Free Republic

Katherine Jenerette says she has entered the Republican primary for the First District Congressional seat out of frustration with the GOP. "The Democrats have a home team advantage now," Jenerette says, "and Republicans need a congressman who can go toe-to-toe with them. We've had a Republican Congress for six years, and we can have more of the same or we can have someone in there that will make a difference. "I am not afraid to say what needs to be said and push legislation for family and values, fiscal responsibility, national security and subjects like immigration and border control. Republicans...

We have a three way Republican Primary in South Carolina’s First Congressional District. Henry Brown is an incumbent Congressman running for this fifth term. I really have no feelings toward Brown one way or the other. He isn’t one to show up in the media much. He received a rating of 96 from the American Conservative Union for 2007, not too shabby and he’s been involved in government for about 27 years, starting in the city council, moving up to state office and then Federal.He has two challengers in the primary. The first, Paul Norris, is the President of...

Henry Brown Gets a Second GOP Opponent The circling of the wolves continues as Henry Brown gets a second GOP challenger. Desert Storm veteran and former Brown aid Katherine Jenerette of Horry County has filed to unseat her old boss. Charleston businessman Paul Norris filed for the seat last week along with Brown. This three way race could mean good things for Democrat Linda Ketner, as Brown is forced to invest money in the primary race. Side note: Jenerette’s website still has a picture of her and Henry together (as well as a link to Brown’s Congressional website). The site...

HUNDREDS of Australian veterans took pills linked to the diverse and debilitating symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome. In a bitter twist, the pyridostigmine bromide pills were given to troops to protect them from nerve gases such as sarin. A spokesperson for the Defence Department confirmed PB pills were issued during the Gulf War as part of a "range of prophylactic measures", including vaccination against diseases prevalent in the region. The policy was reversed after a 1999 report flagged the possible risk the pills posed. A new study by clinician and researcher Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California in San...

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Honoring Our Vets January 17th 1991 The Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Timeline   Iraq invades Kuwait, Aug. 2, 1990. Operation Desert Shield begins, Aug. 7. First U.S. forces (F-15 Eagle fighters from Langley Air Force Base, Va.) arrive in Saudi Arabia, Aug. 7. First Operation Desert Shield-related U.S. death, Aug. 12. President George Bush authorizes first call-up of Selected Reservists to active duty for 90 days, by executive order, Aug. 22. (Call-up widened in subsequent authorizations; period of service extended to 180 days on Nov. 12 by executive order.) Operation Desert Storm and air war phase begins, 3 a.m.,...

"I felt embarrassed. I'm over here accepting my disability in public and you are going to mock and harass me."

Would anyone like a free dinner at Golden Corral? Well, there is an easy way if you are an American military veteran. Golden Corral just announced this year’s Military Appreciation Monday will be November 12, 2007, from 5 to 9 pm. For the past 6 years, Golden Corral has been honoring the US Military with a free “thank you” dinner and beverage at any Golden Corral restaurant on Military Appreciation Monday (first Monday after Veteran’s Day), to honor any person who has ever served in the United States Military. In the past the only requirement to receive the free meal...

The Ron Paul Political Report October 15 1991 Volume V Number 10 Page 7 American Values? During the Iraq war, American troops were instructed to use specially equipped tanks to bulldoze the trenches that held Iraqi soldiers- Not a single American was hurt, so meager was the resistance. Thousands of Iraqis, teenagers coerced into the army by the dictator Hussein, were buried alive, while the unprecedented military tactic was hidden from the public through media censorship. Captain Benny Williams, who Led the charge was awarded the Silver Star for his role. Also hidden: the apparent fact that many of the...

Mclean, VA - Today on the steps of the State House in Columbia, SC, surrounded by numerous veterans, Senator Fred Thompson was joined by Major General James Livingston and Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya to launch Veterans for Fred Thompson. Major General James Livingston, a 33 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, will serve as the National Co-Chair of Veterans for Fred Thompson. On May 2, 1968, while serving as the Commanding Officer, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, he distinguished himself above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy forces and earned the Congressional Medal...

KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 2, 2007 – Kuwaiti air force Col. Sulaiman M. al-Otaibi remembers all too well the “dark day” his country faced 17 years ago today, when 100,000 Iraqi troops stormed across the border here, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Memories of Aug. 2, 1990, are still fresh for him and his fellow Kuwaitis as they recall four of Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guard divisions and Iraqi army special forces units pushing into Kuwait City. They quickly overran Kuwait’s outnumbered forces, attacked the royal residence, Dasman Palace, and began a brutal six-month occupation. Six days later, Saddam...

Capt. Larry "Rat" Slade retired in Norfolk on Thursday after 22 years in the Navy. u.s. navy Slade spent 43 days as a prisoner of war during the Gulf War, above. NORFOLKCAPT. LARRY "RAT" SLADE served 22 years in the Navy, flying in the backseat of a Tomcat fighter over four combat zones, graduating from Top Gun school and winning the naval flight officer of the year award. But one moment of Slade's career, honored this week at a retirement ceremony, fails to fold neatly into a shadow box with a flag, ribbons and medals.On Jan. 21, 1991, a...

Scientists have found evidence that the kind of low-level exposure to sarin gas experienced by more than 100,000 U.S. troops in the first Gulf war can cause "lasting brain deficits," The New York Times reported on Wednesday. While the results are preliminary, scientists working with the U.S. Department of Defense said they found apparent changes in the brain's connective tissue -- known as white matter -- in soldiers exposed to the gas. The extent of the changes -- less white matter and slightly larger brain cavities -- correspond to the extent of exposure, the Times reported on its Web site....

Cal Thomas had the line of the night on this evening's Fox News Watch. Here's how the conservative commentator explained Americans' dissatisfaction with progress in Iraq: "Part of the problem here is we have Desert Storm with the 100-hour war. Everybody came home. There were victory marches, General Schwarzkopf leading. The press was full of stories: 'we finally got the Vietnam monkey off our back.' Now we're used to the very quick action. It's not going to happen, except thank goodness Jack Bauer is coming back to make it happen on '24' - that's what we're waiting for."Well said,...

He drew pictures of himself with angel wings. He left a set of his dog tags on a nightstand in my Manhattan apartment. He bought a tiny blue sweat suit for our baby to wear home from the hospital. “Follow your heart,” Charles M. King wrote in a 200-page journal for his son, Jordan, whom he first held this fall just weeks before he died in Iraq. The United States has reached another grim milestone in the war in Iraq: 3,000 military deaths. The Times’s Dana Canedy, whose fiancé was killed in Iraq, is taking questions from readers. Her responses...

Introduction F-16C #86-0257 from the 614th Tactical Fighter Squadron 'Lucky Devils' was shot down over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Its canopy was discovered by American ground troops in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, almost fourteen years later, the only remaining part of #86-0257 will find a last resting place at the Pima Air and Space museum in Arizona. The retrieval of 257's canopy is a remarkable story, told here by the eye witnesses. Aug 2nd, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait In the early hours of August 2nd, 1990, the Iraqi army invaded its neighbor Kuwait. Kuwaiti defenses were quickly...

by Mark Finkelstein August 11, 2006 - 07:59 Those burly hawks of the Boston Globe are at it again. With a Landis-like testosterone rush, the Globe's editorial this morning, Tarring the majority, rips George H.W. Bush for failing to have taken out Saddam at the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Or as the Globe so sneeringly put it: "The weakling-in-chief who failed to oust Saddam Hussein in 1991 was not a Democrat but the first President George Bush." Yes, we all remember those rousing Globe editorials urging the first war against Iraq. And who can forget the glorious...

Prior to our preemptive incursion into Iraq, I overheard my teenage grandchildren spouting multiculturalism nonsense they had been taught in school. I wrote them the following letter as part of an attempt to overcome this brainwashing. It provided the starting point to what has now developed into a weblog called "From Sea to Shining Sea" that I launched one year ago. I have decided to republish this piece each year in July.

Brent Scowcroft, military assistant to President Nixon, and National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and H.W. Bush, continues his attack on the bush foreign policy and Iraq War in an interview by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Yorker (not available without subscription). In The Washington Note, Steven C. Clemons provides excerpts (here) from the interview: A principal reason that the Bush Administration gave no thought to unseating Saddam was that Brent Scowcroft gave no thought to it. An American occupation of Iraq would be politically and militarily untenable, Scowcroft told Bush. And though the President had employed the rhetoric of...

"I have good days, I have bad days," said M. Sterry, of New Haven. "There were eight of us that served together. Six of my friends are dead."

AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING FOR the new post of director of national intelligence, John Negroponte pledged to keep open lines of communication with Congress. He also explained that his experience as the first U.S. ambassador to Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would help him meet the director's responsibility to--in the president's words--"make sure that those whose duty it is to defend America have the information they need to make the right decisions." Testifying in April 2005, Negroponte said: I saw firsthand the savage depredations of terrorists and insurgents who oppose the birth of a new democracy. These are...

Saddam Surat # 2 - Saddam Was Within Three Months of A-Bomb in 1991. "The defection of Saddam's two sons-in-law in August 1995 was potentially the most damaging blow he had suffered since seizing power in 1979. For the first time two members of the Tikriti ruling circle had escaped Saddam's authority and were threatening to betray the regime's innermost secrets. Hussein Kamel, as head of Iraq's weapons procurement program, was particularly well equipped to provide Western intelligence with a treasure trove of detail about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program. Hussen Kamel was full debriefed by both CIA and...

SAM MENDES has the unenviable distinction of having directed one of the three most undeserving Best Picture winners in the last 30 years. In 1999, his directorial debut, American Beauty, won the Oscar and then, immediately, began sliding to oblivion. A paint-by-numbers critique of American middle-class mores, American Beauty was so heavy-handed and obvious as to be insulting even to the elite sophisticates it attempted to flatter. Of course experimentation with marijuana brings happiness. Of course the homophobic, wife-beating Marine father next door is really a closet case. Of course the only well-adjusted adults in the neighborhood are the...

In assessing the current phase of events in the Middle East, it is essential to link events in Syria with events in Iran. These, in turn, must be linked to the state of the war in Iraq and conditions in the Arabian Peninsula. The region is of one fabric, to say the least, and it is impossible to understand unfolding events -- the pressure against Syria involving the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister; feints and thrusts with Iran and talk of direct political engagement with the United States; the emergence of a new government in Baghdad, or obstacles...

By Robert Burns ASSOCIATED PRESS 7:42 a.m. September 8, 2005 Associated Press U.S. Navy pilot Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher, above, was shot down over Iraq in January 1991. A Navy report concludes members of the former Iraqi government "know the whereabouts" of the officer. WASHINGTON – A Navy pilot shot down over Iraq in January 1991 may have been captured by Iraqi forces, and members of the former Iraqi government "know the whereabouts" of the officer, the Navy has concluded. A Navy board of inquiry concluded that there is no credible evidence that Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher is dead, and...

About four years ago, I became extremely disturbed at overhearing conversations my grandchildren were having at a large family gathering – conversations that were obviously being fueled by poisonous attitudes being inculcated in them about America by their public school teachers. I wrote them a letter as a first step in a campaign to try to undo the harm being done to them and to their country. That letter developed into an e-mail discussion group – and then into a weblog. To read the letter, go to my site and enter the words - to my grandchildren - in the...

Which kind of intelligence failure is better — the kind that badly understates a threat, such as the one in London, or the kind that overstates a threat, such as the insistent warnings before the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein was armed with weapons of mass destruction? Even in the best intelligence services, failures are sometimes inevitable. Foresight will never be as sharp as hindsight. Only after the fact — after the Underground blows up, after 9/11, after the stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons are nowhere to be found — is it clear what the picture looks like...

FALLUJAH, Iraq(July 5, 2005) -- After fleeing from his native Iraq in 2001 and embarking on a journey, which took him through five different countries and eventually to the United States as a refugee, an interpreter with II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), has returned home to aid Marines in the rebuilding process in the city of Fallujah. Johnny, a name he uses in place of his birth name to keep his identity hidden, works in the S-4 shop of the II MHG headquarters office, translating documents and helping bridge the communication gap between Marines and local...

Paul and Patrick. Two young guys growing up in Boone County. Paul from a small town in northern Boone. Connor, here in Columbia. Two Missouri guys, one joined the Army, the other the Navy.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

This afternoon, I walked into the local convenience store, bar, casino, liquor store, video rental, bait shop and ammo dump, (Hey, I live in Bumfuk, Montana. It's all we've got) and as I walked through the bar, I spotted a grizzled fat guy, with a full gray beard and long gray hair tied back in a ponytail sitting at the end of the bar. He was wearing a 1st Cavalry Division/Vietnam t-shirt. Since there were no Harleys parked outside, I figured it was safe to approach him. (Anyhow, I was packing as I usually do.)I tapped him on the shoulder...

Iraq:Setting the Record Straight ContentsPreface.................................................................................................................................i I. Iraq: The Clinton Administration’s Case.……………………………...................1II. Iraq: The Perspective from Washington on March 18, 2003.................................13III. Iraq: A History of Deception, Obstruction & Failure to MeetInternational Obligations.......................................................................................17IV. Questions & Answers: Iraq’s Nuclear Weapons Program...................................32V. Questions & Answers: Iraq’s Missile and UAV Programs..................................43VI. Questions & Answers: Iraq’s Chemical/Biological Weapons Programs.............54VII. Questions and Answers: Iraq’s Ties to Terrorism and al Qaeda..........................70Appendix: “The Right War for the Right Reasons”.........................................................78  PrefaceTwo years after the invasion of Iraq, we still do not know with complete confidence what happened to all of the stockpiles of weapons and weapons precursors that Saddam’s government admitted to...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2005 – Families came here from 18 states on Feb. 26 to attend a reception at Kuwaiti Embassy so Ambassador Sheik Salem al-Sabah could personally thank them for the ultimate sacrifice their loved ones made to liberate his country during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A remembrance ceremony in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where many of those killed during the Gulf War are buried, followed on Feb. 27. "We in Kuwait thought, 'What can we do to show our appreciation for the families of those fallen in the war that liberated my country?'...

Bush Halts Offensive Combat; Kuwait Freed, Iraqis Crushed MILITARY AIMS MET Firing Ending After 100 Hours of Ground War, President Declares By Andrew Rosenthal Special to The New York Times ashington, Thursday, Feb. 28 -- Declaring that 'Kuwait is liberated' and Iraq's army defeated, President Bush ordered allied forces on Wednesday night to suspend offensive military operations against President Saddam Hussein's isolated and battered army.Mr. Bush said the suspension, which began at midnight Eastern time, would continue as long as Iraq did not attack allied forces or launch missile attacks on any other country. In an address from the...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

As Saddam Hussein pressed the United Nations oil-for-food relief program for more money that he used to buy banned weapons, an unwitting ally may have been the American driver. Almost until the eve of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, American oil companies were among the largest purchasers of Iraqi crude oil. The role that the companies, including ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, played in the oil-for-food program is now coming under greater scrutiny in the wake of a report by the chief arms inspector for the Central Intelligence Agency that disclosed how extensively Mr. Hussein was abusing profits from the...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

As Iran's possession of nuclear weapons looms ever closer, the threat these weapons pose to Israel has received much attention. Those who attended AFSI's {Americans For A Safe Israel) national conference on December 5 heard Professor Louis Rene Beres describe the Daniel Project, a group of privately funded experts who concluded that weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a "rational" enemy (not an irrational nonstate enemy) were the single most urgent threat to Israel's survival. Iran clearly fits that bill. But the threat is not limited to Israel. In November 1990 I wrote an editorial in Outpost entitled...

Have you forgotten September the Eleventh, Two Thousand and One? It's an important question these days. The first, knee-jerk reaction would be, ''Of course not!'' For most people, the images will never go away. The fire-blossom that erupted from the side of the tower when the second plane struck, live on national television. The people in the streets, looking up in tears and in horror as they saw people jump, because they could no longer stand the flames. The almost slow-motion disintegration of the towers, as they collapsed in on themselves. The billowing clouds of dust, smoke, and death. People...

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID, Scroll down. Things that make you think a little........ There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during January.....In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq. When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following .. FDR...led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per Year. Truman...finished that war...

I have a question for you FReepers in the know about these sort of things- My buddy at work was telling me of some island in the Persian Gulf that is British territory, and hosts an airbase. He went on to state that many of the stealth bomber missions originated and ended there. Not sure what to tell him, I have decided to ask the most knowledgable body of knowledge I could think of:FReepers. I am not sure what the answer would be, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Akorahil

Downer to head vets' office Ex-lawmaker helped elevate department Capitol news bureau Former state Rep. Hunt Downer was named secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday, an office he helped elevate to Cabinet-level status. Downer was picked for the job by Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who won the race for governor last year over a field that included Downer, a Republican and former House member from Houma. Downer finished sixth in the October primary. Downer, a brigadier general and assistant adjutant general in the Louisiana National Guard, will be the first secretary of the department. The office was elevated...

National Security: Among the positions we'd like to hear John Kerry reconcile is his stance on the latest war with Iraq and the one he took on Desert Storm in 1991.If we understand the senator correctly, a key difference he sees between himself and President Bush is he'd be better at building an alliance that would help fight and finance our effort in the Middle East."I know what we have to do," he told the Democratic convention. "We need a president who has the credibility to bring our allies to our side and share the burden, reduce the cost to...

The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Dick Lugar that will create separate campaign medals for American soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a long-standing tradition for members of the armed forces who have served in conflicts overseas to have their service recognized with a medal.  The Pentagon initially has proposed honoring servicemen and women who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan with the "Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal," which recognizes any overseas service in support of anti-terrorism operations, regardless of location. This legislation reflects the belief of Senator Lugar and other members of Congress...

Terrorist attacks: "In the long run, such a war could lead to renewed terrorist attacks on Americans as a result of our having killed innumerable Arab civilians." - John Kerry, Jan. 11. Kerry was quoted as a part of the Desert Storm Hall of Shame!

Desert Storm veterans return after 13 years KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq -- From left, Tech. Sgt. Edward Timberman, Master Sgt. Elbert Bembry, Senior Master Sgt. Benjamin Hoover, Master Sgt. Darrell Wiedenbeck and Tech. Sgt. Steven Sepeda stand near an A-10 Thunderbolt II here. The five A-10 maintainers served in both operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom during their careers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Williams) Download HiRes Related Video • A-10 - Spotlight on A-10 Related Links • A-10 Thunderbolt II by Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Williams506th Air Expeditionary Group public affairs 2/27/2004 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- When Saddam Hussein...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

CJTF-7 Public AffairsBAGHDAD, IraqRelease #031227c“Any soldier” letter leads to “happily ever after”BAGHDAD, Iraq – It was late November of 1990 and the build-up of troops, equipment and supplies for the first Persian Gulf War had begun. Capt. Mark Olinger, a logistics officer, was serving with the 528th Support Battalion, U.S. Army Special Operations Task Force, at the King Fahd International Airport in eastern Saudi Arabia. During his time in Desert Storm, Olinger often visited Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Military City. During one visit for a planning conference, Olinger happened to grab a letter out of a stack of “Any Soldier...