Another radio show host

When Afgam Mujeeb Saify became an interpreter for the US 3 years ago, he spoke Urdu, Pashtu, Dari, Panjabi and English. Then, he used his spare time to take classes in Arabic.

In his "spare time" he started hosting a weekly radio broadcast called “Shedding Light on the Civil War in Afghanistan.” His show became so well-known that the Taliban offered 1 million Afghanis for his capture and death. But he's still on the air.

He has also written a paper on the importance of true democracy for Afghanistan. Then he applied for a scholarship to Georgetown University, with the support of a number of faculty members there. If accepted, he may start classes as early as this summer.

After 2 years, interpreters working on behalf of our military have a chance to get a special immigration visa. Saify noted that many translators want to go to America to
enjoy our many freedoms, including partying or dancing, which have been forbidden by the Taliban in the past.

He hopes to study toward a doctorate in diplomacy and political science. Of course, he wants to bring his family with him to America, but plans to later return to his home country and possibly enter politics. “My goal is to serve Afghanistan,” he said. Three cheers for this talk-radio show host.

Join the Taliban

The current prime minister of Iraq mentioned joining the Taliban. Our president is shocked by such a statement. Am I the only one who thinks that maybe the message is a request that we stay in Iraq for a lot longer with a large fighting force, because the bad guys do know our withdrawal schedule and very, very likely plan to wait until we're gone and then kill everyone who has anything to do with the current government? Granted, the Iraqi national government is a mass of confusion with all kinds of claims and counter claims about who won the recent election. But we do want a stable government in Iraq don't we? I thought that was the goal.

Our Navy SEALs

On this Easter Sunday I was thinking about the brave men and women who have fought and died to protect our right to freely practice our faith. Then I thought of the wonderful Navy SEALs who are being prosecuted for, perhaps, punching a know terrorist they were sent to capture. I simply can not imagine why the senior uniformed people in these SEALs chain of command aren't resigning in protest against whatever power is persisting on this prosecution. What a terrible message we are sending to the very few Americans who are willing to wear our country's uniform.

Pirates

The sea captain who was a prisoner of pirates until he was rescued by our brave navy SEALs last year now has a book out. The news also includes the story of some pirates who attacked a US Navy warship; they are now either dead or captured. Earlier this year we interviewed a sea captain whose anti-pirate plans include ambushing them and simply blowing them away. Piracy is a real problem in the world today; it affects the US because when ships are captured or when money is spent to aviod capture that drives the price of goods up on the world market. Captured ships and their crews are held for randsom; we certainly don't want American ships, cargo, or crews captured. Pirates are a real menace. We'll soon be interviewing on the show a sea captan who goes out and steals back ships that have been wrongfully seized.

Oxygen therapy

There was an item in the news that military docs are proposing a form of oxygen therapy for troops suffering from head wounds. Oxygen in the blood does promote healing (I'm no doc, so I'm just taking their word for this), so putting folks in an oxygen only environment, perhaps under pressure, will put more oxygen in the blood. I'm glad to see that we're continuing to look for ways to heal our wounded warriros. The article didn't mention it, but I assume that all the troops participating in the test will we volunteers.

In Tampa

Somehow it's harder to think about work when I'm in Tampa--which I am. My wife and I were stationed in Tampa for 7 years when I was on active duty. I spent 4 years assigned to US Readiness Command at MacDill Air Force Base (which we called Fort MacDill). I was the Mideast war planner. Then I was offered and took the Professor of Military Science (Department Head of the Army ROTC) at the University of Tampa. Since then we tend to return to Tampa for Spring Break to visit friends and enjoy the sun. We often stay on base at MacDill, as we are this year. It's a pleasure to be back in a military community where service to our nation is the norm and pride in our flag and accomplishments is part of the culture. I do believe that every young person should be required to serve our nation.

Terror in Russia

Terror isn't just for democracies. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow's subway system as it was packed with rush-hour passengers this past Monday, reportedly killing at least 37 people and wounding 102.

The head of Russia's main security agency said preliminary investigation indicates that the bombers were rebels from the Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russian forces since the mid-1990s.

The first explosion took place just before 8 am at Moscow's Lubyanka station, which happens to be underneath the building that houses the main offices of the Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor agency. This kind of thing has been going on around the world for some time. It's not going to end anytime soon.