61-year-old Orthopedic Surgeon Bill Krissoff joins Navy after son’s death in Iraq.

Unfortunately Bill Krissof will never get half the media attention that Cindy Sheehan received.

Cindy Sheehan lost her son, Casey Sheehan, in Iraq and spent all of 2005 as the darling to the media and the left protesting the Iraq war. She was dubbed the name “Peace Mom” and was paraded around by the left and the media to try and dent support for the Iraq war.

Today, Sheehan is pretty much treated as an irritant or an embarrassment as she and anti-war protestors carrying signs that read “Impeachment is Patriotic” were booed and yelled at during the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Ca. Not that she deserves better, but her son, who died for a noble cause, does.

Cindy Sheehan is not the only parent whose loss of a son in Iraq prompted a response worth noting. Here is a much more uplifting story of a parent’s actions to a son’s death in Iraq that has not received hardly any media attention.

Marine 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff was killed Dec. 9, 2006, at the age of 25 in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, prompting his 61-year-old father, Bill Krissoff, an orthopedic surgeon to join the military.
Krissoff’s youngest son, Austin, is also an officer in the Marine Corps.

“Both my sons were hugely affected by the events of 9/11, and Nate was proud to serve in the Marines, as Austin is,” Krissoff said. “I share their views.”

So as most orthopedic surgeons his age contemplate retirement, Krissoff is closing his practice, leaving behind his Reno home, relocating to San Diego and taking on a new position as Navy Lt. Commander.

Krissoff will serve in the Navy as a medical officer and although 19 years over the Navy’s official age limit, Dr. Krissoff will serve as a Navy Surgeon for three years.

“My interest in Navy medicine was because they take care of Marines,” he said.

Just like Mrs. Sheehan, Dr. Krissoff met with President Bush, but that is where the similarities end.

Since the cut off for medical officers joining the Navy is 42, Krissoff was told it would be a difficult and lengthy process to get in. Krissoff took the issue and asked for the needed waiver from the highest authority possible – President George W. Bush.

Krissoff had the opportunity to meet the president in August at an American Legion convention in Reno where Bush asked each family what he could do for them.

Krissoff told the President he wanted to serve and used humor to push the issue.

“Sir, I’d like to serve, but they told me I’m too old, but I’m younger than you sir,” he said.

After the conversation Krissoff quickly got an age waiver and is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in the near future.

It is unfortunate Bill Krissoff will never get half the media attention that Cindy Sheehan received.

Bill Krissoff is the American Hero deserving of media attention and fame, not Cindy Sheehan.

Good luck to you in Iraq, and God Speed Sir.

This is a Happy New Year message for Democrats and Ron Paul supporters. Violent civilian deaths in Iraq in December were down 75% from one year ago. I guess that "Surge" thing that was going to be a disaster worked!

New York Times with good news from Iraq, Democrats must be heartbroken.

It seems that Gen. David Petraeus and the troop surge may have been just the right medicine for Iraq. In what seemed to be a lost cause just a few months ago now seems to be showing signs of progress. In fact the news is so good coming out of Iraq not even the New York Times can ignore it.

Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack just got back from meeting with American and Iraqi military personnel and have some real good news to share in this New York Times Op-Ed piece titled A War We Just Might Win. O’Hanlon and Pollack write: “Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush Administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and Iraqis could live with.”

You will have to read the rest of the article that is filled with all kinds of good news from Iraq. If you are a democrat, or plan on showing this to a democrat, I must warn you, such good news has been known to depress democrats and make them take irate action.

No time today, here are some Country Boy's suggested reading and viewing from around the web.

Senator Joseph Lieberman reminds us of our vulnerability. "Now is not the time to let down our guard against terrorists," he says. Lieberman seems to be the only Democrat left standing with half a brain!

U.S. General Speaks Strongly Against Troop Pull Out

This story written by John F. Burns appears in today's New York Times! I am in complete amazement they actually printed this. I may have a found new respect for the Times. I am sure it will be short lived though.

Anyways, we has a U.S. General speaking out against withdrawal of troops in Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commanding 15,000 American and about 7,000 Iraqi troops on Baghdad’s southern approaches, spoke more forcefully than any American commander to date in urging that the so-called troop surge ordered by President Bush continue into the spring of 2008. That would match the deadline of March 31 set by the Pentagon, which has said that limits on American troops available for deployment will force an end to the increase by then.

“It’s going to take us through the summer and fall to deny the enemy his sanctuaries” south of Baghdad, General Lynch said at a news briefing in the capital. “And then it’s going to take us through the first of the year and into the spring” to consolidate the gains now being made by the American offensive and to move enough Iraqi forces into the cleared areas to ensure that they remain so, he said.

General Lynch, who commands the Third Infantry Division, said all the American troops that began an offensive south of Baghdad in mid-June were part of the five-month-old troop buildup, and that they were making “significant” gains in areas that were previously enemy sanctuaries. Pulling back before the job was completed, he said, would create “an environment where the enemy could come back and fill the void.”

He implied that an early withdrawal would amount to an abandonment of Iraqi civilians who he said had rallied in support of the American and Iraqi troops, and would leave the civilians exposed to renewed brutality by extremist groups. “When we go out there, the first question they ask is, ‘Are you staying?’ ” he said. “And the second question is, ‘How can we help?’ ” He added, “What we hear is, ‘We’ve had enough of people attacking our villages, attacking our homes, and attacking our children.’ ”

General Lynch said his troops had promised local people that they would stay in the areas they had taken from the extremists until enough Iraqi forces were available to take over, and said this had helped sustain “a groundswell” of feeling against the extremists. He said locals had pinpointed hide-outs of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, an extremist group that claims to have ties to Osama bin Laden’s network, that had been used to send suicide bombers into Baghdad and they had helped troops locate 170 large arms caches. The general said the locals had started neighborhood patrol units called “Iraqi provincial volunteers” that supplied their own weapons and ammunition.

“What they’re worried about is our leaving,” he said. “And our answer is, ‘We’re staying,’ because my order from the corps commander is that we don’t leave the battlespace until we can hand over to the Iraqi security forces.” To hold on to recent gains, he said, would require at least a third more Iraqi troops than he now has, and they would have to come from other battle areas, or from new units yet to complete their training. “Everybody wants things to happen overnight, and that’s not going to happen,” he said.

General Lynch said he was “amazed” at the cooperation his troops were encountering in previously hostile areas. He cited the village of Al Taqa, near the Euphrates about 20 miles southwest of Baghdad, where four American soldiers were killed in an ambush on May 12 and three others were taken hostage. One of the hostages was later found dead, leaving two soldiers missing. Brig. Gen. Jim Huggins, a deputy to General Lynch, said an Iraqi commander in the area had told him on Saturday that women and children in the village had begun using plastic pipes to tap on streetlamps and other metal objects to warn when extremists were in the area planting roadside bombs and planning other attacks.

Of course he is just a General in the Army. What the hell does he know. Congress is sure to know better than him...

We are losing the global war on terror, not on the battle, at home.

We are slowly losing the global war on terror, but not on the battlefield. No, the American Soldier continues to fight and win this war militarily. In fact, I cannot think of one military battle we have lost in this war. We are losing this war the only place we know how at home and in the halls of Congress.

A new report out yesterday says al-Qaeda is now up to operating strength it had prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks against the United States and are showing greater and greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States. It also claims they have created a robust training program.

The Central Intelligence Agency is on board with the analysis and a CIA official told congress on Thursday that al-Qaeda is “pretty well settled into the safe haven and ungoverned spaces of Pakistan” where they are seeing more training, more money and more communications and activity.

So, there is still a threat, and the threat is getting bigger. So why does it seem that we and the West in general are more concerned about offending Muslims feelings than we are recognizing the obvious, which is not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists have been Muslims, in recent times.

Even the new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in the wake of the terrorists attempted attacks, has instructed his government to not use the word Islamic or Muslim in connection with terrorism. The Muslim terrorists still want to control, dominate, and subjugate all things not Islamic and the world is worried about offending them.

Sure we are fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq, but this is just a tip of the iceberg. Al-Qaeda is still allowed safe haven in Pakistan, Iran and other places. They continue to recruit and hang out in their safe havens until they are called upon to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Until we change the way we fight this war, until we recognize this is a World War, and we are truly fighting for the survival of our very own existence, this war will never end. It will just continue forever. If we had fought Nazi Germany in WWII the way we are fighting the war on terror, there is no doubt we would have lost the war, or would still be fighting it.

Here are just some thoughts that come to mind today. Where is al-Qaeda getting its money from? Iran? The money is coming from somewhere. Why is Pakistan and Iran permitted to harbor al-Qaeda? Why are we not taking these training camps out with air strikes as I write this? Why is America looking so weak in the face of an enemy…and finally not if, it is really not a matter of if anymore, it is a matter of when will these terrorists hit America again? Where will it happen and how many people will die? And what will America do at that point. Will that be the ultimate wake up call to finally take the threat seriously, or will we chose to retreat and live in constant fear hoping and praying that they just leave us alone.

We already know the answer to this if Congress gets to make that decision. In the midst of these reports they passed a bill for the complete withdrawal of troops from Iraq. What an amazing act of cowardliness.

Some of these same politicians voting for the withdrawal previously voted for the war!

This makes about as much sense as deciding to fight the meanest S.O.B in a bar, then half way through the fight, “My bad, I made a mistake, I don’t want to fight anymore.” Anyone who takes this approach is sure to have their teeth kicked in.

The thing is al-Qaeda and our enemies know they can not beat us in battle. So, they take the fight to where they know they can beat us. They fight a propaganda war, and they are getting good at it. They create massive chaos, the media reports all the chaos, and people begin to lose support for the war. Congress tries to run the war policy, instead of letting the Soldiers do their job. While the President loses authority over the situation and the troops have their hands tied behind their backs. It is the Vietnam syndrome and just like Vietnam we are one Tet Offensive or one major terrorist attack away from completely pulling out of Iraq. By the way did you know the Tet Offensive was actually a military victory for U.S. Troops? The media was able to portray it differently though.

As for the members of Congress who voted for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. I have a few words for you.

You have sent a message to our enemies that the U.S. is weak and does not have the will to continue the fight. You also send a clear message to our allies that America can not be trusted to stand with them ever again as they will reap the consequences of supporting us if we pull out. You have sent a message to all the members of our military that their lives and time are completely expendable and there sacrifice has been for nothing. I am sure many of the Soldiers who have spent a better of 3 out of the last 5 years in iraq are thrilled that they will never get those 3 years of their life back.

It is no surprise that mostly dumbocrats voted for this. They have always been the party to undermine the efforts of our Soldiers. They have been doing it since Vietnam, but I have a message for republicans who voted to withdrawal troops as well, you can start looking for new jobs. In seeking to secure your prized job as a Congressman, you have proven to be out of touch with the base of the party and are part of the reason the Republican Party is nothing more than a huge piece of elephant crap. The reason the party continues to lose approval, money and support is NOT because of the war! You stupid morons! It is because you have all been acting like the jack ass symbol of the Dumbocrat Party. It is because you keep reaching across the aisle to cooperate with dumbocrats on issues like the amnesty bill.

I completely assure you I am not alone in my disdain for the Republican Party.

Now, I know this withdrawal bill has very little chance of actually making it through the Senate and if somehow it does President Bush will vetoe it. I know this is a vote getting stunt for the dumbocrats, but here is the problem with that.

The tribal leaders of Iraq have been reluctant to cooperate with Americans for fear that we were not going to be able to provide proper security. Since the surge started showing progress they have recently began to take a stand against the insurgents and terrorists in Iraq, now that it looks like we may cut and run leaving them to defend there own they will probably now be thinking they are better off supporting the people that are killing our Soldiers.

This war will not and can not be won in the halls of Congress, but it damn sure can be lost their.
Congress should do their job by funding the war, then get the hell out of the way and let the Soldiers fight it.

Country Boy's suggested reading and viewing from around the web.

Here is a column in the Wall Street Journal from Kimberly Hagan the democrats do not want you to read. Hagan just got back from Iraq, and she says the surge is working. In fact it is working so well she claims to say that the surge is failing is absurd. Instead Congress should be asking this question: Can the current progress continue? Good news continues to be ignored from Iraq.

MTCW Idiot of the week.

Country Boy brings you a new category. Every Monday he will present the MTCW Idiot of the week. Feel free to submit nominations.

This week’s winner goes to Dan Schreiber from Champaign, Illinois. Schreiber writes this absurd comment in a letter to the Editor of the Champaign News Gazette: "Soldiers are certainly entitled to their opinions. But their personal experiences are no substitute for informed analysis. What is needed in soldiers and citizens alike is the ability to differentiate news from propaganda and data from spin."

Now, I have posted the whole letter below so no one can accuse me for taking the contents out of contex. This is from the Monday, July 2, News Gazette:

John Foreman makes a curious argument for a newspaper publisher "that critics of the Iraq war are 'perhaps' naive," because they form their opinions from news instead of from individual soldiers on the ground.

And yet many of the opinions he shares from soldiers are simply Republican talking points. For instance, one soldier believes Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, which is just a way to spin the fact that terrorists followed us in after our invasion.

Another soldier believes Iran is the primary cause of terrorism in Iraq. This is no more true than believing Saddam was responsible for 9/11 or that he was an imminent threat to drop nuclear bombs on the United States, which many soldiers also believed.

Soldiers are certainly entitled to their opinions. But their personal experiences are no substitute for informed analysis. What is needed in soldiers and citizens alike is the ability to differentiate news from propaganda and data from spin.

After all, if naive war critics had been listened to in the first place, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now in.

Informed analysis? Who to make a better informed annalysis than Soldiers who deal with the situation everyday? If what Soldiers are saying end up being republican talking points then what does that say about the democrat party?

I wonder if Mr Schreiber gets his informed analysis about his health from Doctors? or what about legal analysis? probably from a lawyer...wouldn't you think. I mean surely Doctors and lawyers are entitled to their opinions on such matters but their personal expieriences are no substitute for informed analysis by journalist and news media...riiiiight.

Dan Schreiber, you are the MTCW Idiot of the week.

One last note, If politicians and naive war critics would have listened to military leaders in the first place when they asked for more troops and would have let the Soldiers fight the war instead of doing everything to obstruct their efforts, the situation in Iraq would probably be a lot better off now.

Country Boy's suggested reading and views from around the web.

Dick Morris says that pulling the troops out of Iraq might "save the republicans in 2008." Is this about saving the Republican Party or protecting this nation from Islamic terrorism? Just wondering… cause like John McCain I would rather lose in 08 then lose to terrorists. I wonder if McCain will stand strong on that position.