Given the recent SCOTUS ruling on the detainees terrorists at Gitmo, one might be led to believe that the court would approve tactics like those used by Palestinian Militants Terrorists.
Cox & Forkum: Palestinian Body Armor
Islamic Terrorism
Hope Floats
No, not a romance story, but a good one nonetheless. Since terrorists in Iraq have taken to the sewers and canals like the rats they are, the Multi-National Forces have been equipping and preparing troops to deal with getting wet, staying afloat and protection from small arms fire — the latest accessory is floating body armor.
Operation.Iraqi.Freedom — Body armor protects, floats
Story and photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris
3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
BALAD, Iraq – In Iraq the insurgents have begun using the canals and waterways of the Tigris River as a means to move weapons caches while avoiding Coalition Forces patrolling the streets.
Image: 1st Lt. Sean Craig, a Chicago native and a 3rd Battalion platoon leader, swims a 16-yard distance in his body armor system during a drown proofing class.
With the battle being taken to the rivers of Iraq, the command group of 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, developed training to help Soldiers survive in full combat gear if they fall in water.
With river boat patrols increasing, Command Sgt. Maj. Dean Keveles, 3rd Battalion’s top enlisted soldier and a team of his senior noncommissioned officers decided to test the buoyancy of the interceptor body armor system at the outdoor swimming pool at Logistical Support Area Anaconda.
A Soldier going out on patrol wears about 40 to 50 pounds of gear. With the weight of the gear there was concern the Soldier would sink to the bottom of a canal.
It turns out body armor will float and support the weight of the Soldier. It is like having a bulletproof life vest. Keveles said.
From what they learned at the pool, Keveles and his sergeants were able to put together a training exercise they could teach Soldiers. The exercise has Soldiers in full Army Combat Uniform wearing armored vests without ammo pouches.
The instructor gave a Soldier a kick in the back to simulate the surprise of falling into the water. Once in the water Soldiers had to swim 16 yards before coming out of the pool.
We don’t have a way to simulate river current in the training but at least the Soldiers can build their confidence by training, said Keveles.
1st Lt. Sean Craig, 3rd Battalion platoon leader, felt no discomfort after hitting the water.
“I am a pretty strong swimmer so it felt fine, felt like I normally swim,†said Craig. “It felt like a life jacket, a secure feeling because as soon as you get in it pops you back up.â€
Missing from the Media
I’ll bet that NONE of the mainstream media will publish emerging evidence that the events that took place at Haditha, Iraq involving the U. S. Marines have been highly distorted by both the media and partisan Democrats, Jack Murtha, in particular.
Read this article from NewsMax: New Evidence Emerges in Haditha Case
In the aftermath of the brutal mutilation and murder of two U. S. Soldiers, the terrorists responsible for these atrocities have been tracked down by the Military. Why is this largely overlooked by the press?
From CENTCOM: Press Releases – COALITION FORCES TRACK DOWN TERRORISTS RESPONSIBLE…
Where was the press when the Clinton Administration sat around and did little in the aftermath of the Khobar Towers terrorist attack that killed 19 U. S. Airmen and wounded scores of others?
From Opinion Journal: Khobar Towers
And finally, did you know that the Bush Administration never rejected the Kyoto Accords? Did you know it was unanimously rejected by the U. S. Senate when Bill Clinton was still in the White House? Probably not — the press was too busy demonizing Ken Starr for investigating presidential philandering.
From Right Thinking from the Left Coast:More Kyoto Idiocy
How can you possibly trust the major media when these important facts are largely ignored by them?
Bumper Stickers We’d Like to See
Treason Central, the New York Times, has again betrayed America and compromised yet another tactic in the War on Terror. Boycott the New York and Los Angeles Times.
And not to shortchange the equally treacherous L.A. Times . . .
Monkeys On Their Back
The freedom of speech of Sheehan, Murtha, most of the media and all Islamic “protection” groups (ACLU, CAIR, etc.) to speak out are protected by the very same military they weigh down with their insane rantings. They just don’t get it!
Cox & Forkum see it the same way:
Tip of the Iceberg
This may only be the first of a series of revelations of previously classified data. Why it takes this long for these vital facts to emerge is anyone’s guess. One might expect the administration would have a stake in disseminating this information and make it public. Why they have not done this, is also a mystery.
From Fox News:
Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq
WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers [Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Senator Rick Santorum] said Wednesday.
“We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons,” Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon. Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, Santorum said: “Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist.”
Image: Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Senator Rick Santorum – Courtesy Fox News
Non-MSM News from Iraq
In the wake of the recent torture and deaths of PFC Kristian Menchaca and PFC Thomas L. Tucker, there will be a dearth of any encouraging news from Iraq. We feel it is important to forward some of this news when the MSM ignores it. For instance this post about events on June 19th in Iraq from CENTCOM depicts some positive coalition activities:
COALITION FORCES KILL 15 TERRORISTS, DETAIN THREE OTHERS
Coalition forces came under immediate small arms fire from a rooftop upon arrival to the objective area. The ground force returned fire, killing nine armed terrorists on the rooftop, and an additional two armed terrorists who were identified firing on Coalition forces from next to the building, were killed by Coalition aircraft supporting fire.
Following this initial contact, Coalition forces found 10 AK-47 assault rifles, one shotgun, one pistol and a crate of explosives.
One supporting aircraft hit utility wires as they were engaging the armed terrorists. The aircraft was damaged and forced to make a controlled landing. There were no injuries to the crew and the ground force immediately secured the site. Three armed suspects were then killed by another Coalition aircraft as they attempted to attack the downed aircraft.
After securing the aircraft, Coalition forces moved to assault the building that several terrorists had fled to following the first contact. One terrorist was killed by a Coalition sniper as he attempted to engage the troops from the nearby rooftop.
The force cleared the buildings, detaining the three terrorists. The captured individuals, who fled earlier, were found hiding amidst nine women. None of the women were injured. One of the detained terrorists was wounded at the initial target building after he engaged Coalition forces.
The raids were targeting individuals associated with a suspected senior al-Qaida in Iraq network member targeted in previous Coalition operations.
The downed aircraft was recovered prior to all forces returning to base, and all weapons and explosives were destroyed on-site.
And the next news release:
COALITION FORCES DETAIN SENIOR AL-QAIDA IN IRAQ NETWORK MEMBER
Coalition forces detained a senior al-Qaida in Iraq network member and three suspected terrorists during coordinated raids southwest of Baqubah June 19.
The terrorist is reportedly a senior al-Qaida cell leader throughout central Iraq, north of Baghdad. He’s known to be involved in facilitating foreign terrorists throughout central Iraq, and is suspected of having ties to previous attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces.
Coalition forces secured multiple buildings and detained the known terrorist plus three suspected terrorists without incident. Troops found an AK-47 with several magazines of ammunition and destroyed them all on site.
Several women and children were present at the raid sites. None were harmed and all were returned to their homes once the troops ensured the area was secure.
What these two items mean to the coalition is that they have weakened the enemy and have increased the possibility of recovering intelligence regarding the enemy’s intentions and composition. All good things.
We feel the grief of the families of those tortured soldiers and share the avenging spirit that must be in the hearts of the rest of the soldiers as they continue their campaign in Iraq. That being said, the overall scorecard since the death of Al Zarqawi has been overwhelmingly in the favor of the coalition:
Coalition: hundreds of captures and kills — Al Qaida in Iraq: a handful of casualties and two atrocities.
But AQI gets support from the Associated Press, Reuters and much of the MSM due to their heavily-biased reporting.
UPDATE: A good resource for breaking news out of CENTCOM may be found on their press release website.