Category Archives: Military

June 1, 2014 · 10:04 am

Obama’s Libyan circus caravan rolls on

“If a camel once pokes his nose in your tent, his body will surely follow”

 

Oh my, the Obama administration clown car still hasn’t run out gas (unfortunately).  Looks like they’re busily at work trying to stand up another ME tin pot dictator in Libya.  Time (30 May article) ran “Libyan General with U.S Passport Wages War on Islamist Extremists”, referring to General Khalifa Hifter, US passport holder from Virginia, where he has lived for decades:

“Into the chaos of post-revolution Libya rides Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a former confidant of Muammar Gaddafi with a U.S. passport and a reputed history with the CIA. A resident of northern Virginia until the 2011 revolution that deposed his old boss, Hifter, 71, returned to his homeland and, after a couple of embarrassing personal setbacks, recently persuaded elements of the military forces to join him in battling the most extreme of the many armed militias operating in Libya today.”

The more things change (and the wondrous Arab Spring showers continue), the more some failed foreign policy quick fixes stay the same.  Thomas Friedman, oddly enough in agreement with and quoting Victor Davis Hanson’s thoughts on US foreign policy, in a 2012 piece, “A Festival of Lies” states:

“Let us review the various American policy options for the Middle East over the last few decades,” Hanson wrote. “Military assistance or punitive intervention without follow-up mostly failed. The verdict on far more costly nation-building is still out. Trying to help popular insurgents topple unpopular dictators does not guarantee anything better. Propping up dictators with military aid is both odious and counterproductive. Keeping clear of maniacal regimes leads to either nuclear acquisition or genocide — or 16 acres of rubble in Manhattan. What have we learned? Tribalism, oil, and Islamic fundamentalism are a bad mix that leaves Americans sick and tired of the Middle East — both when they get in it and when they try to stay out of it.”

And that is why it’s time to rethink everything we’re doing out there. What the Middle East needs most from America today are modern schools and hard truths, and we haven’t found a way to offer either. Because Hanson is right: What ails the Middle East today truly is a toxic mix of tribalism, Shiite-Sunni sectarianism, fundamentalism and oil — oil that constantly tempts us to intervene or to prop up dictators.”

Looks like President Obama didn’t get this memo.

 

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Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics

May 31, 2014 · 11:49 pm

Repaid in kind…

President Obama made another PR gambit today, trying to recover from a string of foreign policy and national security disasters, He appeared in a Rose Garden event with the parents of Bowe Bergdahl and announced the trade-off of FIVE Taliban commanders (who were labeled “high-risk” of resorting to attacking American interests –Washington times story here)  for the release of the only US prisoner of war in Afghanistan, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who ended up in Taliban hands under questionable circumstances.  Reports over the years suggest that SGT Bergdahl may have deserted his unit in Afghanistan and while wandering about he was captured by Taliban insurgents.  Here’s the sort of reporting clouding the situation, from the UK Daily Mail (2March2014):

“A transcript of radio intercepts, publicly released through Wikileaks, indicates that Bergdahl, then 23, was captured while sitting in a makeshift latrine.

‘We were attacking the post he was sitting,’ according to a radio intercept of a conversation among insurgents.

‘He had no gun with him. … They have all (the) Americans, ANA (Afghan National Army), helicopters, the planes are looking for him. Can you guys make a video of him and announce it all over Afghanistan that we have one of the Americans?’

Rolling Stone magazine quoted emails Bergdahl is said to have sent to his parents that suggest he was disillusioned with America’s mission in Afghanistan, had lost faith in the U.S. Army’s mission there and was considering desertion.

Bergdahl told his parents he was ‘ashamed to even be American.'”

Instead of acting like this soldier is a returning war hero, it’s imperative that the Department of Defense come clean and tell the truth about how this soldier ended up a prisoner.  Did he desert his unit in Afghanistan?  The truth matters!

The steady stream of foreign policy debacles and the many actions dubbed “missteps” should make it clear this President marches to a different drummer than the troops he is leading ……… from behind.  He is undercutting morale, destroying military readiness, infiltrating the military with far-left activists, intent on turning our US Armed Forces into some sort of equal opportunity freak show.   Yes, that is my opinion and I’m sticking to it. Every time he utters the word, “as Commander-In-Chief, I, blah, blah, blah…”, I cringe, expecting another US embarrassment to follow.  CNN, as expected, is running this story, like some returning war hero has been recovered (here’s their video of the President and the Bergdahl’s parents).

Here’s my what-if scenario, what if Bergdahl, whom many Hollywood types have been rallying for, starts making the talk-show circuit and riding his 15 minutes of fame?   Surely, the Obama administration and someone in the DoD must have considered the backlash against the Obama administration for this prisoner exchange, if Bergdahl decides to turn “anti-war activist”….    Stay tuned, every cheap political gimmick comes with a cost and the Obama administration deserves to be repaid in kind.

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Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics, The Media

May 28, 2014 · 4:20 pm

Mr. President, “You didn’t build that!”

“When a man ain’t got no ideas of his own, he’d ought to be kind o’ careful who he borrows ’em from.”

– Owen Wister (The Virginian)

More kumihimo and beading tutorials or a blog post, such is my dilemma.  As this day dwindles away, it’s obvious which choice won out for most of today.  I tried to listen to this vapid, clueless President of ours attempt one more shameless, face-saving measure with this address at West Point this morning, but frankly his smugness made my blood boil.

President Obama, in my opinion (worth about as much as him talking about hammers and nails), is singularly the most incompetent US President in my lifetime, possibly even in US history.  To say such, invites charges of, “you’re racist”, to which I am going to dare say what should have been said long ago, “this man is the shining example of Affirmative Action run amok!”  He rode the race card through America’s top universities,  not on his merits.  Then he found himself a lucrative living, ensconced in grievance politics in Chicago.  He knows absolutely nothing about military matters, leadership or foreign policy, yet he is who the American people chose to steer the ship of state in these very treacherous, troubled seas.

Even now, his support among blacks and other minorities remains solid, despite the stagnant American economy and many of them faring far worse under his many ill-conceived domestic policies.  They will still  jump up and defend him, no matter what.   His sycophantic supporters, particularly those in the media, still carry water for him, but around the world, other leaders see him for the weak waffler he is, which bodes poorly for America.

Today’s speech, following the Afghanistan dog and pony show, crossed my threshold for disingenuous grandstanding!  He just gave the Taliban the green light in Afghanistan with his attempt to look like a CINC, by showing up to rally the troops with a withdrawal speech on Memorial Day.  “Hooray, troops, we’re deserting the battlefield, be proud”, was his message….   Today at West Point, here is how he followed up the withdrawal speech, courtesy of the NY Times:

“America must always lead on the world stage,” he said. “But U.S. military action cannot be the only – or even primary – component of our leadership in every instance. Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail.”

La, la, la, “…if I had a hammer…”  You can expect the Obama spin machine to nail us with three pennies worth of hollow sound bites. They still have no coherent strategy, but they’ve constructed a catchy metaphor.  This man wouldn’t know the difference between a common nail and a roofing nail.  He’s perfected constructing political straw men – no hammer and nails, Mom jeans optional, teleprompter required…

Mr. President, “You didn’t build that military!”, but we will give you full credit for dismantling it.  Rant over, back to learning basic beading, time to calm my nerves.

 

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Filed under Foreign Policy, Military, Politics, The Media

May 25, 2014 · 8:06 pm

We here must speak of heroes

Memorial Day serves as a holiday for backyard grilling, first taste of summertime activities and having fun.  The actual “memorial” part of it is remembered by a few canned patriotic speeches delivered by political leaders and a flurry of social media graphics thanking those who served.  Today, President Obama, in a shallow, face-saving measure to deflect from the VA scandal fall-out, made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to visit US troops, the political motives glaringly obvious.  In the scheme of American holidays, Memorial Day fades from our memories quickly, unremembered and afar, most don’t even spare a thought for the sacrifices made to secure their liberty.  Do people even think about “liberty”?

Kinnison, in part,  commented yesterday:

“Someone once said, “America is better-served by its armed forces than it deserves.” Early in the War on Terror a wounded Marine in the very first “Wounded Warrior” barracks at Camp Lejeune, NC, wrote on the white board in the passageway, “America is not at war. The Marine Corps is at war. America is at the mall…”” 

Sadly, this seems to be an accurate assessment, with fewer and fewer of our leaders having any military service or interest in learning about those who sacrificed so much.  In our culture of self-entitlement and fatuous idolization of shameless, self-promoting celebrities, it’s easy to lose hope for America’s future.  Let’s commit to remember our true American heroes as Minta beautifully states:

“A greater gratitude than we can here express.
Here fallen heroes lie.
The ones we’ve come to honor,
And celebrate their lives.
They were the ones who paid –
In Lincoln’s words –
“The last full measure of devotion.””

JK offered a comment yesterday with just a link, no explanation.  This link transports you to Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for more than 400,000 of our country’s military heroes.  One such hero at Arlington, General John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing, was the most famous American military leader of his generation and yet it’s doubtful more than a very few Americans would even recognize his name.

General Pershing was the most famous American general in World War I.  He took a decidedly haphazardly organized US Armed Forces and turned it into a 2 million strong integrated modern fighting force in World War I (further reading, “US Army in the World War 1917-1919, Organization of the American Expeditionary Force”).  His accomplishments fill many books written about his remarkable military achievements and he alone received the title “General of the Armies”, the highest rank in the US  Army while still alive.  General George Washington received that title posthumously.  Words like cold, reserved, stubborn appear frequently in descriptions of General Pershing, but beneath that stern mask was a man who sacrificed a great deal to serve his country; a man who cared deeply for his family, his soldiers, his country.

In 1915 while serving in the Army at Fort Bliss, Pershing’s wife and three daughters perished in a house fire at their home at the Presidio of San Francisco.  The 1948 NY Times obituary  account recounts:

“On Aug. 27, 1915, there came the great tragedy of Pershing’s life. The general was called to the telephone at headquarters.

“Telegram for you, sir,” said the telephone orderly.

“Yes?” responded the General.

“Shall I–shall I–read it to you, sir?” the orderly asked, haltingly.

“Yes,” said General Pershing.

Again the orderly hesitated.

“Go ahead,” said Pershing.

And then the orderly read him the message telling of the death of his wife and three daughters–all his family except his son Warren–in a fire at their quarters in the Presidio. Warren alone had been saved by a maid and was reported to be in serious condition in the Army hospital.

“Is that all–is that everything?” Pershing asked when the orderly had completed the message.

“Yes, sir,” said the orderly.

Pershing left his duties only long enough to see to the burial of his family, left his son Warren with his sister in Lincoln, Neb., and returned, his hair whitened and his face lined, to his post.”

General Pershing could have called it quits on the Army life at this point, because he had acquired a law degree in 1893 and had many other options.  He chose to continue serving our country in uniform.

While browsing through a book I purchased recently (“War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars”, Andrew Carroll), a letter written by General Pershing during WWI to his 9-year-old son, living with an aunt in Nebraska,  offers a glimpse of the man behind that cold mask.  Luckily, the letter was located quickly online here. This excerpt speaks to that higher purpose that so easily gets drowned out by our pop culture:

“I want you to come so that you yourself can see something of the army and see something of France. I want you to know while you are still a boy something of the fine patriotism that inspires the American soldiers who are fighting over here for the cause of liberty. They are fighting as you know against Germany and her Allies to prevent the rulers of Germany from seizing territory that does not belong to them and from extending their rule over the people of other governments who do not wish to be ruled by Germany. I might add that in order to do this the German army, under orders from the Ruler of Germany, has committed most serious crimes, and for that also we are fighting in order to punish them.

I want you to see some of the battlefields of France with me, over which the American soldiers have fought in carrying out the great purpose of our people. It will enable you to realize later in life just what sacrifice means and just what degree of sacrifice our army is called upon to make and which they have made and are making bravely and courageously.”

He promised his young son a trip to France to see the battlefields and in words meant for his son only, General Pershing sums up the larger purpose, simple, poignant and meant to be private, a father trying to teach his son what we hold dear.   He kept his promise to his son and here are photos of young Warren Pershing with his father in France.

We should remember all those, who sacrificed so much for our liberty, not only on Memorial Day, but every day:

“We here must speak of things
That give us pause –
Our hesitation comes because some words
When spoken here
Tremble in the air
And voice immortal thoughts.
We here must speak of heroes,
Of loyalty, and love,
Of valor, fear controlled –
And, yes, of death –
That fearful price that those who’re named here paid.”

– Minta Marie Morze

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Filed under American Character, American History, Culture Wars, General Interest, Military, Politics

May 24, 2014 · 11:13 am

Reporting while under the influence…. enter at your own risk;-)

Back to my blog finally, hooray.  Two weeks ago,  I slipped getting out of this stupid “garden tub”.  One step, replete with textured slip-resistant surface, but there I went.  Of course, to be honest, in 20 years in this house, I’ve slipped on that step a few other times and landed flat on my behind, with nothing more than my pride injured.  This time, I smacked my back ribs on the way down.  It hurt a lot  and it took me a few moments to catch my breath but I got dressed and went to work.    Four days later, the injured rib hurt a lot more, so I went to the ER.  After a rib series of X-rays, the verdict was it’s just bruised.  Rested two days, then back to work.   A week later, the pain got much worse and it hurt to breathe in.  My doctor decided more X-rays were needed and here I am, drugged up on pain pills and muscle-relaxers, with a fractured 8th rib, but ready to blather on about politics, under the influence of pain-killer and muscle-relaxer……. to tamp down on my inhibitions, so here it goes.

First up the VA scandal.  VA skeletons, dragging their chains of infamous bureaucratic snafus, callous disregard, gross negligence and deliberate (maybe even criminal) misconduct, like uniformed Jacob Marleys from the VA’s ignoble past,  charged the Hill and launched air raids via the media.  The Obama administration beat a hasty retreat and remains hunkered down, trying to formulate a battle plan.  Of course, the GOP, anxious to use this for political advantage wants to cart as many of these skeletons before a microphone to bury the Obama administration and Dems  in November.   President Obama, always the portrait of inspired leadership, opined, that he just learned about the VA problems from the news, just like everyone else and never fear, he’s on it….

Long before this administration, I knew the VA only does one thing promptly and it’s not handling your claim.  They promptly send out monthly reminders, to inform you they are working diligently to expedite your claim and your claim matters to them.  The VA administration scandal provides a harbinger of what Obamacare has in store for the rest of us.  The problem isn’t funding with the VA, it’s corruption.  So, let’s go to a basic civics lesson, which apparently isn’t taught in our government-controlled public schools:  government is a necessary evil – it’s not a cure-all for what ails us.  President Obama did inherit a troubled VA administration, but rather than change the culture within that organization, his default action was to throw more money at the problem rather than do a thorough housecleaning first, air out the stench and begin with fresh paint (new rules and new leadership).  Whether General Shinseki should stay or leaves matters less than coming up with a new strategy to fix what’s broken, discard what can’t be fixed and put in place new rules, with stringent oversight and reporting guidance.  Same old theme here with the Obama administration – they put more money into the VA than Bush did…… yada, yada, yada and more colossal corruption and waste than Bush had too.  President Obama is awaiting more reports in the VA situation, Congress wants to have more hearings and the VA skeletons trudge on, left, right,left…

On the foreign front(s), let’s see, Libya, the Obama  war-light endeavor, alas, no stability in sight there and Obama can proudly tout that victory, oh yes, we left a volatile power vacuum that we can all be proud of……… well, probably not.  Here’s a Nightwatch report from a few days ago with a good Libya update.  Ukraine’s still a mess.  #BringBackOurGirls really quelled Boko Haram, okay, not really.  Boko Haram launched raids on several villages, killing suspected vigilantes who oppose their group.  The UN imposed sanctions designating Boko Haram a terrorist organization and allowing for the freezing of its assets.  Our UN ambassador, Samantha Power, heartily approved the sanctions, but of course there’s a catch as reported in this BBC piece;

“”Boko Haram commanders and their leaders do not travel with passports, they travel on the ground in hijacked vehicles; they don’t have any formal assets that anyone can point to – it is not a formal organisation,” Omoyele Sowore of Nigeria’s citizen journalism website Sahara Reporters told the BBC.”

Enough of the bad news, so I’ll end with a link to a powerful piece, “Good Vibrations”, by Keith Nightingale in the Small Wars Journal (h/t JK).  It’s Memorial Day weekend and the perfect time to listen to these echoes from the past

“The Normandy invasion is usually depicted with great crashes, bangs and volcanic energy combined with broad scenes of masses of material and manpower.  But we should remember and reflect that the invasion began with subtle sounds and vibrations and brought the message of liberation to Europe on cat’s paws growing to crescendo.  We remember and depict the crescendos but forget the subtlety of sounds that brought it all together.”

 

 

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Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics, Uncategorized

May 14, 2014 · 1:21 pm

You owe them your Freedom

The Meaning of Memorial Day

Memorial Day originated on a crude wooden speakers’ platform at the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg on the 30th of May, 1864.

President Abraham Lincoln, the last speaker in a long line of distinguished orators who had come to speak that day at the dedication of the memorial cemetery to the dead of the Gettysburg battlefield, made a few remarks he had hurriedly scribbled on the back of an enve­lope on the train from Washington, D.C. His Gettysburg Address is considered one of the finest pieces of tribute ever written to honor any na­tion’s fallen.

President Lincoln said, in part:

“…From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…Let us never forget that these gallant dead must not have died in vain”.

His words, printed and reprinted in newspapers all over this country, were taken into the na­tion’s consciousness, and have become an important part of our history.

The Grand Army of the Republic, a group of Union Civil War veterans, was the Nation’s first chartered veterans’ organization. The “GAR” began observing the anniversary of Lincoln’s his­toric tribute to the gallant dead at Gettysburg by decorating the graves of Civil War veterans in cemeteries all over the country with American flags and flowers.

Begun as a private remembrance of fallen comrades, the American people soon took the day to their hearts, and solemnized the sacrifice of their sons to the preservation of the Union with an­nual prayers and ceremonies nationwide.

On May 30th, 1868, President James A. Garfield, himself a former Union general, spoke at Gettysburg on the occasion of the first official national memorial observance. Describing the Union’s honored dead of the Civil War, he said:

“…They summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens.”

Until 1882, the day was known as “Decoration Day”. In that year, Congress declared the 30th of May an official national holiday, and re-named it “Memorial Day” to honor the dead of all America’s wars.  In the 238 years of U.S. history, there have been 29 wars, major military conflicts and actions, which claimed the lives of 1,343,812 Americans.

At a military funeral, the flag draping the cas­ket is carefully folded by the burial detail, and presented to the wife or mother of the deceased by the escort officer, with the words:

“Accept this flag with the thanks of a grateful nation.”

We as a nation sometimes forget the sacrifices that made us, and keep us, free. The fami­lies…the fathers and mothers, the husbands and wives, daughters and sons… never forget the price that has been paid.

Since the Congress passed the National Holiday Act of 1971, and Memorial Day was designated as the last Monday in May, the day set aside to honor America’s war dead has become just an­other three-day weekend to many people. Few bother to pause and honor the fallen. The families, and their living comrades, remember them and their sacrifice.

Pause this Memorial Day for a moment and re­member the men who froze in that terrible winter at Valley Forge (and Bastogne, and Chosin Reservoir), the men who fought on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg (and San Juan Hill in Cuba, Blanc Mont in France, Bloody Ridge on Guadalcanal, Monte Casino in Italy, Heartbreak Ridge in Korea, and Hamburger Hill in Vietnam). Remember the men who fought outnumbered at Concord Bridge (and the Peking Legation, and Bataan, and Koto-Ri, Khe Sahn and Fallujah). Remember the sailors and Marines en­tombed in the U.S.S. Arizona on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, and all those gallant men of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard who have found a watery grave in the world’s seas in the defense of your liberty. Remember the pilots and air­crew who were shot down in flames over France in two world wars, and the graves of those who died over Germany and Japan. Mourn for those who died in the Persian Gulf, and those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Think, for just a moment, of Molly Pitcher, who took her wounded husband’s place at the cannon at the Battle of Trenton. Remember the Army nurses that refused to be evacuated from Corregidor, and the patients who needed them: many of both died in the prison camps of the Philippines and Japan.

Remember that the Vietnam Memorial has inscribed upon it the names of eight women who died serving their country.

Remember those men whose inscriptions on the Vietnam Memorial read simply: “M.I.A.”

Remember them as you drive past the cemeteries in the towns and cities of America this three-day weekend, and see the many small flags on the graves of those who served.

Remember all of them, dressed in ragged uniforms of many eras, in their ghostly ranks. Remember what they sacrificed for their country, their loved ones…and for you.

Remember them. You owe them your freedom.

Respectfully submitted,
Kinnison
Lieutenant Colonel, Armor, AUS (Ret.)
…and former Sgt. & “Mustang”
Capt. of Marines

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Filed under American Character, American History, Food for Thought, General Interest, Military

May 2, 2014 · 12:48 pm

Dude, this was like two years ago…

My blogging adventure began in December 2013, bringing me late to the Benghazi reporting game.  However, then and now, there remain plenty of empty seats in this game.  The mainstream press finally seems to have shaken free of the hypnotic Obama chants of “change you can believe in” and has begun asking a few questions.  Diplomad made me think about how much bloggers have written on Benghazi vs those card-carrying press reporters.  We’ve heard so many lies, from Susan Rice’s Sunday spin marathon to yesterday’s Bret Bair interview of a former Obama staffer, who stated, “Dude, this was like two years ago!”.  Will the light of truth finally shine on Benghazi?  I doubt it.  So much has been ignored by the mainstream press, to shield this administration’s appalling dereliction of duty.  Hillary flew the coop to Peru, in the wake of Benghazi and Obama continued fund-raising.  Getting to the truth, well, let’s refer back to my September 22, 2013 post on Hillary’s illustrious blue-ribbon panel entrusted to investigate Benghazi, who didn’t bother to record the interviews  in their investigation.  Their staff took notes and they compiled summaries  –  here’s how important accuracy was to these high-profile panelists:

In addition, the Committee has been unable to assess with any specificity what
information witnesses conveyed to the ARB during interviews. The ARB did not maintain
official transcripts of the testimony provided to the Board. Instead, it developed reports of each
interview based on the notes of staff and Board members. Mullen testified:

Q.   How were the interviews recorded? Was there a court reporter?
Was there video? Was there audio recording? Note taking?

A.  Note taking.

Q.  And none of the other options?
A.  No.

Q.  And how did it get put together?

A.  The staff would put a summary of the interview together. We
would — the members would be able to review that summary
shortly after the interview.

Q.  Any concerns with that?

A.  No.

Q.  That it wasn’t transcribed or recorded?

A.  No. From the standpoint of content, substance and content, I found
them to be very accurate.

Anyways, here’s a list of some of my previous posts on Benghazi. but hey, what difference at this point does it make?

Stay tuned – April 7, 2014

Short Libya Update – March 8, 2014

A Map – February 14, 2014

Another Benghazi Report – February 11, 2014

Benghazi ARB Report: Bird Cage Liner or Probing Investigation? – September 22, 2013

Benghazi: the Obama hens prepare to cluck, cluck, cluck – September 9, 2013

Mark Helprin’s Excellent Article On Obama’s Foreign Policy – April 10, 2013

KT McFarland Analyzes Benghazi Report – December 21, 2013

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April 27, 2014 · 12:57 pm

A worm saves the BLM from further scrutiny

A busy week in the real world kept me from this virtual one.  A year ago I posted a piece, “Janet’s Ammo Stockpile”, questioning the executive branch massive weapons and ammo acquisitions for numerous federal agencies.  I linked to a Forbes piece from 3/11/13,  “1.6 billion Rounds Of Ammo For Homeland Security?  It’s Time For A National Conversation”   Yes, whenever you raise the question of federal government run amok, the political Left chimes in with the “tinfoil hat” accusation, relegating your concerns to those of a kooky, conspiracy-nut, best laughed at and shooed away.  Of course, the Left would prefer all this shooing away to include confiscation of legal, privately owned firearms from said conspiracy-nuts. 

I’m just an ordinary working American taxpayer.  I spent most of my adult life as a homemaker, while my husband served in the US Army and then I found an ordinary job when he retired from the military.  We moved a lot with the Army and I enjoy observing people.  Likewise, I watch the news, in print, on TV and now online videos, in addition to listening to and reading the news reporting.  Often the pictures don’t fit the audio and print reporting.  Here’s a link to a piece on the Blaze about the Bureau of Land Management in this ranch stand-off story.  Look at the photo with the caption, “Armed agents for the Bureau of Land Management outside the Cliven Bundy Ranch in Nevada.”  On another site, you can find pictured a photo of a BLM agent, identified as a special forces soldier.  A blog, SOFREP,  (which I have followed for quite a while and enjoy), wrote a lengthy rebuttal of sorts on the photo and recording of said special forces solider, albeit, the SOFREP author is still trying to reach ground truth on the matter.

Here are a few common sense things I know (take that with a pillar of salt, lol) about the military and soldiers whose careers were in actual combat arms.  When combat arms types leave the Army, they face a harsh reality, unless they spent a lot of time preparing for this eventuality.  Most don’t fit in well with the corporate America mentality and their skill sets aren’t compatible with most civilian job offerings.  Police forces often would rather train some fresh recruits without ingrained military habits.  Private contractors for security adventures overseas hire many of these types of former soldiers and it wouldn’t surprise me that federal agencies building the “Obama Civilian National Security Force” would hire former soldiers.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center, presents FactCheck.org on the matter and this link pops up as the first Google link for a Obama Civilian National Security Force” search.  Don’t dig deeper, they’ve got it answered:

Q: Is Obama planning a Gestapo-like “civilian national security force”?

A: This false claim is a badly distorted version of Obama’s call for doubling the Peace Corps, creating volunteer networks and increasing the size of the Foreign Service.

FactCheck goes on to expand  that President Obama was being grossly misquoted and taken out of context on the matter.  Okay, but then how to explain regulatory agencies, not the military or law-enforcement, building paramilitary forces, stockpiling weapons and ammo, and even acquiring military-type vehicles?

Luckily for the mainstream media, the old rancher, Mr. Bundy, provided the perfect opportunity to avoid questioning what this BLM armed force is, how many comprise their force, what it’s purpose is, how much firepower does it stockpile, and exactly what in the hell it’s mission, legislative parameters are and who trains, commands and funds it.  We won’t find that out, because now, alas, Mr. Bundy, aside from being on the wrong side regarding his legal knowledge, also possesses some unsavory racial opinions too.  Thus the media focus can happily pivot from that unhappy line of inquiry and place the full force of its attention on rabid, right-wing racists, assuredly,  a much more comfortable area for their investigative vigor.

So, with Mr. Bundy, turning out to be a worm in one bad apple, whom even Glenn Beck wants to avoid being associated with, the press happily can avoid the BLM armed force questions.  Yes,  it’s back to being happy Obama propagandists again for them.  Much easier to focus on the worm in one apple than get too close to the cesspit that is the Obama administration’s “change you can believe in”.  Once again, who are those armed BLM agents in the pictures from the ranch in NV?   How many armed agents does the BLM have, who funds, trains, commands them?  And if you’re really daring, how about disclosing information about the armed forces in other “regulatory” federal agencies and for the most intrepid, tell us about the Department of Homeland Security’s massive arsenal and just who it is they’re arming and training to fight.  Yes, FactCheck, bravo for your pat answer:

“Here is the relevant portion of what Obama actually said, with the sentences quoted selectively by Broun and others in bold.

Obama, July 2, Colorado Springs, CO: [As] president I will expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 slots [from 75,000] and make that increased service a vehicle to meet national goals, like providing health care and education, saving our planet and restoring our standing in the world, so that citizens see their effort connected to a common purpose.

People of all ages, stations and skills will be asked to serve. Because when it comes to the challenges we face, the American people are not the problem – they are the answer. So we are going to send more college graduates to teach and mentor our young people. We’ll call on Americans to join an energy corps, to conduct renewable energy and environmental clean-up projects in their neighborhoods all across the country.

We will enlist our veterans to find jobs and support for other vets, and to be there for our military families. And we’re going to grow our Foreign Service, open consulates that have been shuttered and double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011 to renew our diplomacy. We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set.

We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. We need to use technology to connect people to service. We’ll expand USA Freedom Corps to create online networks where American can browse opportunities to volunteer. You’ll be able to search by category, time commitment and skill sets. You’ll be able to rate service opportunities, build service networks, and create your own service pages to track your hours and activities.

This will empower more Americans to craft their own service agenda and make their own change from the bottom up.

Does that sound like a force that could kick down your door in the middle of the night and haul you off to a Gulag or concentration camp? You decide.”

– Brooks Jackson

You’re exactly right FactCheck, it doesn’t sound like a force that could kick down your door in the middle of the night, but from my observation, it sure looks like it could…  Yes, absolutely, you decide.

PS:  If you get really curious about the BLM,  Victor Keith posted a piece at the American Thinker, “One of the Biggest Fat Cats in America is the BLM”:

“The BLM controls some 40 percent of the national coal supply and collects more than 1 billion dollars a year in bonus and royalty revenues.  In 2012 alone, they collected a record 2.4 billion dollars.  There is great incentive for the federal government to put as many private coal producers as possible out of business.  It also shows why cattle ranchers are being inexorably driven off their lands by governmental policies.  The federal government has a much more lucrative plan for those lands that does not involve private property owners.”

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Filed under Culture Wars, General Interest, Gun Control, Military, The Constitution, The Media

April 7, 2014 · 5:59 am

Stay tuned

Pressed for time this morning, so I am keeping this to a short comment and two links.   This is back to President Obama and his red lines and certainty about the source of the alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria.  You remember, the president definitively pinned a chemical attack last year on the Assad regime, which he used as his justification for US military intervention in Syria.  He changed his mind on the attack at the 11th hour .  Not only was the Syrian resistance mouthpiece, Elizabeth O’Bagy a fraud, but the President’s definitive intelligence on the sarin was bogus too, according to this Seymour Hersh report.  Holy cow, Hersh lays out the Turkish rat line of funneling weapons from Libya to Syria using combined US, Turkish, British and a few other countries’ help.  This report should wake-up the mainstream press in America and maybe we’ll finally get them to pressure this White House to fess up on Benghazi. Here are the links:

First is the August 8, 2013 Nightwatch, the highly-respected open source intelligence report by John McCreary.  Pay attention to the comments on the Syria chemical weapons attack (link here).

Next is the April 6, 2014 Seymour Hersh dynamite piece: “The Red Line and the Rat Line, Seymour M. Hersh on Obama, Erdoğan and the Syrian rebels”. Everything you wanted to know about Benghazi, prior to the attack on that US compound, is in this report.  Mr. Hersh’s report should blow some holes in the White House’s stonewall effort.  Stay tuned.

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Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics, The Media

April 6, 2014 · 11:38 am

Rainy day news

One of those rainy day Sundays here, so this will be short.  Courtesy of JK, here’s a Reuters article on the religion of Peace’s most faithful in action (Syria):  “Apocalyptic prophecies drive both sides to Syrian battle for end of time”

Reuters is full of interesting tidbits today: “Navies of Iran, Pakistan to hold joint drill in Hormuz strait”

Wouldn’t want to neglect the far side of the world: “U.S., in nod to Tokyo, to send more ships to Japan, prods China”

That’s it for today, now it’s time to cook a late breakfast, brunch, if you prefer, then back to reading Minta’s excellent suggestion – Helen MacInnes.  I’m starting with “Assignment in Brittany” and I’m already falling for the noble Hearne, British spy extraordinaire.  Thanks Minta:-)

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Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics