To Mr Arkin, and all the other anti-military and anti-war notroots, here is the word from one of the "boots on the ground".

He clearly lays out the perspective of many of the military people I have spoken to.

Thank you Sgt Jeffers, for your service, and for your words.

Hope Rides Alone

USA Sgt. Eddie Jeffers, USA (Iraq)

February 1, 2007      

I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.

I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again...and yet, I too, am just a boy....my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there. 

There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own...but that are necessary for survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who walk in the same streets...who feel the same things, whether they admit to it or not.

And to think, I volunteered for this...

And I am ignorant to the rest of the world...or so I thought.

Yes his powers as a Jedi are incredible.

His mystery post that last night was dates at 5:31 am, is now dated 5:31 PM

Magic!  Now suddenly it jives with the comments and everyone's memory of it appearing.

I am sure it was "just a glitch."

Others:  Candy Slice, American Pundit (and here), Riehl World View, Blue Crab Boulevard, Power Line, Media Blog and Outside The Beltway

And I mean that literally.  Like a few other observant bloggers, I was suprised when this post appeared in his side bar:

A Note to My Readers on Supporting the Troops 

I swear that since it magically appeared I have seen it move in position at least once, and now it appears just previous to his much more insulting "second" post, The Arrogant and Intolerant Speak Out.

Dan Reihl is fairly certain he did a late breaking time stamp change to artificially date it in between. 

However, most everyone who read his second insulting post, The Arrogant and Intolerant Speak Out - time stamped 9:39 AM can't seem to recall the now middle post linked at top being there until sometime this afternoon.

Is Arkin pulling a John Kerry by back tracking, or attempting a triple flip that would put a world class gymnast to shame? The latter may be more true. 

Maybe he did, I cannot prove such a thing, nor will I take on that particular tast.  The truth is that for a small time blogger such a thing is easy, but for a high powered popular blogger, it is not.  People notice.

I will however, say that it is odd that this post is dated at 5:31 am, but the first comment is not until 5:47 PM

But to examine his post on face value, it is a suck up piece that apologies, kisses up the troops, and then blames them for the war.

Here we go again.  I just cannot resist responded to this train wreck of a journalist.

I knew when I used the word "mercenary" in my Tuesday column that I was being highly inflammatory.

And yet you used it anyway, in a purely flippant manner.  Is that the standards of journalism you employ regularly?

I intentionally chose to criticize the military and used the word to incite and call into question their presumption that the public had a duty to support them. The public has duties, but not to the American military.