Today is a travel and meeting day for me. So imagine my consternation to read the comment in the Tip Line from commenter Ragspierre, linking to a National Review post, about Obama's West Point speech today: Have we reached peak strawman…??? I have been an Obama straw man...
As usual, it's all about him....
I remember seeing this post at Gateway Pundit, on May 26, 2009, which I made Post of the Day, regarding Lt. Schulte’s death, and it has stayed with me for these past three years:In 2009, Daily Kos had an excellent round up of news and personal reports about Lt. Schulte's life. Lt. Schulte's friend was interviewed on Boston public radio recently:Lt. Roslyn Schulte was the first female Air Force Academy graduate to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. She died last week in Afghanistan after the vehicle she was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb. Lt. Schulte could have attended an Ivy League school. Instead she chose the Air Force Academy. She dreamed of being a fighter pilot since she was 12. At the academy, she was among the top in her class. Her funeral was yesterday at the Congregation Temple Israel in St. Louis. Her boyfriend U.S. Air Force Cpt. Bruce Cohn announced that he was going to propose to Roslyn this summer.
The story of this small band of men has been told, but not told enough. Spann was killed during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi when Taliban prisoners gained access to weapons and attacked. Spann was killed during that uprising (see video). One of the prisoners was the so-called American Taliban, John Walker Lyndh, who Spann interrogated shortly before Spann’s death. Spann’s wife Shannon also worked for the CIA. In addition to his wife, Spann left behind two daughters and an infant son Spann’s family established a website to honor his life, and there is a wealth of information and photos at his Arlington National Cemetery page. There is an interesting honor paid to Spann at the website of Afghan General and Warlord Abdul Radhis Dostum, including a link to a photo of the memorial to Spann at the site of the uprising in which he died.We also had follow up posts: Now meet his oldest child, daughter Alison:
Why the sudden and hysterical terror alerts causing shutdown of U.S. Embassies in the Middle East and worldwide concern? This may be the reason, via ABC News: The senior U.S. official said there is concern about devices that could be implanted inside the body of a terrorist. “We...
She was buried on Memorial Day 2009, as we discussed in Remembering Lt. Roslyn Schulte – buried on Memorial Day 2009, which has many further details, videos and photos. As described at Gateway Pundit, on May 26, 2009: Lt. Roslyn Schulte was the first female Air Force Academy graduate...
In Kabul the other day, an Afghan policewoman shot dead her American police trainer and would’ve shot others, too, if her service pistol hadn’t jammed. Here’s how Reuters characterized the incident today in a piece titled Mental illness, poverty haunted Afghan policewoman who killed American: The Afghan...
The NY Times has a lengthy article about how Obama personally is directing and approving targeted drone strikes with great frequency. The article appears to be rich in cooperation from the administration, suggesting it is part of Obama's image making and part of the "He...
On this day we honor all the fallen, three of whom we have remembered here before, Johnny "Mike" Spann, Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto, and U.S. Army, Spc. Dennis Weichel . We add a new person to our memory, Air Force Lt. Roslyn Schulte, of Ladue, Missouri, killed by a roadside bomb...
Obama's speech from Afghanistan, standing in front of military vehicles at Bagram Air Base, was fairly predictable. Yet in this moment of spiking the football, Obama needed to remind us that we are not yet worthy as a nation (emphasis mine): Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, coast guardsmen...
Rhode Island Guardsman died saving Afghan girl: According to the Rhode Island National Guard and the U.S. Army, [Spc. Dennis] Weichel was in a convoy a week ago with his unit in Laghman Province, in northeast Afghanistan. Some children were in the road in front of...
Today is the two year anniversary of the death of Cpl. Jonathan Daniel Porto in Afghanistan, as noted here before: Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto Promises a Marine Widow Cannot Bear to Hear Cpl Jonathan Daniel Porto, Remembered His wife's original blog post, I Will Always Be A Marine Wife, is...
With the Republican primary taking up all the oxygen, other issues of importance have been flying under the radar. One such issue is our peace initiative in Afghanistan. The Obama administration has decided to engage Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef as a conduit to the Taliban in...
NATO and/or U.S. forces apparently killed a couple dozen Pakistani soldiers at an outpost on the Afghan border. The details are murky at this point: The Guardian reports that coalition forces say they came under fire and returned fire. Pakistan has announced that it will cut...
The first American killed in the Afghan war, on November 25, 2001. I've told his story before, but it is worth remembering every year. This interesting video by The Daily Caller recalls the group of special forces similar to Spann, who worked with Afhan warlord Abdul Rahdis...
... "We got bin Laden, and our troops will be out early in my second term if you reelect me, because we got bin Laden, and I never will forget the sacrifice of the troops who helped me get bin Laden, USA USA USA!"...
George Bush's supposed walk-away from the hunt for bin Laden has been all over the news, in the blogosphere, and even in the comments here.Everyone points to this video, six months after 9/11.I have pointed out that the video is overstated, because at the time...
The major Hollywood motion picture:RAID ON ABBOTTABAD - How Barack Obama and a Team of Navy SEALS Changed the Course of HistoryThe cast will include (other suggestions are welcome):DENZEL WASHINGTON as The PresidentJAMES CAAN as The VeepGLENN CLOSE as HillaryED HARRIS as Robert GatesThere may be made for TV movies before...
Ron Coleman
