Terror isn’t just for democracies. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway system as it was packed with rush-hour passengers this past Monday, reportedly killing at least 37 people and wounding 102.br /br /The head of Russia’s main security agency said preliminary investigation indicates that the bombers were rebels from the Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russian forces since the mid-1990s.br /br /The first explosion took place just before 8 am at Moscow’s Lubyanka station, which happens to be underneath the building that houses the main offices of the Federal Security Service, the KGB’s main successor agency. This kind of thing has been going on around the world for some time. It’s not going to end anytime soon.
Terror in Russia
March 29th, 2010Radio in Afghanistan
March 29th, 2010Paving the way for success in the Afghan New Year, the people of Paktika Province, heard the voice of their local government on radio, thanks to our troops. The province has 333 schools,br /with 10 under construction. Of these schools, 37 are closed because of threats from the Taliban, said the province head of education. Despite the school closures, the total student enrollment is a little more than 121,000, with almost 20,000 female students. The school system as been successful so far in maintaining a 37:1 student-teacher ratio, comparable to many school districts in the US.br /br /According to Army CPT Matt Sraj, who oversees radio ops in Paktika, this interview is the firstbr /in a series of programs aimed at connecting the people with their government in a widely-accessible format. Radio is the most-effective way to reach the people, because of the low literacy rate. “In Western Paktika, the literacy rate is currently well under 5%. Therefore, most of the population receives their info from one of two ways: word of mouth or radio broadcasts. By bringing the Afghan govt leaders onto the radio the people not only receive info on what theirbr /govt is doing, but it also gives local govt the opportunity to get their message directly to the people, ensuring that the info is not altered,” Sraj said.br /br /This is the kind of progress that never makes the news, but is absolutely necessary for thebr /Afghan people to take control of their country. Besides, I’m slightly prejudiced towards radio.
Really, do get active
March 28th, 2010As I read what is going on in Washington I am very sad for America. All people who consider themselves to be patriots absolutely must get politically active now. We must find candidates for office who will stand for the US Constitution as written–not as interpreted by non-elected Supreme Court justices. The time to act is now, before the political parties pick their candidates for this November’s election–patriots must dominate the primary elections. We must find candidates who stand for smaller, less intrusive government and work for them now and give their campaigns money now. It’s not too late, but we must have people who care for America stand up. Now.
The Marines are right
March 26th, 2010There’s much political pressure from the White House to allow gays to serve openly in our military. Gays can serve now under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy–but they can not be openly gay or they can be discharged.br /br /The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Conway stated that even if the ban on openly-gay people serving in the military is lifted, he would draw the line at forcing heterosexual Marines to bunk with gays. “We want to continue [two-person rooms], but I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it.”br /br /If a soldier is assigned to live with another soldier it’s pretty clear that neither should be in danger of being “hit on” by his/her roommate. This is true for everyone; it’s doubly true for our military; and it’s ten-times that for our military when we’re at war. Keep your social experiments away from our military!
Islam and war
March 25th, 2010There are a lot of interesting, if inaccurate, things going around the internet about the role of war and fighting in Islam. Most claim that Islam, regardless of it’s statements to the contrary, is absolutely not a religion of peace. It is accurate to say that Radical Islam is a religion of death, but how about main-stream Islam?br /br /At a regional meeting, shura, in Afghanistan, Mullah Rahman Sadique, a religious leader for two provinces, discussed helping illiterate villagers to learn thier culture as Afghans. “Our religion bars students of the Muslim religion from harming others. Nonetheless, enemies of Afghanistan come into a village and tell villagers, by word of mouth, to take actions that defy Muslim principles. Due to so many being uneducated, these disadvantaged citizens may be confused and follow the wrong path, and worse yet, be led astray by enemies of Afghanistan, who have agendas,” Sadique said.br /br /It’s my opinion that we need to free the world of Radical Islamists–that’s the war we’re fighting right now. Then all people, including main-stream Muslims, can enjoy peace.
