Midnight Blue Says

How Could You Not Help The Adorable Mug..and His Dog Too!

My friend Jean emailed this request to me and I am asking for your help in bringing Sage safely home. Please help Sage by donating funds to bring her home.

I’d like to introduce you to Sage and Lcpl Werner, their photo is attached to this email:

Lance Corporal Alex Werner lives in Milford, PA. He is the 2nd of four children. He joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, and chose to be a combat engineer since he’d always enjoyed construction, as well as destruction – ie bombs and blowing things up with them. One night while on a mission with his platoon in Iraq, Lcpl Werner’s vehicle rounded a corner and a dog ran out in front of them. The dog was killed, leaving behind a puppy who was on the side of the road. Lcpl Werner heard her crying and caught her (not an easy task he says). From that moment on, she has been with Lcpl Werner and the rest of the Marines of his platoon, being loved on by them and, according to Major Kleber’s telling, carried everywhere by them. The men have named the dog Sage. She is being showered with love and affection and toys that have been sent in care packages.

SPCA International has agreed to assist with transporting Sage back to the US from Iraq. Due to operational movements, it may be necessary to bring her home very soon. The cost of bring a dog from Iraq is over $7,000. SPCA International covers the majority of the costs, but requires the service member to provide at least $1,000 towards the cost of his own pup’s transport.

I am asking that everyone consider giving a gift to SPCA International to help get Sage home where she will live with Lcpl Werner upon his return from Iraq. If everyone gives just $10.00-$25.00 each, we can easily raise the $1,000 required to get Sage home and help take that burden off of Lcpl Werner.

Donations can be made multiple ways. Checks can be sent to SPCA International

Operation Baghdad Pups Program

P.O. Box 1230

Washington, DC  20013

The memo line should read “Operation Baghdad Pups – Sage”

Credit card donations can also be made on the website SPCAI

If you would prefer to purchase items that will be used to bring Sage home, such as her crate, please get in touch with me and I will get you a list of items that need to be purchased for her.

Via Instapundit:

“THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:”

Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good.

“There’s nothing going on. I’m with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I’m with haven’t fired their weapons on this tour and they’ve been here eight months. And the place we’re at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there’s nothing going on. I’ve been walking my feet off and haven’t seen anything. I’ve been asking Iraqis, ‘do you think the violence will kick up again,’ but even the Iraqi journalists are sounding optimistic now and they’re usually dour.” There’s a little bit of violence here and there, but nothing that’s a threat to the general situation. Plus, not only the Iraqi Army, but even the National Police are well thought of by the populace. Training from U.S. toops has paid off, he says, in building a rapport.

He says the big problem everybody is talking about now is corruption. But hey, we have that here, too. He’ll be heading to Afghanistan next week. “Afghanistan is a bad situation, but on Iraq I can’t believe things have turned out so well.”

He thinks that Obama will be able to pull troops out, and send some to Afghanistan, without creating problems in Iraq. Michael will be reporting from Afghanistan soon, and sending back video, so stay tuned. Things aren’t going swimmingly there.

UPDATE: Zombie declares November 22 to be Victory in Iraq day

Inspired by the 2005 World Tribunal:

Fox News Reports:

Aug. 26: In this photo released by the Iraqi police, a girl suspected of being a suicide bomber is seen handcuffed to railings in a street in Baqouba.

Iraqi police released dramatic photos of a teenage girl who apparently was ready to blow herself up in front of a school in Baqouba.

When police approached her outside the school Sunday afternoon, she was crying and gave no indication she knew about the explosives she was wearing under her colorful robes.

The girl, who identified herself as Rania, told police that she was wearing a vest — which turned out to be packed with 33 pounds of explosives — and that two women, perhaps her husband’s relatives, had told her to wait outside the school. She said her husband personally had fitted her for the vest.

Going…

Via Brussels Journal and SnappedShot

Belgian police is protecting a 17th century pulpit in the Flemish town of Dendermonde. The pulpit in the Catholic church of Our Lady dates from 1685, two years after the battle of Vienna when the Christian armies of the Polish King John III Sobieski defeated the Turks MUSLIMS poised to overrun Europe. The sculpted wooden pulpit, made by Mattheus van Beveren, depicts a man subdued by angels and represents the triumph of Christianity over Islam. The man is generally thought to be Mohammed. He is holding a book which is generally assumed to be the Koran.

Going…

Via New York Times:

Five men were arrested in Bologna in northern Italy this week after their behavior inside a basilica aroused police officers’ suspicions that they were plotting a terrorist attack, Italian law enforcement officials said today. The men, who were arrested on Monday morning, included four Moroccans Muslims, according to the officials. The police at the San Petronio Basilica, which is one of Italy’s Gothic treasures, had been on alert because it contains a 15th-century fresco with a depiction of the prophet Muhammad among demons in hell that has drawn complaints from Muslims. Officials said they transcribed and translated what the four Moroccans were saying while the video camera was on. According to that transcript, one of them said, ”What Bin Laden does is what needs doing here.”

GONE….

Via CNN and The Sniper

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Afghanistan’s Taleban has destroyed two giant Buddhas carved into a cliff centuries ago, pictures obtained by CNN show. United Nations officials confirmed the claims made by the Taleban, which announced last month it would destroy images deemed “offensive to Islam.”

What will we allow to be destroyed next?

Video of one of the worst streets in Baghdad and the turnaround there since the surge began.