Right on

That little boy sure does look miserably unhappy to have that imperial American GI repressing him, doesn't he?

Why is this not seen in major media?

I am the SGT pictured with the young child. It was taken at a local Iraqi hospital, where myself (a Comabt Medic) and our PA and MD were taking a tour. We were attempting to get a handle on not only what capabilities, but also needs and concerns that the facility members might have. I have two young daughters at home and seeing the joy and excitement in these young children's eyes and knowing that with our help, they may be able to grow up in a free country and enjoy the same freedoms that some Americans take for granted daily, makes this deployment worth it for me. We are doing so much good that is hardly covered by most media outlets. I believe our mission is two fold: We are not only helping the people of Iraq, but we are sending a clear message to terrorists around the globe that we will not surrender to their cowardly tactics. I am doing this not only for the people of Iraq, but for the people of the United States of America. HOOAH!

Maury County's finest!

I second that HOOAH!
Thanks for your service. Thanks for what you do.

You make me proud to be an American, Ron. The US--and the world--are better off having folks like you doing what you do. God Bless!

Thanks for all you do. You make me proud to be an American. Let's hope more people realize what we are really all about. Best of luck.

Here's what else people do without UN assistance.

My own wife is in India right now. Our little church, who's Rector is a native of Bangalore, has raised around $50k and they have gone over to start rebuilding some of the orphanages that were lost. From what my wife has told me over the phone, she's being treated like a goddess.

There's no waste, all expenses are being paid out of pocket, they're just going to take care of whatever needs they can with the limited resources we've been able to accumulate.

This is why I get so angry when I see our government negotiating with fanatics about whether our servicemen can be armed while providing relief. Total waste of time.

Ron, the fine work done by you and your comrades makes me proud to be an American. Thank you for all your efforts throughout the globe.

As they say, peace can be achieved through superior firepower, as well as through superior compassionativity.

HOOAH, indeed!

Ron,

Thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of all of us back home. American soldiers are the hardest working, least appreciated humanitarians in the world.

Right on from me too.

Now we're talkning. Ensuring freedom takes courage, not large beaurocratic organizations.

Thank you,

RP

Ron,
From Thailand, this report that tears of pride fill my eyes as I read of your efforts and your achievements!

I'm an American, and I KNOW we can't be as bad as they want to paint us!

More, faster! That little guy's bright eyes are what 'religion' is all about: re-uniting!

Of this I am certain! When has the UN ever gotten organized enough to accomplish anything substantial?

Well yeah, that's good!

But it's a hell of a long climb up from the depths of Abu Ghraib!

Yes, but where are the pix of UN-sponsored rape in the Congo Mr. Howell? And that continues at this moment. You don't seem to have any outrage left for the UN. Too bad.

Lance,

As you may recall, I do not support what I believe to be an incompetent and misguided administration that put you guys in the middle of this situation. I am not worried that I might have any demoralizing effect by stating this; you are all made of better stuff than that. I also have two friends who are serving along with you; one is a grandmother.

There is much good that can be done, since all of America that will be experienced by many Iraqis will come from the service given by you and your colleagues. They will never see the likes of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Frum, and others. They will never see the long line of "real" (not Semi-) pundits like William Kristol and Ann Coulter who promoted the invasion of Iraq at the expense of our justifiable punishment of the leaders of Afghanistan.

So, stay safe, keep a sharp eye, and make us proud.

I'm sure that everyone who goes out in harm's way and risks catching bullets, or eating an IED on our behalf is fortified by your multiply-qualified statement of more-or-less support, Semi.

The paragraph immediately preceding is sarcasm. And I do not believe for 5 seconds that you approved of the campaign in Afghanistan. "Justifiable punishment", eh--no, I don't think you mean that.

Provide some links any post you made on your blog about Afghanistan if you want to make me a liar. None after the dirty Taliban animals were driven from power, thank you, anything less would make you look like a cynical, opportunistic Leftist.

may I recommend this article and the accompanying photos?

Neuroto:

You probably didn't read far enough back at http://semipundit.blogspot.com. There are several references.

But I don't write much anyway. As you can see, my last posting was in December, when I referenced an article by Philip Agre on the nature of Conservatism. It is an excellent article, but it is fairly long and may be daunting for one who lacks courage for self-evaluation. I may write some more when I decide that I have something worthwhile to say. Until then, I enjoy the interaction at sites such as this one and Reverend Sensing's. I consider my home base to be http://southknoxbubba.net/skblog, and I particularly value the discourse that occurs there.

I opposed the Bush administration's rise to power from the beginning--almost entirely on domestic issues, but I really did agree with the action on Afghanistan. We clearly knew who the culprits were, and we clearly knew who had provided shelter and sustenance for them. The Taliban had no reasonable defense for their actions before the rest of the world, which was tremendously sympathetic with us at the time.

We had an opportunity to stop there for awhile and show the opposite side of brutal retaliation. Instead, we declared victory, put a former oil executive in power and moved on. Karzai is still guarded by us; otherwise, he would not last until tomorrow morning.

The Bush administration and its influential supporters wanted to do Iraq in the worst way for a long time. In a global political sense, it was the equivalent of a huge hunk of cheese in a gigantic rat trap, and they went for it.

That said, we now rely on the courage and skill of our soldiers to pull this thing off, and much of that is dependent on their day-to-day street-level interactions. By contrast, it will be years before an American can show his face in Fallujah.

Lance and Ron are no doubt capable of assessing and dealing with the situation, and their positions should be respected.