That’s Right Nate

7:02 Catchy theme song, but I like Hail to the Chief

7:05  I’m glad that Bush was able to put an end to that acting as one thing

7:06 I hate how Obama says Taliban. It sounds like he’s Harry Belafonte counting bananas

7:07 Wow! When did West Point start admitting women?

7:10 Why is Obama having so much trouble with Afghanistan? Bush was doing so well that he was able to start a second war

7:11 @Greytdog on Twitter suggested that he should have Hail to the Chief when he enters and the NCIS theme when he leaves.  I like that idea.

7:14  If the threat is this serious, we should have color codes for it.

7:20 Pakistan is pretty much Afghanistan with a good cricket team…oh yeah and nuclear missiles.

7:26 If the wars cost a trillion dollars then why weren’t they in the budget?  Liberals are such spend thrifts.

7:29 He just said we have to be nimble? He is channeling Belafonte. Barack be nimble, Barack be quick, Barack go under the limbo stick

7:31 All we’re asking for is a little gratitude.

7:36 Well it was quick enough, I’ll say that.

The biggest question in American foreign policy is where do we want to keep our forces in order for them to do the most good in the war on terror–Iraq as John McCain believes or Afghanistan where Barack Obama believes we need more troops.

Iraq was not really a hot bed of terror before we invaded, but you can be sure it is now.  Things have calmed down a bit in the country and the President is asking us to leave on the same time table that Obama wants.  In fact, we have been unable to come to a deal with the Iraqis to protect our troops from Iraqi courts.

Afghanistan under the Taliban was where al-Qaeda trained terrorists like the ones in the 9/11 attack on the World Train Centers.  The invasion of Aghanistan was a military success, but the Taliban continues to regroup.  The President wants the United States to stay as do most of the people.

That is why the United States needs to focus on Iraq.  The very fact that the Afghans want us there should tell us that they really don’t need us anymore.  On the other hand, by wanting us out the Iraqis have demonstrated that they have not yet been brought under control.  If Iraq was a fully functioning government they wouldn’t care if there were US troops there.  Their desire to see us out demonstrates their instability.

McCain clearly understands this.  Anybody can send American troops to a country where they’re wanted, but that isn’t the same as sending them to the country where they are most needed.  Obama obviously does not understand this, by electing him the American people run the risk of him sending troops only where they are wanted or only into situations where they have a clear objective.

Yesterday on Fox News, Fred Barnes encouraged John McCain to go after Barack Obama on gays in the military.  It is sad that the campaign has been reduced to this when everybody knows that gays do not belong in the military in the first place.  There is no constitutional right to serve in the military.  Being able to serve multiple tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan is above all a priviledge.  As a priviledge, the government has the right to deny it to anybody they want to.  The grand adventure of being a soldier is reserved for those patriotic young men (and now women) who uphold American standards of morality and decency.  When the insurgents attack and a soldier finds himself surrounded by heavily armed militants do you think he wants to see a homosexual with a gun next to him?  Of course not, he’d rather be there alone.

If we were to open the military up to homosexuals they would take jobs away from heterosexual troops.  The homosexuals would naturally stand out at inspections where their uniform would be impeccably neat compared to the heterosexual soldier next to him.  Their barracks would not only be ship shape, but decorated as well.  Straight soldiers would not be able to compete with this and would not be able to ascend to leadership positions.    By all means, let’s put the facts out there and lets see how many people support Obama’s position.

Lie-berals have been pointing to the suicide statistics of troops returning from Iraq to “show” that Iraq must be a terrible place for a solider because their suicide rate of Iraq War veterans is double that of the general population.

Thanks to a recent investigation by ABC New and the Washington Times we learn that just maybe things aren’t as bad in Iraq as the Dumocrats like to paint them.  It seems that “mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects.”

It is quite possible that these drug tests are responsible for the higher suicide rate and not conditions the troops were exposed to in the middle east.  One large scale test involves the stop smoking drug Chantix.

James Elliot, a decorated Army sharpshooter who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving 15 months in Iraq, was confused and psychotic when he was Tasered by police in February as he reached for a concealed handgun when officers responded to a 911 call at his Maryland home.

Mr. Elliott, a chain smoker, began taking Chantix last fall as part of a VA experiment that specifically targeted veterans with PTSD, opting to collect $30 a month for enrolling in the clinical trial because he needed cash as he returned to school. He soon began suffering hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, unaware that the new drug he was taking could have caused them.

Just two weeks after Mr. Elliott began taking Chantix in November, the VA learned from the FDA that the drug was linked to a large number of hallucinations, suicide attempts and psychotic behavior. But the VA did not alert Mr. Elliott before his own episode in February.

As you can see, it wasn’t anything overseas that caused the problem–but the drug he was taking.  I’m not saying Iraq is a great place to be, but it isn’t half as bad as some people make it out to be.  Now the VA may come off looking a bit negative in this particular article, but as their spokesperson points out, “helping [post-traumatic stress disorder] sufferers to stop smoking would prolong their lives.”

Just when I think that there is no hope for the future and that all college kids care about is the next kegger, along comes a story that shows you the spirit of free enterprise and entrepeneurship is alive and well. 

House sleuth Henry Waxman (D-CA) wants 22 year-old AEY President Efraim Diveroli, his 25 year-old VP (and masseur) David Packouz, and the company’s general manager, also 25, to testify before Congress about how they managed to get a $300 million U.S. contract to supply (sometimes forty year-old) ammunition to the Afghan Army, among other contracts. Waxman also wants officials from the Department of Defense and Department of State to appear as well.

If Bill Murray was a bit younger he’d be the perfect guy to play Diveroli.  This would be an awesome premise for a movie.  Keep in mind that Diveroli took over this company when he was 19.  That takes some gumption. Now it seems the Afghans are a bit unhappy with the company who is their main weapons supplier.  Some of the ammo was manufactured in China and it was shipped in cardboard boxes, but isn’t this just the time when those crazy kids pull that big stunt to save the day and get the girl at the end of the movie.  Time to show Senator Wermer I mean Waxman just what you’re made of kids.

You really have to hand it to him.  A whole lot of people dream of someday being President of the United States, but what job would our Commander in Chief want?  He’d love to be just an ordinary grunt on the front lines of the war against terror.  While speaking to soldiers in Afghanistan, The Pres. was quoted as saying:

“I must say, I’m a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks.”

Just when you think that this generation is going be confined to sitting in front of computer screens doing menial tasks along comes the war on terror to give us a good old fashioned jolt of adventure and romance.  I know he’s to old to serve, but you have to believe W. would be one heckuva soldier.