Tag Archives: Iraq

Clinton: Religious Liberty is Falling in World

The US Department of State recently released its 2011 Report on International Religious Freedom covering 199 nations and territories.  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the state of religious freedom is worsening in the world:

“When it comes to this human right- this key feature of stable, secure, peaceful societies- the world is sliding backwards,” Clinton said.

While much of the publicity has focused on Egypt and Libya for obvious reasons, Secretary Clinton’s statement is particularly enlightening in that two of the primary countries called out in the report are Iraq and Afghanistan — whose governments have only survived because of the support of the United States and the sacrifices of its military.

In other words, religious freedom is suffering Read more

Muslim Soldier Convicted of Bomb Plot will Represent Himself

PFC Naser Abdo, the US Army Soldier convicted of plotting and preparing to kill his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, will represent himself during his sentencing on August 10th.

Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo told U.S. District Judge Walter Smith during a Thursday hearing in Waco, Texas, that he and his attorneys weren’t communicating effectively. Smith granted Abdo’s request to represent himself at his Aug. 10 sentencing.

Abdo was an approved conscientious objector under investigation for child pornography when he went AWOL, planned a high profile execution at Fort Campbell, and then traveled to Fort Hood to emulate his apparent hero, US Army Major Nidal Hasan.

Book Review: Memoirs from Babylon

Chaplain Jeff Bryan
Ingram 2011

Memoirs from Babylon, A Combat Chaplain’s life in Iraq’s Triangle of Death, is the story of Chaplain (Capt) Jeff Bryan’s deployment to Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division from 2006 to 2007.

The book stands as one of the better examples of the “day to day” operations of a chaplain deployed to a US military war zone, both for his perspective on the combat itself but also for the duties to which he tended. He tells repeated stories of counseling soldiers who learn of family deaths back home, scrounging a Catholic chaplain to Read more

ACLU Engages in Campaign for Abortion in US Military

The ACLU has enlisted the help of former servicemembers (“military heroes,” since everyone who was in the military is a “hero”) in a concerted ad campaign to get abortion funding approved in the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013.  Similar attempts have been made virtually every year and have failed.

Advocates are launching a full-court press in favor of allowing the military to fund abortions in cases of rape or incest, but some Capitol Hill insiders say past failures bode ill for the measure’s survival.

An amendment allowing abortion funding Read more

Defending Freedom Around the World, except Religious Freedom

Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture raises an interesting observation about the US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the culture of freedom in our strongest “ally” in the region, Pakistan:

The US is committed to a foreign policy that defends human rights. Yet in the countries where our troops have been fighting during the past decade, one fundamental human right—the right to religious freedom—has been diminished rather than enhanced, particularly for Christians.

In Iraq the Christian minority is in flight, hounded and Read more

Chaplains Serve and Struggle in Face of War

CNN recently featured a frontpage story about US Army Chaplain Darren Turner, who served in Iraq.  Upon his return, he suffered from the very things about which he counseled his Soldiers.  His family fell apart.

When his 15-month tour was over, Turner returned home to face all the problems he had counseled his soldiers about: anger, depression, stress and – most important for him – preserving relationships with loved ones.

With God’s help, Chaplain Turner saw what was going on, and he Read more

Muslim US Soldier Convicted in Terrorist Bomb Plot

PFC Naser Abdo, the Islamic US Soldier turned conscientious objector turned bomb plotter, has been convicted of attempting to bomb a local Fort Hood restaurant and kill his fellow soldiers.

A federal jury Thursday convicted Abdo, a Muslim soldier, on six charges in connection with his failed plot to blow up a Texas restaurant full of Fort Hood troops, his religious mission to get “justice” for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

His confessed motivation?  Religion.  Read more

Marine Crusaders Become Werewolves, Again

According to MSNBC, the VMFA-122 Crusaders were “ordered to reverse” their decision to return to the “Crusaders” moniker.

“The deputy commandant for aviation [Lt. Gen. Terry Robling] directed VMFA 122 to maintain the unit identification as the Werewolves,” said Marines public information officer Lt. Col. Joseph Plenzler. “I called down there to confirm that they have changed the tail markings, squadron patches” and other places the squadron logo appears, he said.

The Marines gave no reason for the order, giving Michael Weinstein — who had called the Marines a “national security threat” for the move — the blood in the water he needed to claim victory and make further demands:  Read more

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