. troops.  What exactly do these idiots in our country expect our guys to do?

Yes, it sounds like civilians were killed.  But let’s stop and think for a moment.  Which insurgents aren’t civilians?  In fact, I challenge you to find me any of the enemy over there wearing uniforms.  That means that yes, every time U.S. soldiers take a life, that life–however worthless and savage it is–is a civilian.  There is no military enemy.  How many times do we need to go over this?  And yes, children die in war.  I’ll tell you what.  When liberals stop advocating that it’s okay to murder their OWN unborn children, I’ll stop telling them to shut the f— up about the children of terrorist sympathizers.

And let’s take a look at the Times’ article.   Written by Alissa J. Rubin, an American reporter who resides in France and recently moved from the LA Times to the NY Times, the article has all the hallmarks of a typical liberal media offering.  In fact, some cursory research into Rubin’s writings on the Middle East show not only a distinct anti-American bias, but her work is posted at several militant anti-war group websites, including Why War?  Not only that, but the contributors to the article include Khalid al-Ansary and Qais Mizher from Baghdad, and “an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Diyala Province.”  Wow.  I wonder where their allegiance is.  And this “employee…?”  Can you say “terrorist sympathizer stringer?” I sure can.

So.  Let’s get out the list of things you need to start the now-all-too-familiar media frenzy:

- Large photo showing dead body and grieving Iraqi, that may or may not actually be from the incident in question…check.

- Headline that characterizes the incident as an “attack” and breathlessly insinuates that U.S. troops lied about the events…check.

- Mention of plural “witnesses” that may be terrorists themselves…check.

- Article structure that paints the military as trying to cover its six after making a huge tactical error…check.

Well, I guess we have all the elements in place.   All we need now is a member of Congress to denounce the troops, more media to pick it up, and we’ll have another Haditha–another group of our finest warriors and defenders, dragged under the bus of political expediency and appeasement until their lives and honor are gone, and all that’s left is a tarnished name and the bitter knowledge that they were innocent.

Well, over my dead body.

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Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Liberal

In the wake of Democrats whining about Rush and his comments regarding antiwar “vets,” I was pleased to see the following list show up in my email from a good friend of mine.

Those of us not suffering from BDS already know about these incidents.  Of course, since Democrats have notoriously short memories, they only remember what they said yesterday.  Come tomorrow, they won’t remember that either, because they’ll have a new position.  At any rate, let’s get started.

Why is everyone mad at Rush for having the balls to call out these idiots who spit in the face of the country they once served?  I’m not sure why Dems are angry…it’s not like they’ve never insulted the troops.  Let’s take a look…

Senator John Kerry flips the bird at Washington war vets
Wesley Clark Implies Troops ‘Bust Down’ Doors And ‘Rough Up’ Women
What about that hack with glasses who was on Law & Order who called the troops dumb kids who know less about Iraq than he b/c he reads 10 newspapers a day?

Disgraceful Anti-Military Blog at Daily Kos: Armed Forces Creating Serial Killers
Rosie Makes up Facts and Smears Volunteer Soldiers
Hundreds of anti-war liberals at Seattle Central Community College surrounded a pair of recruiters and hurled insults and objects at them until security had to escort the two of them off of campus.
The moonbats, who claim to “oppose the war but support the troops”, burned an American soldier in effigy in Portland.

19% of Democrats Say World Would Be Better Off With US Defeat In Iraq; Another 20% Aren’t Sure
Shumer: the violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge
Keep in mind the above list was about 20% of the email I was sent.  Yes, there are that many instances.  Therefore, once again we learn that liberals are idiots who are capable of nothing more than stealing oxygen from those of us with a clue.

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