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Bring the Troops Home. U.S. Military Betrayed
by Marinka Peschmann,
marinkapeschmann.com
September 23, 2012
[Photo: SSG Matthew S. Sitton and wife, Sarah Sitton. SSG Matthew Sitton died in Afghanistan Aug. 2 after stepping on an IED]
As the Middle East rages in violent anti-American protests, the dirty little secret that few in Washington want to discuss is how military families have worried for years about whether or not their loved ones serving in Afghanistan and previously in Iraq would be killed by insurgents or by the bureaucracy and policies of their own government.
Intrepid journalist and author Diana West reports from an alarming letter written in June by Army Staff Sgt. Matthew S. Sitton that was sent to U.S. Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young asking for help after his commanders in Afghanistan told him to “quit whining” about orders to lead patrols twice daily without objective, “or purpose” through basically “a mine field.” As SSG Sitton wrote, “As a Brigade, we are averaging at a minimum an amputee a day from our soldiers because we are walking around aimlessly through grape rows and compounds that are littered with explosives. Not to mention that the operation tempo that every solider is on leaves little to no time for rest and refit. The moral and alertness levels on our patrol are low and it is causing casualties left and right.”
“I’m concerned about the well being of my soldiers and have tried to voice my opinion through the proper channels of my own chain of command only to be turned away and told that I need to stop complaining,” SSG Sitton continued. “It is my responsibility to take care of my soldiers …”
Two months later, [....]
http://www.marinkapeschmann.com/2012/09/23/bring-the-troops-home-the-u-s-military-betrayed/
The IRS Has Gone Rogue
Did Congress intend to offer tax credits through federal exchanges?
A president who says “I haven’t raised taxes” has authorized his Internal Revenue Service issue a “final rule” that will illegally tax some 12 million individuals, plus large employers, in as many as 40 states beginning in 2014. Oklahoma’s attorney general has asked a federal court to block this rule. Members of Congress have introduced legislation in both the House and the Senate to quash it.
At first glance, it might not seem that the IRS is up to anything nefarious. The rule in question concerns the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s tax credits, not the law’s tax increases. The tax credits are intended to offset the cost of insurance premiums for low- and middle-income workers.
For many Americans, however, those tax credits are like an anchor disguised as a life vest. The mere fact that a taxpayer is eligible for a tax credit can trigger tax liabilities against both the taxpayer (under the act’s “individual mandate”) and her employer (under the “employer mandate”). In 2016, these tax credits will trigger a tax of $2,085 on many families of four earning as little as $24,000. An employer with [....]
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/328523/irs-has-gone-rogue-michael-f-cannon
Winning a Winnable Race
What Romney should and shouldn’t do from here.
president obama is ahead, but he is not in a position of overwhelming strength. Romney just needs to gain a few points in the polls to defeat him — and thus be in a position to appoint conservative judges, sign legislation repealing and replacing Obamacare, and begin to reform the entitlement programs that threaten the country’s fiscal future. (See this Sean Trende article if you need more convincing about the folly of declaring Obama the winner already.)
Romney’s key weakness — the place where he most needs to improve his performance — is that he isn’t seen as a champion of middle-class interests. In this week’s NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Obama is leading him by 19 points on the question of who would be the best at looking out for the middle class. This weakness is what underlies every other one Romney has, from his low favorability ratings to Obama’s advantage in the head-to-head numbers. Romney doesn’t need to make the case that he would help the middle class at the expense of the rich; that’s Obama’s play. But he does need to emphasize, again and again, how his agenda would help the vast majority of Americans.
It would be easier to make that case if Romney had advanced a plan to replace Obamacare that would tear down the barriers that keep millions of people from being able to buy health insurance, or if he had embraced a middle-class-friendly tax reform such as an expansion of the child tax credit. But it’s too late in this campaign to expect much in the way of new policy initiatives. Romney will have to make use of what he’s got — and that’s actually quite a bit.
So: Run ads pointing out [....]
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/327966/winning-winnable-race-ramesh-ponnuru
“They’re Killing Us Because We’re Infidels”
by: Diana West,
counterjhadreport.com
September 19, 2012
Paul Sperry rakes the Pentagon response to jihad inside the wire — more “sensitivity” training — in the New York Post this week (must have been Prince Talal’s day off).
Top officials believe culturally offensive behavior is the motivation behind the killings, so it’s stepped up Islamic sensitivity training for our troops.
AP Photo: Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr.’s father Greg, foreground, and mother
Marina are escorted from St. Agnes Cathedral after his funeral Mass, Saturday,
Aug. 18, 2012, in Rockville Center, N.Y.. Buckley Jr. was
barely 21 years old when he was killed in an attack by a policeman in
Afghanistan.
“Top officials” should be relieved of duty, ASAP. They have lost their minds if they ever had any. Or, to be more accurate, they have adopted, internalized the Islamic mindset to a point beyond apology and beyond reason. Reality check: Normal, mainstream Afghan culture includes child rape, pederasty, “seven-day shit suits,” cruelty to animals, enslavement of women, and death to apostates, just to hit some highlights. Such institutional depravity, however, is the New Normal to the ideological zealots in charge. They don’t see it, and can’t imagine the effect of it on Western troops, even when their own internal reports flag such native practices as dog torture as “stressors” that lead to “serious social altercations” between US and Afghan soldiers. These and other resounding features of culture clash are officially hushed up lest the irreconcilable differences between Islam and the West become openly acknowledged, and the bankruptcy of the past [....]
http://counterjihadreport.com/2012/09/19/theyre-killing-us-because-were-infidels/
Blaming our troops
'Friendly' fire attacks have killed dozens of our heroes. The Pentagon's response? Ordering sensitivity training about islam
by Paul Sperry,
New York Post
September 16, 2012
Afghan security forces, our supposed allies, are slaughtering American troops. Thirty-three soldiers have been killed by “green on blue” attacks this year alone. The situation is so bad that the training of Afghan forces has been temporarily suspended.
How has the Pentagon responded?
By blaming our troops.
Top officials believe culturally offensive behavior is the motivation behind the killings, so it’s stepped up Islamic sensitivity training for our troops.
If you don’t want to be shot in the back by your Afghan training partners, the Pentagon advises, don’t offend their religious sensibilities. Don’t kick your feet up on a table, for instance, and never ask to see a picture of their wives and kids. “There’s a percentage [of attacks] which are cultural affronts,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said in a recent interview.
Dempsey echoes the concerns of Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, the Afghan National Army’s chief of staff, who earlier this month argued both sides need to do more to “teach” foreign troops Islamic traditions and values to reduce the chance of violent reactions to cultural slights.
AFGHAN INSIDE ATTACK KILLS US TROOPS: OFFICIALS
“It is our duty to teach this to them. Our indifference about these issues causes the incident,” he said. In the past three years, uniformed Afghans have murdered at least 97 US and NATO troops. The Taliban has taken credit for many of the attacks, but the Pentagon has been reluctant to [....]
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/blaming_our_troops_gsNkgSOnejhkmabM2KA6TI
Diplomatic Security in Light of Behghazi
by Scott Stewart,
STRATfor.com
September 27, 2012
It has been more than two weeks since the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, yet the attack remains front-page news. One reason is that it has become unusual for a U.S. ambassador to be killed. After the 1968 assassination of John Mein in Guatemala -- the first ever U.S. ambassador to be assassinated -- several others were killed in the 1970s: Cleo Noel Jr. in Sudan in 1973, Rodger Davies in Cyprus in 1974, Francis Meloy Jr. in Lebanon in 1976 and Adolph Dubs in Afghanistan in 1979. However, following improvements in diplomatic security during the 1980s, no U.S. ambassador has died as a result of a hostile action since Ambassador Arnold Raphel, who was killed in the plane crash used to assassinate Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in August 1988.
Another reason for the continued publicity is that it is an election year. Since foreign policy is an area where Republicans believe President Barack Obama is vulnerable, Stevens' death has become highly politicized. In any event, the Benghazi attack remains in the headlines. Unfortunately, as one goes beyond those headlines, there are many misunderstandings that have persisted in both the media coverage and the public discussions of the incident. There simply are not many people who understand how diplomatic facilities work and how they are protected.
With that in mind, and because [....]
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/diplomatic-security-light-benghazi?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120927&utm_term=sweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=43a4679b42ce4359af5de792e89d36e8
Blazer to S-10 Transformation!
by PowerBlock TV
blog.powerblocktv.com
You have to see this crazy transformation of a ’94 Chevy Blazer made into a S-10 pickup. Courtney’s guest this weekend is Ron Perkins and his wild custom pick up. He started with a five hundred dollar Blazer and cut the roof off and molded in a standard cab bed and truck rails. He narrowed the rear nine inches and the body has been shaved and all hand-fabbed. It sports a cantilever air ride system. The paint color is GM “41 Black” and GM “Sonoma Jewel”. [More photos here....]
http://blog.powerblocktv.com/?p=6072
Part 3 MIGHT follow....
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