Travels with Abe: It was May 1967, Independence Day in Israel and the 1967 war with the Arabs

Forwarded to me from a good friend in Israel, “Abe.” Abe discusses Isael in May 1967 and the 6 day war.  Much has changed in 40 years that has passed.  How soon the world forgets.   Enjoy.

It was May.

It was May of 1967. A State of Emergency was declared on Independence Day. Reserves were mobilized and every Israeli who was capable of breathing was doing something to help. Schoolchildren were digging trenches and filling sandbags. A call went out, “We need volunteers for the Lebanese Border.”

In Israel, high schools have a program called, “Gadna’.” Gadna’ is actually run by a department of the IDF. It runs for about 4 hours a week for all four years of high school and consists of elements from IDF Basic Training. Kids climb ropes with full kit, learn the use and care of firearms (small arms) and go on forced marches. Night tactics and Squad Training are also learned. By the time Abe was 17, he was a basically trained soldier without having yet been drafted.

Abe was seventeen and a half years old in May. Kibbutzim on the Lebanese border were aware that all the manpower and force of the IDF would be concentrated on the Syrian, Jordanian and Egyptian borders. Syria and Egypt were both rattling their sabers and moving troops up to the border. Jordan hadn’t declared yet, but it looked like it would join the fray, even as Israel declared that, if Jordan wouldn’t attack, Israel would leave it alone. Egypt ordered the UN contingent, that was stationed as a barrier between Israel and the Gaza Strip, (that was in Egypt), out of its territory.

The word went out…Youths over 16, who were Gadna’-trained, were needed on the Lebanese border.

Israel has a plan called “Melah.” An acronym for “Mesheq Lish’at Herum”  (Emergency Industry). Since, at a time of war, all able-bodied men and many women, are mobilized, how does the economy function. The system makes sure that, although most of the economy is shut down, certain, vital goods are manufactured and distributed. That is the function of Melah.

The kibbutzim on the border are a part of Melah. Their needs were twofold; 1) Was the need for manpower to supply food to the population through the coming war and, 2) Was the need for trained soldiers to patrol the Lebanese border, as the IDF was concentrated on the other borders.

The IDF considered the Lebanese border to be of much lower priority than the other three. Syria, a long-time nemesis, sat atop the Golan Heights and would shell the Galilee every now and then. The Kibbutzim sitting at the foot of the Golan, in Eastern Galilee, suffered especially. There were children who had spent close to half their lives in bomb-shelters. A full-scale assault coming down the Golan Heights would be hard to stop, and would take both manpower and firepower.

Jordan had the most disciplined and best-trained, if smallest, of the Arab militaries arrayed against us. Jordan also bordered both Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both of which were making war-noises. We were braced for an attack from these countries through Jordan. West Jerusalem, our capital, sat on the border with Jordan and was in danger. Egypt had the largest Military by far. They were moving troops up to the border and had military airfields deep in the Sinai, well within range of Israel. They had blockaded the Straits of Tiran, in southern Sinai, effectively strangling our Red-Sea port of Eilat. This, according to international law, was a de-facto act of war.

The Lebanese border was left to fend for itself. There was a low-level possibility that Syria would attack through Lebanon as well as through the Golan. There was also a possibility of terrorists taking advantage of the fact that the border was less protected, and infiltrating.

The call went out asking for volunteers over 16 who had had at least 2 years of Gadna’. My sister was, at the time, on Kibbutz Eilon. The Kibbutz sat (and still sits) north of Israel’s Northern Road, near the border. The area is full of pine forests. Abe volunteered and went north. He and his comrades were housed, two to a room, on the Kibbutz and ate in the communal Members’ dining room. During the day, they would do the agricultural work, alongside volunteers from Europe and the Americas. At night the Gadna’ boys became an army unit.

The joke was that the Lebanese border was guarded by “the 70 year-olds and the 17 year-olds.” (That was a later joke. The original joke had been that the IDF Band was guarding the border).

The 60 and 70 year-olds, veterans of WW2 and the 1948 War of Independence were the NCOs and the officers. Abe and his comrades, the 16 and 17 year-olds, were the grunts. We would report at sundown. Some of them would mount jeeps and patrol, along with a veteran per jeep. Others would patrol, with Mauser rifles, the whole village. Yet another detail, would guard the bomb shelters, in which the smaller kids slept at night.

The security jobs were rotated so that every Gadna’ youth had a chance to do them all. Patrolling with a Jeep was both fun and scary. They were teenagers with guns, ready to fight a war and they were scared. They didn’t talk about it much between themselves but, every once in a while, they would have frank discussions. The open threats that were coming from the Arab countries surrounding the State of Israel were frightening. They had, however, an unshakable faith in the IDF,

In Israel, there’s a well known and much used phrased, “Kol HaKavod LeTzahal.” Literally, it translates as, “All honour to the IDF.” It means that the population understands that the IDF is all that prevents its wholesale slaughter, and trusts it. This phrase is used when a civilian gives up his bus seat to a tired soldier, or when a total stranger pays for a soldier’s meal at a restaurant.

The news spread…General Moshe Dayan, the hero of the 1956 Sinai Campaign, and Israel’s most famous soldier, was appointed Minister of Defense. A calm descended on Israel. People volunteered to dog trenches and organize shelters for civilians. Soldiers, on their way to the front, were invited to free meals by total strangers. We all felt a bond. The atmosphere was that of an impending holocaust, but they were calm and united.

A new song was a big hit. Written by Naomi Shemer, one of Israel’s most popular songwriters and sung by Shuli Natan. Shuli Natan, a female soldier, had been serving as a Hebrew teacher for immigrants. Everyone sang the song. They couldn’t get enough of it.

Around June 4^th or so, Dayan said, in a press conference, that the time was not right to react. In his words it was, “both too early and too late, to react to the Arab aggression.” He had also authorized leave for some army units, and that relaxed the three countries threatening Israel. The next day, just before dawn, Israel struck the Egyptian and Syrian air forces destroying most of their aircraft on the ground.

They didn’t know what was going on until the third day of the war. All they knew was that, “Egyptian armoured forces have attempted to invade Israel, and they are fighting back.” On June 8^th, they discovered just how crushing their attack had been. We had captured the whole Sinai Peninsula. They were in the West Bank and encircling East Jerusalem. Syria was still pounding their villages in the Galilee, but troops were being sent there from the south. The euphoria was beginning. Abe remember hearing, on the radio, the sound of the Shofar, (ram’s horn), being blown at the Western Wall by General, Rabbi, Shlomo Goren, Chief Chaplain of the IDF, and he cried along with everyone else. It was unbelievable.

On the sixth day, they finished taking the Golan Heights, and a Cease-fire was imposed by the UN. They had taken the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, and the Golan Heights…and they sang “Jerusalem of Gold.”

Tzeth’a Leshalom VeShuvh’a Leshalom

Abe

Premeditated Merger: 1st US – North American Union Drivers License

Courtesy of Jerome R. Corsi, WorldNetDaily.com

PREMEDITATED MERGER
North American Union driver’s license created
Logo intended to standardize documentation across continent

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New security logo on the reverse of North Carolina’s driver’s licenses

The first “North American Union” driver’s license, complete with a hologram of the North American continent on the reverse, has been created in the state of North Carolina. “The North Carolina driver’s license is ‘North American Union’ ready,” charges William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration.

Gheen provided WND with a photo of an actual North Carolina license which clearly shows the hologram of the North American continent embedded on the reverse.

Premeditated Merger: 1st U.S. driver’s license for North American Union

Previous stories at World Net Daily:

• Where illegals go for driver’s license
• Superhighway a cash cow?
• Name changed to hide ‘Superhighway’?
• Bush doesn’t deny plans for N. American Union
• The Nation cover story denies Superhighway
• Military aid to Mexico on SPP summit agenda
• 3rd SPP summit shrouded in secrecy
• Secret memo: One-world agenda dominates SPP summit
• 10,000 protesters expected at North America summit
• Bill paves way for Canada’s ‘disappearance’
• Protesters to converge on North America summit
• Commerce chief pushes for ‘North American integration’
• Idaho lawmakers want out of SPP
• House resolution opposes North American Union
• Residents of planned union to be ‘North Americanists’
• Congressman battles North Americanization
• North American Union leader says merger just crisis away
• ‘Bush doesn’t think America should be an actual place’
• Mexico ambassador: We need N. American Union in 8 years
• Congressman: Superhighway about North American Union
• ‘North American Union’ major ’08 issue?
• Resolution seeks to head off union with Mexico, Canada
• Documents reveal ‘shadow government’
• Tancredo: Halt ‘Security and Prosperity Partnership’
• North American Union threat gets attention of congressmen
• Top U.S. official chaired N. American confab panel
• N. American students trained for ‘merger’
• North American confab ‘undermines’ democracy
• Attendance list North American forum
• North American Forum agenda
• North American merger topic of secret confab
• Feds finally release info on ‘superstate’
• Senator ditches bill tied to ‘superstate’
• Congressman presses on ‘superstate’ plan
• Feds stonewalling on ‘superstate’ plan?
• Cornyn wants U.S. taxpayers to fund Mexican development
• No EU in U.S.
• U.S.-Mexico merger opposition intensifies
• Tancredo confronts ‘superstate’ effort
• Bush sneaking North American superstate without oversight?

Aztlán: Paving the way to with propaganda, politics, racism

Courtesy of Sonoran News, the Conservative Voice of Arizona

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COURTESY PHOTO

Paving the way to Aztlán with propaganda, politics, racism

By Linda Bentley, Reporter, Sonoran News

    AZTLÁN – What was and where was Aztlán? The Arizona Republic fielded a similar question under their Science Q & A. 

    Dan Kincaid responded: “Aztlán was the legendary original home of the Aztec Indians … Aztlán, which means literally ‘Place of the Herons’ in their Náhuatl language …” Kincaid goes on to say “… the Aztecs believed their Ancestors migrated in stages from Aztlán, reaching central Mexico about A.D. 1200. An Aztec subgroup, the Tenochas founded their capital, Tenochtitlán, in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco after seeing an eagle perched on a cactus and devouring a rattlesnake.”

    The New York University Press states: “Aztlán was the mythical place of origin in some Aztec traditions, a lake with an island in the middle that was replicated when the wandering Mexica settled at Tenochtitlan. The word Aztec is derived from this mythical place.” Another University in Buffalo, New York claims, “Aztlán is the Aztec name for their ancestral place of origin located, according to an old legend, somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,” citing that it corresponds geographically to Atlantis, as described in Plato’s works, “Critias” and “Timaeus.”  
Teachings of MEChA “… the brutal ‘gringo’ invasion of our territories.” However, in a Hispanic Studies textbook, “The Mexican American Heritage” by East Los Angeles high school teacher Carlos Jimenez, Aztlán is depicted on page 84 in a redrawn map of Mexico and the United States, showing Mexico with one third more territory.

    On page 107, Jimenez states, “Latinos are now realizing that the powers to control Aztlán may once again be in their hands.” The textbook teaches highschool students that Mexico is supposed to regain the states of Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon and parts of Washington and that they rightly belong to the “mythical” homeland of Aztlán.
    The book contains no references or footnotes and teaches separatism, victimization and nationalism, while promoting an open border policy.

    The myth of Aztlán is heavily promoted through MEChA club meetings at college campuses across the nation, rapidly gaining acceptance at high school campuses as well.

    MEChA stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán. Their logo depicts an eagle holding a stick of dynamite.

    The preamble of MEChA’s National Constitution states: “Chicano and Chicana students of Aztlán must take upon themselves the responsibilities to promote Chicanismo within the community, politicizing our Raza with an emphasis on indigenous consciousness to continue the struggle for selfdetermination of the Chicano people for the purpose of liberating Aztlán.” The University of Arizona MEChA Chapter’s website states: “The following documents are essential to the philosophy of MEChA. Every Mechista should be familiar with them. Listed along with their National Constitution is ‘El Plan de Santa Barbara’ and El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, which opens with, ‘In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal “gringo” invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlán from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny.

    ‘We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows, and by our hearts.

    Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans.

    We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continents.’ 
Preaching prejudice, racism, hatred and anti-Semitism La Voz de Aztlán is a bilingual online news service published from Los Angeles (Whittier), “Alta California” that claims to be “focused on news events that are relevant to La Raza in Aztlán, Mexico and beyond.” They say that they also publish their own “unique analysis of world events and contemporary issues through editorials, commentary and political cartoons.” Publisher Hector Carreon and Editor-in-Chief Ernesto Cienfuegos definitely have a unique spin on events and issues.

    It is commonly known as racism and anti-Semitism.

    One of Cienfuegos’ editorials is titled: “The ‘Kosher Nostra Scam’ on the American Consumer.” Cienfuegos said of their research, “What we found certainly was ‘news’ to us and it both shocked and angered us.” After becoming educated in the various kosher symbols on food packaging, Cienfuegos made the statement, “I learned that major food companies throughout America actually pay a Jewish Tax amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars per year in order to receive protection.

    The scam is to coerce the companies to pay up or suffer consequences of a Jewish boycott.” He concludes with, “… I demand my money back for all I had to pay over the years for the hidden and illegal Jewish Tax. Are there any bright attorneys out there that could bring a class action suit against the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations on behalf of the citizens of Aztlán and other non-Jewish people?” Carreon wrote an editorial called: “Shattered Identities: ‘Malinchismo’ as a Dissociative Identity Disorder Caused by Ritual Racial Abuse.” He says, “To understand how these personality types may come about, we can refer to recent history involving the Jews during their traumatic ‘Nazi Holocaust Period!’ The German Jews had their own ‘Vendidos’ and ‘House Niggers’ called ‘Judenrat’ and ‘Kapos.’” Carreon says that what they all have in common is that they have all identified with the dominant oppressors. According to Carreon, the beginnings of the micro-traumas and ritual racial abuse start in kindergarten when little Juanita is told by her “gringa” teacher not to speak Spanish. At lunch she becomes the victim of ridicule by her “gringo” peers when she has a burrito for lunch instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

    He claims Juanita grows up with “dismal self-esteem” and “self-hate” that could sentence her to life of gangbanging and drugs. But then, he says Juanita can alternatively take on different personality direction, caused by the micro-traumas and ritual racial abuse, one that causes her to dissociate her identity as Juanita. She might develop such a shame that she changes her name to Jane, bleaches her hair blond and starts to take on characteristics of “Anglos.” Carreon says this is “merely a nuisance but can become dangerous to our community when ‘Anglos’ start using these personality types against us.” He then states, “Like the ‘Judenrat’ in Nazi Germany, these ‘Malinchistas’ will be utilized against us in political campaigns like the present one against Bilingual Education.” La Voz creates anti-Semitic correlations from ordinary news in article upon article.

    Their agenda promotes racism against all white people, especially Jews, and portrays all Hispanics as victims.

“… designed to create cultural havoc” Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Superintendent George F. Garcia’s promotion of outcome-based education and special treatment toward Hispanic children did not sit well with a group of TUSD parents.

    They formed Arizona Parents for Traditional Education and petitioned Garcia and the governing board to return “back to the basics” education to TUSD, citing, “We do not want to replicate California’s eight year mass experimentation and failure with outcomebased education.” 

    One parent, John Stevenson, wrote an open letter to Garcia, responding to a frontpage article in the Tucson Citizen where Garcia called for special classes and special help for Hispanic students.

    Stevenson said, “Under the constitution of the United States it is incumbent on all government agencies to treat all citizens equally. It is unconstitutional for any government agency in the US to single out any racial group for special favors, nor should they single out any other racial group to suffer as a result.

    This action is blatant racial bigotry.” Stevenson continued, “In addition to racial bigotry, Mr.

    Garcia, you foster cultural terrorism. When you allow special consideration based on race, it builds lifetime resentment in the others. You, in effect, teach the others to hate those who you make privileged.

    “When you teach a selected race that it requires your special help, you also teach them that they are either genetically or culturally inadequate.

    You try to modify that by teaching them that the only reason they need this help is because the white community abuses them.” Stevenson said Garcia’s actions could be “construed as fraudulent and perhaps even traitorous” as his acceptance of the public’s money, earmarked “to prepare children for their adult place in society,” is, instead, being used by Garcia to bring about ideological change, using children to promote his vision of a socialist society.

    “… one must suspect that this is a deliberate process.

    One designed to create cultural havoc,” Stevenson wrote.

    He ended his letter “Please, sir, I beg you, resign from your job immediately and save the community from further damage.” That was back in August 1996. Garcia didn’t resign. It wasn’t until four years later that Garcia left.

    Still posted as one of the goals of the TUSD Hispanic Studies curriculum: “Establish and nurture educational and community partnerships by taking an active role in advocating for Hispanic concerns and issues.” 

COURTESY PHOTO

Once a patriotic organization that emphasized the importance of citizenship, the League of United Latin American Citizens now supports the theory that Hispanics have been victimized by white people, and are staunch proponents of illegal immigration.

Political influencing

State Representative John A. Loredo, Dem. District 22, who was first elected in 1996, then re-elected in 1998 and 2000, attended Phoenix College, where he first became involved in politics.

    He was elected president of MEChA and he was the first President-Founding Member of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) Young Adult Council.

    He worked with Cesar Chavez organizing marches, rallies and boycotts. His first political campaign was the “NO on 106 (English Only)” committee.

    He served on an Ad Hoc Committee on Border Issues and on the Farmworker Affordable Housing Study Committee. He served on the Executive Board for the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators and as a board member of Friendly House, one of the four nonprofit organizations that was chosen to run the Palomino Day Worker Center in Phoenix.

    Another organization that runs the day laborer center is Tonatierra. Tonatierra Community Development Institute proclaims its location as Nelhuayotl, Aztlán, although they use a Phoenix PO Box for their mail.

Day workers are “forced to stand on street corners and suffer the scorn of a society which utilizes them to clean their houses.”

Tonatierra’s coordinator, Salvador Reza, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. His family moved to Ysleta, Texas when his father, a farm worker, was granted a work permit under the bracero program.

    Reza sees himself as a victim of racism, stemming back to his days in kindergarten.

    After graduating from the University of California, San Diego, Reza began working for immigrant advocacy groups.

    He says he came to Phoenix because he believes it is the center of Aztlán, the original land of the Aztecs before they migrated south to Mexico. Of all the stories about where Aztlán might have been, Reza is the only one who believes its center is in Phoenix.

    Reza, one of the major lobbyists for the Palomino Day Worker Center in Phoenix, was quoted in an interview as saying that jornaleros, or day workers, are “forced to stand on street corners and suffer the scorn of a society which utilizes them to clean their houses.” One of Tonatierra’s initiatives was the Macehualli Project, to organize the hundreds of day laborers in Phoenix.

    Reza believes the Macehualli Union de Jornaleros (Day Laborers Union) will achieve justice and dignity through the establishment of day labor centers.

    Tonatierra and Reza’s goals go far beyond the day laborer centers he wishes to create throughout the city. He is pushing for increased Latino political representation and expanding the Xinachtil Program (Xinachtil means “seed” in the Aztec language) in the public school system to teach “traditions, culture, art and science of indigenous people.” Immigrant advocacy groups no longer promote legal immigration, citizenship, learning English or any other assimilation into this country. Hispanicrights groups talk of reoccupation and repatriation of the southwestern United States, the land of “indigenous people.” 

Demographic warfare … exporting Mexico’s surplus poverty In Tucson, Pima County Legal Defender Isabel Garcia, cochair of Derechos Humanos (Human Rights), promotes open borders and illegal immigration, proclaiming: “No human is illegal.” She denounces the same laws she is hired to uphold, and does so on taxpayer’s money.

    The Pima County Board of Supervisors claim Garcia can do whatever she likes during her own time.

    Garcia, along with co-chair Jose Lerma, have recently been selected to serve on a 100-member council created by Mexico’s government to represent Mexicans living in the United States. Their main duty is to advise the Mexican government on the needs of the approximately 9-10 million Mexican natives residing in this country … about half legally and half illegally.

    The concept of reoccupation is not new. The term was used in an official study done by the Mexican Government’s National Council on Population (Conapo).

    Conapo’s study predicts that during Mexican President Vicente Fox’s six year term, ending in 2006, that two million Mexicans will enter the United States at the approximate rate of 380,000 per year.

    The study also indicates that the Mexican government has embraced the concept of “demographic warfare,” a reconquering of the southwestern United States through unchecked illegal immigration and by exporting its “surplus poverty” to regain control.

    Mexican novelist Elena Poniatowska was quoted in Mexico’s EWE news service as having said, “Mexico is at the moment recovering territories it lost in the past to the United States thanks to emigration (sic). The common people – the poor, the dirty, the lice ridden, the cockroaches are advancing on the United States, a country that needs to speak Spanish because it has 33.5 million Hispanics who are imposing their culture.” Mexican columnist Carlos Loret de Mola explained Mexico’s “demographic warfare” strategy in Mexico’s newspaper, the Excelsior, over 20 years ago.

   Loret’s article, “The Great Invasion: Mexico Recovers on its Own,” described the strategy: “A peaceful mass of people … carries out slowly and patiently an unstoppable invasion, the most important in human history. You cannot give me a similar example of such a large migration wave by an ant-like multitude, stubborn, unarmed, and carried on in the face of the most powerful and best-armed nation on earth … [Neither] barbed-wire fences, nor aggressive border guards, nor campaigns, nor laws, nor police raids against the undocumented, have stopped this movement of the masses that is unprecedented in any part of the world.” Loret describes a migrant invasion that continues and that will return the southwestern states to the jurisdiction of Mexico, “… without the firing of a single shot, nor requiring the least diplomatic action, by means of a steady, spontaneous, and uninterrupted occupation.” The effects of what Loret said then where already apparent in Los Angeles, which he called “the second largest Mexican city in the world.” MEChA promotes an ultimate ideology to liberate Aztlán. Four of the main Hispanic pressure groups, LULAC, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the National Council of La Raza (La Raza) and MEChA, are united in their main objectives. They promote an agenda of racial and ethnic consciousness.

    They all want more immigration of their own people into the United States. They want to stop deportation of illegal aliens and want to provide American citizen’s rights, including the right to vote, to non-citizens. They promote Spanish as the official language in areas dominated by Hispanics. They believe that Americans must assimilate to Hispanic culture and language.

    They believe this is already their land and have no need to become citizens, learn English or assimilate in any way. By proclaiming the southwestern United States, Aztlán, they believe all those of Hispanic decent are already citizens.

    It appears that anyone who disagrees with that agenda is considered a racist. Author Michelle Malkin, who is of Filipino decent, disagrees … she too has been branded a racist.

Mexican, white, non-white depends where benefits are

In the 1950s, the LULAC recognized English as the official language of the United States, emphasized the importance of citizenship, supported immigration control and mass deportation of illegal aliens.

    They even began all of their meetings reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL WRIGHT

Salvador Reza of Tonatierra, who considers himself a victim of racism from events that occurred in kindergarten, became an advocate for illegal immigrants after graduating from college.

    Today, the LULAC supports the theory Hispanics are victimized by white people.
    “Mexicans” were counted separately, for the first time, during the 1930 Census. Because Texas was segregated, Mexicans felt they were losing their status as non-white and might face the same conditions as blacks.

    The LULAC succeeded a few years later in having Mexicans recognized as “whites” again, and treated that way for segregation purposes.

    Then, 40 years later, after affirmative action programs become introduced for blacks, the LULAC and La Raza lobbied successfully to be recognized as “non-whites” so that Mexicans would be recognized for racial preference purposes.

    They ebbed and flowed with identity, insisting they were white when there were advantages to being white. When benefits associated with being non-white surfaced, it was time to change color again.

    In a letter to the editor (published in the March 12 edition of Sonoran News), LULAC President Samuel Esquivel wrote, “You are what I would characterize as a ‘true racist.'” Esquivel also stated, “I hear the complaining about illegal immigrants being the cause of all these bad things, but I don’t hear nobody complaining about their lawns not being cut, their houses not being cleaned, dishes not being washed in restaurants, cars not being washed, houses not being built, etc. The bottom line is, if it were not for these so called illegal immigrants, who people like you take advantage of, you would not be living in the lap of luxury, as you are accustomed to living.” Esquivel claims that any suggestion about upholding laws of this nation is just a means of hiding racist behavior.

    Another letter, printed in the same edition, came from John Garrido, Chairman of the National Hispanic Coalition, in the process of forming. He states, “Long ago salsa replaced ketchup as America’s number one condiment. As ketchup went by the wayside, those that attempt to diminish the values Hispanic Americans hold sacred will some day also go by the wayside.” Cutbacks in illegal alien benefits “a disgrace to American values” The Ford Foundation alone has poured millions of dollars in funding into organizations like La Raza and MALDEF.

    And while MALDEF’s Mario Obledo stated, “California is going to be a Hispanic state.

    Anyone who doesn’t like it should leave,” President Clinton awarded Obledo the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

    Immigrant rights organizations continue to lobby for special treatment toward Hispanics – bilingual education, affirmative action, mass immigration and more hate crime laws.

    La Raza claims immigration control violates civil rights and that cutbacks in welfare and other benefits for illegal aliens is “a disgrace to American values.” The United States Government apparently believes, somehow, that “regularizing” illegal aliens from Mexico will get one party or the other elected, depending on who grants the “regularizing.” They are most likely mistaken.

    These groups claim to hate Americans and all that is American. However, they keep coming … coming to reclaim Aztlán.

    And, government officials seem to be paving their way with benefits, amnesty and “rights,” at citizens’ expense.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Afghan President Hamid Karzai

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Transcript

On the Web:
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3978
Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public contact:
http://www.dod.mil/faq/comment.html
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

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Presenter: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates And Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
June 05, 2007

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DoD Press Briefing with Secretary Gates And President Hamid Karzai from Kabul, Afghanistan

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure for me today to welcome here in Afghanistan Secretary Gates, with very good messages for Afghanistan and for — (inaudible) — of the National Army of Afghanistan and the national police of Afghanistan. We are grateful for the United States for having given us tremendous resources in billions of dollars just a few days ago from the people of Congress to strengthen our security forces, and particular attention on the army, and specifically, very particular attention on the police force of Afghanistan.

Secretary Gates and I engaged in discussions on various aspects of improving — (inaudible) — Afghanistan, improving the security situation in Afghanistan; the region and our concerns with regard to some of the recent activities in Afghanistan. I am confident that with the support that the United States keeps providing to Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s institutions will be strong, reliable, and standing also on our own feet in a few years of time. Afghanistan will continue to be a partner of the United States. Afghanistan will continue to be very, very grateful to the American people for liberating us, not only liberation from terrorism, but for getting us into a prosperous, proper economy with strong democratic institutions.

Welcome, Secretary Gates.

SEC. GATES: Thank you, Mr. President. It’s a pleasure to be back in Afghanistan. I had a very good conversation with the president this morning on the progress that he just described. I’ve also had the opportunity to talk in-depth with our ambassador; with the NATO commander, General McNeill; with the OEF commander, General Rodriguez and others, about the progress of training and equipping here in Afghanistan. I had the opportunity to visit a commando training site this morning, Afghan commando training. We talked a good bit about specific action on economic development and reconstruction.

I took a little time to share with President Karzai some of the international discussions that I’ve been involved in with respect to support of Afghanistan, beginning with a meeting in Quebec, Canada, of the defense ministers of RC-South nations, hosted by the Canadians; conversations that were held at the Shangri-La conference in Singapore among defense ministers on further support for Afghanistan and extending that support, and other activities that have been going on to try and strengthen international support for this government and the things that are going forward.

I would say, in contrast to my visit in January where I was concerned, and one of the reasons for my trip then was a concern that the Taliban were planning a significant offensive this spring. I believe that based on everything I’ve seen and everything I’ve heard, that the spring offensive has been an Afghan-alliance offensive that has put the Taliban off their game and, I think, has been an important success this spring. And the key is to sustain that.

We talked about coordination of civic actions. And I talked with the ambassador and others about how we might better coordinate the civic side of this from the international standpoint. I think there are some opportunities we may have ahead.

So I’m very happy with the visit. I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s activities, and I’m very happy to be back in Afghanistan again. Thank you again for your hospitality.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Questions?

Yes. (Inaudible.)

Yes, ma’am?

Q Thank you, sir. My question is for President Karzai.

Mr. President, do you believe — (inaudible) — that the United States should change its tactics in the fight against the Taliban and reduce the use of airstrikes that have killed so many innocent civilians here in your country and led to protests and calls for your resignation?

PRESIDENT KARZAI: The toll on our civilian casualties has been something that the United States, the rest of the coalition, and the Afghan government have been — (inaudible) — discussing and trying to find ways of reducing and — (inaudible) – the violence for the last four years. It’s not a new discussion; it’s not a new issue. This is news that we have been engaged in violence for so many years?

It is the desire of the Afghan people, it is the desire of the international community, to defeat terrorism. While we are at war against terrorism, it’s also important the international community, the Afghan government and the Afghan people to do it in a manner that would not cause civilian casualties.

So yes, it is an important subject on our minds, something that we discuss very, very often. And I can relate to you a number of stories of me and the — (inaudible) — on this, and of the international partners, in particular the United States, having been very understanding with us on this question. We have appointed a commission some time back, headed by the minister of defense, to work on modalities of how to engage in combat and how specifically we can avoid civilian casualties. This concern is shared with us by the United States.

SEC. GATES: I would just like to add this — and I agree with everything the president has said — avoiding civilian casualties is very important in terms of winning the loyalty and the support of local populations. At the same time, I think it’s important to stress, as the NATO secretary-general did in his meeting — his press conference with President Bush in Texas, that we not forget that the Taliban is deliberately putting civilians in harm’s way. They deliberately mingle civilians with them and deliberately put civilians up front. They are the ones that murder schoolteachers and so on. So we must be more careful. At the same time, it’s important to realize that the Taliban are actually the ones that often create the opportunity for the risk to civilians posed by military operations.

Q (Off mike) — Secretary of Defense; five years down the line do you think the fight against Taliban is winnable? And is it a short-term or long-term effort?

SEC. GATES: I absolutely think that this is a winnable fight. I think there has been real progress. I think the fact that something like 42 nations are involved in this coalition to support the Afghan government, to strengthen the national support for the Afghan government, to defend this country against the Taliban trying to come back, it is winnable. It is also a long-term undertaking, and I’m confident that the United States and our partners in the alliance will be here for as long as it takes to ensure their freedom.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Something we often — (inaudible) — the war against the Taliban, against terrorism, against al Qaeda has been won. They were ruling Afghanistan five years ago. They were exporting terrorism from here to the rest of the world five years ago. Afghanistan was under this reign and control. They were using the institutions that bring peace — engineering, medical sciences and schools, they were manufacturing terrorist activity. They were defeated in a month and a half in 2001 when the international community joined hands with Afghan people. The continuation of the struggle is to remove them as terrorist cells hiding from the law to completely — (inaudible). So the war has been won. It’s the finish touch that we’re dealing with now.

SEC. GATES: The president expressed it better than I did. (Laughter.)

Yes.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: One last question. The gentleman needs to be given a chance. Yes, go ahead.

Q (Through interpreter) The question actually goes to Mr. Secretary. There are recent reports of Iran supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan. What are your latest findings and how concerned you are?

SEC. GATES: The president and I discussed this this morning. There have been indications over the past few months of weapons coming in from Iran. We do not have any information about whether the government of Iran is supporting this, is behind it, or whether it’s smuggling or exactly what’s behind this, but there clearly is evidence that some weapons are coming into Afghanistan destined for the Taliban, but perhaps also for criminal elements involved in the drug trafficking coming from Iran.

We’re watching it very carefully, and we will be staying in very close touch with them.

(Cross talk.)

Q (Off mike.)

PRESIDENT KARZAI: (inaudible) the next few months– (inaudible) — more or less than what would be doing a few months after the– (inaudible). This is going to be a time-consuming exercise — (inaudible) – civilians, schools, reconstruction, and also in the regional context with our neighbors in working out commitments– (inaudible) — of terrorism that would deny them sanctuaries, training, places to hide in the region. So it’s going to be a total activity of denying them the chance to — (inaudible) — and also of denying them the facilities to wage their — (inaudible). Thank you.

Q A quick follow-up, the previous question about Iran, can I ask you directly? Do you believe that Iran is directly supporting the Taliban?

PRESIDENT KARZAI: We don’t have any such evidence so far of involvement of the Iranian government in the supplying the Taliban.

We have a very good relationship with the Iranian government. Iran and Afghanistan have never been as friendly as they are today. In the past five years, Iran has been contributing to Afghanistan reconstruction. And in the past five years, Afghanistan have been Iran’s very close friend. And it has been possible for Afghanistan to be so close to Iran because of — (inaudible) — international community, especially the United States, understood and supported this relationship, and because also Iran understood and supported our relationship and — (inaudible).

Therefore, it is in the interest of our brothers in Iran to have a stable, prospering Afghanistan. Five years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by those who called themselves the enemies of Iran, who — (inaudible). Five years ago, Iran’s trade with Afghanistan was less than $10 million. Today it reaches half a billion dollars. Therefore, there is no reason that any of our neighbors should engage in supporting the Taliban or provide support to any other enemies.

Afghanistan today is good news for our neighbors, and I hope this good news for them will continue by engaging constructively with each other. And that is our — (inaudible).

Thank you.

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Technorati tags: Afghanitan, United States, Robert Gates, Hamid Karzai, Taliban, al qaeda, President Bush, NATO, DoD, Department of Defense, War on Terror, Terrorism, Iran

Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Truxtun

The Navy will christen the newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Truxtun, Saturday, June 2, 2007, during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Miss.Designated hull number DDG 103, the new destroyer honors Commodore Thomas Truxtun (1755-1822) who embarked upon a seafaring career at age 12. When the U.S. Navy was organized, he was selected as one of its first six captains on June 4, 1798. He was assigned command of the USS Constellation, one of the new frigates, and he put to sea to prosecute the undeclared naval war with revolutionary France. On Feb. 9, 1799, Truxtun scored the first of his two most famous victories. After an hour’s fight, Constellation battered the French warship L’Insurgente into submission in one of the most illustrious battles of the quasi-war with France. Truxtun retired from the Navy as a commodore and has had five previous ships carry his name: a brig launched in 1842, a destroyer with the hull number DD 14, a destroyer with the hull number DD 229, a high speed transport with the hull number APD 98 (initially designated a destroyer escort with the hull number DE 282), and a nuclear-powered frigate (DLGN) later re-designated a cruiser with the hull number CGN 35.

Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Carol Leigh Roelker and Susan Scott Martin, descendants of the ship’s namesake, will serve as sponsors of the ship. In accordance with Navy tradition, they will break a bottle of champagne across the ship’s bow and christen the ship in the name of Truxtun.

Truxtun is the 53rd of 62 Arleigh Burke class destroyers. This multi-mission ship can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, in support of the National Military Strategy. Truxtun will be capable of fighting air, surface, and subsurface battles simultaneously and contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.Cdr. Timothy R. Weber, a native of Decatur, Ga., will become the first commanding officer of the ship and will lead the crew of 276 officers and enlisted personnel. The 9,200-ton Truxtun is being built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Ingalls Operations, Pascagoula, Miss. The ship is 510 feet in length, has a waterline beam of 59 feet, and a navigational draft of 31 feet. Four gas turbine engines will power the ship to speeds in excess of 30 knots.

For more information on Arleigh Burke class destroyers, visit: Navy Military, Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers .

Technorati tags: US Military, US Navy, Northrop Grumman, Armed Forces, Arleigh Burke, Truxtun,

Warfighter: Shkin Fire Base, Afghanistan

Courtesy of United States Central Command (CentCom)

WARFIGHTER STORIES

Army Maj. Ryan L. Worthan

The wild lands between Afghanistan and Pakistan have never been for the faint of heart. That’s even
more true for those stationed at Shkin Fire Base in Afghanistan – a fortified mud base, at 7,800 feet of
elevation, a mere four miles from the border.

It is a “choking point” for insurgents in the surrounding mountains, and as such often experiences direct contact with enemy forces – as it did in spectacular fashion on Sept. 29, 2003.

Then-Capt. Worthan was on his second deployment with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan at that time. As the sun rose, it seemed like it would be an ordinary day of patrols and maybe occasional contact with the enemy. But then, shortly before 6 a.m., a platoon on patrol received a barrage of fire from AK-47s, RPGs, machine guns, and mortars. This was not an isolated rocket attack or sporadic gunfire – this was a well-orchestrated offensive, the beginning of a pitched battle that would rage for 12 hours.

  — Full Story

 

 

Technorati tags: Afghanitan, pakistan, shkin fire base, choking point, 10th mountain division, platoon, military patrol, middle east, military offensive, fire fight, ak-47, rpg, rocket attack, war stories, centcom, islam, islamist, taliban, religious war

Justice alleged to block Ramos Compean reports

Courtesy of WorldNetDaily

INVASION USA
Justice tries to block Ramos-Compean reports
Department warns congressman not to release incriminating documents

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif.

Rep. Rohrabacher, R-Calif., received a phone call this morning from the Justice Department urging him not to release Drug Enforcement Agency investigative reports that confirm a previous WND story presenting evidence the drug smuggler given immunity to testify against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was involved in a second smuggling incident. Rohrabacher’s spokeswoman, Tara Setmeyer, told WND the Justice Department phone call was “polite, but still firm.”

For the rest of the story: Department warns congressman not to release incriminating documents

 

Technorati tags: Technorati tags, world net Daily, Ramos, Compean, Border Patrol, Homeland security, Department of Homeland Security, Illegal Aliens, Illegals, BPA, US Attorney, White House, President Bush, Bush, Prosecuting attorney, false prosecution, drug smugglers, mexico, mexican crime syndicate, border violations, tony snow, johnny sutton, debra kanof, media, congressional testimony, kfmb, rick roberts, ignacio ramos, jose compean, mexicans, imprisonment, false imprisonment

Dana Rohrabacher calls for new trial of Ramos – Compean

Courtesy of World Net Daily

Records prompt call for new Ramos-Compean trial
Congressman has DEA reports confirming smuggler in 2nd drug incident

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Posted: February 28, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, second from right, presiding over House panel

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., plans to reveal today Drug Enforcement Agency investigative reports that confirm a previous WND story presenting evidence the drug smuggler given immunity to testify against border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean was involved in a second smuggling incident.

The DEA documents and Department of Homeland Security investigative reports already presented by WND contradict the prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, who repeatedly has insisted to the public that smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila was not a suspect under investigation in a second drug incident.

Sutton gave Aldrete-Davila immunity to testify as the prosecution’s chief witness regarding the Feb. 17, 2005, shooting incident on the Texas border that led to prison sentences for Ramos and Compean of 11 and 12 years respectively.

For the rest of the story, please visit WorldNet Daily: INVASION USA: Rohrabacher calls for new trial

 

 

Technorati tags: Technorati tags, world net Daily, Ramos, Compean, Border Patrol, Homeland security, Department of Homeland Security, Illegal Aliens, Illegals, BPA, US Attorney, White House, President Bush, Bush, Prosecuting attorney, false prosecution, drug smugglers, mexico, mexican crime syndicate, border violations, tony snow, johnny sutton, debra kanof, media, congressional testimony, kfmb, rick roberts, ignacio ramos, jose compean, mexicans, imprisonment, false imprisonment

Is it too late????

Courtesy of Drudge Report

TOO LATE TO HALT IRAN’S N-BOMB, EU IS TOLD

Too late to halt Iran’s nuclear bomb, EU is told

By Daniel Dombey and Fidelius Schmid in Brussels

Published: February 12 2007 22:18 | Last updated: February 12 2007 22:18

Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it, an internal European Union document has concluded.

In an admission of the international community’s failure to hold back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the document – compiled by the staff of Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief – says the atomic programme has been delayed only by technical limitations rather than diplomatic pressure. “Attempts to engage the Iranian administration in a negotiating process have not so far succeeded,” it states.  Link: FT – TOO LATE TO HALT IRAN’S N-BOMB, EU IS TOLD

 

Technorati tags: iran, nuke, nuclear bomb, eu, european union, javier solana, atomic programme

Ramos and Compean Update

Courtesy of Rick Roberts, KFMB San Diego

RAMOS AND COMPEAN UPDATE

February 12th, 2007

THE CONDITION OF IGNACIO “NACHO” RAMOS: Last Friday, Congressman Tancredo of Colorado got the opportunity to spend about an hour with wrongfully-convicted Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos at the Yazoo Federal Prison. He had been severely beaten, with deep bruises along his arm, gashes and bruises on his chest and back, and bruises on his knees. It has been reported that Ramos did not get medical attention until today. Tancredo mentioned that he was “astonished” at the condition of Ignacio. We will have Tom Tancredo on our show this week to give us an update… He has been the only visitor allowed since the beating.

THE SATURDAY RAMOS/COMPEAN LOS ANGELES RALLY: (This is going to make you sick.) The illegal immigration dolts such as ANSWER and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (liberation from WHAT??) came to this pro-Border Agent rally by the droves. The ANSWER Coalition showed up to call all sane individuals Nazis and screamed choice sayings such as, “You are white; you are a racist!” ANSWER’s tools of trade included the amplified bullhorns and signs equating Minutemen to the Ku Klux Klan. A counterprotester felt no need for cumbersome signs and simply feigned masturbation at the flag-waving crowd; another masked guy in camouflage waved a hole-pocked American flag upside-down, with “God less Amerikkka/This flag kills” scrawled across what remained of the stripes. “BURN THAT STUPID FLAG!” Urged one of the radical, pro-crime nuts. Many clad in “Brown Power” shirts, these morons called the Minutemen, Border Patrol agents, and families of Ramos and Compean racist pigs, Nazis, and other racial slurs.

THE PARDON OR EXONERATION: el Presidente Bush is STILL hiding behind the Snow-Man…

SMUGGLER AND DRUG CARTEL COULD’VE BEEN BUSTED: The drug smuggler left behind his cell phone, but there appears to be no evidence investigators made any attempt to identify him. Aldrete-Davila (the smuggler) stated that he had nothing in his hands as he ran toward the international border. He advised there had been a cell phone in the van, but stated it was left behind. If Sutton had just focused on finding the smuggler through the family connections and the cell phone, he could have landed a major drug bust that would have blown open a drug cartel in Mexico. Instead, Sutton chose to give Aldrete-Davila a free pass on all his drug activities.

SUTTON STILL IN DENIAL: Johnny Sutton claimed he didn’t have any way to link Aldrete-Davila to the 743 pounds of marijuana found in the van, except by the smuggler’s own testimony. “Now, if I could prove up the case another way, without using the words of Aldrete-Davila himself, we could prosecute the case. If I had a provable case that Aldrete-Davila had committed other crimes, I could prosecute him.” Sutton has stated that they had no evidence against the drug smuggler. A DHS memorandum documents that agent Rene Sanchez “queried the Border Patrol Tracking System and found that the Fabens Border Patrol Station seized a load of marijuana on February 17, 2005.”

REMEMBER: Don’t forget to visit the Ramos family website:
AgentRamos.com

 

Technorati tags: Ramos, Compean, Border Patrol, Homeland security, Department of Homeland Security, Illegal Aliens, Illegals, BPA, US Attorney, White House, President Bush, Bush, Prosecuting attorney, false prosecution, drug smugglers, mexico, mexican crime syndicate, border violations, tony snow, johnny sutton, debra kanof, media, congressional testimony, kfmb, rick roberts, ignacio ramos, jose compean, mexicans, imprisonment, false imprisonment