The Cool Blue Blog

The Last Stand

What is left of the Union of Islamic Courts army have retreated to the southern port city of Kismayu having been pushed out of Mogadishu by US backed Ethiopian forces, and the Kenyan border blocked by government reinforcements.

Despite pleas from local tribal leaders that the UIC give up, the Islamists vowed to fight

“We told them that they were going to lose,” [Mohammed] Arab [a leader of the Ogaden sub-clan] said, “and that our city would get destroyed.”

Kismayo, a scenic harbor town along the Indian Ocean that was once part of the fabled East African spice empire, had been spared the fighting so far.

But the Islamists, according to Mr. Arab, did not care.

“These guys are bent on war,” he said.

And so, the final chapter has begun

Fighting between the Islamic Courts fighters and the Ethiopian and government forces has started around Jilib district, 120 km south of Kismayu, the current stronghold for the Islamists.

Reports said the fighting has started at 5:00 pm local time in Jilib where Islamist forces and the Ethiopian and government troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles were facing off.

Resistance in Mogadishu collapsed surprisingly fast "when clan elders decided that the Islamists were a losing cause and pulled their troops and weapons out of the movement."

But Kismayu is different. Not because the UIC has a better chance of winning, but because of who is there.

Kismayo is where the Islamist leadership fled after losing Mogadishu, bringing with them their most devout and hardcore fighters. Ethiopian officials have said that the Somali Islamists are bolstered by several thousand foreign fighters — from Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Libya and Eritrea, Ethiopia’s bitter enemy, though American intelligence officials say the numbers are far fewer, most likely in the hundreds.

Rumored to be among the crowd of Islamists are the al Qaida operatives responsible for the 1998 Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. If the UIC gives up, or these guys are taken alive, they will be turned over to US custody.

The three men Comorian Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Taha al-Sudani, a Sudanese are al-Qaida suspects and are under U.S. indictment for the 1998 bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed hundreds of people.

"We know they are in Kismayo," Gedi said. "We would like to capture or kill these guys at any cost. They are the root of the problem."

The cost of appeasement

It is becoming clear that the strategy of Thailand's new government to be kinder and gentler to the Islamists in the South is only making things worse.

There were many reason for the military coup that took place in Thailand in September; one of them was that the hard-line the government was taking with Islamic separatists in the South was the wrong tack. When the new government took over, they tried something different.

The prospects of the situation improving seemed much brighter with the coup. Coup leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin promised, consistency in personnel and policies, improved inter-agency coordination and intelligence sharing, ending the culture of impunity of security personnel, a willingness to implement some of the findings of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), and a desire to improve diplomatic relations with Malaysia. There was also an acknowledgement by the government of the insurgent’s Islamist agenda and demands.

The government of caretaker Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont deserves credit for implementing a swath of new polices to improve relations with the Muslim community: These include the restoration of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Command (SBPAC) & CPM-43, the dropping of charges against some 58 Tak Bai protestors, a renewed pledge to solve the disappearance of Muslim human rights activist Somchai, which the government now labels “murder,” the abolition of blacklists, and a willingness to implement sharia law. It also included a public apology to the Muslim community for the previous government’s policies:

The military leaders also announced that they were holding secret talks with the “insurgents.” The government announced that the two sides had reached a “Joint Peace and Development Plan for South Thailand,” in which the “insurgents” dropped demand for an independent Islamic state.

Unfortunately, those at the negotiating table did not speak for the Islamists.

Despite these overtures, the violence has continued unabated. In the 60-day period after the coup there were almost 200 violent incidences, and the rate of killing is just under the pre-coup 2006 average of 1.7 people/day. In the two-month period, 91 people were killed, including 5 police and 11 soldiers, and 68 civilians and 232 were wounded, including 52 soldiers and police officers and six monks. There have been 38 bombings and 3 attempted bombings, and 19 arson attacks that destroyed at least 11 schools.

And it seems the new measures have simply allowed the Islamists to consolidate their power.

The terrorists continue to concentrate on suspected pro-government Moslems, non-Moslems and government workers. Most of the mountainous back country villages have been terrorized, and "cleansed" of infidels (non-Moslems) to such an extent, that the terrorists can move about openly in daytime. The terrorists are also getting nastier, as in today's attack, where two teachers were shot, then burned to death on a road. Nearly sixty teachers have been killed down south in the last two years

On December 19th

Another female teacher was killed by Islamic terrorists in the south, prompting the government to promise new security measures for teachers. This has not stopped the exodus of teachers from the south, and the refusal of many teachers from the north to replace them. The Islamic terrorists are succeeding in their effort to destroy education in the south. The Islamic terrorists want only religious schools, which concentrate on memorizing the Koran, plus basic literacy and simple math.

On December 29th, Reuters reported that

110 schools had been hit by arson attacks and 71 teachers and school staff killed in attacks since January 2004.

This on a day when two Buddhist teachers were shot and killed and their bodies burned.

On November 9th

...insurgents executed near-simultaneous bomb attacks on eight car and motorcycle showrooms in downtown Yala, wounding 13 people.

And today there were near simultaneous bomb explosions during New Years celebrations in an area the "separatists" have not attacked before: Bangkok

At least six bomb blasts rocked the Thai capital Bangkok on New Year's Eve, killing at least two people and injuring 12, police said.

The culprits and motive were unknown.

This may not be the work of Islamists; there are at least some powerful people who are against the coup and the new Administration's hesitancy in reinstating democracy.

But if it does turn out to be Islamists, it will herald a new, and more deadly 2007 for Thailand.

The Awakening

If, after taking a close look at the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), even Barbara Boxer can see that they are a terrorist support group, then there is hope for more Democrats.

In a highly unusual move, Sen. Barbara Boxer of California has rescinded an award to an Islamic activist in her home state because of the man’s connections to a major American Muslim organization that recently has been courted by leading political figures and even the FBI.

Boxer’s office confirmed to NEWSWEEK that she has withdrawn a “certificate of accomplishment” to Sacramento activist Basim Elkarra after learning that he serves as an official with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). After directing her staff to look into CAIR, Boxer “expressed concern” about some past statements and actions by the group, as well as assertions by some law enforcement officials that it “gives aid to international terrorist groups,” according to Natalie Ravitz, the senator’s press spokeswoman.

This is the same group that is trying to give credibility to the phoney flying Imams and to whom the newly elected Democrat Representative Keith Ellison is beholden.

In a move typical of CAIR, they called Boxers decision "Islamophobic"

CAIR has formally asked for a meeting with Boxer and demanded that she withdraw the action—which one top CAIR official said smacks of “Islamophobia.”

“This is an attempt to marginalize the largest and most mainstream Muslim organization in the country,” says Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR’s office in southern California. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”

And, of course, Sneator McCarthy's name is invoked.

Nihad Awad, CAIR’s top Washington official, vigorously denied the charges that CAIR has any links to terror groups and said the allegations are based on a “deliberate smear campaign” by individuals who cannot brook any criticism of the Israeli government. “We feel that the same crowd who is pushing these smears against CAIR is the same crowd as the neocons that pushed us into the Iraq war,” he says. “They are trying to smear the Muslim community and they are trying to silence its voice. This takes us back to the McCarthy era.”

Right.

But the connections ro terrorist organizations are undeniable.

• [CAIR is an] organization founded by Hamas supporters….
• CAIR was started by Hamas members….
• CAIR … was founded by Islamic terrorists.

Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, former officials of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), founded the organization, while IAP's president, Rafeeq Jabar, was (according to Steve Emerson) one of CAIR's founding directors,.

Former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver "Buck" Revell has described the IAP as "a front organization for Hamas." This linkage between the IAP and Hamas was decisively established in 2004, when a federal judge in Chicago found it partially liable for $156 million in damages for its role in aiding and abetting Hamas in the murder of David Boim, a 17-year-old American citizen.

In fact, Sen Boxer gave some of her reasons for withdrawing her support

Boxer was particularly concerned by claims that CAIR had refused to condemn Hamas and Hizbullah and recognize those groups as terrorist organizations

Yeah there's that. And

One of the cases cited by Kaufman was Ghassan Elashi, a marketing executive in a Texas computer company and a founding director of CAIR's Texas chapter, who was convicted last year of financial dealings with Mousa Abu Marzook, a self-admitted leader of Hamas who now lives in Damascus. Another case involved Rabi Haddad, a former CAIR fund-raiser in Michigan, who was deported after being accused by Justice Department officials of providing funds to Hamas.

One can only hope that CAIR opponent David Horowitz, and primary mover in Sen Boxers decision, is not being optomistic when he says

“I’m pleased that Boxer listened to us. The fact that Democrats are finally waking up is good.”

We'll see.

State of decay

Iran's oil industry is falling apart, in part, thanks to US sanctions

Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh has lamented that the development of Iran's oil industry was suffering from US pressure.

"Iran has been under different sanctions for years and many companies have not been able to cooperate with our country for fear of US pressures," Vaziri Hamaneh said, according to the semi-official news agency Fars on Tuesday.

"They even do not easily deliver some dual-purpose equipment that we had previously bought. They cause trouble for us under different pretexts," he said.

"Foreign banks have been refusing to cooperate in the field of investment and financing," he said, adding that in response Iran has put its focus on domestic sources to replace foreign companies.

Just how bad is it?

Iran's oil exports are plummeting at 10pc a year on lack of investment and could be exhausted within a decade, depriving the world economy of its second-biggest source of crude supplies.

A report by the US National Academy of Sciences said rickety infrastructure dating back to the era of the Shah had crippled output, while local fuel use was rising at 6pc a year.

"Their domestic demand is growing at the highest rate of any country in the world," said Prof Roger Stern, an Iran expert at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

"They need to invest $2.5bn (£1.28bn) a year just to stand still and they're not doing it because it's politically easier to spend the money on social welfare and the army than to wait four to six years for a return on investment," he said.

It costs al lot of money to train an equip proxy armies as well as the State military. Hizbollah and Hamas are not income generating enterprises. And this is expensive too

Hizbullah is paying Palestinian splinter groups "thousands of dollars" for each Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

According to Israeli intelligence information, Hizbullah is smuggling cash into the Gaza Strip and paying "a number of unknown local splinter groups" for each attack.

Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) sources said the Islamist organization paid several thousand dollars for each attack, with the amount dependent on the number of Israelis killed or wounded.

"We know that Hizbullah is involved in funding terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," a security official said.

"Palestinian terrorists get thousands of dollars per attack. Sometimes they are paid before the attack and sometimes they submit a bill to Lebanon afterward and the money gets transferred a short while later."

According to the officials, while Islamic Jihad was behind most recent rocket attacks - including the one on Tuesday night that critically wounded 14-year-old Adir Basad in Sderot - several splinter terrorists groups are also involved and have received direct funding from Hizbullah.

According to security officials, Islamic Jihad gets the money via its headquarters in Damascus while Fatah's Tanzim terror group and the Popular Resistance Committees receive payment from Hizbullah in Lebanon.

All of the money originated in Iran, the officials said.

The bottom line in all of this is

"They've been running down the industry like this for 20 years."

Prof Stern said Teheran faces impending disaster since it relies on oil revenues for 70pc of its budget.

"They cannot afford to carry out their threats to shut off oil supplies," he said. "There is no oil weapon, it's just a bluff."

And it's not like the cash-strapped government isn't experiencing discontent

As protests broke out last week at a prestigious university here, cutting short a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Babak Zamanian could only watch from afar. He was on crutches, having been clubbed by supporters of the president and had his foot run over by a motorcycle during a less publicized student demonstration a few days earlier.

But the significance of the confrontation was easy to grasp, even from a distance, said Mr. Zamanian, a leader of a student political group.

The student movement, which planned the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy from the same university, Amir Kabir, is reawakening from its recent slumber and may even be spearheading a widespread resistance against Mr. Ahmadinejad. This time the catalysts were academic and personal freedom.

“It is not that simple to break up a president’s speech,” said Alireza Siassirad, a former student political organizer, explaining that an event of that magnitude takes meticulous planning. “I think what happened at Amir Kabir is a very important and a dangerous sign. Students are definitely becoming active again.”

The only question is this: will Iran manage to spark a global nuclear shooting war before they collapse?

Gone

First the Union of Islamic Courts made their bid to take Somalia by force. But then Somalia's neighbor, not wanting Islamists on their border, launched a serious attack with US support. Now, the Islamists have split the scene.

They're gone baby.

The Islamist forces who have controlled much of Somalia in recent months suddenly vanished from the streets of the capital, Mogadishu, residents said Wednesday night, just as thousands of rival troops massed 15 miles away.

In the past few days, Ethiopian-backed forces, with tacit approval from the United States, have unleashed tanks, helicopter gunships and jet fighters on the Islamists, decimating their military and paving the way for the internationally recognized transitional government of Somalia to assert control.

...For the past week, the Islamists have lost one battle after another, their adolescent soldiers no match for a professional army.

By Wednesday, the Islamists were cornered. Thousands of troops from the transitional government were closing in on the seaside capital from two directions.

And the people rejoiced

One of the first things the Islamists did after the fighting started was to close all schools in Mogadishu in order to send more young people to the front. “They’ve misled our children to their deaths,” Mr. Bilal said.

Residents said that crowds in one slum threw rocks at the Islamists’ pickup trucks as they drove by on Wednesday. Some people openly celebrated in the streets by hoisting up pictures of the transitional government’s leaders and gleefully chewing khat, a mildly narcotic plant the Islamists had outlawed.

The demonstrations helped prompt the clan elders, who are regarded as the pillars of Somali society, to act. According to residents in Mogadishu, the leaders of several major clans — and some businesspeople who had been financing the Islamists — demanded that the Islamist leaders return the armed pickup trucks that had been lent to the movement.

Faced with the loss of support from their counterparts, other clan leaders saw the coalition begin to crumble and withdrew their trucks as well, leaving little of the organized force that once lent the Islamists their power.

Such success was the result of Ethiopia going in to win as a first priority according to Cliff May

Why are they achieving what American forces in Somalia in1993 did not and what American forces in Iraq today apparently are not?

More “boots on the ground” may be part of the explanation. The Ethiopians are not attempting to have a “light footprint.” They are not worried about whether they will be seen as “occupiers” or whether their “occupation” will be viewed as benevolent.

Secondly, the Ethiopians are not overly concerned about whether their tactics will win approval from the proverbial Arab Street – or the European Street or Turtle Bay. They are fighting a war; their intention is to defeat their enemies; everything else is secondary or tertiary.

Of course, now the chaos resumes. With luck, the UN sanctioned official government can move in and impose order.

But given that it is a UN project, I'm not optimistic.

 

Desgrosseilliers' Silver Star

Lt Col Todd S. Desgrosseilliers is one tough Marine and a helluva leader.  Cpl. Athanasios L. Genos wrote about his Silver Star Award ceremony ifor the Marine Corps News 

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 13, 2006) --  He was standing there as his battalion came to attention and the order was read, “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Lt. Col. Todd S. Desgrosseilliers.”

Desgrosseilliers received his award in a ceremony here Feb. 10 to recognize what he accomplished in Task Force Bruno from Dec. 12 to 23, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. His new battalion gathered together to honor his actions and leadership he portrayed while facing tough times where decisions were made and lives were saved.

“This was the first time and it is one of the highlights of my career and especially an honor to give it to him for his actions going above the call of duty,” Brig. Gen. Joseph J. McMenamin, 2nd Marine Division assistant division commander, explained. “Its inspiring to his men to see a leader with the experience, combat record, and someone who is not afraid to lead them into battle.”

On December 12, during Task Force Bruno, Desgrosseilliers was the officer in charge at that time. He had in between 60 and 100 Marines with him as they were following the battalion and catching anything they had overlooked.

He got word a few of his Marines had been trapped inside a building by enemy gunfire. He went directly to their aid with other Marines at his side.
“We were following the battalion clearing a few places they didn’t get to and I had a bad feeling; we then made contact with the enemy,” Desgrosseilliers stated. “I wanted to protect my Marines and kill the enemy…in that order.”

The Marines under his charge were his first priority at all times. They were the ones getting the job done and risking their life everyday to complete the mission, he said.
 
Desgrosseilliers instinctively grabbed the Marines around him when an enemy grenade landed near them as they were aiding the trapped Marines.

“They were throwing down grenades from the second floor at us, and I grabbed the Marines and then I was unconscious,” Desgrosseilliers explained. “We were along the outside wall and I shook it off while regrouping to go back, where we killed three or four more insurgents.”

The Marines under Desgrosseilliers continued on for little over a week. A few days before Christmas, he and his men were still fighting the insurgents of Fallujah. On Dec. 23, 2004, the battalion came under heavy gunfire from the enemy. Desgrosseilliers led his men again into battle knowing well what they needed to do.

Fighting off the enemy combatants, one of the Marines near Desgrosseilliers was injured. He exposed himself to grab the wounded Marine and drag him to safety.
The combined efforts and teamwork provided by all the Marines to close with and destroy the enemy all contributed to the overall success of the battalion.

“I still get chills down my spine when I hear something like this, it makes you truly know what it means to be a Marine,” McMenamin explained.

Jay Price of The News & Observer wrote about him as well

Maj. Todd S. Desgrosseilliers somehow did two things during the second battle of Fallujah that each would normally earn you a medal -- or a casket.

In one firefight, Desgrosseilliers stepped between a pair of insurgents' grenades and two other Marines to take the blast. Nine days later, he dashed through a stream of point-blank machine-gun fire. Not only did Desgrosseilliers live, in fact, he continued to fight both days....

Desgrosseilliers, 42, got it for his performance while leading a task force of about 100 Marines a little more than a year ago.

The task force moved behind the lead Marine units as they pushed through the city in the war's most bitter battle. It was charged mainly with finding and destroying caches of insurgent weapons but also mopping up groups of insurgents that were somehow missed or that had slipped back in.

On Dec. 12, some of his Marines were moving up the stairs of a two-story house when insurgents began shooting down at them, ; hitting one.

Desgrosseilliers ran in to help and began shooting up the stairwell at an insurgent. Immediately, he saw two small objects flying down.

"Grenades!" he shouted, and pushed two other Marines against a wall, stepping between them and the grenades.

The explosions knocked him out, and he flopped to the floor. He came to and got outside with the other Marines while the insurgents upstairs continued to shoot down and throw grenades.

When he had collected himself, Desgrosseilliers began to lead the battle again. At one point, the two groups were throwing grenades back and forth inside the house. Marines tried to get the insurgents to surrender, but they refused.

During the chaos, another grenade flew through the air near Desgrosseilliers. He tried to swat it away, but it was too far. When it blew up, a piece of shrapnel lodged behind one of his ears.

At the end of the firefight, 15 of the enemy fighters were dead.

Desgrosseilliers, a lean man with a firm grip, said Friday that the credit belonged to the men he was leading.

Many were young. Some were engineers or had administrative jobs. "They never hesitated, though," he said. "They all wanted to fight."

An observer to all of this, tank commander Capt. Robert Bodisch tells the story differently

The unit fought heroically, he said, but its commander was on a different level.

Bodisch responded to Desgrosseilliers' request for tanks on the morning of Dec. 23, 2004 -- the second day for which Desgrosseilliers received his medal. Desgrosseilliers' men had run into a large group of insurgents in a group of houses. As Bodisch rolled up, he saw dead Marines and heard a terrific amount of fire. This, he thought, was going to be bad.

The first live Marine he saw was Desgrosseilliers, who was an extraordinary sight, he said.

"It was like a movie, that was the best way to describe it," Bodisch said.

Bullets were flying in every direction, and grenades were exploding. But Desgrosseilliers was dashing around, ignoring them. The major quickly began telling him which houses to take out.

After the fighting there calmed a little, they moved about a block to another hot zone. Bodisch saw a group of Marines charge through the gate of a house and an insurgent just inside the door step forward with a machine gun and hit two of them.

The other Marines backed out and took cover, but within seconds Desgrosseilliers dashed through the gate into the line of fire. One of the men who had been shot had been hit only on one of the plates of his body armor and was stunned.

Desgrosseilliers yelled at him to get up and help, then grabbed the wounded Marine by a handle on his body armor and began dragging him toward the safety of a wall a few feet away. The other Marine grabbed the wounded man's legs and helped.

Then Desgrosseilliers ran behind Bodisch's tank, dragging one leg, which had been grazed by a bullet and hit by shrapnel.

From the modest cover, he began directing the fight again. Bodisch's tank -- itself shot up by this point -- and another ended up leveling the house.

At the end of the day, 30 insurgents were dead, along with three Marines.

"It was a long day, but somehow it seemed like it was over fast," Desgrosseilliers said.

Later Bodisch sought out Desgrosseilliers' commanding officer.

"I can't believe what I just saw," he said.

You'd think that that was enough for anyone, but Desgrosseilliers is still at it; facing danger with his Marines in the most dangerous place in Iraq: Ramadi

Desgrosseilliers and other Marines working in Anbar are reviving age-old counterinsurgency tactics that require a heavy presence in the province’s most dangerous streets and neighborhoods.

President Gerald Ford

Everyone is talking about President Ford as if the only important thing he did in his Presidency was to pardon Richard Nixon. It seems the words you hear most often is that he helped heal the nation.

And perhaps that is what he should be known for, I don't know.

I, myself remember him for averting a shooting war with North Korea.

It was 1976 and I was in the Air Force stationed at Luke Air Force Base outside Phoenix AZ. I was a computer programmer assigned to the 607th Tactical Control Squadron (TCS) which was basically a "mobile" air traffic control station. But what we controlled was not commercial air flights. Our mission was to control fighter jets to intercept enemy jets.

In August of that year the news carried the story of how Captain Arthur Bonifas and 2nd Lt Mark Barrett were bludgeoned to death by North Korean troops while attempting to cut down a poplar tree in the DMZ. Our squadron was immediately put on high alert: we had to be able to report for deployment within 2 hours of notification. And we were being prepped in the mean time: we were given shot for an overseas deployment and had begun the task of breaking down our equipment for deployment.

According to wikipedia, the incident unfolded in this way

After trimming began, 15 to 16 KPA soldiers appeared commanded by Senior Lt. Pak Chul, whom the UNC soldiers had nicknamed "Lt. Bulldog" for his history of confrontations.^[1] Pak and his subordinates appeared to observe the trimming without concern for approximately 15 minutes, until Pak abruptly told the UNC to cease their activity. Capt. Bonifas, ordered the detail to continue their work, and turned his back to "Lt. Bulldog". The tree had been scheduled to be trimmed 7 days earlier, but rain had forced the work to be rescheduled. According to some sources, Senior Lt. Pak had at some point stated that the tree had been planted by Kim Il Sung himself

After being ignored by Capt. Bonifas, Pak Chul sent a runner across the Bridge of No Return. Within minutes a North Korean guard truck crossed the bridge and approximately 20 more North Korean guards disembarked carrying crowbars and clubs. Pak Chul again demanded that the tree trimming stop, and when Capt. Bonifas turned his back to him, Pak Chul removed his watch, carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief, placed in it his pocket, and then shouted "Kill Them!" as he swung a karate chop to the back of Capt. Bonifas' neck, killing him instantly. Using the axes dropped by the tree-trimmers, the KPA killed the two U.S. soldiers, Capt. Bonifas and Lt. Barrett, and wounded all of the UNC guards except one.

While Capt. Bonifas had died instantly, Lt. Barrett had jumped a low wall (presumably to go help another UNC guard who had been chased there by KPA guards) which lead into a 15 ft., tree filled depression. From the road level, there was no visibility into the depression, only the tree tops were visible. The entire fight had lasted only about 20 - 30 seconds before the UNC Force had managed to disperse the KPA guards enough to get loaded into their truck with Capt. Bonifas' body. However, there was no sign of Lt. Barrett and the two UNC guards at OP#5 could not spot him. They did however observe the KPA guards grab (by the heels) approximately 5 members of their force and drag them back across the bridge. They also observed the KPA guards at KPA#8 (along the UNC emergency egress road) exhibiting strange behaviour, in that one guard would take an axe and go down into the depression area for a couple of minutes, and then come back up and hand the axe to another guard who then repeat the process. This went on for approximately 90 minutes until the UNC guards at OP#5 were informed that Lt. Barrett was missing, at which time they informed their superiors about the KPA activity in the depression. A search and rescue squad was quickly dispatched to the area, where they found the remains of Lt. Barrett.

A helicopter on a training mission was quickly dispatched to the location (its crew issued yellow armbands and .45 automatics) and used for a medevac, but neither American survived.

A Corporal saw the attack from his observation tower and recorded the murders with a movie camera.

Now you have to remember that the spectacle of the US abandoning South Vietnam to the brutal regime of the Northern Communists was not so distant. It was in everyone's mind. And it may not have been far from the mind of Kim Il Sung either. Whether it was planned or not, it was a test of US commitment to South Korea in the light of our quitting on South Vietnam. So what happened next was very important.

Henry Kissinger, it is reported, counseled President Ford to bomb North Korea. There likely would have been a shooting war if that had been the course the President took.

What Ford did was called Operation Paul Bunyan; it more restrained then Mr Kissinger's suggestion, but also showed the world he wasn't kidding.

Operation Paul Bunyan was carried out on August 21 at 7 AM, just three days after the killings. A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles ('Task Force Vierra') drove into the JSA without any warning to the North Koreans, who only had one observation post manned at the early hour. In the vehicles was a 16 man U.S. Army engineer platoon from the 2nd Engineer Battalion, equipped with axes and chainsaws who immediately started cutting down the tree, while one of the trucks was positioned to block the Bridge of No Return. The engineer platoon was accompanied by a 30 man security platoon from the Joint Security Force (2nd Platoon) armed with pistols and axe handles.

In addition, a 64 man ROK special forces company accompanied them, armed with clubs and trained in Tae Kwon Do, supposedly without firearms. However, once they parked their trucks near the Bridge of No Return, they started throwing out the sandbags that lined the truck bottoms, and handing out M-16 rifles and M-79 grenade launchers that had been concealed below. Several of the special forces men also had Claymore mines strapped to their chests with the firing mechanism in their hands, and were shouting at the North Koreans to cross the bridge.^{[2] [3]}

A U.S. infantry company in 20 utility helicopters and 7 Cobra attack helicopters circled behind them. Behind these helicopters B-52 bombers, escorted by U.S. F-4 fighters and R.O.K F-5 fighters were visible flying across the sky at high altitude. At Osan Air Base, F-111 fighters had been armed and fueled, ready to take off at short notice. The Midway aircraft carrier task force had also been moved to be stationed just off-shore. In addition, near the edges of the DMZ, many more heavily armed U.S. and ROK infantry, artillery, and armor were waiting to back up the special operations team. The bases near the DMZ were prepared for demolition in the case of a military response.

North Korea mobilized about 150 troops armed with machine guns and assault rifles who watched in silence as the tree was felled in 42 minutes

Oh, and for good measure

Also removed were two road barriers illegally installed by the North Koreans, while the South Korean troops also overzealously vandalized two North Korean watch posts. The stump of the tree was left as a deliberate reminder.

After that we were told to stand down and life went on. It certainly looked to us that we would go to war. We were ready for it. And we knew that after Vietnam we were vulnerable.

But even in our time of weakness, President Ford showed our enemies that we may be wounded, but we were still dangerous.

Don't fuck with us.

Well done Mr President.

I thought someone should mention it.

Seventeen to one

Back in August a very big deal was made when U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ordered a halt to the NSA wiretap program initiated by President Bush in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001.

But little has been made in the press regarding the seventeen courtroom wins that occurred subsequent to that (clearly wrong) decision. According to the New York Sun

Defense lawyers who had hoped that the public disclosure a year ago of the National Security Agency's wiretapping program would yield information favorable to their clients are being rebuffed by the federal judiciary, which in a series of unusually consistent rulings has rejected efforts by terrorism suspects to access the records.

In at least 17 criminal cases, federal district judges nominated to the federal bench by presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush have ruled against requests to force the government to tell defendants, most accused of terrorism-related crimes, whether the NSA eavesdropped on them without a court warrant.

The rulings indicate that even as public support for the war in Iraq has eroded in polls and as the NSA program has come under criticism from congressional Democrats, and even some Republicans, federal judges may be a bulwark that the Bush administration can rely on to defer to at least some aspects of its wartime policies...

Individually, the judges' orders, often very brief and rarely providing explanations, indicate little. Taken together, however, they signal that the judges are unwilling to permit defense attorneys to use prosecutions to force disclosures about the program.

Now why haven't we heard more about that?

Who's delusional now?

I have in the past pointed out on many occasions how the Democrats were always blaming someone or something else on their election defeats. They often would not face the facts that their candidates and positions were often out of step with the electorate: they had, and even courted, a minority constituency.

To some extent this changed in 2006, they ran candidates, especially in the South, that were not so far left: And they won. On the other hand, Republicans lost touch with their constituencies and lost many races as a result. All of this resulted in a net Deomcratic pickup and slim majorities in the House and Senate. Thank God we didn't have to go through another year with accusations of election fraud. Because, you know, there is no fraud if Democrats win by definition.

As we approach 2008, I see some sign that now it's Republicans who are exhibiting delusional behavior. Take the issue of Immigration for example. Before the elections, Republicans, especially in the House, were taking a very hard line. With Democrats now in power things have changed.

According to a Senate Democratic aide, Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have already opened "preliminary" discussions with two House members over the revised legislation. Negotiators are considering scrapping a complicated proposal that would require an estimated 7 million illegal immigrants now living in the United States to jump across the border before returning to apply to become citizens.

That provision would also mean that illegals in the country for less than two years would not be guaranteed a slot in a guest-worker program.

Congress also may nix a border fence that many conservatives say is needed to stop the flow of illegals.

Many Republicans oppose this bill and call it Amnesty. They also say that supporting such a bill will hurt them in 2008. But will it?

There is no doubt that many, including myself, felt the electorate was very concerned about illegal immigration. And they were. But most people were turned off by the hard line the House Republicans took

In Arizona, for instance Randy Graf Republican challenger for the AZ-08 seat in the House should have won his race if people were so hard over about immigration, but they weren't

In Arizona, where Graf lost to moderate Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, voters took a stand against illegal immigration, approving four propositions tightening restrictions on the undocumented.

Still, Graf lost, as did Republican J.D. Hayworth, an Arizona congressman who had also pushed hard for tougher immigration enforcement.

Graf's loss is a signal that voters don't want complex immigration issues reduced to "a 30-second political ad," Gaete said.

"The electorate spoke, and it wasn't just Hispanic voters voting against him," Gaete said. "It was American voters saying we need a more expansive conversation about immigration."

Clearly.

In my opinion, immigrants to this country should not have to wait years to gain access to citizenship. I think if it was a more streamlined process that was responsive to the applicants needs and our need for security, you wouldn't have as big a problem.

Yes, we need to take the time to do a background check. Yes, we need quotas to manage the influx, but that shouldn't take 5 or 10 years. One year at most seems reasonable and that's what we should strive for.

We also need a guest-worker program.

And if a person has been working and being a good citizen, even if illegal, I have no problem with them being a candidate for citizenship. Yeah, I know it "rewards" illegal behavior, but call it a penalty for being so damn tardy on dealing with immigrants to begin with.

But I am hard line on the english requirement. Immigrants should be very strongly encouraged to assimilate. That has been our tradition and it has worked out well. It is why we do not have the same problems as Europe with unassimilated immigrants causing problems: especially Muslim immigrants; but Hispanic immigrants could be just as big a problem if we let it happen.

And we can't let that happen.

If Republicans want to get reelected in 2008, give up the delusion that what the people "really" want is a hard line on immigration.

What they want is reasonableness about immigration.

Global War on Terrorism

Sombody is fighting back in Somalia. After months of systematically taking over the country, the fundamentalist Islamic Courts have been dealt a blow; by Ethiopia

Islamic fighters retreated from the main front line in Somalia early on Tuesday after a week of artillery and mortar duels and attacks by government and Ethiopian troops, witnesses said.

Troops loyal to the Council of Islamic Courts withdrew more than 50km to the south-east from Daynuney, a town just south of Baidoa, the government headquarters. The retreat follows the bombing by Ethiopian jets of the country's two main international airports.

The Islamic forces also abandoned their main stronghold in Bur Haqaba and were forming convoys headed towards the capital, Mogadishu, residents in villages along the road told the media by telephone.

The UN is considering sanctions

The UN Security Council met behind closed doors Tuesday to consider issuing a statement demanding an immediate end to military operations in Somalia and the withdrawal of foreign forces, particularly Ethiopians.

The 15-member council mulled a non-binding statement, drafted by Qatar, which chairs the council this month, demanding that "Ethiopia immediately withdraw its forces and cease its military operations inside Somalia." Diplomats said the text was likely to be adopted with some amendments.

Now the irony of this situation is that Ethiopia is acting on behalf of the UN established legitimate government of Somalia; a government that the Islamic Courts party has been directly undermining. And just three weeks ago, the UN passed a resolution demanding "Union of Islamic Courts to cease any further military expansion and reject those with an extremist agenda or links to international terrorism"  and "Deploring the bombing in Baidoa on 30 November 2006 and expressing the Security Council’s concern regarding the continued violence inside Somalia". Of course the Islamic Courts didn't even pause in their activities long enough to say "screw you", but god forbid someone should step in and actually try to enforce a Security Council resolution.

True to form though, the UN is whining about this being a disruption to relief efforts, as if defeating a mysogonist organization that wants to force every male to grow a beard, ban music and kite flying, and subject everyone to a strict interpretation of the Koran isn't providing relief.

To be sure, Ethiopia is not being altruistic, they see a security threat to themselves. And there is no doubt that the US is providing logistical support and training.

The good news here is that finally we have an indication that the Bush Administration has been paying attention to the problem that is Somalia.

And doing something about it.