Heard this morning on the WGMD Dan Gaffney morning show - “Dover” by John Flynn of Hockessin

Hear it again - John Flynn - MySpace

John Flynn website

Here are the lyrics -

Dover                                    By John Flynn

 Elijah was a sergeant, 42 years old
from Mesa Arizona, Elijah won’t grow old
Patrick was with C Troop, Second Armored Cav
His buddies all remember how Patrick loved to laugh
Seth was from East Brunswick, just a newly wed
Somewhere in New Jersey a young widow bows her head
Daniel was from Boston shipped out from Fort Bragg
His mother got back Daniel with a folded flag  

Chorus:
Oh big airplane bring’em down easy
Out of the Delaware skies
Oh big airplane Dover is waiting
to welcome the  heroes you fly… home

William was in Anbar, combat engineer
1^st Marine Division, William isn’t here
Alan rebuilt bridges for Battalion B
Next to cause of death they wrote the letters I E D
Gussie was a scrub nurse hailing from Fort Bliss
Gussie had a spirit this world’s gonna miss
Jeremiah’s son cries on his mamma’s knee
There was no armor plating on his dad’s humvee

Chorus 

Scrubbed wooden pallets with white straps cinched over
Long boxes of flag draped aluminum
The C-5 is crowded when it lands in Dover
The honor guard boards and makes room again

Making straight for Nineveh, just like Jonah’s whale
Holy truth you swallow, overseas you sail
Precious is the cargo sacred was the gift
offered in the sandstorm from which your wings lift
Those who would pay homage can’t watch you set down
Behind barbed wire sentries miles from their town
No one breathes to question this silent parade
Except for the anguished loved ones left to say

© 2005 Flying Stone Music

1. We’ve heard many times how our troops have been fighting Al-Qaeda over in Iraq so that we don’t have to fight Al-Qaeda here. This is a good strategy, except how do we know Al-Qaeda terrorists, suicide bombers and sleeper cells aren’t already in the United States? The border situation has me wondering.

2. I’ve also heard it said: “There hasn’t been any major terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.” That’s true, but how do we know something as bad and even bigger isn’t currently in the planning stages? There were several years between the two World Trade Center attacks. President Bush’s Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend was one of the ones who had mentioned how America has been free of major attacks since 9/11, and also stated that Osama Bin Laden is ”a man on the run in a cave who is virtually impotent.” Well, he could be more than impotent—he could be dead. But does that mean the threat is gone and that his followers will all of a sudden stop trying to carry out attacks?

3. We’ve heard about the decline in violence in Iraq, but could part of the reason be that the terrorists are regrouping? It was reported back at the end of August that Radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his dreaded militia to stop attacks on US-led forces as part of a six-month suspension of the militant group’s activities. “I direct the Mahdi Army to suspend all its activities for six months until it is restructured in a way that helps honour the principles for which it is formed,” Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the city of Najaf. The AFP reports that in December last year, the Pentagon identified the militia as the biggest threat to stability in the war-ravaged country, even ahead of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the local affiliate of Osama bin Laden’s network.

4. While going on the offensive in Iraq may have put a dent in Al-Qaeda, what about Afghanistan in the Tora Bora region and the area in Pakistan, where they believe Bin Laden is hiding out? Shouldn’t there have been more of a focus on these areas?

5. Even if we wiped out every terrorist and every terrorist cell, does that mean all the evildoers are gone? As long as there are evil ideologies, radical Islam, and violent radicalization, it is likely that new ones will pop up.

I’m sure this all sounds rather pessimistic, but what is really going on here? Lastly Senator Joe Biden this week told New Hampshire voters that they have the Bush Administration to thank for the rising costs of oil. Biden called the temporary increase of troops in Iraq a “fantasy” saying that there is no evidence that it’s working. As reported from the Associated Press and as posted in WGMD News, Biden says the uncertainty in Iraq and Iran are adding an extra 30 dollars a barrel. I heard this week that global warming is being blamed for everything. It sounds like the Iraq war is also getting blamed for a lot of things that have gone wrong.

 

I lit a candle outside…
trying to remember so many names……
remembering how many died……
and so many families left unsaid….
some still wishing for that one day to come…
they will get a call saying they found their loved one…
     (author unknown)

You can light a candle in memory to someone lost or loved - the candles will remain lit for 48 hours - just click on the candle   And remember all who have died in the war on terror, but especially your neighbors from Delaware and Maryland

Operation America Rising is holding a Support the Troops Rally at Leg Hall in Dover on July 7, 2007 - I had Delaware Leader Dawn Premock on the program today and several listeners asked how to get ahold of Dawn. They are looking for volunteers and supporters.

The rally is free and will feature food and entertainment and begins at 11am. Now, I’m going to qualify this with this statement:

I don’t know anything about Operation America Rising more than what we heard from Dawn today. Although the idea sounds good, I’m not really clear what this groop stands for or who is behind it. However, for those interested in more information about the Dover rally:

One fine summer day, there will be thousands of Americans waving flags and holding banners saluting American’s finest, the United States troops. The beautiful red white and blue symbols everywhere will be gleaming from proud people, young and old. “Operation America Rising” will be the largest support the troops rally in history. On 7-7-07, people will meet all over America for fun, music, and speeches. The American Troops will see their country behind them again. Proud Americans will show their love and appreciation and media coverage will be everywhere. (from americarising.org)

To contact Dawn visit their Web site’s Delaware page: http://americarising.org/delaware.html

“It was 1866 and the United States was recovering from the long and bloody Civil War between the North and the South. Surviving soldiers came home, some with missing limbs, and all with stories to tell. Henry Welles, a drugstore owner in Waterloo, New York, heard the stories and had an idea. He suggested that all the shops in town close for one day to honor the soldiers who were killed in the Civil War and were buried in the Waterloo cemetery. On the morning of May 5, the townspeople placed flowers, wreaths and crosses on the graves of the Northern soldiers in the cemetery. At about the same time, Retired Major General Jonathan A. Logan planned another ceremony, this time for the soldiers who survived the war. He led the veterans through town to the cemetery to decorate their comrades’ graves with flags. It was not a happy celebration, but a memorial. The towns people called it Decoration Day.

In Retired Major General Logan’s proclamation of Memorial Day, he declared:

“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country and during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.”“

That was then. How, in the name of “progress” did we arrive at this somber or even grateful day now being “celebrated” as the harbinger of summer and sale festivities? Going about our daily business or pursuits this weekend (starting the tail end of last week) we hear “Have a happy Memorial Day!” sung in jovial tones. A week ago…and today…the Sunday papers and mailboxes are stuffed with “Memorial Day SALE!” news, anything from cars to furniture to summer/beach wear to dietary aids; from dealerships, dept. stores, pharmacies and very few, if any, stores choose to close on this day of remembrance. The Indy 500…traditional it may be but just how does that tie in with the purpose of Memorial Day?

When I first came to this country…to the Mid-West…I had no concept of Memorial Day until my relatives there enlightened me. Some of them still called it Decoration Day…and that’s how we spent the “holiday”…visiting gravesites of both veteran and other family members gone before. As a twenty-one year old my first Memorial Day did seem a bit “different” than commemorative days to which I had previously been accustomed but I found it just as eloquent, dignified and appropriate. Other family members returned home for the weekend if they lived close enough to manage to do so and, yes…there were special holiday-type meals, cook-outs and reminiscing. No shopping. (And, no…this wasn’t in the early 1900’s but the late ’60’s!) It was a weekend of remembering those no longer with us, a time to be together for that express purpose.

This year, on this “holiday” weekend, we have suffered more military deaths and casualties than we did the year before, in one year. We have even more of our military men and women spending this weekend with families, having deployment orders for Iraq in bags already packed for imminent departure…a young friend of ours being one of those. We have hundreds of newly disabled veterans fighting here at home to get back to whatever normalcy of living they and their families hope they might achieve. We have several thousand (at least) families and friends grieving those who were only returnable in a flag-draped casket. But, hey! We have a major sale/party weekend!

It’s not that I begrudge anyone their sales…either having or enjoying shopping them but if we need yet another excuse for a sale-day could we revert back to doing so following Memorial Day, not during?

I wish you all a weekend of loving remembrance with family and friends…not a “***** Memorial Day!”

Whoa! Wait a minute…whose idea was it to take a poll on whether Prince Harry should serve in Iraq? And where was (D), the fourth option…”none of our business”?

I’m on my way home from work when the poll results were given on WGMD and, frankly, first I was stunned and then had to laugh at the audacity of at least the “77% respondents” who said he should. Why? Oh…because he is in the army, of course. That’s not too far from our usual patter of “YEAH! Send our military in there, get the job done…” while sitting on our rumps behind a desk, a counter or digging ditches. It’s okay for anyone to go as long as “it isn’t ME”.

So I’m going to nit-pick a little. First of all, please, please get it right. Harry isn’t a “Prince of England”. He is a prince of the United Kingdom…or Great Britain…or The British Isles, take your pick but England is ONLY England while being a member of the royal family makes him a prince of not just England but Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Secondly, is it any of our business to state such an opinion on another country? Isn’t that how we get ourselves in trouble, whiningly asking why aren’t we liked, time after time after time?

Three…while male members of the royal family have taken service in the armed forces as their obligation to their country and crown for multiple decades, few in direct line have ever fought in armed conflict (although in recent years Prince Andrew, Harry’s uncle, did serve in the Falkland’s during that debacle). There was a slight difference…Charles was direct heir…still is…and he did have his own heirs who follow suit if something should befall him. The queen is an octogenarian and, despite the fact that I can well see her matching her ancestor Victoria for years on the throne, should something happen to her in the near future, Charles will succeed but…he’s not that young, himself. William would be next…he is in the military and if something should happen to him, it would be Harry who would then succeed since William has no children…at least none that we know of. In other words, Harry is in the line of succession for the foreseeable future and the country probably would never agree to him being in a war zone. I suppose not too far removed from Senators and Congressmen…or a President…who advocate war, sends thousands of OTHER young men and women to fight it (and send them back for multiple tours!) but do nothing to ensure their own offspring…even once…go do what they are asking everyone else’s kid to do.

LOLOLOL!!! I’m still laughing…but I wish I knew why for what a sad lot we are. A discussion is ongoing as to why someone in THIS country…who cannot see anyone worth voting for in an election so wants to abstain…should have the right to be heard when voicing an opinion on political matters or, in fact, any matter affecting the nation. Apparently it’s believed such a person does not have the right to express such an opinion. Yet we can do so for a ruling monarch’s grandson, serving in his own…not our…country’s military? ‘Struth…give me strength

Today is the 34^th. Anniversary of Roe v. Wade which, no doubt, will renew all the old arguments and adversarial issues…. Life and death divides us as little else might. Proponents of anti-abortion have no difficulty with their conscience…or definition and hypocrisy of “sanctity of life”…when sending those same babies, 18+ years later, into wars and pre-emptive debacles to assuage their own fears for personal or national “freedom” or to the gallows, gurney or electric chair when pacifists object to war and adherents of the abolishment of the judicial death penalty are pressured to reconcile this “no kill” argument with the pro-choice stance of retaining legalized abortions.

Would that legalized abortion wasn’t necessary…that people would not take those steps which could result in unplanned, unwanted pregnancy and, heaven knows, every piece of knowledge necessary to avoid such is out there, open and available to all. But they ignore it and offer every excuse in the book for what ensues then seek to rectify things by ridding themselves of the evidence…and, for thirty-four years it has been legal to do so. However, abortions haven’t only been undertaken since legalization but has been a practice since time immemorial. The difference is instead of back-alleys, coat-hangers, questionable drug treatments which, too often, took not only lives of the fetus but those of many of the “hosts”, legalization made it possible to choose/decide if and where this procedure should be done and done hygienically and safely, thereby far reducing the risks to more lives. A woman’s life is no more important than the baby’s she is carrying…but nor is it less so. Not so different from those women with some clout who could afford to go overseas to combine their abortion with a vacation or be admitted to a hospital where it would be carried out and covered under a different procedure…albeit fake. Women who, for whatever reason, decide they do not want or cannot raise a child conceived through irresponsibility have always found a way to rid themselves of their mistake and, further, always will…legal or not. Speaking personally I would defy anyone to provide proof that pro-choice proponents are so because of a desire to “kill babies”. The operative word is “choice”; a life choice which belongs to the woman directly involved…not me, not you, not the government. We all have unquestionable rights to whatever medical procedures deemed necessary…whether to preserve/enhance our lives or health and well-being and would adamantly revolt if government stepped in to disallow those rights. How is this different…except in a matter of personal conscience?

We choose conscience then, some years later find our sons and daughters are sent off to risk their lives somewhere across the globe, cheered on by many who may have caused us to question our consciences in having these children. Rage against women ending the life of a fetus changes to admiration for sending those kids out to be physically/emotionally damaged or to come home in a body bag. We can be proud of this, this gives us a sense of comfort and a choice to continue living our lives as we enjoy, as we have been accustomed and with somewhat less fear. And when they do come home they and the women who bore them, are left to deal with the pieces left of the whole…with about as much support as the woman intimidated in her first few weeks of pregnancy, doesn’t have the abortion she initially “chose” but struggles every day by herself while the anti-abortionists have moved on.

We choose conscience and, twenty years later the son or daughter we bore is accused of murder, found guilty and sentenced to die by hanging, electrocution, lethal injection or even firing squad. Raise hell about the death penalty and immediately the question arises “yeah, you want the death penalty abolished but you kill babies in the womb!” Yes?? And yet they rant and proselytize about the sanctity of life?

I’m all for the sanctity of life across the board. I don’t believe in abortion but the right of anyone to choose a medical procedure in a safe environment; I don’t believe in war…but the right to choose whether or not my child has to be your cannon fodder if he/she has no belief in your cause; I don’t believe in murder…but the right to demand my government not be complicit in a like retaliatory response. What I consistently heard is “Stop the killing of babies in the womb!”…but if a woman dies, too bad; “Send our troops so we have less to fear.”…but when our troops are killed…or kill…so sad; “Murder is against the law!”…kill the SOB.

President Bush has a major speech to make this week on Iraq, one that will undoubtedly overshadow his State of the Union speech several weeks later. The President will unveil his strategy, which is expected to entail new political, military and economic steps to win the war.

There is strong indication that he will call for a surge or escalation of at least 20K more troops in Iraq.

Look at the changes made or to be made:

Militarily, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has been replaced by Robert Gates.

Moreover, Generals Casey and Abizaid, both of whom have been opposed to an increase in troop numbers, have been replaced by General Petraeus and Admiral Fallon as Iraqi Field Commander and Central Military Commander (Iran and Afghanistan) respectively. The latter are both proponents for the escalation of our war efforts in Iraq.

Politically, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is now saying that he is willing to suppress any illegal militia activity, regardless of the sectarian origin. Is this to include Shi’ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr? He is now willing to consider benchmarks. Did I say benchmarks?

Diplomatically, Director of Intelligence John Negroponte is being moved to the State Department next in line under Rice. Negroponte will be replaced by retired Admiral Mike McConnell, an experienced military intelligence officer. Also, US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is being named US Ambassador to the UN replacing John Bolton. Khalilzad will be replaced by Ryan Crocker, experienced diplomat currently US Envoy to Pakistan.

Economically, Bush plans to earmark more funds for infrastructure reconstruction efforts.

Thus Bush continues to emphasize a military solution to his Iraq quagmire, a strategy that has already failed, and that the American people, in my view, will be most skeptical, mirroring the heavy anti-Bush Iraq War statement made in the election in which Bush took a “thumping”.

The President has to show in his speech that suddenly he has become competent and that there is yet hope.

This time there will be much needed Congressional oversight. Cherrypicking will no longer work. Propaganda will be minimized. The truth will be forced out.

There will be no place in his speech for his incessant cheerleading. Substance now really matters. This will be his biggest sales job ever, since he has to leap over his history of failures with a presentation based on substance, not fluff.

Let us hear what he has to say, on Wednesday. I for one will be listening very intently!

Saddam Hussein was indeed a heinous individual, therefore he has been hanged for being convicted of killing 148 Shi’ites. So is George W Bush, yet he has not yet even been impeached!

Sounds like a radical, un-American, unpatriotic statement for me to make, does it not?

Before jumping to conclusions, let’s give a little more thought about this, a little bit of an historical review.

Saddam is alleged to have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his own people, his enemies, Persians (Iranians) and Kurds alike in the 1980’s during the Reagan administration, and in early 1990’s during the George H W Bush administration.

During the 1970’s, the Kennedy years, we were responsible for the overthrow of the elected Iranian government headed by Mossadegh, inserting our choice, Shah Pahlavi as dictator, leading to the Islamic revolutionary takeover of that country in 1979.

During the Reagan administration in the 1980’s, we allied ourselves with Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war, supplying Saddam with weapons, including WMD (poison gas), and military equipment. The gassing of “his own people” and the Iranians (Shi’ites) was done with our war materiel. Does anyone nowadays ever refer to our complicity to the very crimes against humanity that our politicians rail about today on a regular basis?

This now leads up to our current President, George W Bush. In his self-initiated Bush Iraq War, he has been responsible for the deaths of civilians, civilians of a nation that was not an imminent threat to us. Moreover, his actions let loose contrary forces, in which we have also been involved militarily, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands more, not to mention our own more than 3000 dead and 7 times that many seriously injured.

Now shall we talk about culpability? Shall we talk about crimes against humanity? Could it be that George W Bush may be as culpable as Saddam? I think so! I’ll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions. But it ain’t very pretty folks!!!

Note: The facts I have presented here are well known, and can be accessed readily from Wikipedia, as well as many other sources.

The appeal has been lost, Saddam Hussein hangs before January is over. Of course, it’s right and is just (is it…really?). He ill-treated his own people…once we had managed to get him in power. Accused of oppressing and even slaughtering Kurds and Shiites, waging war on Iran …all with weaponry, wink and a nod we had provided; went to war with Kuwait (once he’d advised us that was his intent and to which we promised turning a blind eye before taking our troops to assist the Kuwaitis) and then the inhabitants of that country were punished, by the West, with years of sanctions. Sept. 11, 2001 happened…nothing to do with Iraqi’s, by the way…several nations were enraged by and mourned the loss of almost 3,000 souls of varied nationality. To this heinous act a confession of sorts was made by one Osama Bin Laden. Not an Iraqi, did not live in Iraq, though oddly enough was leader to what is now considered to be an unholy band of assassins which we helped set up and encourage with Afghanistan to combat attempted invasion by Russia. We made a half-hearted attempt at revenge by shipping sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers to Afghanistan amidst macho promise to get the man…and others…responsible for this terrible deed and bring them to justice while greater plans were in the pipe stream to squelch terrorism further in…Iraq???

But wait a minute…what did Saddam Hussein and Iraq have to do with Sept. 11? Saddam had been a dictator imposing fear to many..but not all..his people, some destruction and terrorizing of his countrymen with, perhaps, a touch of paranoia and, perhaps, lived a life-style that left westerners cold but, refresh my memory, when did he last attack a Western nation, commit an act of aggression against us? There were many official “reasons” offered for an attack on him and his country, many others conjured up, unofficially, by those who opposed this pre-emptive strike and believed it to be wrong but which went unheeded. More than five years later Bin Laden is still roaming the all-concealing mountains (so they say), there does seem to be a handle on stemming the resurging poppy/drug problem but the Taliban are returning in large numbers; Iraq is a total mess with Iraqis slaughtering each other…it‘s a civil war which did not exist before we of the West arrived and the rest of the region is in turmoil; religious violence and destruction has now reared it’s ugly head; we now mourn more Western lives lost in this battle than we did in New York City on that frightful September morning. For many the world no longer turns on it’s axis but around what goes on day by interminable day in Iraq. And in less than thirty days a proclamation will come forth…”The Dictator Is Dead! Long Live…….???” Sometimes it IS “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t…”.