Deb and I saw this film today. Directed by Clint Eastwood, but filmed entirely in Japanese, with English subtitles. Really good movie. I've not yet seen Flags of our Fathers, it's companion film.

Quoted: Letters from Iwo Jima on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...

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Excellent background on the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Somalia produced by Al Jazeera/English (24 minutes) (reported by Aiden Hartley).

News reports now are that the predicted war with Ethiopia (backed by the UN and US) has routed the Islamic forces, including killing 1,000's of the young, poorly trained fighters that were sent to defend Somalia from the Ethiopian army occupying Somalia.

Once again, a failure to use negotiation and diplomacy has lead to more senseless killing. We may not agree with the Islamic Courts and the kind of government they were trying to create - but does that mean "we" (the west, Christians, Ethiopia) have to kill them?

Bob Woodward's new book seems like the most damning in his series of books covering the Bush Presidency, and our descent into war. 60-minutes interviewed Woodward last Sunday - the revelations were astounding. In secret, the administration knew that the war was getting increasingly violent, with the insurgency growing stronger every day.

In public, they are feeding the American People a story of hope and progress....stay the course.

The scariest thing is that Kissinger is back in the picture, and has become among the President and Cheney's closest advisors. Kissinger is playing out his "victory is the only option" plan that so failed him in Vietnam.

Quoted: Amazon.com: State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III: Books: Bob Woodward by Bob Woodward

Ceasefire starts tonight (8AM Monday in Lebanon). 30K Israeli's are in Lebanon now. Both sides are using the last hours before the cease fire to try to do as much damage to the enemy as possible.

As I write this, war is heating up in the Balkans and it looks like once again the U.S. could be sending troops into battle. This book is the story of marksman Carlos Hathcock who's exploits as a sniper in Vietnam have become legendary. With a white feather in his hat, he ventured out into the jungle alone to wreak havoc on the enemy. The level of discipline and personal commitment to do this job was, for me, the fascinating part of this story.

Interestingly, many of the reviews on the Amazon bookstore site are from people who claim to know Carlos personally. When he died (1998) the Wall Street Journal ran an article on Sgt. Hathcock, which is how I found this book in the first place. His fans and relatives entered memorials to him in the book reviews on the site!

Despite the almost universal enthusiasm by Amazon reviewers for the book (and Hathcock), I found the writing to be uneven. There are a couple of stories that keep you on the edge of your seat but other sections seem to ramble on to pad the content out to book length. Amazingly, none of the reviewers of the book note how sad it is that a man of great personal initiative gave his will over to that of his government to fight in a war that ultimately accomplished nothing.

Quoted: Amazon.com: Marine Sniper: Books: Charles W. Henderson by Charles W. Henderson

Instant Order Update for Mike Koss. You purchased this item on May 18, 1998