Peacethugs

[Soldier4Christ]

Military personnel harassed on subway

A pro-family activist and former presidential candidate says it is outrageous that military personnel in uniform, who use public transportation while traveling to the Pentagon, are being publically harassed by anti-war leftists.

The Air Force recently issued a security advisory, relating several incidents where military personnel have been approached by individuals expressing themselves as anti-government and shouting anti-war sentiments.

Gary Bauer, Chairman of American Values, says in one case a woman in uniform was followed as she exited a Washington, D.C., subway train and a left wing thug continued to berate her as she exited the metro station. Bauer believes there is a limit to free speech.

"Freedom of speech, like all our liberties, has limitations on it. You can't drive a car down a suburban neighborhood at eleven o'clock at night with a loudspeaker on the top of it. And this fits into that category. When somebody is in a public place, they have a right not to be harassed," Bauer explains.
     
In fact, Bauer notes, harassment itself is against the law. "And in this case I would call it traitorous. If I'm on a subway or at an airport and see something like this happen, I for one will take action. I think this is an intolerable thing to be happening in our country," Bauer contends.
 
Bauer believes these protestors are being constantly urged by left wing blogs and websites to harass the military. And he says left wing politicians who compare U.S. troops to Nazis bear responsibility, too – as do those in the media who constantly present the troops in a negative way.

[Soldier4Christ]

Long Beach recruiters targeted by Peace Thugs

Downtown LB’s military recruiting station at Pine Ave./6th St. and the immediate area were marked with anti-war type graffiti overnight.

LBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Dina Zapalski says that about 6:30 a.m. today (June 5), officers were dispatched to the area of 6th/Pine and found spray painting had occurred on the military recruiting station’s windows, building and adjacent sidewalk.

The statements (summarized/paraphrased) were along the lines of ‘we’re all people,’ ‘wars are unnecessary,’ peace signs…and one that included a possibly threatening statement which LBPD is investigating, Sgt. Zapalski indicated.

Graffiti (now removed) was originally in red, photog Daniel DeBoom says.

LB photojournalist Daniel DeBoom says that when he arrived in the 8 a.m. hour, graffiti removal crews were already on scene.

He says he saw one tag atop a planter that simply stated “T.” Another on the ground in front of the planter read “WE ARE ALL PEOPLE”…and was painted in red.

“By the time I arrived the city workers had cleaned it to a dull version of its former self,” photog DeBoom said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Violent Attacks By Anti-War Radicals Against Military Recruiting Centers

Code Pink and Anti-War Groups Hysterical Over Report
This weekend a new report was released detailing a campaign of violence by supposed "peace" protestors against military recruiting centers across the United States.

Titled "The Sedition Report," the document released by the pro-troop organization Move America Forward followed a month-long exhaustive investigation into actions by anti-war activists against military recruiting centers including bombs planted at recruiting centers (Times Square - NY and St.Louis, MO), shots fired at a recruiting center (Denver, CO), firebombing of recruiters cars (in Alabama and Maryland), manure and feces smeared across recruiting centers (Toledo, OH and Milwaukee, WI) and on and on.

As the report was being released to the media at the historic National Press Club, anti-war activists threw a hissy fit - literally. Members of anti-war groups including Code Pink and Global Exchange infiltrated the news conference posing as reporters. In the middle of the news conference they began to yell and scream, declaring that the reports of violence by the anti-war movement were all lies. One gentleman stood up, proclaimed himself a 2nd generation Marine and said he was ashamed of what had become of the military he once served in. He removed his outer shirt, revealing a pink captain's jacket with various insignias. As he proceeded to scream epitepths against our troops he was asked to leave by security. When he refused a scuffle ensued. A reporter for the Washington Post confronted the individual and found out he was in fact NOT a Marine.

The anti-war activist Tighe Barry has previously been arrested for disrupting the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and most notably was arrested after he traveled to Pakistan to express support for Islamic terrorists.

Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward, said that the hostile actions of those who disrupted the news conference goes to the point of "The Sedition Report." "These are the same types of actions these individuals have engaged in at recruiting centers such as the one at 14th and L in Washington, D.C. and Berkeley, California. They storm the office, disrupt the actions of recruiters, commit acts of vandalism, and occupy the offices."

As part of the effort to inform the American people about the increasing frequency and degree of violence in these attacks against recruiting offices, Move America Forward also released a new national ad campaign.

The ad was featured on Fox News Channel on Sunday in an interview hosted by Jamie Colby.

[Soldier4Christ]

400 members of Rainbow Family surround, attack federal officers
Forest Service officials stoned by hippie group allowed to displace Boy Scouts' service project

National Forest Service officials, surrounded and attacked yesterday in Wyoming with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family, were given reason to regret their decision to cancel a long-planned national service project by the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and was later apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," said John Twiss, Forest Service director of law enforcement. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."

As WND reported, the Forest Service canceled a week-long national service project by approximately 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America, scheduled since 2004, after the Rainbow Family announced it would hold its annual gathering in the same general location.

As WND has reported, the Order of the Arrow has been working for several years to put together this year's public service project called ArrowCorps5.

The plans include about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts pay their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members earlier in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman told WND. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

Now, the "significant amount of law enforcement activity" Rey was hoping to avoid by not holding the Rainbow family to the standard permitting process has become unavoidable.

Following yesterday's melee, members of the gathering told the Star-Tribune a far different story than that told by the Forest Service.

"They were so violent, like dogs," camper Robert Parker said after the incident. "People yelled at them, 'You're shooting children.'"

Rainbow members claimed they were Tasered, hit with rubber bullets and pepper spray balls, and had guns pointed at them.

"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," a Rainbow who gave his name only as Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village – the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."

Ryan's partner, Feather, said she was pepper-sprayed, and saw another Rainbow member with welts all over his body.

Today, the American Civil Liberties Union announced plans to investigate how federal law enforcement treated those attending the gathering. Linda Burt, executive director of the ACLU in Wyoming, said her organization would accept collect calls from Rainbow Family members for the next two weeks to gather information.

Meanwhile, the ArrowCorps5 projects already completed in other states are being credited with making "immediate" changes, Scott Scheffler, a volunteer spokesman for the Scouts, told WND. In Missouri, for example, 100 acres of invasive salt cedar was removed, restoring the area's water table, allowing grasslands to re-grow and restoring the area's beautiful vistas.

[nChrist]

All I can say is these idiots should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for every single violation. The TRUTH is not part of their ways, so officers and citizens determined to prosecute should use video cameras. Regardless, their unlawful acts should not be tolerated by anyone EVEN ONCE! There is plenty of room for them in JAIL AND PRISON.

By the way, you can be assured that the decisions to authorize the Rainbow Family over the Boy Scouts was not made at the level of the Forest Service Officers who were attacked. They will deal with the aftermath of that strange and probably unlawful decision, but they didn't make it. Much higher levels make those types of decisions. Typically, lower level decisions are made by common sense and the law.

[Soldier4Christ]

Code Pink Stalker Rushing Stage at President Bush Speech at Monticello 7/04/08

Members of the terrorist-supporting group Code Pink repeatedly heckled President Bush's speech at a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens this morning at Monticello, the home of Declaration of Independence author, Thomas Jefferson.

Code Pinko Desiree Farooz, infamous for getting in the face of Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice at a House hearing last fall in a stunning breakdown of security, rushed the stage where President Bush was speaking. Taking advantage of distractive actions being taken by other Code Pinkos, Farooz was able to get past the front row and turn toward the stage before she was intercepted by security.

It appears that she was able to get close enough to the stage that if she had explosives secreted on her person she could have done the unspeakable.

A 42 second video was posted on Youtube by David Swanson, moonbat extraordinaire, of AfterDowningStreet.org. Sadly, Swanson claims to be a graduate of Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia. David Swanson, the former press secretary for Dennis Kucinich, is the individual that organized this protest.

Local news reports the protesters were ejected from the grounds after their outbursts, but that no one was arrested.

The Secret Service needs to explain why Code Pinkos keep getting close to their protectees. Last weekend Farooz got close to John McCain when she rushed the stage at a speech he was giving in Washington, D.C.

Of course, Barack Obama has nothing to fear from Code Pink, they're funding him.

Apparently nothing is sacred to these wackos. It was nice of the Leftists to ruin the naturalization ceremony for the new Americans and their families. Of course this is par for the course for their ilk.

[nChrist]

UM? - I wonder what the fine would be for slapping the fire out of one of those code pinkos? OR, maybe we could call it a muscle spasm that someone got in the way of. Just in case, we could start a fund for REAL patriots who have muscle spasms from time to time. You know, some of those muscle spasms are SO FAST that they're hard to even see.

Who knows? - maybe those muscle spasms could become fairly common around people who disrespect veterans, the Flag, and other things of honor. We could do some research and maybe come up with a name for those sudden muscle spasms - maybe something like "Patriot Twitch". There might even be epidemics of the "Patriot Twitch" in some places.

[Soldier4Christ]

I like the sounds of a "Patriot Twitch". I doubt that it would bring any sense to them but it would still be a satisfying experience.

[Soldier4Christ]

Crackdown on Rainbows considered
Forest Service had booted Boy Scouts in favor of hippie 'commune'

Federal officials say they are considering a crackdown on Rainbow Family events on federal property that could include a ban on meetings such as the arrest-marred event in Wyoming over the July 4th holiday weekend.

According to a report from the Associated Press, John Twiss, chief of law enforcement and investigations for the U.S. Forest Service, said the event's participants were "non-compromising" and "arrogant" and a review and a ban may be needed.

"I think we have to have that discussion within the agency," he told AP. "We spend an awful lot of time and effort on these people. And frankly, the taxpayers deserve better."

As WND reported at the time, officials for the Forest Service were surrounded and attacked with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family.

The confrontation happened after the Forest Service cancelled part of a long-planned national service project by the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., on the holiday officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and later was apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," Twiss said at the time. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."

WND had reported on the Forest Service's decision to move part of a week-long national service project by approximately 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America, scheduled since 2004, after the Rainbow Family announced it would hold its annual gathering in the same general location.

The Order of the Arrow had worked for several years to put together this year's public service project called ArrowCorps5.

The plans include about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts pay their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts from the location occupied by the Rainbows left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members earlier in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman told WND. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

Now, the "significant amount of law enforcement activity" Rey was hoping to avoid by not holding the Rainbow family to the standard permitting process has become unavoidable.

Following the holiday weekend melee, members of the gathering told the Star-Tribune a far different story than that told by the Forest Service.

"They were so violent, like dogs," camper Robert Parker said after the incident. "People yelled at them, 'You're shooting children.'"

Rainbow members claimed they were Tasered, hit with rubber bullets and pepper spray balls, and had guns pointed at them.

"These people deliberately, for hours, were aggressively working the camp over and working the people over," a Rainbow who gave his name only as Ryan said. "They chose the kiddie village – the one place, the kids, to take their stand and create a riot, and I bought into it. ... They were looking for an excuse to do some damage to us."

Ryan's partner, Feather, said she was pepper-sprayed, and saw another Rainbow member with welts all over his body.

[nChrist]

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

Now, the "significant amount of law enforcement activity" Rey was hoping to avoid by not holding the Rainbow family to the standard permitting process has become unavoidable.

This Undersecretary Rey appears to be the bonehead responsible for this, and he SHOULD be held responsible for it. Typically, the men and women at the bottom of the food chain in law enforcement have more common sense than this, but they are the ones who pay the price for bad decisions made by folks who stay safe in their offices. The Scouts followed all of the rules and are not known for problems of any kind. The Rainbow Idiots followed NONE of the rules and have a record of NOTHING but TROUBLE. It would appear there's a need for someone with more common sense to be making decisions at the top. The safety of the public and the Forest Rangers was jeopardized FOR WHAT? AND, what kind of message was given to the fine young people in the Scouts? THINGS LIKE THIS ARE SICKENING! Don't we still want to encourage our young people to be law abiding citizens who desire to do constructive things for themselves and others? All of us should be proud of the Scouting programs and support them however we can. They will be the backbone of our future and our way of life - YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE PROUD OF!

Let's see if the following Scripture applies?

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Isn't this exactly what happened in this situation?

Love In Christ,
Tom

Favorite Bible Quotes 202 - Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be
taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

[Soldier4Christ]

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Isn't this exactly what happened in this situation?

Exactly.

[Soldier4Christ]

This is an article I came across on a blog that I occasionally review. I thought it quite fitting to post here in "Peace Thugs" as it shows the true colors of these individuals. People claim that those in the leftist groups are more sensitive of others needs and feelings. This is especially not true when it gets them what they really want ... hurt feelings, demoralized people, and fear. Kind of sounds like terrorists to me. No wonder they support the terrorists in the way they do.


NYT Complaint: Not Enough Photos Of Mutilated American Soldiers in This War

The New York Times is miffed. They aren’t happy that there has been a dearth of news photos showing dead American soldiers in the war in Iraq. The Times is lamenting that there have been “4,000 U.S. Combat Deaths, and Just a Handful of Images,” so more carnage and death is their druthers. Well, more American dead, anyway. They aren’t interested in the dead of the enemy, to be sure.

Using the story of photog Zoriah Miller who had his embed status removed when he publicized photos of dead U.S. Marines after a suicide bombing, the Times reveals their pique over the fact that not enough dead Americans have been peddled to the American public. The Times denounces the military for protecting the troops and their families saying, “after five years and more than 4,000 American combat deaths, searches and interviews turned up fewer than a half-dozen graphic photographs of dead American soldiers.”

Complaining for opponents of the war that the lack of casualty photos has created a a situation where the “public portrayal of the war is being sanitized,” the Times wonders if the homefront is being badly served because we here are not seeing the “human cost of a war that polls consistently show is unpopular with Americans.”

How the Times can imagine that the anti-war set aren’t getting their opinions out to the public is anyone’s guess. And how the Times can imagine that the “human cost of war” is being “sanitized” is also a puzzlement. After all, for the last four years and until recently we had been daily treated to the media’s recital of the American body count, letting us know just how many Americans had died. Again, the body count of the enemy didn’t interest them at all.

Of course, the story of photographer Miller seems compelling… at least to the Times. His photos showed the after math and success of a suicide bombing and this is precisely why the military didn’t want his photos shown to the world.

“Specifically, Mr. Miller provided our enemy with an after-action report on the effectiveness of their attack and on the response procedures of U.S. and Iraqi forces,” said Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, a Marine spokesman.

The story details the story of several photographers that have been disembedded by the military brass after publishing photos of dead U.S. soldiers and reports that many embedded journalists are being kept from areas of battle is revealed.

The New York Times illustrates their story with photos of dead American soldiers from D-Day during WWII as if to say that it was always allowed to show dead soldiers in previous wars, as if these are somehow new restrictions. First of all, that isn’t true. But secondly, we are in a different era, a time when a fire fight can happen and mere minutes later photos of the aftermath can be beamed across the world to TV and news outlets. This nearly instant reporting leaves little time for the public to assimilate facts about any battle, much less give family members the opportunity to find out about the fate of their loved ones through proper, more respectful channels.

But, I guess the media have little use for respect.

The military responded to the Times’ carping with some solid points.

    Military officials stressed that the embed regulations provided only a framework. “There is leeway for commanders to make judgment calls, which is part of what commanders do,” said Col. Steve Boylan, the public affairs officer for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq. For many in the military, a legal or philosophical debate over press freedom misses the point. Capt. Esteban T. Vickers of the First Regimental Combat Team, who knew two of the marines killed at Garma, said photos of his dead comrades, displayed on the Internet for all to see, desecrated their memory and their sacrifice.

    “Mr. Miller’s complete lack of respect to these marines, their friends, and families is shameful,” Captain Vickers said. “How do we explain to their children or families these disturbing pictures just days after it happened?”

Now, the Times quotes photographer Miller as being “surprised” that his images of dead American solders raised any ruckus. He callously just chalked their deaths up to something that “happens every day,” and blew off any criticism. But there is one more aspect of this that explains why the military blanches at allowing the media to exploit the deaths of our soldiers.

Have you seen any stories about Iraq’s Sgt. York? How about the Iraq war version of Audie Murphy? In fact, how often do you see any story that reports on the heroism of one of our soldiers in Iraq? The media hasn’t wasted much of its precious ink on what they must consider such trivialities. But, they’d certainly love to see the mutilated corpses of our troops splashed across their pages and TV screens!

So, since the news isn’t balanced and the soldiers are treated by the media as victims and used solely to promulgate their anti-war and anti-Bush themes, is it any surprise that the military won’t let them use graphic photos of our troops’ deaths, too?

It sure isn’t to me.

[Soldier4Christ]

An update to this article:

I have been contacted by Capt Esteban Vickers, one of the officers quoted in the New York Times story, and he asked me to pass along the full text of the letter he sent the Times’ reporter on this issue.

    Jul 8, 2008, at 12:44 AM, Vickers Capt Esteban T (CF RCT1 S-1 PAO)

    Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

    Mike,

    The moment I saw these photos, my first thoughts were of the Marines’ families. These pictures posted, before they had a chance to bury their loved ones, before they could have a memorial service, before they had an opportunity to grieve. Not only did Mr. Miller violate his embed agreement but what is most disappointing is his complete lack of respect to these Marines, their friends, and families is shameful. With the effortless accessibility of the internet how do we explain to their children or families these disturbing pictures just days after it happened?

    In the Marine Corps once you become a Marine, you join an elite brotherhood. As Marines, we take the term “band of brothers” literally. Every Marine past, present and future becomes my brother. For Marines in combat, it is a bond who’s strength is difficult to describe but stronger than anyone can imagine. As such, when a Marine is killed in action there is a very deep emotional tie to our fallen comrade. Furthermore, is that bond extends to their family as well. By putting these pictures on his blog, Mr. Miller showed complete disrespect to the families of these men and their fellow Marines

    When the Marine Corps embeds a reporter we put a certain trust in that reporter not just in the fact that they will follow the rules and regulations they sign upon embedding, but also to have common decency and a sense of propriety. The Marine Corps prides itself on accepting and embedding any media member whether they write for a blog, national newspaper, or any other media outlet. We put certain trusts and confidences in them, and in turn we give them open access to everything we do. We treat them as one of our own; we are prepared to ensure their safety so they can tell their story. Mr. Miller not only violated his embed agreement but more importantly he violated our trust, taking advantage of a tragic incident solely for his own self interests.

    Mr. Miller claims that he posted these images and the accompanying blog to give the world a sense of the reality of war. Nobody understands the horrors of war better than those who fight it. Had Mr. Miller afforded the families of these Marines the courtesy of waiting until a more appropriate time to post his blog, or better yet ask the Marine Corps chain of command about posting the blog things may have turned out differently. However, he failed on both accounts. He failed to have decency or respect for the families or their loved ones and exploited the safety of our service members by supporting the efforts of this
    attack. He undermined the trust we put in embedded reporters. He truly does not understand or simply does not appreciate the environment we operate in and the internal damage he can inflict. We work very hard building relationships and respecting Iraqi culture. The display of not only our Marines but the Iraqi sheiks only serves to supersede that relationship. The reporter came with the Marines; the local leaders trust our integrity and this one act of posting these photographs can damage our relationship.

    Respectfully sent,

    Capt Esteban T. Vickers
    RCT-1 PAO
    Camp Fallujah, Iraq
    DSN 3404-513

    Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

And I want to take this opportunity to thank Captain Vickers for his service. I second that thanks to Capt Vickers along with A Thank You to all the Troops!

[Soldier4Christ]

Booted by Forest Service, Scouts now help fight fires
1,000 repair project volunteers relocated by feds when Rainbow Family set up camp

Members of the honor society for the Boy Scouts of America who had to change their service project plans in Wyoming when the U.S. Forest Service instead allowed the Rainbow Family hippie group to use a location the Scouts had sought now are helping the federal agency fight a forest fire in the state.

According to a report in the Casper Star-Tribune the Scouts, some of an estimated 1,000 members of the Order of the Arrow in the state, have "stepped in" to help firefighters in the Bridger-Teton National Forest fight the New Fork Lakes fire, about 19 miles north of Pinedale.

The blaze started when a campfire got out of control and from during the course of about eight hours earlier this week grew from 40 to 1,500 acres.

The Scouts are staffing the supply line that provides materials and services to firefighters, officials said. Firefighters also have established a command post at the Scouts' camp.

"It is a great help to have the extra hands," fire cache manager Heidi Zardus told the newspaper. "They are helping me get the orders filled and the supplies shipped out in record time."

The Scouts were in the area to work on a major forest restoration project that had been planned since 2004.

The massive project, called ArrowCorps5 and described as the largest of its kind in decades, has had Order of the Arrow members working on various locations around the nation this summer.

The plan had about 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the country donating an estimated 250,000 hours of time to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens at five different sites in the nation's forests. In most cases, the scouts paid their own travel and room and board expenses to participate in the biggest service project since World War II.

"ArrowCorps5 is the largest, most complex, most challenging conservation project ever conceived by the Order of the Arrow and Boy Scouts of America," said Brad Haddock, chairman of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. "This project provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for each participant to set an example of leadership in service to those who treasure our national forests."

But as WND had reported, the Forest Service decided earlier this summer to move the Scouts from part of their long-planned work sites in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

The decision by the Forest Service to evict the Scouts from the location occupied by the Rainbows left local Wyoming leaders infuriated.

"It's a matter of intimidation," Sublette, Wyo., County commissioner Joel Bousman told WND. "It appears the Rainbow group has managed to intimidate an entire federal agency."

Federal officials, after the Rainbow gathering, said they were re-evaluating their procedures and may have to ban meetings such as the arrest-marred gathering in Wyoming over the July 4th holiday weekend.

According to a report from the Associated Press, John Twiss, chief of law enforcement and investigations for the U.S. Forest Service, said the event's participants were "non-compromising" and "arrogant" and a review and a ban may be needed.

"I think we have to have that discussion within the agency," he told AP. "We spend an awful lot of time and effort on these people. And frankly, the taxpayers deserve better."

As WND reported at the time, officials for the Forest Service were surrounded and attacked with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family.

The Casper Star-Tribune also is reporting that the cleanup effort by the Rainbow Family from the assembly estimated at about 7,000 people is "cosmetic."

"It is cleanup," said District Ranger Tom Peters. "But it certainly is not rehabilitation by any stretch of the imagination. And it is not re-naturalization, which is a term they use and I'm not really sure what that means. But it is cleanup. I would describe it as cosmetic cleanup. They're taking out the trash."

He said members of the crew that remained behind are covering compost pits with soil, covering up trenches and covering fire pits with branches and tree trucks. One of the more egregious uses of public land, he noted, was a fire pit some 40 feet in diameter and four feet deep.

Before the Rainbow gathering, Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary supervising the U.S. Forest Service, met with Rainbow Family members in Pinedale, and urged them to move their gathering, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. They refused.

Rey told WND he thought the decision to move the Scouts to somewhere else and leave the Rainbow Family alone was the best under the circumstances. He said the government allows the Rainbow Family to bypass its regular permit requirements in favor of an "operating plan" but the bottom line was that the government didn't want to be arresting hundreds or thousands of people.

"They couldn't be expelled without a fairly significant amount of law enforcement activity," he told WND a week before the gathering began.

"The Boy Scouts have been planning this since 2004," Bousman objected. "They've been through the planning process and have been working very cooperatively with our Forest Service. They've spent lots of money planning the biggest venture ever for the Boy Scouts.

"They did everything legally, they had their permits. But because of the fact Undersecretary Rey, for whatever reason, took it on himself to do what he has referred to as an experimental process by which he does not require the Rainbow Group to have any permit, the conflict developed," Bousman said.

And where are the Rainbow Group members during this fire?

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

These fine young people in the Boy Scouts are good news, and I wish that we had more of it. I'm proud of them, especially considering that previous negative actions toward them didn't ruin their attitudes or wishes to help. These Boy Scouts are giving us all a lesson that we need:   DON'T GET DISCOURAGED - KEEP TRYING!

This same message applies to Christians directly. We should keep trying and never allow the devil to discourage us. There is work that GOD wants done, and we can do it, regardless of the difficulty we might face in serving HIM. HE is worthy!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Favorite Bible Quotes 189 - Isaiah 12:2-3 Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength
and my song; he also is become my salvation. 3 Therefore with joy
shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.