Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Russia Threatens to Target Proposed NATO Missile Sites In Czech Republic and Poland




The town of Dobris is one of the areas being consider for an underground anti-missile complex according to Prague Monitor








Moscow Rejects U.S. Reason For Expanding Missile Defense

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006573965




February 26, 2007 5:41 a.m. EST


Komfie Manalo - All Headline News Correspondent
Moscow, Russia (AHN) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday rejected the U.S. claim that the planned expansion of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic was aimed at targets in Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Lavrov told the Interfax news agency, "To counter threats, even imagined ones, radars and antimissile launch pads wouldn't seem necessary because the trajectories of the imagined missiles flying from Iran or the DPRK go in an absolutely different direction."

"We are studying all this and we must understand what is happening around our borders regarding the configuration of strategic stability," he said.

Washington is planning to deploy a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as part of the U.S. expanded missile shield against ballistic missiles particularly from what it called "rouge states."

The Bush administration repeatedly assure Moscow that the missile defense system was not intended to harm Russian interests but Russia will not accept this.

Lavrov declared, "We have to use facts."

"We were once told that NATO would not expand and that no military structure would move into eastern Europe. The time of rhetoric has gone and we want to make decisions, guided by real facts, on how our security should be guaranteed," he said.

The planned missile defense plan is straining relations between Moscow and Washington. Last week, a top Russian missile commander issued a warning that its Strategic Missile Forces could target these facilities if Poland and the Czech Republic agrees to host them.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

God Bless The 101st Currahee!!!!!

Of the many video Unit tributes and action clips from Iraq and Afghanistan and I have seen on Utube and MySpace this is one of the best edited and moving I have every seen.

Johnson741 stay safe and Thank you for your Service and by all means keep making videos you have a real Talent. God Bless you and the 101st and all servicemen and women who are waging the GWOT.



From Johnson741
A video about my tour in Ramadi, Iraq... A video about my tour in Ramadi, Iraq.
A co 1/506 2nd Plt Maniacs

Music by Johnny Cash

Some video clips credit to Mike Fumento
http://www.fumento.com/ (more) (less)

The families don't know her, but she knows their lost sons and daughters.
And she spends a lot of time in Arlington, Virginia, making sure they aren't forgotten.

By JOHN BARRY
Published February 18, 2007
Courtesy of John Barry and the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times

ARLINGTON, Virginia - The widows and children had bundled themselves in parkas and snowsuits. They looked very young, standing in a frozen field of white headstones at Arlington National Cemetery.

It was 18 degrees, and the wind was blowing at a raw 20 mph. Each one clutched a screwdriver to punch holes in the icy ground. Holly darted among them with boxes of silk roses, her head bobbing above theirs.

She is a 6-foot-2 blond with the lanky physique of a model, except layered in sweatshirts. "Amazon infidel," she calls herself.

A Rose From Holly

She is out among the headstones every week and knows the stories behind every one. The widows and the kids took the roses and scattered among the headstones of Section 60. It's the section set aside for men and women killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 300 are laid to rest there.

The widows made their way through the rows. At their husbands' graves, they knelt and punched at the stiff sod with their screwdrivers. Some of them had small hammers, and you could hear their tap-tapping. The children helped. When they had made their holes, they inserted the wire stems of the silk red roses. They knelt quietly in the wind.

The word had gone out by Internet that Holly would be at Section 60 on the Saturday before Valentine's Day. Last year, she spread most of the roses herself. But this year, widows and children, mothers and fathers had heard about this woman named Holly and drove or flew in from all over the country. There were about 50 of them.

Almost no one knew her full name: Holly Holeman. She was just Holly to them, a mysterious e-mailer who had sent photos of headstones, of flowers by the graves. All year, the e-mails came, far-off reassurances that someone was taking care of the graves.

Eventually, they learned that her day job is making floral arrangements and delivering them to funerals at Arlington.

Holly had found the families through a Web site run by a Long Island businessman named Michael Patterson. It has biographies and news accounts of all American casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan buried in Section 60. Patterson started it while researching the history of the cemetery for a book he has always wanted to write. Now keeping up the Web site has overtaken his book.

He got one of Holly's mysterious e-mails one day. "She wouldn't give me her last name. She said, 'Here's a photo of a new headstone. Use it if you think it's worthwhile.' " He did, and soon she was sending dozens more photos. He posted them: Courtesy of Holly.

The families tried to figure it out. Each thought about the day of the funeral. Was she that tall woman they saw standing in the distance, the one partly behind a tree?

Paula Davis ran into her a year ago on her regular Sunday visit to the grave of her son Justin. He was 19 when he died last June on a rooftop in southeastern Afghanistan. Friendly fire was the suspected cause.

Davis lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland, so she gets by to visit all the time, haunted by the fear that her son and all the others in Section 60 will soon be forgotten. She pictures a silent field, no visitors. "People go on with their lives," she says.

One Sunday, a tall, fast-talking woman approached Davis. She offered oatmeal cookies and coffee. Davis learned this woman wasn't about to forget anyone.

Everybody has a story like that. Beth Downs had randomly called a florist shop near Arlington Cemetery from her Florida home in Fort Walton Beach. She wanted a spray of flowers for her husband's new grave. She happened to get Holly on the phone.

Her husband, Air Force Major William Brian Downs, 40, had died in a crash in Iraq on May 30, 2005. He was helping train an Iraqi air force. He was aboard a Russian prop plane with three other airmen and an Iraqi pilot, surveying emergency landing strips. No one knows why the plane crashed or even who was flying it.

Each of the four Americans was buried separately. Then a later service was held for commingled remains of all five on the plane. The lost Iraqi pilot, Captain Ali Abass, became the only Iraqi laid to rest in Section 60.

The group funeral was a major political event, with a military contingent from Iraq present and the national media covering it. Holly saw a stunned young widow with three small children and hung back. Afterward, Beth went looking for the original grave that held most of her husband's remains. Holly drove past, stopped and introduced herself. She apologized at the same time, Beth recalls. "She said she wanted me to have privacy."

They didn't meet again until the Saturday before Valentine's.

Floridians Lee and Janine Woodliff had flown from Port Charlotte to Arlington Cemetery for their son's (Michael)birthday last August 20. He would have been 24. He was killed when a bomb blew apart his Humvee in Iraq on March 2, 2004. His parents had brought with them two suitcases packed with 300 silk roses. They spent two days putting one on each grave site.

"On the second day, Holly was there," Lee Woodliff says. "In a very kind and gentle way, she said she would help if we ever wanted anything."

Her photos of their son's headstone began arriving after they got home.

Jill Cockerham from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, says Holly knew all about her son Gray, a Marine, before they even met at the cemetery. She had read about him on Patterson's Web site. Gray Cockerham, 21, was killed by a roadside bomb on August 21, 2005.

"She knew about my son in elementary school."

As she talked on the Saturday before Valentine's Day, Cockerham made her way down the frozen rows with her rose and screwdriver. She surveyed the field.

"Each year the rows get deeper."

Among Holly and the families, gray-haired Tom Guggliuzza circulated with jugs of cocoa and coffee. He's retired. He's supposed to be living in Bangor, Pennsylvania. He came for his nephew's funeral at Arlington two years ago and never went home. He is at Section 60 three to five days a week. He reads to the dead.

Families send him letters, poems and books. He sits on a golf stool at grave sites and reads out loud. "I've learned to love these kids," he said. He was there on the previous Thursday, at the funeral for Army Specialist Nicholas Brown, 24, who was killed by a bomb on January 22. Tom saw Brown's widow, Sara, standing in the frigid wind with a month-old baby.

He said he has stayed longer in Virginia than he ever expected, but "I just can't leave them." He senses their spirits.

"I go through boxes of tissues," Tom said, pointing to a half-empty box of Kleenex beside him on the ground.

Holly doesn't cry.

"I'm here for the living," she said. She worries she might be off-putting to some families. She's taller than most of them; she flings sentences so fast they can't catch them all; she fears she appears "seemingly emotionless." She often hangs back. "I'm a little hard to take. I'm a stoic. I don't do tears with the widow. But I'm good in a trench."

She's single and works in a flower shop, on her feet all day binding blossoms together for weddings, birthdays, apologies and sad goodbyes. That's all she'll say about herself; this is about the soldiers.

She remembers the first one to come to Arlington National Cemetery from the Iraq war. He was Army Captain Russell Rippetoe, 27. He had manned a nighttime checkpoint in western Iraq on August 3, 2003. A car full of civilians approached. A pregnant woman got out and ran toward the soldiers, screaming. Rippetoe stepped toward her, and the car exploded. Rippetoe and two other soldiers were killed.

Holly was to deliver a floral arrangement to the funeral. An Army Ranger called her and asked her to bring along a camera to take a picture of the flowers. That was how it all started.

The mothers got to her. Her own mother had a philosophy about soldiers who die. Their wives go on; their mothers can't.

Holly stays behind, after the bugle has blown. The mothers know that she's there.

Most of the families had left by late afternoon. They had talked about getting together again at Easter to take the roses up. Holly saves them each year, sewing them on a blanket that she sometimes brings to Section 60 and lays under a large holly tree.

They all drove away. Holly dropped off leftover oatmeal cookies at the guardhouse at the Tomb of the Unknowns. She twisted the wire stem of a silk rose onto the crypt of her father, a sergeant in counterintelligence during World War II. He was 6-8. She got her height from him.

The day was fading. Her last chore was her strays. These were men and women technically not killed in action in Iraq, and therefore not buried in Section 60.

They are on Holly's rose list nonetheless.

So down the road at Section 66, she stopped her car at the grave of Taryn Ashley Robinson, 22, daughter of a major general. Her death last year was, in Holly's words, "the saddest, damnedest thing I've ever heard."

She had been an Air Force Academy graduate, a second lieutenant. She had been taking flight lessons in San Antonio, Texas. On Sept. 5, 2005, her small plane struck a giant power line.

The plane exploded, killing the instructor. She managed to crawl out of the wreckage on fire, her neck broken. A passerby found her, 80 percent of her body burned. She died in a burn unit after four months in an induced coma.

Holly knelt at her grave, punched her screwdriver in the ground, planted the silk rose. She remained kneeling. Her hands were red, windburned.

Taryn really belongs down the road in Section 60, she said.

"For my money, she's one of them."

John Barry can be reached at (727) 892-2258 or jbarry@sptimes.com.
A message from Holly.

Monday, February 26, 2007


ALERT!
The City Council Veteran’s Committee will be having a hearing on:

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Time: 1:00 PM

Location: Committee Room – City Hall

Chairperson: Hiram Monserrate

Details: Oversight – Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs (MOVA)

digg it

All veterans are asked to attend this hearing. This will be one of the most important hearings the Veteran’s Committee will have this year.

According to it’s website, the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs is mandated by Local Law 53 of the NYC Charter of 1987. Its mission is to advise the Mayor on issues and projects impacting on the veterans’ community. They offer information and make referrals for veterans and members of the military to various agencies as well as supporting veteran and military initiatives that are produced throughout the city.

At the last MOVA oversight hearing, Ms. Joynes testified that the office saw and made referrals to 300 individuals per month. This will probably be the ONE and ONLY chance we will have as a community to speak to the City Council about what kind of job Ms. Joynes has done as the MOVA director and how Mayor Bloomberg and his administration have failed MOVA (lack of funding, resources, no voice, no veterans advisory board, a move out of 346 Broadway that was not made public to the community, etc.) while claiming to be pro-veteran.

Below is what I wrote in January when the Mayor moved MOVA from 346 Broadway to Gold Street. Please come to this hearing and make your voice heard!

Joe Bello
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Letter fom Joe Bello New York Metro Vets To Mayor Bloomberg


Dated January 11, 2007

For the past couple of year's discussions have been ongoing as to the job Clarice Joynes has done as the current Director of the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs (MOVA) here in New York City. I, along with many others have made comments and statements regarding the poor leadership within the office.

However, the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs - the office (even when consistently under funded) has always been a vital office and with our country at war, this office is still vital and can work to do great things with the proper leadership.

Last Friday NIGHT (January 5th) the Mayor's Office of Veteran's Affairs (with no notice to the veteran's community) was moved from 346 Broadway, Room 819 to the following new address:

100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY

The only way you would know of the new address is if you went to the MOVA website and looked at the address and I have been informed that the new office is nothing more than three cubicles and a table.

This cannot be understated as a dramatic and unsettling move by Mayor Bloomberg and his administration. Besides vacating the location the office has been for years, they have also left behind ALL the veteran organizations that are in the hallway.

MOVA has been the anchor to the veteran organizations at 346 Broadway. Many veterans are now concerned that with the anchor gone, this may mean the end of the office's there, including the United War Veterans Council, organizers of the annual NYC Veterans Day Parade and other events.

It is important for the ENTIRE veterans community to keep an eye on this issue. Taken in conjunction with the many issues currently on-going (the veterans advisory board, the Extended Benefits Package, Veteran Vendors, Homelessness) this is no BS and should be taken as a real wake-up call.

While the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs listed as a mayoral office in the city charter, we cannot allow Mayor Bloomberg to marginalize the office beyond what it already is.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Check out our review at http://www.choctawcreek.com/

THE COLD WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION

cold war veterans association This Month we review the Cold War Veterans Association, it's mission, location, joining requirements and why you should be part of it. Also some pretty neat merchandise they have available for Veterans of the Cold War and otherwise.

Right off the bat let me say no you do not have to be an Air Force vet to be in the CWVA but as an Air Force vet myself I chose to display our emblem. The CWVA acts as an unified voice for Cold War vets like myself to raise issues with congress concerning our benefits and right now the association is trying to get the Cold War medal approved by congress.

So how do you qualify to be in the association? you simply have to have been in the military as active duty or reserve during the Cold War 1945-1991 and have your DD form 214 as proof of service. Civilian workers on military bases and postal workers do not qualify.

Why should you join? because the bigger the association gets the louder the voice is in the congressional ear. There is strength in numbers my friends.

Links for Cold War Vets

Cold War Veterans Association
----------------------------------
Cold War Vet's Merchandise ( I have ordered from them myself, fast shipping! ) |

Check this out from Michael Yon : Online Magazine

Mystery Weapon #2: Experts Only


The jury is . . . out.

“What in the world is this?” That sentence was translated into “Mystery Weapon Found in Iraq.” The “mystery weapon” characterization packed pizzazz, but the words were not mine. Had the “mystery weapon” been found somewhere other than Mosul, Iraq alongside 27 surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank mines, RPGs, blasting caps and tons of other munitions, the weapon likely would have been dismissed.

If loaded words were not ricocheting around the world about Iranian weapons being found in Iraq, the “mystery weapon” depicted in a photograph taken back in 2005 would likely garner attention more commensurate with its size and lethality, or lack thereof.

I wrote about the night it was captured and destroyed as part of an enormous weapons and explosives cache in “The Devil’s Foyer.” Amid all the rockets and prefabbed IEDs—some bombs were cast into concrete to resemble road curbs—discovered in the underground lair, the “mystery weapon” warranted a single photo, which I never bothered to publish until just some days ago.

Yet in order to understand why soldiers and I did not dismiss the gadget offhand as a toy, it’s helpful to understand a bit of my background. I’ve known toy guns since the days I was small enough wear feathers and ride our German Shepherd as a horse. I had real firearms before reaching puberty. I could grab a gun and walk out the back door and go shooting and hunting anytime, without asking. My friends and I made our own cannons and rockets, rocket launchers, fireworks and real bombs. Later, while in Special Forces, I was a weapons and explosives specialist.

These hands have held thousands of weapons. Yet that night, I was unsure whether “Mystery Weapon #1″ was a toy. Might have been a spud-gun, maybe a grenade launcher; definitely appeared homemade. But “homemade” does not equal “toy” and shouldn’t denote “harmless.”

Many of our soldiers are killed by devastating homemade weapons. On January 15th of this year we lost five people to a gigantic homemade weapon, a bomb, in Mosul, ironically near to where the “Mystery Weapon #1″ had been unearthed 18 months earlier. read more


An EOD (Explosives Ordnance Disposal) expert took the ball, and very gently and carefully, slowly walked away. He was unsure what the ball was.

Later, I asked many people what this was, but nobody to my knowledge was ever able to say definitively what it was or where it came from. Nobody was able to give it a name, origin, and probable year of birth

Thursday, February 22, 2007

All Volunteer Force - 41 Percent Southern States

With a population of 300 million Americans, you will find that less than 1 percent of American Citizens has joined the Armed Forces' "All Volunteer Force" to help protect the other 99 percent of the population.


The Department of Defense (DOD) says more volunteers come from the Southern portions of the United States than any other region.


Read the facts here: Recruiting average.


1.The South accounts for 41 percent of new recruits.

2. North Central 24 percent


3. West 21 percent


4. Northeast 14 percent


5.Northeast produces the fewest number of new recruits


'Shared Sacrifice'?

Active Duty and Retired Military Personnel…..

The Great Betrayal of our Career Military Members!

As A Military Retiree, You're Retirement / Retainer Pay Is At Risk!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Arab Street Yearns for New Cold War
In this Article from Arab News Network you get the impression the Arab Street is looking forward to a renewed adversarial relationship between USA and Russia.

Back to the Cold War?



By: Mahmoud Labadi


After a long estival sleep, it seems that the Russian bear is waking up in this hibernal season. Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting alert once again. Russia, after being lethargic on the International arena since the collapse of the Soviet Union is mounting the stage again. President Putin’s tough remarks at the Munich International Security Conference on February 10. 07 against the United States of America were reminiscent of the Cold War period of the sixties, seventies and eighties of the last century. Putin criticized the U.S. for creating a “Unipolar” system run unilaterally by the sole Super Power, saying “one single center of power, one single center of force and one single master.”

“The increasing disdain of fundamental principles of International law was provoking a new arms race in the World, he said. “The U.S. has trespassed the limits in almost all concerns” the President stated. In his opinion, the eastward expansion of NATO was a “provocation” for Russia. Thus criticizing the U.S. for conducting negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, the new NATO allies to base ballistic defense missiles on their soil. The US says that those missiles are directed against missiles eventually launched by Iran and North Korea, but the Russians reject the argument. Mr. Putin added that Russia would present a proposal for a ban on stationing weapons in outer space to the Western World.

“The monopole world order had not proved to be efficient. Quite the opposite was the case- the end of the Cold War had produced by far more casualties and armed conflicts than ever before”, Putin said. In his opinion this development was caused by the attempt to solve problems unilaterally, yet the result was more human tragedies. The natural consequence according to Putin was that the fundamental principles of International law were disdained in a world where “nobody” felt safe. “Why is it necessary nowadays to start bombing and shooting on any given occasion”?, he asked.

The Russian criticism explicitly addressed the role of the UN. The use of force could never be more than the last resort in politics and needed to be legitimized by UN resolutions, but not by decisions of the European Union or NATO.
“US plans to deploy an anti-missile defense shield in East Europe would equal an arms race not beneficial for Europe”, said Putin. Read more







Sunday, February 18, 2007

Army 01 Car Nipped at Wire at Daytona 500

Well, It was a heartbreaker for the US Army team at Daytona as Mark Martin and the 01 Car was unable to hold off a hard charging Kevin Harvick. Martin a was a sentimental favorite in his 23rd start at Daytona without a win . but he will have to wait till next year . The race was a1 entertainment right to the checkered flag full of crashes and drama. I have to say it more races like that and I might become a NASCAR fan.

Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin
AP Photo/Glenn Smith
Kevin Harvick nosed past Mark Martin while cars crashed behind them

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Army Racing Podcast









Mark Martin
AP Photo/J. Pat Carter
Mark Martin came closer to winning the Daytona 500 than he ever has before. The veteran has started the race 23 times without a victory.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Czech Cold War survivors on front line


By Gethin Chamberlain in Trocavec, Czech Republic, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:25am GMT 18/02/2007

They made it through one cold war on the side of the Soviet Union, but now the people of the Czech Republic have been thrust back on to the front line of a new nuclear stand-off - this time on the side of the West.


Jan Neoral, mayor of Trocavec, at the former Soviet military base
Jan Neoral, mayor of Trocavec, at the former Soviet military base: ‘We are afraid of terrorists’

America wants to site the radar base for its new anti-missile defence system, aimed at containing the threat from states such as Iran and North Korea, in an old Soviet-era base less than 40 miles from the Czech capital, Prague.

But the hi-tech plan - dubbed "Son of Star Wars" in a nod to Ronald Reagan's original Strategic Defence Initiative - has caused consternation in the neighbouring rural villages, where facilities are so basic that many people have to draw water from the wells outside their homes in buckets.

It is not just the prospect of becoming potential targets in a new global confrontation that has raised -concerns; the inhabitants fear the radar poses a threat to their health and even their television signals.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union stationed SS-20 nuclear missiles in the Jince military zone in the Brdy hills; since then, the Czech military have used it as an artillery firing range. But now, the Americans plan to demolish the rusting, green painted, metal gate, the fence of corrugated iron topped by barbed wire and the concrete barracks left over from the Soviet era to make way for the 150 or so staff who will man the new radar base. Read more.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Patriot Guard Riders


Members of the Patriot Guard Riders hold flags over the hearse before the funeral for U.S. Army Sgt. James Regan, in Manhasset, New York, February 16, 2007, who was killed by a roadside bomb with serving with the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Baqubah, Iraq.

AlertNet.org | Reuters Found








Family members arrive for the funeral for U.S. Army Sgt. James Regan, in Manhasset, New York, February 16, 2007, who was killed by a roadside bomb with serving with the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Baqubah, Iraq.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Hi Cold War Vet Blog Fans The Milbloggies have begun and show your boy some love with a nomination. Thanks !!!




2007 Milbloggies
U.S. Military (Veteran)

Nominate




Sean P. Eagan
Northeast Zone Director
Cold War Veterans Association
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CWVA NY 716-708-0505

Cold War Veterans Blog

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Hooah radio saluting our troops and families.




Listen Here

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Download these free selection of cool Army Wallpaper. More…




Click on Thumbnail for 1024 x 768 image








Important Veteran-American Announcement

This announcement says:

A Gathering of Eagles

“A helpless sparrow can drift with the wind. It takes an “Eagle” to fly against the storm.”

1000 Hours, March 17, 2007
Viet Nam Memorial Wall
Washington, D.C.

The anti-war/anti-America groups are planning a “march to the Pentagon” on March 17, 2007… this group has intentions that defenders of freedom cannot overlook or allow to occur… there must be a challenge.

Here’s a portion from the “anti-war” web site March 17 — March on Pentagon!:

Time to Turn Up the Heat! that causes considerable concern: “The biggest single group of new volunteers and activists are soldiers and marines who have returned from Iraq. Their family members and other veterans are also organizing to March on the Pentagon. The opening rally will assemble at the Vietnam Memorial (Constitution Gardens) at noon.”

The anti-war/anti-America group cannot be allowed to use the Viet Nam Memorial Wall as a back-drop to their anti-America venom and stain the hallowed ground that virtually cries out with blood at the thought of this proposed desecration … it must not happen.

Many are encouraging a “Gathering of Eagles” (symbolic of our freedom) at the Viet Nam Memorial Wall on March 17, 2007, as a signal that a segment of America does not agree with the “anti-war/anti-America” rally on the same day. As noted above, the anti-war/anti-America crowd is publishing intention to use the Viet Nam Memorial as a backdrop to their rally…………….this cannot happen……………it cannot go unchallenged.

We know some of the, who, what, when, why, where, …….it’s up to each of us to supply the “how”.

More details to follow………………..
Harry Riley, COL, USA, Ret , hmriley@cox.net

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Icy blat from Putin hints at new cold war (By GERARD BAKER)

IF THE US ADMINISTRATION didn’t have enough to worry about, given the current state of the world, it spent much of the weekend wondering whether Moscow had declared another Cold War. On Saturday President Putin delivered the most aggressive verbal assault on the US and its European allies that a Russian leader has uttered since the Cold War ended 16 years ago. In a speech to the annual Munich Security Conference that evoked memories of the days when the two superpowers threatened to wipe each other and much of the world off the map, Putin attacked what he called the “illegitimate” US foreign policy of the last few years. In unusually brusque and undiplomatic language, he said the US had “overstepped its boundaries in every sphere”, had fuelled a new nuclear arms race and was aggressively destabilising the Middle East.

This was more than just another familiar, if blunt, recitation of the supposed crimes of the Bush Administration. Speaking to an audience that included European leaders and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, as well as Americans, Putin attacked Nato. He said the inclusion of former Soviet satellite states in the Atlantic alliance had destabilised Europe and threatened Russia. “Against whom is this expansion directed?” he asked. Not since Nikita Khrushchev banged his shoe on the table at the United Nations in 1960 has an international gathering heard such an icy blast from Moscow’s leadership. US officials were careful to play down the unsettling new Russian tone. Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, speaking at the conference yesterday (Sunday), gently mocked Putin’s performance, saying that it “almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time. Almost”. Gates in fact went out of his way to sound a strikingly emollient tone, admitting US mistakes in the last few years. For a century, he said, the US had enjoyed a reputation of being a force for good in the world but he acknowledged that some of that had been lost in recent years and that the US had work to do to repair its reputation.

John McCain, the Arizona senator and leading contender for the Republican nomination in next year’s presidential election, who has been unsparing in his criticism of Putin’s authoritarian tendencies in the past, was restrained, merely taking issue with Putin’s characterisation of the modern world as a “unipolar” one. US officials noted pointedly that it was Europeans, including some leaders of the eastern European countries that used to live under the Russian heel, who were present at the weekend conference, who were most angered by Moscow’s new tone. German government officials were privately furious with the Russian leader’s remarks. Coming as it did on German soil, just minutes after Chancellor Merkel had given a warm diplomatic overview of transatlantic relations, Putin’s speech was considered a breach of the normal diplomatic protocols.

It was more than discourteous, however. The Munich conference, the most important annual transatlantic security policy forum, originated in the darkest days of the Cold War. Chancellor Merkel, who lived under Soviet domination of eastern Europe as an East German citizen in the 1980s, is under no illusions about the political instincts of Putin, the former KGB agent. But she and her aides had not imagined that the Russian leader would deliver such a blunt attack in the midst of her efforts to improve relations among European countries and were puzzled by the tone. US officials believe the speech was intended to represent Russia as a muscular new power in the world, after its long decline and humiliation since Cold War days. Bolstered by increased energy prices in the past five years, a continuing healthy economic expansion and signs that its old adversary in Washington has run into serious global trouble, the Russian leadership seems eager to show that it is back as an actor on the world stage.The sudden apparent deterioration in US-Russian relations, especially with a man of whom President Bush has spoken so warmly, did not seem to alarm Americans, however.

The Munich event has been dominated for the past few years by transatlantic splits as the US found itself under attack from its old allies over the war in Iraq. Throughout that time, Donald Rumsfeld, the former defence secretary, played the role of principal villain at the conference. This year Europeans were presented with a new villain, and perhaps in the process were reminded that, for all its faults, America may not after all really be the most threatening nation on earth.


-THE TIMES

Monday, February 12, 2007

Cold War Weapons Tests May Have
Harmed US Veterans



From 1962 through 1973, the Department of Defense’s Deseret Test Center conducted Project 112, a program to test new chemical and biological weapons. The tests conducted in Utah, Hawaii and at sea exposed military and civilian personnel to hazardous materials. In these recently declassified fact sheets, the Department of Defense reveals details about the ships and units involved in the tests and to what substances their crews and other personnel may have been exposed.















IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 471-03
July 01, 2003

DoD Completes Deseret Test Center Investigation

Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs, announced yesterday the completion of DoD’s investigation into the 1962-1973 Deseret Test Center operational chemical and biological warfare testing done under Project 112.

The announcement comes with the release of the final 10 detailed fact sheets and two updated fact sheets. These fact sheets, when added to the 46 fact sheets previously released, present health-related information on all chemical and biological tests done by the Deseret Test Center under Project 112. The new fact sheets cover tests conducted in Utah, in Hawaii, and at sea.

Project 112 was a joint program initiated in 1962 out of concern for our ability to protect and defend against potential chemical and biological warfare testing threats. DoD initiated this investigation at the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide information to respond to some veterans' claims that tests conducted in the 1960s and early 1970s may have affected their health.

"Our investigative team located and searched classified records to identify which ships and units were involved in the tests, when the tests took place, and to what substances their crews and other personnel may have been exposed," Winkenwerder said. "We are pleased to be able to bring this investigation to a close."

Veterans who believe they were involved in Deseret Test Center tests and desire medical evaluations should call the VA's Helpline at (800) 749-8387. Veterans who have DoD related questions, or who are DoD beneficiaries and have medical concerns or questions, should call DoD’s Deployment Health Support Directorate’s contact center at (800) 497-6261. All Deseret Test Center fact sheets are available on the DeploymentLINK Web site at http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/shad_intro.shtml.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

DE NIRO PLANS COLD WAR TRILOGY

ROBERT DE NIRO


Robert De niro wants his Cold War movie The Good Sheperd to be the first of a trilogy of films about the conflict. The actor/director claims the movie has turned him into a Cold War fanatic, after first becoming interested in the rivalry between the US and Soviet Union as a child. De Niro says, "I'm fascinated by the Cold War. Especially the Cold War in Berlin. As a kid, I was here a few times and went to East Berlin. I found the whole period amazing. It's fascinating stuff. Everybody has a fascination with it. "I'd love to do a second part, from 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up to 1989 when the Wall fell. And then I'd like to do a third part from 1989 to the present." De Niro adds his belief the Cold War may have never ended: "I always wondered before 'When the Cold war ended, would it ever be over?'. I used to think the other shoe's going to drop. It dropped. Nuclear weapons are easier to get and more countries are getting them. It's a little scary when you think about it."

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Wilf for President, 2008

If Christopher Walken can run for President, why not Wilf?

He has a GED.

He joined the Army at 17.

He liberated/invaded Iraq (take your pick) when he was 19.

He spent 420 days in Iraq, fighting from Baghdad to Najaf.

He likes to have a good time.

All that before he was old enough to drink (which didn't stop him).


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Gunners Palace Wilf for Prez

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Funny excerpt from documentary Gunners Palace.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A 2004 letter from Congressman McHugh (R) NY. I received this today from EDVA Founder Joe Martin. Much thanks to Joe for this and lets hope Rep. McHugh will support us in the house this Year.

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Congressman Brian Higgins Supports the CWVA dated Sept 2006.



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4th infantry Division Featured In February VFW Magazine


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A great article on the rich history of the 4th ID including thier last deployment to Iraq which ended in December 2006. Note: top right (holding corner of flag) is my nephew Spec. Bryce Rudolph.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Article By :

Todd Larkin

email: comsmos77@yahoo.com


Task Force Phoenix Public Affairs





This is from the blog

Task Force Phoenix 5



Shoes!! Are you willing to help?

Well another MedCap this week and so far our biggest one seeing over 700 patients. It was probably one of the smoother ones and for the first time we used a dentist who pulled several teeth and handed out toothpaste and toothbrushes for the kids. Thinking back now I didn't take one picture of the dentist working on his patients... I will be in trouble when Maj. Roper figures that out but maybe he will forget to look at the pics. I did however hand out some toys that were sent to me by Diane Henryson from Pennsylvania. You can see the picture of the baby with one of the toys. When I gave the baby the toy she smiled at me and kept reaching for me even though I was a stranger dressed up like a "storm trooper" she still wanted me to hold her, but I don't think the mother dressed in her blue Burka was as willing as the baby was. All and all it was a good day Ricky brought us some potato bread, it's like pita bread with leek and potatoes inside the bread and then deep fried. Afghan food is amazing and I don't think I've found a food over here that I haven't liked. Ricky always takes care of me and brings in food or something for me to try. He's a great guy and I'm glad I have someone like that over here that I can get along with besides all the guys here with us.

Back to yesterday!! I was handing out several pairs of shoes that my wife sent me. Bayleigh was highly disappointed to see other kids with her shoes from 2 years ago but she will one day realize that it was a good thing. I just can't stand seeing these kids without shoes and without something on their head when its 10 degrees outside. I was standing beside the pharmacy and watching the kids follow right along side their mother or their brothers and sisters. Looking at some of the 7 year old girls carrying their year old brother on their back walking through the snow and mud like it's a paved road. I looked down at one maybe 6 year old girl and saw her shoes with a split down the back because she outgrew them and instead of buying a new pair they just cut the back out of them so she can continue to wear them. Ricky told me a pair of the sandals cost around .50 cents and a pair of rain boots are just a little over a $1.00..

So here is my proposition!! After many questions on what you can do so here is answer to all those questions. I know some people will be a little leery of this idea or just think its ridiculous but I want to do this for these kids and try to make as much of a difference as I can while I'm here. I'm giving Ricky $100.00 to buy 100 pairs of rain boots, different sizes and colors. Here is what I want you to do if you can and if you will. If you will send me a check money order or whatever to my address over here in Afghanistan and we will put it into our Afghan Children's Fund for Shoes. It can be $1.00 or $20.00 or whatever you want I just want to see what we can do. People have already sent me clothes, school supplies, and a few pairs of shoes so I want to see if we can get some money into this poor country and get some shoes on these kids' feet. I will make sure you get a receipt for tax purposes or just for proof, that's what your money is being used for. I'm not begging or asking for hand outs for people who don't need it but these people do need it. I wish I could let you see first hand, live and in color just what I see every time I go outside. I can just show you with pictures what I see and what we do and how tough it is to see this everyday. I mean the mortality rate is one of the highest in the world considering this is the 3rd poorest country in the World. So if I can keep a hundred kids feet dry during the winter with $100.00 than maybe I can keep half of them from losing toes or even their feet from frostbite than maybe I've done some good. I'm just asking for a little help from the people who read this and haven't helped out already. I just want to make a change for as many kids as I can, and hopefully some of you feel the same out there as I do...


.50 cents = 1 pair of sandals
$1.00 = 1 pair of rain boots

Michael T. Larkin
41 BCT HHC 1-180 SECFOR
Camp Phoenix, AF
APO, AE 09320

Make Checks Payable to:
The Afghan Children's Fund

Or you can just send clothes and shoes you dont use anymore!!

Thanks for your help and please remember you don't only help out these kids but you are also helping save soldiers lives.

No Service for Hanoi Jane and Mr. Turner what a great country.

Dinner in Montana


This is one of the best things I've read in ages!!!!! I wish I could go there for dinner right now!!!!

Montana Restaurant:

This is a great story! The radio station America FM was doing one of its "Is Anyone Listening?" bits this morning. The first question was, "Ever have a celebrity pull up with the 'Do you know who I am?' routine?"

A woman called in and said that a few years a go, while visiting her cattle rancher uncle in Billings, MT, she had occasion to go to dinner at a restaurant that does not take reservations. The wait was about 45 minutes; many ranchers and their wives were waiting.

Ted Turner and his ex-wife Jane Fonda came in the restaurant and wanted a table. The hostess informed them that they'd have to wait 45 minutes. Jane Fonda asked the hostess, "Do you know who I am?" The hostess answered, "Yes, but you'll have to wait 45 minutes." Then Jane asked if the manager was in. When the manager came out, he asked, "May I help you?" "Do you know who we are?" both Ted and Jane asked. "Yes, but these folks have been waiting, and I can't put you ahead of them."

Then Ted asked to speak to the owner. The owner came out, and Jane again asked, "Do you know who I am?" The owner answered, "Yes, I do. Do you know who I am? I am the owner of this restaurant and I am a Vietnam Veteran. Not only will you not get a table ahead of my friends and neighbors who have been waiting here, but you also will not be eating in my restaurant tonight or any night. Good bye."


Only in America - what a great country.


To all who received this e-mail, this is a true story and the name of the steak house is:
Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse, 204 W. Main, Manhattan , MT 59741 (406) 284-6929


If you ever get there, give this fellow a sharp salute, buy a steak, and tip the waitress. Keep passing this on. We should never forget our national traitor!


Thanks to Mike Fisher for passing this on.