Do it now or Do it later?

"The national debate about what to do in the Middle East falls into several specific categories.

There's the 'do it now' crowd and the 'do it later' crowd.
It should be noted that there is also a 'let's not do anything' or a 'let's run away' crowd who are called liberals and/or Democrats.

The 'do it now' crowd is now rooting for Israel to get rid of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The 'do it later' crowd advises that waiting is best, proudly pointing to how we patiently waited for the former Soviet Union to implode.

But history is filled with examples of why 'do it now' is a better idea, because failure to respond to Big Trouble almost always results in Even Bigger Trouble." — Alan Caruba

Maybe there is still hope...

"Why I Left Jihad"
is a book that was written by Walid Shoebat, an alias that replaces the name of a former terrorist who today identifies that hatred of Jews is the driving force and the root of the terrorism racking the Middle East.

He has been praised by no less than prominent Jewish rabbis, Christian leaders and leaders of conservative think tanks worldwide.
Mr. Shoebat's story is well worth looking into.
There are free radio and television show clips on this site, from Mr. Shoebat
and other reformed radical Islamo-facists who are speaking out against the bastardization of their religion. Walid Shoebat.com

True Friends Of Israel

True Friends Of Israel Cannot Let The Dems Take Power
July 26, 2006
While Clinton said he embraced the need for Israeli security, when the going got rough, he bowed to world opinion and called for a cease-fire. When the United States asks Israel to stop fighting, it is like a boxer’s manager throwing in the towel. The bottom line is that true friends of Israel cannot afford to let the Democrats take power in Washington.

But American Jews have voted Democrat in the past and will continue to do so in the future. It is really the Christian evangelical right that stands up for Israel.

The reason Israel has to fight in Lebanon today is that the United States did not permit it to finish the job of destroying Hezbollah in the ’90s. Now, fortunately for Israel’s true friends, the White House is letting Tel Aviv win without reining her in. Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed for Israel on Saturday to discuss terms for a UN Security Council resolution to end its 18-day-old war with Hezbollah insurgents in Lebanon.
Is Bush giving in to pressure ala Clinton?

Hezbollah says it is fighting a US-Israeli plan to wipe out all Israel's foes in the Middle East and has vowed to accept no "humiliating" terms to end the violence. Article
Is Israel Refusing to Win?xxxThe photo that says it all

Debate Military Readiness

Dems Challenge GOP to Debate Military Readiness
Democratic members of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday challenged House Republicans to make support of the military the primary issue in debates leading up to the fall elections. CNS Article if you want to read it.

Now the DemocRats want to support the troops.
Must be be getting close to election time.
They must think the American voters are stupid.
Oh, that's right, they do.

This is how Democrats support our troops.

Murtha says, "Democrats don't want to cut and run they just want to Sever and Scurry." Cut and Run Is A False Charge

Liberals: Born to run
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says that "what's going on in the Middle East today" wouldn't be happening if the Democrats were in power. Yes, if the Democrats were running things, our cities would be ash heaps and the state of Israel would have been wiped off the map by now. Ann Coulter

"IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS,
PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM !"
Source: Unknown Veteran

Military Report 7/27

Angels Support Wounded Troops
An Internet community of support for troops overseas called Soldiers' Angels works to support wounded soldiers with backpacks filled with needed items, making personal visits and phone calls. One project, "Project Valour-IT," provides wounded troops with laptops to use from their homes and hospital beds. More than 80,000 "angels" are registered all over the world, not including the many schools, churches and other organizations that participate as communities. For more information, visit the Soldiers' Angels website and the Project Valour-IT website.

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Group Helps Deployed GIs' Children
More than 115,000 kids have at least one parent deployed in the war on terrorism, and that does not include those children affected by routine deployments, according to an organization that supports military children. Salute Our Services supports servicemembers in every branch of service and their families with financial grants. The goal of the grants is to keep children of deployed servicemembers engaged in the activities they enjoy. Salute Our Services also hosts event around the country for the children as well as sending them letters of thanks. The organization has offered its services to the children of deployed servicemembers in 45 states during the past five years. For more information, visit the Salute Our Services website.

American Forces Press Service

Update: More Than 10,000 Americans Evacuated from Lebanon
Over the past two days, the U.S. military has transported more than 5,000 American citizens out of Lebanon, bringing the total number evacuated to more than 10,000, a Defense official speaking on background said today. original version

Military to Evacuate 4,000 Americans From Lebanon Today
Military aircraft and sea vessels will evacuate more than 4,000 Americans from Lebanon today, DoD officials said. original version

What are these Americans doing there in the first place?
They were all warned they were entering a dangerous place.
Now they are in the middle of a war.
Something goes boom and they yell BUSH, HELP.

Criticizing U.S. response
"It was a horrible, horrible vacation," she said. "It was a disaster. The trip out was very long, and I'm really, really tired. It took a long time to get out of Lebanon.
It was chaotic."
Anyone that vacations in Lebanon should find there own way out.
They got there on their own let them get out on their own.

Until now, Americans faced paying a fee to the U.S. government to be evacuated. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used her authority to waive the fees Tuesday night.
Now they lounge on a cruise ship sipping Piña Coladas.
Your tax dollars at work.

_,,,^._.^,,,_
I would guess that most all of the Americans evacuated are anti-American liberals. If we had a Democrat President (Heaven Forbid) and Americans in Lebanon were Republicans they would have been left there to find their own way out.

Veterans Report 7/18

Sailors' Personal Data Found on Website
For the second time in recent weeks, personal information on Navy personnel has been found on a public website. Personal information on more than 100,000 Navy and Marine Corps aviators and aircrew was discovered and removed recently from the Naval Safety Center publicly available website at http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/. The personal information was also inadvertently included on 1,083 disks that the Navy mailed to Navy and Marine Corps commands. The Navy is working quickly to notify affected individuals by letter. The Navy Personnel Command (NPC) call center in Millington, Tenn. has set up a call center at 1-866-827-5672 to be manned 24 hours a day to assist affected personnel.

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Center for Women Veterans
The mission of the Center for Women Veterans is to ensure that women veterans have access to VA benefits and services on par with male veterans and that VA programs are responsive to gender-specific needs of women veterans. The Center regularly monitor changes VA-wide and assess the impact these changes may have on the delivery of services to homeless women with children, rural and elderly women veterans, and minority women veterans. For more information on the Center, and to download the free pocket guide "Women Veterans - 25 Frequently Asked Questions," visit the Center for Women Veterans website.

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Museum Displays Air Force Heritage
The Laughlin Heritage Foundation Museum in Del Rio, Texas is run by a small group of dedicated people -- many with extensive ties to the Air Force through past military and civil service. The museum does not have any aircraft yet, but displays include an engine from a U-2, a seal from Laughlin's old flight control tower and small-scale models of past aircraft. Newspaper clippings and maps adorn the walls throughout the two-room area. Items in the museum cover many different eras of Air Force history. Since opening six months ago, the space is filling up quickly. The lack of paid employees limits the museum's operating hours to three hours on Saturdays.

Letter to the New York Times

Did the New York Times place innocent lives in jeopardy by publishing the details of the secret SWIFT anti-terrorist-financing program?

One of our brave men in uniform, Lt. Tom Cotton submitted the following open letter to the New York Times which is now making the rounds on the Internet. As far as Cotton is concerned, the answer is "yes!"

Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:

Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas, operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this unclassified location in a private medium like email.)

Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my 130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states, the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and financial industry, and very successful.

Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.

And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law. By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.

Very truly yours,
Tom Cotton
Baghdad, Iraq

‘It’s War,’ Israelis Say

Islamic Group Blasts Israel’s ‘Attacks on Civilians’
A U.S.-based Islamic civil rights group is urging American Muslims and "other people of conscience" to urge their elected representatives to condemn the Israeli attacks on "civilians in Gaza and Lebanon."

Who's attacking civilians?

Israeli officials have said they are attacking terrorists who hide in and among civilian populations. Israel's target is the terrorists who kill civilians, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Dan Gillerman said in a CNN interview on Friday.

"For them, every dead [Israeli] civilian, every dead child, is a cause for celebration. For us, every dead civilian is a tragedy. That's the difference between us and them," Gillerman said.

If Bush would have approached the war on terrorism as the Israelis do the war would be over by now. Bush's stand on immigration and his Let's Be Nice Stand on the war on terror will surely doom the Republican Party in 2008 if not this year.
Where has our cowboy gone?
The makeover of President Bush has been gradual, but significant. The man who once stood with a gravitas similar to Winston Churchill and announced his intentions to stand up to the "Axis of Evil" is now seemingly on the defensive, made impotent by the constraints his critics and advisers alike have placed upon him.

Related Stories:
‘It’s War,’ Israelis Say xx Hizballah: Iran’s Tool
Israel Considers Hizballah TV Station Legitimate Target

Sgt. Shaft: Benefits Safe from Creditors

Benefits Safe from Creditors

The powers that be at the Department of Veterans Affairs tell me that, with certain exceptions, VA benefits are exempt from claims of creditors, attachment, garnishment and other forms of legal process under Title 38, Section 5301 of the U.S. Code.
This protection applies to benefits "either before or after receipt by the beneficiary."

For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that VA benefits on deposit in a bank account retain their exemption from attachment because they remain available on demand for the support and maintenance of the veteran and the veteran's dependents, or for the support and maintenance of the veteran's survivors.

VA General Counsel has held that the VA is not permitted to deduct a portion of the beneficiary's payment in order for the beneficiary to obtain private dental insurance even when the beneficiary requests that this deduction be made. The General Counsel held that this would violate the provisions of Section 5301(a) that prohibit the assignment of payments of VA benefits.

The exemption protection does not apply to "claims of the United States arising under [veterans benefits laws]" according to Section 5301(a)(1).
So when a veteran receives an overpayment of benefits, VA may legally collect the debt by reducing his monthly benefits.

An exception to the protection is that VA disability compensation is garnishable to the extent to which a military retiree waived all or part of his or her retired pay in order to receive such compensation from VA.
Sgt. Shaft : Archives

Who Says We Want To Cut and Run?

_,,,^._.^,,,_ Murtha says, "Democrats don't want to cut and run
they just want to Sever and Scurry."

HOW TO SOLVE OUR PRISONER PROBLEM

THE British military defines experience as the ability to recognize a mistake the second time you make it. By that standard, we should be very experienced in dealing with captured terrorists, since we've made the same mistake again and again.

Traditionally, those who masquerade as civilians in order to kill legal combatants have been executed promptly, without trial. Severity, not sloppy leftist pandering, kept warfare within some decent bounds at least part of the time. But we have reached a point at which the rules apply only to us, while our enemies are permitted unrestricted freedom.

Consider today's norm: A terrorist in civilian clothes can explode an IED, killing and maiming American troops or innocent civilians, then demand humane treatment if captured - and the media will step in as his champion. A disguised insurgent can shoot his rockets, throw his grenades, empty his magazines, kill and wound our troops, then, out of ammo, raise his hands and demand three hots and a cot while he invents tales of abuse.

KILL, DON'T CAPTURE
By RALPH PETERS

Insanity:
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Like voting for Liberal Democrats.

Astros Relief Pitchers Support Troops

I doubt if you will see this in the MSM.

Five members of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros bullpen will collectively contribute to 'Strikeouts for Troops' this season.

Strikeouts for Troops a national project created by Oakland Athletics pitcher Barry Zito, benefiting servicemembers injured in battle and rehabilitating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C; the National Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md.; and other military hospitals.

Established in April 2005, Strikeouts For Troops has raised $190,836.50 to date through contributions based on various statistical categories from more than 30 professional baseball players on different Major League teams, special events and fan donations on www.strikeoutsfortroops.org, with the funds assisting America's war-wounded. Funds raised by the Strikeouts for Troops project help in many ways to bring comforts of home to hundreds of war-wounded soldiers during their rehabilitation process.

Lidge, Miller, Qualls, Springer and Wheeler will make a combined monetary donation to Strikeouts for Troops at the end of the season based on the final 2006 strikeout total from all Astros relievers. Through games of July 3, the club's relief pitchers had combined for 222 strikeouts this season. View the original version

Treasure Hunt for Troops

Inspired by the book "A Treasure Trove," by Michael Stadther, and the Disney movie "National Treasure," 10-year-old Rachel and 8-year-old Kelsi Okun created their own scavenger hunt to raise scholarship money for military children and spouses.

Their idea, which they dubbed "ThanksUSA," quickly captured the attention of their parents, teacher, neighbors, major corporations and even Congress, blossoming into a national treasure hunt to raise funds for scholarships.

Now a non-profit organization, ThanksUSA has joined the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which showcases Americans' efforts to support servicemembers and their families.

Since the event's Memorial Day weekend kickoff, more than 4,500 participants have signed up. The treasure hunt encourages citizens to become involved, however it's primary focus is to encourage "hunters" to donate to the scholarship fund.

Veterans Report 7/5

The Veterans' Medical Package Benefit

The Department of Veteran's Affairs is required by law to provide eligible veterans needed hospital care and outpatient care services. VA defines "needed" as care or service that will promote, preserve, and restore health. The Veterans' Medical Benefits Package emphasizes preventive and primary care, offering a full range of outpatient and inpatient services. Visit the Military.com Veterans' Medical Benefits Section to learn more about this valuable benefit.

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VA Opens 25 New Clinics
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has announced plans to open 25 new community-based clinics in 17 states and American Somoa. The new facilities, called community-based outpatient clinics, or CBOCs, will start becoming operational this year. The new clinics will be located in Alabama, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Local VA officials will keep communities and their veterans informed of milestones in the creation of the new CBOCs.
If you reside in the Coachella Valley of Southern CA.
Palm Desert, CA VA Clinic
41865 Boardwalk, Suite 103
Palm Desert, CA 92211
760-341-5570

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Interviewees Wanted for Television Documentary
Lou Reda Productions, located in Easton, PA, is producing a television documentary on the USS New Jersey. We are looking to interview several individuals who: 1) Served in ground forces in Vietnam and feel the presence of the Battleship New Jersey had a direct effect in keeping them alive (i.e., the coverage she provided had a direct effect in keeping hostile attacks that would have potentially proved deadly at bay) 2) Was a member of the Marine detachment serving onboard the battleship in 1983, at the time of the Beirut barracks attack. If you were involved in either of these incidents and would be interested in participating please contact Liz Wambold via email at liz@louredaproductions.com.

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VA Adds Maps to Online Gravesite Locator
The grave locations of more than three million veterans and dependents buried in national cemeteries can be found more easily now because the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has added maps of burial sections online that can be printed from home computers and at national cemetery kiosks. The maps are at the gravesite locator website, which helps veterans' families, former comrades-in-arms and others find the cemeteries where veterans are buried. With the new online feature, people enter a veteran's name to search, click on the "Buried At" (burial location) link and a map of the national cemetery is displayed, showing the section where the grave is located.