Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Traitor Who Would Be King

Why aren’t the Shiite provinces in Iraq enjoying a similar prosperity as the Kurds in the north? The answer is simple, there is no insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan. The stability of these provinces has led to a huge economic boom for the Kurds.




In an interview with 60 Minutes U.S. Major General Benjamin Mixon, the Commanding Officer for Northern Iraq and Kurdistan said, “If the Iraqis simply would look north and see what the possibilities are and they do not align themselves with the extremists they could see the great potential that this country has to be a prosperous nation.”




The Shiites suffered under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship almost as much as the Kurds did. They are the largest religious denomination in Iraq and have the largest oil reserves as well. So the Shiites had the most to gain from the fall of the Sunni regime.




Under these circumstances the Shiites have strongly pushed for the same autonomy that Kurdistan enjoys, but have not been able to reap the same rewards. Instead the southern provinces on the Iranian border have been plagued with instability. The source of which comes from Iran.




Like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran also has a proxy army in Iraq. Due to the strong anti-Western stance of Iraqi cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, his Mahdi Army has received significant Iranian backing. In April of 2004 an Iranian intelligence agent who defected to England, Haj Sa’idi, revealed that the Mahdi Army received extensive training from Iran.

The Middle East Media Research Institute cited an article in which Sa’idi “estimated that about 800 - 1,200 young supporters of Al-Sadr have received military training including guerilla warfare, the production of bombs and explosives, the use of small arms, reconnoitering and espionage. The three camps were located in Qasr Shireen, ‘Ilam, and Hamid, bordering southern Iraq which is inhabited largely by Shi’a Muslims.”

Sa’idi also estimated that the financial support to Al-Sadr in the months leading up to the press release exceeded $80 million, in addition to the cost of training, equipment and clothing for the Mahdi Army.

His lust for power and the corruption of Iranian influence led Muqtada al-Sadr to betray his country. It is clear from America’s benevolent stance towards Kurdistan and the Shiite provinces where Al-Sadr has little influence, that all of the Iraqi Shiite provinces could have benefited from the U.S. financed reconstruction effort (and still can).

Al-Sadr took the Shiite majority provinces down a dark path that they didn’t need to follow. He started his aggression almost immediately after the fall of the Baathist regime. In April of 2003 pro-American Shiite cleric Majeed Al-Khoei was murdered by a mob and an arrest warrant was issued connecting Al-Sadr to the murder (the warrant was later dropped in exchange for Al-Sadr’s withdrawal from the city of Najaf).

After the Al-Khoei murder the Sadrists launched a sustained campaign to seize power from their fellow Shia through the use of force. The house of the highest ranking Shiite cleric in Iraq, the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, was surrounded by Al-Sadr’s henchmen. They demanded that he leave the country within 48 hours or they would resort to violence. This was a particularly brazen act because Al-Sadr is only a midlevel cleric with little formal religious standing to interpret the Koran. He has to rely on a cleric living in Iran for religious authority (Ayatollah Kazem Al-Haeri). Luckily Al-Sistani was rescued by loyal tribesmen, but that was not the end of Al-Sadr’s attacks on his fellow Shiites.

The crisis deepened when he attempted to seize holy sites controlled by Al-Sistani in Karbala. Al-Sadr was decisively repulsed by the combination of U.S. firepower and the peaceful protests of the Grand Ayatollah’s supporters. Despite this defeat a couple of months later Al-Sadr attempted a more ambitious military assault to seize the seat of Shia religious authority in Najaf as well as other strategic cities. This was done while the Grand Ayatollah was out of the country for medical treatment. The attempt failed miserably and the Mahdi Army was forced to retreat back to Sadr City.

Since Iran shares a border with Iraq, the Iranians haven’t been content to sit back and let their proxy army do all of their dirty work. If you can connect the dots then the current events in Iraq can give you a hot flash of deja vu. Last year Hezbollah violated the borders of Israel to seize two hostages. Iran followed suit a couple of weeks ago with a similar operation. Iraqi waters were violated and 15 British sailors were seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The similarities between the tactics of these two kidnapping assaults are too close to dismiss.

There are many other similarities between Iranian adventurism in Lebanon and Iraq.

– In Lebanon Hezbollah has held protests to promote the goals of its masters and in Iraq similar protests by Al-Sadr’s supporters were attempted last week, but failed to rally a sizable amount of protesters like the Beirut demonstrations.

– In Lebanon a bombing campaign is being conducted to destabilize the country and Iran’s closest ally, Syria, has been implicated in the UN’s investigation of these attacks. Iran and Syria have worked together in the past to train and equip its Lebanese proxies to conduct bombing campaigns. The most notable was the 1983 suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. In Iraq there is another bombing campaign that is also supplied and trained by Iran.

As I mentioned earlier Iran is providing Shiite militias with funding, weapons, ammunition and training. Even more disturbing is the fact that Iran is giving aid to Sunni insurgents who are killing Shiite civilians. The betrayal of their fellow Shia is a horrible example of how far the Iranian Mullahs would go to achieve their selfish goals.

The capture of two very high ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guards from the al-Quds Brigade has also highlighted the seriousness of the situation. The Brigade is responsible for arming, training and funding militant movements across the Middle East. In a separate raid five other Iranian intelligence agents were captured in the effort to break up these Iranian networks that are supporting the insurgency. Iran is committing considerable resources into destabilizing its neighbor.

With the current U.S. troop surge gaining strength circumstances have changed. Al-Sadr has gone underground and the U.S. believes that he is hiding in Iran. In response his supporters have shown that they are paying attention to current events in Washington D.C.

Taking their cue from the Democratic Party, Sadr’s supporters demanded that the Iraqi government issue a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal. Sadr is always seeking to land a decisive blow by coordinating his actions to coincide with attacks by others. In 2004 he launched his assault on Najaf at the same time that U.S. troops were engaging insurgents in Fallujah, giving the appearance of a coordinated campaign (and to a certain limited extent it was). That gamble failed and it looks like he has overextended himself once again.

Sadr loyalists warned that if a deadline for a U.S. withdrawal was not set they would quit the government. Prime Minister Al-Maliki did not budge so they followed through with their threat.

It now turns out that the Sadrist Movement is not as critical to the Prime Minister’s government as analysts have been predicting for some time. Al-Maliki responded by thanking Al-Sadr for instructing his ministers to resign so that competent independents could be appointed in their place. In one blow Sadr has lost six ministries. Agriculture, Education, Health, Transport and Tourism/Antiquities.

Analysts are warning that this could mean that Al-Sadr is planning to resume full hostilities. With the U.S. troop surge ramping up, the Iraqi security forces at their highest strength ever and no major campaigns like Fallujah as a distraction – such a move by Al-Sadr would not be wise.

There has also been a mood change in the Iraqi Prime Minister. Early in his term he held back both the U.S. and Al-Sadr from escalating tension with each other. Both sides were equally frustrated by this behavior, but there is a noticeable difference between the two. Al-Sadr continued his transgressions, while the U.S. reluctantly held back as Al-Maliki asked. Our government has proven to be a more reliable partner and the recent revelations of Iranian subterfuge has no doubt disturbed the Iraqi government.

Al-Maliki has been silently defying the Iranian government. In the months before Iran set off a huge crisis by seizing 15 British hostages the Iranians had been demanding that Al-Maliki end the UN maritime-inspection mission that was being conducted by those sailors. He refused and Iran took those hostages. It was a serious escalation that Maliki and the Coalition patiently weathered, but did not give in to Iran’s crude shakedown attempt.

To secure their borders the Iraqi government has re-imposed visas for Iranians in direct response to the infiltration of Iranian agents who have hidden among the thousands of pilgrims that travel to Iraq every day. This was sure to ruffle some feathers in Tehran.

Most importantly Al-Maliki approved the seizure of Iranian agents by U.S. forces and allowed the U.S. to clamp down on the Shiite militias.

So the Prime Minister and his government have shown their independence from Iran and the Shiite militias. If Al-Sadr wants to escalate the crisis he may find himself up against an Iraqi government that is finally tired of his brinksmanship once and for all.

Back in 2004 when the U.S. first wanted to retake the city of Fallujah the Iraqi Governing Council demanded that the U.S. halt the operation. Months later as nationwide elections approached the Council changed its mind because they realized the urgent need to secure the city for the elections. It appears that the new Iraqi government is turning a similar corner in regards to the Sadrists.

The elimination of Al-Sadr could be the answer that everyone is looking for. It will get rid of a constant irritant that has shown aggression towards every major player that he has come into contact with. That includes the U.S., fellow Shiites, the Iraqi government and the Sunni. Al-Sadr’s demise would be warmly welcomed by the Sunnis who feel that the Iraqi government is too biased in favor of the Shiites, but Al-Sadr’s fellow Shia wont miss him either.

Everybody in Iraq has something to gain from Al-Sadr’s defeat!!!

88 comments:

WomanHonorThyself said...

Bravo Freedom..brilliant analysis.........The elimination of Al-Sadr could be the answer that everyone is looking for. It will get rid of a constant irritant that has shown aggression towards every major player that he has come into contact with. ...ah..indeed.

Freedomnow said...

Some people say the same thing about me, but my barefooted militia will straighten those critics out...

(well, I will have to wait for a shipment of flintlocks to arrive first, but when it arrives then they will be sorry.)

Avi said...

What are we still doing in Iraq? The war there has lasted longer and costed more than all of WWII. We rid the world of a dictator and secured ourselves from WMDs. Democracy is incompatible with Islam and has no place in the Mid-East. Why should we waste lives and money on bringing freedom to the 'ordinary moms and dads' of the Mid-East? Let's get out (but not before giving the Kurds a state), let the Muslims kill each other and let the Sunni-Shia violence reverberate across the Muslim world, weakening the Camp of Islam.

Visit http://www.masada1234.blogspot.com

P.S. I'll link to you if you link to me.

Freedomnow said...

It is sad that what the majority of Muslims and western liberals desire in Iraq would end up with horrific results.

From a realpolitik standpoint I dont like the idea of surrendering Iraq to the unknown. Al Qaeda and/or Iran could come out quite nicely from a U.S. withdrawal and in such a scenario terrorism against American interests will increase at a frightening rate.

This is because terrorists and their sympathizers become emboldened by victory. The 9/11 attacks were celebrated across the Middle East and gave hope to extremists that America could be hurt.

With a victory in Iraq Islamists will turn their attention to every American interest in the Middle East in an effort to kick us out completely. That would mean American businesses, civilians, military bases, charities and anything remotely connected to America. Our host countries will find it too expensive to continue to accommodate any Americans or American interests (both economically and politically).

In the best case scenario the terrorists will have mixed results, but it is likely that they will do quite well. Killing innocent people is easy for terrorist groups. Just look at the recent massacre at Virginia Tech. 30 people were killed by one man. Organizations with lots of funding and more powerful weaponry can do better. They currently don’t have the political will to do that right now, but they would win that with a victory in Iraq.

Eventually, with the success of these efforts the Islamists will turn against other foreigners, mostly Europeans. This fits into Al Qaeda’s game plan for the new Caliphate, the elimination of all non-Islamic influences.

Terrorism is about perception. Liberals have been willing tools in this war of perception and since they view terrorists as victims, not enemies, they don’t realize that we call the shots at the moment. Our troops invaded a Muslim country and have been militarily invincible. Our soldiers cant be removed by force and we have successfully recruited Muslims to cooperate with us. To the extremists (and maybe even the majority) of the Muslim world, the Iraqi government is made up of collaborators. It is very humiliating for them to think about this and that is why terrorists are so ruthless when dealing with our Iraqi allies. However, our allies have shown no sign of weakness. As bad as things are in Iraq to us, it is just as bad or worse to our enemies (on the other hand, the events in Washington DC are bad for us and good for them).

Four years is a drop in the bucket. The War on Terror will probably last decades because our enemy has no conventional armies. Iraq will suffer from terrorism for a long time whether or not we leave. The Baathists and Al Qaeda have seen to that. Westerners need to accept that reality and work to thwart our enemies’ bloody ambitions. Standing firm in the face of intimidation. You cant buy off peace from an enemy that has no honor.

From a moral point of view I believe that America owes the people of Iraq to stay and not to abandon them. I am sincerely worried about their welfare.

Thanks for your thoughts Bar Kochba I linked your blog...

Rogue said...

Al-Sadist is using the recent crackdowns against his men to break away from the government.

He whines that Al-Maliki promised not to attack his Muddy Army during the Baghdad security plan.

Boo-Hooo Muq-retarda. Have your monkeys join the Iraqi Army, then they won't get attacked.

Freedomnow said...

Al-Maliki has lost his patience with the Mahdi Rag-Tag Army.

Its about time!!!!!!!!!

Avi said...

"Iraq" is an artificial country made up of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds who all hate each other and want nothing to do with Iraq. We should drop a few bombs, make a good light show and get the hell out of Iraq. We Infidels don't owe our enemies anything. We wouldn't have to fight our enemies 'over there' if we would simply ban Muslim immigration and don't allow them to come over here. Look at the London bombings or the foiled Canadian plots- they were all homegrown- despite the fact that Canada is fighting in Afghanistan and UK in IRaq and Afghanistan.

Freedomnow said...

Thanks again for commenting. I'm not interested in an echo chamber so a little debate is good for the mind.

In response to your comments, I am against banning the immigration of any qualified person because of their religion.

Islam may be used as the justification for many acts of terrorism, but a person shouldn’t be assumed to be in favor of terrorism unless there is direct proof.

I am in favor of a democratic form of government. Although it has produced horrible “liberals” who openly advocate the rhetoric of our enemies, I am proud that we tolerate such unpatriotic behavior. That is what separates us from the people we fight.

They would jail and execute such dissidents, but we are truly tolerant and are the complete antithesis of our enemies (who falsely accuse us of all manners of crimes, while committing terrible injustices).

The establishment of an Iraqi democracy is a challenge to the fascist sympathizers of the world. I am under no illusion of the difficulty of this mission. Sometimes the harder the fight is, the greater the reward.

So far the only thing standing in the way of success is the Democratic Party. The Baathists and Al Qaeda have been powerless to stop us. They have great success killing unarmed civilians, but the Iraqis have nowhere to go and must stand and fight. With the ouster of the Sadrists the Iraqi government can continue to grow. The Sunnis now have been given a reason to cooperate and they continue to rise in opposition of Al Qaeda’s bloodthirstiness.

The Sunni Anbar Salvation Council is still effective against insurgents:

Link to "Re-Taking Al-Qaeda Country" Article

Link to Kuwait News Article

…and fractures between the insurgents continue:

Link to "Al-Qaida linked group moves to patch up rift among insurgent factions" Article

Link to "Iraqi group 'splits' from al-Qaeda" Article

Link to "Insurgents’ Dirty Laundry on Air" Talisman Gate Blogpost

Link to "Armed groups seek official support to hunt Al-Qaeda in Iraq" Article

nanc said...

"His lust for power and the corruption of Iranian influence led Muqtada al-Sadr to betray his country."

now, fill in the blanks:

"_________ lust for power and the corruption of __________ influence led __________ to betray his/her country."

wow! could be any number of people in any number of countries - even our own...scaraaaaaaaaay!

American Crusader said...

I believe your analysis is as usual, directly on target. Al-Sadr is Iran's proxy in Iraq, or at least his followers are since he smartly decided to leave before the US buildup. Still, there are significant divisions between Arab Shi'ites and Persian. As long as they have mutual goals, they will coordinate their objectives but their historical divisions are deep and complex.
Our policy should exploit these divisions whenever possible. When we first tried bringing democracy to Iraq, we tried minimizing these divisions in favor of uniting all of Iraq under one flag.
I no longer believe this is possible, nor is it in our best interest. If Shi'ite and Sunni, Arab and Persian are unable to unite, we can exploit these divisions. I'd rather see them fighting each other for control of the region then uniting under the flag of the Taliban or Al Qaeda.
We should promote a Kurdish state autonomous from Baghdad despite Turkey's strong resistance.

We need to look at the long-term political realities and not worry about short-term victories.

American Crusader said...

Here is a decent article (for Reuters) on these differences. Arab Shi'ites are not as willing to fight the US as Iran would like us to believe
We need to start using intelligence (field operatives) like we once did before we sold ourselves to technology.

Freedomnow said...

"_________ lust for power and the corruption of __________ influence led __________ to betray his/her country."

Is this sort of like hangman? Saddam already played that game and lost...

Freedomnow said...

AC, thanks for the link and your insight. We know that Al-Sadr does not represent the majority viewpoint of the Iraqi Shiites.

No one is crying for him now...

WomanHonorThyself said...

TGIF my friend..lol!

Mike's America said...

I guess your friend KKK Ken is off today. I thought surely he would be over here to reeducate you on the joys of Iranian/shia extremism.

Freedomnow said...

Its Friday even Neo-Nazis need time off for the weekend!

Lets get down and party y'all!!!!!!!!

Even you Mr. Internet Radio Star

Mike's America said...

I spoke too soon. Now he's citing web sources heavy with American Prospect and Mother Jones links.

Those KKK types really will ally themselves with anyone.

And you'll notice that not one of the appeasing defeatist socialists will dissociate themselves from his wild remarks.

nanc said...

c'mon - artsy is just lookin' for a home!

Freedomnow said...

It makes for some fun commenting.

Thats why I tolerate Nanc's harassment of me. Perhaps I am Mass-autistic?

ohhh masochistic...

nanc said...

i'll assume by now you have taken that statement back...

Freedomnow said...

Uh Ohhhhh... You know what happens when you ass-u-me!!!!!!!!

WomanHonorThyself said...

hey there Freedom..just checkin in to see if your wheels are still turnin..:)

Freedomnow said...

They turn round and round. Its like a carnival with a really good merry go round!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Kawania che Keekeru!

Happy St. Tammany's Day, FN!

Freedomnow said...

Interesting. You are celebrating a dead holiday.

Its a lot better holiday than celebrating Lenin's accomplishments on May Day!!!!!!!!!

Happy St. Tammany's Day

Anonymous said...

Thank you FN! And if I'm celebrating it on Dr. Benjamin's Franklin's 301st birthday, then it's not yet dead Fred! (Monty Python - bring out your dead/Fred). And if YOU celebrate it on his 302nd.... well... who knows?

Anonymous said...

Like Tammany himself, such a thing could catch fire!

Freedomnow said...

Too bad Tammany was before Ben Franklin's time, they would have hit it off really well together!!!

Happy Ben Franklin Birthday Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jan 16, 1706 was Ben's (sorry for the confusion), but Ben did give St. Tammany his...

Freedomnow said...

Oh sorry, I misunderstood.

They dont make 'em any better than ole Ben...

WomanHonorThyself said...

hiya Freedom...ltns! :)

nanc said...

fern - where you is? we're missin' you!

Freedomnow said...

Hello Nanc and Angel,

Thanks for checking in. I had a super weekend and its nice to see that you gals are here waiting for me to return on Monday morning.

Nanc I got your email about TMWs birthday and dropped in for the party.

http://its-curtains-for-you.blogspot.com/2007/05/happy-birthday-tmw.html#links

Cheers

nanc said...

wellllllll, i sure hope she was as purty as you deserve! and as nice as me!

Anonymous said...

...and nanc wonders where she gets her reputation from...

Take it back!

Freedomnow said...

Boy!!! Nanc sure sets high standards for me.

She is being modest about her beauty, though. Did you know that she looks just like Sophia Loren?

Anonymous said...

I've been told...

nanc said...

you deserve the best! of course, if she cannot look exactly like me, well...'nuff said...she'll have to rely on her wits!

Anonymous said...

...and that would require her to be beautiful, indeed!

Rogue said...

Hey, what's up...you still there?

nanc said...

i hope she hasn't killed my fern! i could never forgive myself...

nanc said...

oh farmer...*:]

Freedomnow said...

Hey guys, I'm still around. I've been busy helping out at my dance studio by setting up for some special events, upgrading the sound system and assisting the teachers.

I'm having fun, but I am starting on a new post. It should be up by next week.

Thanks for checking in.

nanc said...

phew...

nanc said...

we must tango sometime.

Anonymous said...

<:3)~....................
.<:3)~.....................

nanc said...

>^..^< RAEEEEEEERRRRRFFFFT!

Anonymous said...

.................................~|
.................................~|

Anonymous said...

I hate playing cat and mouse with Bloggers who are never home, don't you, nanc?

nanc said...

si senor.

Freedomnow said...

Did you ever notice that the best comedy teams come in pairs?

Laurel & Hardy
Abbott & Costello
Ren & Stimpy
Tom & Jerry
Farmer John & Nanc...

Anonymous said...

...the three stooges...
...the Marx Brothers...
...Dogbert, Catbert, and Dilbert...
...FN, FJ, & Nanc...

Freedomnow said...

...Like I said the best comedy acts are always in threes...

nanc said...

bing, bob and lamour?

Anonymous said...

Athos, Porthos, and Aramis!

Anonymous said...

D'Artangnon was always too busy playing with the Count de Roaches to really be considered an "authentic" stooge.

Freedomnow said...

it figures that FJ would fit in some of the 'classics'.

and are there any native american comedy teams that you want to include, being that you love their culture as well?

Anonymous said...

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Custer?

I get to wear the wig.

nanc said...

williams & ree, the indian and the white guy.

Freedomnow said...

I'm still trying to figure out what the wig is about...

Indian jokes...

1. A new Zogby poll discovered that only 15 percent of Native Americans thought that the United States should get out of Iraq. Eighty-five percent thought they should get out of America!

2. A Native American woman went to apply for welfare and told the social worker that she was a single parent.

"How many children do you have?" asked the social worker.
"Ten" she said.
"And what are their names?" she was asked.
"Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, and Bob" she said
"They're ALL named Bob?" the social worker asked. "What if you want them to come in from playing?'
"That's easy" she explained. "I just call Bob and they all come running".
"And what if you want them to come and eat?" the social worker asked.
"I just say Bob, come eat your dinner, and they do". She said.
"But what if you want just ONE Bob to do something?" asked the social worker.
"Oh that's easy" she said. "I just use their last names".

3. Non Joke – Words of Wisdom

A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, the Native American said, "I hear a cricket."

His friend said, "What? You must be crazy. You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!"

"No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket."

"That's crazy," said the friend.

The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed.

"That's incredible," said his friend. "You must have super-human ears!"

"No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you're listening for."

"But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in this noise."

"Yes, it's true," came the reply. "It depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that jingled on the pavement was theirs.

"See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what's important to you."

American Crusader said...

Just checking in to see how you're doing.

Freedomnow said...

Hey AC I am fine thanks for dropping by.

I will come visit your blog...

WomanHonorThyself said...

hiyaz Freedom.!..havent seen ya my humble abode in a longgggg time..hint hint!..lol

Freedomnow said...

I did my duty young lady and promptly visited.

It appears that I have lied to everyone by promising a post last week. I just couldnt fit in a 14 hour writing/research session so I am still working on it. The detail is sooooo important to me.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Details.....

**drool**

nanc said...

i hope it's a woman!

Freedomnow said...

Just one? You should know me better by now...

nanc said...

pop says it's the ONLY reason to be late for ANYTHING!

nanc said...

too funny! we posted at the exact same time...spoooookaaaaaaay...

i've put up a new global warming post. ought to shake the very foundations of the earth.

WomanHonorThyself said...

Happy Memorial Day weekend !
God bless each and every one of our troops~!

Freedomnow said...

Hey Angel,

Thanks for being so thoughtful. As always.

nanc said...

please check your e-mail, fred astaire.

American Crusader said...

Just dropped by to make sure you're OK.

Freedomnow said...

Hi Kids,

I will catch you on the Flipside.

Cheers...

Anonymous said...

I think farmer john may be running out of drool.... but I'm not. ;-)

Freedomnow said...

I will have to start giving out free spitoons to my visitors at this rate!!!!!!!!!!

nanc said...

i just came by to hang some curtains and open the windows to air this place out a little...could be there's a mouse caught on a trap somewhere...pew...

>^--^< raerft

Freedomnow said...

Youre always hangin out in the sleazy part of town.

Thats why we always bump into each other!

Anonymous said...

[].<:3)~.............................

nanc said...

>^00^< raaaaaaaaaaerrrrrr

Freedomnow said...

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Its worth the wait...

Anonymous said...

...but you messed up the first row...

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Anonymous said...

It looks better before you post...

nanc said...

*,[

Freedomnow said...

Ahhhhh... but now it is a masterpiece!

Sell it on eBay and then retire with the money you make.

nanc said...

i've come to scatter some mothballs...

Freedomnow said...

Can you do some vacuuming and dishes too?

I can use the help around here. My studies have left me no time to do chores around the blog.

nanc said...

sure, i'll fly on over...

*;{