The War at Home

Osama bin Laden once said that the war with the US would be fought equally on two fronts: on the battlefield and in the US press. He's right, of course. On the battlefield the war has been won and the US continues to win, but the propaganda war is all but lost. Thanks in large part to the New York Times and the Associated (with terrorists) Press, who have done everything they can - including fabricate sensational stories - to help us lose. Evidence of that loss is obvious by the outcome of the midterm elections, where the electorate was dumbed down and disheartened by the constant drumbeat of defeatism from the MSM.

The current US involvement in the middle east "peace process" became first hand in 1979, when the pitiful ideologue Jimmy Carter supported the Islamic uprising against the Shah of Iran. The Shah was disposed, and the Ayatollah Khomeini turned the country into a radical theocracy. That brand of radical Islamofascist ideology spread globally throughout Muslim communities, and nearly three decades later, we're still dealing with the consequences of the insane liberal policy that has caused untold carnage and misery, including thousands of American deaths.

So now the US cobbles together the Hamilton-Baker Iraq Study Group to "dialog" with Syria and Iran and to "talk with" the terrorists who call the shots in Iraq. While 75% of all American military causalities in Iraq have been caused by Iranian-built IEDs, we find we need to "talk with" Iran. And while the vast majority of the "insurgents" killed in action in Iraq are Syrian nationals, we need to "talk with" Syria, as well. The lunacy of this plan is obvious; it's asking your enemy to structure your defeat. Like asking Jeffery Dahmer to cater your next affair - you may find you're the banquet.

Not surprising that of the ten members of the group, six are liberals. Three are Clinton administration hacks, including William Perry, Clinton's Secretary of Defense who bailed out on rescuing the downed Blackhawk pilots in Mogadishu, Vernon Jordan, Clinton's attorney, and Leon Paneta, Clinton's Chief of Staff. We also have Sandra Day O'Connor, former liberal Supreme Court justice, and Lee Hamilton and Chuck Robb, two Democrat congressmen. Only four, Edwin Meese, Lawrence Eagleberger, Alan Simpson and James Baker are Republicans.

Does anyone doubt the outcome of this study group? This is a war for our cultural survival, yet liberals simply cannot grasp the fact that there is no negotiating with radical Islam - we can't talk our way out of this. We can expect that part of this to-be-negotiated settlement will undoubtedly be that Iran gets nukes. After all, Clinton's dream team gave North Korea a nuclear reactor, and the Chinese got both US designed nuclear warheads and delivery systems. What did the US get in exchange for this nuclear technology? Threatened annihilation from both countries. Why would we think Iran will act any differently? The Islamofascists want us dead, converted or reduced to dhimmi status. One wishes the US contingent would think more like them. We need to kill them all, for given half a chance and the means, they will certainly kill us all.

New Blood at NYT?

As the hapless New York Times continues to spew its anti-American propaganda, it also continues to lose revenue, subscribers and respect. The Gray Lady's stock price is taking a licking, too; it's down about 15% right now.

But that's good news to Maurice Greenburg, the mutli-billionaire insurance mogul. He's been buying up NYT stock in the apparent hopes of turing the grand paper around, and perhaps even moving the paper's ideological slant to the right somewhat. Greenburg, a legend in New York's financial circles, ran AIG Insurance Group for 40 years, and is no stranger to contentious business dealings. He has been a GOP contributor, is a friend of Henry Kissinger's, and was considered for a top CIA post.

In view of the fabricated news coming from the NYT and the AP lately, especially concerning foreign policy matters, replacing the Ochs-Shulzburger family as controlling stockholders with new blood may be just what's needed.

Pinch Schulzbuger seems to be taking Greenburg's takeover threat seriously, as upper management recently opted to forgo their $2 million stock bonuses, and instead returned the money to NYT employees.

How egalitarian.

Sex, Deer?

The next time someone refers to my home state as "Flori-duh", I'll let them in on this tidbit from the extremely blue state of Wisconsin. At least we Floridians aren't noted for engaging in necrophiliac bestiality.

It seems a Wisconsin man - that's a liberal blue state way up north - was arrested for having sex with a deer. It's against the law to have sex with an animal even in Wisconsin, a liberal northern state. His defense, as Wisconsin logic would have it - is that, well, you see, the animal was dead, and therefore not legally an animal. Further, the man found the deer - dead, of course - in a ditch. Hey, look, a dead deer. Well, why not just drop trou and have sex right here - in this ditch - with this dead deer? What could more normal, not to mention convenient?

The judge denied a defense motion to dismiss the charges based on the mortality of the animal at the time of the crime.

The Second Amendment

Consider the most important of Amendments to the Constitution: The Second Amendment is the shortest and the simplest of the Bill of Rights:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

This single sentence ensures that a citizen's right to keep and bear arms for personal defense is never threatened by the government. The experiences of the founders during the Revolutionary War led them to create and maintain a citizen militia, and they trusted an armed citizenry as the best safeguard against the possibility of a tyrannical government.

Over the years, the Supreme Court has upheld that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. Consider these landmark cases:

In United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), the Supreme Court refused to take judicial notice that a short-barreled shotgun was useful for militia purposes. Nowhere did the court hold that an individual does not have a right to keep and bear arms. In United States v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 846, 850 n. 7 (9th Cir. 1996), Judge Kozinski opined that "The Second Amendment embodies the right to defend oneself and one’s home against physical attack."

In United States v. Hutzell, 217 F.3d 966, 969 (8th Cir. 2000), the court held that "... an individual's right to bear arms is constitutionally protected, see United States v. Miller ...."

In United States v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203 (5th Cir. 2001), the court examined United States v. Miller and held: "We reject the collective rights and sophisticated collective rights models for interpreting the Second Amendment. We hold, consistent with Miller, that it protects the right of individuals ... to privately possess and bear their own firearms."

On December 17, 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice published an exhaustive Second Amendment memorandum, which concludes without reservation that "the Second Amendment secures a personal right of individuals, not a collective right that may only be invoked by a State or a quasi-collective right restricted to those persons who serve in organized militia units."

Following the midterm elections and the outcome thereof, we can expect a renewed cry from some groups to ban certain types of guns as well as some caliber of ammunition. It's already begun in Massachusetts where the Brady campaign and others hold sway. They claim that banning certain firearms, or registering all firearms, does not constitute an infringement of Second Amendment rights. But that's a ploy that's been tried before. In 1788 George Mason exposed it at Virginia's constitutional convention: "[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man . . . to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually."

Our founders risked their lives and fortunes to create a free nation, and they guaranteed freedom as the birthright of American citizens through the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment remains the first right among equals, because it is the one we turn to when all else fails.

American EU?

This hasn't gotten much MSM attention, which means it's probably pretty close to the truth. We try to stay away from the black helicopter conspiracy theories here, but from a revelation by Jerome Corsi, there is a plan, ratified in March 2005 that would, among other things, replace the dollar with a form of currency much like the Euro, called the Amero. The Amero would be the coin of the realm for the conjoined governments of the US, Canada and Mexico.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, as the plan is known, would effectively replace the national governments of the three countries. Depending on who you read, it's either the end of the US constitution, or merely a North American trade agreement. The partnership has its own web site, which, oddly enough, has a section on myths versus facts.

It seems we live in an era in which America's government will not protect and defend her borders from mass illegal migration, and will not pursue and eliminate her sworn enemies who have attacked her countless times in the last two decades. Yet this same government will gleefully meld her national sovereignty with two countries who, although allies, have very little to offer her in " . . . producing a North American security plan as well as providing free market movement of people, capital, and trade across the borders between the three NAFTA partners."

Time to stock up on weapons and ammunition, folks. If this plan is allowed to go through, despite the vigorous denials on the SPP web site, you proably needn't worry about your fourth amendment rights - you need to be very concerned about your first and second amendment rights. God save the USA.

Other Voices: Guest Editorial

Let’s Hope Plan “B” Works in Iraq
By Adrian Wyllie, Editor, Tampa Bay Start

As the Democrats position themselves for the upcoming feast of power in the House and Senate, and President Bush continues capitulating, it appears more and more obvious that “cut and run” will make the transition from dire warning to U.S. policy.

With that in mind, we have to focus on what happens when we do “redeploy” our troops out of Iraq. There are three likely possibilities.The first scenario is that as soon as the last helicopter lifts off from the embassy roof in Baghdad, the Shiites and Sunnis will begin a full scale civil war. At the same time, tens of thousands of al-Qaeda members and sympathizers will flood in from Syria, Iran and other neighboring countries.

The new Iraqi government will fall, and Iraq will become the hub mid east instability and the new world capital for global terrorism.

This would be an embarrassment to the U.S. and a blow to the global war against Islamic fascists. However, there would be a silver lining in this ominous dark cloud. If a civil war happened in Iraq, it would likely split into three distinct ethnic regions: Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd. The sovereign nation of Iraqi Kurdistan would quickly be formed in the north, and the U.S. would be welcomed there with open arms. The Kurds have been overwhelmingly supportive of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, as they suffered the worst of Saddam’s oppression. Also, the Kurdish region in northern Iraq is politically stable and secure. The Kurds would likely provide us with bases on their territory, as well as logistic and intelligence support. We'd lose Iraq but gain Iraqi Kurdistan.

It’s more difficult to forecast what would happen between Shiites and Sunnis. Even though polls show that the majority of both Shiites and Sunnis support the new government, the radical minority in both groups could eliminate the possibility of any joint government. Both sects would likely devolve into independent, totalitarian theocracies, each under the rule of the radical cleric de jour. They would engage in skirmish-like battles with each other, especially for control of Baghdad. That is until Iran and/or Syria seized on the opportunity to invade under the guise of peacekeeping. Either way, 80% of what is now Iraq would become a haven for al-Qaeda and like minded groups.

The second post-withdrawal scenario is that the newly formed Iraqi Security Force (ISF) will handle the sectarian insurgency and prevent an Iranian- and Syrian-backed al-Qaeda invasion. If they succeed, the new government will survive, and Iraq will become the model of freedom and democracy for the new Middle East.

The good news for this scenario is that the strength and readiness of the new Iraqi military and police forces has improved dramatically1, the Iraqi economy and infrastructure are better than before the war, and free and independent media is growing rapidly2. The bad news is that it will be a hard fight, and I only give them a 50/50 chance if the pullout happens within six months as most Democrats propose. The longer we stay, the better the ISF’s and Iraqi government’s odds.
If Iraqi can prevent outside interference from Iran and Syria, then the level of violence will stabilize and eventually decline. Despite the impression given by the international media’s obsessive coverage, the current situation in Iraq is not that bad.

In 2005, more people were murdered in the U.S. (16,692)3 than were killed in all Iraqi violence (9,361)4. Iraq’s murder rate was 35.1 per 100,000 in 2005, which includes all insurgent attacks and combat fatalities. This puts Iraq slightly above the tourist destination of Jamaica (32.4) and Hugo Chavez' utopia of Venezuela (31.6). However, you are still safer walking the streets of Iraq than you are in the nations of South Africa or Columbia, which have murder rates of 49.6 and 67.1 per 100,000 respectively.

Contrary to popular belief, there hasn’t been a war in Iraq since 2003. Iraq just has a serious crime problem, about the same as Washington D.C. (35.4 murders per 100,000 residents in 2005). Mission accomplished.

The bottom line is this: The new, democratic government in Iraq gets stronger every day. The majority of Iraqis support the new government, and they are taking part in the political system for the first time in their lives. They are learning what it means to be free. They are learning how it feels to not be afraid.

America has made a paid a huge price in lives and gold to secure this new freedom for the Iraqi people. We planted the seed, and they are almost ready to tend to the sapling. If we withdraw now, the roots that we watered with our sons’ and daughters’ blood may wither and die – and make their sacrifice for naught. Or, the Iraqi people just might pleasantly surprise us once again.

___________________

1. Report to Congress, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq” October 2005
2. St. Petersburg Times, “Iraq by the Numbers” 11/12/2006
3. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
4. Estimated, compiled from various media accounts
5. Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems

Read more at Tampa Bay Start, Tampa Bay's favorite start portal.

Citizens Responsible for Iraqi Neighborhoods

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a reconciliation plan, which enables Iraqi citizens from all political groups to hold their security forces responsible for creating peace and tolerance within their own neighborhoods, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said October 2.

The plan, which calls for the creation of joint committees throughout Baghdad made up of clerics, tribal sheiks, representatives from all political blocs, along with the armed forces, is aimed at ending internal battles that prevent the unity Iraq so desperately needs, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said in a news conference.

"Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, local governance has taken on a whole new meaning here in Iraq," he said. "Iraqis are clearly focused on improving their quality of life and working towards a brighter future." As local governance improves, the Iraqi security forces continue to improve, Caldwell said.

Last month one brigade and three battalions of the Iraqi army assumed the lead in their areas of operation, bringing the total of Iraqi command units to six Iraqi army division headquarters, 30 brigades, and 89 battalions, he said.

Of the 110 bases that coalition forces have occupied since 2003, 52 have been turned over to Iraqi control, he added. In September, Iraqi and coalition forces killed more than 110 terrorists and detained more than 520 terrorist suspects in 164 operations, Caldwell said.

Based on information from a recently detained al Qaeda member, coalition forces on Sept. 28 detained a former driver and personal assistant of Abu Ayyoub al-Masri, the purported leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, along with 31 others during a series of raids in the Baghdad area. Intelligence indicates the individual detained participated in the 2005 bombing of two hotels in Baghdad that killed a total of 16 people and injured 65 others.

Caldwell stressed that while some units within the police force need work, others have proven to be very competent and professional units. "The transition from tyranny to democracy is definitely long and very difficult," he said. "Coalition forces continue to stand behind the government as it deals with tough decisions that lay ahead, and with the Iraqi security forces as they continue to grow in both quality and quantity."

Iraqi Army Prevent Terror Attacks

In the past few weeks, Iraqi Army troops have prevented sectarian terrorist attacks and rounded up 27 suspected terrorists and their cell leaders.

In late September, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division prevented a large-scale sectarian attack in Iraq's Obiedi region, south of Baghdad. After receiving reports that local residents had been driven out of their homes by terror cell members, Iraqi soldiers from 2nd and 3rd Brigade conducted a cordon-and-search operation in the eastern section of the Obiedi region. Eight suspects were detained for questioning.

In a separate incident in October, soldiers from 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division detained a terrorist cell leader and 18 other suspects during a combined cordon-and-search operation west of Baghdad.

As of October 1, in support of Operation Together Forward, Iraqi security forces and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers had cleared about 95,000 buildings, 80 mosques and 60 neighborhoods, detained more than 125 terrorist suspects, seized more than 1,700 weapons, registered more than 750 weapons and found 35 weapons caches. The combined forces have also removed more than 195,841 cubic meters of trash from the streets of Baghdad.

Freeze Frame - 1945

Today is Veteran's day, and today we honor those who have served in America's military. Dug from the ol' family album are these snapshots - frozen instances in time 62 years ago - from the Pacific Theater in WWII. Featured here are the men of the 15th Battalion, Navy Construction Battalion, known as the SeaBees.

Notice the sailor in his dress whites sitting on the running board? That's my Dad. Happy Veteran's Day, Pop, and to all the other sailors, marines and soldiers who never left those Pacific Islands.

Take a minute today, and honor those you know - and all those anonymous - who have served this country in time of war, past and present.

Marines, Veteran's Day and Al Qaeda

Today is the 231st birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Read the Commandant's birthday message here.

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, formerly Armistice Day, the holiday founded to honor the killed and wounded of World War I. Now it honors all vets, living and dead.

Today, Al Qaeda released a new tape, praising the American electorate for turning over power in the US Congress to the Democrats, gloating over Rumsfeld's resignation, and threatening to "blow up" the White House.

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in the recording posted on the Internet on Friday that the group had 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be quipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq. I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defense minister...stay on the battle ground," he said.

He said his group would not rest until it had blown up the presidential mansion in Washington. "I swear by God we shall not rest from jihad until we...blow up the filthiest house known as the White House," the voice on the recording said.

In other news, George McGovern, a rabid anti-Vitenam-war former South Dakota congressman, said he will meet with members of congress to discuss how to exit Iraq by June.

So in spite of the conciliatory rhetoric coming from the Dems after the election, they apparently have no intention of doing anything other than cutting and running, even in the face of continuing threats against the US by Al Qaeda.

Capitulation Continues

Rummy's gone.

President Bush today replaced Donald Rumsfeld with Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. Gates is an ex-CIA chief, and will now lead the pentagon in its prosecution of the war in Iraq.

Although President Bush, during his press conference this afternoon, cautioned the terror community that the processes of our democratic government should not be construed as a softening of the war on terror, the reality is, of course, that the terrorists will undoubtedly be emboldened as they intrepret this as a capitulation of the Bush Iraq/Terror policy, and will use this move to continue planning attacks against the west in general, and the US specifically.

For those in states that allow concealed weapons carry, now would be a good time to exercise that right.

Mercury in Transit

An infrequent astronomical event takes place today. For five hours today, the planet Mercury will transit the sun beginning at 19:12 GMT.

Mercury is so tiny -- 1/194th the size of the sun -- and looking at the sun is so dangerous to the eyes that viewing must be done with a properly outfitted telescope or online telescope cameras, experts say. (Watch the last time that Mercury, appearing as a tiny black dot, crossed the sun -- :59)

Take a break from election news, and give a little consideration to the cosmos. Unlike the subjectivity of politics, our universe is objective and real. Get centered. Omm.

In From The Woodshed

Well, dawn has come and the whuppin' is over. The electorate has given the GOP a spanking that even some loyal party members say was well deserved. By abandoning conservatism's bedrock principals, specifically fiscal responsibility and protection of the borders, the GOP lost control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats.

The MSM will spin this as a repudiation of Bush's policies. The truth is it is anything but. On average over the last 100 years, the party in power loses 33 seats in the house during a two-term midterm election. This year it was only 21. Further, the democrats didn't win this election as much as the Republicans lost it. The Dems offered no positive counter proposals to Bush policies, and the Republicans didn't present compelling reasons to keep themselves in power. The MSM carried the anti-Bush message for the Dems, effectively making this election a referendum on the Iraq war. They did a good job of that, and the Republicans failed to rebuke it in the court of public opinion. Moreover, most conservative principals on states' ballots were approved; property rights prevailed, gay marriage bans were upheld, and illegal immigration candidates were retained.

Nancy Pelosi, the far-left, San Fran culture darling, is now just three heartbeats from the presidency. She has made clear what she will do in her first 100 hours as Speaker. The good news is that Dems now have a forum to implement the change they've said they wanted. It's time for them to put up or shut up.

For the GOP, if there are any lessons to be learned from the trip to the woodshed, it's that they need to embrace the conservative principals upon which this country was founded - and got them elected - and stray not again. It's only two years until 2008, and today is day one of that campaign.

Short Bytes

• Good shooting . . . another one bites the dust.
• Vote Democrat, America, or we'll kill more civilians until you do.
• Saddam almost had the bomb. Will they find the WMDs?
• Children shahid not non-combatants.
• Terrorism denied: America saved again.
• DNC, Clinton, Pelosi, Kennedy silent on jihadists' vote of confidence, have same agenda.
• Six Arab nations seek nuclear technologies. Not a time to cut and run, America.
• Hezzbollah extortion for soldiers' proof of life info.
• Body count continues: Hugh Rodham partner pardoned by Bill Clinton found dead.
• More UN corruption, investigation at "full thottle."
• Bad guy roundup nets 11,000 felons, gang members and sex offenders.
• F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter retired, replaced by F-22 Raptor.
• Letters to God: return to sender.
• Live 112 years by eating fewer calories
• Cultural emasculation de-maleing men.

Random Thoughts Before the Election

With just three days before the 2006 midterm elections, there are some things voters should remember when casting their ballots.

First, consider who is endorsing the Democrats. What a surprise: terrorists are, because they know the Dems will be soft on terrorism, and they'll cut and run in the first 100 days. I believe they want us to lose.

"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," said Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

Of course they should.

Second, the Dem's political strategy of outing gay Republicans will surely backfire on them. If their platform is tolerance, why out gays at all - even if they are Republican? Problem is, it won't happen until after the election, if at all.

Third, it's day 14 or so, and the MSM still hasn't picked up the Ted Kennedy story about his sellout to the USSR in 1983 during the cold war. Nor have they run with the Harry Reid sweetheart million-dollar land deal.

Fourth, if the MSM put out as much ink about Democrat scandals - and there are plenty of them - as they do Republican scandals, there wouldn't be the spread in the polls we're seeing now.

And finally, there's one more thing to consider. Democrats historically have to move to the right to get elected. Voters should not be fooled into thinking Dems will work toward a victory in Iraq, stabilizing the mideast, protecting the US from rogue nuclear wannabe nations, securing the borders, keeping taxes low, promoting personal responsibility, and maintaining the booming economy. Once elected, they will abandon those campaign promises, and vote every time for bigger and more intrusive government, paid for by your hard earned dollars.

Hopefully the GOP party faithful will recall these and other news items, and realize who really is the party of corruption.

Worst Fears Confirmed

In a stunning new release today, it has been revealed what some have known for years: Senator Ted Kennedy, D-MA, is a traitor.

Paul Kengor, a political science professor at Grove City College and the author of new book, "The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism," reveals that Senator Kennedy solicited a position with the Soviet Union, hoping to undermine the US during the cold war conflict with the USSR.

In his book, which came out this week, Kengor focuses on a KGB letter written at the height of the Cold War that shows that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered to assist Soviet leaders in formulating a public relations strategy to counter President Reagan's foreign policy and to complicate his re-election efforts.The letter, dated May 14, 1983, was sent from the head of the KGB to Yuri Andropov, who was then General Secretary of the Soviet Union's Communist Party.

The letter, dated May 14, 1983, was sent from the head of the KGB to Yuri Andropov, who was then General Secretary of the Soviet Union's Communist Party. In his letter, KGB head Viktor Chebrikov offered Andropov his interpretation of Kennedy's offer. Former U.S. Sen. John Tunney (D-Calif.) had traveled to Moscow on behalf of Kennedy to seek out a partnership with Andropov and other Soviet officials, Kengor claims in his book.

At one point after President Reagan left office, Tunney acknowledged that he had played the role of intermediary, not only for Kennedy but for other U.S. senators, Kengor said. Moreover, Tunney told the London Times that he had made 15 separate trips to Moscow.

A full and immediate investigation of this scandal is warranted, and if found guilty of treason and/or sedition, Kennedy should be stood against a wall and summarily shot. Further, especially with Lurch the Moron's (aka John Kerry, D-MA) treasonous actions in Paris with the North Vietnamese in 1971 during the later part of the Vietnam war, we should seriously consider shooting him, as well. At the minimum, we should consider invading Massachusetts, arresting the communists holding that state hostage, and installing a free and democratic republic form of government there. Looks like Joe McCarthy was right after all.

Afghan Infrastructure in Progress

More good news out of Afghanistan that you won't see in the MSM.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2006 – Steady progress is being made to provide new roads, electric power and water distribution systems to the Afghan people, the U.S. Army's top engineer said today.

The Taliban destroyed much of Afghanistan's feeble infrastructure while they were in power, Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, commander and chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said from Afghanistan during a teleconference with Pentagon reporters.

That's why Afghanistan isn't a reconstruction mission, Strock said.

"This is a construction mission," the three-star general said. "And, when you look at the resources available in this country, it's going to take a while to mobilize them. And, it's going to take time."

Yet today, about 921 kilometers of Afghan roads are under construction or have been completed, representing a $170 million investment, said Strock, who's in Afghanistan to check up on road building and other engineering projects.

The fifth-poorest country in the world, Afghanistan is a large, mountainous country that's in need of a good road system to boost its economic development, Strock said. That's why U.S. Army engineers are partnering with other agencies, he noted, to build a circuitous road network that will connect Afghanistan's chief cities.

"We're very close to completing the national ring road, which is the primary road which links all the major cities of the country around the circumference of the country," Strock explained. Secondary roads are also being built, he said, to connect provincial centers and the villages beyond.

Establishing a modern road system in Afghanistan will provide a conduit between the central government and its people, Strock said. And, he added, new roads will also connect Afghanistan's people to "health care, economic opportunity, education" and other economic generation factors.

"So, the roads are really one of the most important areas we're working on now," Strock said.

A recent increase in insurgent-led violence in some rural areas of Afghanistan hasn't slowed reconstruction efforts, Strock said. Provincial reconstruction teams continue to implement Afghan-recommended projects across the country, he noted, especially in areas that have experienced security challenges.

Strock's engineers also are engaged in providing electric power and water distribution systems for Afghanistan's citizens. Since Afghanistan has no national power grid, he explained, the engineers have been building rudimentary water-powered electricity generators around rural areas of the country.

"The only practical way to get power to the people is through local pinpoint electrical sources," Strock said. "This is the kind of system they need. It requires no resources to operate except the natural flowing water."

This simpler method of generating electricity dovetails with local agricultural and irrigation programs, Strock said, and provides Afghans "a resource that they have not had available to them."

Strock acknowledged many Afghans might not know about ongoing reconstruction projects conducted on their behalf, because of the size of the country and poor communications.

"If you're not in the immediate vicinity of one of our projects, you may not know anything about it," Strock said. The country's rugged terrain, he explained, makes it "very difficult for people to really understand what's going on around them."

Part of the challenge, Strock noted, is getting the word out to the Afghan people about the many reconstruction projects being undertaken that will eventually improve their lives.

Real progress is being made in Afghanistan, Strock said.

"I think we have sufficient resources, and we're now in the process of gaining that irreversible momentum we seek," the general said.

Gerry J.Gilmore
American Forces Press Service