Historic Election in Iraq..

'I am voting for peace. I would have crawled here if I had to' By Jenny Booth, Times Online Some couldn't read, but knew their party's identification number on the ballot. Others couldn't see, but were led to the polls by police.Across Iraq, and especially in the Shia south and the Kurdish north, Iraqis went to the polls expressing determination and pride, together with hope that the election will improve their hard lives.Samir Hassan lost his leg in a Baghdad bombing but that did not stop him reaching the polling station. "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me," said Hassan, 32, propping himself up on worn metal crutches as he queued in the working class district of Hurriya, a mixed Sunni and Shia neighbourhood near the old city. "Today I am voting for peace. It is the only way, we must vote against them," he added. With his shoddy clothes hanging off him, and his trouser leg folded up beneath his amputated leg, Hassan hardly looked like a campaigner. But in his eyes, resolute and reddened at the edges, and in his face, scarred by the October blast, there was absolute determination.From the early hours, Iraqis like Hassan defied militant threats of violence to stand in long queues that trailed around street corners, waiting to cast their votes for the 275-member National Assembly. At least 36 were killed as militants fired mortars, and on at least eight occasions suicide bombers mingled with voters waiting outside a polling booth. But people continued to vote undeterred. Fathiya Mohammed, 50, proudly held up a thumb stained with the purple ink used to mark those who had voted. "Am I scared? Of course I'm not scared. This is my country," said the elderly woman, dressed in a head-to-toe abaya, who voted in her neighborhood polling station in the small town of Askan, a mixed Sunni and Shia area. "This is democracy," she added. "This is the first day I feel freedom." Some of the first to vote countrywide were policemen, out in force to protect polling centres from attack, part of draconian precautions put in place by US and Iraqi officials. Security was tight. Iraqi police provided much of the frontline protection, checking women's' handbags and even babies wrapped in blankets, while female Iraqi guards patted down women voters. Voters heading into a polling station in a boys school in Baghdad's middle-class Karada district were searched twice, first at an outer perimeter about 40 yards from the school. Then they removed their jackets and the batteries from their cellular phones, which have been used in the past to detonate bombs. Finally they walked past coils of barbed wire under the eyes of sharpshooters on nearby rooftops. Authorities banned cars from the polling stations in order to stop car bombings, a rule that left some people struggling to reach the ballot boxes. In the northern Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, a man carried 80-year-old Mohammed Karim Khader over his shoulders and trekked the last few steps to the polling station. At a polling place in eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman in a black ski mask tucked his assault rifle under one arm and held the hand of an elderly blind woman to guide her to the polls. One of the early voters was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone. He emerged from the booth with a smile, his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted, and was handed a small Iraqi flag by an official."Thanks be to God," he told reporters."I hope everyone will go out and vote." His wish appeared to have been granted. By lunchtime, an official from Iraq's Electoral Commission was speaking of a massive 72 per cent turnout, far higher than expected. Enthusiasm for voting was highest in mixed Shia-Sunni areas like Askan, and in Shia districts, where in some places more than 90 per cent of the registered voters cast their ballot. In mainly Shia Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centres. Within a few hours, four voting centres in the city had been hit by blasts but no one was killed. "I am not afraid," said Samir Khalil Ibrahim, a young man voting alone."This is like a festival for all Iraqis." In the shrine city of Najaf in the Shia heartland, hundreds of people walked calmly to polling stations. Security was very high around Najaf, the scene of earlier sectarian attacks by Sunni militants hoping to delay elections by triggering a civil war. "This is a wedding for all Iraqis. I congratulate all Iraqis on their newfound freedom and democracy," said Jaida Hamza, dressed in a black Islamic veil that also hid her face. Shias, who make up 60 per cent of Iraq's people, are expected to win the vote, overturning years of oppression. In the relatively secure Kurdish north, people flowed steadily to the polls. One illiterate man in Arbil, 76-year-old Said Rasool, came alone and was turned away, unable to read the ballot paper. He said he would return with someone to help. In Kirkuk, a city divided between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, Kurds turned out in force, as expected, but there were signs Arabs and Turkmen were following through on a threat to boycott, angered by what they see as voting rules that favour Kurds. By comparison, polling stations in mainly Sunni cities such as Ramadi and Samarra were virtually deserted in the morning, although later voting started to pick up. In Samarra, the crackle of gunfire was heard minutes after polls opened, but by midday hundreds of people were voting. One woman, covered head-to-toe in black robes, kept her face concealed, but said she voted with pride. In nearby Baiji, some people were unable to vote because electoral officials failed to turn up. "We are waiting for the manager with the key," said an election worker, apologising for the mix-up. In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. " I came here to vote for our goal, which is freedom," said Abu Ahmed, a 55-year-old Shia voter in Baquba. In Mosul, a mixed Sunni and Kurd city in the north which has been the scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, officials said turnout was suprisingly high. "So far it's gone very well, much better than expected," said a US army officer. Even in Fallujah, the devastated Sunni city that was a militant stronghold until a US assault in November, a slow stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. "We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to always be in opposition," said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after voting. The prospect of impending violence was never far away. When an unexplained boom sounded near one Baghdad voting station, some women put their hands to their mouths and whispered prayers. Others continued walking calmly to the voting stations. Several shouted in unison: "We have no fear." Electoral commission official Mijm Towirish said the fact that voters came to the polls showed Iraqis "broke a barrier of fear." Voters all across the country said they hoped the election would bring them security, jobs and a better future. "I don't have a job. I hope the new government will give me a job," said one voter, Rashi Ayash, 50, a former Iraqi lieutenant colonel. Later some local Shias handed out sweets and chocolates at the Hurriya polling station after casting their vote, giving what in many parts of Baghdad was a bloody day, a small sense of revelry. Across Iraq, joy broke out as the day went on. At one polling place in Baghdad, soldiers and voters joined hands in a dance. At another Baghdad polling station, a small group ululated as Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, a descendant of Iraq's last king, went to cast his vote. Ali leads a constitutional monarchy slate in the election. Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating."I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters.

Election proves Heroes did not die in vain...

ELECTION PROVES OUR GI SON DIED FOR GOOD CAUSE By ANDREA PEYSER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 31, 2005 -- HE DIED too soon. On the eve of Iraq's historic free election, Francis Obaji was laid to rest in the frigid ground of Arlington National Cemetery. Ten days earlier, on Jan. 19, Francis was killed in an enemy ambush in Baghdad. Ten days. Had he lived just two weeks longer, Francis would have seen yesterday's culmination of everything for which he sacrificed, fought, prayed and died. He was 21. Don't dare call it a waste. At the mere suggestion that his son's passing might be for naught, Francis' heartbroken father, Cyril, did something extraordinary. He looked up from his tears. And he laughed. "Not at all," he said with a smile. "He died for freedom," Francis' uncle, Kingsley Obaji, told me unwaveringly. "He died doing what he believed in," said Kingsley. "He was one of thousands of men and women who collectively made a difference in Iraq. There is no doubt in my mind. "He died fighting for freedom. He believed in freedom." What's more, Francis died knowing that he made a difference, his father said, and for a moment, pride overtook his sorrow. That knowledge means everything to Cyril Obaji. Calling home on the telephone from Iraq, Francis would describe the tough job he and his comrades performed in often hostile conditions. He faced the danger with eyes open. Said his dad: "They were equal to the task." "They knew at last freedom will prevail over there and democracy will reign," said Cyril. "I do believe very strongly that one day the people over there will breathe the air of peace, freedom and unity. "In the end, he's going to be an integral part of democracy." I met the Obaji family at a Nigerian-style wake held in Francis' memory at the gymnasium of Roy Wilkins Park, down the road from their Queens Village home. Hundreds of family, friends and neighbors gathered to tell stories about Francis. "Everyone loved Francis," Cyril explained. "Let's get together and say thanks to God, instead of crying. Let's celebrate the life of Francis." "He was just an American boy," said his uncle. "He loved this country, and he wanted to give back." Francis was studying microbiology at Staten Island University, with an eye toward entering medical school, when 9/11 changed him. On that awful morning, he was waiting for the ferry in lower Manhattan, and had a front-row view of the carnage. He walked nearly all the way through Brooklyn, before finding a ride back to Queens. In that time, everything he thought he lived for took a turn. All of a sudden, life was no longer just about him. At his graveside in Arlington, surrounded by more than 300 friends and relatives who traveled by bus, plane, car from New York and the Carolinas, Francis' uncle, Chief Sam Obaji, told mourners how the terror attacks drove Francis to change his life's path. He had no choice. "He suffered very much on 9/11, like so many others. He knew he was lucky he didn't die," his uncle told them. "He had to help humanity. To stop terrorism worldwide." "He wanted to help create security and peace, not only to the people of the United States, but to the people of Iraq and all over the world," his dad told me. Francis joined the National Guard in 2003, after the United States invaded Iraq. He did not tell his family, for he was certain they would object to him interrupting his studies. But he was determined to go to Iraq. Four months ago, he shipped out to Baghdad with the "Fighting 69th," a unit that has suffered more than its share of losses. Yesterday, Francis Obaji's relatives gathered in the family's Queens Village home. Cyril Obaji watched the Iraqi elections on TV nervously. Then he turned the set off. Then on again. "We pray and hope the election will come out a success," Cyril told me. "Then, Francis' death will not have been in vain."

Another Hero

Posthumous citizenship granted to Marine By Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer | January 27, 2005 ARLINGTON, Va. --He was born in Vietnam and came to America at age 6. After growing up in northern Virginia, he joined the Marines even though he was not a U.S. citizen. Cpl. Binh Le became an American on Thursday, but he could not attend the citizenship ceremony held in the shadow of the Pentagon. Last month, he was buried nearby in Arlington National Cemetery, the victim of a truck bomb in Iraq during a voluntary second tour of duty there. Le, 20, grabbed his rifle when the truck packed with explosives attacked his military post Dec. 3. He had run to a position to fire on the driver and hold back the vehicle when it exploded. His commanding officer recommended him for a Silver Star. "His final act of bravery saved the lives of others," Capt. Christopher J. Curtain wrote in a letter read at the ceremony. "I will be forever grateful for his heroism." An estimated 37,000 citizens of other countries serve in the U.S. armed forces. Since the Iraq war began, 54 have been awarded posthumous citizenship. Le was raised by his aunt and uncle in Alexandria, Va. His parents, Lien Van Tran and Kim Hoan Thi Nguyen, traveled from Vietnam for his funeral. They are divorced but would like to remain in the United States to be close to their son's grave, Nguyen said. "There's no way to describe the pain," she said. Rep. James P. Moran, D-Va., said he is working to offer citizenship to Le's parents, which could require congressional action. "I think this is a compelling enough case that we can get a single bill for citizenship for his parents," Moran said. "They certainly deserve it." Tran said they didn't have a problem with their son enlisting in the Marine Corps, but they wanted him to have time to attend college. "His main concern was to join the military so that he could help protect the country he loved so much," Tran said.

Hero condolences on "24" last night

After last night's awesome episode of my favorite counter terrorist unit, they honored Lt. Colonel David Greene. I am going to post the obit from his local newspaper after he was shot down over Iraq.

Rick Rescorla: American Hero

The Mudville Gazette has a special on Rick Rescorla, the man who fought in, among other things, the battle made into the movie We Were Soldiers Once, And Young. But being in a particular place at certain time was nothing so special as being a particular kind of man in every place and time. The survivors of the 7th Cavalry still tell awestruck stories about Rescorla. Like the time he stumbled into a hooch full of enemy soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol in Bon Song. "Oh, pardon me," he said, before firing a few rounds and racing away. "Oh, comma, pardon me," repeats Dennis Deal, who followed Rescorla that day in April 1966. "Like he had walked into a ladies' tea party!" ... After fighting in Vietnam, he returned to the United States and used his military benefits to study creative writing at the University of Oklahoma. Literary minded, even before college he had read all fifty-one volumes of the Harvard Classics and could recite Shakespeare and quote Churchill. He had started writing a novel about a mobile-air-cavalry unit, and had several stories published in Western-themed magazines. He eventually earned a bachelor's, a master's in literature, and a law degree. Later he took jobs in corporate security and become vice-president for security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter -- the largest tenant in the World Trade Center. And he was Rick Rescorla on September 11, 2001 too. After the plane hit, he made the decision to evacuate everyone he could from the tower despite a request from the Port Authority to hold in place, but Rescorla knew better. "What'd you say?" Hill (a colleague he had called by phone to help him on that day) asked. "I said, 'Piss off, you son of a bitch,' " Rescorla replied. "Everything above where that plane hit is going to collapse, and it's going to take the whole building with it. I'm getting my people the fuck out of here." Then he said, "I got to go. Get your shit in one basket and get ready to come up." When the second plane slammed into the South Tower, Rescorla knew he had been right. It had been no accident. Rescorla made one final call to his wife and spoke words which to many will seem curious yet from a certain point of view were perfectly natural. "Stop crying," he told her. "I have to get these people out safely. If something should happen to me, I want you to know I've never been happier. You made my life." There was a time when stories like this were special; they are special still but not quite so unique. Too many men all over the world -- in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the Horn of Africa or in Southeast Asia -- have said words to keep them company. Hill reached Susan (Rescorla's wife), who had just got off the phone with Sullivan. "Take it easy," he said, as she continued to sob. "He's been through tight spots before, a million times." Suddenly Susan screamed. Hill turned to look at his own television and saw the south tower collapse. He thought of the words Rescorla had so often used to comfort dying soldiers. "Susan, he'll be O.K.," he said gently. "Take deep breaths. Take it easy. If anyone will survive, Rick will survive." When Hill hung up, he turned to his wife. Her face was ashen. "Shit," he said. "Rescorla is dead." But he was wrong. Only we the living can still betray; Rick will survive as Rescorla until the end of time; undiminished and forever who he was.

Iraq the Model Strikes Back at the MSM :)

Our turn to speak now. Sarah Boxer (boxer@nytimes.com) in her latest piece on the NYT tried hard to put together some rotten limbs to produce a creature that satisfies her fantasy but she ended up introducing a new mutant to the readers and to the methods of journalism. It wasn't a surprise for me as it was just another reproduction of the old ways of the corrupt side of the MSM in dealing with facts and events.One short look at the "article" shows how naïve the writer was and how old the methods used in writing this post are. This post has fixed another nail in the casket of the gasping media. I won't be exaggerating if I said that I find a close resemblance between the ways of the media and those of terror in dealing with events; both are using ugly and cheap maneuvers to get attention. These methods could be even horrible and dangerous but never convincing.It doesn't seem that the media is working hard to catch up with time and progress; at least the performance says so. Let's go back to the "article" itself and particularly to its beginning; the writer allowed herself to put all the accusations in the front and considered the possibility that we are Iraqis as the last possible theory on the list.Maybe she thought it's too much for us to be Iraqis and love our country at the same time, so she added "who have mixed feelings…". From Boxer's point of view, an Iraqi who supports America's efforts in liberating his country from the worst tyrant in modern history and rebuilding his country after that is either a paid agent or a mentally confused person. As if clear thinking is an exclusive gift that only a journalist from the NYT could possess while anyone outside her office is simply confused. If Boxer had spent few more minutes in reading any of our posts she would've learnt that we're first of all, pro-Iraq. We never ceased to look forward for a new Iraq that is democratic and prosperous and the reason why we are pro-US is because we saw that America-the people and the administration-has made the right decision by liberating Iraq and this certainly serves the interests of both nations. We're advertising for nothing but the new Iraq that we've always dreamed of and we believe that having America's support is a necessity and a vital element in the process. We're still looking forward to seeing a strategic partnership between the two nations; a partnership from which both countries can benefit. Boxer has forgotten to mention a single word about our efforts in building the "Arabic blogging tool". We've been doing that for months now with support from the American people via "Spirit of America". She forgot to acknowledge that we're trying through this project to spread freedom of speech in the Arabic world by giving our people the opportunity to voice their opinions through a tool that overrides the barrier of language. Now, as I understood it, journalists are usually in support of anything that brings freedom of speech, and more tolerance and understanding while lessening violence. But maybe it's just that this tool will be the response that Boxer and her colleagues fear the most; they will have to deal with thousands of Iraq the models when our countrymen begin using this tool.The fact that her pathetic article might endanger us and our friends over at Friends of Democracy will not stop us from continuing the work we're doing and we're determined to accomplish what we've started because we feel responsible towards our readers and we don't write our posts to throw stupid accusations here and there. As much as I was annoyed by that "article" I cannot describe my happiness when I began reading the reactions and defense posts and comments from our brothers in the big family of the blogosphere as well as from our regular readers.These were much bigger than that mutant little incoherent group of words of Boxer's. I would like to thank you all my friends and once again I promise that I won't disappoint you. I can write a book about this "article" that has more holes than Swiss cheese (we have Swiss cheese here incase you don't know that Sarah!) but I'm not going to waste my time or our readers' on this as we all have more important things to do.

Snow for the Inauguration!!

So today it is snowing and Washington looks lovely. For the second day in a row I have just bought a small lunch downstairs rather then brave the elements. Looking forward to seeing the President tomorrow, but I know I will be freezing my tush off. Hopefully I can get some good pics of the Swearing In and the Parade. My boss and I will be in the Yellow section up close to the Podium. Still haven't heard from the Air Force about official dates for Officer Technical School. Deena is coming over tonight, and looks like I have to travel to Tallahassee for my grandmother's 88th birthday and celebration. I don't like flying, but familial duty and all. Not to much else going on, have to deal with my shoulder injury and finish my photo albums. Talk to you later :)

Rally 'round the troops

Light display keeps hopes up in neighborhood By Dennis McCarthy "From the time the boys were 7, they were playing soldier. Now they are soldiers." -- Maria Spirtos Christmas is taking its sweet time leaving the house on Long Valley Road. No one wants to see it go.Motorists driving along the main road in the gated community of Hidden Hills still slow down at night to take an appreciative look at the red, white and blue lights that form an American flag on the steep front lawn of Maria Spirtos' home. They still honk their horns and wave at her as they pass the white lights that spell out "Support Our Troops." Dozens of Maria's neighbors -- people she never knew, even though her family has lived here since 1968 -- have called to thank her for the patriotic display. "Everybody knows Maria now," says her neighbor Jill Rosenberg. "Everybody knows the wonderful family story behind that message." The display was put up a few weeks before Christmas by Maria's oldest son, Sakellanios, 22, and his friend, Lee Blumenfeld. Sake, as his family and friends call him, was home from West Point, where he'll graduate in May as a first lieutenant, assigned to a Black Hawk helicopter unit. His widowed mother hadn't planned to decorate the family home for Christmas. Her son, Michael, 21, who'd enlisted in the Army in 2003, was serving in a combat unit in Iraq, and she didn't feel much like celebrating. "They are so close. From the time the boys were 7, they were playing soldier," Maria said. "Now they are soldiers." She e-mails the mothers of other soldiers serving in Mike's unit, expressing her fears for their safety. When one mother hears from her son that everyone is OK, she contacts the other mothers. When the news is bad, the e-mails slow to a crawl. Sake understood his mother's feelings, but he knew Mike would never forgive him if he didn't put a smile on their mother's face during the holidays."One night Sake said, 'Mom, come outside, I've got something to show you.' When I saw what he had done on the lawn, I asked him why he did that? He said for Mike and our troops. I started crying and hugged him." By the time Sake and Maria got back inside the house that night, the phone was already ringing. People who had driven by the Christmas display were calling to say thank you. "I was stunned and touched that so many people I didn't even know were calling me and stopping me on the street to ask if there was anything they could do," Maria said. There was, she said: Support our troops. In a recent e-mail to his mother, Mike asked her to thank all the Hidden Hills residents who had sent packages and cards of support to his unit."There were just so many cards and gifts, mom," Michael wrote. "It was wonderful." What would be wonderful is if Mike could make it home by May to pin those first lieutenant's bars on his brother's shoulder when he graduates from West Point. "My husband would have been so proud of his boys," she said, looking out the window as another car slowed to take a long look at the holiday message shining brightly on her front lawn.

True American Hero

Sgt. Rafael Peralta, American Hero Everyone should know his name. You probably don't know Rafael Peralta's name. If we lived in a country that more fully celebrated the heroics of its men in uniform, you would. He was a sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment for Operation Dawn, the November offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which had become a haven for terrorists. What he did on the day of Nov. 15 was an awe-inspiring act of selfless sacrifice and faithfulness to his fellow Marines. The only way we can honor Sgt. Peralta's heroism is to tell his story and remember his name. What follows is mostly drawn from the reporting of Marine combat correspondent Lance Cpl. T.J. Kaemmerer, who witnessed the events on that day. Sgt. Peralta, 25, was a Mexican American. He joined the Marines the day after he got his green card and earned his citizenship while in uniform. He was fiercely loyal to the ethos of the Corps. While in Kuwait, waiting to go into Iraq, he had his camouflage uniform sent out to be pressed. He constantly looked for opportunities to help his Marine brothers, which is why he ended up where he was on Nov. 15. A week into the battle for Fallujah, the Marines were still doing the deadly work of clearing the city, house by house. As a platoon scout, Peralta didn't have to go out with the assault team that day. He volunteered to go. According to Kaemmerer, the Marines entered a house and kicked in the doors of two rooms that proved empty. But there was another closed door to an adjoining room. It was unlocked, and Peralta, in the lead, opened it. He was immediately hit with AK-47 fire in his face and upper torso by three insurgents. He fell out of the way into one of the cleared rooms to give his fellow Marines a clear shot at the enemy. During the firefight, a yellow fragmentation grenade flew out of the room, landing near Peralta and several fellow Marines. The uninjured Marines tried to scatter out of the way, two of them trying to escape the room, but were blocked by a locked door. At that point, barely alive, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it to his body. His body took most of the blast. One Marine was seriously injured, but the rest sustained only minor shrapnel wounds. Cpl. Brannon Dyer told a reporter from the Army Times, "He saved half my fire team." Kaemmerer compares Peralta's sacrifice to that of past Marine Medal of Honor winners Pfc. James LaBelle and Lance Cpl. Richard Anderson. LaBelle dove on a Japanese grenade to save two fellow Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima. Although he had just been wounded twice, Anderson rolled over an enemy grenade to save a fellow Marine during a 1969 battle in Vietnam. Peralta's sacrifice should be a legend in the making. But somehow heroism doesn't get the same traction in our media environment as being a victim or villain, categories that encompass the truly famous Jessica Lynch and Lynndie England respectively. Peralta's story has been covered in military publications, a smattering of papers including the Seattle Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, ABC News, and some military blogs. But the Washington Post and the New York Times only mentioned Peralta's name in their lists of the dead. Scandalously, the "heroism" of Spc. Thomas Wilson — the national guardsman who asked a tough question of Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld that had been planted with him by a reporter — has been more celebrated in the press than that of Peralta. Kaemmerer recounts how later on the night of Nov. 15, a friend approached him and said: "You're still here; don't forget that. Tell your kids, your grandkids, what Sgt. Peralta did for you and the other Marines today." Don't forget. Good advice for all of us.

Props to a new blog...

Just got an email from Husayn Uthman, the author of a wonderful new blog http://democracyiniraq.blogspot.com/ He is at the forefront of the battle for a democratic Middle East. A true hero, and his blog is very well done. I am going to blogroll it now so check it out..

Great article on the media..

Reader Drennan Lindsay referred us to an absolutely superb article--a speech, actually, delivered at a conference on Jan. 1--by Melanie Phillips. Ms. Phillips is a British writer whose name I've heard, but whom I have not followed closely. From now on I will. Phillips' article is titled: "The Reporting of Iraq and Israel: An Abuse of Media Power." Her focus is Great Britain, but what she says is also applicable to the American press. She begins: A friend went into Blackwells university bookshop in Oxford and asked the counter clerk: 'Do you have a copy of Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel?' 'There is no case for Israel', the counter clerk replied. She states her thesis early on, and proceeds to document it with chapter and verse, in a dense, brilliant, eloquent argument: Britain is gripped by an unprecedented degree of irrationality, prejudice and hysteria over the issues of Iraq, the terrorist jihad and Israel. All three are intimately linked; all three, however, are thought by public opinion to be linked in precisely the wrong way. This is because all three have been systematically misreported, distorted and misrepresented through a lethal combination of profound ignorance, political malice and ancient prejudices. This systematic abuse by the media is having a devastating impact in weakening the ability of the west to defend itself against the unprecedented mortal threat that it faces from the Islamic jihad. People cannot and will not fight if they don’t understand the nature or gravity of the threat that they face, so much so that they vilify their own leaders while sanitising those who would harm them. The speech is relatively long; it weighs in at 17 pages in PDF. But it is worth studying closely. Ms. Phillips concludes: The outcome is a society which no longer understands how to distinguish truth from lies, no longer understands or accepts the desirability of objectivity and no longer is capable of rational debate based on facts and logic. Instead, all evidence is filtered through prism of prior political prejudice and emotion to which it is wrenched to fit. It replaces evidence by propaganda, rationality by gullibility. And it is perhaps the single greatest incitement to terror. Terrorism is designed to achieve maximum publicity and to manipulate public revulsion so that pressure is put on the leaders of the democracies to surrender. It cannot be said too often that what drives al Qaeda is not the exercise of disproportionate force by the west but the perception of its weakness and incapacity or unwillingness to fight in its own defence. But even al Qaeda must surely have been taken aback by the craven willingness of the British media to fall into line by abusing and persecuting their own leaders at a time of war. These terrorists know that the more barbaric their acts, the more hysteria and pressure the British media will direct at Blair and Bush. So al Qaeda has every incentive to ratchet up the atrocities. That’s why the hostage Kenneth Bigley was videoed sobbing for his life in a cage; and the media duly do what the terrorists want and put it on their front pages and news bulletins, and the pressure on Blair to split from America becomes more and more intolerable. The appalling result of all this is that, if a terrorist outrage in London were to claim the lives of hundreds or thousands of people, the reaction of many Britons might not be a revival of the spirit of the Blitz and an iron determination to defeat fascism and tyranny. It might be instead to turn on Tony Blair and blame him directly for bringing about the slaughter. And that, of course, is precisely what makes such a terrible outcome more likely. There can be little doubt that al Qaeda, such a shrewd judge of western decadence and the differences in moral fibre between the countries of the west, will have noted the fact that in Britain, the worse the terrorist outrage that is committed, the more the public will turn on Tony Blair. Every single defeatist, distorted or dishonest article about Iraq, Israel and the war on terror makes another barbaric atrocity more likely. It is this weakness and moral confusion that comprise the great goal of terrorist strategy; it is this that has characterised the west’s response to Islamic terror for many decades; it is this that has brought us to where we are today. In the war that has been declared upon the free world, the western media’s abuse of power is perhaps the most lethal weapon of all.

East Asia Tsunami leads to Blog explosion

Video Blogs Break Out With Tsunami Scenes By ANTONIO REGALADO and JESSICA MINTZ Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL January 3, 2005; Page B1 When twenty-one-year-old Jordan Golson launched his Web diary, or blog, in early December, his conservative views on news and politics weren't exactly in demand, attracting about 10 surfers a day. But by last Thursday, he was struggling to keep his site named "Cheese and Crackers" up and running as it racked up 640,000 hits. The difference: tsunami videos. Mr. Golson's site -- at jlgolson.blogspot.com -- is just one of dozens of locations on the Internet hosting amateur videos of the Indian Ocean disaster. Many have been deluged with visitors eager to see more of the gripping footage than TV offers, or to watch videos over and over again on their own time. Some of these "video blogs," like Mr. Golson's, are pre-existing text blogs, which typically include commentary and views on current events.Others have just sprung up in the last week. WaveofDestruction.org, created by an Australian blogger to host tsunami videos, logged 682,366 unique visitors from last Wednesday through Sunday morning, and has more than 25 amateur videos of the impact so far. "The ease of putting something online is pretty much instant," says Geoffrey Huntley, the founder of Wave of Destruction. "At a media company, I'm sure there are channels you have to go through -- copyright, legal, editorial, etc. Blogging is instant." Even before the tsunami, media watchers had predicted that 2005 would be a big year for video blogging, also known as vlogging. Jay Rosen, chair of the Department of Journalism at New York University and a media blogger himself, says the unique videos of the waves hitting shore could be a "breakthrough" event for the Web. Last year, video bloggers already showed their muscle by rapidly distributing a clip of singer Ashlee Simpson caught lip synching on "Saturday Night Live," and another of the Daily Show's Jon Stewart clashing with the hosts of CNN's "Crossfire." According to Andreas Wacker, founder of blogsnow.com, a site that ranks blogs, the Crossfire video was downloaded by more people on the Internet than saw it on TV. "When the Internet wants to see something, it sees it," he says. Even so, the genre is still in its infancy -- and like much on the Web, its protocols are still evolving. To obtain the videos, many bloggers linked to TV Web sites, pulled them from Internet bulletin boards or snatched them from each other, in a chaotic rush to make the unedited scenes available to curious surfers. There's a big premium for dramatic videos showing the moment the waves hit land.

We need our Warriors

Five days before Christmas, 88-year-old Clarence Evans gave his grandson the gift of his dreams. And 21-year-old Giles Evans of Nashville donned the World War II flight jacket — that his grandfather wore as a B-24 squadron commander — as if he had been given the world. And in a real way, he had. Freedom requires warriors. They are the last defense of our liberties and my ability as a journalist to pursue my profession. They are sent far away to confront tyranny and genocide, lest we repeat history and allow these cancers to spread over the globe. Yet too often, this nation and my profession are predisposed to treat these warriors as a threat — to civilian authority, to the Constitution, to peace on Earth, good will to men. If you have ever spent an extended time around these men and women, you’d know they desire nothing more than to complete their mission and come home to their families, have children, go to soccer games and school plays and grow old with their spouses. No one wants peace more than the warrior because heroes such as Clarence Evans of Fayetteville, Tenn., have seen the consequences of its absence. They shudder at praise for risking their lives. To them, freedom’s true heroes are those who did not return to grow old. They paid the ultimate price; they deserve the laurels. And so Evans’ gift to his grandson, Giles, did not come easy. The life of a warrior — as represented in that flight jacket — is difficult. And Giles, a third-year cadet at the U.S. Military Academy, will soon be an Army aviator and a West Point grad like his grandfather. Evans initially tried to discourage his grandson. ‘’Granddad was telling me all about the bad things’’ concerning academy life, Giles said. ‘’He wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing it for prestige or glory. ‘’I’ve given a lot of thought about it, after Sept. 11 to now. If there is something out there to defend against, if there is going to be a fight, I want to be there.’’ Thursday night in Nashville, another son of Fayetteville handed over the warrior mantle to more Tennessee academy cadets. The occasion was the Tennessee All Academy/ROTC ball. It is put on by the parents of Tennessee youth who, instead of the traditional college life, choose to become military officers and leaders. ‘’It is gratifying for an old sailor to cast his tired eyes across this hall to see these young people in training to take my place,’’ said retired Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, a Tennessee native. ‘’I am proud to be a Cold War warrior. We did not know when it would end, but our nation paid the price. Today’s struggle may be more dangerous. This generation has taken up the banner and carried it forward. This generation will see it through. More people will learn to live in a free society.’’ For warriors and their families, however, living in a free society can demand additional sacrifice. Chely Wright’s hit song, The Bumper of My SUV, was about the angry reaction she received in Nashville because of a Marine Corps sticker on her vehicle supporting her brother, a Marine. She told CNN that an agitated woman began honking, swerving and flicking her lights: ‘’I look in the rear view, and she’s flipping me the bird, hard.’’ When the woman pulled her vehicle up, she unloaded: ‘’Your war is wrong. You’re a baby killer.’’ Such an opinion should not be unexpected. How would you expect people to feel if what you did for a living was most readily represented back home in pictures of the abuse at Abu Ghraib, or the latest explosion in Iraq? And you’d probably want to find another job. But warriors won’t. They’ve taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and this nation. They do it facing all kinds of risk. Reuters reported last week that ‘’six Navy SEAL special operations commandos and the wives of two of them sued The Associated Press and one of its reporters for publishing photos taken from a Web site that appeared to show the SEALs abusing prisoners in Iraq. The suit, filed in San Diego Superior Court, said the pictures did not depict abuse and instead put the lives of the soldiers at risk by exposing their faces to the world.’’ SEALs are a covert force. Their identities and faces are concealed so they can go into the most dangerous places. Expose those faces, and they become a prime target for terrorists. Along with their families. The AP distributed the photos around the world. ‘’We believe that none of the claims have any solid basis in the law as we understand it,’’ said Dave Tomlin, the AP’s assistant general counsel. It’s not about the law. It’s about common decency. National Public Radio reported: ‘’The amateur snapshots show SEALs sitting on hooded and handcuffed Iraqis. Another picture shows a SEAL using a flashlight mounted on his pistol to illuminate the captured man’s face for a photo. The Navy maintains these are acceptable procedures for commandos as part of intelligence gathering.’’ Jim Houston, attorney for the SEALs and their families, told NPR: ‘’These guys are back in Iraq. Their faces are all over Al-Jazeera (the Arab broadcasting company). They’re on billboards in Cuba accusing them of being fascists and Nazis. There are photographs on Web sites where they’ve pulled out the digital faces that say, ‘Remember these faces.’ ‘’ Being a warrior in America is a difficult life to pursue. Without these warriors, however, there would be no America. Or a free world. Clarence Evans preserved a free world by taking the four B-24 bomber squadrons under his command forward — without fighter or full bomber wing support — and destroyed a Messerschmitt aircraft plant Feb. 24, 1943. Then, he kept his doomed plane straight so his crew could bail out. He was shot twice in the legs and was a POW for 18 months. Giles Evans will soon preserve our freedoms against terror behind a jet or helicopter. As Mark Gill — the father of West Point Plebe Marcus Gill — prayed at Thursday’s event: ‘’God bless the warrior who defends those who are unable to defend themselves.’’