http://www.mudvillegazette.com/ en-us 2009-07-05T17:25:12-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032335.html Well, there goes wacky ol' Uncle Joe*, talking crazy talk again:STEPHANOPOULOS: Major milestone this week here in Iraq with the American troops pulling out of the cities. And I wonder if you can put the broader American mission in context. Are we in the process of securing victory or cutting our losses to come home? BIDEN: Securing victory.***** Footnote: *Joe Biden is Vice President of the United States of America. Previously: Travels With Joe... Greyhawk 2009-07-05T17:25:12-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032334.html Afghanistan: "Afghanistan My Last Tour" - 4th of July in the combat zone "A Year in the Sandbox":We have a couple Chicago Tribune reporters embedding with us for a while and they did a story about our 4th of July celebration... Some made it home for the fourth: Soldier who fought in pink boxers home for the 4th However some fireworks did take place in Afghanistan and sadly, there were sacrifices made on this Independence Day with the loss of... Mrs Greyhawk 2009-07-05T08:58:41-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032332.html Over 200 U.S. military members became citizens of the Republic today - here's coverage from the AP:VP Biden celebrates July 4 with US troops in Iraq BAGHDAD (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden celebrated the Fourth of July with his son and other American troops in Iraq on Saturday, a day after warning Iraqi leaders that U.S. assistance will be jeopardized if the country reverts to ethnic and sectarian violence. Biden began Independence Day by greeting more than 200 U.S.... Greyhawk 2009-07-04T16:16:14-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032331.html Just in time for the Fourth of July - here's the full version of our excerpt from Doug Stanton's Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan Ride along with the first Special Forces team to enter Afghanistan in November, 2001. The words are Stanton's, the voice and formatting are mine - the pictures and video were found all over the web and in most cases serve only as a reasonable... Greyhawk 2009-07-04T02:55:11-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032330.html ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning.Stealing Scott Ott's line from Facebook message: "Sarah Palin Steps Down as Governor to Spend More Time with Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric" Update: Now that line's a ScrappleFace story.... Greyhawk 2009-07-03T15:53:00-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032328.html For those who keep a few MREs stashed at home, Stars and Stripes alerts to a recall:A militarywide recall has been issued for Dairyshake powders found in Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs) and Unitized Group Rations-Express (UGR-Es). Plainview Milk Products Cooperative in Minnesota issued the voluntary recall after a Food and Drug Administration inspection found salmonella contamination on some of the facility's equipment, according to an FDA news release dated June 29. Plainview sells its products to distributors and manufacturers... Greyhawk 2009-07-03T13:38:37-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032327.html George Stephanopoulos updates from "just outside" of Baghdad*:Biden spent a couple of hours this morning getting briefed by the Commanding General here in Iraq, Ray Odierno, and the new Ambassador, Chris Hill. After the meeting he told me the reports were more optimistic than he expected.*In keeping with the SOFA, Victory Base Complex will no longer be reported as "Baghdad". Previous entry here.... Greyhawk 2009-07-03T12:10:49-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032325.html So, will NBC TeeVee execs gets to pick the bad guys for this new reality show? Or someone else?On Monday, July 20, join NBC News for a groundbreaking television event when it sets forth on an international hunt for an accused terrorist with "The Wanted" at 10 PM ET. "The Wanted" brings together an elite team with backgrounds in intelligence, unconventional warfare and investigative journalism. The show focuses on real operators, in search of real targets -- all in an... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T18:05:18-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032324.html I've added multiple updates with quotes from news reports as they become available to the original story below. As you read, bear in mind that first reports are always wrong. Rumors and scuttlebutt are frequently passed on as news - they may or may not turn out to be completely (rare) or partly (often) true. I'll add only that a soldier can't just accidentally wander off a military installation in Afghanistan or Iraq. In fact, one shouldn't be able to... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T17:28:20-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032323.html From Chuck Z:Need some help spreading the word on this. Below is a bit of info on the Gun Blogger Rendezvous IV, which is kinda like the milblogcon, but with gun bloggers. I went to GBR II, and spoke for a few minutes about valour-it, and the various bloggers all held a raffle and raised close to $2100 for valour-it. Last year they decided to make valour-it their dedicated charity, and raised over $2k again, both times from their own... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T15:47:10-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032322.html George Stephanopoulos:Hello from Camp Victory just outside of Baghdad. I landed about an hour ago on Vice President Biden's C-17 for what will be the most extensive visit to Iraq by a president or vice president since the war began in 2003. Before we landed Biden called a few of us traveling with him into his aluminum sided airstream trailer strapped to the floor of the C-17. "This is the moment," he told us, "we have to make sure... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T15:37:33-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032320.html CNN: "Soldier's family has been informed". (I've heard this from sources in Afghanistan, too.) I'm adding quotes from news reports as they become available below. As you read, bear in mind that first reports are always wrong. Rumors and scuttlebutt are frequently passed on as news - they may or may not turn out to be completely (rare) or partly (often) true. I'll add only that a soldier can't just accidentally wander off a military installation in Afghanistan or Iraq.... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T07:02:48-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032319.html Completing our ride into Afghanistan... This is the conclusion of a three-part selection from Doug Stanton's Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan. (Part one is here, part two here.) Once again, the words are Stanton's, the voice and formatting are mine - the pictures and video were found all over the web (and in most cases serve only as a reasonable facsimile, and not images of the actual individuals... Greyhawk 2009-07-02T05:21:23-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032318.html My good friend* Grim, just back from Iraq:"So, Grim, you're just back from Iraq... what does it mean that we're 'out of the cities?'" It means that the ISF -- especially the Iraqi Army, and the National Police -- are the first line of defense for urban Iraqis. "Will it work?" No.Read on... *We hung out in Baghdad together, and he's been a guest in my house. Welcome home, Grim.... Greyhawk 2009-07-01T17:58:10-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/032317.html From the archives: I wrote the following from Iraq the day after the January, 2005 elections there. ***** Greetings from a land of bent and broken things Some of you may have noticed I didn't post my own thoughts on yesterday's elections. My reason is simple: it wasn't my day. I watched through tearing eyes. Yes, this old trooper shed a few tears of joy at what had happened. Like the amazing fall of the Berlin wall, the peaceful... Greyhawk 2009-07-01T16:03:44-05:00