How Was Your Weekend? (Troop related emails from Move America Forward)

How Was Your Weekend?

As Americans back home are enjoying the sun and fun of another summer season, let’s not forget the tough going our troops have in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Millions of Americans went to religious services this weekend at synagogues, churches, temples and other houses of worship. Across the nation people listened to sermons, and knelt to pray for wealth, their health, a promotion, more money, a new car, a chance to hit that lotto number.

Is there anything better than a nice barbeque in the backyard or a picnic at the park? Thousands this weekend flocked to parks and hung out in the patio out back grilling up delicious hot dogs and hamburgers.

OUR TROOPS

But in Iraq and Afghanistan our troops were praying too, not in big beautiful churches, but huddled together outside their trucks ready to go out and meet the enemy. They are praying that they make it back alive and live to see the day when they can see their loved ones again.

Our troops in the field had to make due with M.R.E.s that come with a meager hot entrée, and usually a piece of bread or cracker. Luckily these packages come with salt and pepper, but even that isn’t always enough to make these MREs more than barely edible.

After a whole week of working hard to provide for your families you want to take your weekend and relax. A day of lounging at the beach is a great way for you to sit out in the nice warm sun and let the stress of your week just melt away.

But while we are lounging by the pool or dipping in the cool ocean waters, our troops are suffering in 110 – 120 degree heat in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have no air conditioning or temperature controlled pools out in the desert. They do what they can to stay cool, and if they are lucky they’ve got some refreshing and sweet Gatorade from one of our care packages.

Don’t you love to enjoy the outdoors? Back home we can enjoy a nice hike in the mountains and take in the sounds of the wildlife and the natural beauty of this magnificent land we live in.

In your leisure time, isn’t it nice to kick back and enjoy a day out on the lake fishing with your friends and family? There’s nothing better to do on a beautiful Sunday afternoon but talk and wait for that fishing line to tug.

OUR TROOPS

Our troops protect that land, and they protect our freedoms by spending their days climbing huge mountains out in Afghanistan. In the oppressive heat of Afghanistan, our troops have to tough it out with only the supplies they can carry with them on those dangerous and long mountain climbs.

But in Iraq and Afghanistan, our troops don’t get to spend their free time hanging out fishing or watching football, they spend their free time cleaning their weapons and making sure their equipment is in tip top shape. Their lives depend on it.

We depend on our troops to protect our freedoms and liberties from those who would destroy America and kill our families and fellow citizens if they could just get the chance. Our troops are the only thing standing in their way.

Think about how nice we have it here back home in America, the greatest country in the world because of the promise of freedom and liberty. That liberty is protected by our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. Don’t they deserve a little bit of thanks in recognition of what they go through and what they sacrifice for us back home?

Top Obama Lawyer Says Administration “hasn't given up” on bringing terrorists to YOUR community!

Move America Forward

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STILL PLANS
TO BRING TERRORISTS TO U.S. SOIL

Jeh Charles Johnson: Former Obama Fund-Raiser turned Defense Department General Counsel says Obama “hasn't given up” on bringing terrorists to YOUR community!

President Obama and Eric Holder have been working on paving a way so they can bring terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay to American soil. They hope to improve Obama’s popularity, and thus America’s standing in the world. Obama thinks it’s more important to be well loved by foreigners than to provide safety and security for his own people!

According to an AP report that broke just hours ago:

The Pentagon's top lawyer says the Obama administration hasn't given up the possibility of transferring some prisoners from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to a detention facility in the United States, despite congressional opposition.

Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Charles Johnson told the House Armed Services Committee Friday that it's possible some terror suspects may be transferred to the U.S. for prosecution and others may be held within the U.S.

(NOTE: Jeh Charles Johnson is a longtime New York Lawyer who was one of Obama’s biggest furnd-raisers in the NYC area, bundling millions for Obama from would-be Clinton supporters, as described in this expose from the NY Times from February 2007. ) LINK: Click Here

Despite trying for over 6 months now, Eric Holder and the task forces Obama set up have been unable to propose a PLAN that WORKS. When Obama tried to pass a defense spending budget with the $80 Million needed to close the base, Republicans AND Democrats balked. They DENIED him that money because OBAMA HAS NO PLAN of what to do with the prisoners.

Months later, Obama and his administration STILL have no plan, but they still plan to bring terrorists to America, as soon as they figure out how to divide them up, and which American cities they will be endangering by putting Islamic jihadists just down the street.

Said Ali al Shihri – Released from GITMO and Rejoined Al-Qaeda in Yemen!

Binyam Mohamed – Received Al Qaeda training in Afghanistan was released and is now FREE in the UK

DON’T ALLOW OBAMA TO LET ANY MORE GO!

THE OBAMA TASK FORCE IS WORKING TO FINISH THEIR PLANS TO BRING TERRORIST DETAINEES TO AMERICAN SOIL. VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

MOVE AMERICA FORWARD HAS A TV AD THAT WE WANT TO GET
ON YOUR LOCAL TV STATION

July 21st email:

Obama Can’t Follow Through on Gitmo Pledge

Move America Forward

Originally set to be due this week, the task forces ordered by President Obama on detained and interrogation policy still need more time to complete their reports—the task force on future interrogation policies has asked for a two-month extension and the task force on future detention policy has requested a six-month extension. Its taken months to get this far, and still military tribunals and criminal cases for all the 229 remaining detainees remain at a stand still.

These delays will further plague Obama and his mission to close Gitmo by January 2010.

We are winning the battle to keep Gitmo open! Just take a look at the latest opinion polls: a June 3rd GALLUP poll showed 65% of the public in opposition to any closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center and 74% opposed to moving terrorist prisoners to a prison in their state. The public is starting see through Obama’s rhetoric and realize that Gitmo serves a purpose in our national security and closing it does not make sense.

GROWING AMERICAN OPPOSITION
TO CLOSING GITMO

OBAMA’S TASK FORCE TO CLOSE GITMO
CAN’T GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER

I have some encouraging news to share with fellow supporters of our military and the war on terror. First, the American public continues to overwhelmingly oppose the closing of Gitmo and the transfer of these terrorists to the U.S. Secondly, it is becoming more and more evident that Obama does not have a realistic plan for closing Gitmo.

Obama has been finding it harder and harder to match his own pompous rhetoric that President Bush did everything wrong, but he had all of the answers. He is starting to see that closing Gitmo isn’t so easy if you want to protect American security and the safety of U.S. citizens. He set out to close down Gitmo. But here we are months later, and he still has no plan.

Polls show the people don’t want the terrorists brought here. More and more people are seeing that it would be a big mistake to bring the terrorists here, give them access to the constitutional rights for OUR CITIZENS and allow them to radicalize our prisons any further. But, too many Americans are asleep and don’t see the danger. Help us get the word out now while the momentum is on our side.

Obama’s plan to close Gitmo is proving to be much easier said than done, as the team he charged with coning up with the plan to close Gitmo is fumbling questions and not getting their work done. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Administration officials will not have a critical report ready, and they will ask the President for an extension on it.

The detention policy task force that Obama and Eric Holder set up was supposed to do a full review of all 229 cases against the terrorists currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. They halted the military trials, many already in process, and shut down the courtroom at Gitmo for months to conduct their review, but with the deadline just one day away, it looks like Obama’s officials are only half done.

“A White House official downplayed the missed deadline and said the January closure is still on track. Instead of a final report, the detention policy task force set up by President Barack Obama is expected to present him with an interim report on its work on Tuesday, administration officials said.”

- Wall Street Journal 07/20/2009

Obama thought he and Eric Holder could second guess our military prosecutors and judges, but they’ve had months to review these cases and they STILL can’t come up with a better solution! This another example of where President Bush was right in keeping the terrorists locks up safety at Gitmo.

July 24th, email

REAL HEROES:
U.S. MILITARY IN AFGHANISTAN
MAKING PROGRESS
“…the engagements are very intense.”

Move America Forward

REAL HEROES: U.S. MILITARY IN AFGHANISTAN MAKING PROGRESS “…the engagements are very intense.” Click HERE to Help NOW! July has been a record high month in terms of casualties in the War in Afghanistan. This illustrates how tough a fight our military men and women are slugging out in the harsh unforgiving environment in Afghanistan.

It is especially heated in the Province of Helmand, where over 4,000 brave Marines took the fight to the Taliban last month by launching Operation Khanjar.

News of the high number of casualties traveled far and wide, fueled by countless news stories talking about “eroding support for the war on terror” both here and in allied countries like the UK and Australia. VP Joe Biden today, on tour in Eastern Europe, told audiences to expect more stories about troops who make the ultimate sacrifice.

It’s more doom and gloom from the press and from politicians trying to hedge their popularity numbers. But while as we honor and remember our fallen troops, and pray for their families, we should also recognize the progress our troops are making.

Our military has successfully completed all their objectives, taken every town and village they have set their sights on, and punched through every Taliban defensive position they have set themselves upon.

To get an idea of just what the are doing and what they are up against, you have to search through the prattle of the daily news networks endless stories about Obama’s speeches and Hillary Clinton’s travels abroad. FOX News has a great series called “War Stories” where they honor our troops by writing about their enterprises through war correspondents like Oliver North who travels with our brave troops to front lines.

Today they wrote about the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines and the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines in Helmand.

In Now Zad, located in northern Helmand Province, the Taliban threatened to kill the local population if they didn't abandon the town and proceeded to rig it with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. In response, a company of Marines fought to reclaim the area from the enemy. "You name it, we did it," remembered Sgt. Ben Lanford, a squad leader in 2/7. "Small arms fighting, RPGs… IED threats… the engagements are very intense."

Oliver North posing with Troops in Afghanistan

To the south of 2/7 in the Garmsir District was 1st Battalion 6th Marines, also engaged in blistering fights with Taliban resistance, who deployed IEDs and snipers in an effort to maintain their foothold.

"We came down into Garmsir, and got into a real fight, and it lasted there for almost a month of daily, almost conventional forces," said 1st Lt. Clint Harris, at the time a platoon commander with 1/6. "Then the enemy… started to switch back towards a true insurgency campaign like we were seeing in Iraq."

U.S. TROOPS UPPING THE INTEL
IN AFGHANISTAN OPERATION

Continuing the parallels to Iraq, just before security was beginning to improve, the military in Afghanistan is bulking up on intelligence to help find where the Taliban are hiding, who is providing them material support, and figuring out how to root them out.

In 2007 Move America Forward traveled to Baghdad to talk and go on patrol with U.S. Army intelligence officers in the 1/4 Cavalry Division. As we learned on that trip, in a counter-insurgency strategy, the people (not mountains or rivers) are the terrain on which the battle takes place and the victors of the war are decided.

Taking lessons from the successes they have made in Iraq, U.S. troops are beginning to deploy more and more intelligence gathering strategies, talking to the local population, learning HOW the Taliban uses threats and violence to exploit the people.

We are happy to see that our troops are going to be using the same kinds of strategies that made war in Iraq a success when the politicians here at home said “it can’t be done”

We know that no matter how long it take, our troops will continue to fight and continue to gather intelligence to help break down the networks of Taliban and Al Qauda until they are eliminated or forced underground forever!

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