Oliver North speaks to Vets...

Is it a little early to celebrate Veteran's Day?

Nah...

The Hurt Locker (Voltage Pictures 2008)

Been away from the ol' blog recently. Still trying to catch up with other parts of my life. But I'm back and have a pretty good movie for you all to check out this weekend! This week's movie is Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker which smoked Avatar (and its director and her ex-husband James Cameron) at the 2009 Oscars. Bigelow even gave a shout out to the troops at the Oscars which I'm sure made a lot of the Hollyweird elite just want to puke in the aisles.

I have to admit as I sat down in the theater to watch this movie, I braced myself for a 2 hour liberal lecture about how war was the worst thing in the world (which it's not not my dear friends...living without freedom... THAT would be the worst thing.) and why our troops are a bunch of sadistic blood thirsty bunch of a--holes.

However, that was not the case. Not at all.

Nile Gardiner from the Telegraph.co.uk wrote an excellent article about the best conservative movies from the last decade. You all might want to make a note that most of the movies he mentions have already been reviewed by yours truly!

Below is what he wrote about The Hurt Locker...

Kathryn Bigelow’s critically acclaimed tribute to the heroism of US Army bomb disposal experts in Iraq has already been nominated for three Golden Globes. It is a searing and tense war film that has been the surprise hit of the year in the United States. What is refreshing about the film is its willingness to portray the US military presence in Iraq in an overwhelmingly sympathetic light, and the al-Qaeda-backed enemy as barbaric and fundamentally evil. There are no shades of gray in The Hurt Locker, and this is a strikingly patriotic motion picture that has been embraced by an American public weary of the anti-Americanism churned out by Hollywood in its portrayal of the War on Terror – from Rendition and Lions for Lambs to Redacted and In the Valley of Elah. The Hurt Locker is by far the best conservative film of 2009, and one of the greatest of the decade.

Here is the trailer...

Burnout International

Cool!

Dear Mr. Obama,

Hat tip to ASM826!

Remember Me! by Lizzie Palmer

Lizzie Palmer who put this incredible YouTube program together is only 15 years old! There have been over 25,000,000 hits as of this
morning! In case you missed it, here it is...

Captain Tom Returns From Iraq

Some of you who have been visiting my blog for awhile know I have a friend in the Army who is over in Iraq. (Here's his last letter). Well today he sent me some good news! He's coming home! Here's his letter!



Family and Friends,

We ended combat operations about two weeks ago. Two more weeks of cleaning and packing and we should be out of here before the end of the month. I want to say Thanks to all of you for the prayers, cards and packages over the past 14 months.

It is hard to say whether or not Iraq is a better place than it was when we arrived last March. Violence against Coalition Forces is down significantly over the past year but the country as a whole remains a very violent place. It is hard to make generalizations about the whole country because it is so different from one province to the other. However, from what I have seen working in three provinces, the enemy most closely resembles Tony Soprano. The insurgency resembles what is basically organized crime with little ideological underpinning at only the highest levels. Corruption permeates every aspect of Iraqi society and is just the cost of doing business. Most of the Iraqi's that we fight and detain are more motivated by bling than by jihad.

After a rough summer I am happy to say that we have only lost one soldier from October to now. We have been partly lucky but have also gained the benefit or working in predominately Sunni areas that have become much more stable since September.

During my time I witnessed daily amazement and frustration at the Army’s ability/inability to accomplish tasks. We are able to tackle large problems but are continually hindered by small problems. There is truly a ridiculous amount of money being spent on this war. The number of civilian contractors, it’s about a 1:1 ratio, would surprise most people. Seeing all the money that is spent is truly mind-bottling.

I've attached a picture of the fighting staff officers of 4-9 on our most coveted possession a reclaimed 82' Chevy, as well as a great photo of our last medevac.

I should be back in Washington in June and will be in Colorado for a couple weeks in July. Looking forward to seeing you all again on American soil,

Tom

Tom's Letter from Iraq

Here's a letter from my buddy Captain Tom in Iraq! Interesting read!

Hello All,

Things have been fairly busy over here for the past couple of months. I moved from B Company to Battalion Staff at the beginning of September and have been working as the Battalion Targeting Officer. I am responsible for intel collection and putting the puzzle together in our AO. It is rewarding at times but very frustrating and much more difficult than the infantry mission. I get a lot more gym time but I don't have as many Soldiers as I used to. I have pretty much come to terms with spending more time at my desk than on my Strkyer.

I, along with the rest the junior Officer corps, are at a decision point concerning our lives and careers, and if the Army and Iraq are going to be part of that. Uncle Sugar is dangling a 35k bonus as well as a few other incentive options in front of us. It doesn't seem to be slowing the exodus though. I haven't yet decided what I am going to do. I am passing on the bonus, which has a cutoff date of December 14. There is a general consensus that one and two (even three deployments for some) in five years is enough and the time has come to move on in other areas of life. Unfortunately in order for the Army to keep expanding, as is planned, or even to maintain our current strength, the Army needs experienced Captains to man key staff and command positions in tomorrow's companies, battalions and brigades. The contrast between 12 months of 14-hour days spent training in between 15 month deployments and the perceived 'comfort' of civilian life is constant. Most of us feel that we have served our time and now it is time to enjoy the benefits the rest of the US enjoys. Unfortunately, no one is stepping up in America to take over the role. 1% of the US population is shouldering the burden of this war and most of the 1% wants to be on the other side with not much interest being shown from the remaing 99% of the population. We all know we should stay because the Army needs strong leadership and this armed conflict thing isn't going away anytime soon. It's just that none of us want to be the ones to stay. I know I am encouraged each time I find another classmate of mine staying in. Everyone wants the comfort without the sacrifice and the sacrifice comes with little reward. More than the long deployments most of us are fed up with incompetent senior leaders, ridiculous micromanagement of operations, contractor profiteering and impossible regulations, orders and guidance within the Army. It is amazing that we have been able to make the kind of gains we have in the past 5 months with the huge amount of self-inflicted organizational inertia. And a lot of progress has been made since mid-summer. Our current area boasts a night and day difference. However, the situation is dangerously fragile. We lack the commitment to even define victory let alone achieve it.

Attached are some pictures of B Co from on operation right before I left. It wasn't all work, we occupied a lavish Iraqi mansion (only one I have seen in 7 months) for a couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers,

Tom

Hopefully we can elect a president with some big brass ones that can help Tom! Because if it weren't for guys like him, we'd be facing these scumbags on Main Street like the one in the post below!!!

Here are pictures from Iraq...