Dealing with Iran

Toon Credit: Glenn McCoy

Thank God the Bush administration did not capitulate to the insane advice from the Iraq Surrender group that we should ask Iran and Syria for help with Iraq. Instead Bush and Condi are finally starting to get tough with Iran.

Yesterday, U.S. Troops Raid 2 Iranian Targets in Iraq, Detain 5 People. Here are some excerpts:

"The action in Irbil is one of the genuinely new additions to the U.S. strategy in Iraq. Bush said Wednesday that the United States will now "seek out and destroy the networks" arming and training U.S. enemies. He also announced that he is ordering another aircraft carrier and supporting ships to the Persian Gulf area near Iran in a show of force.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, charged yesterday that Iran is "complicit" in providing weapons designed to kill American troops. "We will do all we need to do to defend our troops in Iraq by going after the entire network regardless of where those people come from," he said at a news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

Rice outlined a carrot-and-stick strategy, offering to meet with her Iranian counterpart "anytime, anywhere" to discuss "every facet" of U.S.-Iranian relations -- with the condition that Tehran suspend its program for enriching uranium, which can be used for nuclear weapons as well as for generating energy. Until that time, she said, the United States will "use all our power to limit and counter the activities of Iranian agents who are attacking our people and innocent civilians in Iraq."

Rice effectively dismissed a key recommendation of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan panel that last month urged the administration to launch a dialogue with Iran and Syria to help stabilize Iraq. She told reporters that Tehran and Damascus should not "be paid" to end their "destabilizing behavior," and that such a move would both demoralize friends and embolden enemies across the Middle East."

Most of us are saying what took so long? Gateway Pundit has several great posts on this, my favorite one with this title, How Condi Got Her Groove Back- Threatens Iran, Rejects Dialogue With Syria! His last sentence from that post is strikingly revealing, "Iran and Syria and democrats and the media denounced the Bush plan today." What a shock, terrorist nations, democrats and the media all having the same view on Bush's plan.

Previous posts:
Iran and Hitler Jr.
The Iraq Surrender Group

Others blogging:
As Bush Explains New Direction, US Troops Raid Iranian Consulate

Bush Combats the Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."
--Thomas Paine, “The Crisis”, December 23rd, 1776

Tom Delay has written an excellent post on Bush's speech and he put this Paine quote at the top. It is so good that I wanted to post it also.

To read Bush's entire speech go here. My favorite quote:

"...Americans have always defied the pessimists and seen our faith in freedom redeemed."

Here are some excerpts from the speech:

We Must Succeed

"The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On September the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq."

Iran & Syria

"Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.

We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region."

More than a Military Conflict

"The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life. In the long run, the most realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy, by advancing liberty across a troubled region. It is in the interests of the United States to stand with the brave men and women who are risking their lives to claim their freedom, and to help them as they work to raise up just and hopeful societies across the Middle East.

From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions of ordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace and opportunity for their children. And they are looking at Iraq. They want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to the extremists, or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice for freedom?

The changes I have outlined tonight are aimed at ensuring the survival of a young democracy that is fighting for its life in a part of the world of enormous importance to American security. Let me be clear: The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they will make the year ahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue -- and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties. The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.

Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship. But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world -- a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties, and answers to its people. A democratic Iraq will not be perfect. But it will be a country that fights terrorists instead of harboring them -- and it will help bring a future of peace and security for our children and our grandchildren.

This new approach comes after consultations with Congress about the different courses we could take in Iraq. Many are concerned that the Iraqis are becoming too dependent on the United States, and therefore, our policy should focus on protecting Iraq's borders and hunting down al Qaeda. Their solution is to scale back America's efforts in Baghdad -- or announce the phased withdrawal of our combat forces. We carefully considered these proposals. And we concluded that to step back now would force a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear the country apart, and result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale. Such a scenario would result in our troops being forced to stay in Iraq even longer, and confront an enemy that is even more lethal. If we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.

In the days ahead, my national security team will fully brief Congress on our new strategy. If members have improvements that can be made, we will make them. If circumstances change, we will adjust. Honorable people have different views, and they will voice their criticisms. It is fair to hold our views up to scrutiny. And all involved have a responsibility to explain how the path they propose would be more likely to succeed.

Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror. This group will meet regularly with me and my administration; it will help strengthen our relationship with Congress. We can begin by working together to increase the size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so that America has the Armed Forces we need for the 21st century. We also need to examine ways to mobilize talented American civilians to deploy overseas, where they can help build democratic institutions in communities and nations recovering from war and tyranny.

In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us. These young Americans understand that our cause in Iraq is noble and necessary -- and that the advance of freedom is the calling of our time. They serve far from their families, who make the quiet sacrifices of lonely holidays and empty chairs at the dinner table. They have watched their comrades give their lives to ensure our liberty. We mourn the loss of every fallen American -- and we owe it to them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.

Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, and resolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside the burdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a nation. And throughout our history, Americans have always defied the pessimists and seen our faith in freedom redeemed. Now America is engaged in a new struggle that will set the course for a new century. We can, and we will, prevail.

We go forward with trust that the Author of Liberty will guide us through these trying hours. Thank you and good night."

I know I shouldn't be surprised but I can't believe what doomsayers the Democrats and the Drive By Media are being about this new approach. As Rudy Guiliani said if Bush had come up with a different strategy the Democrats would be whining that we need more troops. It saddens me that there is so much venom for the President that the Democrats can't even cheer for their own country. They aren't even giving this plan a chance. They denounced it before the speech was even given. The Democrats and the Drive By Media are truly "summer soldiers" and "sunshine patriots".

I am thankful that as Bush points out "Americans have always defied the pessimists". May God strengthen our soldiers for this fight and give the military leaders wisdom so that we can see freedom prevail.

Others blogging:
Flopping Aces
Sister Toldjah
Gateway Pundit
Tom Delay

Must See TV!!

Much to everyone's shock (probably) I didn't watch many TV series this past fall because some of them were missing in action. Prison Break and Lost were the main ones and I also watched Survivor and Amazing Race. Prison Break took a break pretty early and Lost was only on for a month so January is an exciting month.

Most exciting of course is 24 starts on January 14th with a 2 hour kick-off and then another 2 hours on the 15th so it begins with a bang. Shane and Kelli are finally caught up so Timothy is probably the only one I have to worry about with the spoilers ;-)!! If you haven't checked out Blogs for Bauer yet you are missing out. Join in on the liveblogging on the 14th & 15th, its a lot of fun!

It was interesting because I re-watched A Few Good Men the other day and I hate Kiefer Sutherland in that movie. He plays such a despicable character and so different than his role in 24. His infamous quote, "Private Santiago is dead and that is a tragedy, but he is dead because he had no code, he is dead because he had no honor and God was watching." Yikes!! I'm not sure I liked Sutherland in any movie before 24 except maybe The Three Musketeers.


Wildfire started up on New Year's Day! It is a fun show about a girl, a horse and much more.


Prison Break comes back from its hiatus on January 22nd. If you are a fan of Prison Break you need to come join us at Prison Break Central especially when the episodes air for liveblogging. Tons of fun!!


Nashville Star is Country Music's version of American Idol and it starts up this thursday, January 11th.


Unfortunately we have to wait until February for Lost but not too long since it starts up on February 7th.

New Year's Wishes--Part 2 (Female Edition)

My wish for Skye is that she gets to go on a week long cruise with these guys as her tour guides :-)!!


Mahndisa also gets a week at a science resort, since it was such a big hit with Becky ;-)!! While there Mahndisa gets the opportunity to discuss all kinds of physics' theories with other experts in the field.


My wish for Gayle is a week long vacation at a luxury ranch for her and Walt and all the news channels are moonbat free of the likes of Cindy Sheehan and Hillary Clinton. Just like channels bleep out curse words these will bleep out any news of loony liberals. Also, special Doctors for Walt to completely fix his teeth after his recent accident.


Suzie gets to spend a week traveling with John Walsh campaigning for stricter laws for sex offenders and making a huge impact.


Since Monica is a fellow homeschooling mom I can imagine what she would like. So for her I have a week long spa trip which caters to conservatives. Fox News on all the tvs and lots of fun magazines lying around such as "The Weekly Standard" and "The Limbaugh Letter".


Little Orange Fox gets to spend some time with a hunky, conservative boxing trainer so she can perfect her commie, pummeling skills!!

Perspective

Toon Credit: Wayne Stayskal

This cartoon is my only contribution to politics in this post. My life has been getting in the way of blogging recently.

Yesterday I found out a friend of mine committed suicide. She wasn't a close friend but I'm going to her funeral today and it is still a sobering thing and makes you take restock of your life. Another friend from college let me know in her Christmas letter that her husband died this past year. Since they are my age it makes you do a double take.

My thoughts have gone to how we needlessly worry and stress out about things that in the scheme of things aren't that big of a deal compared to life or death. A quote from my earlier post: "Work hard, play hard, laugh hard, and leave the worries to your Father." Tim McGraw's song, "Live like you were dying!!"

We Are Marshall

I have some fun New Year's posts that I want to do tomorrow and later this week but first I had to post about this AWESOME movie I saw today. I cannot say enough good things about it. We Are Marshall is based on a true story and is incredibly moving.


A small college town in West Virginia loses almost their entire football team and many other members of their town in a plane crash. This picture is of the real football team in 1970.


Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox star in it and they both did an incredible job. It cracked me up because I'm used to seeing McConaughey as the good-looking bachelor in most of his movies and he played such a different character this time. He had this horrible 70's hairstyle and wore these wretched plaid suits and yet he did such a good job as the coach that he was playing. I cried through most of the movie because it was so moving and inspirational.


It was also neat because it takes place in West Virginia in the 70's and I actually lived in a small town in West Virginia in the 70's so that was kind of cool.


At the end of the movie they showed a lot of pictures of the real people that the movie was about. I always love it when they do that and this is a picture of Fox & McConaughey with their real life counterparts.


Matthew Fox talking about his thoughts about doing the movie and getting to know the real life Coach Red Dawson that he plays in the movie.

LMC gives the movie two thumbs up and I highly recommend you see it. It is also rated PG so it is a great family friendly movie.

Wonderful review by Michael McBride

The Butcher of Baghdad has been executed

This is an important day in history!! A mass murderer who had no qualms even killing people in his own family has met his Maker. Justice has been served.

Father and child gassed in Halabja
Photo Hat tip: Mike's America

Lest we forget the horrors he inflicted upon thousands and thousands of innocent men, women and children this picture is just a small reminder. This evil man's reign of terror would have continued with his even more pathological sons, Uday and Qusay had it not been for President Bush and our brave U.S. troops.

I watched several A&E biographies on Saddam Hussein and his sons and I was horrified at what I saw. When his sons were very young they were forced to watch the torture and murder of fellow human beings and even ordered to commit murder or be killed themselves. Uday breeded terror among the women at the University of Baghdad where he would pick out the most beautiful women, rape them and then kill them. Qusay was just as brutal and Saddam had succeeded in turning his sons into monsters. Here is an excerpt from a short piece on Saddam's sons:

OUTLANDISH DEPRAVITY
"The stories told about Saddam’s sons, related to NEWSWEEK by several Iraqi exiles, seem almost too grotesque to be true. Some are probably exaggerated, but not by much, according to a senior administration official who has access to CIA files on Saddam’s sons. More is known about Uday, but only because he was outlandish in his depravity. Qusay is “in the shadows,” says this source. “We don’t know much.” But U.S. intelligence believes that Qusay is Saddam’s true heir apparent, for the simple reason that he controls the security that keeps his father in power and alive. Given their family history, it is remarkable that his two sons have not killed each other (though they may have tried).

Both men (Uday is 38, Qusay 36) were born and bred to violence of the most lurid kind. As infants, they were supposedly given disarmed grenades as toys. More reliably, they were said to accompany their father on outings to the torture chamber. What did they see? The methods used by the ruling Baath Party have never been subtle. When the Army briefly drove out the Baathists in the early 1960s, it discovered a chamber of horrors where Saddam worked as an officer. In the cellars of Qasr-al—Nihayyah (“the Palace of the End,” so-called because King Faisal II was murdered there in 1958), the Army found “electric wires with pincers, pointed iron stakes on which prisoners were made to sit, and a machine which still bore traces of chopped-off fingers,” according to one account based on official sources.

Saddam has always believed in the symbolic power of mutilation. “Under torture, the high and mighty are quite literally exposed as being made of the same stuff as everyone else,” writes Kanan Makiya in his study of Saddam’s Iraq, “Republic of Fear.” As Iraqi ruler, Saddam delivered the broken bodies of his victims to their families. He was aiming at the creation of “a new man” in Iraq, just as Hitler and Stalin had tried to do in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. He may well have made his sons into psychopaths."

Not only did Saddam torture and murder thousands of his fellow muslims but he had many ties to terrororism around the world.

Toon Hat Tip: Flopping Aces
 

President Bush and our U.S. troops have protected the lives of countless innocent men, women and children. Even though we are still unearthing mass graves in Iraq no new ones are being created. Saddam's reign of terror is over!!

Happy Birthday to Harley & My Little Brother

My daughter Harley actually turned 9 on the 12th but today is her Birthday party. We are having an American Girls' Christmas Party at my house and then I am taking Harley and 4 of her friends to Build a Bear. My baby brother also turned 30 this month on the 14th. So I'm wishing him a belated Happy Birthday as well.



I apologize for not posting or visiting much lately. I've been busy making these Christmas wreaths and Peanut Butter cookies with Hershey kisses in them. I've also been trying to get Christmas cards out and make my house look presentable and get laundry done. Right now I have an hour before everyone arrives at my house and I have laundry all over my house and my house looks scary so I've got to get my act together. I hope everyone is enjoying the craziness of Holiday preparations as well :-)!!

More Movie Stuff

There are a couple of movies that have come out this year that I want to see but haven't gotten a chance to yet. I admit that even though I am a big Gibson fan it was hard to think about going to see one of his movies since his incident. But Sean Hannity got to see his newest movie Apocalypto and said it was very good and very moving. That describes a lot of Gibson's movies so I wasn't surprised. It made me want to go and see it especially since its about the Maya Kingdom which is an intriguing subject for me. Also, I know this is a little corny but O'Reilly has this body language expert on occasionally who analyzes people's body language. O'Reilly had her observe Gibson on Leno's show and she said that his body language conveyed a real remorse about what had happened.

I also wanted to see Flags of our Fathers awhile back but never made it to the movie theater. Another one that is out right now that looks good is Bobby which is about Robert F. Kennedy. I'm in desperate need of a movie night but no time right now.


I watched End of the Spear last night and was pretty impressed. I am actually pretty familiar with this story about the 5 missionaries that were killed by tribal people but never knew the details. Elisabeth Elliott is a famous speaker and writer and she was one of the widows of the missionaries. I'm not a big fan of hers since she is a little on the legalistic side but never understood how some of the widows and children went back in to minister to the very people who killed their husbands. When you watch the movie it all makes sense. It is still pretty remarkable and it is a true picture of Christians showing the unconditional love of Christ to the lost. It is a movie well worth seeing.


Joia reminded me that I forgot to mention Clueless in my movie reviews. She lent it to me so I forgot since it wasn't on my Netflix list. This is a total gem of a movie. I was always turned off by it because it just seemed like an airhead, teenage movie to me but its actually very fun. First of all it is a modern version of Jane Austen's book Emma so that makes it neat. Also, I was so excited to see the name of one of the main characters. Alicia Silverstone is the main character whose name is Cher but her best friend is Dionne and they are both named after has been singers. This was so awesome to me because I have literally never seen a movie with a character in it with my name but also for her to be named after the same singer was very cool.

DVD Warning:

Just to save some people some stress I felt I needed to issue this warning. The two big DVD renters that send movies through the mail for a monthly fee are Netflix and Blockbuster. These are awesome services because you get unlimited movies for one low price. My warning comes in that there is a big difference in the customer service of Netflix versus Blockbuster. I started out with Blockbuster and had numerous problems. A friend and I both got frustrated and switched to Netflix. I have used Netflix for about 8 months and have never had any problems. Recently Blockbuster is trying to lure people to them with their option of enabling you to return DVDs that you get through the mail at the store and immediately get a new movie. I thought this would be a nice feature and so decided to give them another try. After going through the hassle of switching back to them I immediately encountered problems. Within one day I had 3 different issues with them. I decided it wasn't worth it and switched back to Netflix immediately. Bottom line, go with Netflix and save yourself a lot of stress.

Movie Reviews

Patrick had a great idea where he looked at all the movies he had gotten through Netflix this past year and gave mini-reviews on what he thought of all of them. I thought that sounded like a fun idea so I'm doing the same although I'm categorizing them a little differently and I'm not listing every single movie. Of the ones I can remember I'll list the movies I saw in the theater.

Netflix Movies

These are the movies/TV series that I loved:

LOST--Seasons 1 & 2--shocking to all of you I'm sure

The Outsider--I loved this movie, bought it and have watched it several times

Iron Jawed Angels--I did a whole post on this

The Inheritance--based on Louisa May Alcott's book

Reality Bites--I had seen this before but I liked it much better the 2nd time.

American Outlaws--my favorite Colin Farrell movie

Dreamer--inspirational movie with Kurt Russell & Elisabeth Shue

Tears of the Sun

Movies I liked:

She's the Man

Save the Last Dance 2--This wasn't bad but wasn't near as good as the first one which I love.

Drive Me Crazy

Last Holiday

Eyes of a Stranger

Just Like Heaven--Reese Witherspoon

Cinderella Man--I liked this more than I expected too

Miss Congeniality 2--Not as good as the 1st one but cute

These movies I thought I would really like but they were a big disappointment:

Young Guns 1 & 2--Kiefer Sutherland is awful in these. I don't think I ever liked him in anything until 24. Its almost like he's a different person in 24. He is one of those actors like George Clooney who looks and acts better in his 40's than he did in his 20's.

The Sentinel--A recent Kiefer Sutherland movie that I thought would be good but was just kind of a flop.

The New World--Huge Disappointment

La Femme Nikita (the series)--I was told this was similar to Alias. I love Alias but Nikita is nothing like Alias in terms of its appeal. They have similar story lines but I love Alias and despised Nikita.

Tristan & Isolde

Casanova

Movies I just didn't like:

Tigerland

The Recruit

Hart's War--This had Bruce Willis & Colin Farrell in it and was a war movie but it still didn't cut it for me.

Hostage

To end all Wars

Rumor has it

Movies I saw at the Theater that I loved:

World Trade Center

United 93

Annapolis

Failure to Launch

Movies I saw with my kids at the Theater:

Superman Returns--I got to see it in 3D with my boys. A friend had told me it was really good so I had high expectations and ended up not even liking it.

The Devil Wears Prada--I saw this with my girls and it was pretty good.

Santa Clause 3--I saw this with all my kids. It was good but not as good as 1 & 2.

Yours, Mine and Ours--Cute movie