Why Did we go to Iraq? Why Was it So Easy for Bin Laden to Hide in Plain Sight?

In looking at the pictures of Iraq versus where Bin Laden was found, it is just amazing! Why did we ever go to Iraq? Why did Bush have a war there for so many years? Why were so many lives lost?

Then understanding that Bin Laden has been in a mega mansion in Pakistan (our ally??) since 2003? So many countries (and thousands of miles) away. Why did we ever send our troops to Iraq? (so many killed!) Why didn't we know Bin Laden was hiding in plain sight? In the neighborhood of our ally, Pakistan? Bin Laden's mega mansion, so visible, right in the middle of town. This mega-mansion was built in 2003 -- walls 10 feet high, right in the middle of a very large neighborhood.

All I can say is, Thank God for President Obama! Thank God for our Special Forces. They swooped in so quickly and served Justice so quickly.

It's over now!
The only good thing -- we are unifying as a nation, ALL supporting our President! Let the Peace and the Allegiance last, at least for a few days! Let's join together as a nation and support our troops and our President!

God Bless America! God Bless our President Obama!

Bush Cronies Deny American Latino Soldier´s Medal of Honor! His Mother Cries!

Sgt. Rafael Peralta died a war hero serving his country in Iraq. His mother Rosa cried when President Bush cited Peralta's heroism in a Memorial Day speech in 2005, saying the Marine "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them." Rosa was told her son would get the Medal of Honor in a November 2007 telephone call from an undersecretary of the Navy, who told her the nomination was to be forwarded to the White House.
Then, last Thursday, her memories of a grateful nation for her son´s heriosm were stolen from her. Rosa was told the nomination was denied by Defense Secretary Robert Gates because of questions about the final act. Gates, during his review, took the unprecented extra step of asking five other individuals to review the case - a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a civilian neurosurgeon who is retired from the military and two forensic pathologists who also are military retirees. The five were given medical reports that had not been available in the initial review. They thoroughly reviewed the case again, including inspecting the evidence and re-enacting the event, Whitman said. "Each independently recommended to the secretary that the evidence did not support the award of Medal of Honor," he said. Gates made his decision this month.

Details of Rafael´s Herioc Actions:

Peralta was shot several times in the face and body during a house-to-house search in Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war. According to witness accounts, Peralta lay mortally wounded on the floor of a house and grabbed a grenade lobbed by fleeing insurgents. His body absorbed the blast and he died immediately.
In a rare move, the Marine Corps Thursday released a redacted copy of the Medal of Honor nomination by Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski and an investigative report detailing the "friendly fire" shooting of the sergeant.
The report found sufficient evidence existed to believe that Peralta was probably shot by a fellow Marine and that a gunshot wound to the head and injuries to the head from a grenade caused his death. The nomination, which relies on witness statements, forensics, bomb fragment analysis and an autopsy, concluded that although Peralta was shot in the head, he made "a conscious, heroic decision to cover the grenade and minimize the effects he knew it would have on the rest of his Marine team."
The nomination details Peralta's actions in the final minutes of his life, with several witnesses recounting how the Marine lay face down and used his arm to pull the grenade to him. It also says a forensic analysis of Peralta's clothing and flak jacket show the grenade was underneath him when it exploded.

Rosa plans to appeal to Congress to award her son the nation's highest military honor after learning it was denied. She made the decision after a Marine general told her that her son would be awarded the Navy Cross rather than the Medal of Honor because the nomination was tainted by reports he was accidentally shot by a fellow Marine shortly before an insurgent lobbed the grenade. "I'm going to see what can be done, because I'm not satisfied with what they want to do now," she said. "The president spoke of him. So how is this now possible that they do this," Rosa Peralta said.

About Rafael:

Rafael was born in Mexico City on April 7, 1979 to Rafael and Rosa Peralta. He grew up as the oldest of four siblings, with sisters Icela and Karen, and brother Ricardo. Upon emigrating to the United States, he attended San Diego's Morse High School. After graduation, he began working for the California Conservation Corps, being selected as a crew leader within six months. The day he received his green card he enlisted, as planned, in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Last Letter from a Hero:
"Tomorrow, at 1900 hours, we are going to declare war in the holy city of Fallujah. We are going to defeat the insurgents. Watch the news, it's going to be all over. Be proud of me, bro, I'm going to make history and do something that I always wanted to do.... If anything happens to me, just remember I lived my life to the fullest and I'm happy with what I lived." -- Nov. 6, 2004 letter to brother, Ricardo, then 14

Update: SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A California congressional delegation asked President Bush on Friday to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to a Marine who was chosen to receive only the second-highest medal the Navy can bestow for valor. A copy of the letter given to The Associated Press was signed by a bipartisan group of five other representatives and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. It urges Bush to award the nation's highest honor, the same medal he gave to Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who was killed in 2004 after covering a grenade with his helmet.
"Intentionally absorbing a grenade blast to protect one's comrades in arms has been traditionally recognized by awarding the Medal of Honor. The sacrifice of Sergeant Peralta manifests the same devotion to one's comrade's and country as that displayed by Jason Dunham," the letter said.
The White House had no immediate comment Friday.

References:

Mother to ask Congress to award son Medal of Honor

Breaking News: Soap Opera Politics Vol 1 Issue 17: McCain adviser on Iraqi PM's Obama endorsement: 'We're f**ked'

Breaking News! This is being reported by several sources including AP, Reuters and we hear the White House also "accidently" sent it out to reporters.
My mother always told me everything happens for a reason. Should we believe the White House "accidently" sent this out? Is there more to this story than we are being led to believe? I know one thing. Obama supporters are rejoicing. All I can say is, "Hmmmm. All very curious."

The Atlantic reports:Senator John McCain ridiculed Senator Obama's timetable for Iraq withdrawal as a tactic aimed only at getting votes. For the Iraqi Prime minister, it apparently worked. The clear endorsement of Senator Barack Obama by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Saturday morning came as a strong blow to the McCain campaign.
McCain has claimed a superiority to Obama in matters of foreign policy as a major selling point to his candidacy for president, but that position is more difficult in the wake of al-Maliki's statement.
After hearing of the announcement, a sometime adviser to the McCain campaign said in an email, "We're f**ked," according to Mark Ambinder of The Atlantic. A senior McCain campaign official responded to Ambinder about the development. "His domestic politics require him to be for us getting out," he said on the condition of anonymity. "The military says 'conditions based' and Maliki said 'conditions based' yesterday in the joint statement with Bush. Regardless, voters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders." But it will be difficult for McCain to deny his own statement in 2004 that the United States would have to leave Iraq if the nation's leaders requested it.

Soap Opera Politics Vol 1 Issue 16: New Yorker Cartoon This Month and Next Month

The New Yorker published this rather outlandish Cartoon this week of Senator Obama titled "The Politics of Fear." The New Yorker says it: "satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign." Critics are complaining it "combines every smeary right-wing stereotype imaginable: An image of Obama in a turban and robes fist-bumping his be-afro'd wife, dressed in the military fatigues of a revolutionary and packing a machine gun and some serious ammo. Oh yes, this quaint little scene takes place in the Oval Office, under a picture of Osama bin Laden above a roaring fireplace, in which burns an American flag. All that's missing is a token sprig of arugula."

In the spirit of Fairness, I provided the following recommended covers for their next month´s edition. They too "satirize the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail, this time, McCain´s campaign." Fair is Fair and Equal Time for All!

Soap Opera Politics Vol 1, Issue 9: McBush Courts Latino Voters! Si Se Puede!

As Obama and Hillary are duking it out until the end, McCain and the Prez are busy courting the Latino Voters! Here are 2 recent articles. 1st, McCain panders. In the 2nd article, the Prez serenades for votes.
BREAKING NEWS: McCain scheduled to appear at NCLR ("La Raza") Convention in July.

CNN Reports:

Sen. John McCain said Monday the tenor of the immigration debate has hurt the way Hispanic voters view the Republican Party. Sen. John McCain lauched a Spanish-language Web site on Monday. "I believe the majority of Hispanics share our view that the border must be secured, and the border must be secured first," McCain said in Phoenix, Arizona. "But they also want us to have an attitude which I think most Americans do, that these are God's children and they must be taken care of."
The senator from Arizona used Cinco de Mayo as a launching pad for a new Spanish-language Web site on Monday, and he emphasized his stance on immigration and border security as he tried to court the Hispanic vote. Republican strategists have said McCain has to do well with Hispanic voters to win in November. When President Bush was re-elected in 2004, he received 44 percent of the Hispanic vote, but that was before the divisive political debate erupted over illegal immigration. McCain is seen as a moderate Republican when it comes to immigration reform, but the conservative base of his party has taken a hard-line approach on the issue. In 2005, McCain angered some in his party when he and Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy unsuccessfully pushed for a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a path to citizenship.
McCain now says he would focus first on securing the borders before offering other ways to deal with illegal immigration. McCain on Monday empathized with Hispanics who have been mistreated and said low-income Hispanics are often the first to lose their jobs when someone come to the United States illegally.

Article 2 - WTOPNews:

Bush praises Mexican Americans

May 5, 2008 - 10:03pm By SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush wished a gathering of dinner guests a "Feliz Cinco de Maya" Monday in his final White House celebration of the Mexican holiday _ slightly erring in his Spanish, but serving up a reminder of how he snared Hispanic votes in the last presidential election. While the heated immigration debate has caused some strain between the United States and Mexico, Bush was more conciliatory Monday. He said Cinco de Mayo is a chance to prove the two countries are "connected by more than geography." He referred correctly to the day, Cinco de Mayo, in other parts of his brief speech. "We share an interest in making sure our people are prosperous and safe," Bush said of Mexico. "In America, we deeply value the culture and contributions of Mexican Americans. The United States is a richer place, a more vibrant place because people who claim Mexican heritage are now called United States citizens. ... We consider ourselves fortunate that Mexico is a friend and a neighbor."

...The band later backed Spanish singer Shaila Durcal, who sang three songs for the crowd, including the Mexican classic "Volver, Volver." (I´ll return to you..)

Bush has held Cinco de Mayo celebrations since arriving at the White House in 2001, in part as a symbol of the priority he gave the U.S. relationship with Mexico and his effort to curry favor with the Hispanic community. But as he departs, the Republican Party is anxious about losing Hispanic votes in the November elections. Some Hispanics feel anti-immigrant sentiment has become anti-Hispanic as well. In Phoenix on Monday, Republican John McCain acknowledged the focus on illegal immigration during the GOP primary had hurt his party's image among Hispanics.

My Question for McCain: If you care about Latino Voters, then Announce your Opposition to Sheriff Arpaipo´s Racial Profiling Tactics! IF you do not do this, THEN we will know you are only a Politician and making FALSE PROMISES!!

Arizona is YOUR State! RENOUNCE Arpaio and Latinos will acknowledge you are SERIOUS in supporting our issues and NOT merely pandering as a politician!!

SENATOR MCCAIN, YOU ARE INVITED HERE TO MY BLOG TO RESPOND TO THIS ISSUE AND SPEAK WITH OUR COMMENTERS! WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL BLOG AND LINKED TO BLOGS ACROSS THE NATION AND THE WORLD. SENATOR MCCAIN. WE ARE AWAITING YOUR ANSWER.