Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Bloggers with the Spirit of America


Please Help The Iraqi Reconstruction

Many of us have become bloggers because we are outraged at the brutality of our enemy and the callous disregard for reason by some of our countrymen. We wanted to do something to make a difference in the War on Terror. A successful businessman named Jim Hake felt the same way.

He started a charity called Spirit of America to support our troops in the field. This is a non profit group that gives humanitarian aid to Iraqis, Afghanis and civilians from the Horn of Africa. The aid is distributed by our troops in goodwill bridgebuilding missions.

Spirit of America is reaching out to the blogger community to get the word out. Please post this blog ad in your sidebar if you would like to help them.



All you have to do is copy and paste the following html code into your blog template. To retrieve the code just click on the comments section and it is located in the first comment. Highlight the text and click “Control” + “C”.




If you need help just let me know in the comments.

Thanks

32 comments:

Freedomnow said...

Html code for blog ad:

<A HREF="http://www.spiritofamerica.net/projects/119">
<IMG SRC="http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Freedomn0w/Marinesaskforhelp2.jpg">
</A>

Gayle said...

This is a very worthy cause. Thanks for this code. :)

WomanHonorThyself said...

good on u Freedom for doin your part!..:)

Freedomnow said...

Its Attack by the Smiley Faces!!!

If this isnt "fighting the good fight", then nothing is.

:-)

Right Truth said...

Thanks for letting me know, and I will install the code later today.

Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

Freedomnow said...

You're a real Superheroine Debby!

...And not just because you look like Wonder Woman.

Thanks

nanc said...

<*:] - that's a party hat - not a dunce cap, lest you get any ideas!

party at tmw's and longrange...

Freedomnow said...

Happy Birthday you lovable rascal.

Lord knows you are better at self-promotion than any Hollywood producer!!!!!!!

repsac3 said...

A worthwhile group, FN...

I'll add the code if/when blogger lets me (I haven't been able to edit my sidebar in 3 or 4 days... If the problem lasts more than a week, maybe I'll just do a post, instead...)

Glad to see you're using your blog, again...

Freedomnow said...

Hey RepSac,

Thanks for dropping by and supporting the NeoCon conspiracy.

You'll find that we are up to vastly evil conspiracies like overthrowing warmongering dictatorships and giving humanitarian aid to Iraqi children.

We iz Bad!!!!!!

Double thanks...

repsac3 said...

I'm hip to the humanitarian aid, anyway... (There are cases where such aid can do at least as much as the weaponry to achieve the overthrow of warmongers.)

Gayle said...

I placed the template in my sidebar. :)

Freedomnow said...

Thanks Gayle, you are an absolute sweetheart.

cheers

Freedomnow said...

Repsac,

Just like the Berlin Airlift our humanitarian assistance in Iraq is important. The interesting thing is that the Nazis did wield a weak resistance to allied forces after their defeat in WWII. It didn’t compare to the brutality of this insurgency, but there were fanatical diehards that continued to resist the occupation for several years.

Ironically it was a worse enemy, the Russian Communists, which lead to the evaporation of support from the population (however meager it was) and convinced the diehards to give up. In Iraq Al Qaeda is playing the same role that the Russians played in post WWII Germany. Many Iraqis realize that Al Qaeda is a bigger threat to their country.

I’d like to point out that the welfare of the Iraqi people as a whole is only embraced by one party.

Look back at how Saddam was building palaces and rewarding his cronies while his people starved and the country’s infrastructure decayed.

Look at how the Baathist insurgency relies on kidnapping, assassination and attacking public utilities.

Look at how Al Qaeda carries out senseless mass casualty attacks against civilians and implements unpopular Sharia Law.

Our own countrymen have slandered us, but the truth of American humanitarianism will come out with time.

Rogue said...

Stop by and see your name CLICK HERE

repsac3 said...

"I’d like to point out that the welfare of the Iraqi people as a whole is only embraced by one party."

That's what worries me most... As long as WE are the only party embracing the welfare of all (including the Iraqi people themselves), it will be most difficult to achieve our goal of a secure Iraq with a stable government. THEY have to want it & work toward it at least as much & as hard as we do... ...and that is not happening, so far.

"Many Iraqis realize that Al Qaeda is a bigger threat to their country."

This was not the case before we invaded, and I suspect the Iraqis know that better than you & I ever will. Whatever our intentions & however it happened, we increased the threat of AQ terrorism for the Iraqi people.

I've read where a few have suggested we did so intentionally, as part of that "fight them there, so we don't fight them here" philosophy. Whether or not that was a good plan for the US can be debated, but I doubt there are many Iraqis who appreciate it.

To the extent there is any bright spot to it, perhaps you are correct, and it will help unite the iraqi sects against this common enemy.

"Our own countrymen have slandered us, but the truth of American humanitarianism will come out with time."

True, some have... but if you're suggesting it's anything more than a fringe element doing so, I disagree. I believe that most people, within the US and without, already know the truth about American humanitarianism.

I'm also not so sure that you and I see "slandering our fellow countrymen" the same way... I disagree with the way our current administration handled this war. Not every soldier is a patriot & a hero. To me, saying so is not slanderous, but I'm sometimes not sure that you agree.

Eitan Ha'ahzari said...

Freedomnow: I'm happy to be back here. It's been a hectic couple of days and I'm sorry I didn't make my appearance sooner. It's a comfort to know things are actively being done to help bring some comfort to the people of Iraq, and Afghanistan, amongst other countries.

I will post the story as soon as I finish commenting over at some blogs I have not visited in a long time.

Take care of yourself and thank you!

Brad Marston said...

count me in!

Freedomnow said...

Repsac,

It’s unfortunate that you have bought into this horribly misleading talking point…

You said, “As long as WE are the only party embracing the welfare of all (including the Iraqi people themselves), it will be most difficult to achieve our goal of a secure Iraq with a stable government. THEY have to want it & work toward it at least as much & as hard as we do... ...and that is not happening, so far.”

This is proof that the Iraqis are not ready to stand on their own. Did you forget that there is a war going on in Iraq and there is no war going on in the United States? How fair of a comparison is that? They need much more time.

If the Democrats were really concerned that the Iraqis weren’t doing enough they would offer proposals on how to help them, not initiate a withdrawal. In reality they are only justifying the destruction of the Iraqi government. Even a nonpartisan fool could see that.

Then you went on to say, “This was not the case before we invaded, and I suspect the Iraqis know that better than you & I ever will. Whatever our intentions & however it happened, we increased the threat of AQ terrorism for the Iraqi people.”

We have been at war with the Baathists and Al Qaeda way before the liberation of Iraq. Al Masri, Al Zarqawi and Abu Yasim Sayyem were all in Iraq before the liberation as well. They planned and carried out attacks in foreign countries from Iraq before the liberation. Saddam made no substantially honest effort to shut down their terrorist cells in Baghdad. He could have stopped them because his security forces even arrested one of their operatives, but Saddam ordered Sayyem to be released.

Anyways, the bottom line is that the then Al Qaeda allies (now officially Al Qaeda) began using their base in Iraq to ferment terrorism around the Middle East and Africa. We disrupted what could have grown into a worldwide operation controlled from Iraq. Under Saddam those terrorist cells would have continued to grow peacefully and continue to execute terrorist attacks outside of Iraq as they did before U.S. intervention. The massive defeats that the Baathists have received have allowed these existing terrorist cells to assume leadership in an effort to continue the war. They existed there in the first place and since Saddam wasn’t going to destroy them we have to. Al Qaeda’s allies in northern Iraq have been decisively defeated and we are on the path to defeating them in the Sunni Arab portion of Iraq as well.

Al Qaeda has made a huge mistake. They have chosen to make a secular country the focus of their military operations. We now have one hell of an opportunity to destroy the myth of Al Qaeda’s invincibility. Much like Guadalcanal and Stalingrad destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Axis powers.

You went on to state, “True, some have (slandered the humanitarian nature of the U.S.)... but if you're suggesting it's anything more than a fringe element doing so, I disagree. I believe that most people, within the US and without, already know the truth about American humanitarianism.”

If you consider some of the most prominent members of the Democratic Party to be a fringe element then you would be correct.

You concluded by saying, “Not every soldier is a patriot & a hero.”

Everyone has their own definition of heroism. You make your choice and live with it. Not every member of the civil rights movement is a hero either. Yet I consider them to be heroic and make what could be falsely interpreted as “sweeping generalizations” on the subject. Someone with white supremacist leanings, that denies being a white supremacist, could make the same case that you did against civil rights activists. It all depends on your partisan leanings, doesn’t it?

Cheers

Freedomnow said...

Hey Brad,

Thanks for posting the SoA ad. If you dont mind I'd just want to comment that your profile doesnt list the name of your blog.

http://azamatterofact.blogspot.com/

Hello Eitan,

Thank you for supporting SoA as well. That is very kind of you.

repsac3 said...

"This is proof that the Iraqis are not ready to stand on their own."

If they are not willing to get together and work for the democratic Iraq and the welfare of all the Iraqi people, they don't deserve to stand on their own, either. We cannot impose a democracy on another country, no matter how much military might & political/diplomatic smarts we have. Until they want it and are willing to work for it, the government there is going to be a puppet of the US, at best. And thiat isn't helping anyone, here or there.

"Did you forget that there is a war going on in Iraq..."

How can I? My government is responsible for starting it, unnecessarily.

"f the Democrats were really concerned that the Iraqis weren’t doing enough they would offer proposals on how to help them, not initiate a withdrawal."

The threat of a withdrawal is intended to get them off their collective asses. While American soldiers are fighting & dying to prop up their government, that government is going on vacation. Let's hope they don't get sunstroke while sitting by the pool...

And actual withdrawal might save American lives, of course... At the very least, less would die fighting for the vacationing Iraqi government.

We've gone round & round regarding AQ in Iraq before the invasion. I don't agree with those who believe as you do. A few guys with no power in the country is a far cry from what we have now. AQ terrorism killed very few (if any) Iraqis then.

Yes, we did have Baathist enemies there. They were killing their fellow Iraqis, but were little threat to us.

The bottom line for me is, I don't believe we have the right to almost unliateraly intervene in a country that did not attack us first... not even if its to prevent some bad thing that they may do in the future, perhaps. Our intelligence is not good enough to make predictions about the future accurately enough (obviously... WMD, greeted as liberators, no civil war...) Maybe when we have psychics predicting every bomb plot & sarin gas attack with pinpont accuracy (like in "Minority Report") I'll feel differently about preemptive war... But that isn't now.

AQ has cells all over the globe. One of their leaders--who has actually claimed responsibility for attacking the US--is widely thought to be in the country of one of our allies, and yet we do not/cannot capture or kill him.

"If you consider the most prominent members of the Democratic Party to be a fringe element then you would be correct."

Without examples, I cannot comment either way... Perhaps I'll agree, and perhaps I won't... But like I said before, no one is guilty of slander just because you think s/he is.

"It all depends on your partisan leanings, doesn’t it?"

Political, religious, social, racial, educational,... There's all kinds of factors that affect the way one sees the world... ...and the way one reacts to it. I guess we can only hope that folks do their best to judge fairly, and act accordingly.

Freedomnow said...

Repac declared, “If they (the Iraqi govt) are not willing to get together and work for the democratic Iraq and the welfare of all the Iraqi people, they don't deserve to stand on their own, either. We cannot impose a democracy on another country, no matter how much military might & political/diplomatic smarts we have. Until they want it and are willing to work for it, the government there is going to be a puppet of the US, at best. And that isn't helping anyone, here or there.”

This is an ignorant argument. Al Maliki has never backed down from a public confrontation with the U.S. Al Sistani forced us to speed up the timetable for elections. The Iraqi Interim Govt demanded that we stop operations against the terrorists in Fallujah and we complied although we knew better. Sure enough they later begged us to liberate the city. The Iraqis are no puppets.

If there is a puppet it is misguided liberals like you who are easily manipulated by Al Qaeda propaganda. Iraqis are working every day to improve their country. The simple fact that if are associated with Americans can get them assassinated makes this a heroic act. All of those Iraqis who work for their government and security forces are so brave and yet they are derided by pompous Americans who don’t care if they live or die.

You followed up by saying, “The threat of a withdrawal is intended to get them off their collective asses. While American soldiers are fighting & dying to prop up their government, that government is going on vacation. Let's hope they don't get sunstroke while sitting by the pool...”

This is exactly what I am talking about. “Lets hope they don’t get sunstroke while sitting by the pool?” Lets hope they don’t get assassinated or have their family kidnapped, tortured and killed because they were seen associating with Americans. When you put things into perspective they are not quite as simple.

Instant gratification is not an option. The Iraqi government needs lots of time and the insurgents need a quick U.S. withdrawal.

So you stated, “And actual withdrawal might save American lives, of course... At the very least, less would die fighting for the vacationing Iraqi government.”

This is what it all boils down to. The liberal desire to end the war. What bullshit! By withdrawing we wont end the war, we will exacerbate it. If the Democrats are successful in accomplishing their goals they will initiate a cataclysmic civil war unlike any seen in human history.

The roles will be reversed and then the Republicans would become the critics of a foreign policy dictated by the Democrats. Years of absorbing incessant attacks from the Democrats will unleash a VENGEFUL Republican party. The Democrats will be attacked from the Right and from the extreme Left which will demand another withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Dems wouldn’t be able to afford to lose that battle as well. They will be caught in a vice. They are so blind that even with the Code Pink/Cindy Sheehan attacks they don’t see this coming.

Ironically, the Democrats have no plan for Iraq other than to withdraw. They say they will continue laughable “strategic strikes”. Currently our troops carry out many strategic strikes from within Iraq. So the Democrats will lose much valuable human intel by withdrawing and conduct blind strikes from hundreds or thousands of miles away? How is that going to succeed? As it stands our strategy includes military, political and economic tactics, but the Democrats want to replace it exclusively with hamstrung military strikes? What madness!

A withdrawal from Iraq will lead to a withdrawal from Afghanistan and endless war in the Middle East. You will no doubt say that such a thing cant be predicted so back up your claims with evidence that I am wrong and describe how there is a plan for Iraq after a withdrawal.

There is one plan. The seizure of the White House by the Democrats. They have to implement a withdrawal before the 2008 elections. If a Democrat were elected president that president would have to preside over this withdrawal and take the blame. They don’t want that.

Then you assumed your superiority by claiming, “How can I (forget that there is a war going on)? My government is responsible for starting it, unnecessarily.”

This war was started when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

In the same vein you protested, “We've gone round & round regarding AQ in Iraq before the invasion. I don’t agree with those who believe as you do. A few guys with no power in the country is a far cry from what we have now. AQ terrorism killed very few (if any) Iraqis then. Yes, we did have Baathist enemies there. They were killing their fellow Iraqis, but were little threat to us...

The bottom line for me is, I don’t believe we have the right to almost unilaterally intervene in a country that did not attack us first... not even if it’s to prevent some bad thing that they may do in the future, perhaps. ”


Yes, the age-old argument that Iraq was no threat to us just as the Nazis were no threat to England when they declared war on Nazi Germany. We should have finished the job in 1991 and then dealt with the Sunni Baathists with the blessing of the United Nations. This was even before Al Qaeda began operations against the U.S. Many people are just too eager to abandon the responsibility that our country accepted when we helped Kuwait.

Our enemies are so unjust. We are fighting the Baathists, Al Qaeda and the Taliban, but somehow the United States is always the problem? Get a life.

Here we go again… “Without examples (of Democrats who slander our country), I cannot comment either way... Perhaps I’ll agree, and perhaps I won’t... But like I said before, no one is guilty of slander just because you think s/he is.”

What is this, a court of law? If you disagree with me then just ask me why I feel that way. Do you think I am stupid enough to believe that I can get away with baseless accusations? This is not a court case and it is now 3AM in the morning. I have to wake up at 6AM, but I know that I wont have time to respond to your comments in morning so I am staying up to reply. I spend hours replying to your comments and you badger me like this? Geez…

Congressman Murtha – First lets look at how he lies to propagandize against our war effort. On 12/01/05 USA Today reported, “Most U.S. troops will leave Iraq within a year because the Army is ‘broken, worn out’ and ‘living hand to mouth,’ Rep. John Murtha told a civic group.”

mmm… juicy… As the ranking Democrat (now hysterically chairman!) on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Murtha would have good knowledge of the state of our armed forces. Yet over a year and half later the military is no more broken than he is nonpartisan.

If you look at the article you will find that you wouldn’t have to wait a year and a half to debunk another one of Murtha’s claims. He stated that the PA National Guard was “stretched so thin” that it won't be able to send fully equipped units to Iraq next year. However Lt Col Chris Cleaver from the PA Natl Guard retorted that most of the 2,100 Guard troops deployed at the time couldn’t be sent back to Iraq for a second tour of duty anyway, because of regulations that limit redeployment.

What would make a U.S. politician lie like that? Why is not surprising that he would resort to character assassination as well?

I don’t know if the marines accused of murder at Haditha are guilty or not and I think its possible we may never know the truth, but there is no excusing Murtha’s attacks on those marines before the investigation was complete. Recently the media has been reassessing its coverage of the incident now that new evidence being brought to light in the case and the prosecutor has called for the charges to be dropped against one of the accused.

Yet Murtha accused the media of not aggressively pursuing claims of wrongdoing by the marines enough... “They actually went into the houses and killed women and children. And there was about twice as many as originally reported by Times.” The opposite has now been proven.

Once again I do not declare the marines innocent or guilty. Yet Murtha immediately replied in the early stages of the investigation, “They [the Marines/Military] knew the day after this happened that it was not as they portrayed it. They knew that they (marines) went into the rooms, they killed the people in the taxi. There was no firing at all. And this comes from the highest authority in the Marine Corps, so there’s no question in my mind.”

This is no responsible leader, he is a partisan ankle biter who is nothing but an extremist that ruthlessly attacks the reputation of our troops and our country.

So I see that you have to throw in the stereotypical moral equivalency argument. “AQ has cells all over the globe. One of their leaders--who has actually claimed responsibility for attacking the US--is widely thought to be in the country of one of our allies, and yet we do not/cannot capture or kill him.”

If you look at the Iraqi Resolution there are dozens of bullet points relating to the reasons why we removed Saddam Hussein. The most prominent of which was the many U.N. resolutions that Iraq was in violation of. How many U.N. Resolutions is Pakistan guilty of violating?

Did Pakistan invade Kuwait?

Since Pakistan has been fighting a hot war against Al Qaeda can you also say that Saddam was engaged in a hot war with Al Qaeda and why not?

OK, that’s four pages of comments. I’m going to bed. Its 4:23am.

Eitan Ha'ahzari said...

FN: you blog at stranger times of day than I do and oh, no problemo! I've yet to post it but yes sir, I will!

Freedomnow said...

Well you have the ad up on your sidebar. Going the extra mile is above and beyond the call of duty.

Triple thanks

Eitan Ha'ahzari said...

Triple your welcome and triple acknowledgment of your efforts on behalf of the free world...

Anonymous said...

Added this to my blog.

What a great way to help support our troops, and support those who need our help as well.

Anonymous said...

Done

And thanks

beakerkin said...

Back later

The direction of the wind has brought in an objectionable element. As the objectionable element frequently is on hiatus I will return at a later time.

Freedomnow said...

Hey, thanks DD2 and Robert. You guys rule.

I didnt know that you had your own blog Robert. I will put a link.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Link!

God Bless!

WomanHonorThyself said...

thanks again for stoppin by and leavin your thoughts and um..feelings..!..ha
youre a good man Charlie Brown! :)

Freedomnow said...

DD2,

Since you have "special" needs I made the Spirit of America banner in a size to fit your sidebar.

Cheers!!!!!!!!!

<A HREF="http://www.spiritofamerica.net/projects/119">
<IMG SRC="http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t65/Freedomn0w/Marinesaskforhelp240wide.jpg">
</A>