That’s how long it’s been since General McChrystal asked for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan.

That’s how long the Commander In Chief, voted on by the people, has been sitting on his butt and making no decision.

That’s how long US sailors, soldiers, airmen, and Marines, have been dying without the support necessary to do their jobs.

Is this the Hope and Change you so desperately wanted last November?

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Says Rusty:

Associated Press photographer Rahmatullah Naikzad was a witness to a Taliban murder. The two women were alleged to have been prostitutes who served Western clientèle.

A quick Yahoo News photo search of Rahmatullah Naikzad seems to indicate that he’s very friendly with the Taliban.

We would remind the AP that the act of the Taliban inviting a reporter to the murder means they wanted this news out there. The AP was clearly being used as a propaganda outlet for the Taliban.

Does this make him an accomplice or only a witness to the crime? When you know a crime is about to be committed, do you not have a moral and ethical obligation to try to prevent that crime? Even if you’re a journalist? Even if all you do is try to call the authorities, in this case someone in the Afghani government or NATO?

The sequence of photos Naikzad indicate that he was with this band of assassins the day/night before the murders, and was still there the following morning to witness the two women get their heads blown open with gunfire.

Not only was this photographer able to capture a few still pictures, but he also captured the event on digital film as well. You can hear at least one of the women screaming after the first shots are fired.

Says on-the-rocks:

The Taliban wanted publicity shots of the “event” and he gave them what they wanted. Way to pad your resume, dude. Anything for that paycheck, huh. Will you be traveling to Palestinian enclaves in Israel to follow the terrorists while they murder Israeli children?

You can claim you are outraged, you can claim you only wanted to show the violence against women, but in the end, they wanted the publicity and you gave it to them. You could have somehow lost the memory card, the video tape, the film (whatever media you chose), but then you might not have been paid or worse, not invited back for more.

Folks, there is evil in this world. And to do nothing in the face of evil makes you evil’s willing accomplice, and just as guilty.

Rahmatullah Naikzad, I invite you to come over to my house. I’ll serve you some wonderful southern pulled-pork BBQ. Then I’ll lock you in a room with my four large dogs. The next morning you should make great fertilizer for my garden.

Associated Press, Rahmatullah, Naikzad, Taliban

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But tonight’s Miss America Pageant contains a tiny slimmer of realism in Miss Utah Jill Stevens. Jill is a former Miss Southern Utah University and Miss Utah. She’s talented and beautiful.

She is also a former Army medic who served in Afghanistan. A soldier, a warrior, a life-saver.

In 2004, she deployed with the 211th Aviation Group to Afghanistan, where she spent one year caring for sick and injured Soldiers. After her return stateside, Sgt. Stevens completed her nursing degree and passed her board examinations to become a registered nurse. She plans to use her new nursing credentials as an Army nurse, having submitted a application to become a commissioned officer.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Two years into her career as a pageant contestant, Jill Stevens says she still feels more comfortable in combat boots than high heels.

So if Utah’s soldier-turned-beauty queen is feeling at all out of place tonight as she competes in the final round of the Miss America competition, she might just want to sneak a peek at the audience.

Nearly 100 soldiers are expected to be in the crowd at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino – including dozens of Stevens’ fellow National Guard members from neighboring Utah.

Yes, there are bound to be plenty of “hooahs” in the audience tonight. And that’s not the only factor leading to speculation that the Afghanistan war veteran – who most here say is a shoo-in when the 16 finalists are announced tonight – might just walk away whistling “There She Is” to the tune of “The Caissons Song.”

The annual Miss America Pageant will be shown on TLC cable at 8:00pm tonight.

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A would-be suicide bomber fell down a flight of stairs and blew himself up as he headed out for an attack in Afghanistan, police say.

It was the second such incident in two days, with another man killing himself and three others on Tuesday when his bomb-filled waistcoat exploded as he was putting it on in the southern town of Lashkar Gah.

Yesterday’s blast was in a busy market area of the eastern town of Khost, a deputy provincial police chief said.

The would-be attacker tripped as he was leaving a building apparently to target an opening ceremony for a mosque that was expected to be attended by Afghan and international military officials, said Sakhi Mir.

“Coming down the stairs, he fell down and exploded. Two civilian women and a man were wounded,” Mir said.

• Does he get a consolation prize? Maybe 72 ‘gently used’ virgins?
• Darwin continues to be correct.
• Premature Explodulation.
• TA DA!

suicide bomb, Afghanistan, Khost

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Dozens of schoolchildren and five teachers were among those killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan earlier this week — the country’s deadliest since the fall of the Taliban — the government said Friday.

The 59 schoolchildren had lined up to greet a group of lawmakers visiting a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives.

“The education minister has ordered that no children should be ever again be used in these sort of events,” said Zahoor Afghan, an Education Ministry spokesman. He said the children ranged in age from 8 to 18.

In all, the explosion claimed the lives at least 75 people, including several parliamentarians, and wounded 96. It was the deadliest attack in the country since the toppling of Taliban regime from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

From the BBC:

Early investigations into Tuesday’s bombing in the Afghan province of Baghlan indicate that the attacker used ball bearings to maximise casualties.

The ball bearings were mixed with explosives, the interior ministry says.

Efforts to establish an accurate casualty toll will get underway later on Friday.

The provincial governor says the death toll now stands at 52, with 106 people injured.

Business as usual for the Religion Of Peace™.

When they’re not trying to convert or kill the unbelievers, they’re perfectly happy killing each other.

Not God, Allah, Buddha, or any other religious deity would sanction this kind of carnage.

For a person to deliberately detonate himself and others when children are present — for the purpose of killing children — is barbarism, is the epitome of Evil.

Fight these people, until your last breath, wherever they may be, with whatever weapons you have, until they are gone from this Earth.

Afghanistan, Taliban, Baghlan, suicide bomb

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Through the generations, America’s men and women in uniform have defeated tyrants, liberated continents, and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world. On Veterans Day, our Nation pays tribute to those who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.

To protect the Nation they love, our veterans stepped forward when America needed them most. In conflicts around the world, their sacrifice and resolve helped destroy the enemies of freedom and saved millions from oppression. In answering history’s call with honor, decency, and resolve, our veterans have shown the power of liberty and earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.

All of America’s veterans have placed our Nation’s security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best America can give them.

President George W. Bush
October 31, 2006

World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 , in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles , France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918 , is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday – - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

But today I want to honor a single veteran: my son Stephen.

In high school Stephen was active in the local Marine ROTC. At the start of his senior year he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, a decision that scared his mother and me. But we supported his decision, and just a few days after high school graduation we watched him climb aboard that fateful bus that would take him to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, SC.

There are many directions one can take in life. For the select few who commit to reaching their full potential while protecting our nation, there is the path of the United States Marine Corps. My son freely volunteered to take that path.

The Corps’ mission is to make the best Marines, win battles, and build quality citizens. They are men and women who live by a set of core values: Honor, Courage, and Commitment.

It wasn’t until after he left on that bus that I knew those same values would also have to apply to me. I would have to be strong in my commitment to Stephen. I would have to have a ton of courage as I watched him leave his home. But the honor I would have for him would come easy.

Parris Island consists of 8,095 acres, of which only 3,262 are habitable. But even that is an exaggeration. I’m not entirely sure his barracks and his training areas would be deemed “habitable” by typical civilians.

Without doubt, Marine boot camp is more challenging – both physically and mentally – than the basic training programs of any of the other military services. Every hour of every day for 13 weeks is designed for just one purpose: To make the highest quality basic U.S. Marine.

On Training Week 10 comes The Crucible. The Crucible is the 54-hour culmination to the transformation of recruit training. Day One starts at 2:00 am., and Day Three ends at 8:00 am. Recruits will travel 42 miles on foot during the event. There are 29 problem-solving exercises. The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours. The recruits will be required to carry ammunition cans up to 50 pounds and dummies up to 100 pounds, in addition to “782″ gear, uniform, and M16 A2 service rifle weight.

At the end of Week 12 recruits receive the Marine Corps emblem – the eagle, globe, and anchor – in front of their families and friends. My son was now a Marine. My boy was now a man.

This was around Labor Day 2001. In two weeks 9/11 would happen.

Stephen already had orders in hand. He was to report to Camp Lejeune, NC, to begin training in the Infantry (light mortar). But at the last minute he was given new orders – this time he was to report to the Marine Barracks Washington, “8th & I”, in Washington, DC. There his duties would include light infantry training, ceremonies, and Presidential support. It is a great honor to be chosen for this two-year duty. And he wouldn’t have bullets flying at him as was happening in Afghanistan.

His duties in Washington were soon over, but the Marines wanted my son to go to Southeast Asia first. He spent a year hopping islands in Southeast Asia doing training exercises and war games. Then came his fourth, and final, year of active service. Then came Afghanistan.

He would have to spend a few months in “some area” in northern California learning how to do urban assault, how to “mingle” with the locals, how to go door-to-door in villages. But at the end of the training he was deemed qualified to continue the hunt for Osama and his buddies in Afghanistan.

He hasn’t, can’t, or won’t tell me all the things that happened in his year in Afghanistan. I know that bullets were fired at him, and that he fired bullets at the enemy. It was a dreadfully long year for his mother and me. We tried to stay strong and positive for him, but it wasn’t easy, and there were many a tear shed in fear for him over the following year.

Then came anger. In early 2005 Newsweek published an article claiming that the guards at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay were flushing copies of the Quran down the toilets. The story turned out to be completely false, but the story sparked huge riots across the Middle East, with one of the most violent riots being in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, not far from Kabul – the place where my son was stationed.

Mobs smashed car and shop windows and attacked government offices, the Pakistani consulate and the offices of two U.N. agencies. Smoke billowed from the consulate and a U.N. building. More than 50 foreign aid workers were reportedly evacuated. And my hero son was placed in grave danger – all because of a false story spread by the anti-Bush crowd at Newsweek magazine. Had my son been killed because of this I would have wanted revenge, and probably the blood of a Newsweek editor or two on my hands. But my son survived – and I became more emboldened to point out liberal, anti-US, anti-military bias of major US media outlets. Newsweek, I shall never forgive what you almost did to my only son.

My hero son is now back home, his active duty in the US Marines over. He served his country with Honor, Courage, and Commitment. He did not get cheap band-aid Purple Hearts and run away from the action as did a certain current US Senator. He didn’t run off to study in Oxford, England, during a time of war as did a certain former US President. He had every option in the world and he freely chose to be a Marine. He chose to serve a country that has given him more opportunity and freedom than anywhere else in the world. He believed that we were fighting a good fight against Islamofascism. And he was blessed by God to return home alive and in one piece.

I could never have done what he did. He, more than most people, put others before himself. Everyone gets knocked down, but he got back up. He knows what the word “discipline” means. He has walked through fire without getting burned. He doesn’t have to ask if he’s ready or able. He understands that strength is more than just muscle. He understands what the word “faithful” really means. He knows that bravery is not the absence of fear, but it is the will to overcome fear. And for this he will always be much more than a son, much more than a Marine, much more than a Veteran to me. He will be a hero.

Welcome back home, Stephen.

America, Veterans Day, Armistice Day, Marine Corps, Parris Island, Honor, Courage, and Commitment, Camp Lejeune, Marine Barracks Washington, Afghanistan, Islamofascism

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0814 EDT – United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, departs Logan Airport with 56 passengers and 9 crew.

0820 EDT – American Airlines Flight 77 departs Dulles Airport.

0842 EDT – United Airlines Flight 93 departs Newark Airport with 38 passengers and 7 crew.

0845 EDT – Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It is believed that all of the hijackers congregated in the cockpit at the final stages of the flight to shout their “Allahu akbars” together.

0902 EDT – Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

0938 EDT – Flight 77 crashes just short of the Pentagon.

0959 EDT – The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses, 55 minutes 51 seconds after the impact of Flight 175.

1003 EDT – After an uprising by the passengers, Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville, PA.

1010 EDT – Part of the Pentagon collapses.

1028 EDT – The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.

Osama Bin Laden tunes in to the radio to hear American news broadcasts of the event. “They were overjoyed when the first plane hit the building,” he said on a video later obtained by American forces, talking about others listening with him that day. “So I said to them: Be patient.” He said, “At the end of the newscast, they reported that a plane just hit the World Trade Center.” “Allah be praised,” replied one of the other men in the videotape.

Witnesses reported seeing people jumping from the towers just before they collapsed.

1800 EDT – Iraq announces the attacks are the fruit of “U.S. crimes against humanity” in an official announcement on state television.

2030 EDT – President Bush addresses the nation, saying “thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil” and asks for prayers for the families and friends of Tuesday’s victims. “These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve,” he says. The president says the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them.

2330 EDT – Before sleeping, President Bush enters into his diary: “The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today.”

The author of this humble blog has not, and will not, forget what happened to 3000 innocent Americans the morning of September 11, 2001, and will not forget who did it:

• Mohammed ATTA (Flight 11) (also known as Mohammed al-Amir) Born September 1, 1968 in Kafr al Sheikh, Egypt. ATTA grows up in Cairo with his middle-class family.
• Abdulaziz ALOMARI (Flight 11) Saudi Arabian. Little is known about him.
• Walid AL-SHEHRI (Flight 11) From Khamis Mushayt in Saudi Arabia. Former teacher, who left his job allegedly to consult an Islamic holy man about his brother’s mental illness.
• Satam AL-SUQAMI (Flight 11) Born June 28, 1976. Saudi Arabian. Islamic-law-school student at King Fahd University in Riyadh. College roommate of MOQED.
• Wail ALSHEHRI (Flight 11) Born 7/31/73. Brother of Walid. Former phys-ed teacher who left his job because of “mental illness.”
• Marwan AL-SHEHHI (Flight 175) Born in United Arab Emirates on 5/9/78.
• Hamza ALGHAMDI(Flight 175) Born 11/18/80. From Beljurashi in southern Saudi Arabia. Was working in a “humiliating” job as a stockboy in a housewares shop when he was recruited for the jihad.
• Ahmed ALGHAMDI(Flight 175) From Beljurashi in southern Saudi Arabia.
• Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan Al-Qadi BANIHAMMAD (Flight 175) (aka Fayez Ahmed) Citizen of United Arab Republic.
• Mohand ALSHEHRI (Flight 175) Former student at the Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University in Abha, Saudi Arabia for one semester.
• Hani HANJOUR (Flight 77)- Saudi Arabian Born August 13, 1972. Son of a wealthy businessman from the wealthy al-Faisaliyah section of Taif.
• Khalid ALMIDHAR (Flight 77) Saudi Arabian. Veteran Al-Qaeda operative about whom little is known.
• Majed MOQED (Flight 77) Saudi Arabian. Law student at the King Fahd University in Riyadh. The son of a head of the Baniauf tribe from Annakhil near Medina. Sometimes listed as the third “logistics” person after ALMIDHAR and Nawaq ALHAZMI.
• Nawaq ALHAZMI (Flight 77) “He told me once that his father had tried to kill him when he was a child. He never told me why, but he had a long knife scar on his forearm,” said an acquaintance. Brother of a police chief in the coastal town of Jizan.
• Salem ALHAZMI (Flight 77) Saudi.
• Ziad al-JARRAH (Flight 93) Born in Al Marj, Lebanon May 11, 1975. The son of a civil servant and a schoolteacher. Educated in a Catholic school in Beirut.
• Ahmed ALNAMI (Flight 93) Born December 1977. Saudi, from the town of Abha. Former law student at the King Khaled University Islamic Law School in Abha.
• Ahmed Ibrahim AL-HAZNAWI (Flight 93) Born October 11, 1980. Saudi from the village of Hezna. Son of an imam, and reportedly became one himself. Close to Hamza and Ahmed ALGHAMDI.
• Saeed ALGHAMDI (Flight 93) Saudi, from Khamis Mushayt.

“We love death. The US loves life. That is the big difference between us.” – Osama Bin Laden

Is that so, Osama? Then how about we give you all the death you could ever want.

Flight 11, Flight 175, Flight 77, Flight 93, World Trade Center, Osama Bin Laden

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We support victory in the war against radical Islamists. We supported the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and we believe victory is necessary in both countries for America’s self-defense.

We believe that the radical regime in Iran, while not representative of the Iranian people, is a menace and that it cannot be allowed to obtain or build nuclear weapons.

We believe that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that has killed hundreds of Americans and which waged war against Israel in violation of every law of war this past summer, and will do so again in the future.

We believe Israel is our ally and friend and deserves the full assistance of the United States in its battle with radical Islamists. We believe that Israel has repeatedly shown its willingness to negotiate a just and lasting peace, but that its enemies do not want peace, but the destruction of Israel.

We believe that the American military is the finest in the world and indeed in history, well led and superbly trained, and populated at every level by America’s best and brightest.

We support the troops, and those organizations which assist the wounded in their recoveries and support the families of those who sacrificed everything.

We support leaders who support victory.

Stop by and sit a spell with us at the Victory Caucus. We’re good folk of a common thought trying to deliver the perspectives and news on the war effort which the mainstream media neglects to help the American public understand the nature of our conflict and its true progress.

Islam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah, terrorist, Victory Caucus

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A Proclamation:

Through the generations, America’s men and women in uniform have defeated tyrants, liberated continents, and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world. On Veterans Day, our Nation pays tribute to those who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.

To protect the Nation they love, our veterans stepped forward when America needed them most. In conflicts around the world, their sacrifice and resolve helped destroy the enemies of freedom and saved millions from oppression. In answering history’s call with honor, decency, and resolve, our veterans have shown the power of liberty and earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.

All of America’s veterans have placed our Nation’s security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best America can give them.

President George W. Bush
October 31, 2006

World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 , in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles , France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918 , is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday – - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

But today I want to honor a single veteran: my son Stephen.

In high school Stephen was active in the local Marine ROTC. At the start of his senior year he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, a decision that scared his mother and me. But we supported his decision, and just a few days after high school graduation we watched him climb aboard that fateful bus that would take him to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, SC.

There are many directions one can take in life. For the select few who commit to reaching their full potential while protecting our nation, there is the path of the United States Marine Corps. My son freely volunteered to take that path. The Corps’ mission is to make the best Marines, win battles, and build quality citizens. They are men and women who live by a set of core values: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. It wasn’t until after he left on that bus that I knew those same values would also have to apply to me. I would have to be strong in my commitment to Stephen. I would have to have a ton of courage as I watched him leave his home. But the honor I would have for him would come easy. Parris Island consists of 8,095 acres, of which only 3,262 are habitable. But even that is an exaggeration. I’m not entirely sure his barracks and his training areas would be deemed “habitable” by typical civilians.

Without doubt, Marine boot camp is more challenging – both physically and mentally – than the basic training programs of any of the other military services. Every hour of every day for 13 weeks is designed for just one purpose: To make the highest quality basic U.S. Marine. On Training Week 10 comes The Crucible. The Crucible is the 54-hour culmination to the transformation of recruit training. Day One starts at 2:00 am., and Day Three ends at 8:00 am. Recruits will travel 42 miles on foot during the event. There are 29 problem-solving exercises. The recruits will have three meals, ready-to-eat (MREs) during the 54 hours. The recruits will be required to carry ammunition cans up to 50 pounds and dummies up to 100 pounds, in addition to “782″ gear, uniform, and M16 A2 service rifle weight. At the end of Week 12 recruits receive the Marine Corps emblem – the eagle, globe, and anchor – in front of their families and friends. My son was now a Marine. My boy was now a man.

This was around Labor Day 2001. In two weeks 9/11 would happen.

Stephen already had orders in hand. He was to report to Camp Lejeune, NC, to begin training in the Infantry (light mortar). But at the last minute he was given new orders – this time he was to report to the Marine Barracks Washington, “8th & I”, in Washington, DC. There his duties would include light infantry training, ceremonies, and Presidential support. It is a great honor to be chosen for this two-year duty. And he wouldn’t have bullets flying at him as was happening in Afghanistan.

But there he received terrible news. His Drill Instructor at Parris Island was a great man named Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan. His buddies called him “Gump.” He was 42 years old. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was killed in action in Iraq on March 23, 2003, near Nasiriyah after encountering Iraqi troops that were pretending to surrender. “He loved the Marines. He said that’s what made him what he is,” his wife said. “If he were here, he’d say he died doing what he was supposed to be doing.” There is no adequate way to honor this hero. But being a hero is what Marines do better than anyone else.

I believe this event started a fire in my son. I believe it was this tragedy that drove him to want to get into the action in the Middle East. His duties in Washington were over, but the Marines wanted my son to go to Southeast Asia first. He spent a year hopping islands in Southeast Asia doing training exercises and war games. Then came his fourth, and final, year of active service. Then came Afghanistan.

He would have to spend a few months in “some area” in northern California learning how to do urban assault, how to “mingle” with the locals, how to go door-to-door in villages. But at the end of the training he was deemed qualified to continue the hunt for Osama and his buddies in Afghanistan.

He hasn’t, can’t, or won’t tell me all the things that happened in his year in Afghanistan. I know that bullets were fired at him, and that he fired bullets at the enemy. It was a dreadfully long year for his mother and me. We tried to stay strong and positive for him, but it wasn’t easy, and there were many a tear shed in fear for him over the following year.

Then came anger. In early 2005 Newsweek published an article claiming that the guards at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay were flushing copies of the Quran down the toilets. The story turned out to be completely false, but the story sparked huge riots across the Middle East, with one of the most violent riots being in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, not far from Kabul – the place where my son was stationed.

Mobs smashed car and shop windows and attacked government offices, the Pakistani consulate and the offices of two U.N. agencies. Smoke billowed from the consulate and a U.N. building. More than 50 foreign aid workers were reportedly evacuated. And my hero son was placed in grave danger – all because of a false story spread by the anti-Bush crowd at Newsweek magazine. Had my son been killed because of this I would have wanted revenge, and probably the blood of a Newsweek editor or two on my hands. But my son survived – and I became more emboldened to point out liberal, anti-US, anti-military bias of major US media outlets. Newsweek, I shall never forgive what you almost did to my only son.

My hero son is now back home, his active duty in the US Marines over. He served his country with Honor, Courage, and Commitment. He did not get cheap band-aid Purple Hearts and run away from the action as did a certain current US Senator. He didn’t run off to study in Oxford, England, during a time of war as did a certain former US President. He had every option in the world and he freely chose to be a Marine. He chose to serve a country that has given him more opportunity and freedom than anywhere else in the world. He believed that we were fighting a good fight against Islamofascism. And he was blessed by God to return home alive and in one piece. I could never have done what he did. He, more than most people, put others before himself. Everyone gets knocked down, but he got back up. He knows what the word “discipline” means. He has walked through fire without getting burned. He doesn’t have to ask if he’s ready or able. He understands that strength is more than just muscle. He understands what the word “faithful” really means. He knows that bravery is not the absence of fear, but it is the will to overcome fear. And for this he will always be much more than a son, much more than a Marine, much more than a Veteran to me. He will be a hero. Welcome back home, Stephen.

Veterans Day, America, Marine, Parris Island, Marine Corps, eagle, globe, and anchor, 9/11, Afghanistan, Osama, Newsweek, Guantanamo Bay, Jalalabad, Kabul

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TERRORISTS MURDER AFGHAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVOCATE

Safia Ama Jan, one of Afghanistan’s most prominent women’s rights activists, was gunned down outside her home in Kandahar on September 25, 2006. A regional Taliban commander claimed responsibility for her murder. During Taliban rule, Ama Jan was known for her underground school for Afghan girls. In post-Taliban Afghanistan, she became a provincial director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and ran vocational schools for women. One female member of the Afghan parliament said, “The enemy of Afghanistan killed her, but they should know it will not derail women from the path we are on. We will continue on our way.”

“Killing of infidels by any method including martyrdom operations has been sanctified by many scholars even if it meant killing innocent Muslims… The shedding of Muslim blood… is allowed.” – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, May 2005

Safia Ama Jan, Afghanistan, Taliban, Muslim, al-Zarqawi

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