Oregon's Racist Legislature Rears its Ugly Head

(SALEM, Ore.) - I don't know Brian Boquist; but it's common knowledge that he has a huge stake in war profits and that is an absolute, hard and cold fact.

A Senate Bill brought forward by Senator Brian Boquist and another Republican Senator named Jason Atkinson, ensures that Oregonians show hate toward Iran while flailing false and totally unfounded allegations about the country.

It comes as no surprise. Boquist makes big bucks off the war effort. Just look him up on Google. He's a Salem, Oregon-based war contractor when he isn't coming up with ridiculous laws that we will live to regret.

And now we see that he actually uses his political office and influence to stimulate his war profiteering. That should horrify Oregonians. It seems like a war with Iran would keep business moving, even though private security firms like Blackwater and others have largely been rejected by the American public. An Iraq vet who served in a command setting directing combat soldiers on missions as a military officer, Boquist was a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, of course, and where has that gotten us? I state this because of his lengthy stint as a military officer serving there. It is fair to note that Boquist publicly opposed a ground war in Iraq from the start, according to records. He told the Salem Statesman-Journal in September 2002 that "chicken hawks" in Washington were starting a war with "no logical reason to it." (see: Could Western Propaganda About Iran Spark a Third World War? - Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-New.com)

After the attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001, the second-largest candlelight vigil honoring the fallen Americans in the world, was held in Tehran, Iran.

Today Oregon's legislature reared its racist head in voting to support legislation that condemns Iran over lies generated by the spin doctors at FOX News.

This will be the interpretation to people all over the world when they learn the the Oregon Senate has officially condemned the nation of Iran, formerly known as Persia.

Most Iranians are peaceful and none have raised a hand toward us. Iran is a nation of people trying to get from one day to the next like we are. If Boquist got his wish and sparked a conflict in Iran though this bill that resembles, but is more than a nuisance, he would be opening the door to the last war that would be fought. It would be WWIII and nobody would win. Scaring and frightening and intimidating like this, historically leads to massive death.

But these Oregon legislators want you to believe that Iran is fueling the insurgency and threatens Oregon soldiers soon to deploy to Iraq. The biggest threat against them in reality, are the politicians who allowed the Iraq war to take place at all.

Just apply ample fearmongering and lies from Oregon Senators Brian Boquist and Jason Atkinson with that lame accusation, and you get SB 633.

When it comes to people in Iran, it is true that some are going to be connected to a war of occupation taking place in the country immediately adjacent to theirs. That doesn't take a degree in rocket science Senators, does it?

If they were able to stimulate a conflict with Iran with their paranoid and fictitious statements, then they would create new combat tours for out worn down veterans. That is no advocacy for America.

Remember that our ally Pakistan is infested with Taliban and that is actually where they originate from. Yet Boquist isn't trying to tear down the walls of that country, in spite of the vast number of jihadists that fight our misplaced forces in Iraq.

These politicians have done a real disservice to our nation and our state with their backward message of intolerance. I have been studying the history of Iran for a long time and I have written numerous articles in an effort to educate the public about how and why things are the way they are.

On July 3, 1988, the U.S.S. Vinceness blew an Iranian jet out of the skies, killing 290 innocent civilian from six nations including 66 children.

Then U.S. officials were caught in a lie about the Iranian pilots not following an order to turn.

As it turned out they were on a different radio frequency, the weren't violating anybody's air space, and a trigger happy American committed one of the single biggest acts of mass murder in history with the squeeze of a trigger.

The U.S. government tried a couple of different tactics, and then under increasing world pressure, they eventually came clean about lying. There was no reason to shoot that passenger liner with hundreds of souls down.

Israel on the other hand, attacked the U.S.S. Liberty during the Six Day War in 1967 killing numerous American sailors and injuring several dozen. The American flag flew clear that day as the Israeli planes and then ships kept attacking and attacking. (see: The Day Israel Attacked the United States - Tim King Salem-News.com and note the comments from the Liberty's actual survivors)

Then there is our former friend, Saddam Hussein, who had just as many bad qualities in 1980n as he did later in life. He was paid by the U.S. to invade Iran during the needless Iran/Iraq War and thousands upon thousands of Iraqi's and Iranians were killed.

In the most direct sense, Iran was totally and completely economically screwed over by the British in the post war years and then the Americans joined in once Truman was in office.

Truman also facilitated Israel, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and an endless list of battles and wars. Any history student knows he also ignored every attempt from Vietnam to avoid war and instead decided to fund the French re-occupation in 1947, which ultimately led to our own war there and the deaths of over 58,000 Americans. Truman liked war and conflict it seems, and he also backed the British in their refusal to pay Iran fair or even legal prices for their oil.

Britain and U.S. agents took out the first Democratically elected President of Iran and kidnapped the Shah two years after the end of WWII. They kept the Shah in a CIA prison for nine months and then released him back to Iran to be a western puppet leader until the Revolution of 1979. (see: Warmongers, Chickenhawks, FOX News and Iran (VIDEO) - Tim King Salem-News.com)

We got cheap oil until '79, the Shah made sure of that, and our nation's response to that cheap oil was the gas guzzling luxury car.

In the mid to late 40's, the Iranian government tried to get the Brits to open up the books and to pay the agreed upon amount for Iranian oil, and the British Anglo Iranian Oil Company refused. The response was the killing of Iran's President who was U.S. educated by the way. His fatal mistake? He had threatened to nationalize his nation's oil like Hugo Chavez.

This all set the stage for how everything in the following years would go down. When WWII ended there was a chance for peace in the world.

Israel could have taken form but not by killing and stealing from the Palestinians. I do not believe that is how God wanted anything; the Bible has been abused by Israeli Zionists for a little over a hundred years now.

The west is 100% responsible for what has happened over there and the Oregon legislature has dared to speak for the people of Oregon in a sickening way.

They say Senate Bill 633 will stop the investment of state resources in the country of Iran, "one of the world's most tyrannical and feared nations."

Gee, do you think Oregon DHS will keep using India for their phone calls? Were they ever using Iran for anything? Oh wait, maybe this will affect Iranian students who go to school here. It certainly will add to the ridiculous Islamophobia that is taking place on campuses everywhere.

Could this be possible? In reality, Iran has done nothing to deserve this serious onslaught of western media lies. President Ahmadinejad does not deny the Holocaust, his country is developing nuclear power, not nuclear weapons. (see: Iran Stresses Diplomatic Solution to Nuclear Standoff - Salem-News.com)

He also was denied permission to offer his respect at Ground Zero; in spite of the outpouring of support from Iran after 9/11.

I don't care what anybody says, that's being a rotten host and an ungracious nation. He could have at least been treated as well as George W. Bush treated the visiting Taliban in Texas when he was the state's governor.

Besides, people in Iran are in many cases, extremely westernized, and they are fond of Americans. Women often cover their heads but they generally don't wear Burqa's like the women in allied nations Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, where women are seriously oppressed.

You have the religious fanatics in Iran but that is not the average Iranian. The nation's president speaks and U.S. news agencies mistranslate his words, always coming up with more and more lies.

Iran is not supporting the action against the United States' occupation of Iraq. They aren't stupid. There are people in Iran who hate the occupation of an Arab country, of course. What person over there wouldn't?

The U.S. isn't a religious nation. Contrary to what some may believe, Americans have a separation of Church and State. Israel is a Church state. There is no reason that the U.S. should look the other way over Israel's recent murderous attack on the people of Gaza. Yet this isn't a subject that I know of with Boquist.

The Israeli government and western media repeatedly and continually talk about "Hamas rocket attacks" and Israel's "right to defend itself".

Israel had blockaded the people of Gaza and refused to honor an agreement to take down the barriers at a particular border crossing to allow some amount of freedom. The rocket attacks were a feeble attempt to pressure Israel to keep its end of a deal it agreed to.

Here's the score and this can be verified in any number of sources: More than 1,400 Gazans were killed by the Israeli attack that began in December and ended last January. The Israeli Defense Force used White Phosphorous and dropped it on the roofs of Gazan houses burning a great number of people to death. (The Real Images of Gaza (VIDEO) - Tim King Salem-News.com)

Counting the heavily discussed "Hamas rocket attack deaths", Israel lost a total of 14 people. That includes all soldiers lost in the attack on Gaza and four of the deaths were friendly fire; committed by Israel's own guns.

Israel has cost the world more than any other nation. It is a place based in racist policies that used Biblical references to overtake and steal the land they now occupy from the Palestinians. If you aren't Jewish, you probably aren't going to get very far there. If you are a Muslim whose family has lived there for hundreds of years, you live under tremendous oppression because of your faith.

And while all this takes place and the Oregon legislature could have drafted an honest bill condemning trade between Israel and the U.S. for their murderous crimes, it went for SB 633.

I'm sure Oregonians would have appreciated the ability to trade with any nation they choose to.

So much for freedom, eh? The Republicans who shoved this through are working off fear tactics as they label the crimes of Israel on Iran which is not complicit in any acts against the U.S.

The line they have been pushing is that "Iranian-supported insurgents" are a threat to American soldiers. Funny, that wasn't a subject of any kind when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan covering the wars. Iran is a long way away, and there are many differences between these countries and alot of bad blood and rivalry. Iran along with Pakistan, is one of the countries that Afghans fled to by the million after the Soviet invasion in 1979.

I personally wish I could take all of the people who still think invading Iraq was a good idea, put 'em on a plane and drop them off in Baghdad. Let them see what this horrible bloody conflict is really about, and not the view from a command post.

And Senator Boquist, on a different subject, why is it that you failed to return my calls when I was preparing to go to Iraq last summer? You remember, I was wondering if your military contractor outfit might have had body armor that I could borrow and take over there. Apparently it wasn't even interesting enough to you to have one of your staffers return the call.

No worries, an Army Master Sergeant in Kuwait signed his name and I got the full Army issue.

Here's the language from the bill, "Iran aids and abets the enemies of the United States, is guilty of numerous humanitarian violations and has been a recognized state sponsor of terror since 1984.

The bill passed 27 to 3, with Senators Metsger, Burdick and Carter voting against it. Remember those names, Rick Metsger, Ginny Burdick and Margaret Carter. These are the Oregonians who have their heads on straight and they know this is a tragic mistake.

Then Boquist's bill has the nerve to say "Iran sanctions the use of horrific methods of torture".

They cite the number of Oregonians killed in Iraq, a war that absolutely should never have been waged, and then they tie it to Iran which has nothing to do with it.

“There are Oregonians today who have lost their father, their husband, their mother, their wife, their son, their daughter because of Iranian intervention in Iraq,” said Boquist. “We are sending thousands of Oregon’s bravest into harms way and both the substance and the symbol of state government investing in Iran is just wrong.”

Boquist lamented the dissenting votes, saying “It is disappointing that we didn’t pass this bill unanimously and send a message of strength and solidarity to our troops who are right now heading towards danger in Iraq,” said Boquist.

Gotta keep those wheels greased, keep those wars coming. Iraq is winding down, Boquist might become part of this economic struggle the rest of us who aren't war contractors seem to be experiencing.

Surely getting everyone worked up over lies about Iran is the logical course. 114 Oregonians have been killed in action in Iraq and more than 497 have been wounded. Not a single one of them should have been there in the first place, and Oregonians should be outraged over this behavior from Boquist.

Twelve other states have passed legislation banning investment of state funds in Iran. The bill now moves to the House for consideration. Please have sense Oregon legislators! You don't have to approve this, you don't have to be pressured by war contractors who double as lawmakers.

It's kind of funny that this fell into my hands today. The Republican politicians at the capitol for the most part, refuse to send us their press releases. That's possibly because the things they go after wreak of intolerance like this.

Of course I could visit their Websites and follow up on matters in any number of ways, but I am so busy just working through the political news releases that arrive in the Salem-News.com mailbox that I can't see straight half the time. Some day when our general news staff expands I will have the time to watch for this type of harmful legislation.

In summary, support of Israel is what this bill is. Israel expands its territory with a Zionist philosophy which places Jewish people ahead of all others over their religion. That is racism; especially in a country that many believe was illegally occupied Iran neither deserves not should expect to learn of such ridiculous legislation.

Back when President Bush seemed like the most serious threat in terms of starting a conflict with Iran, I assembled this video with photos from my friend Roya in Iran. Just replace "Bush" with "Boquist" and it should get the point across:

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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gp February 24, 2010 9:07 am (Pacific time)

don't forget that our guy Boquist was private security for the criminal Charles Taylor of Liberia. Now, that is one little bit of info that shows where his ethics are. It was easy to see he opposed the war and still made money on it so his supposed oposition to the war is nada. He is a war profiteer and body guard to a criminal. I don't trust him a second. Why did he remove all the info for his mercenary group ISI of Oregon? Maybe it would be good to find that old issue of the The Portland Alliance that detailed all his dirty little games.

Travis, Family Resources May 8, 2009 8:33 am (Pacific time)

Do you not find it to be rather ironic that when a corporately controlled democracy receives a wink and a nod from the corporately controlled UN to evade a free society in order to incorporate a countries resources it's called a Liberator, yet, when the peoples of the evaded country sets out to form a resistance in order to protect its countries resources, it is deemed a Terrorist organization by the corporately owned medias? From my perspective Great Brittan, Is-Ra-El, The US and other so called "Democracies" have been hijacked, thus the peoples of countries such as Venezuela, Iran, China and Russia, have and will exercise their right to defend themselves from the corporate take over of these democratic countries. I believe, or maybe it's just my hope that what the seer of The Book of Revelation viewed was the peoples of these non-democratic countries forming an alliance in order to liberate the peoples from the democracies whose aristocratic dictatorship has ruled them for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Thus reuniting the sons of Abraham and restoring The Holy Land to its rightful owners. The real question here should be; who, or what is this aristocracy? Many speculate that they are the Illuminati from The Book of Enoch, or the rouges working from within The Freemasons, and/ or Vatican II. But is it possible that they, this "Family" is a social memory complex that calls itself "Lucifer" that is found in The Book of Job, The Law of One, The Apocrypha and many other sources? Al Qaeda was created by the CIA; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-hYorNi0nA It appears that the truth is often more difficult to reckon than the many illusions fed to us by their corporately owned religions and other media outlets. Most people appear to have an emotional loyalty to their own preconceived set of ideals based on their experiences, these medias, and their own fears of the unknown. "If you wish to control a man, allow him to believe that he is free." I will not be returning to this post. Therefore, if you wish to comment regarding my comment, please see my Contact Us on my website. Namasté, Travis, Family Resources; http://www.focusonrecovery.net

Henry Ruark May 7, 2009 3:04 pm (Pacific time)

May 7 re "conservative" values: Easy-shot to claim as you do, but where are your "see with own eyes" links to substantiate your generalities from ONLY personal statement ? IF so very prevalent, surely published somewheres you can cite, in national nonpartisan source. For me, from surveillance of many sources, your statements ring very hollow, so I question your "facts"with no findings from professional sources to back your words.

May 7, 2009 12:47 pm (Pacific time)

I would like to point out that not only the majority of current active duty military have conservative values (the majority of them are not 18-20, but spread across all age groups) but all veterans living as per poll after poll verifies this conservative voting pattern and mores/value system. Currently you have the present administration via the head of DHS essentially calling out our veterans as potential terrorists. I could care less about the pundits, regardless of their ideology, but the welfare of our vetrans is a top priority for myself, family and friends. We take the time to assist via action, not just talking about it. There are many sites that provide a complete demographic breakdown on our active duty military, e.g. , age, gender, education, etc. You may be suprised just how many older people enlist to serve who have extensive backgrounds in a variety of fields. We are very fortunate to have these people volunteer who know doubt have knowledge of the potential dangers that they face. These people are heroes and if they develop PTSD or have other problems we must provide them with all they need to be made whole as they possibly can.

Tim King: You know at the end of the day I could care less about their politics and I'm sure you feel the same way. There are many people serving that are older, that is a fact. My point is that when it comes down to the folks who go outside the wire on patrols, the majority are very young. I used to eat dinner with a Colonel from the Arkansas Guard who was almost 70-years old. So I'm not suggesting there isn't a big age range, there is. The military is a bit of a trap too on the employment field and we shouldn't forget that. A lot of young guys in the Army just don't have a better alternative for employment. I just care about them, all of them, and I am gravely concerned for our Oregon soldiers heading to Iraq right now. I fear it will be much worse than anyone expects. The famous "Surge" was effective under Bush in terms of bringing peace because we paid off our Sunni enemies. Now those programs for the "Sons of Iraq" were cut in half and handed back to the Iraqi Shiite government to fund. They said they would fund half, and I heard yesterday through the mom of a Marine currently serving there that the Iraqi's are not making payments.

gp May 7, 2009 12:21 pm (Pacific time)

I like it that you folks down at Salem-News print the nasty comments of the people who disagree with you. If one reads both your article and then surveys these replies it is clear who has a grasp of history and who nit picks little details in the hopes of diminishing the power of your essay. I am very happy to be able to read an opinion piece which does not pretend to be anything else, in particular, unbiased. That damn so called objective journalism does not exist but becomes the refuge of appologists. Thank you again Tim and keep writing stuff like that wonderful rant that went beyond being about BB, the evil little lead assed bullet.

Henry Ruark May 7, 2009 12:34 pm (Pacific time)

Carl: Your generalities too broad and UNinformed for specific challenge; but I note you give us nothing but your personal declaration. IF you can prove any one of them from rational recognized national sources, unpartisan in record, please now give links for each one. Otherwise you remain only an obviously malign, misinformed multiply-negative nonentity, with no proven source except biased, distorted statement easily proven-so. Provide "see with own eyes" checkable information or you must accept role of gainsayer gone to seedy demise from lack of any possible rational support.

Vic May 7, 2009 12:07 pm (Pacific time)

Tim, your last comment to Carl was right on...thats all I can say !!

Daniel May 7, 2009 11:03 am (Pacific time)

Carl you confuse Americas economic powers with Americas interest for its people ! Starting wars for profit is NOT in Americas interest , nor does it serve the brave young people in the military . I have started and am running several successful enterprises that employ many at a good wage , i am also a veteran . I vote the candidate not the party line , altho i have not seen a good conservative in many years . Speaking of your friends at news corp , i take Glen Beck at his word when he says " why would anybody listen to me on economics a self educated dj , who is a recovering alcoholic , and did not start reading anything until after 911 " Yes why would any thinking person listen to this clown ! What about the pill freak Rush , he NEVER served in the military , and now he talking against Americas elected leadership ! Rush is a loud mouth traitor , Is he your leader ?

Carl Jameson May 7, 2009 8:47 am (Pacific time)

It is laughable how just a very few of you actually make comments on this site. I expect that talk radio hosts and the Fox network with their audiences numbering in the millions will pay scant attention to this site, which is unfortunate. I have noticed some of you are pro-veteran, but did you know that the vast majority vote for conservative candidates? I have never met Boquist, but I have always believed that when most people attack someone they generally do so out of fear and ignorance. Have just one of you ever had to make a life and death decision as an officer or senior NCO during combat? Have you ever just called in air or artillery support? Have you ever ran a successful business where that success kept many families earning a good living? Have you ever held political office? Back to veterans, they all come from a wide variety of occupations and educational backgrounds, coupled with the fact that they serve American interests and keep us safe. So how come they vote in the majority for conservative candidates and obviously hold conservative values? Are they just dunderheads? Or are those who hold opposing views the real dunderheads?

Tim King: Carl, who is the average person serving in the war right now? I'll answer it for you; they're 18 to 20-year old males who have not had time in their lives to really have a grasp on the world.

While other kids are going to college and holding regular jobs, these young men and women are sent into the most horrible conditions imaginable. Some will benefit from the experience, many will not. The reason people in the military tend to lean conservative is because they are in the military, just like that. It isn't the peace corps and conservatives lay claim to the military

But the young soldiers aren't learning critical thinking; they're learning how to follow orders and do what they're told. When people serve in a war and commit to it and dedicate themselves to doing the best possible job, it is hard for them to turn around and say what they have done with their lives could have been something else, it is hard to imagine that a war they were sent to fight to was actually wrong and fought for all the wrong reasons.

Rather than dropping to the name calling thing, it is more important to try to understand why people are in this fix. Americans are taught many things as children and one is that the military is an honorable organization. Our servicemembers need to not be abused and sent on repeated tours that would push the limits for any human being. PTSD is a huge problem along with veteran suicide; we need to take care of these folks. In that context, starting an additional war with Iran is one of the worst ideas any politician has ever hatched.

Aurelia May 7, 2009 6:52 am (Pacific time)

I know that many reporters are thanking Tim for having the courage to tell the truth about Boquist. He has no friends in the liberal nor the conservative media.

Daniel May 6, 2009 8:57 pm (Pacific time)

Shamus i see your friends at news corp posted a 70% drop in income and will be charging for there on line content soon . Tim and Bonnie are head and shoulders above people like Beck and Rush , the recovering alcoholic and the pill freak . Meredith Israel is nuclear armed to the point of blowing up the entire mid east and starting ww3 . Both Pakistan and India are nuclear armed .The hostages in the 70s was in response to letting there former leader who killed and maimed thousand thru his secret police enter into America for medical treatment , all the hostages were let go , not one was killed ! The Marines in Lebanon were put at the bottom of a hill in the middle of a war zone without a clear mission by Ronald Raygun . The New Jersey with its 16'' guns shelled the crap out of the local civilians in response !

Vic May 6, 2009 6:30 pm (Pacific time)

Great article ! To "Meredith" and the rest of you Likudniks..."me thinks thou dost protest a bit too much". It must suck for you to see Americans starting to want to look out for AMERICAN interests, huh?

gail parker May 6, 2009 5:48 pm (Pacific time)

Tim, my hero, It is about time someone let that rat Boquist have it. Don't forget our mister legislative war profiteer also bought his little fleet of planes and helicopters at a Russian mafia garage sale after the collapse of communism in the early '90's, he will be there ready to buy American weaponry as soon as our capitalist ecconomy gets done imploding, you betcha by golly. Old Hooley was afraid to stick her neck out but I kept voting for her to keep him out, this is a very dangerous and evil man.I am sad for Oregon to have him and his sidekick A in the legislature. Thanks Tim. You are brave and true.

Shamus May 6, 2009 1:29 pm (Pacific time)

Tim King: You stated that you will clean up the world. You are a classic narcissist.... (edited/deleted)

Tim King: Wow man, you drop really low by saying something about my family like that. You are a real low life. Do you believe you personify the average Boquist supporter? See you later Your remark about my family, when I just mentioned my parent's death, are the end of the line for you.

Shamus May 6, 2009 12:33 pm (Pacific time)

Well no doubt you have a few irrelevant supporters, but will that be enough to pay the bills? When you compare your contact numbers to other sites, the comparison clearly acknowleges that you can quickly see that you will never crack into a profitable venture. Even Drudge has literally over one billion hits a year and more contemporary news can be found on websites like the Oregonian and other valley papers that are online. You are far far left agenda driven and it is usually poorly written and referenced not with primary sources but by those who also push similar anti-American propaganda. Normally the people you dump on would care if you had any influence, but you don't, except of course to the like-minded who also believe that 9/11 was an inside job. When the *and%!!* hits the fan, if I were you I wouldn't expect Americans to come to your aid.

Tim King: You see the thing is, you are sold down the road. You don't have the guts to question anything except people who question authority in general. Do you see the site enough to know that we aren't pure left? Besides, this is a political perspective and that means it is my observation and opinion.

The facts on the official story of 9/11 don't add up and anyone who looks closely at all sees the same thing. It isn't how I want it to be, it's how it is. Glad the wool is pulled securely down around the eyes of most people like you. You guys have evolved to a point that you have to surround yourself with right wing propaganda in order to have a comfort zone.

I'm not afraid to say that I love poor, messed up people just as much as those who achieve higher goals in life. I like people who are different than me, I like people who are of other religions, and I will never stop causing others to feel the same way. I keep trying to remember what this life is all about, and I try to look through the smokescreens.

You can say what you want, but I have gone to Iraq and I have gone to Afghanistan and while my months in a war theater don't equate in any way to an actual combat tour, it has left me with knowledge I could never find anywhere else. You can take it or leave it but at least know that I've gone through a lot to be where I am right now and the one thing I have studied the most in life is military history. The thing that is funny is that you are comparing our operation in Salem to the Oregonian? And Drudge is national, don't you comprehend how far off track that is? Or do you actually realize that we are widely consumed by people all over the NW every day. You can't check Oregon news anywhere Online without seeing us, and we are keeping up with a tiny staff that is a small fraction the size of the other groups you mention.

We show up everywhere on the Web and we have been pounding this for five solid years seven days a week. Do you possess that kind of determination and discipline? The only time off from writing seven days a week in five years was my parent's funeral and my coverage in the wars overseas. It takes guts to publish things like this, it takes guts to call our politicians out when we suspect things are wrong. And one more thing there Shamus, I can go down a long list of soldiers and Marines I've gone on combat patrols with and they know what I'm trying to do. They would all line up and back me up if I was in a spot, do you think you would be the one who would run and hide?

And for your obviously sorely needed education on Internet, a "hit" is a number that accounts for each piece of artwork or jpeg, on a given site, each time it loads. So you can't say "hit" and mean "visitors" because they are extremely different numbers, except for those rare sites in the world that literally have text only and no images. We get millions and millions of "hits" but we are honest unlike some, and we don't lie about numbers. Other media outlets do, but I won't drop names. So far today for example, Salem-News.com has had 194,941"hits" but that number will be significantly lower than the actual visitor count. Already at the 1:00 hour, we've had 16,457 stories opened today.

Henry Ruark May 6, 2009 12:00 pm (Pacific time)

A-I Patriot: What, you fear to sign your own stuff ? But then that sig tells the reason, as does yr ref.to the Weekly Standard, Kristol's neocon-perpetrating propaganda paper paid for by Murdoch, the Australian noted for his huge distorted-journalism holdings. Kristol just dumped from the Edit Pages of NY TIMES. "Near-impeachment" is fact, shown by Reagan-quote in new book WHITE HOUSE GHOSTS by Rob.t Schlesinger, pp.352-353: "A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages," Reagan said, "My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it's not." (in March 4 speech). Earlier page shows plainly that John Tower, head of Tower Commission, warned Reagan that impeachment loomed and advised him to seek counsel, and then continues: "Reagan said it was not until he started reading the footnotes of the report that he realized how much was going on without his knowledge." YOU are misinformed, sir, as book clearly documents. The fact is that Reagan, misled by North and others, criminally broke Congressional Act specifically forbidding precisely what he then signed off on as action to be taken. The ISBN for the book is: ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-9169-9 Author is son of famous DC raconteur, speech-writer, confidant of John Kennedy and other famed DC figures.

kari May 6, 2009 11:08 am (Pacific time)

Why is it all so political instead of respecting each other's countries? Rude.

Mike Patterson May 6, 2009 10:59 am (Pacific time)

Right on Salem-News.com, you did it again and I can guarantee you that people are both writhing in pain and applauding this article. A mercenary in office trying to drum up war to fill his coffers, I'll be making some calls today and we'll see where this goes. Thanks for connecting the dots Tim.

Shamus May 6, 2009 10:39 am (Pacific time)

Didn't Boquist have some combat command experience over in Iraq which included hands on experience dealing with Iranian forces coming into Iraq? So how does the author of this article compare his experience to Boquist? I wonder why this article is not picked up on the wire services? Have any of the staff on this blog ever had their stories get picked up? Hey how about that Iranian-American journalist being held on trumped up charges? I realize you don't want to provide an in depth analaysis of Iran and the radical Islamists, but those who come to this site are aware, very aware of your agenda. That's the great thing about the internet, the different sites will appeal to a variety of viewpoints, and those who demand full and balanced news make the final decision. So places like the NY Times, Wast. Post, Air America, MSNBC, etc., are being rejected. Subsequently you will appeal to a constantly dimishing audience. In time who would pay to advertise? Your site is toast because you are so f---- up! Big time losers! What a gaggle of fools. My hope is Boquist will pursue cival action against this site, but then, why publicize you. That will be part of my leagal advice to my little Airborne brother.

Tim King: I assume you are not a horse's ass, and I know this news site isn't a blog. In fact our daily visitor count doesn't ever drop into four digits except for the occasional sunny weekend that takes people away from their computers. Good days see 30k to 40k people visit our humble little Salem Online News business.

FYI, News organizations get "picked up" by wires when they belong to groups like the AP and UPI. I have a great deal of support from our viewers who aren't blind to these things. We are a top level Google News provider and our stories have been carried on the cover of Google News countless times, we've made the cover of Yahoo News, Digg.com several times and the list keeps going. Our audience is constantly growing and not going the other way and anyone can verify that on Alexa.com or many other Web evaluators. We don't tow the line with these politics because they are wrong just like the entire war in Iraq was wrong; in fact nothing short of a disastrous mistake. It must really irritate some of you that reporters have a new voice with the Internet; eventually I think we can help clean this world up.

Shamus May 6, 2009 9:04 am (Pacific time)

This ain't news, this is propaganda

Meredith May 6, 2009 9:03 am (Pacific time)

Wow, you would think a former Marine would know better than to spew lies and falsehoods. First, Iran is not a race, nor is Islam or Judaism, so all those including the hundreds of Democrats who have supported sanctions against Iran are not racist. To suggest so is either ignorant or deliberate race-baiting. A lot of both probably apply here. Second, the sanctions aren't against the Iranian people, but the Iranian leadership - and the Iranian people suffer because of the leaderships bad decision making. Third, Iranians have lifted fingers to harm the American people on many occasions including the killing of hundreds of Marines. Oh, then there was the Iranian hostages seized in the 70's before the Marine barracks were bombed by Iranian backed Hizbollah terrorists. Let's not also forget the numerous Iranian Americans arrested for smuggling night vision goggles, nuclear secrets, and plane parts back to Iran to help in their efforts to build nukes which their President has said they will use to end American power. Not to mention wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Fourthly, the video is cute but makes clear if anyone attacked Iran, that Iran's military would then attack open wilderness and farms? Why? This makes no sense. Pretty photos of the countryside but those images have nothing to do with the nuclear weapons Iran is building to destroy Israel based on Quranic teachings that Islam must defeat the Jews. Read the Quran for yourself. If the people of Iran don't want to be attacked they should take it upon themselves to elect new leadership that seeks peace. Pretty simply except in Iran if you speak out - you get killed...hanged in public. And finally, everyone knows the so-called Palestinian territory is never mentioned throughout history until the PLO's Yasser Arafat coined the term in an effort to wage jihad against Israel. Jordan, an Islamic country, killed more inhabitants of the Pal. territory in one month than Israel has in 60+ years. Black September. Just look it up. Jordan and Egypt both evicted PLO members and relinquished territory for them just to keep the terrorists out of their own countries. Israel has done the same. This Marine should be ashamed of his lies and this obvious tirade that ends up being nothing more than Israel-bashing should be fact-checked. Once it is the lies become obvious.

Tim King: I noted in the story that Boquist opposed the ground war in Iraq in 2002. You can yell at me all you want but the facts stand where they do and people can all verify these things. I made a point some time ago of gaining friends in Iran on networking sites and I have been able to learn a great deal from the people who live there. It's no bowl of cherries, the country was savaged by the U.S. money during the Iran/Iraq War. The people have barely recovered from that and the society and its veterans in particular, are riddled with PTSD. We should know by now that actions against a government are actions against the people too in the end. The impact is not missed. There is a report in the news today that Afghanistan has officially sanctioned the act of rape in marriage. Earlier this week there was a story about an 8-year old girl in Saudi Arabia who wants to divorce her 50-year old husband. Last week we ran videotape of a UAE crown prince's thugs (UAE Police) attack an Afghan farmer, torture him and leave him for dead because he alllegedly fudged the grain count. What they did to him was beyond obscene. Yet these countries, The UAE, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, (where all the 9/11 terrorists came from) are our friends? Why isn't Boquist mobilizing against them? Or what about Burma? What about Somalia? This world is so sick and full of problams and all the Republicans want to do is single out Iran over LIES and support Israel's racist policies. They are as racist as you can get.

American-Israeli Patriot May 6, 2009 7:37 am (Pacific time)

Regarding the Iran/Contra hearings-- LTC. Oliver North clearly set the record straight and the then democratic controlled congress were in awe of this hero, though the radicals continue to beat the propaganda drums. This is a fact, and in terms of a "near-impeachment debacle" for Reagan, just more Alinsky-type misdirection. I agree that many of Iranians are wonderful people, but their time on this planet grows short because their insane leaders are intent on destroying them. As the below article implies quite clearly, the fuse has been lit and it is too late to stop the destruction of this country: "Iran Launches Airstrikes Into Iraq May 4, 2009 | Weekly Standard (snip) "To say this complicates the Obama administration's diplomatic outreach is to put it mildly. This administration -- in fairness, not unlike the last few years of the Bush administration -- seems prepared to make an endless series of concessions to Tehran in order to secure a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue. Yet despite these repeated overtures, the Iranians refuse to budge even an inch and instead make announcements of more centrifuges and new missiles. Now they're launching airstrikes in Iraq." Read more at weeklystandard.com ... Iran Launches Airstrikes Into Iraq The Weekly Standard Blog ^ | May 4, 2009 | Weekly Standard Posted on Wednesday, May 06, 2009 6:20:13 AM by penelopesire (snip) "To say this complicates the Obama administration's diplomatic outreach is to put it mildly. This administration -- in fairness, not unlike the last few years of the Bush administration -- seems prepared to make an endless series of concessions to Tehran in order to secure a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue. Yet despite these repeated overtures, the Iranians refuse to budge even an inch and instead make announcements of more centrifuges and new missiles. Now they're launching airstrikes in Iraq." (Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...

Dave May 6, 2009 3:02 am (Pacific time)

You sir, are uninformed. Boquist has been one of the harshest critics of the war in Iraq. Look up his 2007 speech. If I'm not mistaken, he also voted for a 2007 resolution to end the war. Your claim that Boquist is "war profiteering" is also false. Boquist's firm particpates in peace keeping and humanitarian missions for the Department of State and was the US Department of State Small Business of the Year at one point. He also provides cultural and tactical training to Marines to help them avoid and better survive conflict. Boquist is a patriot that has actually served and bled for the country. His son has served in the war. He knows what he's talking about. You, sir, do not.

Tim King: Thanks for your comment, and be aware that the story has been modified to reflect your point about Boquist being against the ground war in 2002. His operations involve troops on the ground and he backs the air operations. Get your word "humanitarian" out of the mix and we'll get along a little better. At some point his anti-war words seem to have fallen very short.

As far as an Army officer providing Marines training, well maybe so but that would be odd. Marines typically know far more than their Army counterparts about all aspects of war and combat, and their tactics are different from those used by the Army and this is a problem on patrols when you have a former Marine or two in the Army or Oregon Guard for example, a group I have embedded with in the past in both war theaters. But that's about as far as that goes. Evergreen and Blackwater and all the others have been given really sweet awards by groups like the State Department, so what? That keeps the system looking good while it is all self-generated by the system which in effect lauds and serves itself.

At any rate, he should be recognized for the fact that you mentioned about his war opposition and we regret having not stated that clearly at first. Oh and by the way, my son served with distinction for two combat tours in Iraq with the 101st Airborne. What does that have to do with warmongering over Iran?

Henry Ruark May 5, 2009 8:37 pm (Pacific time)

To all: Never forget the Iran/Contra near-impeachment debacle by Reagan et al, and the following development of the Project for A New American Century, with Cheney in the lead. Ironic that Boquist is also GOP, is it not ? Or is that perhaps only completely natural and very normal ??

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