Season ticket on a one-way ride

Let's call this the obligatory "Osama is dead" post.

Much better coverage is available all over the internets. Washington Post, of all places, has a good writeup of the breakdown... although, I have two GLARING criticisms.

1. They just can;t help their petty little liberal hearts, but they have to get in a dig at President Bush, and the fucking "Mission Accomplished" banner at his speech marking the end of major combat operations in the invasion of Iraq - a war they spent barrels of ink telling us had nothing to do with 9/11 and Osama. Now, of course, when they can contrast it against Obama to make him look like some sort of conquering hero, they'll trot that out for one more haggard lap.

2. Wa-Po mentions the September 11 attacks NINE TIMES before a short list of the other terror attacks bin Laden was involved in planning. Sadly, at least those twisted news goblins even deigned to mention that the US isn't the only country in the world that's suffered attacks from AQ. There's the London and Madrid train bombings, the attack on the USS Cole, the embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, not to mention the thousands of innocent civilians butchered by AQ in Iraq and Africa - most of whom are Muslims.

Did anyone hear Obama issue a peep about any of those horrible events, or even mention the countless blood and treasure that our numerous allies have given up to bring that evil bastard to justice? Because I sure as hell didn't.

Since actual gratitude from President "Look at ME!" won't be coming any time soon - if ever, I'll take it upon myself to send out thanks to all of the servicemembers around the world who contributed in ways large and small to bringing about this day.
Those who lost troops:

United States: 4,436
United Kingdom: 179
Italy: 33
Poland: 23
Ukraine: 18
Bulgaria: 13
Spain: 11
Denmark: 7
El Salvador: 5
Georgia: 5
Slovakia: 4
Latvia: 3
Romania: 3
Estonia: 2
Thailand: 2
Australia: 2
Netherlands: 2
Kazakhstan: 1
South Korea: 1
Hungary: 1
Czech Republic: 1
Azerbaijan: 1

Those who also sent troops:
* Moldova: 24 peak
* Albania: 240 troops
* Japan: 600 troops
* Tonga: 55 troops
* Singapore: 175 offshore
* Bosnia and Herzegovina: 85 peak
* Armenia: 46 troops
* Norway: 150 troops
* Portugal: 128 troops
* New Zealand: 61 troops
* Philippines: 51 troops
* Honduras: 368 troops
* Dominican Republic: 302 troops
* Nicaragua: 230 troops
* Iceland: 2 troops
* Macedonia: 77 peak
* Mongolia: 180 peak

Most of these nations didn't have the economic wherewithal to prosecute a decade-long war against a shadowy and elusive enemy, and were forced to withdraw their forces. But there are those who stood fast, and saw that they had the ability to fight, and that they had a duty to humanity to see bin Laden brought to justice, or at least to bring justice to him.

And so they did.

Some of those nations listed above lost their nerve when the going got rough. Some of them gave in to fear, and attempted to bargain with the terrorists when their troops were captured. While I don't blame the individual troops for the actions of their governments, it definitely cheapens their service, and takes the dignity and pride of service away from those who served. Benjamin Franklin said it best: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Fortunately for the rest of the free world, their betters stood ready to defend the rest of us, regardless of the cost.

One last thing. bin Laden is but one man. Sure, he was the head of the organization, and obviously well-connected and in a good deal of control of their operations, but even with him gone, the fight is far from over. Iraq remains a struggling democracy - though one with citizens fiercely committed to its success. The legions of purple-fingered civilians who turn out for elections there, despite very real threats to their lives and livelihoods are nothing short of amazing. They make the same sacrifices now that American colonists did during the Revolution, and for largely the same reason.
Afghanistan is still a basket case. Much of the population still regards bin Laden as a folk hero, and may never hear of his death, or may not believe it to be true. That country has a long climb out of its self-imposed islamic stone-age into the modern world... and until the people can see concrete improvements in their lives, they won't buy-in to jettisoning the Taliban. Granted, they can't buy-in to the modern world if they get shot for flying kites or listening to music.

The road ahead is rough, but our steps are lighter upon it today. Today we can celebrate.

Maybe he went to get a British flag

Hullo there, intertubes. Nice to see you're all still here waiting for me. (and still not at all like a truck - not one little bit)

So anyway, I've been following the riots in Iran with more than a little concern. Concern enough to actually sling something up onto the blog here - so that's really saying something right there. Anyway, I'm reading what news updates I can courtesy of the BBC, at least until the Ayatollah (not the one of rock-n-roll-a, but the one of chocking-on-Satan's-dick... ola.) banned all journalists from covering stories.

There's a lot things happening in Tehran recently that remind me of the bad old days of Communism in Europe and Asia. Solidarity demonstrations in Poland, Democracy riots in Vilnius, and with the onset of violence now, Tienanmen Square. Fortunately, though, we're living in a new age of communication, and the world is not dependent on crusty old bastards dragging their soggyassed corpses out "on location" to spoon-feed the world their political spin on what's happening in various corners of Earth. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Christiane Amanpour) Unlike in Beijing, when the June 4 Demonstrators briefly paused from running for their lives to beg the media "Tell the world what happened here; tell them our story!" The Iranian demonstrations are being broadcast chiefly by Twitter and Facebook.

Also unlike Beijing, when the Chi Com leaderships didn't know what to do about Western media airing their dirty laundry, the Ayatollah of Choking on Satan's Dick-ola has his thugs sniffing around the interwebs looking for Twitter and Facebook users located in Iran. So in order to make the toothless camel-molesting thugs' job a little bit harder, I've become a Twitter Shitter. A Twitter Shitter based in Tehran, Iran... at least according to my profile.

And now we come to the part of the post where I make a personal appeal. Because what's the point of one additional lameass on the 'tubes? I'm not a guy standing in front of a tank column here... I'm not even causing posh Italian people to make their scooters swerve a bit while they speed by saying "Ciao!" But people actually listen to some of you people... so were you to digitally relocate yourself to Tehran, they might do so as well. And then we're really talking about something happening here.

Because right now, the Iranian people rioting in the streets - not just over the bogus elections (Seriously, how valid is a balloting between only the candidates that Mullah COSD-ola approves?) but the entire bogus governmental system - have one thing in their favor: numbers. They had fear, but that's slowly dissipated as the Regime's reactions show. so all that's left is their superior numbers... against the Regime's guns. And numbers versus guns isn't a game you want to play on the losing side of.

Nor do you want anyone else to have to play it either.

One man stands hard as he waits for freedom's hand

Eighteen years ago was a seminal moment in the formation of my political ideology. It was really the trigger that started me thinking about politics and paying attention to world events, so I think it's fair to say that it laid the foundation for the political thought and writing that I have done since. primarily because as it progressed everyone could tell that if successful, it would be a miraculous triumph of the human spirit and will... Unfortunately, that was not to be.
In the aftermath the next morning, as information finally leaked out to the rest of the world, what we saw was such a clear-cut black-and-white depiction of good and evil, freedom and tyrrany; even a child could recognize it for what it was.

Today is the eighteenth anniversary of the Tiannamen Square massacre. Even after so many years, the full count of the day's victims - which many estimate to be in the multiple thousands - is unknown but to God. Even after so many years, thinking about that day is one of the things that can make me tear up.

For a more "historical" write-up, here's the Beeb, courtesy of Gateway Pundit. Wikipedia has a rather good article about it as well, with lots of background for those of you who might not be familiar with 20th century Chinese history. (at the least, read up on the Democracy Wall from the late 70s) There's some powerful video coverage at the Beeb - well worth watching to the end. A haunting reminder from the demonstrators that day, and what they said, literally begging the foreign journalists: "Tell the world!"

Hug your kids today. Call your Mom just to say "hi." Go check out a book from your library. Stop in at a church on your lunch break to say a quick prayer. Cherish the doing of these simple little things that we take for granted, because so many people in the world still don't have the luxury to do them.

One other thing to do? TELL THE WORLD.