Operation Market Garden; The Crossing of the Waal River

"The Second Omaha Beach" - Crossing the Waal  "On September 20, 1944 the war in the West depended on whether American Paratroopers could seize the Nijmegen Bridge before the Germans could destroy it.   The fate of Operation Market Garden and 10,000 beleaguered British paratroopers trapped in Arnhem rested on the capture of the bridge.  A daring daylight crossing of the Waal river was planned to capture the bridge. "

Crossing the Waal - 20 September 1944    The soldiers of the 504th that survived the crossing stormed the germans defenses on the north side of the river. Losses where very heavy, but the men were able to grab the northern end of the railway- and road bridges. The played a major part in the capture of both bridges. The men of C Company 307th Engineer battalion, that had not been killed or injured during the first crossing returned with the remainder of the boats and made several more crossings carrying more men of the 504th across.

 

Below: Map of Waalcrossing. H & I Companies proceed along the river to help capture the railroad and road bridges later in the day.

"Third Battalion 504, H & I Companies were the first to cross the Waal River in small canvas/wood boats. First battalion crossed after 11 of the 26 boats returned. The German artillery was able to mow them down as they crossed. In spite of heavy casualties, the men of the 504 prevailed and captured their objective, the North end of the Bridges at Nijmegen." ...

  

 

Maggie’s War – The Waal River Crossing at Nijmegen – WWII Foundation 

The Liberal Media is having a hard time keeping up with their lies

Liberal Logic 101

 

In a conversation on Twitter with Fox News Channel (FNC) contributor Richard Grenell, Boston Globe reporter Bryan Bender continued the media’s double standard of slamming then-President George W. Bush’s international coalition for the Iraq War and President Obama’s current coalition for fighting the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

 

 

Newsbusters   "In a conversation on Twitter with Fox News Channel (FNC) contributor Richard Grenell, Boston Globe reporter Bryan Bender continued the media’s double standard of slamming then-President George W. Bush’s international coalition for the Iraq War and President Obama’s current coalition for fighting the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

"Writing in a tweet addressed to Grenell, Bender stated that “Bush had no coalition” when going into Iraq. To that claim, Grenell cited how 48 countries were actually part of Bush’s “coalition of the willing” compared to the nine for President Obama’s ISIS coalition (as of Sunday morning).

"Upon numerous retweets and responses to his inaccurate statement, Bender deleted the aforementioned tweet and replied to one individual that he was confused “what “war” you were talking about” and asked whether Grenell meant “at the start of the 2003 invasion or after 911?"

All emphases in the original. TD

This post is brought to you by the word "canard"

Canard: 

1  a :  a false or unfounded report or story; especially :  a fabricated report 

    b :  a groundless rumor or belief

http://www.wnd.com/2014/09/obamas-not-islamic-canard/

Benghazi Bombshell: Clinton State Department Official Reveals Details of Alleged Document Review

Cover-up unraveling? Brit Hume sees ‘big deal’ in Sharyl Attkisson’s Benghazi ‘bombshell’

Brit Hume        ✔ @brithume Follow

If this is confirmed, it's a big deal as it points unmistakably to the Benghazi cover-up many have long suspected. http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/15/benghazi-bombshell-clinton-state-department-official-reveals-alleged-details-document-review/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social …

"Investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson has for a long time now been in pursuit of the full story about the Benghazi attack and surrounding events. Attkisson’s latest report concerns a former State Department official who alleges an effort to remove any damning documents from department files before they were handed over to the Accountability Review Board:" ...

Sharyl Attkisson        ✔ @SharylAttkisson Follow

Benghazi Bombshell: Clinton State Dept Official Reveals Details of Alleged Doc Review http://dailysign.al/1tTxlK5  @SharylAttkisson @DailySignal

8:57 AM - 15 Sep 2014

"New Benghazi allegation puts spotlight on Hillary Clinton confidants, alleged after-hours document review."

Daily Signal

Raymond Maxwell, former State Department deputy assistant secretary (Photo: Sharyl Attkisson)

 

"As the House Select Committee on Benghazi prepares for its first hearing this week, a former State Department diplomat is coming forward with a startling allegation: Hillary Clinton confidants were part of an operation to “separate” damaging documents before they were turned over to the Accountability Review Board investigating security lapses surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.:

 

"According to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Raymond Maxwell, the after-hours session took place over a weekend in a basement operations-type center at State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. This is the first time Maxwell has publicly come forward with the story.

 

"At the time, Maxwell was a leader in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which was charged with collecting emails and documents relevant to the Benghazi probe."   ...

http://img.allvoices.com/thumbs/image/609/609/104712292-obama-benghazi.jpg

 

Forum: What Was Your Opinion Of President Obama’s Speech On ISIS?

 

Noisy Room   "Every week on Monday morning, the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher’s Forum with short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture or daily living. This week’s question:What Was Your Opinion Of President Obama’s Speech On ISIS?"

 

Excerpts from those bloggers who assessed the ISIS speech:

Bookworm Room: "I analyzed the speech at boring length at my own blog, so I’ll limit myself here to a few observations:" ...

 

Robert Avrech, Seraphic Secret: "Watching Obama once again unfurl his doltish skills as a community agitator it is clear that this man is a simulacrum of an American President." ...

 

JoshuaPundit: "Well I analyzed it here, but the short version? Aside from the usual outright lies and chest thumping, it’s obvious that President Obama isn’t interested in anything but trying to rescue his dismal poll numbers . This was a political speech to massage his far left base while hopefully convincing average Americans he’s involved." ...

 

GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD*: "So tired of these JV cats telegraphing their punches you know? For once maybe let the enemy wonder and worry what the heck may happen instead of helping them plot their defenses.

"Love to see, for once, 44 get angry with America’s enemies. The way he may react if Planned Parenthood funds were stolen to indoctrinate border immigrants on the awesomeness of the Tea Party."...

*Do you realize how hard it is to type this link with two fingers?

 

Laura Rambeau Lee, Right Reason: ..."He vowed to fight, but that we would not have boots on the ground. He promised a broad coalition of partners would join in this fight against ISIL. He has essentially told ISIS we will not commit the funds or the troops required to annihilate them." ...

The Independent Sentinel:  "When Democrats lauded Mr. Obama’s speech I wondered if we were listening to the same speech.Mr. Obama lost me at “This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.” How could anyone take him seriously after that?" ...

 

The Razor: "Anything this president says is a waste of breath. We’re long past the time when his words matter in the least. He needs to stop talking and start doing. Or better yet – resign."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/cartoons/

Finally, Argus Hamilton weighs in with his thoughts:

President Obama laid out his ISIS strategy to the nation Wednesday. So far he's vowed to make ISIS more manageable, he's threatened to degrade ISIS, he's promised to destroy ISIS. When asked if Obama was sending mixed messages to ISIS, the White House replied, yes and no.

 President Obama asked Congress for half a billion to arm the New Syrian Army members who have been fighting both ISIS and Syria for two years. It's very important that we get to know them. The New Syrian Army is the group that we'll be fighting a year after we defeat ISIS

 Democrats in Washington were stunned by President Obama's speech Wedneday(sp) to send the U.S. back into a new Mideast war. He ran for president solely on his opposition to a Mideast war. You know he's getting older when even President Obama doesn’t support President Obama.

Obama (Supposedly) Explains His (Supposed) Refusal to Salute Flag in Viral Hoax

"Circulating via social media and forwarded email, statements purportedly made by Barack Obama on Meet the Press explain why he 'refuses' to wear a flag pin on his lapel or salute the flag during the pledge of allegiance and national anthem. Description: Viral text / Hoax;  Circulating since: March 2008; Status: False / All quotes are fabricated (see details below)"

Urban Legends   ...  "Analysis: No, presidential candidate Barack Obama didn't actually utter those asinine words. All of the quotes are fictitious.

"Some of them, specifically the sentences quoted first in the earlier variant above — e.g., "I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it" — were put in Obama's mouth by conservative humorist John Semmens (see his October 27, 2007 column, "Semi-News, on the Arizona Conservative website). His intent was satirical.

"Semmens's barbs were aimed at two of candidate Obama's actions early on in the presidential campaign that were perceived by some as insufficiently patriotic: 1) his decision to stop wearing a U.S. flag pin, and 2) his failure to place his hand over his heart during a rendition of the national anthem at a public event in 2007." ...  

Second page here.

...Nor is the attribution of the article as a whole to a Washington Post reporter named Dale Lindsborg (who doesn't exist)."

With humorous sites like The Onion, we must learn to recognize satire. With so much outrage coming from the left, we do not need to manufacture it; let us leave the demagoguery to them.

Happy 200th Birthday, Star-Spangled Banner. (Updated with a correction)

The actual flag, now under restoration at the Smithsonian

Country Celebrates 200th Anniversary Of Our National Anthem  " Vice President Joe Biden, Governor Martin O'Malley and an extensive roster of celebrities and elected officials joined visitors from across the United States as they flocked to Baltimore's famed Inner Harbor and the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine last night to take part in the centerpiece events of the week-long Star-Spangled Spectacular. The celebration of the bicentennial of our National Anthem – which included more than 30 tall ships and U.S. Navy vessels, festivals, living history demonstrations and the Blue Angels – peaked with a two-hour, nationally televised live special on THIRTEEN'S Great Performances on PBS. "  More text and video of this event

Brief History of Forty McHenry   "The Frenchman Jean Foncin designed the fort in 1798, and it was built between 1798 and 1800. The new fort's purpose was to improve the defenses of the increasingly important Port of Baltimore from future enemy attacks.
...
Fort McHenry was named after early American statesman James McHenry (16 November 1753 – 3 May 1816), a Scots-Irish immigrant and surgeon-soldier. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland and a signer of the United States Constitution. Afterwards, he was appointed United States Secretary of War (1796–1800), serving under presidents Presidents George Washington and John Adams.

 

Below: Published on Sep 10, 2014     

"This is a portion of our tour of Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, the birthplace of the Star-Spangled Banner. The program airs Sunday, September 14, 2014, at 6 & 10pm ET on C-SPAN 3. After it airs you can watch the FULL TOUR HERE: http://bit.ly/1rH91bY" 

More photos

Old Fort Flies 1812 Flag For National Anthem's 200th Anniversary (VIDEO)   "A special replica flag is being flown in honor of our National Anthem's 200th anniversary at the Old Fort." ...
 

 The Preservation Project   "In 1994 the Museum determined that the Star-Spangled Banner required further conservation treatment to remain on public display. Conservation of the large and valuable flag would require several years and specialized equipment and staff." ...

Star Spangled Banner Myths Debunked  plus 6 People Who Should Have Lip-Synced the National Anthem. And no, that does not include this person

The source of the melody of "The Star=Spangled Banner" :  The Anacreon Song . Here again in different form

The following correction to statements in the above post were sent me by Jon Hodges, a friend:

While researching the history of the Battle of Baltimore, I ran into more than one narrative that was cut from whole cloth, where the story was greatly exaggerated.  This describes the “Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It” link in your blog post.

We can start with this:  Key was NOT the official negotiator, and not the one with whom Vice Admiral Cochrane would be speaking.  In fact, his total contribution to freeing Dr. Beanes was returning the soldiers that Dr. Beanes had arrested in the first place, but that did NOT trigger the freedom of Dr. Beanes.  It was the government’s official agent for POW exchanges, Colonel John S. Skinner,  who brought along letters from British prisoners from the recent battle of North Point indicating how well they and their injuries were treated under the Americans that finally made the generals relent and agree to let Dr. Beanes go.   

The part about “You can’t shell that fort, there are women and children there!” is bogus.  They were very aware that the fort would come under fire, and an evacuation of civilians would be the norm.  However, I read two accounts of women being there.  One said a woman delivering supplies to the soldiers was cut in half by a bomb, and the other said that Mrs. Armisted gave birth during the bombardment.  That is not, however, supported in Major Armisted’s official report. 

Next; it could have been the entire British Navy there, but they only had 16 ships doing any firing.  An article on Wikipedia (battle of Baltimore) lists the rocket and bomb ships by name.  They listed only six.  In addition, there were only 10 light war ships that could get that close.  The waters in the channel were shallow, which precluded sending in the heaviest ships.  Perhaps that is the reason for the Baltimore Clipper design that has a relatively flat bottom and a shallow draft. 

They did not watch the bombardment from the prison barge, they watched it from the truce ship or the small boat they came on (which one is a matter of dispute).  There would be no prisoners below-decks that Key could talk to. 

After the shelling stopped, Key did NOT get to go to the fort to “see what happened.”  The official toll was four killed, 24 wounded out of about 1,000 soldiers posted there.  And as nice as it sounds that soldiers manually held the flagpole in place, it was 90’ high!  No amount of soldiers could make any difference to that flagpole. 

Otherwise, your post is good.

Well said, Jon; thank you.

Flashback: President George W. Bush Warned of What Would Happen If the U.S. Withdrew From Iraq Too Early

Turns out this was not one of those Ted Danson world-will-end-in-ten-years predictions . Bush's IQ, I'd say, is way above the Hollywood average IQ. Especially since we put Russell Brand into the mix.TD

The Daily Signal   "Facing criticism from opponents of the Iraq War after ordering a troop surge in 2007, President George W. Bush issued a warning of what would happen in the future should the United States withdraw armed forces from Iraq. Now, seven years later, the president’s admonition mimics what’s happening in Iraq today."
 

Israel's solidarity with Christians in the Middle East

Ted Cruz, IDC, and the Politics of Solidarity  

... "My instinctive response was based on the fact that Jews really don’t love being the reason Christians are angry with each other. And that remains true. But the fact that the Jewish state was in the middle of this has revealed some common ground that usually flies under the radar, and deserves more attention.

"First, there is the issue of Cruz telling the crowd, which was there to support the oppressed Christians of the Middle East, that Israel was their best friend. Over at the Federalist, Mollie Hemingway takes issue with Cruz’s focus on Israel and David Harsanyi defends it, noting that Israel is the one country in the region where Christians can live safely and practice their faith, and are therefore thriving." ...
...
... "But it’s quite clear now that since this controversy broached the subject, it must be pointed out that Cruz was not merely engaging in hyperbole."

They aren't who they say they are, really.

James Longstreet   "It has been said that “All wars are religious.”  In some instances this point is difficult to make. But in so many others, it is glaringly obvious. To suggest that religion is not integral to the current conflicts in the Mideast is folly of the highest degree. To stand before a nation and assert that ISIS is not acting on their beliefs is a gross misrepresentation."
...
"Recall how we were told by Obama that the world, civilization, owes a “debt to Islam."

"The debate on whether we in fact do or do not is one for a different time. But not so debatable is the fact that “if” there was some type of “golden age” in the Muslim world, it halted  long ago, abruptly and for inexplicable reasons.  Those who descended from the “golden age," as the President refers, routinely rely on a hole in the ground for a toilet, treat their women like an NFL running back does in an elevator, and decapitate non believers for video consumption.".  Read more:

What is "The Levant"? Why does Obama replace the "S" in ISIS to call it "ISIL"?

What’s behind the choice of name of Mideast terror group?

"President Obama may have had a difficult time formulating a strategy to deal with the ISIS crisis, yet he alone has been almost obsessively resolute in referring to the group as “ISIL.”

 

"In some of Obama’s briefings on ISIS, he has gone so far as to spell out ISIL.

 

"Puzzling to reporters and pundits, the use of ISIL by Obama has prompted a bevy of theories.

 

"ISIS was the original name of the al-Qaida offshoot. It’s an acronym that stands for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. But, months ago, ISIS changed its name to ISIL – the Islamic State in the Levant. More recently, ISIS chose to be known simply as Islamic State.

 

'Most news organizations, pundits and policymakers chose to stick with ISIS, perhaps to discourage the ISIS shell game of frequent name changes. Obama, though, has stuck with ISIL."...

...

Obama's rejection of the "S" indicates his reluctance to get involved in Syria, even though Syria is part of the Levant.

So confusing was the discussion, it forced Todd to clarify for viewers: “Obviously we refer to it at NBC News as ISIS. The Obama administration, president, says the word ISIL. The last S stands for Syria, the last L they don’t want to have stand for Syria.”

 

 

http://www.therightplanet.com/todays-political-funnies/

Obama administration pretzel logic on ISIS

 

We are not at war with ISIS.

The United States is not against ISIL.

We are at war with ISIS  

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”

Richard Larsen

 

"One of the predictable effects of the secularization of our culture and our society is the debasement of our collective moral fabric, our social mores. The absolute and fundamental matrix of values that form the basis of our Judeo-Christian society have steadily eroded, and at an accelerated rate over the past few decades. This erosion of traditional values has contributed to proliferation of a moral relativism that is profoundly evidenced by displacement of social standards and individual religious belief systems."

...

"This moral relativism has coincided predictably with the secularization of our culture. Supplanting our Judeo-Christian value system, by effectively removing it from the public realm, has effectively left our society as a ship without a moral rudder."