Dhimmi This!

Happy Birthday Marine Corps!

Marine K-9 to retire: Has been adopted by his handler's family

Lex owned by Jerome and Rachel Lee of Quitman, MS

Lex, a 7-year-old German Shepherd Dog, is a retired military dog who served in Iraq with young Marine Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee. Cpl. Lee was a renowned dog handler due to his extraordinary ability to work an explosives detection dog and narcotics detection dog simultaneously. Under the skilled guidance of Cpl. Lee, Lex dutifully searched for roadside bombs to keep the roads safe and open for American troops in Iraq. Tragically, Cpl. Lee was killed in a mortar attack in Falluja in early 2007. As he lay bleeding, Lex, although injured himself, was at his partner’s side to comfort him. Their bond was so strong, the loyalty so deep, that medics had to drag Lex away so they could attend to Cpl. Lee. He succumbed a short time later and Lex was reassigned to the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia.

Cpl. Lee’s parents, Jerome and Rachel, who knew about the special relationship that existed between their son and Lex, petitioned to adopt the dog. North Carolina Congressman, Walter Jones, heard about the Lee’s request, and led a successful campaign to retire Lex, so that he could finally have a home with the Lees.

Since his retirement, Lex has been awarded a Commemorative Purple Heart, but he has not rested on his laurels. The Lee’s bring Lex to VA hospitals and retirement homes to offer solace to the veterans who have so honorably served their country.

US Marine acquitted of all charges in Haditha killings

A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair, a military official said.

Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28. See full article here.

Oohrah - Grayson! And thank you for your service to your country and sorry for your being falsely accused of murder while you were just doing your job.  It is time for the Corp to admit that there was no massacre at Haditha and to clear the two remaining Marines. 

Too Cool for School!

FoxNews also has this article today. Reminds me of this video.

More on the Current Status of the Haditha Investigation

    More thoughts on the incident at Haditha and the rush to judgment by the media to cast guilt upon innocent Marines.  Thad Coakley a former Marine Corps judge advocate and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including a tour with an infantry battalion in the Hit-Haditha Corridor of al-Anbar Province during which he was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon, has written "Another perspective on Haditha" at the North County Times.  (Hattip to FBL)

Without knowing all that is to be presented by both the prosecution and the defense at the trials, a few conclusions and lessons are apparent from Haditha's aftermath:

Haditha is not a case of Marines carrying out purposeful murder by summary execution. The oft-made comparison between Haditha and My Lai is categorically unsupportable except by those who ignore the differences in mission, context, numbers, and manner of deaths in their zeal to define an atrocity in support of their views. The courts-martial will conclude whether the two Marine shooters made unreasonable judgments in responding to an initial attack, identifying hostile actors, and using appropriate force in self-defense.

Haditha is not an unveiling of widespread troop behavior or of any overall military policy or training purposefully dismissive of civilians. Considering the multitude of instantaneous life-and-death decisions made in Iraq, the U.S. military has exercised remarkable restraint and concern for the civilian populace ---- a key component of mission accomplishment in a counterinsurgency campaign.

The Washington Post's recent statistic ---- of all the allegations of service members related to Iraqi civilian deaths, only 69 have been charged with, and only 22 convicted, of murder, negligent homicide or voluntary manslaughter ---- reflects the American forces' commitment and level of professionalism in behavior, training and operation. Adjudicated misconduct is outside the norm and has been punished accordingly.

Haditha is not a debate platform for rashly criticizing the rules of engagement and what those rules "could" or "should" have been. The self-defense ROE in effect at the time are the authorities under which the two squad members' use of force will be evaluated. Because these ROE require judgment calls, they are subjectively applied. Only facts known to a Marine when he makes the decision to engage can be considered; those reviewing his actions must see the scene through his eyes at the time.

Even if a Marine was later shown to be mistaken, but reasonably perceived and engaged a hostile threat, his use of force is authorized under the ROE. This subjectivity inures to the benefit of the Marine and has already resulted in the dismissal of charges against Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, another Haditha squad member.

Tragic News: Top Military Blogger Dies In Iraq

This is very tragic news I have to report to you today. Milblogger Andrew Olmsted, was killed in Iraq.  Our hearts and prayers are with his family, friends, and everyone that got to know him, as they face this enormous loss and tragedy in their lives.

From The Huffington Post:

( The Huffington Post) Andr ew Olmsted, who also posted here as G`Kar, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July.

Andy was a wonderful person: decent, honorable, generous, principled, courageous, sweet, and very funny. The world has a horrible hole in it that nothing can fill. I`m glad Andy -- generous as always -- wrote something for me to publish now, since I have no words at all. Beyond: Andy, I will miss you.

My thoughts are with his wife, his parents, and his brother and sister.

You can read the entire story here from The Huffington Post.

Here is also an excerpt from his final message that was posted on his blog, in the event of such a tragedy. He provided the letter to a friend for posting with the last revisions made this past July:

"I am leaving this message for you because it appears I must leave sooner than I intended. I would have preferred to say this in person, but since I cannot, let me say it here."
G`Kar, Babylon

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
Plato*

This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits. And so, like G`Kar, I must say here what I would much prefer to say in person. I want to thank hilzo! y for pu tting it up for me. It`s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn`t hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn`t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don`t know. I hope so. It`s frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won`t get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.

Read Andrew's blog and his entire letter here.

Oorah! H.L. DeVore and Prudent Publishing Company

Supporting Our Troops with Some Holiday Cheer

H.L. DeVore, our Chief Marketing Officer, recently made a visit to the Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas to seek out some potential new trends for our Greeting Card Blog. While touring the show he was introduced to Lou Kastendick, a representative for Soldiers' Angels, which is an organization that provides support to our nation's military men and women. The support programs implemented by Soldiers' Angels maintain the organization's motto – “May No Soldier Go Unloved.”

Lou connected H.L. with Patti Patton-Bader, the founder of Soldiers' Angels. It just so happened that Patti was in New York being honored with an Above and Beyond Award, bestowed by Microsoft and the USO to recognize the military support contributions of citizens across the country. H.L. flew home a few days later and met her for lunch in the city.

Being a father of four, H.L. immediately made a connection with Patti and her heart-filled cause. Patti's mission originated from a mother's love and compassion for her children and has spread into a wide-scale national effort. Her son, Sergeant Brandon Varn, was sent to Iraq and has since returned home after completing his mission. And now Patti's youngest son, Bretton Varn, has been deployed to Iraq to serve the call of duty for our country.

Through their conversation, Patti told H.L. about Holiday for Heroes, a Soldier's Angels program that reaches out to deployed soldiers during the holidays. The goal for this program is to deliver a gift and a personal holiday message into the hands of the 140,000 troops fighting overseas this December. H.L. decided that Prudent Publishing should be apart of this effort to spread some holiday cheer to the soldiers. So, on behalf of The Gallery Collection and Prudent Publishing, he offered Soldiers' Angels a donation of 280,000 cards – a personalized card for the 140,000 soldiers in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan and a blank card to write home.

But it didn't stop here. Patti also informed H.L. of Project Valour-IT, which provides voice-controlled and adaptive laptops to wounded military personnel recovering from hand injuries and other severe trauma. So Prudent Publishing donated enough funding for Soldiers' Angels to purchase and distribute three of these specialized laptops.

Put in simple terms, these donations are simple acts of goodwill. Being a publisher of greeting cards, Prudent Publishing knows the importance of sending and receiving personalized messages to and from your family and friends during the holidays. Such communication can be incredibly important to the young men and women risking their lives on a daily basis, some of whom are only teenagers. Our efforts are for the soldiers…to express love and gratitude for the men and women who will be spending the holiday season thousands of miles away from home this year.

To find out more about Patti Patton-Bader, Soldiers' Angels, and the organization's numerous military support programs, please visit http://www.soldiersangels.org.

Oorah! Jon Luther, Rachel Ray and Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts, under the leadership of Jon Luther, and with the help of spokesperson Rachel Ray, has kicked off a national card drive with a donation of 1 ton of coffee to Soldiers Angels. See story here.

As part of this kick off, Rachael Ray will unveil an initial one ton donation of Dunkin' Donuts coffee to Soldiers' Angels founder, Patti Patton- Bader, which will be included in 2,000 care packages, and will honor two of the organization's hardest working volunteers.  In addition, visitors to www.ServingHeroes.com may make donations to Soldiers' Angels. ServingHeroes.com is an online effort from Dunkin' Donuts in conjunction with The Dunkin' Brands Community Foundation to recognize individuals throughout America who have helped emergency response organizations better serve their communities.

"I'm thrilled to help Dunkin' Donuts launch the Gingerbread Express for local shoppers and kick off a national card drive that will show our appreciation for the heroes who serve this country every day," said Rachael Ray.  "With these programs, we can spread the holiday spirit in a fun and important way, while providing a little taste of home through Dunkin' Donuts coffee and handwritten messages to our brave servicemen and women."

"It means so much to us that Dunkin' Donuts is supporting those who serve," said Patti Patton-Bader.  "The card drive helps United States military personnel know that we're remembering them and honoring their service ... and the donation of one ton of coffee will provide a taste of home they will really appreciate."

How to Defend against a Taser or other Energy Weapons

This question came up in a recent discussion.  Looks like there is already a defense out there.  It is a fabric made by Thor Shield.  Home page for Thor Shield is here. Demo is here. An article is here. I am wondering if it is using the same principal as a Faraday Cage. By the way one of the coolest YouTube videos ever is here.   

UPDATE: If all else fails there is always Project Grizzly or Project Grizzly II. (And no this is not an endorsement)

Michael Yon's Shout Out to The Brits

Michael Yon has a great dispatch from Iraq about the work of our British allies in Iraq.  The dispatch is titled Men of Valor: Part I of about VIII. Yon discusses the sacrifices, often unrecognized, by our British allies.  As usual his pictures are great as well. A couple of excerpts to wet your appetite:

American soldiers get care packages from people they do not even know, and those packages are morale boosters. American soldiers get cards from kindergartens from sea to sea, and the soldiers paste the cards all over the walls of their headquarters and hospitals. I don’t know what it is about those homemade cards, with their squiggly letters, stick figures and smiley-faced suns, but whenever I am in hospitals in Iraq, those cards from the kids greatly lift my spirits. I’ve seen the British get cards and packages like this, but nothing like the quantity, variety and frequency of what American soldiers get.

2 Rifles—photographed after the battle described in the dispatch “British Soldiers at War”—had fought well, sustained losses and inflicted much greater, but the enemy had only been warming up for the most serious battles to come. It was this combat-experienced enemy that would welcome 4 Rifles to Basra, intent on squeezing out every possible drop of British blood.