Christians under attack in Iraq - More flee to France

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Victims of Church attack

UN Condemns Attacks

The United Nations has condemned the brutal attacks against Iraqi Christians by Islamic militants.

In the past 10 days, the Christian community has been targeted by a series of bombings and an attack on a Baghdad Catholic church. More than 60 people have been killed.

The U.N. Security Council said it's appalled by the acts of violence, calling them a blow against religious diversity and democracy.

The council added that it condemned all attacks in Iraq, "particularly those motivated by religious hatred."

French ambassador Gerard Araud also told reporters that Iraq's Christians are "on the frontline of the fight for democracy."

Meanwhile, 37 survivors of October's deadly Baghdad church attack and their families arrived in France on Thursday. The French government has offered them asylum and will also welcome another 90 Iraqi Christians to their country in the next few days.

"France supports their desire to remain and live in peace on their land, where they have lived for centuries," French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said.

Bessen explained that the move is part of France's program for Iraqis belonging to "vulnerable religious minorities."

Pakistan Court Sentences Christian woman to death for blasphemy

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights group Thursday.

Asia Bibi, 45, was sentenced Monday by a local court in Nankana district in Pakistan's central province Punjab, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of the country's cultural capital of Lahore.

Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim country's controversial laws on the subject which rights activists say encourages Islamist extremism in a nation wracked by Taliban attacks.
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American War Deaths

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Afghanistan War
1,127

Iraq War
5,724

Mexican Drug War
30,000

Weekend Death Toll - 30

Update:

(Reuters) - Families mourned on Sunday the victims of one of Mexico's worst shootings, weeping over the open coffins of teenagers as young as 14 as Ciudad Juarez residents expressed outrage at surging violence.

Crowding around the bodies in white and gray coffins, parents and friends sobbed as they bid farewell to the 14 people killed at a family birthday party on Friday night in the Mexican city that is the epicenter of the country's drug war.

"This can't be happening. Today it's them who are killed, and tomorrow who will be next?" said a sister of one of the victims, who gave only her first name, Miriam.

In Tijuana across the border from San Diego, California, suspected drug gang hitmen shot dead 13 people at a drug rehab clinic on Sunday, a member of the local police force said.

And in the northern state of Coahuila, two women and a teenage boy died on Sunday after being caught in crossfire during a shootout between unidentified gunmen, police and soldiers, state prosecutors said.

The shooting in Juarez on Friday was the second massacre at a party this month in the city across from El Paso, Texas. Ciudad Juarez has become one of the world's most violent cities since drug cartels launched a turf war there in early 2008. Almost 7,000 people have been killed in the city since then.
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Obama Closes Door to Iraq Combat - Even Mentions the Economy for a Change

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In a rather strange 19 minute prime time address from the Oval Office President Obama talked about the end of combat in Iraq, the Afghanistan war, President Bush and the economy and never cracked a smile nor showed much of any emotion, not a good performance for one considered the great communicator.

It was a hodgepodge of subjects, all of which were important, but none of which got much discussion in his address. Clearly the talk of the economy at the end of the talk was a last minute addition to address the fact the entire nation is wondering if the President will ever get around to addressing the economy, unemployment and the national debt.

His mention of Bush was awkward at best and said nothing that everyone didn't already know. The only thing unusual about it was Obama did not blame Bush for everything but he also didn't mention that Bush signed the agreement to withdraw combat troops while president or that Bush implemented the troop surge strategy used by Obama in Iraq and Afghanistan but then when he uses the former president as a punching bag he really can't say too much good about him.

Obama did make reference to the terrible cost in lives and money of the war which we also know. However, as for the $700 billion cost over 7 years, Obama didn't mention he spent that much in one day with the stimulus program and over $4 trillion on his own legislative agenda the past 18 months. Some think that $4 trillion was wasted as well.

Again he gave our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan a heads up by reinforcing his deadline for leaving the war zones which is something no president has ever done before through the news media. Many believe this is an indication of his inexperience.

As for the economy, it was the standard line of blaming the Republicans and the prior 8 years, though he didn't mention Bush by name, while offering nothing but a trivial bill pending in congress as a step toward healing the wounds. It will take a lot more than a small business incentive to fix the mess we are in.

Obama appeared tired, lacked the energy he has on a basketball court, and seemed almost distracted when giving the talk. Of course his foreign policy agenda was not what the people want to hear and his meetings on Mideast peace the rest of the week will keep him from addressing the economy for another week.

Since he just finished a ten day vacation at Cape Cod perhaps he needs a few days to rest up from his busy vacation schedule.

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The Second End to Combat in Iraq Celebration Featuring VP Joe Biden

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As the carefully staged White House theatrical play of The End to Combat in Iraq continues it's road show this time the second team took center stage as Joe Biden filled in for the vacationing President Obama to declare, according to the Los Angeles Times Joe Biden update:

No 'Mission Accomplished' claim on Iraq, but no 'victory' either.
 

Andrew Malcolm went on to report:

Fortunately, Sen. Barack Obama was about as wrong as he could possibly be opposing President Bush's 2007 troop surge in this news video from the former state senator's favorite TV channel.

As one result, the vacationing president and, this week, the peripatetic vice president are busy celebrating the U.S. military's success in Iraq with the withdrawal this month of the last American combat brigade.

Of course, the Democrats are not dumb enough to repeat the notorious "Mission Accomplished" banner of the previous administration. Nor is the White House No. 2 going to repeat his notorious claim from a February "Larry King Live" show that Iraq represents one of Obama's "great achievements."

Today, in an Indianapolis speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Joe "Let's Divide Iraq Into Three Parts" Biden did not mention his opposition to the Bush troop surge either. But he was naturally effusive in his praise of American service personnel, present and past.

Two other things to note in this administration's public relations war wind-down:

A) The administration's third commander in Afghanistan in 19 months, Gen. David Petraeus, as JB so carefully put it today in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Indianapolis, "now has all the resources that the strategy calls for." (Full text below.)

B) What's missing from Biden's remarks about all the sacrifices being made as it was missing from Obama's 4,582-word West Point speech announcing his second Afghan troop surge and outlining a strategy there (including a pre-announced withdrawal starting next July), is the key word: "Victory."

Additionally, 50,000 heavily-armed American troops still remain in Iraq for....

... not always courteous counter-insurgency operations in coming months. So, "non-combat troops in Iraq" all depends on what your definition of "combat" is.

But with homefront approval of the nation's wars waning and an angry, frustrated electorate scheduled to vote in a midterm looming for Democrats on Nov. 2, we will be hearing much more on this from Obama post-Martha's Vineyard.

Now some might think after the NBC End of Iraq Combat staging last week this might be the end of the Administration efforts to capitalize on the public relations surrounding this ongoing historic event which is scheduled to really be completed August 31 but the President has now scheduled a major address for August 31 about, what else, the end of combat in Iraq in case you missed the first two events proclaiming the end of combat.

Apparently the hoopala is designed to make us overlook the fact about 50,000 combat ready troops will remain in Iraq after we have finished combat, that thousands of private contactors will be hired to fight in Iraq and that no one thinks the remaining 50,000 troops will be withdrawn by the end of next year as also promised.

I find the Administration reference to private contractors not being a combat force rather odd as long ago governments and kings hired such private contractors to fight their wars only they called them paid mercenaries and they were the fighting force.

One final note as I mentioned in my last article is that the real last remaining combat brigade in Iraq is the Stryker 2-25 brigade as reported by a soldier still in Iraq fighting after the NBC end of combat show. Perhaps Obama will acknowledge this truth as the 2-25 is from his home state of Hawaii and would make for more great theater.

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NBC Iraq Staging Drama - The Latest in News Media Reality Shows?

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Call it manufactured news, news manipulation or whatever the NBC extravaganza showing the last combat troops leaving Iraq was high in theater and low on truth. For a few hours yesterday even the Huffington Post, the liberal sanctuary, posted the Coltons Point Times article exposing the sham as nothing more than a public relations stunt by NBC and MSNBC to prop up sagging ratings.

However, the Huffington Post caters to the will of the White House and someone must have called for dropping the negative article about NBC because it disappeared soon after it appeared. However, since truth is so hard to find on the internet, here is a copy of the Google search that showed the Coltons Point Times article on the Huffington Post yesterday.

Now for more truth, the same day NBC was heralding an end to combat in Iraq Obama was speaking in Ohio and said the following:

“We are keeping the promise I made when I began my campaign for the presidency,” Obama said at a fundraiser at the Columbus Anthenaeum. “By the end of this month we will have removed 100,000 troops from Iraq and our combat mission will [end].”

No mention that all troops would be out that day and a reinforcement of his goal to be out by August 31. A military web site, Open Security contemporary conflict, reported the following in reaction to the NBC snow job:

"The last United States’ army combat brigade left Iraq early this morning, crossing the border into Kuwait in a carefully-planned, top-secret journey. The departure of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, will leave 6000 support troops in Iraq until end of August, when US combat operations will formally end.

US State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley said American involvement in Iraq is far from over, but would be less intrusive and more civilian-focused from now on. Crowley emphasised that the US remains committed to its trillion dollar investment in Iraq, and needed to honour the memory of almost 4,500 troops who lost their lives in the war. Crowley made no mention of the estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians who also lost their lives in the conflict.

Despite White House reassurances that continued unrest and a six-month old political deadlock following indecisive elections in March will not “derail democracy” in Iraq, many commentators are sceptical that the end of combat operations can be as clear cut as the Obama administration would like it to be. Although 50,000 troops will remain in support of the Iraqi army until the end of 2011, current plans would see all US forces withdrawing from Iraq by the end of 2011, leaving only a small contingent of diplomats and civilians, protected by less than a few thousand troops."

Finally a serviceman blogging from Iraq wrote that "there is still a Stryker brigade" remaining in Iraq after the departure of the Stryker 4-2 brigade on NBC. He said the Stryker 2-25 brigade, the only combat brigade left in Iraq, will be the last to leave before the end of the month.

His response to NBC was "along the way you missed out on pointing out true facts that there is still a brigade here that is just as large and has the same if not more vehicles than 4-2 does. So look deeper and remember soldiers watch the news as well and the piece as a whole was nice but I hope you come see us since we are the last Strykers here and will be turning out the lights on this show."

You will get the truth if you are open to it. As for me, I really don't like network news using our brave American troops as props for their reality shows. It is a disgrace to journalism, it trivializes war, and makes the blood of over 4,400 Americans who died in Iraq seem more like a TV script than the reality it was to the families and loved ones of those we lost.

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NBC & Obama Gang Stage "Historic" End to Iraq Combat - Then get Busted!

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It seems the Obama boys cannot stop trying to manipulate the national news media to get favorable stories and to drive unfavorable stories off the air and there is no grater co-conspirator than the White House propaganda machine at NBC and MSNBC.

Last night on NBC news and then on every MSNBC talking head program we were served a historic story of the last combat troops leaving Iraq and crossing the border to Kuwait. Lights, camera, applause and action and there you have it, Obama meeting his promise to remove combat troops as the MSNBC heads feigned tears.

The story continued this morning on Morning Joe and other MSNBC outlets to maximize the bang for the buck. This well planned and staged media extravaganza went without a hitch as reporter Richard Engel rode with the troops through the border crossing, acting as if he didn't know the scripted moment was being staged and as if he didn't know what the border crossing looked like.

There had to be a sigh of relief from the White House as they watched NBC document history and maybe knock the Moslem mosque at Ground Zero and Obama's strange flip flopping on his position out of the headlines.

But alas they failed once again to trick the American public although they did trick the left leaning media into buying into the deception. You see, after the NBC exclusive of the last combat soldier leaving Iraq we come to find out there are actually 6,000 other combat soldiers still fighting in Iraq who will not be gone until the August 31 deadline.

Does this mean any other liberal media supporting Obama will have their own staging of the historic last combat soldier leaving Iraq? Are these media manipulators insane? Do they really think the public will buy this deception while 6,000 combat troops still remain in Iraq?

Shades of Dan Rather and CBS falsifying the military records of George Bush, Jr. to smear him in the 2004 presidential election. So here we go again, more media lies, more administration lies, and more deception by the politicians and media. These people should be investigated for fraud, the NBC people perpetrating the fraud should be thrown off the air and the Obama people using the brave military combat troops in Iraq as props for campaign commercials should be thrown out of public office.

I wonder if Obama knew about and approved of this cruel deception?

Here is the truth about how the staged broadcast was assembled as reported by Brian Stelter of Media Decoder.

Inside an NBC News control room, they were also nerve-racking, as the network prepared on Wednesday night to broadcast live from a convoy that carried elements of the last United States combat brigade to leave the country. It was a high-stakes broadcast, one that the network had secretly worked for weeks to pull off.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, producers were transfixed on the monitors that showed the correspondent Richard Engel positioned inside one of the vehicles in the convoy. Every time the picture lapsed, a result of satellite hiccups, the volume in the room dropped, only to be replaced by sighs of relief when it was restored a second or two later.

“The magic of live TV,” M.L. Flynn, a producer, remarked to no one in particular.

The existence of the convoy was kept secret until 6:30 p.m. Eastern, the same time that the “NBC Nightly News” started. To transmit the images, NBC at great expense shipped its so-called Bloommobile to Iraq for the first time since the war began in 2003. The Bloommobile is a specially outfitted vehicle that allows the network to transmit live pictures via satellite while on the road.

David Verdi, a vice president at NBC News, said that before the war’s beginning in 2003, network executives asked themselves, “What do we think our audience expects from us in covering this war?”

“The unanimous answer was, our audience most likely expects to see this war live,” he said. “That was the initial idea for the Bloommobile.”

When the time came to talk about the end of the combat mission there, he added, “We came to the same conclusion — that our audience would expect to experience it live as it’s happening.”

On Wednesday night, Mr. Engel was positioned in one of the military’s armor vehicles, directly in front of the Bloommobile. The signal from his vehicle was sent via microwave to the Bloommobile, which transmitted it back to the United States.

NBC had something of a scare on Tuesday when one of its satellite transponders burnt out, a casualty of the hot weather there. A network technician was able to replace the transponder in time.

In the control room on Wednesday night, Ms. Flynn, the producer, communicated with Mr. Engel via an earpiece. As the live shot from Iraq faded a bit, the producer said, “Richard, can you tell the Bloommobile to stay closer to you?”

The images from NBC and other outlets are important for the United States as a public relations tool, as they reaffirm with color and sound that the country is winding down a widely unpopular combat mission. But they are in part a media construct. Though the media may yearn for a dramatic finish to the war, there is not likely to be one, at least not yet.

Next thing you know the war coverage will be filmed in Hollywood.


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The American War Machine - Is There a Way Out?

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This is the first time we have engaged in war, make that two wars, when we have already declared an end date for both wars. In Iraq, the forgotten war, this August President Obama has declared all American troops will be withdrawn from combat and security will rest solely with the Iraq forces. This is the same country that had an election four months ago and there is still no government seated.

How can a government that cannot even agree on a government ever hope to agree on a military policy when the three major factions in Iraq live in fear of each other? The Muslim Shi'ite and Sunni factions continue to undermine peace efforts with their brutal opposition to each other while the Muslims do agree that the Kurds in Northern Iraq remain a threat to stability. Three factions with decades of hatred and fear of each other are expected by Obama to bury the hatchet and make peace.



Perhaps we should review the experience in these wars. In Iraq, where we will give up a combat role in August, there have been over 4,000 American military deaths. The most any one month was 25 in the month of September 2008. During the war estimates on civilian deaths range from over 118,000 to over 1 million, not a good sign for any hope for peace between the competing forces. There are about 85,000 US troops in Iraq now and all other foreign troops in Iraq have been withdrawn.

In Afghanistan Obama has tripled the troop strength since being elected President and there are now over 100,000 in the country. He has pledged to start removing troops-in July 2011, a year from now. However, the deadliest month in terms of American military deaths was just this June 2010 when 60 Americans were killed. Afghanistan also is now the longest war in American history as it enters it's tenth year of combat.



Afghanistan has long been known as the graveyard of empires. The most powerful forces on earth including the Americans and Soviet Empire have all fought in Afghanistan where the Taliban have a long term strategy, just wait until the super powers tire of the combat and leave, then the Taliban can retake the countryside.

Even Pakistan, an emerging nuclear power and ally of America whose cooperation is critical to any success in the Afghan tribal regions, where Osama Bin Laden has been hiding for nearly a decade while waiting for the US to abandon the Afghan people yet again. Our president's declaration that we will begin to withdraw next year looms as a point of confusion for all Afghans and nations of the region in terms of the American commitment to help bring about permanent change.

So in light of these circumstances how can we pull out of both wars when the wars will most likely still be in progress? Or is the threat against Israel so strong that we must keep soldiers in the region for as long as there is a threat of war between the Israeli's and Muslims such as Iran? Perhaps that is the underlying reason why we are still fighting the twin wars.



Redeployment of overseas forces

As I said in an article last June 3:

We have over 2.5 million defense soldiers and civilian employees but only 1.1 million are in the USA. Since about 100,000 are in both Iraq and Afghanistan that leaves 1.2 million DOD employees all over the rest of the world. There are over 735 American military bases outside the USA including 38 large and medium size facilities. At the height of the British Empire in 1898 they had 36 bases spread out around the world and at the height of the Roman Empire in 117 AD they had 37 major bases. Of course they were both trying to conquer the world. We aren't supposed to be conquering the world so get rid of the excess bases.



Maybe the president should stop playing world policeman and close the majority of the overseas bases, leaving only those absolutely needed for national security, and set up a network of domestic bases along the border with Mexico. We already have the troops and are paying to keep them outside the country. Why not set up border bases in Arizona, New Mexico, a couple in Texas and maybe one more in Southern California?



Perhaps the presence of thousands of American troops might help stop the flow of illegal drugs and the human trafficking of illegal immigrants? It might even help Mexico reduce the massive death rate in the border communities, a fact that has cost over 22,000 lives in the past couple of years. This is one of the darkest elements of the border traffic and is a plague to Arizona and the other states.

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