Cute kids. They seem like kids you could find in any working class neighborhood in the US. People are people, man. Seems like though we're 95% the same we all focus on the other 5%.

I'm sure these pix will be running in a continuous loop on CNN...just like the pix from Abu Ghraib. Riiiiggghhhhtttttttt.

It's good to see some of the good work our soldiers are doing. However...I must be having an off day since I don't see the "read more" link referred to at the top of the post...

Er, that mention of the "read more" button was on the blog homepage, and you came from Instapundit directly to the complete entry. Sorry for the confusion. I deleted the mention of the "read more" button.

Ya just want to give each and every one of 'em a big hug!

Very enjoyable pictures, especially the expression on the little girl receiving a new dolly. Boy oh boy, it becomes more and more evident that military bloggers are the true connection to the 'everyday people' of Iraq. Imagine how much more Iraqi reality we miss on a daily basis. Thank you again.

In picture #3, the girl holding the doll, that's exactly the same way my daughter would hold a new doll.
Heart touching. Makes me think more of our men and women over there.

That's great. I'm not kidding. It would be nice, however, if medical teams circulated in our own country to "see anyone who has a problem" among our own uninsured.

"All we are saying, is Give Peace a Chance"

Eric,
While they don't rove around, doctors in this country will see you without insurance as long you are willing to pay. If you don't want to pay the doc then get insurance.

Responding to Eric -
There are a lot of docs in this country that see anyone with a problem regardless of insurance. Here in Lynchburg, VA my wife volunteers every other Tuesday to do just that. There are probably 20 or more doctors here that do the same thing. I doubt Lynchburg is all that unusual.

We keep lamenting mainstream media not reporting photo stories like this one. I keep wondering why the bloggers don't come together in their home states to publish a newspaperusing blog reports as sources. It doesn't have to be a big paper, but would probably grow into one. It would reach all those without Internet connections who don't have PCs.

There is a newspaper in Greensboro, NC called the Rhinocerous Times which is free. They make their costs from ads. The Rhinocerous is placed in restaurant and hotel lobbys. A Blogger News paper could do the same thing. Many online readers would be more than happy to deliver them.

A Blogger paper would give bloggers the credability they need to meet FEC rules as journalists. Not that I think they really need that.

Since big Leftist corporations own most of the local newspapers, don't expect them to publish anything positive. A smiling child with a toy is anethma to them.

That's actually a pretty intriguing idea.

These types of missions are happening in both theaters of operation. Check out www.secondplatoon.blogspot.com to see what the 3rd Bat. 3rd Marines are doing in Afganistan. My son's (Cpl Thomas Patterson) main observation is that the kids he sees are so poor, wearing sandles in the Afgan winter, but they are all smiles when they see our soldiers coming. Seems like nobody cares about our guy's service except the kids they help and the MSM is not interested in happy Afgan or Iraqi kids.

Very good idea, here in Tucson I think that a little miitary blogger newspaper would go over great. I'd be more than willing to help out. Set something up.

Erik

I too am intrigued by Eric's proposal of a blogger newspaper, though I am interested in the basis for his qualification of the major-newspaper-owning corporations as "leftist." I'd say they are gung-ho capitalists, whose penchant for showing only the bad news is based solely on their assumption that advertising revenue is directly proportional to sensationalism (and as sensational as we may think these photos and reports are, they don't fit the biggies' bill). Don't be fooled into thinking that the death-and-gore-only crowd are such because they're pacificsts or something. That's furthest from the truth.

Oh aren't these pictures just precious!

These lucky kids never got killed when we dropped tens of thousands of bombs on their country. And since democrats went along and voted to give the Executive Branch the power to start a war even tho it is against the US Constitution I don't understand why you all claim that this is a war by republicans but never mind because I don't want any credit for it and God knows its not being done with my blessings.

Since republicans have now been converted to socialism we can give every citizen in America health care, great schools, food stamps, housing, and include poor mexicans in the process. God knows we can't single out Iraqis alone for our largess.

Can anyone explain how we can justify giving Iraqis our brand of freedom at the expense of the Dollar which is only surviving as the Reserve Currency because other nations fear what will happen when it fails? This problem is exacerbated by our historic debt but the neo-cons don't seem concerned about it and you don't even seem to be aware of it.

Does anyone know that Saddam, at the urging of the leaders of France and Germany switched from the Dollar to the Euro? That sealed his doom. And created American anger at those two countries even tho Americans never truly understood why they were upset.

Does anyone know what a Petro-dollar is and what advantage our economy has with its circulation?

Does anyone remember when Paul Wolfowitz told a reporter that this white house kicked around several ideas before deciding that telling the American people Saddam had WMD was the best lie to tell in order to convince Americans to go to a war they had planned for 10 years?

Does anyone know about Carlyle Group and their role in this war?

Does anyone know how many members of the Bush family are making money off this war?

Can anyone explain how an occupied country can have a legitimate "election"?

Do any of you know that the Pentagon was told to be ready to invade Iran by 2005 and that is the reason Bush wanted the elections to happen in '05 so he could claim Iraq is stable?

Does anyone know that Bush paid "reporters" to sell his agenda? How do you know those pictures aren't propaganda bought and paid for?

If I were in your shoes I wouldn't lament the failure of the media to publish these pictures. The media's role in this war is a lot worse then you can imagine. Reporters who were never part of Hitler's inner circle but who helped him sell his agenda were executed at Nuremberg.

btw I don't recall seeing the grim pictures of children's graves or American soldiers coming home in boxes on the liberal media. I must have missed their negetive anti-American coverage of this great war.

FYI it was established at NUREMBERG that one nation that invades another nation that has done nothing to it is a WAR CRIME. I do believe they executed a lot of people for that if I recall correctly. But never mind.

Does anyone know of a wonderful blog that discloses so much information about what is going on in Iraq that they can tell us if there is anything that was owned by the Iraqi people under Saddam that has not been privatized under Bush?

Can anyone tell me why it is of the utmost importance to save Iraqis but necessary to oppress Palestinians?

Can anyone tell me why there is this constant effort to convince everyone that we did a good thing in Iraq and it was all for the benefit of the people we "shocked" and "awed" with the most powerful military the world has ever known?

Can anyone remember when hate was whipped up and a target was placed on the backs of these little children because we were told Saddam had WMD? I'll bet Jesus who died for these people remembers.

Can anyone, including you Mr Hobbs, explain to me how we could DETER the former Soviet Union, the only other superpower in the world for 50 years but we couldn't deter a two bit thug like Saddam even IF he did have weapons?

Can anyone tell me why Reagan, Baker and many of the neo-cons GAVE Saddam WMD in their first place? Put "Rumsfeld shaking hands Saddam" in a google search since your memories are so convenient.

Lance does a great job of keeping the families of the 278th informed. Information about the 278th is scarce here in Maryland (My son who is from Maryland and is with the 278th)

yeula, are you off your meds again?

Lance's blog is one of my favorite stops on the internet. He gives us a view of every-day life of both the 278th and the Iraqis they deal with, and the pics he posts are a fabulous bonus.
And Lance's wit makes reading his posts even more enjoyable.

I've followed both the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan intensely and am behind our troops 100%. I'm thankful every day for the men and women who volunteer to serve our country.

Thanks, Bill, for hosting Lance's blog. I've followed it daily since I first learned of it in Dec. and plan to do so all the way through.

As for your "P.S." comments and questions, I agree that newspaper editors ought to be combing the blogosphere for photos and posts from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are many folks who don't know what a blog is, or don't even have a computer. If photos and info from blogs were published in newspapers, more people would be aware of what's really going on overseas. Too many people are unaware of the accomplishments our troops have made.

Thanks again, Bill.

And Lance, should you happen to see this......big "Thank you!" *HUGZ* for you and all the guys and gals serving with you!

yeula, have you been talking to those people at the Democratic Underground again? didn't anybody tell you that even though they tried their best to perpetuate these lies to the world, that they came off without much success? they came off as just that - liars. and...for heavens sake!....these are just photos of happy kids....can't you just be happy for a little kid getting a rag doll?? it's a lot more than she would have ever gotton from Saddam. these kids are so young, it might just be that now they have a chance to live a normal life.

Heh yeula: Don't believe everything Michael Moore tells you. After all, he is a millionaire, so he must be evil.

From his opening sentence, you knew it was going to be a moonbat rant.

Perhaps we should take a look at what motivates liberals and conservatives in order to understand your attitudes toward me.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22_politics.shtml

You see Mr Hobbs I was correct. There is no need for the newspapers or tv to publish pictures of smiling Iraqi children. It would be superfluous.

There is something very wrong when citizens call other people liars simply because they cannot refute what that person says. When someone tells another person that they need to take their meds because they don't walk in lockstep with that person's dogma it is not only desperate but very sad. I am not calling you all names I am offering evidence that you are wrong in what you are saying. Where is your evidence? Smiling children are evidence of nothing.

Jesus at the age of 12 went to the Temple and engaged the Rabbis in discussions for hours. It is healthy and positive to examine your beliefs and see if they stand up to scrunity.

There is something strange and unnatural in the smooth, almost programmed way in which posters ignored what I said and pretended that I wasn't even here. Doesn't that make anyone else besides me uneasy?

I would not cling to a belief that I was unable to examine. I want others to challenge my beliefs and if they don't hold up I want them to change and evolve because that is proper and the way for a person to grow intellectually.

Visit this link and read the entire page - what comparsions are there between the Jews and the Iraqis?

http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm

And to show that I was not lying visit this link. Reagan gave Saddam WMD so he could attack Iran with them. The US wanted them to fight each other and Rumsfeld gave Saddam US Sattelite Spy information so he would know where Iranian soldiers were located.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/

Did we start out talking about these pictures. The ones that wives, daughters, nieces search for on a daily basis to get just a glimpse of their Loved One . Those are what this site is great for .

Thank you Lin, I couldn't have replyed better to yeula.... - and Thank you Lance, your site is great!! My son is also in the 278th and is very proud to be there. He tells me about all the kids and how they love you guys--- I am so proud of all of you and the great job you are doing... Love and prayers to all our deployed Military - Linda

Yeula, personally I was hoping that personal politics could be avoided in here. Seems that is what is driving the wedge between people in this country.

Erik

Thanks for posting these pictures!

I too like the idea of a newspaper...is anyone moving on this?

Every time I see pictures like this I'm motivated to pack up a box of toys and clothes, and I'm certain I'm not alone. Please keep 'em coming!

::smacking forehead:: Duh...

LANCE, if you see this comment,
THANK YOU for what you're doing!

We love you guys!

Lance thank you so much for defending America. We were so scared that at any moment Saddam's great Army was going to invade California on one coast and NYC and FL on the other. Lance we were so frightened. You have no idea how a big scare like that can take all the joy out of watching The Great Race. Thank you for being a brave soldier and defending America and all that we stand for.

I am so grateful that you stopped Saddam from carrying his ten thousand pounds of anthrax and putting it in our country. Thank you for preventing him from bringing his big hugh nuclear bomb over here since he had absolutely no way of delivering it to our shores without carrying it over here.

You saved us from Saddam's poison gases and his sarin and his other biological weapons of mass destruction that were left over from what Reagan and Rumsfeld gave him.

Thank you Lance. I hope that we can also invade Iran and bomb them. If there are any Iranian children that survive our planes and their bombs will you promise to take cute picures of them and their cute little rag dolls?

I'm so glad Bush got the US out of the International Court in The Hague so that people like you don't get tried there along with bush and the neo-cons as war criminals. I just couldn't bear to think that we would be deprived of your pictures and your blog.

Did you know that all the nations in the UN have voted to send leaders in Darfur to the Court? The US obstained from voting of course since they couldn't vote to send another country's war criminals to the court when our own are lifted up as heros.

In your next blog entry could you please tell me what I get out of this war? I know I get to pay for it but how do I benefit? I know how the Israelis and the financial elites benefit but I have yet to find one person who can tell me how I benefit? Yet I am expected to be gung ho for a war that makes no sense to me. I guess I'm just a bad sport. I should just forget about the dead and maimed children and take great pride in the fact that we can force the Iraqis to allow soldiers near their children even tho Americans would not want an invader and occupier anywhere near their children.

What is wrong with me Lance? Why can't I relish the fact that we can force the Iraqis to allow their children to have their pictures taken by soldiers like you?

Have you personally shot any little children with a gun rather then a camera Lance? Its ok if you have. It doesn't matter to the dead child whether it was a US bullet or a US bomb that had its name on it.

Take care and try not to get shot yourself.

I briefly considered deleting yeula's comment directly above this one because it violates my policy against allowing comments that viciously personally attack another person. But in this case I am leaving it as a shining example of the Left's hatred of not just American policy, but of American soldiers personally. You can not read Yeula's post and believe yeula "supports the troops" but opposes the policy. Yeula considers Lance Frizzell - a member of a medical platoon - a war criminal. Think about that for a moment. Terrorists are killing iraqis, and American troops are risking their own lives to try to stop them from doing it, and Lance is over there helping provide medical care to wounded Iraqis on both sides of the fight, as well as giving medical care to sick Iraqi civilians in the area. And yeula thinks he's a war criminal.

And what kind of regime would yeula prefer was still running Iraq? A regime that slaughtered innocents and buried them in mass graves. One mass grave found recently contained thousands of dead children. The murderer who ran that regime would still be in power today if people like yeula were running things. Thank the Good Lord they are not.

Yuela, you make me sick. No wonder why you liberals lost the election. No one can stand your left wing b.s. You make it sound like we went over there solely for the reason of killing little kids. WRONG!! We went over there for the purpose of of disarming Saddam, since he has been a pain in our butts as long as I can remember (I was born in 85' and remember screwing with him all my life at least.) Actually I shouldnt say to much, cause its your attitude that furthers the divide from the Liberals and the rest of us. No wonder why you wont win another election in some time. Have a good one, I hope you come out of your trailer and see what is really going on in the world soon.

Erik

So whats it gonna take to get a Newspaper type thing going out of this? I'd love to see it happen. If anyone has any plans in the mix or would like to get some going, please email me at erikmalmgren@yahoo.com

Erik

Bill,

Thanks very much for this; it is heartwarming to see just as we who are old enough remember seeing pictures of German children responding to the GIs after WWII.

While I support free speech, this is not free -- you are paying for it. When someone like yeula takes the hospitality of your site as an opportunity to spout hateful rhetoric, I would support your refusing to post it. 1) it is clearly off-topic, and 2) it is clearly hateful, and 3) it can have no other purpose than to divert attention away from the subject (those children) and to incite argument among people who visit the site to share in your peaceful offering of hope.

The links presented by yeula are to places where "free" speech is also not free -- it is being paid for by taxes which you and I are forced to pay. Thomas E. Dewey was the first (or second) Republican socialist, and his utopian idea of providing education to the public at taxpayer expense, while noble in principle, has run amok.