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While ostensibly trying to praise elite U.S. soldiers, seamen and civilian first responders, on Thursday's Hardball on MSNBC, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams seemed to equate them with terrorist suicide bombers: "The willingness to take one's own life -- I always tell people, you know, there are guys on our team like that, too." Referring to those caught in the new plot to bring down airliners leaving Britain, Chris Matthews noted how they lived for years amongst Westerners and yet "having gotten to know us, they want to kill themselves to hurt us. Isn't that an even deeper conundrum...

by Mark Finkelstein August 10, 2006 - 22:01 Hat tip to poster 'nutmeg' at Free Republic. Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News might have meant to praise the heroism and selflessness of our various service people. But he employed what was at best an incredibly awkward, at worst an inappropriate, offensive and simply wrong manner of doing it. On this evening's 7 PM ET edition of Hardball, Chris Matthews mused about the UK-born terrorists whose plot was foiled today: "Here we have maybe 24 people who have lived in London and England and the free world for all these years...

<p>A criminal probe is being opened into the death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.</p>

FORT BENNING, Ga. (Army News Service, Nov. 22, 2005) -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker presented Army Rangers more than 25 awards for valor during a ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., Nov. 18. The Soldiers, all assigned to 3rd Bn., 75th Ranger Regt., deployed between July and October in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I am glad I could be here to recognize great heroes,” said the Army chief. “I’m proud of your service. I am proud of what you do and what you represent. You are living the Ranger Creed and Warrior...

Handling of Ranger’s death called a ‘sign of disrespect’. Former NFL player Pat Tillman's family is lashing out against the Army, saying that the military's investigations into Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan last year were a sham and that Army efforts to cover up the truth have made it harder for them to deal with their loss. More than a year after their son was shot several times by his fellow Army Rangers on a craggy hillside near the Pakistani border, Tillman's mother and father said in interviews that they believe the military and the government created a heroic tale...

MICAH WRIGHT: "I WAS NEVER AN ARMY RANGER"On his Delphi forum, Micah Wright has posted a confession – he never was an Army Ranger, something he had claimed since shortly after his debut as a comics writer, as well as the author of remixed Propaganda, a book which lampooned World War II-era American propaganda posters. A version of statement had been on Wright's website since April 25th apparently, however, he opted to post it on his Delphi forum Saturday. Wright began his statement (which has since been edited) with a recap of what he used to tout as his...

MICAH WRIGHT: "I WAS NEVER AN ARMY RANGER" On his Delphi forum, Micah Wright has posted a confession – he never was an Army Ranger, something he had claimed since his debut as a comics writer, as well as the author of remixed Propaganda, a book which lampooned World War II-era American propaganda posters. Wright began his statement with a recap of what he used to tout as his credentials, and then added: “Except that I was never an Army Ranger. I never served a day in a Ranger Regiment. I never went to Ranger School. The closest I ever...

MICAH WRIGHT COMES CLEAN, RANGER STORY A HOAX by Jonah Weiland, Executive Producer Posted: May 2, 2004 Micah Wright at a convention in March of 2004. In a story that broke late yesterday, the writer of the recently cancelled "Stormwatch: Team Achilles," Micah Ian Wright, revealed that he never served as a member of the Army Rangers, a claim he's made since he first came on the comics scene in March of 2002.. Apparently Wright had posted a revised bio to his Web site with the revelation on April 25th, reposting that information to his forum Saturday. The full text...

Pat and Kevin Tillman have returned stateside from Operation Iraqi Freedom and have been selected by the Army to participate in a three-month-long elite Ranger training regimen. "The boys have been back for a couple of weeks now, and now they are stationed in the Tacoma, Washington, area," their father, Patrick Tillman Sr., said on Monday. "They are both healthy and fine, and we, of course, we are very relieved and very happy." Pat Tillman walked away from a three-year, $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals, and his brother Kevin gave up a minor league baseball career to enlist...

  For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.     Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     US Special Forces(Click on the graphics for links to sources and additional information) Part II - ARMY RANGERS "Don't forget nothing." — first standing order of Maj.Robert Rogers, "Rogers Rangers," 1759. WHO ARE THEY: The premier light infantry units of the U.S. military that constitute the 75th Ranger Regiment. NICKNAME: "Snake-eaters." MOTTO: "Rangers lead the way." UNIFORM: Tan berets, replacing the black berets that are...

U.S. special forces playing key role in Iraq war By Will Dunham WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. military's special forces are playing a key role in the Iraq war, as illustrated by the rescue of American prisoner of war Jessica Lynch. Officials said on Wednesday that a team of Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Air Force pilots rescued Lynch in a nighttime raid from a hospital near Nassiriya in southern Iraq. Lynch, 19, had been captured on March 23 in an ambush by Iraqi forces of an Army supply convoy. "There's a reason why you have regular units,...