Blue Star Chronicles

Kentucky Fried Chicken - Iraq

You know there’s real progress being made in the Battle of Iraq when American fast food restaurants start opening there.

Only a short time ago the city of Fallujah served as stronghold for insurgents. Daily skirmishes, improvised explosive device detonations and public unease made operating a business in the city very difficult.

Today, with improved security throughout the region, the low price of 4,000 dinar, or $3.50, will purchase a full meal at the recently established Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Hey Al Dubat area of the city.

The KFC is the first to open for business in the city. Before improved conditions in the city, insurgents threatened business owners, demanding money to support acts of terrorism.

You read that right. Kentucky Fried Chicken has opened up in Fallujah. Capitalism and crispy fried chicken are winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Citizens of the area can now work steady jobs, where as prior conditions kept many from even coming to work on a daily basis.

“I love the work here, because we have the opportunity to go to work every day,” said a KFC employee.

Michael Yon was interviewed on Fox and Friends (see video above) regarding the progress in Iraq. As many of you know, Michael Yon is a journalist and blogger who has made numerous trips to Iraq and chronicled what he has seen there in his articles and photography. He is former special forces and has spent more time with the troops than any other journalist that I’m aware of. Even better, he doesn’t stay in the safety of the Green Zone to do his reporting, as so many others do.

Strangely, the main stream media tends to ignore reporters like Yon, seemingly prefering to focus on any set backs that occur, regardless of how small they might be. Meanwhile, significant progress is pretty much universally ignored by the media.

Yon doesn’t just write about sweetness and light, however. He has reported in a non-biased manner that has irritated people of all points of view at one point or the other. Regardless of your opinion of the war, its good to hear how its actually going without personal and political agendas interferring with the reporting.

I have heard from someone very close to me that the progress in Iraq has been unbelievable since the beginning of the surge. I believe him and am grateful that I can get some reports from people who actually know what’s going on there.

Thanks to Hot Air and Jawa Report for the video.

General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee right now. The proceedings have already been interrupted twice by protesters in the chambers.

As anyone can expect, the democrats are intent on finding any way they can to prove that we have or are being defeated in Iraq and need to surrender. As it is with any televised session of this kind the Senators are preening and posturing for the cameras.

You probably remember that the last time General Petraeus testified in front of this committee, last September, he was treated with less respect than would be expected for someone of his standing. In fact, Senator Hillary Clinton stated that his comments required ‘a willing suspension of disbelief’. Moveon.org took out a full page ad in the New York Times to insult Petraeus. Even right now a Senator told Petraeus that the surge was poorly planned and has been poorly executed.

Never mind that it has been working. Never mind that Sadr has called for a cease fire even with his attempts to reestablish himself with violence in Iraq and the continued interference of Iran and Syria. Never mind that we have an enormous investment in seeing this battle through to victory both for ourselves and for the world that we leave our children. The democrats still seem intent on seeing us surrender. Nancy Pelosi has already given Petraeus the message that there had better be a negative report today.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hopes that Petraeus is going to get a better reception today and that the Senate will not embarrass themselves as badly as they did last time. To that end, he has set up a place online where people can express their gratitude for what Petraeus has accomplished in Iraq. All you have to do is fill in your name and add your comments. It only takes a minute to show that the entire country is not of the opinion of those who yell the loudest.

Go to Senator McConnell’s page and leave your comments of support here.

h/t Hot Air

Lara Logan was there as U.S. troops responded to insurgent attacks on Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, has suspended his attacks on the insurgent groups that have been fighting the government there for days now. Moktada al-Sadr is still causing trouble in Sadr City and is calling for protests. The thing is, Sadr had pulled back and now al-Maliki is backing off. Is this any way to fight a war????

Now the U.S. has to go back in and get control of the situation … AGAIN! al-Sadr’s been causing trouble for years so one has to wonder why he’s still drawing breath. I would think that at some point we’d learn a lesson or two from history. You can’t win the peace until you’ve won the war. We tried to skip a step there. Lets win the war, THEN try to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of the people.

This is not surprising news, but its certainly not what was hoped for.

(CNN) — After nearly four years of hoping, waiting and praying, an Ohio family learned Sunday their missing son died in Iraq.

“It hurts — it really hurts. You go through four years of hope,” said Carolyn Maupin, whose son, Staff Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, was captured by insurgents in April 2004.

“It’s like a letdown to me. I’m trying to get through that right now.”

His father, Keith Maupin, said military officials informed the family Sunday afternoon that the remains of the 24-year-old Army reservist had been identified.

“Every parent knows the possibility exists that they may have to face the death of their child when they volunteer to go to war,” he said. “However, those who are fortunate make peace with that and support their soldier, because they enlisted at their own free will.”

A Defense Department official also confirmed the identification, saying Maupin’s remains were found last week but DNA results just came in.

Maupin, who was 20 at the time of his capture, and another soldier, Sgt. Elmer Krause, 40, were captured by insurgents April 9, 2004, after their convoy came under attack near Baghdad International Airport. A week later, Maupin was shown on a videotape, surrounded by several armed masked men.

“My name is Keith Matthew Maupin,” he stated in the video. “I am a soldier from the First Division. I am married with a 10-month-old child. I came to liberate Iraq, but I did not come willingly because I wanted to stay with my child.”

Krause’s body was found two weeks later.

Later that summer, Al-Jazeera aired a videotape purportedly showing the execution of Maupin, but U.S. officials haven’t confirmed the identity of the person on the tape.

The U.S. Army continued to promote Maupin, who was a private first class in the Army Reserves at the time of his capture, to sergeant and then staff sergeant as they searched for him.

Three U.S. troops remain missing in the five-year-old Iraq war: Pvt. Byron W. Fouty and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez have been missing since their military convoy was raided west of Mahmoudiya May 12.

Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie disappeared October 23, 2006, and his status was changed to “missing-captured” nearly two months later.

I saw Sgt. Maupin’s mother on television this morning. She tearfully said that she was just happy that Matt was able to finally come back to America, even though its not the way they wanted him to come home.

I’m so sorry for Sgt. Maupin’s parents and family. I’m so sorry for whatever he had to go through. There just aren’t words ……

Related:

• My name is Matt Maupin - Please remember my face
• Wednesday Hero - SSgt. Keith Matt Maupin
• Where is Private First Class Keith Matthew Maupin?

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Hillary Clinton spent the St. Patrick’s Day weekend working the crowds at parades and giving speeches wearing a green scarf adorned with Irish clovers. Barack Obama spent the weekend with weak attempts to find the right set of words to get himself out of the corner he’s painted himself into by running as the candidate who transcends race while having spent the last twenty years attending a church that is astonishingly racist. I also imagine that he spent a large part of the weekend with spin doctors working on a speech he is to give tomorrow that is supposed to fix this entire situation for him. Words. Its all about words.

While the democrats were busily working on their respective campaigns, McCain made a surprise visit to Iraq. It is his eight trip there since the beginning of the war (did you know he’d been that many time? Right. I didn’t think so). He was traveling with fellow Senators Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.). While McCain visited Iraq and met with official there he stayed largely out of view. That doesn’t stop the leftists blogs from declaring that he was there for photo-ops and political gain.

The only political gain involved in his trip to Iraq had to do with progress in relations with the government of Iraq.

The visit included a briefing by senior U.S. military officials in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, according to a U.S. military official familiar with McCain’s schedule. The city has emerged as one of the last major urban strongholds of the Sunni insurgency. McCain then flew to Haditha, the western Iraqi town where, in November 2005, U.S. Marines gunned down as many as 24 Iraqi civilians. He walked through a market.

McCain was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, according to Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. While Salih did not see McCain on Sunday, he said McCain’s “message has been consistent in the past saying Iraqis have to take responsibility and deliver on political progress.”

Salih said it was important for Iraqi politicians not to get involved in U.S. domestic politics but that his colleagues were “keenly aware of the debate in the United States.” Most important, he said, was a “solid long-term partnership” with the United States and a commitment that the American government “continue to look at Iraq as an important mission that cannot be allowed to fail.”

“Abandoning Iraq is not an option,” he said.

In an interview with CNN, McCain discussed the enormous stakes involved in the decisions that are being made in regards to Iraq.

Again he states the facts are on his side, that withdrawing troops too fast would undermine the security gains and create a climate where political reforms were even more unlikely.
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“We are succeeding. And we can succeed and American casualties overall are way down. That is in direct contradiction to the predictions made by the Democrats and particularly Sen. [Barack] Obama and Sen. [Hillary] Clinton.

“I will be glad to stake my campaign on the fact that this has succeeded and the American people appreciate it. Now will we be able to succeed fast enough? Will they be able to — al Qaeda be able to come back? That is a tough question. They are on the run, but they are not defeated.”

Crossposted at McCain Blogs

One of the reasons I feel so strongly that John McCain has the potential to be one of our great Presidents is that he has consistently throughout his career taken stands on principle regardless of the political consequences to himself. He is very different from many politicians in that he appears to be completely unwilling to throw aside his convictions for personal or political gain. He is a man of integrity and character.

He will also stand his ground when all others stand against him. He hasn’t won a lot of friends in the Senate for those stances, but he has won the respect of most. When he is wrong, he owns up to it. When he is right, he won’t bend his principles to the pressure from his peers.

I was looking for something completely different when I ran across this article from a couple of years ago.

December 8, 2006 — WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain yesterday slammed the report by the Iraq Study Group, warning the recommendations would lead the United States to a historic failure and endanger thousands of American troops.

“There’s only one thing worse than an overstressed Army and Marine Corps, and that’s a defeated Army and Marine Corps,” said McCain, a Vietnam POW for five years and a likely GOP candidate for the White House.

“I believe this is a recipe that will lead to our defeat sooner or later in Iraq,” said the Arizona senator, a former Navy fighter pilot whose father and grandfather were both four-star admirals.

The study’s chief authors - former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton (R-Ind.) - could only listen as McCain eviscerated their plan at a packed Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

McCain, who favors sending more troops to Iraq to crush the insurgents, ridiculed one of the panel’s key suggestions - that thousands of American troops withdraw and instead “embed” forces within retrained Iraqi units.

He said the idea would “put at risk a large number of American advisers.”

Only a fraction of Iraqi units are now considered reliable.

Hamilton immediately acknowledged that McCain had a point on embedding troops.

“You’re absolutely right about that,” he said. “There is no blinking the fact that that’s a risky mission and a difficult mission, and we should not slide over it, as you have not in your comments,” Hamilton told McCain.

But Hamilton said the United States would have enough combat forces there to protect its embedded troops.

McCain also mocked the commission’s idea of seeking peace talks with terrorist states Iran and Syria, saying, “I don’t believe that a peace conference with people who are dedicated to your extinction has much short-term gain.”

Another thing that has resulted in my enthusiastic support of John McCain for President is that he will unequivocally support our Troops. He will not put them in untenable situations (embedded with Iraqi Troops!) without the proper support needed to minimize American casualties and to ensure American victory.

I believe that John McCain will not settle for anything less than victory in any conflict we have with our enemies foreign and domestic. He obviously has an abiding respect for our Troops and will do whatever is necessary to protect them from becoming political pawns. He obviously loves America and will do whatever is necessary to see that we are not humiliated by defeat in order to further someone’s political career or a political party’s agenda. He obviously understands how incredibly high the stakes are for the United States in the Battle of Iraq. He obviously doesn’t have a problem swimming against the tide to see that we do not leave Iraq until our Troops can leave there victorious and with their heads held high.

A precipitous withdrawal from the Battle of Iraq would have consequences that we can barely even imagine.

Crossposted at McCain Blogs

I know that I’ve made fun of Hollywood stars who have come out and said a lot of really stupid things. Of course they have as much a right to their opinions as anyone else. But since they are in the public eye and choose to make their opinions known publicly, they are subject to public ridicule. That’s how it works.

Every once in a while one shows some maturity when they speak out and actually make sense. Angelina Jolie has been no stranger to controversy and since she grew up in the public eye has had every misadventure of her life splattered all over the tabloids. It appears now that she’s grown up a little bit and is exhibiting a sense of responsibility to give something back to the country that gave her the opportunities she’s had and to the world at large. Good for her.

As I’ve written before, she’s shown signs of supporting our Troops. She’s also visited our Troops in Iraq as part of her role as a figure head for humanitarian efforts of the U.N. I have to give her credit where credit is due.

Now she’s written an opinion piece about why we need to stay in Iraq until the job is done. She bases her opinions from her trips to the region and her talks with our Troops and both American and Iraqi officials.

My visit left me even more deeply convinced that we not only have a moral obligation to help displaced Iraqi families, but also a serious, long-term, national security interest in ending this crisis.

and ….

As for the question of whether the surge is working, I can only state what I witnessed: U.N. staff and those of non-governmental organizations seem to feel they have the right set of circumstances to attempt to scale up their programs. And when I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq. They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible.

It seems to me that now is the moment to address the humanitarian side of this situation. Without the right support, we could miss an opportunity to do some of the good we always stated we intended to do.

Read her article here.

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - Safaa Wadi moved to this former mill city after his life was threatened in his native Iraq while serving as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. He expects to soon head back to Iraq—not as a civilian interpreter, but as a U.S. soldier.

Wadi arrived in the United States in September with a special immigrant visa for Iraqi and Afghan interpreters. But with his savings nearly depleted and unable to land a decent job, Wadi enlisted in the Army. He begins training in South Carolina on Monday.

Wadi isn’t worried about returning to Iraq, where many of his countrymen considered him a traitor because he worked with American forces. His allegiance is now to the United States, he says.

“I want to serve this country because this country returned to me my life,” Wadi said. “If I had stayed in Iraq, I’d be dead now.”

[…]

Wadi decided last summer the time had come to leave Iraq. Now he says the time has come to put on a uniform. In a matter of days, he’ll be Army Specialist Wadi. “I think I’m the first guy to do this,” he said.

Upwardly Global and an Army spokeswoman said they weren’t aware of any other Iraqi interpreters joining the Army. But they would be welcome to do so because enlisting would give them good benefits and put them on the path toward U.S. citizenship while filling a need for the Army, Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb said.

Wadi expects to be used as an interpreter again when he returns to Iraq. He plans to put in four years in the military.

“After the Army,” he said, “I hope to go to an American university, get a job and be a productive citizen.”

It sounds like Wadi is well on his way to becoming a productive citizen. I wish him well.

source

h/t: bRight and Early

Major Brian Dennis was serving in Iraq when a local dog took up with him. The dog’s ears had been cut off when it was a pup so Major Dennis named him Nub. Nub came around for months and obviously liked hanging out with the Marines. One day Major Dennis found a deep puncture wound on Nub. It had been inflicted on Nub with a screwdriver. Dennis and the other Marines nursed Nub back to health. No wonder Nubs loves his Marines and was willing to do whatever he had to do to find them when their unit was relocated …..

Major Brian Dennis, while serving in Iraq, found a dog who had his ears cut off as a pup and named the little guy nubs.

Over a period of months, the animal came around, befriending Dennis and his fellow Marines. During one visit, Dennis found Nubs with a deep puncture wound on his left side. He later learned the injury was inflicted by a screwdriver. He helped nurse the dog back to health.

The time came, however, for Dennis’ unit to relocate 70 miles from Nubs’ home fort. Keeping nubs was against the rules so he had to leave the dog behind. As always, Nubs sprinted alongside the Hummers as they pulled away for what Dennis assumed was the last time he would see the dog.

Two days later, Nubs wandered inexplicably in below-freezing conditions into Dennis’ new camp, shocking the Marine unit. “I won’t even address the gauntlet he had to run of dog packs, wolves, and God knows what else to get here,” Dennis wrote. “When he arrived he looked like he’d just been through a war zone.”

Nubs’ miraculous journey forced the Marine’s hand, and Dennis and his fellow Marines unanimously decided to keep the animal, building a doghouse at the camp. When two military police officers told Dennis the dog could not stay at the camp, he decided the only way to properly keep the animal was to get it to the United States.

After raising money and setting up a home with a friend back in the states, Nubs will arrive in the US this weekend.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Angelina Jolie showed up to have lunch with our Troops in the Green Zone in Baghdad today. She was there in her role as U.N. Ambassador to assess the humanitarian issues there.

Of her mission, Angelina has said: “There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment, and a lot of pieces that need to be put together.

“I’m trying to figure out what they are.”

“What happens in Iraq and how Iraq settles in the years to come is going to affect the entire Middle East.

“It’s in our best interest to address a humanitarian crisis on this scale because displacement can lead to a lot of instability and aggression.”

It should come as no surprise that there’s more talk than action - that’s the way it always is. Let’s have another meeting and discuss it more. I don’t see that changing any time soon. I certainly don’t see United Nations doing anything effective for anything other than sending celebrities around as spokespersons and raising them more money.

Still, all in all, I have to give Angelina credit for having lunch with our Troops. I’m sure she had more security than the President has when he goes there and I’m also sure she didn’t step foot out of the Green Zone. Undoubtedly she cheered the troops. I have no idea what her politics are or how she feels about our military. I’ve seen her do things with the Troops before so I give her the benefit of the doubt.

Even General Petraeus made time to meet with her! I’m so sure he did! LOL

BAGHDAD (AP) — Note to world leaders: Next time you need instant access to foreign dignitaries and top military brass, forget the usual protocols. Just send in Angelina Jolie.

Hollywood’s globe-trotting leading lady swooped into Baghdad on Thursday to highlight the plight of Iraqi refugees, gaining an audience with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the American Embassy said.

On her mission as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, Jolie also met with Iraqi migration officials to stress that there needs to be a coherent plan for the more than 2 million internally displaced Iraqis who are beginning to trickle back to their homes amid a recent lull in violence.

“There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment,” Jolie said in excerpts of an interview aired on CNN.

Jolie mingled with American troops during lunch at a dining facility in the heavily guarded Green Zone, which houses the embassy and Iraqi government offices. She grabbed a red plastic tray at the mess hall, collected her lunch and sat at a long banquet table to eat — her fork tines down, of course — as flashbulbs from soldiers’ digital cameras lit up the wall behind her.

During the CNN interview, Jolie said the fate of Iraq will have an impact on the Middle East for years to come.

“And a big part of what it’s going to affect,” she said, “is how these people are returned and settled into their homes and their community and brought back together and whether they can live together and what their communities look like.”

Britain’s Prince Edward has decided to run his silly royal mouth about what the United States should and shouldn’t do in regards to the Global War on Terror. He claims that the British tried to advise us about the Battle of Iraq and if only we had listened to them, things would be so much better now.

It seems the Prince has forgotten that we aren’t subjects of the Crown any longer. In fact, we haven’t been for a couple of hundred years. Catch up, Eddie!

I don’t remember the Spoiled Prince Eddie speaking up at the time (or getting his delicate hands dirty in any way). Most other people, including the Clintons and Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair, felt we needed to do something. Well, we did something. You can sit back and second guess decisions after the fact or you can take action and risk the criticism of the Princes of the world who sit in the comfort of their smoking clubs completely oblivious and impervious to the dangers of the world.

What is with the British royal family and their sycophant attraction to islam and the enemies of the state? Well, that’s Britain’s problem, except they are having their own problems with islamofascits.

The Royal Family is supposed to stay out of politics and not speak on any subjects that are controversial. Little Prince Eddie is way out of line. Not only in that his comments are insulting and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but that he has breached the protocol set forth by his own nation.

Incidents like this help clarify why the Brits prefer that their Royal family keep their mouths shut.