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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Reflections on Iraq 2 years later
It has been two years
since my trip to Iraq
to see the war through
the eyes of Georgia’s 48th
Brigade Combat Team
located in the aptly named
“Triangle of Death”, south
of Baghdad. The longer I am
away, the scarier it seems.
Would I do it again? In a
heartbeat.
Happily for them and
their families, members of
the 48th are back home and
back to as normal a life as
one can have after dodging
roadside bombs and mortars
shells and not knowing if
the person on the side of the
road is going to wave at you
or try to kill you. All of this
and more dirt, danger, bore
dom and stark terror than
you can fathom.
I have kept up with some
of the Band of Brothers (and
Sisters) who let me share the
dangers of their Iraqi patrols
with them. The 48th BCT, a
part of the Georgia National
Guard, was commanded
by Stewart Rodeheaver. At
the time of my visit, Gen.
Rodeheaver was 9 manag
er for the Georgia Power
Company. He is now a dep
uty commanding general
in the United States First
Army, headquartered at Fort
Gillem, south of Atlanta.
The army’s gain is Georgia
Power’s loss. He is one of
the best leaders I have ever
been around.
One of Rodeheaver’s key
commanders in Iraq was Col.
John King, who has been in
the news recently because a
couple of City of Doraville
council members tried to fire
him from his post as chief of
police. The politicians were
upset after he was sent to
MoveOn.org bullies
crack down on critics
MoveOn.org, the
left-wing extrem
ists who bashed
the commander of American
forces in Iraq as a traitor,
should get out of the political
kitchen. The George Soros
funded hitmen can’t stand
even a bit of heat from Mom
and-Pop retailers who tried
selling T-shirts and mugs on
the Internet critical of the
“General Betray Us” smear
ads against Gen. David
Petraeus. ,
I heard from one of the
independent T-shirt sellers
targeted by MoveOn.org last
week. The seller is a life
long Democrat and member
of the military. Incensed by
the attack on Petraeus, the
retailer opened up a shop
at online store CafePress.
The homemade designs at
the PoliStew Case were stark
and simple: “Move Away
from Move On!” “Move On.
org NoFriend to Dems.”
“General Petraeus has done
more for this country than
MoveOn.org.”
For daring to raise a voice
and raise some money for
the troops (all proceeds from
the sale of his items go to
the National Military Family
Association charity), this T
shirt seller earned the wrath
of MoveOn.org’s lawyers.
MoveOn.org chief operating
officer Carrie Olson brought
down the sledgehammer. She
sent a cease-and i desist letter
to CafePress demanding that
PoliStew Case’s items and
other anti-MoveOn.org mer
chandise be removed from
the store.
Acceptable speech to
MoveOn.org is likening
President Bush to Adolf
Hitler, as they did in 2004.
Unacceptable speech:
Little old mugs and hoodie
sweatshirts gently satirizing
the thin-skinned, left-wing
mafia. The pretextual copy
right infringement claims
are downright laughable.
This isn’t about protect
ing MoveOn.org’s property
rights. It’s about shutting
up citizens who don’t have
the deep pockets to defend
themselves’ against frivolous
claims by bullies in progres
sive clothing.
Sane liberals should be
ashamed at such free speech
squelching efforts. As Los
Iraq,
one call
ing him
a “part
time police
chief. ”
Naturally,
they were
snug in
their beds
while
King was
Dick Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
involved in some of the
heaviest fighting in the
Triangle of Death. The vot
ers of Doraville, a town of
15,000 northeast of Atlanta,
gave the council members a
swift kick in their egos.
One resigned after being
threatened with a recall peti
tion. King not only retained
his job but Doraville’s mayor
has promised him a contract
extension. Good guys do
occasionally win one.
Bill Huff of Gray wrote
me recently. Sgt. Huff was
the driver who escorted me
to city of Mahmoudiyah, one
of the towns that form the
Triangle of Death.
It was my first day in Iraq
and I went there to sit in
on a meeting between Gen.
Rodeheaver and members of
the Iraqi military and law
enforcement officers prior
to Iraq’s upcoming vote on
a new Constitution. I was
too polite and scared
to comment to Sgt. Huff
that his driving seemed
erratic until he told me
later that we were dodging
IEDs (Improvised Explosive
Devices), or roadside bombs.
That I am here two years
later telling you this story
says that Bill Huff did his
job well that day.
We found an IED a couple
of days later the hard way.
-wB
Angeles
Times
blog
ger Jon
Healey,
the only
other
main
stream
journalist
to cover
the crack-
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
malkin@comcast.net
down, notes: “Trademark
law doesn’t confer monop
oly rights over all uses of a
registered phrase or symbol,
however, and it wasn’t cre
ated simply to protect the
trademark owner’s interests.
Instead, it’s designed to pro
tect consumers against being
misled or confused about
brands. The courts have
repeatedly ruled in favor of
parodies and critiques; that’s
why www.famousbrand
namesucks.com doesn’t vio
late famousbrandname’s
trademark. And most of the
items targeted by MoveOn
were clearly designed to
razz it, not to trick buyers
into thinking they were the
group’s products.”
CafePress refused to give
in on several of the items.
But the speech-chilling mes
sage is clear: Parody Move On.
org and they’ll threaten to
hunt you down and sue you.
The PoliStew Case operator
took down the pro-Petraeus,
anti-MoveOn.org shirts
and replaced them instead
with merchandise referring
to “THE GROUP THAT
SHALL NOT BE NAMED.”
Edward Padgett, a Los
Angeles blogger who spread
the word about MoveOn’s
attempt to silence critics,
laments: “For several years
I have found MoveOn.org to
be an inspirational anti-war
group, but the past few weeks
they have been an embar
rassment to all Americans
...” Dissent-silencing tactics
approved, apparently, by the
MoveOn.org Democrats who
are too busy bashing Rush
Limbaugh to notice the gag
ging of ordinary citizens on
their own side of the politi
cal aisle. Welcome to George
Soros’s America.
Michelle Malkin is author
of “Unhinged: Exposing
Liberals Gone Wild. ”
Her e-mail address is
malkinblog@gmail.com.
We ran over one. I will never
forget the sound and how
the backend of the vehicle
rose up off the ground right
under where I was seated
and the smoke that engulfed
our Humvee. Someone said
later that had the bad guys
been five seconds faster or
had we been five seconds
slower, it would not have
been a happy ending.
For me, this was a unique
experience. For the troops,
it was their daily version of
Russian roulette on wheels.
Business as usual.
I will always be grateful for
the privilege of being with a
group of dedicated men and
women who left jobs and
families and came to Iraq
because it was required of
them. No whining. No sec
ond-guessing. No guarantee
that they would ever make
it home.
They were schoolteachers,
police officers, secretaries,
physicians, welders, truck
drivers and marketing man
agers from one end of the
state to the other, and they
served at great personal sac
rifice and with distinction.
Each is a hero.
Two years later, I am safe
ly at home, but the war in
Iraq remains up close and
personal. A young friend of
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OPINION
the family, Kristina Allen,
recently shipped off to Iraq
with the Marines. Pray that
she and all the others return
home safely. War is hell. So
is Iraq.
You can reach
Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net,
P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
Georgia 31139, or Web site:
www.dickyarbrough.com.
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