Tag Archives: military

Jihad

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Agape Press Commentary & News Briefs
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Compiled by Jody Brown

"…A Washington-based Muslim advocacy group is condemning the beheading of American businessman Nick Berg in Iraq as a cold-blooded murder. Rabiah Ahmed of the Council for American-Islamic Relations says Muslims are especially horrified that Berg's killers shouted 'God is great!' and claimed to be acting in the name of Islam. The killers are shown on the Internet declaring that 'the dignity of the Muslim men and women' abused by U.S. troops in an Iraqi prison cannot be ';redeemed except by blood and souls.' Ahmed says Berg's beheading was 'in opposition with what Islam stands for.' She adds that American Muslims wish to extend their prayers, condolences and support to Berg's family. On Capitol Hill, Senator Lindsey Graham said the killing shows that America is fighting an enemy that 'behaves like animals in the name of God.' Senator Rick Santorum, from Berg's home state, made the following statement from the Senate floor on Wednesday: 'If anybody wants to know what we're fighting, and why we're fighting this war on terror, this is a very good example of it.' Pennsylvania's other U.S. senator, Arlen Specter, described Berg's death as 'unfathomable brutality' and 'a barbaric atrocity of the highest magnitude.' [AP/Jody Brown]"

I'm ashamed to say Santorum is one of my state's senators. It seems the irony of his statement regarding the recent beheading didn't occur to him. He says, "If anybody wants to know what we're fighting, and why we're fighting this war on terror, this is a very good example of it." It seems to me there must be a great number of Arabs, particularly in Iraq, saying, "Look at the way these barbarians treat prisoners of war! It's an outrage! They do such evil things and then continue to wonder why we hate them!"

Calling Volunteers

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What happens when the government wages a war that did not derive from a mandate of the people? The approval rating for this war is probably about 50%. Should that half of the country bear the burden of a war the other half wanted? Should they be pressed into service if the volunteers run out? Hmm…

Military Expert Says No Draft Necessary; Bush Should Call for Volunteers
By Chad Groening
April 29, 2004

"(AgapePress) – A military readiness watchdog says despite recent suggestions by a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, America has not yet reached the point where it is necessary to reinstate the draft."

Vietnumb

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Here are some follow-ups to the editorial I posted about Kerry’s 1971 “exaggerations”.

Fellow vet blasts Kerry’s antiwar comments
Democrat’s campaign to release military records
Thursday, April 22, 2004 Posted: 9:39 AM EDT (1339 GMT)

“WASHINGTON (CNN) — A man who served in the same Navy unit as Sen. John Kerry denounced on Tuesday charges the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee made as an antiwar protester that he and other U.S. troops committed atrocities in Vietnam.”

Kerry’s 1971 testimony on Vietnam reverberates
Vivid words alleged atrocities by soldiers
Friday, April 23, 2004 Posted: 1:26 PM EDT (1726 GMT)

“(CNN) — The strong, vivid words John Kerry uttered 33 years ago continue to ring through time.”

Kerry blasts ‘phony controversy’ over medals
Bush adviser: Democrat ‘pretended’ to throw away medals
Monday, April 26, 2004 Posted: 9:25 PM EDT (0125 GMT)

“WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry on Monday rejected as a ‘phony controversy’ questions about whether he had misled people about a symbolic Vietnam War protest he participated in 33 years ago.”

Over the Top

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Some may wonder why I am so hard on John Kerry. Am I a Bush fan? Absolutely not. Right now "anybody but Bush" is a very popular voting slogan. I just want to show that the lesser of two evils is still evil. That, and I think he's an appallingly poor excuse for a Catholic.

BTW, this editorial reeks a bit of propaganda. However, I am loathe to believe that it was entirely fabricated.

THE SLANDER THAT MADE JOHN KERRY A STAR
Fri Apr 23, 2:15 AM ET

"Thirty-three years ago today, a young, unknown political activist named John F. Kerry sat down before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and unleashed a bitter verbal broadside against the war in Vietnam – and, with particularly harsh invective, against the young Americans who were fighting it."

wintersoldier.com

Deja Vu, Dien Bien Phu?

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US War Dead in Iraq Exceeds Early Vietnam Years
By David Morgan

"PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – The U.S. death toll in Iraq (news – web sites) has surpassed the number of American soldiers killed during the first three years of the Vietnam War, the brutal Cold War conflict that cast a shadow over U.S. affairs for more than a generation."

Will Iraq become the next Vietnam? More US soldiers have been killed in the two years we've been in Iraq than in the first three years of combat in Vietnam. Will this war end similarly.

There are definitely differences. First of all, we have nearly tens times as many soldiers in Iraq than we had in Vietnam in 1964. By percentage, more of today's soldiers are living. Also, there isn't a major force facing us this time. Guerrillas, while deadly, do not an army make. Unless a nation with a sizeable military joins the Hussein loyalists, Iraq is unlikely to become another Vietnam. Furthermore, if it did, we'd be more like France than ourselves this time. International forces would likely get involved as we did 40 years ago. However, I think the international community lacks the resolve and pig-headed stubbornness that drove us then.

Anyhow, I don't expect to see a casualty explosion like experienced after 1965. If this conflict does get out of hand, I hope the soldiers receive better treatment than their predecessors.