The South Korean homicide killer “Seung Hui Cho”, a 23-year-old South Korean majoring in English, killed 32 other students and injured 29 students while killing himself on 16 April 2007 at Virginia Tech University. He shot his victims over 150 to 170 times as reported by various news media. The incident has traumatized many Virginia Tech students and the university has given them permission to go back home for the academic year. The terror has evoked a lot of fear within the student community.

“Seung Hui Cho” was a United States permanent resident alien from South Korea and was reported as a “loner” and an “extremely shy” person. Fellow students in junior high school often mocked the South Korean student. The youth was reportedly at war with the world for being bullied in high school.

There is news that Cho watched the movie “Oldboy ” several times and imitated the Hong Kong movie star Chow Yun-Fat. He sent the tapes to NBC News with photographs of himself mimicking the movie star with his guns.

NBC News authorities issued the statement as mentioned below with regards to the materials NBC News received from the South Korean gunman in the Virginia Tech shootings:

“The pain suffered by the Virginia Tech community and indeed the entire country is immeasurable. Upon receiving the materials from Seung Hui Cho, NBC News took careful consideration in determining how the information should be distributed. We did not rush the material onto air, but instead consulted with local authorities, who have since publicly acknowledged our appropriate handling of the matter. Beginning this morning, we have limited our usage of the video across NBC News, including MSNBC, to no more than 10 percent of our airtime.

Our Standards and Policies chief reviewed all material before it was released. One of our most experienced correspondents, Pete Williams, handled the reporting. We believe it provides some answers to the critical question, “why did this man carry out these awful murders?” The decision to run this video was reached by virtually every news organization in the world, as evidenced by coverage on television, on Web sites and in newspapers. We have covered this story — and our unique role in it — with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident. We are committed to nothing less.”

America and the entire world are in grief for the Virginia Tech killings, which is regarded as the deadliest shootout in U.S. History. It is really a sad state that we are experiencing today. The Question now is, does the Bush Administration grieve for the killings of American soldiers in Iraq?

Our soldiers are sent to Iraq for regulating Iraqi people and numerous are getting killed. We experience similar atrocities like the Virginia Tech University killings ourselves, while being at war in Iraq. This incident is just another example of the daily life in Iraq, where people blow up mosques and kill hundreds of people everyday by committing suicide bombing. The war in Iraq is lost and the soldiers in Iraq are termed as “losers” of their lives.

The American “dictators” are spoiled brats and nothing else that do not take care about the lives of other’s. These vote hungry administrators turn a blind eye to killings of soldiers in wars, and our countrymen killed in incidents like these, once the media uproar on the issue is over. The ordeal happened due to the fact that the gun policy in the state of Virginia is very liberal. It has been rumored that “Seung Hui Cho” bought the ammunition, a.9mm handgun and a .22 handgun, on eBay. However, sources suggest that the South Korean student bought the ammunition a month ago from a dealer in Blacksburg but the original source is still unknown. The killings have become a cause of worry for most parents of International students studying in U.S. Universities, as the international media is furiously criticizing America’s gun laws.

It is ridiculously insane, that these guns are available easily to a person above the age of 18 years by just showing a permanent residency proof.

Are we going to remain silent with the incredible “gun control” reforms that are in place right now? Will incidents like these be taken care of forever or repeated incidents like these take place again and again? Wake Up America!

It is estimated that the people of the United States own over 200 million firearms and 30,000 people are killed each year by these firearms. The number of 30,000 killings is approximately 10 times the number of our countrymen who have died in Iraq. The War in Vietnam was started by us Americans, where we lost more than 55000 American Soldiers and thrice as many bombs had been dropped, than in World War II.

This horrific incident at Virginia Tech has not only shook the academic community with disgust and shame but it has shown the lack of uniform measures in place to protect the educational community. These killings are seen as a “normal” trend, citing the past U.S educational history, where shootouts like these happen in American schools and colleges every now and then. This incident is now known, as the cruelest mass murders in United States history though, can never be compared with the fate met by our soldiers every day in Iraq. What should the soldiers of the American army and members of the American public do to save our souls? God Bless America!!!

I have a friend who is a Colonel n the Marine Corps. He and I have served together and we occasionally turn up at the same conferences and events. We keep in touch on a fairly regular basis and just recently he was a guest speaker at a dinner I was invited to attend. Honestly, I had no intention of actually forking over a big donation to attend the event until I heard that The Colonel would be speaking. So a few weeks ago, I cleaned up and headed out so I could hear my friend speak.

As we were just cutting into our chicken, The Colonel went up to the podium. Now, The Colonel is an imposing man. He’s well over six feet tall, built like a angry bull and the man has seen too much and done too much killing. He is weathered, his voice low and rough and when you talk to him you know he is quietly measuring you and deciding what you are made of. His talk that night was of the importance of discipline and training in our troops. Because he is a Marine he focused on the training he put his Marines through in preparation for the Iraq War. He told a room full of men tuxedos and women in formal gowns sipping Chardonnay that he trained eighteen and nineteen year old men how to kill. He told us about the times he forced his men to go without sleep to prepare themselves for the physical demands of war. He drilled them in close combat exercise and evacuation procedures. He trained them to fire without hesitation when confronted by an enemy. He trained them to stay alive.

As part of his presentation he showed pictures of a firefight his Marines had fought early in the war. A journalist had happened to be there and kept snapping photos as the bullets and grenades flew past. As The Colonel showed the pictures and spoke with obvious pride for the young Marines who had kept their cool and fought with precision and discipline. He showed the guests that the months of hard and grueling training had paid off. When ambushed by the enemy, his Marines knew what to do and acted with courage and stoicism in the face of overwhelming odds. What I found interesting about his presentation was the fact that he never mentioned himself. As a friend of The Colonel, I knew that he too had been in that firefight. He had been pinned down with his Marines and he had fought beside them. But The Colonel never told the audience that he had fought with distinction and had received a medal for his actions. Instead, he gave the glory to the young men he had trained. He gave the honor to his brothers in arms. That is why The Colonel is a hero.

They days of an objective and impartial media reporting the news are long gone. Every news report we see has a slant to it. It could be right or left of the political spectrum, but our media has becoming increasingly biased. One of the most obvious examples of this slant has been the overwhelmingly negative bias towards the war in Iraq that has developed over the past few years. Stories on the war are repeatedly colored with an anti-war brush. The good work being done by our troops, the successes we have experienced, the victories won are not being reported. The media has truly gone from an objective bystander simply showing the events as they happen, to a much more editorial entity, reporting their views as truth.

One retired soldier has apparently had enough of the media’s reporting tactics and has sent an open letter to members of the media. An angry retired Army Sergeant Major said the following in his letter:

“American news media, the New YorkTimes particularly. Each time you publish stories about national defense secrets and our intelligence gathering methods, you become one with the sub-human pieces of camel dung that torture and mutilate the bodies of American Soldiers. You can’t strike up the courage to publish cartoons, but you can help Al Qaeda destroy my country. Actually, you are more dangerous to us than Al Qaeda is. Think about that each time you face Mecca to admire your Pulitzer.

You are America’s axis of idiots. Your collective stupidity will destroy us. Self-serving politics and terrorist abetting news scoops are more important to you than our national security or the lives of innocent civilians and Soldiers. It bothers you that defending ourselves gets in the way of your elitist sport of politics and your ignorant editorializing.” (From Wake Up America)

Many times when I see our troops on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan or even here in the United States training for war, I am struck by how separate they often seem, like they do truly exist in a different world. While the debate about the war wages on all around them, they seem somehow removed from it. They don’t fight with words, they don’t argue about the politics of the war, they train to fight the war. They are prepared to do their duty whatever and wherever that will be. However, it is inspiring to see someone who has worn the uniform and who has served this country speak up with pride and passion.

I mentioned earlier that I attended the Marine Parents Conference in St. Louis last week. It was an honor for me to be included and I have a wonderful time. As I walked around the conference I noticed something extraordinary about the hundreds of Marine parents who had come together. They were proud. Everywhere I looked there were yellow ribbon pins, pins that read “My son is a Marine,” moms and dads were wearing t-shirts printed with photos of their Marine and everyone had a photo of their Marine in his dress blues. I couldn’t help but be awed by the force of the pride in the room.

The conference had breakout sessions for specific discussions. There were discussions on boot camp, preparing for deployment, how to send car packages, how to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. There was a meeting for parents who had lost their Marine and a group for spouses of Marines. There was also an element of Marine Corps tradition involved. The first dinner opened with the parading of the colors and the parents loved it. The second dinner was a formal night that reminded me of a Marine Corps ball. They were suddenly a part of the strange world their sons and daughters had joined.

But the real learning experience for me came in the free time at the conference. When the parents came together in the hallways and restaurants and elevators and started talking about their children. This was true pride. Men and women who had never met each other, came together because their children were serving together. There was no discussion of the politics of the war, no praise or criticism of the President or Congress. They wanted to talk about the day their son graduated boot camp, or the day their daughter was commissioned. They shared stories of getting the news that their child was going to war and stories of the finally being able to breathe a sigh of relief when he or she came home safely. Parents of fallen Marines came together to talk about how much their missed their sons, but how proud they were of his desire to serve his country.

As I left the conference, I knew that I had witnessed the real meaning of “support our troops.” These parents knew that the war was being fought by sons and daughters of the United States. They knew that politics have no place in supporting the troops. These parents were proud because their son or daughter had been willing to serve when others wouldn’t. They were proud because their child was a Marine.

I recently had the privilege of attending the annual conference for MarineParents.com. The conference was in St. Louis this year and I was invited to make the trip out by the founder of Marine Parents, Inc. I should mention here that I am not the parent of a Marine, but I do know the organization quite well. Tracy Della Vecchia started Marine Parents when her son was deployed to Iraq at the start of the war. He went back two more times before getting out of the Marine Corps. As the mother of a Marine in harm’s way, Tracey was desperate for answers. She wanted to get information, she wanted to find support, she wanted to know everything there was to now about the Marine Corps. But as she looked online, she didn’t find any organizations dedicated to helping the parents of those who serve. So Tracy took matters into her own hands and started MarineParents.com.

It started out as a website with information about her son’s unit. She got in touch with the rear party for the battalion and got information updates, she worked with the battalion commanding officer (who was in Iraq at the time) and she worked closely with the battalion Key Volunteers. Tracy, who is a website developer by trade, made MarineParents.com an invaluable resource for parents who were looking for information on their sons. It also became a virtual support group for mothers and fathers who were sitting in their homes across the country worried about their children.

As the years went on, Tracy’s dream for Marine Parents has grown by leaps and bounds. The organization has gone from being a resource for parents of one unit to being an official non-profit organization run by over 100 volunteers across the country. It is truly an incredible resource for all parents of Marines. There are messages boards and chat rooms for parents whose children have just gone to boot camp and support forums for parents whose children have just deployed. The organization runs a care package project to send packages to Marines overseas and a Gold Star parents project to provide support and comfort to parents who have lost their Marines. They have also grown to include local support groups, an online store and a project to help wounded Marines called Operation Prayers and Letters that allows people to offer prayers or send letters to wounded Marines.

Tracy and her organization is an amazing example of how one proud mother can make a world of difference in the war on terror. She is fighting just as much as her son fought, though she would blush and deny it if you said that to her face. You can visit the Marine Parents website at marineparents.com. Semper Fi, Tracy.

The war our troops are fighting is being waged on two fronts. Our troops are fighting every day in Iraq against insurgents, foreign terrorists and religious fanatics. But there is another front to this war. And it’s not the front you think it is. The second battle line in the war in Iraq is taking place in the halls and offices in Washington, DC. It is being fought by politicians, would-be Presidents and very few people with military credentials. This second front with its cigars and sound bites, so far away from the day to day lives of our service members, may be the place where the outcome of the war will be decided.

There is a huge gap right now between the way the war is being fought in Iraq and the way the war is being debated in Washington. Our troops are engaged every day in fighting against those who are out to destroy the future of Iraq. They are seeking out terrorists, arresting insurgents and working to rebuild Iraq’s shattered infrastructure. American troops are fighting to bring peace and stability to a country ravaged by war and years of oppression.

That is not what is happening in Washington. Politicians are fighting a war of popularity. Their concern is electoral votes and positive public relations. They are not actively engaged in fighting for victory in Iraq. They are fighting for position in the political race. As the debate over the war intensifies and the stakes become higher, there are members of Congress who are actively working against the war. How is it possible that the legal body which authorized the war, the body which controls funding and practical support for the war, is actively campaigning against the goals our troops are fighting and dying to achieve? There is a second front to the war and it is turning on our troops.

This gulf between the politicians in Washington and the troops on the ground is a fundamental problem in the manner in which the war is being pursued. Our military will not get the support it needs if the government does not commit to the goals laid out by our military commanders. Our troops are fighting a war Congress approved and designed. Congress may have decided to retreat, but our troops have not. Our military and our government must work together if this war is to be a success. Right now, these two bodies are working against each other and this conflict is causing more damage to our mission in Iraq than any of the terrorists we are fighting.

At every Marine Corps Birthday Ball celebration, there is an empty table. The table is there to honor fallen Marines. It is a stark reminder of the sacrifices that have been made for this country and for the Marine Corps. With the continuing losses being faced by our military in Iraq and Afghanistan weighing heavily on the minds of the American people, General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps, has directed a change in the protocol of formal Marine Corps functions. The following is an excerpt from his order. The format is typical of an official Marine Corps order.

“1. TO BE A MARINE IS TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT REPRESENTS THE BEST OF OUR NATION. IT IS TO ACCEPT A WAY OF LIFE THAT EMBODIES SELFLESS SERVICE - TO DEFEND THOSE WHO CANNOT DEFEND THEMSELVES, TO THRIVE IN THE HARDSHIP AND SACRIFICE EXPECTED OF AN ELITE WARRIOR CLASS, TO MARCH TO THE SOUND OF THE GUNS, AND TO ABLY SHOULDER THE HERITAGE CREATED BY THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US.

2. ONLY A FEW AMERICANS CHOOSE THE DANGEROUS AND NECESSARY WORK OF FIGHTING OUR NATIONS ENEMIES. AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THAT CHOICE, SOME HAVE PAID THE UTIMATE PRICE, JOINING THE HONOR ROLL OF HEROES WHO BUILT THE NOBLE LEGACY OF OUR CORPS. FOR THOSE OF US WHO CARRY ON THAT LEGACY, IT IS OUR OBLIGATION TO HONOR THOSE FALLEN MARINES. AS MARINES GATHER IN CELEBRATION OF OUR HISTORY, WE GATHER IN THE SHADOWS OF GREATNESS - THOUGH OUR FALLEN CAN NO LONGER PARTICIPATE IN OUR TRADITIONS, THEY WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF US AND WHO WE ARE.

3. THEREFORE, I AM DIRECTING THAT ALL UNIT MESS NIGHTS AND MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY BALL CELEBRATIONS INCLUDE WORTHY AND APPROPRIATE TRIBUTES TO OUR FALLEN COMRADES. SUBSEQUENT CHANGES TO THE DRILL AND CEREMONIES MANUAL WILL REFLECT THIS REQUIREMENT. THROUGH MEANINGFUL REMEMBRANCE, THE SACRIFICES OF “THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE” WILL NOT BECOME DISTANT MEMORIES, BUT WILL LIVE ALWAYS IN OUR WARRIOR CULTURE.

4. SEMPER FIDELIS, JAMES T. CONWAY, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS”

Tradition is at the heart of the Marine Corps. Their traditions and their legacy are what inspire the Marines of today to such greatness. Marines are drilled in weapons and combat, but they are also drilled in the legacy of the Corps. They know the names of famous Marines as well as they know the names of their platoon commanders. The tradition of honor, courage and commitment make the Marine Corps a true band of brothers and sisters in arms. General Conway’s directive is but one more example of the importance the Marine Corps places on remembering its past to preserve its future.

Much has been made in the media recently about the jump in re-enlistment bonuses being offered to members of the military to entice them to remain in the Armed Forces. People have said that bonuses are too high, that it is just another example of defense spending gone out of control. In my humble opinion, we can’t pay our troops enough. We ask these men and women to die for us. We ask them to kill for us. We ask them to leave their families, to miss months out of their children’s lives, to endure extreme hardship to defend our freedom. How do you put a price on that?

It might be hard to imagine how much we would pay to have someone live their life defending ours, but the government has done it. I thought it would be enlightening given the current public debate over bonuses and raises to talk about how much our military members really make. Since so many in this country see military pay as another issue to debate, let’s talk money.

In the current year, a brand new E-1, a bottom of the military food chain Private, makes $1203 a month. That works out to be $8.00 per hour for a 40 hour week. Of course as anyone who has been associated with the military knows, no service member actually works only 40 hours week. An E-3, a Lance Corporeal, makes $1534 a month, or roughly $10 an hour for a 40 hour week. Now perhaps working for eight or ten dollars an hour doesn’t sound so bad. It is higher than minimum wage and often our troops live in barracks and so don’t have to pay for housing. But for those who are married and have to worry about feeding their family on a salary of $8 an hour, the decision to serve this country can mean struggling to put food on the table. And that is a disgrace.

But let’s put this in perspective. The same Privates and Lance Corporeal who are making less than $10 an hour are the ones we are asking to fight for our freedom. They are willing to go for days without sleep, without hot meals, without showers. They are willing to go to a foreign country, to pick up a weapon and kill, to put their lives in danger and face death for less money than a fast food cashier makes.

But the truth is that they aren’t doing it for the money. They sign up because they believe in something. They believe that this country is worth fighting for, worth dying for. They believe in the most fundamental principles of this great nation and they are the ones who are willing fight to protect those principles and those of us who enjoy them.

Advances in technology have infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives. From ATM cards to cell phones to talking cars, technology is working to make our lived easier. Now technology may also be able to make our soldiers lives safer. There is a new robot in production that promises to give our troops another way to fight terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the most deadly weapons being used against American troops in Iraq is the Improvised Explosive Device (IED). IEDs are placed by the insurgents along roads, underpasses, along convoy routes and any number of other places where vehicles regularly pass. When our service members drive over the IED the explosion rips through vehicles and often kills those inside. IEDs can also be hidden in trashcans, buildings and cars and rigged to explode when troops perform routine searches. IEDs account for more than 70% of American casualties in Iraq. These terrorist tactics have made the fight in Iraq incredibly difficult. Our troops are not facing an enemy they can out maneuver and disarm, they are fighting bombs hidden in dirt, abandoned cars and trash piles.

The Massachusetts based company I Robot is producing the military’s first order of Fido, a new bomb sniffing robot that can be used to detect IEDs. Robots are already in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are being used to investigate caves and buildings for terrorists and to detect mines. Fido is a more sophisticated bomb sniffer that uses a sensor to analyze specific areas of concern for possible IEDs. It is not a perfect solution, but it is a start. Fido mist still be operated and monitored by a service member and it cannot be used to sweep wide expanses because f the risk of a false positive. However, it is a huge improvement over the old method of investigating a possible IED. Before the advent of Fido, service members would have to stand as afar away from the suspicious item as possible and using a rope, drag hooks across the area in an effort to detonate or disarm the suspected bomb. Fido is an important step to protecting the lives of our service members.

When we can invest millions of dollars in developing a robot that can vacuum a house by itself or a luxury car that can park itself we should certainly be able to invest some of that money into finding ways to protect those who protect us.

Tens of thousands of military families dread getting the knock on the door. Anyone who has sent a loved one to war knows exactly what that knock means. An unexpected knock on the door and suddenly your life changes. Waiting for you is a soldier or Marine or sailor or airman waiting to tell you that your loved one is never coming home again. That is the news every military family fears. It is the nightmare that keeps them awake at night and haunts them during the day. Losing someone you love in war is the worst news you can get. But there is another piece of news that runs a strong second, and that is finding out that the deployment has been extended.

The Pentagon has just announced that it will extend the deployments of all active-duty Army units in Iraq from the current twelve months to fifteen months. Defense Department officials also said that Army troops will be home for at least twelve months between deployments. This news has to be a hefty blow to both our soldiers and their families. You can never predict when a deployment will be extended. Military families spend months watching one day on the calendar. They build their lives around that one day when their loved one is scheduled to come home. They might not always have the exact day the unit will return, but they have an idea. Maybe it’s only a one or two week window, but it enough to give them hope. When life back home gets tough, when the kids and the bills and the stress of war catches up with them, they look at the calendar and quickly calculate how much longer they have to go. How many more months or weeks until their service member comes home.

For our troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, each day that passes is one day closer to going home. It is one more day they have survived. So when a deployment is suddenly extended, it is much more than a change of schedule. Extending a deployment throws all of the plans and hopes of both our troops and their families into chaos. Suddenly the months seem longer and the light at the end of the tunnel grows dim. There may be valid reason for extending a deployment, it may be the best military decision, but it is devastating to the soldiers serving and the families waiting.

Defense officials are trying to convince experienced troops to remain in the military by offering some of the largest re-enlistment bonuses in history. The campaign to keep service members in service has grown to a $1 billion budget. The strain of fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq coupled with the loss of troops who have decided to leave the military is pushing defense officials to offer more incentives to service members to re-enlist and most likely face another tour in combat.

In today’s society service members must be willing to make sacrifices to stay in the military. Many of our troops are being wooed away by civilian companies that pay substantially more than the military. In addition, the face operational pace of our military, repeated deployments, the stress of combat and the growing unpopularity of the wars they are fighting make the transition to civilian life look tempting. They may also have family members putting pressure on them to leave the military. Military families must also bear the burden of combat and the relentless pace of today’s military. Defense officials are doing the only thing they can to try to keep experienced service members in uniform. They are offering huge monetary bonuses to re-enlist.

These bonuses can range from a few thousand dollars to $150,000 for senior special forces troops. The most substantial increases on bonuses are being offered to National Guard members and reservists. The lure of bonuses seems to be working. The active-duty Army, National Guard and Army Reserve are all on schedule to meet their re-enlistment goals for the year. The Marine Corps is also offering higher bonuses than in the past with certain critical specialties eligible for a bonus up to $60,000.

No other industry has its pay schedule publicly debated. Pay raises or bonuses for our military is always a matter for public criticism or support and this is even more true now when the issue of military pay is intimately tied to the war. People will protest the bonuses because they want to protest the war. But do they know that we have active-duty military families on food stamps because they can’t afford the cost of living on their military salary? Do the people who would oppose offering a bonus to a service member who volunteers to go back to Iraq know that we are asking men and women to put their lives in danger to defend this country for less money than a parking lot attendant makes?

I remember the day the statue fell in Baghdad. I would find out later that day that the men who pulled it down were friends of mine. Watching the tank retrieval vehicle yank down Saddam’s monument to his own greed and arrogance, I knew I was watching something special. It felt like the end of the war. It felt like victory. But that was four long years ago and what felt like he end of the war, was really only the start of a new one.

Thousands of Iraqis marked the anniversary of that day by protesting the continuing presence of Americans in Iraq. One demonstration took place in the city of Najaf. This demonstration was ordered by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr did not attend the rally and his whereabouts are unknown, but his supporters chanted his name. The demonstration ended without violence.

Many in the international media have used these demonstrations to feed their anti-war stories. They use the Iraqis protest as evidence that the war was misguided and that coalition forces should withdraw from the country. However, the world media is missing a vital point. No one is discussing the fact that these peaceful demonstrations would never have been possible under Saddam Hussein’s regime. A protest of this magnitude under Saddam would have resulted in the arrest, torture and probable deaths of the majority for the protestors and their families. The very fact that thousands of Iraqis can take to the streets without fear of reprisal or arrest is a sign that the war has succeeded in at least one mission.

The question about a withdrawal from Iraq should take these protests into consideration. Will the Iraqis be able to continue to enjoy this new freedom if we leave? Will Sadr continue to be so supportive of the right to protest if he steps into the power vacuum that will follow our withdrawal?

In the United States, we take freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and the right to protest for granted. We can take to the streets whenever we feel moved to do so. We can picket outside the White House. We can set up disgusting anti-war displays outside the President’s home. The people of Iraq have finally been given those rights as well. That is a sign of success, not of failure. The fact that Iraqis can raise their voices at all is a sign that we have done something good.