This guy's got guts (and he's right)

Could Iranian missiles reach the US by 2015???

Not only has Iran been threatening Israeli and US sites within the middle east with about 600 Shihab missiles, but now it appears that they are in fact working on true ICBM's, possibly placing the US itself within range within 10 years:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299189,00.html

The World's First Hostage Rescue

Many people viewed the movie "300," and were amazed by the courage, boldness and strength of the ancient Spartan soldiers. Their self-sacrifice and dedication are amazing to behold in this day and age when those values are hard to find.

Few people, however, know that such courage could be found in a far more ancient event. Approximately 1500 years BEFORE the Battle of Thermopylae (portrayed in "300"), a group of 318 warriors under set out on what may be the world's very first recorded commando raid. The objective: hostage rescue.

The chapter begins with the unfolding story of a war. Several kings from small kingdoms around what's now Iraq invaded kingdoms in what's now southern Israel. The invading army crushed everyone who had gathered to oppose them.

In the chaos, a man named Lot was taken hostage along with his family and servants. One man escaped, and fled to Lot's uncle, Abram (Abraham). When Abram found out what had happened to his nephew, he got down to business:

Gen 14:14-15
When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

318 men, against an army that certainly numbered in the thousands, possibly in the tens-of-thousands. Dangerous odds, especially when the objective is to recover multiple people alive. What's more, this was in Bronze Age. This mission would have been hazardous enough given to modern day militaries, let alone having to carry it out armed with swords and spears and within arm's reach of your enemies!

Abram's raid could possibly be cited as one of the first examples in human history of guerilla warfare. Certainly it was among the more successful. Not only were the hostages recovered unharmed, but all stolen property recovered. Not only was the enemy defeated, but defeated to such a high extent that they fled beyond Damascus, modern day Syria! To be sure, the exact location and layout of the ground where this incident occurred would be of tremendous value to military historians, seeking to understand just how the ambush was carried out.

Abram's "trained men" must have been well trained indeed. To be able to quickly, quiety and efficiently maneuver to ambush a much larger force is not a matter of luck, any more than the famous Entebbe Raid was just Israel getting lucky. This feat required extreme skill and perfect coordination, and certainly was the result of extremely rigorous and disciplined training. One can only wonder at what that training must have been like.

Regardless, the next time you find yourself talking about the invincible Spartans, remember Abram and his trained men's boldness, 1500 years before...

Arab Woman gives Muslims a Thrashing

Arab-American Psycologist, Wafa Sultan on Al Jazeera TV, Feburary 21, 2006. God bless this lady for her courage!