Thursday, July 02, 2009

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: Marine Officer Turns Back Tank Column w/.45!

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: Marine Officer Turns Back Tank Column w/.45!

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MIDDLE EAST HISTORY

IT HAPPENED IN MARCH

Israel Charged With Systematic Harassment of
U.S. Marines

By Donald Neff

MARCH 1995, Pages 79-81

It was 12 years ago, on March 14, 1983, that the commandant of the Marine Corps sent a highly unusual letter to the secretary of defense expressing frustration and anger at Israel. General R.H. Barrow charged that Israeli troops were deliberately threatening the lives of Marines serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon. There was, he wrote, a systematic pattern of harassment by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that was resulting in "life-threatening situations, replete with verbal degradation of the officers, their uniform and country."

Barrow's letter added: "It is inconceivable to me why Americans serving in peacekeeping roles must be harassed, endangered by an ally...It is evident to me, and the opinion of the U.S. commanders afloat and ashore, that the incidents between the Marines and the IDF are timed, orchestrated, and executed for obtuse Israeli political purposes."1

Israel's motives were less obtuse than the diplomatic general pretended. It was widely believed then, and now, that Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, one of Israel's most Machiavellian politician-generals, was creating the incidents deliberately in an effort to convince Washington that the two forces had to coordinate their actions in order to avoid such tensions. This, of course, would have been taken by the Arabs as proof that the Marines were not really in Lebanon as neutral peacekeepers but as allies of the Israelis, a perception that would have obvious advantages for Israel.2

Barrow's extraordinary letter was indicative of the frustrations and miseries the Marines suffered during their posting to Lebanon starting on Aug. 25, 1982, as a result of Israel's invasion 11 weeks earlier. Initially a U.S. unit of 800 men was sent to Beirut harbor as part of a multinational force to monitor the evacuation of PLO guerrillas from Beirut. The Marines, President Reagan announced, "in no case... would stay longer than 30 days."3 This turned out to be only partly true. They did withdraw on Sept. 10, but a reinforced unit of 1,200 was rushed back 15 days later after the massacres at the Palestinian refugee camps at Sabra and Shatila that accompanied the Israeli seizure of West Beirut. The U.S. forces remained until Feb. 26, 1984.4

During their-year-and-a-half posting in Lebanon, the Marines suffered 268 killed.5 The casualties started within a week of the return of the Marines in September 1982. On the 30th, a U.S.-made cluster bomb left behind by the Israelis exploded, killing Corporal David Reagan and wounding three other Marines.6

Corporal Reagan's death represented the dangers of the new mission of the Marines in Lebanon. While their first brief stay had been to separate Israeli forces from Palestinian fighters evacuating West Beirut, their new mission was as part of a multinational force sent to prevent Israeli troops from attacking the Palestinian civilians left defenseless there after the withdrawal of PLO forces. As President Reagan said: "For this multinational force to succeed, it is essential that Israel withdraw from Beirut."7

"Incidents are timed, orchestrated, and
executed for Israeli
political purposes."

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: Baby Blue Marines

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: Baby Blue Marines

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NYC forced to honor Islam Sept. 11?
Resolution backed by CAIR urges closing schools on Muslim holidays

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: How

Gunny G's Marines History and Traditions: How "Chesty" Puller Got His Nickname!

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NYC forced to honor Islam Sept. 11?
Resolution backed by CAIR urges closing schools on Muslim holidays

Michelle Malkin Outpouring of support for Dallas vet whose flags were torched… « -THE &...

Michelle Malkin Outpouring of support for Dallas vet whose flags were torched… « -THE &...

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Outpouring of support for Dallas vet whose flags were torched
By Michelle Malkin • July 2, 2009 12:12 PM
They haven’t found the culprits yet who burned the U.S. and military flags of a former Marine in north Dallas this week.

But support and offers to replace the flags have poured in.

Avi Selk of the Dallas Morning News has the follow-up:

Our little story about a few front-porch flags that got burned in Far North Dallas has sparked a firestorm of attention since it ran on Tuesday.

The story, which my editor discovered from a single line in an obscure police report, (”UNK SUSP BURNED USA FLAG MOUNTED IN FRONT OF COMP RESIDENCE”) has also grabbed the attention of nearly every TV station in Dallas and the Associated Press. It’s also made the rounds on Twitter and caught the eye of conservative blogger Michelle Malkin.

Since writing the article, I’ve been contacted by soldiers, civilians, a flag manufacturer and the agent for Kid Rock — all of whom want to help replace the burned flags. An Army veteran offered up an American flag he said had been flown over several camps and bases in Iraq.

Ref

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/02/outpouring-of-support-for-dallas-vet-whose-flags-were-torched/?print=1

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The latest on eBay’s ‘Kenyan birth certificate’ « -THE "G" BLOGS ...

The latest on eBay’s ‘Kenyan birth certificate’ « -THE "G" BLOGS ...

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The latest on eBay’s ‘Kenyan birth certificate’

The latest on eBay’s ‘Kenyan birth certificate’
wnd ^ | July 01, 2009 9:11 pm Eastern | Bob Unruh

Posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 11:47:22 PM by Red Steel

Now it’s an autographed photograph for sale

The eBay auction seller who has tried multiple times to sell an allegedly genuine copy of Barack Obama’s ‘birth certificate’ from Mombasa, Kenya, now is offering for sale a photograph of several individuals who reportedly contributed to the strategy through which the still-unproven documented was obtained.

And the seller, identified as “colmado_naranja,” who claims to have obtained the document while traveling Africa, suggested more information will be revealed on a YouTube video that is planned.

“My user name is InspectorSmith. I’ve had the account for some time. I have never uploaded anything. … So this will be the first time that I’ve ever uploaded anything. So you’ll get your document yet, up close and personal,” the seller wrote on the latest eBay posting.

The seller explained previously that Kenyans had boasted Barack Obama II was born in the Coast Provincial Hospital in Mombasa at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961, which correlates to speculation that has existed over the president’s birthplace since even prior to his election.