Yet another lovely US ally, its Egypt today. To follow is a Press Release from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information , known as HRInfo, quite an important portal in the region which has a substantial and informative English page.

What happened is the Egyptian Association of Human Rights and Legal Aid (AHRLA) publicly exposed the state's torture of prisoners (and its not blasting Madonna at them, its real torture). AHRLA got shut down on bogus charges, and civil society organizations decided to demonstrate in a show of support. HRInfo will share their offices with AHRLA so they can keep operating.

Press Release: Representatives of Human rights organization in Egypt decided to fight back against these flagrant police practices by using all the available legitimate measures e.g. labor strike, demonstrations, closing-down their websites and exposing the practices of the Egyptian government before international organizations and regional unions... The Egyptian government instead of working to improve its human rights records has shown a relentless desire to silence one of the most outspoken voices against these practices which are rife under the emergency laws and include unfair trails and gagged press.

Read the whole thing and check out the list of signatories.

I guess all these thug regimes deploy the same practices to hide their crimes from their own people and the international community.

Torture in Egypt is a widespread and brutal policy. From the website:

The previous weeks have witnessed an escalation of police brutality and torture in a number of police stations, known for their long record of breaking the law, torture and violation of human rights of citizens. The situation this time was characterized by heavy presence of police sergeants who seem to be competing with their seniors in the infliction of torture, as if promotion within the Ministry of Interior has become dependent on the number of citizens they kill under torture....

Some of those examples include Ahmed Badie Khafaga (May 2007, Damanhour police station), Saad Risk Allah Khalil (May 2007, Abou Hommos police station) and Tarek Foutouh El Imam (May 2005, Port Said police station) who the police claims have hanged themselves in their prison cells. It is noteworthy that Tarek had completed his prison sentence and had called his family, one day before his death, reminding them of his discharge from prison after 48 hours.

During this epidemic of death under torture, sergeants at Al Omraneyya police station psyched Nasser Sedik Gadallah from the third floor of his house. His wife and children watched as their father was thrown from the window, head down, which resulted in his immediate death. The same scenario happened before in March 2007 with Mohamed Nabawi Abdel Hafiz who was also thrown out of the window at Osim police station. The police claimed he had committed suicide.

Update: Key witness in Nour case found hanged in his cell.

"I confessed to forgery under pressure from officers from state security," Hassan told reporters on June 30, 2005, after his lawyer told the court he had changed his plea to not guilty.

The court disregarded his retraction and went on to sentence both Ayman Nour and Ayman Hassan to five years in prison. Nour, who came a distant second to President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential elections in September 2005, says the authorities fabricated the case against him to exclude him from politics. The charge against Nour was that the endorsements he submitted to the authorities when he set up his liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party in 2004 contained forged signatures.

Posted by: JaneNovak at 10:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Has a new website

This is my friend Pierre, who does really good work. The motto of the site is "No Red Lines". The Arabic page is hot. The English page is pretty good too. Check it out.

I like Joe Lieberman's article that says Damascus airport is Jihaddi central. We knew that. Bullets with your peanuts?

Posted by: JaneNovak at 10:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...PSYCH! Got you leftwingnuts all excited, didn't I?

I know- that was mean. Here's some US soldiers kicking around some Iraqi's decapitated head...

WHEN WILL IT END?1! Sullivan and Greenwald wept.

G-d bless the Troops.

ht: Free Republic

Posted by: Good Lt. at 09:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Rest in peace, Jake.

NEW YORK - A black Labrador who became a national canine hero after burrowing through white-hot, smoking debris in search of survivors at the World Trade Center site died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.

Owner Mary Flood had Jake put to sleep Wednesday after a last stroll through the fields and a dip in the creek near their home in Oakley, Utah. He was in too much pain at the end, shaking with a 105-degree fever as he lay on the lawn.

No one can say whether the dog would have gotten sick if he hadn't been exposed to the smoky air at ground zero, but cancer in dogs Jake's age — he was 12 — is quite common.

"Man's best friend." Truer words were never spoken.

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BUMPED - ** In light of the approaching Fourth of July holiday, please take the time to watch this 13 minute interview. You won't regret it. **

Previous Jawa recommendation of this book here.

Listen carefully to what he says about the restrictive rules of engagement, the politicians that come onto his battlefield and tie his and his brothers' hands in the face of the enemy (he's not talking about Republicans), the deaths of 19 of his brothers in arms as a result of being handcuffed by these restrictive rules of engagement, the abysmal media coverage/reporting and lack of general knowledge the press has about the war, and how the media told his mother that he was dead before the military did.

Go ahead, libs. Call this military hero liar. I dare you. The only lies bring told are the ones you've been telling yourselves day in and day out since the war started.

Posted by: Good Lt. at 05:18 AM | Comments (32) | Add Comment
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** MUST READ **

This looks like a great read - the eyewitness, boots-on-the-ground account of a Navy SEAL who participated in Operation Redwing and was the sole survivor of SEAL Team 10's 2005 deployment to Afghanistan. The full first chapter excerpt is here. This particular passage was jumped out at me, written in August of 2003:

I guess by now the issue in the minds of the American public was, Did he have a nuclear weapon, an atom bomb? But, of course, that is not the most significant question. The one that counts is, Did he have a nuclear program?

Because that would mean he was trying to produce weapons-grade uranium-235. You get that from using a centrifuge to spin uranium-238, thus driving the heavy neutrons outward, like water off the lettuce in a salad spinner. It’s a hell of a process and takes up to seven years, at which time, if you’ve had a trouble-free run, you cut off the outside edges of the uranium and there you have a large hunk of heavy-molecule uranium-235. Cut that in half and then slam the two pieces together by high explosive in a confined steel space, like a rocket or a bomb, and right there it’s Hiroshima all over again.

And that’s the issue: Was Saddam spinning for uranium-235, and if so, where did he get the uranium in the first place? And where was he conducting his program? Remember, there is no other reason on this earth to want uranium-235 except to make an atom bomb.

We knew the American intelligence agencies believed he had such a program, that somewhere in this vast country — it’s bigger than Germany, nearly as big as Texas — there were centrifuges trying to manufacture the world’s most dangerous substance.

That was all the information we had. But we knew what to look for, and we would most certainly have recognized it if we had found it. Did Saddam actually own the completed article, a finely tuned atomic bomb or missile? Probably not. No one ever thought he did. But as former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld once remarked, “What do you want to do? Leave him there till he does?”

You may remember the CIA believed they had uncovered critical evidence from the satellite pictures of those enormous government trucks rolling along Iraq’s highways: four of them, usually in convoy, and all big enough to house two centrifuges. The accepted opinion was that Saddam had a mobile spinning program which could not easily be found, and in fact could be either lost and buried in the desert or alternatively driven across the border into Syria or even Jordan.

Well, we found those trucks, hidden in the desert, parked together. But the inside of each one had been roughly gutted. There was nothing left. We saw the trucks, and in my opinion someone had removed whatever they had contained, and in a very great hurry.

I also saw the al Qaeda training camp north of Baghdad. That had been abandoned, but it was stark evidence of the strong links between the Iraqi dictator and Osama bin Laden’s would-be warriors. Traces of the camp’s military purpose were all around. Some of the guys who had been in Afghanistan said it was just about a direct replica of the camp the United States destroyed after 9/11.

READ SAID ANTIWARBOT AS*WHOOPING BELOW THE FOLD (**BONUS: NAVY SEAL TRAINING VIDS LINKED AT BOTTOM OF POST) ---> more...

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...because the GOP sure as sh*t hasn't. We honor his memory and legacy on this third anniversary of his passing. We miss you, Ronnie.

Posted by: Good Lt. at 10:23 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 I remember Reagan...I remember the 1986 Amnesty Bill, I remember the the multi-trillion dollar defecit he left us, and I also remember him running like a scared dog out of Lebanon following the attack on our Marines in Beirut, 1983.  Its easy to talk shit (ie, "tear down this wall!") when either side values their lives enough NOT to push the button.  When tens of thousands of the enemy are willing to blow themselves up, anywhere, with complete disregard to any sort of "rules of war", well...thats another situation entirely. 

Posted by: WVinMN at June 05, 2007 11:35 PM (NH6NN)

2 I think Reagan had bigger fish to fry than a bunch of uncivilized camel jockeys that have no concern for innocent life. Don't for get that Lebanon didn't have 1000 nuclear tipped missiles aimed at the US and our a friends in Europe. And yes he did fuck up when it came to the amnesty of 1986. But any politician that is still in Washington today that was part of the approval of that bill should be hung. Reagan is the only politician I have shed a tear for when he/she died. I sure as hell won't shed a tear for Ford, Carter, Clinton, or the Bush's.

Posted by: Rome at June 05, 2007 11:44 PM (/GrlO)

3 "With the lever of American Patriotism, he lifted up the world."
That is all that needs to be said.

Posted by: TBinSTL at June 06, 2007 12:40 AM (MSiPb)

4 "...I remember the the multi-trillion dollar deficit he left us..."

A deficit created to cover shortfalls in a flabby federal budget built up by the Dems for decades before that. Even with budget cuts, you're still talking about massive fiscal and bureaucratic inertia.  He left the economy in better shape than when he found it, so maybe we can cut him a little slack on not being perfect...

"...and I also remember him running like a scared dog out of Lebanon following the attack on our Marines in Beirut, 1983."

First, it was DefSec Caspar Weinberger who called off the retaliation plan, after Reagan had assembled a team to plan it. And in 2001 he said, "But we still do not have the actual knowledge of who did the bombing
of the Marine barracks at the Beirut Airport, and we certainly didn't
then."

And you might remember the withdrawal, but do you remember what condition Beirut was in? It made Iraq look like a playground. And a little thing called Operation Urgent Fury (aka the Invasion of Grenada) took place right at the same time. Marines were in Beirut as peacekeepers and without much peacekeeping to do, they were probably needed elsewhere. Sure, we don't want to leave something like that hanging, but circumstances often conspire to ruin the best laid plans.

"Its easy to talk shit (ie, "tear down this wall!") when either side values their lives enough NOT to push the button."

Then why build the missiles to being with? The Soviets knew damn well they we would never push the button first ourselves and most of the time we were building up OUR nuclear arsenal in response to their escalation. At one time, they even had a plan to turn a cargo ship into a giant nuke rigged with sensors that would set it off if the radiation level in Russia went to high, with enough radiation to have killed every man woman and child on the planet.

And of course when he said "tear down this wall!" his own advisers crapped their pants. But I'm glad you're here to judge so wisely in hindsight from the comfort of your armchair. Maybe you can turn your attention to the fact that Lincoln promoted a slew of bad generals to lead the Union Army. I guess that made him an incompetent buffoon...

Posted by: David Marcoe at June 06, 2007 02:45 AM (dJ/b4)

5

As usual a bunch of idiot democrats that cant see the truth, for all the bullshit they spread. When will you dumb ass people pull your head out or your ass and realize that most people would shit on all or you and we still love Ronald Regan, A man who gave me my first job in 1979 and I damn well loved kicking fucking idiots ass like yours...... Fuck all you liberals and i can’t wait till the day when we all cut you peaces of shit down for destroying our country and turning the American public in to a bunch of liberal pusses. For those who still love Ronnie, God Bless you……. and those who don’t, piss off bastards. Or do something about it.

Posted by: Mike at June 06, 2007 03:53 AM (3uFAs)

6 F*ckx Ronald Reagan - who do you think funded AQ?

Posted by: tbone at June 06, 2007 12:22 PM (HGqHt)

7 F*ckx John Kennedy-who do you think funded the NAACP?

Posted by: greyrooster at June 06, 2007 04:14 PM (1h1Tb)

8 tbone, you may or may not choose to do more research regarding that particular accusation. If you do I believe you will see that it's not fair. Since I think it's an honest mistake, I'm just going to leave you with the recommendation that you check your facts, and hope you take it. Since I really don't have the extra time for arguments lately, I apologize for not giving you more. Maybe you've noticed, but I'm not posting so much. Good luck, and I think you will change your mind.                          
                            USA, all the way!

Posted by: Michael Weaver at June 07, 2007 02:03 AM (2OHpj)

9 Greyrooster, I liked JFK enough not to rip on him. Nobody is perfect. And JFK put his neck on the line for his country, so gets the check mark for that too. I'm done here so anyone wants to argue, they are talking to themselves.                        USA, all the way!

Posted by: Michael Weaver at June 07, 2007 02:06 AM (2OHpj)

10 That fact is not refutable. (AQ history; Operation Cyclone) It also makes sense since the enemy of my enemy is my friend (until aforementioned enemy is destroyed). We haven't had a respectable president since Washington and even that's a stretch.

Posted by: tbone at June 08, 2007 10:46 AM (HGqHt)

11 Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians - wikipedia
 
I never said Osama... hey, where is that guy anyway?
 
Hope everything is going well with you M.W.
 

Posted by: tbone at June 08, 2007 10:56 AM (HGqHt)

12 another choice quote: "It now appears that the American-sponsored jihad in Afghanistan was the first step in transforming the jihadist movements of Egypt, Iran, and Pakistan into an international network capable of challenging the United States. A coalescing of the jihadist movement would have occurred with or without Afghanistan, but the Afghan experience accelerated this process by years if not decades."

Posted by: tbone at June 08, 2007 10:59 AM (HGqHt)

13 "refutable. (AQ history; Operation Cyclone) "  Basically, you said Reagan funded AQ.  Your link to "Cyclone" contains some refuting remarks to your accusation.  And all I am saying is we should be careful not to make false, or misleading accusations.  Some of the benefit may have spread to AQ through the CIA suport of Afghans, but it wasn't marked for such usage, nor did Reagan authorize such a decision.  I still believe I am correct on this. Maybe when I get more time we can hash it out more. Till then                  
                             USA, all the way!

Posted by: Michael Weaver at June 08, 2007 05:34 PM (2OHpj)

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The 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York has announced that it will start holding one monthly memorial service, instead of individual services for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. A base spokesman says that the change is for scheduling reasons, and doesn't indicate an increase in the number of casualties.

The reason for the change doesn't matter because this is a bad move. Each soldier and his or her family have made a unique sacrifice, more than worthy of individual recognition.

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Click the photo for the larger version and background story:

Posted by: Ragnar at 11:45 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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My salute to the troops. The photos are from the Gathering of Eagles Rally March 17, 2007 in Washington DC:

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To all the under-recognized child-bearers and rearers of America and the globe, Happy Mother's Day! May you all experience a pleasurable celebration.

To all the mothers who have lost a child defending freedom and the rule of law, whether Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, hopefully the following is appropriate.

Executive Mansion
Washington
Nov. 21, 1864

To Mrs. Bixby
Boston, Mass.

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln

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While using a Humvee to push an abandoned vehicle out of the road, the vehicle explodes, setting fire to the Humvee. In a valiant effort to save their equipment, ammunition and armaments, the Marines scramble onto the vehicle and begin stripping it... at considerable personal risk.

This was apparently the second time this had happened to the same group of soldiers in less than two weeks.
To quote one of the soldiers from this unit: "Welcome to f**king Iraq."

Posted by: Kafir at 10:06 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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OK, chums - one more bit. ;-) BIG kudos to Bryan at Hot Air for finding this. Cue liberal hissing and cowering in 3...2...1...VIDEO BELOW--> more...

Posted by: Good Lt. at 11:08 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Excellent series, this. These guys are so badass that it can kill terrorists just to watch them train.

They're that hard. Well, the 30% or so who survive training, that is.

Watch these all when you get two free hours. The Hell Week segment is broken up into five videos.

1.

PARTS 2 & 3 BELOW THE FOLD --> more...

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The following video was posted at LiveLeak by 'ezrider1967'.
It does not contain nudity or violence. It does not contain high drama or intrigue. It has no special effects or digitally enhanced audio. This video contains none of the elements that one would associate with a powerful video, save one: heroism.

This video shows a member of LiveLeak putting his money where his mouth is, and taking a stand against the enemies of freedom.
At age 40, 'ezrider1967' is joining the United States armed forces, with the full knowledge that he is likely to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

I'm re-posting his video here as a sign of my respect, and as a reminder:
America is not ready to lie down in defeat, and there are still many brave patriots willing to defend our way of life.
Ezrider1967 is one such patriot.

Click 'Read More' to view the video. more...

Posted by: Kafir at 01:58 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turned 79 today.
In January of 2006, Sharon suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke, and has been comatose ever since.

Always a controversial figure, Sharon is nevertheless a prominent part of Israel's history, and he served his country as both a warrior and a statesman.
While his politics may be subject to disagreement, his heroism is well established.

Ariel Sharon may be gone from the headlines, but he is not forgotten.
His birthday should not pass without note.

Posted by: Kafir at 06:11 PM | Comments (24) | Add Comment
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Kudos all around, to Make-A-Wish, the Army, and most of all, this intrepid young man.

The crew presented Riley with his own flight suit, a “U.S. Army Air Ambulance Detachment” patch, and his pilot’s wings.

They also helped him to radio his mom from the helicopter while hovering above the beach.

“Mom, this is Riley. This is awesome,” he said.

“Riley, I’m glad you’re having a good time,” she said.

The Rangers joked with Riley about his fondness for the flight suit, telling him he had to take it off before he joined them to practice jump training inside a mock C-130 aircraft frame. The Rangers had earlier presented him with personalized fatigues, complete with his own combat boots and dog tags.

The Rangers showed Riley how to deploy a parachute and a reserve parachute. As his parents and older brother, Ryan, laughed at Riley’s enthusiasm, Master Sgts. Jose Morengo and Alexander Barnett rolled on the ground, jumped off benches and unfurled the parachutes.

Even a black eye, which happened as Morengo pulled the rip cord grip on a reserve parachute that he strapped around Riley’s waist, didn’t keep Riley from smiling. Morengo gave Riley the rip cord grip as a souvenir, explaining that it was the ultimate trophy of surviving a harrowing experience.

And the day got better when the men let him shoot blank M4 rounds and help clear a training room using grenade simulators. He then watched dozens of Ranger students practice being lifted in and out of helicopters on ropes.

stein hoist: Coach TC at the lovely and talented SondraK's. more...

Posted by: Vinnie at 05:44 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 That was a good story. Thanks Vinnie

Posted by: Darth Odie at February 27, 2007 04:37 PM (YHZAl)

2 What an idiot I am. The first time a read this I cried. What a great story! I'm still blowing my damn nose Vinnie! I'll get you for this I swear                      USA, all the way!

Posted by: Michael Weaver at February 28, 2007 05:17 AM (2OHpj)

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Watch this. You'll be glad you did.

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ht: AllahP

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From the front lines straight to the solar plexus of the antiwarbot credo:

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Speaking to the Houses of Parliament. Lotsa parallels between the story of El Salvador and Iraq:

Posted by: Good Lt. at 10:27 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Update: Here's the full text of the WSJ article.

This brave Marine will recieve the honor posthumously. Uncommon valor is a common virtue in the Marines, and Cpl. Dunham will continue to carry on the legitimacy of that motto.

The WSJ requires a subscription for its archived stories, so Scott at Powerline excerpted thusly from a 2004 WSJ article on Cpl. Dunham:

"As far back as boot camp, his superiors spotted the quality that would mark this young American as an outstanding Marine: His willingness to put the needs of others before his own," Mr. Bush said. "As long as we have Marines like Cpl. Dunham, America will never fear for its liberty."

On patrol on April 14, 2004, Cpl. Dunham found himself engaged in hand-to-hand combat with an insurgent near the Syrian border. When his attacker dropped a live hand grenade, the Marine made the split-second decision to cover the weapon with his own helmet, shielding two of his men from its full explosive force.

The other Marines staggered away from the blast, injured but alive. Cpl. Dunham suffered deep shrapnel wounds to the brain. He survived eight days in a coma, only to die with his parents at his bedside. He was 22 years old.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it," said Cpl. William Hampton, one of the Marines fighting beside Cpl. Dunham when the grenade exploded. The explosion left Cpl. Hampton, a 24-year-old from Woodinville, Wash., peppered with shrapnel. "I see my arms, I see my leg. I'm always reminded of it."

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