RSSHappy Memorial Day; THANK YOU and God Bless
A special thank you to the many men and women of our armed services that have paid the ultimate sacrifice to their country so that we all are afforded the rights and liberties that make us the greatest nation on earth.
Thank you to those also who are presently serving. God Bless All.
President Bush lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. He also delivered some remarks at the Memorial Amphitheater.
The soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines we remember today answered the call of service in our nation’s hour of need,” Bush said.
“They stood to fight for America’s highest ideals, and when the sun came up this morning the flag flew at half staff in solemn gratitude and in deep respect.”
President Bush also went on to say:
“The names of the men buried there are known only to God but their courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation,” Bush said in remarks after a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which featured songs like “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Taps.”
On a personal note. In memory of my soft spoken highly decorated uncle, who was always too modest to talk about his heroics in WWII. A true gentleman and my hero. Thank you for your service Uncle Red, God Bless you. I miss you.
Update I: Video from the President’s speech thanks to Trey Jackson
President at Arlington National Cemetery
Others sending their well wishes:
Musing Minds We Remember.
John, the Armorer and Master of Castle Argghhh!!! A must read MilBlogger.
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, letter from 6 year old to military
Sailor in the Desert Speech to Veterans group.
Red State Rant, well done and powerful.
Smash, a must read post as usual.
The Captain’s Quarters, extremely powerful.
UPDATE II: More from President Bush’s speech from Arlington National Cemetery.
President Bush honored America’s “brave defenders” Monday in a dual Memorial Day salute to the dead and missing in action from wars of yesteryear and those on the front lines of today’s war against terrorism.
“… And when the sun came up this morning,” he added, “the flag flew at half staff in solemn gratitude and in deep respect. We receive the fallen in sorrow and we take them to an honored place to rest. Looking across this field, we see the scale of heroism and sacrifice.”
Bush said America “has always been a reluctant warrior,” but then noted the more than 400,000 who perished in World War II alone.
“All who are buried here understood their duty,” he said, “and all carried with them memories of a family they hoped to keep safe by their sacrifice.”
“Today, we also remember the Americans who were still missing. We honor them, and our nation is determined to account for all of them,” Bush said.
Turning to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he noted that the nation is “fighting a new war.”
“Across the globe, the military is standing directly between our people and the worst dangers in the world,” Bush declared. “And America is grateful to have such brave defenders.”
“The war on terror brought great causes,” he said, noting conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Because of the brave sacrifice,” Bush added, “two terrorist regimes are gone forever. Freedom is on the march and America is more secure.”
Update III: President’s Memorial Day Weekend radio address
Previous Post:
Memorial Day Weekend – George W. Bush
Viva La France: The Newspapers
France has chosen not to give up its soul and its sovereignty, which is a good thing for the people of France, not just the elites. Here is a wrap up from around the world of newsprint.
The story from the Washington Post:
Unhappy French voters on Sunday derailed plans to further political and economic integration in Europe, decisively rejecting the proposed European constitution and thumbing their noses at the country’s governing elite, which had pleaded for approval of the measure.
The turnout was heavy and the margin of defeat was wide, with about 57 percent rejecting the constitution and about 43 percent voting for it. Opposition leaders harnessed widespread disenchantment over a variety of issues, including the unpopularity of President Jacques Chirac, the weak French economy and fears that the country would lose its clout to a strengthened European central government. The French defeat throws into confusion — for now — the campaign to fashion a constitution for Europe, since each of the 25 nations that belongs to the European Union must approve the charter before it can take effect.
“There is no longer a constitution,” said Philippe de Villiers, leader of Movement For France, a nationalist party that warned France would lose its identity if the European Union continued to expand its borders to include nations such as Turkey. “We need to reconstruct Europe. This vote says there is a real difference in this country between the institutions and what the people really want.”
In a brief televised address shortly after the polls closed, Chirac said he accepted the will of the voters, even though he had lobbied heavily for approval of the constitution. “I’ll defend in Brussels the message from the French people,” he said.
From The AP:
EU leaders in Brussels, Belgium, vowed to continue their effort to have the constitution approved.
All 25 EU members must ratify the text for it to take effect as planned by Nov. 1, 2006. Nine already have done so: Austria, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
The Dutch vote Wednesday, with polls showing opposition to the constitution there running at about 60 percent. On Friday, the constitution’s main architect, former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, said countries that reject the treaty will be asked to vote again.
France’s rejection could set the continent’s plans back by years. The nation was a primary architect of European unity.
“There is no more constitution,” leading opponent Philippe de Villiers said. “It is necessary to reconstruct Europe on other foundations that don’t currently exist.”
De Villiers called on Chirac to resign _ something the French leader had said he would not do _ and called for parliament to be dissolved.
“Tonight we face a major political crisis,” he said.
Extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who campaigned vigorously for the constitution’s defeat, also called for Chirac’s resignation.
Chirac “wanted to gamble … and he has lost,” Le Pen said, alluding to Chirac’s decision not to submit the charter to sure approval by parliament. The EU constitution can be adopted either by a referendum or a nation’s legislature.
Backers said the constitution, which European leaders signed in October, would streamline EU operations and decision-making, and make the bloc more accessible to its 450 million citizens. The text would give the EU a president and foreign minister so it could speak with one voice in world affairs.
Opponents feared it would strip nations of sovereignty and trigger an influx of cheap labor just as powers such as France and Germany struggle to contain double-digit unemployment.
The New York Times is Appalled:
Turning its back on half a century of European history, France decisively rejected a Constitution for Europe on Sunday, plunging the country into political disarray and jeopardizing the cause of European unity.
The victory for the no vote – 55 percent to 45 percent – came in a nationwide referendum on the European Union constitution after a bruising campaign that divided France and alarmed Europe.
Foreshadowed in recent polls, the no vote could doom the 448-article treaty because all 25 members of the European Union must ratify it to take effect.
The rejection could signal an abrupt halt to the expansion and unification of Europe, a process that has been met with growing disillusionment among the wealthier European Union members as needier countries like Bulgaria and Poland have negotiated their entry.
The BBC is looking for a way to save the Charter, but cannot:
The BBC’s Caroline Wyatt in Paris says the rejection by one of the EU’s founding members is a political earthquake, sending reverberations right across Europe.
Winners and losers
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso described the French rejection as “a very serious problem,” but insisted: “We cannot say that the treaty is dead.”
But the BBC’s world affairs analyst Paul Reynolds says there is no Plan B for the EU and no clear way forward, with moves towards further integration now in doubt.
And the Times of London sounds very happy:
French voters resoundingly rejected the EU Constitution today, sending a message of defiance to their own political establishment and leaving European plans for closer integration in tatters.
The result was announced by a sombre President Chirac, who had personally called the referendum and thrown his political weight behind a document meant to lay down the rules for European cooperation in the coming decades.
Keen to avoid France being blamed for the death of the treaty, however, M. Chirac said tonight that the process of ratification should continue in other EU countries – including Britain.
“France has expressed itself democratically,” M. Chirac said in a televised address shortly after polls closed. “It is your sovereign decision, and I take note.”
The editorialist have entered the fray. Here are the two I have found the best this morning.
Mark Steyn is his brilliant self, here is a snippet, but the whole is much better than its parts
Hutton says that it’s his ”affection for the best of America that makes me so angry that it has fallen so far from the standards it expects of itself.” The great Euro-thinker is not arguing that America is betraying the Founding Fathers, but that the Founding Fathers themselves got it hopelessly wrong. He compares the American and French Revolutions, and decides the latter was better because instead of the radical individualism of the 13 colonies the French promoted ”a new social contract.”
Well, you never know. It may be the defects of America’s Founders that help explain why the United States has lagged so far behind France in technological innovation, economic growth, military performance, standard of living, etc. Entranced by his Europhilia, Hutton insists that “all western democracies subscribe to a broad family of ideas that are liberal or leftist.”
Given that New Hampshire has been a continuous democracy for two centuries longer than Germany, this seems a doubtful proposition. It would be more accurate to say that almost all European nations subscribe to a broad family of ideas that are statist. Or, as Hutton has it, “the European tradition is much more mindful that men and women are social animals and that individual liberty is only one of a spectrum of values that generate a good society.”
Precisely. And it’s the willingness to subordinate individual liberty to what Hutton calls “the primacy of society” that has blighted the continent for over a century: Statism — or “the primacy of society” — is what fascism, Nazism, communism and now European Union all have in common. In fairness, after the first three, European Union seems a comparatively benign strain of the disease — not a Blitzkrieg, just a Bitzkrieg, an accumulation of fluffy trivial pan-European laws that nevertheless takes for granted that the natural order is a world in which every itsy-bitsy activity is licensed and regulated and constitutionally defined by government.
That’s why Will Hutton feels almost physically insecure when he’s in one of the spots on the planet where the virtues of the state religion are questioned.
“In a world that is wholly private,” he says of America, “we lose our bearings; deprived of any public anchor, all we have are our individual subjective values to guide us.” He deplores the First Amendment and misses government-regulated media, which in the EU ensures that all public expression is within approved parameters (left to center-left). “Europe,” he explains, “acts to ensure that television and radio conform to public interest criteria.”
“Public interest criteria” doesn’t mean criteria that the public decide is in their interest. It means that the elite — via various appointed bodies — decide what the public’s interest is. Will Hutton is a member of the European elite, so that suits him fine. But it’s never going to catch on in America — I hope.
As European “president” Juncker spelled out to the French and Dutch electorates, a culture that subordinates the will of the people to the “primacy of society” is unlikely to take no for an answer. And, if you ignore referendum results, a frustrated citizenry turns to other outlets.
And again from the Times of London, we have Bronwen Maddox blamiing Tony Blair????
If he is going to blame someone, other than himself (an option he has not yet pursued), it should be Tony Blair. True, M Chirac misjudged the mood of his country on an issue central to its identity. If there is a measure of political failure, it does not come simpler than that.
But M Chirac was bounced into calling a referendum by Mr Blair’s sudden decision a year ago to call one, after having pleaded with France not to do so. It was a discourtesy of Mr Blair, to say the least, not to consult Chirac. And it was a serious miscalculation of British politics — shared by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who urged it on the Prime Minister, although Blair maintains indignantly (as always) that the decision was his alone.
It now looks like a terrible one, for those who support the constitution. The reasoning, which even a year ago looked suspect, was that the Tories would insert a pro-referendum clause into legislation. The Lords would likely support it. The Government would be forced to overrule the Lords, looking anti-democratic, in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.
Blair’s answer should have been: that is a small price to pay. Instead, he committed himself to a referendum, embarrassing France and then the Netherlands into following suit. The black comedy is that three countries that did not need to have referendums chose to do so at what is proving to be huge political cost to their leaders.
But that is to look backwards. What happens now? Should we assume that the constitution is now dead? Probably, yes.
Judicial Filibuster Compromise; Next Stop the Supreme Court
The filibuster compromise enacted by the 7 dwarves x 2 was a farce. It did not take long for actions in the Senate to go back to partisanship. The air of good will and a wink and a nod from Harry Reid to pass John Bolton through have all but dissipated. However, for anyone to think that Democrats are not going to filibuster President Bush’s first nominee to the Supreme Court , one would have to live in fantasy land.
The White House has laid the groundwork to place more conservatives on the Supreme Court, scrutinizing the backgrounds and legal views of a shrinking list of candidates amid speculation that ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist soon will step down.
Keenly aware that a chapter of President Bush’s legacy is at stake, conservative and liberal advocacy groups are preparing for what both sides believe will be a bruising confirmation fight.
Court experts expect that Rehnquist, who is battling thyroid cancer, will leave by the end of June when the current court session concludes.
“The vacancy could come anytime after this Memorial Day weekend, we think,” said Sean Rushton, director of the conservative Committee for Justice, which has close ties to the White House counsel’s office.
“They have been winnowing the list down for some time now. I imagine they’re down to maybe three or five — a handful anyway — who are their first choices,” he said.
Everyone knows that Democrats define “extraordinary circumstances” as any George W. Bush nominee to the Supreme Court.
Under the agreement, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster any of Bush’s future appeals court or Supreme Court nominees except in “extraordinary circumstances.”
To leave the definition up to each Senator is as ridiculous as the filibuster compromise itself. The Senate was just putting off the inevitable. President Bush is going to nominate who he wants and that is his right as President. He certainly will not discuss his choices with the Senate as the idiot 14 thinks he will.
The other pipe dream is that some how President Bush is not going to nominate a conservative judge to the bench. Here is a possible list of Supreme Court Justice nominees.
Liberals hope Bush will fill his first vacancy with a centrist, a consensus candidate, instead of one who would please right-wing Republicans who were instrumental in the president’s re-election. But they acknowledge that may be wishful thinking.
Bush has shown he is willing to stick by his nominees. When Senate Democrats denied votes on 10 of his picks for the federal bench, the president did not back down. Instead, he sent the same group of conservatives back to the Senate. That set the stage for the recent showdown over the filibuster — a political maneuver the Democrats used to stall the votes through protracted debate.
I believe President Bush will nominate Ted Olson, former Solicitor General as his first choice for the Supreme Court.
Boca Raton physician Arrested on Federal Terrorism Charges
Rafiq Abdus Sabir, a Boca Raton physician was arrested on federal terrorism charges, and that he conspired to treat and train terrorists, federal prosecutors announced Sunday. Also arrested was Tarik Shah, a self-described martial arts expert in New York.
both charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.
Both men are American citizens.
Prosecutors said Sabir agreed to treat jihadists, or holy warriors, in Saudi Arabia. Shah agreed to train them in hand-to-hand combat.
The one-count complaint details a sting operation from 2003 to 2005 in which the two men took an oath pledging their allegiance to al-Qaida.
Spokesmen from the FBI declines to comment.
FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela also declined to comment. Spokesmen from the Department of Homeland Security could not be reached for comment, despite an attempt by phone.
The charge Sabir faces is from a 1996 law making it a crime for anyone in the United States to knowingly aid terrorist organizations. That includes providing money, lodging, training, false documentation or identification, weapons, equipment and transportation, according to the Department of Justice Web site.
Providing medical assistance or religious material is not a crime, according to the Justice Department.
However, Sabir’s co-workers seem to have only good things to say about him. One can only know what goes on behind the scenes.
Dr. Daniel McBride, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Boca Raton and a friend of Sabir, said Sabir works in the emergency rooms of two hospitals in Palm Beach County.
“That’s absurd,” McBride said of the charge against Sabir. “He is a quality guy and a quality physician. He’s all about helping others. That’s why he became a doctor.
“It would shock me beyond belief if [the allegation] was true.”
According to the AP via Washington Post, the two year FBI sting operation engaged in multiple recorded conversations with FBI agent posing as an al-Qaida operatives.
The one-count complaint details a two-year sting operation in which the men allegedly took an oath pledging their allegiance to al-Qaida. The government said the men engaged in multiple recorded conversations with a confidential source and an FBI agent posing as an al-Qaida operative.
As recently as May 20, during a meeting at a Bronx apartment, Sabir indicated he would travel shortly to Saudi Arabia to treat the wounds of jihadists at a Saudi military base, prosecutors said. Travel records showed he was scheduled to leave Thursday.
During recorded conversations, Shah repeatedly indicated his desire to train Muslim “brothers” in the martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, the release said.
Shah took steps to find secret locations for jihad weapons training, at one point inspecting a Long Island warehouse, and described previous efforts to recruit others, prosecutors said.
Shah allegedly agreed to provide a training syllabus for hand-to-hand combat and a videotape so associates in the Middle East could evaluate his usefulness to the cause. He also described how he and Sabir tried to get to training camps in 1998 in Afghanistan, the release said.
More can be found at CNN
Prosecutors and the FBI said Shah described his efforts, including a recruiting trip to Phoenix, Arizona, and of his attempt to train in camps in Afghanistan during the late 1990s.
Shah also had names and telephone numbers of people who had attended training camps in the Middle East, “including Seifullah Champan, a member of the Virginia Jihad Network,” the complaint says.
It identifies Champan as a terrorist convicted of providing material support to a Pakistan-based terrorist group in March 2004 and who is serving an 85-year prison sentence.
Hat Tip: PoliPundit
Forgive Me If I Don’t Send a Get Well Wish
According to The London Times, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi the justifier of killing Muslims fled the country for emergency surgery after an American airstrike left him with shrapnel lodged in his chest.
IRAQ’S most wanted terrorist has fled the country for emergency surgery after an American airstrike left him with shrapnel lodged in his chest, according to a senior insurgent commander in close contact with his group.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has a $25m bounty on his head after being blamed for suicide bombings, assassinations and the beheadings of western hostages — including Ken Bigley, the Liverpool engineer — is now believed to be in Iran.He has suffered from bouts of high fever since being wounded by a missile that struck his convoy three weeks ago as he fled an American offensive near the town of al-Qaim in northwestern Iraq, the commander said.
His condition late last week was described as stable, but supporters were said to be preparing to move him to another “non-Arab” country for an operation to remove the shrapnel.
“Shrapnel went in between the right shoulder and his chest, ripped it open and is still stuck in there,” said the commander.
Zarqawi was apparently treated with first aid, but a fever would suggest that the wound had become infected. He is said to have been taken to the Ramadi hospital four days after being hit but left soon afterward despite being urged by the doctor to let himself be admitted as a patient.
Bullet or infection; does anyone care what this butcher eventually dies of? A note to Zarqawi’s followers. please send his present address to the Pentagon so that they may send him flowers and a get well wish of their own.
Although there has been skepticism as to the condition of Zarqawi and if he had even been wounded as stories have swirled from every angle. There had been no previous Pentagon confirmation. This morning of Fox News Sunday General Richard Myers, CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF said the following regarding Zarqawi:
Well, I don’t know if seriously. We tend to believe what is said on the web site, and that is that he’s been injured. And we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s not — it hasn’t changed our operation at all. Our operation is go after Zarqawi, his lieutenants. We’ve been very, very successful. We’ve rounded up about 600 of the folks, some of his foot soldiers, some of his closest lieutenants.
The entire interview transcript with General Richard Myers and Chris Wallace can be seen here.
Also from Trey Jackson there is video from General Richard Myers from his Sunday interview on ‘Face The Nation’.
The entire Face The Nation transcript can be seen here.
Other posts:
Zarqawi; Alive, Wounded or Dead?
Iraqi Govt Confirms Zarqawi Wounded
Zarqawi evacuated from Iraq
Zarqawi Wounded?
Could It Be True; Zarqawi Killed?
