USAF conducts strikes on 3 nuclear sites in Iran

It looks like Donald Trump followed through on serious action in the USA when it comes to Iran's nuclear sites, joining the Israeli military and taking out key targets in Iran:

US President Donald Trump confirmed overnight Sunday that the US Air Force carried out extensive strikes on three key nuclear facilities in Iran, marking a dramatic escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict and the first time since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that the US has attacked major military targets inside Iranian territory. The sites targeted were Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

"We have completed a very successful strike," Trump wrote on his social media platform, TruthSocial. "All aircraft returned safely. Now is the time for peace!"

According to reports, the US Air Force used GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg), capable of penetrating the mountain over the Fordow facility. The decision came after weeks of internal deliberations in Washington, during which Trump weighed giving diplomacy another chance. But with no sign of progress from Tehran, he opted for military action.

Senior Israeli officials believe the US has been preparing to join the wider campaign and had begun logistical preparations well in advance.

Just hours before the airstrikes, Steve Bannon, Trump's former adviser and a leading voice among isolationist conservatives who oppose foreign interventions, hinted at the looming operation on his podcast, saying: "The party's starting."

One must wonder: does this mean Bannon, who was taking up a negative position through isolationism, was coming around and accepting Trump's stance after all? Well, that's why it's good Trump approved of this mission, because these isolationists can't be allowed to impede upon efforts to defeat evil entities abroad.

On the other hand, Democrat Charles Schumer has voiced his opposition to Trump's mission:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who once claimed to be Israel’s “guardian” in Congress, put out a statement late Saturday night opposing President Donald Trump’s airstrike on Iran’s nuclear sites.

After a delay of several hours, and long after his colleagues — Republican and Democratic — had reacted, Schumer issued a statement criticizing the attacks and backing legislation to limit Trump’s war powers.

The criticism from Schumer and other Democrats echoes their criticism of his successful airstrike on Iranian terror general Qasem Soleimani, when they again cited constitutional limitations on the commander-in-chief.

In reality, Trump’s actions are constitutional, provided that he complies with deadlines established by the existing War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to conduct war, provided that he report to Congress within 60 days. Few Democrats objected when President Barack Obama used his war powers — even in excess of those allowed by the War Powers Resolution, as Breitbart News has noted in the past:

So once again, Schumer's proven himself a most repellent person, who'd rather rag upon Republicans no matter the deed than prove he recognizes serious issues when he sees them. Nobody should associate with such a reprehensible man. Donald Trump is the winner today, and Schumer's the disgrace.

SOMETHING ABOUT ERIC SHINSEKI

General Shinseki

I do not wish to malign Eric Shinseki.

He served with honor on the battlefield, sustained severe wounds, and eventually attained the rank of four star general.

However, I think that something needs to be brought to light.

From this source (All other sources were scrubbed between 7:00 A.M., May 30, 2014, and 7:00 A.M., May 31, 2014!):

View PostSharkhaywood, on 29 May 2014 - 02:32 PM, said:

The guy has been on the job for 5 years now so it's not like he is brand new to the position. I browsed the guy's Wiki page and he is a very decorated soldier. However, he doesn't have any medical background. It would seem to me that a person with some kind of medical background would be best suited to run the VA. It did also show the following:

Forgotten by many is the fact that much of the problems with infrastructure deterioration and neglect at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as well as the lack of funding for repairs, occurred initially during Shinseki's tenure as the 34th Army Chief of Staff.

Whistleblowers to the problems were summarily squashed and funding for improvements were routinely and regularly denied. For instance, the problems associated with Building 18 were not new to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center community. As early as 1999 the extensive problems with Building 18 were identified to senior level leadership, and funding for renovations and improvements were denied. Prior to its role housing wounded warriors, Building 18 had long served as the barracks of WRAMC Student Company. Between 1999 and 2001, under the Command of then Captain Michael D. Dake, the Student Company leadership identified the deplorable conditions in and around Building 18 to two Medical Center Brigade Commanders (COL Terry D. Carroll, and COL Larry S. Bolton respectively). By 2002, the requests for funding to improve conditions in and around Building 18 had made it to the attention of Major General Kevin C. Kiley. Kiley, who toured the facility as part of his Commander's in-brief after arriving in June, personally inspected the facility and spoke to the Soldiers and the Leadership. He then also denied funding for improvements. By 2004, renovation of Building 18 had been anticipated in connection with the enhanced use lease of Building 40, but since the post was slated for closure under BRAC in 2005, the anticipated in-kind services by the Building 40 developer did not materialize.

Funding for repairs at Walter Reed never did materialize during Shinseki's tenure as Army Chief of Staff; despite the fact Shinseki's directive to develop and wear the new Black Beret for all service members resulted in such enormous waste that, in one case with a cancelled manufacturing contract with a Chinese national firm, as much as $37.9 million U.S. dollars was lost to contracting errors, unlawful foreign sourcing and import law violations.

I am not suggesting that Eric Shinseki is a corrupt man or a corrupt leader.

What I am suggesting is this: Shinseki was the wrong man to appoint as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  He already had a history as a poor manager of allocated funds.

D-DAY: JUNE 6, 1944

Duty and heroism.

As Americans mark yet another solemn anniversary of the D-Day invasion, those who fought in World War II, including the ones who stormed the beaches of Normandy 69 years ago today, continue to slip away.

World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 600 each day...

FORCING AMERICA INTO DHIMMITUDE

(With thanks to Mustang, who emailed me the links in this post)

Various Muslim organizations, several of which are arms of the Muslim Brotherhood or like groups, sent a letter dated October 19, 2011, to several high-ranking federal officials.

According to Thomas More Law Center, in an entry entitled "Muslim Letter that Prompted the Pentagon to Purge Military Instruction 'Offensive to Islam,'" dated September 20, 2012:

A letter dated October 19, 2011 signed by 57 Muslim organizations, was sent to the White House with copies to other federal officials responsible for national security, including Secretary of the Department of Defense, Leon Panetta. The letter demanded that all training materials that they judge to be offensive to Islam be “purged” and instructors “are effectively disciplined.”

[...]

Following that letter, in April 2012, Army Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Matthew Dooley, a highly decorated combat veteran, was publically condemned by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and relieved of his teaching assignment at the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC). The reason: the negative way Islam was portrayed in his elective course entitled, Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism.

On May 10, 2012, during a Pentagon press conference with Defense Secretary Panetta seated next to him, General Martin Dempsey expressed negative opinions regarding the Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism course, characterizing it as "totally objectionable" and "against our values." General Dempsey personally committed to removing any similar curriculum from military professional education within the JFSC and elsewhere....

I urge you to read the entire letter for yourself at THIS LINK.

We as individuals can scream, "I will not submit," until our faces turn blue and our voices are hoarse. But if our government and our military submit in the fashion described in the above link, we are done for with regard to preserving the American ideals of liberty.

OUTRAGE!

See Tammy Swofford's essay Unleashed. Preface to the essay from Swofford Commentary:

As Americans we have the right to demand that our soldiers do not function as blood bait on the fishing lines of the intelligence community when they encounter jihad videos which exploit our injured and deceased warriors. We must demand a policy that when such videos are located they must be immediately scrubbed. Our enemies must know that we will not tolerate digital image abuse of our ranks. There is a saying in Urdu: The monkeys have been given the razors. It is time we take the razors away from them. 

Read the entire commentary in the Daily Times Pakistan HERE.

REMEMBER D-DAY: JUNE 6, 1944

The following video was made by an 8th grader for a school project:


Two of my cousins served that day; one cousin was in the Army and the other in the Navy — at Omaha Beach, I believe.

Both men, in their late teens and early twenties respectively, came home physically whole, but they were never again whole psychologically. They refused to speak about what they experienced there, but we all knew that what they did and saw was horrible because they had nightmares for the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, they were among two of the staunchest patriots I have ever known, and they often said, "No regrets!" [about serving].

Both of my cousins died young: one at age 39 and the other at age 44.

MEMORIAL DAY 2011

This Memorial Day 2011, the following has been made possible at Arlington National Cemetery:

Remembering D-Day: June 6, 1944

Two of my cousins from Tennessee, neither of them having yet reached the age of twenty-one, were on the beach on D-Day.

Both came home physically whole but never the same in their souls. What they had seen and experienced in that battle scarred them forever.

But I never saw nor met two others as patriotic as my two cousins. They remained staunch patriots for the rest of their lives....

Read the rest at Always On Watch.

Chevron Lawsuit Post Highlighted at SFGate.com

Below are links to the 10 most-recent posts published at Bob McCarty Writes:

• Chevron Lawsuit Post Highlighted at SFGate.com

• Civilian Workers Strike Continues at Vance AFB

• Photo of the Week: Injured Airlift Near Abu Ghraib

• Major Labor-Management Announcement to be Made During API News Conference Wednesday

• RNC Video Explains Government-Run Health Care

• ABC to Turn Over Programming to White House

• Nuggets of News Cause Blogger to Pause

• Obama Health Care Reform Full of Deception

• Obama Inspires Fun & Games Photo Manipulation

Enjoy!

Going to be in the DC area in July? Golf for a good cause...

The 2008 Ol’ Liberty Charity Classic Golf Tournament benefits The Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization, which provides college scholarship grants, along with financial aid and educational counseling, to the children of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps Special Operations personnel who were killed in an operational mission or training accident. The Foundation is a "Four-Star Charity" according to CharityNavigator.

The venue? The spectacular Lake Presidential Golf Club in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (east of the DC area). Visit the 2008 Ol’ Liberty Charity Classic website for registration and sponsorship information.

Sermon on Iwo Jima

If this message from the Sergeant doesn't send chills down your spine and bring a tear to your eye, well, you may not be human.

An interesting fact that many of you may be unaware of is the historic events that surrounded a Jewish chaplain on [Iwo Jima, where of 70,000 American Marines, 1,500 were Jewish].

Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn, assigned to the Fifth Marine Division, was the first Jewish chaplain the Marine Corps ever appointed. Rabbi Gittelsohn was in the thick of the fray, ministering to Marines of all faiths in the combat zone. His tireless efforts to comfort the wounded and encourage the fearful won him three service ribbons. When the fighting was over, Rabbi Gittelsohn was asked to deliver the memorial sermon at a combined religious service dedicating the Marine Cemetery.

Unfortunately, racial and religious prejudice led to problems with the ceremony. What happened next immortalized Rabbi Gittelsohn and his sermon forever.

It was Division Chaplain Warren Cuthriell, a Protestant minister, who originally asked Rabbi Gittelsohn to deliver the memorial sermon. Cuthriel wanted all the fallen Marines (black and white, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish) honored in a single, nondenominational ceremony. However, according to Rabbi Gittelsohn's autobiography, the majority of Christian chaplains objected to having a rabbi preach over predominantly Christian graves...

To his credit, Cuthriell refused to alter his plans. Gittelsohn, on the other hand, wanted to save his friend Cuthriell further embarrassment and so decided it was best not to deliver his sermon. Instead, three separate religious services were held. At the Jewish service, to a congregation of 70 or so who attended, Rabbi Gittelsohn delivered the powerful eulogy he originally wrote for the combined service:

Here lie men who loved America because their ancestors generations ago helped in her founding. And other men who loved her with equal passion because they themselves or their own fathers escaped from oppression to her blessed shores. Here lie officers and men, Negroes and Whites, rich men and poor, together. Here are Protestants, Catholics, and Jews together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how many from each group are admitted or allowed.

Among these men there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy! Whosoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother, or who thinks himself superior to those who happen to be in the minority, makes of this ceremony and the bloody sacrifice it commemorates, an empty, hollow mockery. To this then, as our solemn sacred duty, do we the living now dedicate ourselves: To the right of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, of White men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the democracy for which all of them have here paid the price.

We here solemnly swear this shall not be in vain. Out of this and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come, we promise, the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.

Among Gittelsohn's listeners were three Protestant chaplains so incensed by the prejudice voiced by their colleagues that they boycotted their own service to attend Gittelsohn's. One of them borrowed the manuscript and, unknown to Gittelsohn, circulated several thousand copies to his regiment. Some Marines enclosed the copies in letters to their families.

An avalanche of coverage resulted. Time magazine published excerpts, which wire services spread even further. The entire sermon was inserted into the Congressional Record, the Army released the eulogy for short-wave broadcast to American troops throughout the world and radio commentator Robert St. John read it on his program and on many succeeding Memorial Days.

In 1995, in his last major public appearance before his death, Gittelsohn reread a portion of the eulogy at the 50th commemoration ceremony at the Iwo Jima statue in Washington, D.C. In his autobiography, Gittelsohn reflected, "I have often wondered whether anyone would ever have heard of my Iwo Jima sermon had it not been for the bigoted attempt to ban it."

ANOTHER DAY TO SERVE THE CORPS Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!

Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal

Veterans Day at Walter Reed

Posting at The Mountain, Toothless Dawg offers some classic pictures of Veterans Day at the Walter Reed Hospital. Participants included Gathering of Eagles, Protest Warriors, and various Freepers.

We had two Medal of Honor recipients on a float in the parade. My actions were in two steps ... 1) the snappiest 'tenhut, hand salute that I could muster and 2) don't miss this picture!!!

The signage on the side rear of the float said, "A Salute To The Recipients of the Medal of Honor" then "Presented by HBO". Names were not listed though.

Ever looked into the eyes of a Medal of Honor recipient? Want to see what it means? Look closely and zoom in if you can ... the eyes tell it all. I know this Vet still stands ready if called.

The Medal of Honor recipient on the right is Col. Robert L. Howard.

Be sure and see the Vets' special salute to the anti-American freaks.

Hat tip: LGF. Cross-posted at Doug Ross @ Journal.

Project Valour-IT and the U.S. Marines' Birthday!

The United States Marines Corps celebrates its 232nd birthday today! Happy birthday, Marines!

Please visit the Project Valour-IT Veterans Day Fundraiser, which provides voice-activated laptop computers to injured and disabled veterans. Among the blogs covering Project Valour-IT: A Blog for All, Blog o' Fascists, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air, LGF, Michelle Malkin, Soldiers' Angels Network, and Velvet Hammer

5-MILE LASERS THAT BURN THINGS. THINGS LIKE TERRORISTS

This appeared in the Hot Air headlines earlier this week, and is hereby rescued in all of its sheer awesomeness:

TRW Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif., for instance, is working on a portable chemical laser (which produces a beam from the energy released in the reaction of two or more chemicals) that could be carried into battle by a unit of only three men. Aimed like a rifle, it would silently burn a fatal, quarter-inch-wide hole in the body of an enemy soldier up to five miles away. "Once you've got him in your sights," says a TRW engineer, "you've got him. There are no misses."

The Danger Room article goes on to point out that defense companies have been promising us these things for three decades, and that we shouldn't expect any field-operated laser rifles any time soon. Which is kind of like giving a kitten a cute little ball of string and then taking it away, all while pointing and laughing. Sadists.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]

D-Day 1944 - 2007

Eric at Classical Values expresses my D-Day thoughts better than I ever could. Here is a bit I especially liked:

So, we might be able to avoid another D-Day and we might not be. Either way, I think it's important that we remember.

Short and very sweet. Go read the whole thing.